Gallery: Soyuz MS-04 crew back on Earth
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Space station trio returns to Earth in Soyuz MS-04
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Three members of Expedition 52 returned to Earth inside their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft. The landing took at 9:21 p.m. EDT Sept. 2 (7:21 a.m. Kazakh Time / 01:21 GMT Sept. 3), 2017, in Kazakhstan. Returning were NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer, as well as Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. The latter two have been in space since April 2017, while Whitson has been living aboard the outpost since November 2016 – nearly 10 months.
Read MoreISS-CREAM installed outside space station
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One of the external payloads that rode uphill with SpaceX's CRS-12 Dragon spacecraft was the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass Investigation, or CREAM (sometimes referred to as ISS-CREAM). This instrument, which is designed to look for the origins of cosmic rays, has now been attached to the exposed facility on the Japanese Kibo module.
Read MoreISS astronauts view Great American Eclipse from space
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On Aug. 21, 2017, millions of Americans witnessed the first total solar eclipse to cross North America from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts in 99 years. While much of the country experienced cloudy conditions, there were six people who saw the Moon's umbra from above the weather -- in space: The crew of the International Space Station.
Read MoreRussian spacewalk goes into overtime
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The two cosmonauts on board the International Space Station donned spacesuits and stepped outside the outpost for the 43rd Russian segment-based extravehicular activity. The Aug. 17, 2017, spacewalk lasted more than an hour longer than planned for a total duration of 7 hours, 34 minutes.
Read MoreSpaceX’s CRS-12 Dragon capsule arrives at space station
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Some 36 hours after leaving Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s CRS-12 Dragon capsule rendezvoused with and was berthed to the International Space Station. The cargo spacecraft is carrying more than 2,900 kilograms of supplies and science experiments.
Once the capsule was within about 10 meters beneath the Destiny laboratory module, Expedition 52 crew members Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and Jack Fischer of NASA used the robotic Canadarm2 to pluck the spacecraft from space.
Read MoreFinal new first-generation Dragon launches toward ISS
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SpaceX sent its final new first-generation Dragon capsule into space Aug 14, 2017. Launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the CRS-12 Dragon cargo ship was sent on its way toward the International Space Station.
The spacecraft is loaded with over 2,900 kilograms of equipment, science experiments and food to the orbiting laboratory. It will spend 36 hours fine-tuning its orbit before rendezvousing to and berthing with the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.
Read MoreStation boosts orbit ahead of spacewalk, visiting vehicle swaps
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The International Space Station got its orbit reboosted on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. The slight raising of its orbit set up the next crew swap planned for the beginning of September.
Recently arrived Progress MS-06 used its onboard engines to increase the speed of the outpost, thus raising its orbit. The spacecraft is currently docked to the Zvezda service module located at the aft end of the station.
Read MoreAstronaut Randy Bresnik enters BEAM
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Just days after arriving at the ISS, NASA astronaut and Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Randy Bresnik got to visit the usually sealed-off BEAM module.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module is a technology demonstrator designed to test the effectiveness of an "inflatable" habitat as an alternative or supplement to traditional rigid modules. Astronauts periodically enter the module to collect various data points such as temperature, radiation exposure, condensation, etc.
Read MoreISS crew flies over Super Typhoon Noru
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Recently arrived NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik snapped an amazing photo of Super Typhoon Noru in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The picture was taken Aug. 1, 2017 as the ISS was flying overhead.
Less than a week ago, the system was a mere tropical storm. But by Sunday, July 30, the storm had swelled to a super typhoon. According to meteorologists, it is the most intense storm of 2017, so far.
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