A Russian actor and a film director have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station, shooting scenes for The Challenge, the first movie filmed in orbit. Actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko joined cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky in a Soyuz capsule that landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan’s steppe. The film, if completed on time, will beat a Hollywood production announced by Tom Cruise, Nasa and SpaceX
Continue reading...Category Archives: International Space Station
Russian film crew return to Earth after shooting the first movie in space
Actor and director land safely in Kazakhstan after spending 12 days on the International Space Station shooting the first movie in orbit
A Russian actor and a film director have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit.
Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan’s steppe early on Sunday, according to footage broadcast live by the Russian space agency.
Continue reading...Shooting stars: Russians beating US in race for first film shot in space
Actor and director on International Space Station push ahead of Hollywood project led by Tom Cruise
The list of “firsts” in orbit under the Soviet space programme is legendary: first satellite, first dog, first man, first woman.
Now another looms after Russia sent an actor and a director to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of plans to make the first film in orbit – and once again put one over on the Americans.
Continue reading...Russian actor and director blast off to make first film in orbit
Pair will spend 12 days on International Space Station in effort to beat US to making first film in space
A Russian actor and a director have blasted off to the International Space Station (ISS) in an attempt to beat the US to the filming of the first movie in orbit.
The Russian crew are set to beat a Hollywood project announced last year by Tom Cruise, Nasa, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Continue reading...Thousands of kilometres from anywhere lies Point Nemo, a watery grave where space stations go to die
The space cemetery, named for the fictional captain in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, is where the International Space Station is likely to end up
At the furthest point from any landmass on earth, and 4km under the sea, lies the space cemetery.
When their outer space journeys come to an end, old satellites, rocket parts and space stations are sent to this desolate spot in the Pacific Ocean to rest on the dark seabed forever.
Continue reading...Russia rocket mishap briefly nudges International Space Station out of position
After several ‘hiccups’ on the journey to the ISS, the Nauka lab module accidentally fired its rockets after docking
Russia’s troubled Nauka laboratory module has caused a fright when its rockets accidentally fired after docking the with the International Space Station, briefly throwing the station out of position.
A few hours after docking, Nauka’s propulsive devices unexpectedly fired, forcing personnel aboard the ISS to fire thrusters on the Russian segment of the station to counter the effect.
Continue reading...ISS astronauts complete six-hour spacewalk to install solar panels
Successful International Space Station installation followed an attempt on Wednesday that ran into several problems
French and American astronauts have completed a six-hour spacewalk as they installed new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), Nasa said.
“It is a huge team effort each time and couldn’t be happier to return with @astro_kimbrough,” Frenchman Thomas Pesquet tweeted on Sunday, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough. Pesquet is with the European Space Agency, Kimbrough with Nasa.
Continue reading...SpaceX rocket heads to ISS with a supply of squid, toothpaste and avocados
Rocket due to reach the International Space Station this weekend is loaded with 7,300lb of fresh food and supplies for an orbiting lab
SpaceX has launched a supply mission bound for the International Space Station on Thursday, carrying with it thousands of tiny sea creatures along with a plaque-fighting toothpaste experiment and powerful solar panels.
The 7,300lb (3,300kg) shipment – which also includes fresh lemons, onions, avocados and cherry tomatoes for the station’s seven astronauts – should arrive Saturday.
Continue reading...‘Scary stuff’: International Space Station robotic arm struck by space junk
- ‘Lucky strike’ did not endanger seven astronauts on board
- Not known what debris struck station or when it occurred
The sudden appearance of a small hole in a robotic arm aboard the international space station (ISS) has brought renewed attention to the danger posed by space junk.
Related: Chinese cargo craft docks with future space station in orbit
Continue reading...SpaceX Nasa launch: astronauts head to International Space Station onboard Dragon capsule
Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi successfully lifted off for the 27-hour flight on Sunday
SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for Nasa by a private company.
The Falcon rocket thundered into the night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with three Americans and one Japanese onboard, the second crew to be launched by SpaceX. The Dragon capsule on top – named Resilience by its crew in light of this year’s many challenges, most notably Covid-19 – is due to reach the space station after 27-and-a-half hours and remain there until spring.
