Northrop Grumman’s NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft has departed the International Space Station after three months at the orbiting complex.
Loaded inside the disposable cargo freighter is 2,500 kilograms of trash and unneeded equipment. Cygnus is now set to perform a two-week free-flight mission to deploy three CubeSats, according to NASA.
Read MoreEach International Space Station module is designed with micrometeoroid debris protection. A recent survey of the European Space Agency’s Columbus module shows just how much it is needed.
According to a news release from ESA, a survey performed Sept. 6, 2018, using the station’s 17.6-meter robotic arm showed “hundreds of impacts” across the surface of the Columbus module.
Read MoreAfter spending just over a month attached to the International Space Station, SpaceX's CRS-16 Dragon spacecraft departed the outpost and returned to Earth.
Loaded with more than 1,800 kilograms of equipment and experiments for a return to Earth, Dragon was unberthed from the Harmony module at around 20:00 UTC Jan. 13, 2019.
Read MoreThe year 2019 is already off to a fast start with multiple deep space encounters performed by several robotic spacecraft. Closer to home, however, another vehicle is being prepped for its first orbital flight: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. However, schedule unknowns still remain.
Read MoreThree people made a fiery return to Earth in a Soyuz capsule after spending 197 days in space, mostly aboard the International Space Station.
Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev, NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst landed in a frigid Kazakhstan at 5:02 UTC Dec. 20, 2018 in their Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft’s descent module.
Read MoreDuring a nearly eight-hour spacewalk, two Russian cosmonauts used a knife to peel back thermal insulation in order to inspect an area of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft where a small leak occurred and was repaired earlier in the year.
In August 2018, a minor leak was detected aboard the International Space Station. The source of the slow depressurization event was traced to the Orbital Module of Soyuz MS-09.
Read MoreNormalcy is beginning to return to International Space Station operations as the crew of Soyuz MS-11 successfully launched and docked with the orbiting outpost—seven weeks after an in-flight abort thwarted plans of the previous human spaceflight.
Liftoff took place atop a Soyuz-FG rocket at 11:31 UTC Dec. 3, 2018, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Read MoreFor two decades, the International Space Station has been a shining example of what can be accomplished when humanity works together.
A cooperation between 15 partner nations and five space agencies, this 420 metric ton, football field-sized complex orbits Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometers every 90 minutes at 28,000 kph.
Read MoreOrbital Velocity is designed to be "living time capsule" about the International Space Station.
This project is an attempt to bridge an information gap between space agencies and companies, as well as a public that supports space endeavors with their tax dollars. Despite the importance of the space station, the general public doesn't always know what is happening aboard this amazing complex on a regular basis. Research being conducted isn't always readily available and what information is out there can sometimes be difficult to understand. Some people aren't even aware there is an active space program, let alone a space station.
Orbital Velocity hopes to change that by building a database of information through blogs, a website, small videos and longer documentary-like series'.
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