The population of the International Space Station returned to six people when Soyuz MS-07 with three fresh crew members autonomously docked with the outpost’s Rassvet module. Contact between the two vehicles occurred at 3:39 a.m. EST (08:39 GMT) Dec. 19, 2017.
Just over two hours later, at 5:55 a.m. EST (10:55 GMT), the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened and the Soyuz’s three-man crew entered to join Expedition 54.
Read MoreJust hours after Soyuz MS-07 and its three-person crew launched on a two-day trek toward the International Space Station, SpaceX’s CRS-13 Dragon, having launched days earlier atop a Falcon 9 rocket, rendezvoused with and was attached to the orbiting laboratory.
Carrying more than 2,200 kilograms of cargo, the capsule was installed to the Harmony module of the ISS at 8:26 a.m. EST (13:26 GMT) Dec. 17, 2017.
Read Moreust three days after one trio left the International Space Station, another launched toward it. A Soyuz-FG rocket lofted the Soyuz MS-07 mission spacecraft into orbit where it and its crew will spend some two days catching up with the outpost.
Liftoff took place at 1:21 p.m. local Kazakh time (2:21 a.m. EST / 07:21 GMT) Dec. 17, 2017, from Pad 1/5 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Read MoreReturning from the black of space to the cold of Kazakhstan, three International Space Station crew members have returned to Earth after 138 days and 17 hours in space. Soyuz MS-05 landed at 2:37 p.m. Kazakh time (3:37 a.m. EST / 08:37 GMT) Dec. 14, 2017.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy landed on the Steppe of Kazakh in their Soyuz MS-05 capsule, not far from where they launched to space some five months earlier on July 28, 2017.
Read MoreThe Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, better known as BEAM, has been given the green light to stay attached to the aft portion of the International Space Station’s Tranquility node for a further three years. The new contract began in November 2017, according to NASA.
Read MoreAstronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station have now celebrated 18 Thanksgivings in orbit since 2000. This year, it was Expedition 53’s turn to share their thoughts and memories of the holiday.
Read MoreSierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spaceplane test article successfully performed a free-flight test at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The spacecraft is being developed to send cargo to the International Space Station.
The Nov. 11, 2017, automated test went as planned, according to an SNC statement. The flight occurred four years after the first glide test, which saw the otherwise perfect flight end with the craft flipping over upon landing when the left landing gear failed to deploy.
Read MoreAfter a two-day trek, Orbital ATK’s OA-8 Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station. The vehicle was berthed to the outpost at 7:15 a.m. EST (12:15 GMT) Nov. 14, 2017, and will remain attached for several weeks.
Named “S.S. Gene Cernan” after the late Moonwalker, the spacecraft is loaded with about 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of pressurized cargo.
Read MoreInternational Space Station Expedition 53 astronauts Randy Bresnik and Joe Acaba stepped outside for the third spacewalk this month dedicated toward outpost maintenance activities.
U.S. Extravehicular activity 46 lasted 6 hours, 49 minutes. It started at 7:47 a.m. EDT (11:47 GMT) on Oct. 20, 2017, once the NASA duo switched their spacesuits to battery power.
Read MoreAfter spending two days catching up with the International Space Station, an automated Russian cargo freighter rendezvoused and docked with the outpost to supply the Expedition 53 crew with food and supplies.
Progress MS-07 docked with the Pirs module on the Russian Orbital Segment of the space station. Contact came at 7:04 a.m. EDT (11:04 GMT) Oct. 16, 2017. Once hatches between the two spacecraft are open, the crew will begin to transfer the pressurized cargo into the outpost.
Read MoreOrbital Velocity is designed to be "living time capsule" about the International Space Station.
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