Continue reading...Astronauts trace air leak to Russian side of space station after midnight alarm
Nasa officials stress that the leak on ISS remains small and poses no danger but will send extra air supply on the next delivery
A small air leak at the International Space Station finally has been traced to the Russian side, following a middle-of-the-night search by astronauts.
Nasa said on Tuesday that the two Russians and one American on board were awakened late Monday to hurriedly seal hatches between compartments and search for the ongoing leak, which appeared to be getting worse. It was the third time in just over a month that the crew had to isolate themselves on the Russian side, in an attempt to find the growing leak.
Continue reading...Life, but not as they knew it: ISS crew return to Earth transformed by Covid-19
American and Russian crew touch down in Kazakhstan after months on International Space Station
The three-person crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday morning, arriving back to a world that has been radically transformed by coronavirus in the time they were away.
Space travel is often a journey into the unknown, but for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka, their return to Earth may bring more surprises than the time they spent in orbit. The trio’s landing capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe in the early hours of the morning.
Continue reading...Christina Koch returns to Earth after record-breaking space mission
Koch lands in Kazakhstan after 328 days in space, the longest continuous spaceflight by a female astronaut
She would miss the friendship of her crewmates, she said, and of course the spectacular views.
But after 328 days on the International Space Station – the longest continuous spaceflight ever undertaken by a female astronaut – Christina Koch could not deny last week that she was looking forward to experiencing some very simple pleasures back on Earth, including “the feeling of wind on my face”.
Continue reading...International Space Station astronauts play with fire for research
Tests to study behaviour of flames in zero gravity suggest fires could be more dangerous on moon than Earth
Playing with fire can be dangerous and never more so than when confined in a space capsule floating 250 miles above the Earth. But in the past week astronauts onboard the International Space Station have intentionally lit a series of blazes in research designed to study the behaviour of flames in zero gravity.
The scientists behind the experiment, called Confined Combustion, say it will help improve fire safety on the ISS and on future lunar missions by helping predict how a blaze might progress in low gravity conditions.
Continue reading...Nasa astronauts begin first ever all-female spacewalk
Christina Koch and Jessica Meir leave International Space Station to replace faulty device
Two Nasa astronauts have embarked on the first all-female space walk in a historic first.
Christina Koch and Jessica Meir floated feet-first out of the International Space Station’s Quest airlock on Friday lunchtime UK time, tasked with replacing a failed power control unit.
Continue reading...International Space Station hit by major power shortage
SpaceX delivery delayed after old power-switching unit malfunctions
The International Space Station has been hit by a major power shortage that has forced a delivery from SpaceX to be delayed.
SpaceX was supposed to launch a shipment on Wednesday. But an old power-switching unit malfunctioned at the space station on Monday and knocked two power channels offline. The six remaining power channels still worked normally, according to Nasa.
Continue reading...SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashes down successfully in Atlantic
Nasa’s quest to resume manned space flight from the US moves a step closer
The SpaceX commercial astronaut capsule has splashed down successfully in the Atlantic Ocean, marking a significant step in Nasa’s quest to resume manned space flight from the US.
The Crew Dragon capsule, whose lone occupant was a test dummy named Ripley, spent a week docked at the International Space Station (ISS) before returning to Earth on Friday morning.
Continue reading...SpaceX Crew Dragon docks at International Space Station
Capsule is the first US-made, designed-for-crew spacecraft to dock in eight years
SpaceX‘s new crew capsule has arrived at the International Space Station, completing its second milestone in just over a day.
No one was onboard the Dragon capsule that launched on Saturday on its first test flight, only an dummy.
Continue reading...SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launches successfully
Launch brings US plans to resume sending people into space in own spacecraft closer
Astronauts could be flying again from US soil as early as this summer after the flawless launch of SpaceX’s privately built Crew Dragon capsule opened “a new era in American excellence”, according to the head of the space agency Nasa.
Related: Spacewatch: Nasa to launch new crewed craft in 2019
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