SpaceX Dragon Arrives at ISS - Docked

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrives at ISS to unload cargo and refresh astronauts' supplies. 

Credit: NASA

SpaceX's Dragon capsule is set to arrive at the International Space Station this morning.

The cargo craft, launched early Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is carrying more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and payloads, including the Cloud–Aerosol Transport System (CATS), which will monitor cloud and aerosol coverage that directly impacts the global climate.

ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted; 'Dragon is berthed! Did leak check & equalized pressure, now our hatch is open. On Dragon hatch "smell of space".' 

Cloud–Aerosol Transport System (CATS) 

Credit: NASA

New Space Station Crew Docks with Stuck Solar Array - Video

The Soyuz TMA-14M failed to deploy one of its solar arrays en-route to the International Space Station. The power aboard the spacecraft was not interrupted. They docked about 6 hours after launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

SpaceX Dragon cargo ship docks with ISS

An unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is seen grappled by a robotic arm on the International Space Station on Sept. 22, 2014. 

The commercial spacecraft is SpaceX's fourth delivery mission to the space station and is carrying 20 live mice and the world's first 3D printer in space among its haul.

Credit: NASA TV

A private Dragon cargo ship built by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station today (Sept. 23) to deliver more than 2 tons of astronaut supplies and experiments for NASA, including the first 3D printer in space and an intrepid crew of 20 lab mice.

After a two-day chase, the Dragon spacecraft caught up to the orbiting laboratory at 6:52 a.m. EDT (1052GMT).

European astronaut Alexander Gerst used the space station's huge robotic arm to grab the capsule with help from NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

The spacecraft is packed with 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of experiments and supplies.

"This was a great flight of Dragon toward the space station," Gerst radioed Mission Control after capturing the Dragon capsule with the robotic arm.

Russian Soyuz TMA-12M cargo spacecraft docks with space station

Image from video shows the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft just a few meters away from docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on March 27, 2014 

A Russian cargo ship has successfully docked with the International Space Station Thursday, bringing the crew crucial supplies and water, Russia's space agency said.

The unmanned Progress M-23M ship, which was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, docked with the ISS at 2114 GMT, two minutes later than scheduled, the Roscosmos agency said.

The station was flying over the west coast of Peru at the time, NASA said.

The ship is packed with some 2.4 tonnes of supplies for the station's six-member international crew, including fuel, water, oxygen, and parcels from friends and family.

The ISS is currently under the command of Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to hold the post.

Also on board are Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov, Oleg Artemyev, and Mikhail Tyurin, along with Americans Steve Swanson and Richard Mastracchio.

Earlier this month NASA announced that it was cutting space cooperation with Russia, except over the ISS, due to Moscow's policies in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea last month.

Roscosmos deputy Denis Lyskov said this week that Roscosmos was not planning any retaliatory measures.

NASA has been wholly reliant on Russia for delivering astronauts to the space station since the US retired its space shuttles in 2011.

Orbital Science's Cygnus Spacecraft docks with ISS - Video

The ISS's robotic arm captured the Orbital Sciences' cargo vehicle on January 12, 2014. It is carrying supplies and science experiments.

Credit: NASA

Progress M-21M space freighter docks with ISS via Kurs-NA

An unmanned Russian resupply spacecraft carrying an improved navigation system docked early Saturday with the International Space Station, Russian Mission Control said.

"The manual docking was carried out by cosmonaut Oleg Kotov," Mission Control said.

The Progress M-21M space freighter was loaded with almost 2.5 metric tons of food, fuel, experiment hardware and other supplies for the space station's six Expedition 38 crew members.

The craft lifted off aboard a Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the Russian-leased Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

On November 28, the spacecraft conducted flybys of the orbital station and successfully tested a lighter and more efficient automated navigation and docking system, known as Kurs-NA.

The Kurs-NA boasts advanced electronics, a fully-digitized control system and increased docking precision compared to its predecessor, Kurs. The improved system will be used on all upgraded Soyuz and Progress vehicles in the future.

The space station's crew currently comprises Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Tyurin, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Oleg Kotov, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo spacecraft docks with ISS

The Cygnus cargo spacecraft is just a few feet away from the International Space Station's Canadarm2. Image Credit: NASA

An unmanned cargo ship successfully berthed with the orbiting International Space Station on Sunday following a one-week delay due to a technical glitch, NASA said.

ISS astronauts "successfully captured the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo spacecraft with the station's robotic arm" at 1100 GMT, NASA said.

"Following its capture, the spacecraft is being maneuvered by Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Karen Nyberg of NASA for installation onto the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module," the space agency said on its website.

The Cygnus capsule, built by Virginia-based Orbital Sciences, launched on September 18 on a demonstration mission meant to show it can successfully deliver cargo to the space station.

Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA that requires the company to deliver freight to the ISS over the course of eight flights by the beginning of 2016.

However a software problem delayed the Cygnus spacecraft's planned approach to the research outpost. The capsule manufacturers eventually figured out how to fix what they called a data format mismatch.

Orbital Sciences is one of just two private US firms enlisted by NASA to carry payloads to the ISS.

California-based SpaceX already showed it could send its reusable Dragon capsule to the ISS bearing cargo in May 2012.

Cygnus's delay however allowed time for three new ISS crew members -- Michael Hopkins of NASA and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency -- to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz.

Their Soyuz-TMA-10M capsule blasted off from Kazakhstan and docked successfully with the ISS just six hours later, in a new shortcut route now used by the Russian space agency.

