Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is launched with Expedition 40 on board

The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is launched with Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA in the early hours of Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Suraev, Gerst, and Wiseman will spend the next five and a half months aboard the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

SpaceX Falcon9 and Dragon Cargo Craft Launch Scrubbed

Monday's launch attempt of the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station's Expedition 39 crew, was scrubbed due to a helium leak on the Falcon 9 first stage. 

The next launch opportunity would be Friday, April 18 at 3:25 p.m. EDT if the issue can be resolved.

The launch of the third SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply services mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida will send the vehicle on course to rendezvous with the station several days later.

Commander Koichi Wakata and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio will capture the space freighter using the Canadarm2 robotic arm to set it up for its berthing to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.

Mission managers and SpaceX had agreed Sunday to proceed with Monday's launch attempt despite the loss Friday of a multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) backup computer relay system in the S0 truss that assists in providing insight into truss systems, the operation of the external cooling loops, the operations of the Solar Alpha Rotary joints and the Mobile Transporter rail car.

Baikonur Cosmodrome: Expedition 39 Soyuz TMA-12M Rollout

The sun rises behind the Soyuz launch pad shortly before the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft is rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, March, 23, 2014. 

Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 26 (5:17 p.m. U.S. EDT on March 25) and will send Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA ISS Emergency EVA: Expedition 35 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy

Expedition 35 Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy (pictured) and Tom Marshburn (out of frame) completed a spacewalk at 2:14 p.m. EDT May 11, 2013. 

The emergency EVA was needed to inspect and replace a pump controller box on the International Space Station’s far port truss (P6) leaking ammonia coolant. 

The two NASA astronauts began the 5-hour, 30-minute spacewalk at 8:44 a.m.

A leak of ammonia coolant from the area near or at the location of a Pump and Flow Control Subassembly was detected on Thursday, May 9, prompting engineers and flight controllers to begin plans to support the spacewalk. 

The device contains the mechanical systems that drive the cooling functions for the port truss.

Image Credit: NASA

Russia's Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft at Baikonur

Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft lowers into place March 22, 2013, during encapsulation into the third stage of a Soyuz booster rocket, at the Integration Facility of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz will launch March 29 (Kazakh time), carrying Expedition 35/36 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy of NASA, Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station for a 5-½ month mission.

NASA ISS Expedition 34: Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn Dress Rehearsal

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 34 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA conducts a "fit check" dress rehearsal inside the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2012.

Along with Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko and Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, who are not pictured, Marshburn is preparing for launch scheduled for Dec. 19 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station. 

Image Credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

NASA ISS Images: Expedition Crew Preps for Soyuz Launch

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (left), Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34 commander; Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy (center) and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin (right) clasp hands Sept. 21, 2012 in front of a Soyuz vehicle mock-up as they wrap up two days of final qualification exams at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

The trio is scheduled to launch Oct. 23 in their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

NASA Expedition 29 Crew: Launch slated for Nov 14, 2011

Image above: Expedition 29 crew members pictured from the left on the front row are Commander Mike Fossum and Flight Engineer Dan Burbank. 

Pictured from the left on the back row are Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa, Sergei Volkov, Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov. Photo credit: NASA

Mike Fossum commands the Expedition 29 crew which will continue to support research into the effects of microgravity on the human body, biology, physics and materials.

Fossum and Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on June 7 aboard the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft, docking their Soyuz to the Rassvet module on the Russian segment of the station on June 9.

According to the current plan, the Soyuz 28 spacecraft, carrying NASA's Dan Burbank and Russia's Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov, will launch Nov. 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and arrive at the station on Nov. 16.

› Read more about Expedition 29 on NASA portal

NASA Soyuz Expedition 28: Crew Departs Star City

Expedition 28 crew members, Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa, left, Soyuz commander Sergei Volkov, centre, and Flight Engineer Mike Fossum, answer reporters questions during a crew departure press conference held on the grounds of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2011 in Star City, Russia.

The crew later departed for Baikonur, Kazakhstan in preparation for their June launch onboard a Soyuz rocket.

Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Japan Astronaut craves Sushi on ISS

Credit: NASA
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer, is photographed in a sleeping bag attached to the racks in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station in this May 7, 2009 image.


Credit: NASA
A room with a view. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer, looks through a window in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) in May 2009.

Credit: NASA
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 20 flight engineer, holds chopsticks near two food containers floating freely in zero gravity inside the Unity node of the International Space Station (ISS).