ESA ATV-4 Albert Einstein Docks with ISS

ESA's ATV-4 (Albert Einstein), a robotic freighter bearing 6.6 tonnes of cargo docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

The fourth of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) berthed with the ISS 10 days after being launched by Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, it said.

The resupply ship, named after Albert Einstein, is laden with food, water, oxygen, science experiments and special treats for the ISS astronauts.

It made contact with the ISS at 1407 GMT, the ESA said, about 20 minutes later than originally expected.

The robot space freighter is the size of a double-decker bus—10 metres (33 feet) long and 4.5 metres (15 feet) in diameter.

It is designed to find its way automatically to the ISS, navigating by starlight and using its onboard thrusters to gently dock with the manned orbital outpost.

ESA is contracted to build five ATVs as part of its contribution to the US-led ISS project.

During its four-month mission, the ATV will act as a store room and additional living quarters for the ISS.

It will also use its thrusters to boost the station, which is in low Earth orbit and loses altitude because of lingering atmospheric friction, to higher altitudes.

The ATV is set to undock in October filled with about six tonnes of garbage and human waste, and burn up over the Pacific.

Russian Progress 51 Cargo Spacecraft Docks with ISS - Video

The Russian Progress 51 automatically docked to the the ISS's Zvezda Service Module on April 26th, 2013. A navigational antenna did not diploy shortly after launch but mission controllers worked around the problem.

Credit: NASA

Soyuz Progress M-18M docks with ISS

Russian cargo ship "Progress M-18M" has successfully docked with the ISS. 

The docking took place at 00:40 Moscow time.

This is already the third successful shortened, 6-hour docking in the history of the ISS.

The first such launch, when a spacecraft makes only four orbit runs, was put to the test in August.

According to a mission control spokesman, experts had been developing the new procedure for a number of years, testing in on the ground, and discussing it with the cosmonauts.

"In the future we plan to use this shortened version for manned "Soyuz" missions, probably as early as March," - said the expert.

"Progress" delivered to the ISS more than two and a half tons of cargo, including food, water, air and oxygen tanks, sanitary facilities.

The crew also received parcels from families and psychologists, reports ITAR-TASS.

SpaceX Dragon Docks with ISS - Video

SpaceX Dragon Docks with ISS

SpaceX Dragon Docks with ISS

SpaceX Control Centre

Dragon spacecraft docked with ISS

NASA Commander Sinta Williams at the controls in the ISS monitoring the capture and docking procedure.

Follow the SpaceX control centre live

Kounotori, Japan's HTV3 berths with International Space Station

JAXA HTV-3 Kounotori, Docked with ISS.

HTV-3, a Japanese cargo ship carrying 3.5 tons of supplies successfully berthed with the International Space Station yesterday, six and a half days after it was launched.

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba swung the orbiting outpost's robotic arm Canadarm2 to grab hold of the HTV3 spacecraft at 12.23 UT when it was flying high over the Indian Ocean.

Nasa Astronaut Joe Acaba

The space freighter, also known as Kounotori, meaning White Stork, was then drawn in to mate with the ISS's Harmony module where 16 bolts were connected and tightened to complete capture by 14.35 UT.

Acaba was assisted by fellow astronaut Akihiko (Aki) Hoshide, of the Japanese space agency JAXA during the HTV's critical approach to the station. They watched from the Cupola viewing room while at Canadarm2's controls.

The unmanned space craft had earlier moved in to wait at two pre-planned points below the ISS as final checks were made. An onboard laser sensor fired beams at reflectors attached to the bottom of the ISS to deliver precise positional information.

Then, with both the ISS and HTV speeding around the Earth at 27,700 km per hour, the bus-sized freighter moved to a distance of 10 metres ready to be grappled by the robotic arm.

As the moment approached, a NASA mission controller told the astronauts: "It looks beautiful from here. We are go for HTV3 capture."

HTV3 arrived carrying fresh food and supplies for the Expedition 32 crew aboard the space station, an aquarium or Aquatic Habitat (AQH) for fish that will follow on the next missions, a JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD), five CubeSats and the winning science experiments of the YouTube SpaceLab competition.

This Kounotori is the third HTV mission to the ISS. HTV1 demonstrated the craft's autonomous and remotely-controlled rendezvous capabilities in 2009. It was followed by HTV2 in January 2011 which delivered 6.7 tons of supplies to the ISS.

HTV3 will remain berthed to the space station until September when, having been loaded with rubbish, it will burn up in a controlled descent through the atmosphere.

Russian Progress module finally docks successfully with ISS

The ISS Progress 38 cargo resupply ship successfully docked to the aft end of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module at 12:17 p.m. EDT Sunday. The docking was executed flawlessly by Progress’ Kurs automated rendezvous system.

The Progress spacecraft carries 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 220 pounds of water and 2,667 pounds of experiment equipment, spare parts and other supplies to the station.

It launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 30. An attempted docking Friday, July 2, was aborted when telemetry between the Progress and the space station was lost about 25 minutes before its planned docking.

The most likely cause of Friday’s aborted docking was traced to the activation of the TORU “Klest” TV transmitter, which created interference with TORU itself, causing a loss of the TORU command link between Progress and the International Space Station that triggered the abort of the Progress docking.

TORU was not activated for today’s docking. The TORU TV system is designed to provide a view of Zvezda’s docking target to station Commander Alexander Skvorstov, if he had to operate a joystick in the service module to dock Progress manually.

The Expedition 24 crew members monitored the arrival of the spacecraft. The crew will enjoy an off-duty day Monday in observance of the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

NASA: Shuttle Atlantis docks at the ISS