logo
Soyuz spacecraft with US-Russian crew lands on ISS

Soyuz spacecraft with US-Russian crew lands on ISS

Yahoo10-04-2025

A Soyuz spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan carrying two Russian and one US astronaut landed on the International Space Station on Tuesday where the crew are set to carry out 50 scientific experiments.
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American and two Russians docked at the International Space Station Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said on Tuesday.
The MS-27 craft, which was decorated to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, took off at 10:47 am (0547 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan , according to televised images shown by the Russian Roscosmos space agency.
It entered orbit a few minutes later.
Onboard were Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, as well as NASA astronaut Jonny Kim.
They are due to carry out 50 scientific experiments in space, Roscosmos said, before returning to Earth on December 9.
A record of around 2,500 tourists watched the launch from Baikonur, Roscosmos said.
Russia has been renting the site from Kazakhstan since the fall of the Soviet Union more than 43 years ago.
Moscow pays Almaty $115 million a year and has a contract until 2050.
Space is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States, whose relationship deteriorated significantly after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:Launch of Europe's Ariane 6 space rocket postponed due to 'anomaly' on the groundSpaceX launches first crewed spaceflight over Earth's polar regions

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Moons And Rings Of ‘Weird' Uranus
Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Moons And Rings Of ‘Weird' Uranus

Forbes

timean hour ago

  • Forbes

Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Moons And Rings Of ‘Weird' Uranus

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped new images of the solar system's seventh planet, Uranus, revealing not only its rings but new secrets about its intriguing moons and how its magnetic field works. The five largest moons of Uranus – sometimes called the 'classical moons' — appear in a jagged, ... More roughly diagonal line from top right to bottom left. These are labeled Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Miranda and Ariel. Also visible is Ariel's shadow, which is superimposed on Uranus. Faint, ghostly, Saturn-like rings encircle the blue ice giant. Hubble's new ultraviolet image of Uranus, taken with its Advanced Camera for Surveys, shows the gas giant planet in space with its five largest moons — often referred to as its 'classical moons' — in a jagged line. The moons — Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Miranda and Ariel — were captured in the image, which was published on June 10. Ariel can be seen transiting the disk of Uranus, with its shadow apparent on the planet's blue methane-rich atmosphere. All may be 'ocean worlds,' which could host life. The image also shows faint, ghostly rings around Uranus. According to NASA, Uranus has 13 faint rings in total, divided into two distinct sets. In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope imaged the rings of Uranus and six of its 27 moons and is expected to do so again. The five largest moons of Uranus – sometimes called the 'classical moons' — appear in a jagged, ... More roughly diagonal line from top right to bottom left. These are labeled Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Miranda and Ariel. Also visible is Ariel's shadow, which is superimposed on Uranus. Faint, ghostly, Saturn-like rings encircle the blue ice giant. This new study, presented during a press conference at AAS 246 in Anchorage, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, examines the magnetic environment of Uranus and its largest moons. It reveals surprising findings. Scientists had expected that radiation from the magnetic field of Uranus would darken the trailing hemispheres of its moons, but an analysis of the surfaces of Uranus' four major moons — Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon — found the opposite. That suggests that Uranus' magnetosphere might not interact much with its large moons, and it may be either dormant or much more complicated than previously thought. 'Uranus is weird, so it's always been uncertain how much the magnetic field actually interacts with its satellites,' said Richard Cartwright, principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. 'For starters, it is tilted by 98 degrees relative to the ecliptic." That means it rolls on its side as it completes its 84-Earth-year orbit of the sun. The two ice giant planets in the solar system — Uranus and Neptune — remain unexplored, having had only brief flybys by Voyager 2 in 1986 and 1989, respectively. Planetary scientists' lack of detailed knowledge about ice giants (large planets composed mainly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) has become more significant in recent years, particularly with research into exoplanets — planets that orbit a star other than the sun. According to research, the most typical size of exoplanets in the Milky Way is between that of Earth and Neptune, which are likely to be ice giants. If astronomers are to understand other star systems, they need a baseline — and that means sending a mission to Uranus or Neptune. Hopes are fading for a much-needed NASA flagship mission to Uranus. Despite being recommended as NASA's highest priority large mission in 2022 by the National Academy of Sciences, the likelihood of a $4.2 billion orbiter — with an atmospheric probe to dive beneath its clouds — is now small in the light of a 'destructive proposal' by the Trump Administration to cut almost $6 billion (24%) from the space agency's budget. Scientists want NASA to send the mission in 2032, with a planned arrival at Uranus in 2045. The next best launch window is in the 2090s.

Harvard Gains More Allies In Its Lawsuit Against Trump Administration
Harvard Gains More Allies In Its Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

Forbes

timean hour ago

  • Forbes

Harvard Gains More Allies In Its Lawsuit Against Trump Administration

Several more parties have announced their support for Harvard University's lawsuit against the Trump administration's freezing of more than $2 billion in federal grant money. Last week, 18 of the nation's leading research universities requested that a federal judge allow them to file a legal brief supporting Harvard's lawsuit to recover the funding being withheld by the Trump administration. That request was granted. Now, several more institutions, higher education organizations and coalitions —including teaching hospitals, Harvard alums, and state attorneys general — are coming forward to file amicus curiae (or 'friend of the court') briefs in support of the nation's oldest and wealthiest university. Here's a quick summary of four of the more noteworthy filings. Six more institutions have joined the original 18 universities that requested that Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who's presiding over the federal lawsuit, allow them to file an amicus brief. On Monday, that coalition filed a 19-page amicus brief, that lays out how funding cuts for scientific research endangers a 'longstanding, mutually beneficial arrangement between universities and the American public. Terminating funding disrupts ongoing projects, ruins experiments and datasets, destroys the careers of aspiring scientists, and deters investment in the long-term research that only the academy—with federal funding—can pursue, threatening the pace of progress and undermining American leadership in the process.' Signing the brief were: American University; Boston University; Brown University; California Institute of Technology; Colorado State University; Dartmouth College; Georgetown University; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michigan State University; Oregon State University; Princeton University; Rice University; Rutgers University; Stanford University; Tufts University; University of Delaware; University of Denver; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pittsburgh; and Yale University. Attorneys General Also on Monday, a group of 21 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of a summary judgment in Harvard's favor. They argue that, in addition to endangering Harvard's research, the funding freeze threatens the economies and health of their states. Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin were the amici states filing the brief. They wrote that, 'beyond threatening current jobs and businesses, such a freeze would halt career development for promising new scientists and debilitate the pipeline for future innovators in Amici States. It would also prevent research into lifesaving medicines and transformative technologies with potential to improve the health and life of Amici State residents. In short, the federal government's current attack on research universities is, in multiple respects, an attack on the states themselves.' A dozen Boston-area teaching hospitals filed their own amicus brief claiming that the grant terminations at Harvard 'will have the consequence of threatening the Hospitals' work to continually advance medical science.' According to the hospitals, 'the funding cuts will have the unintended, yet real, consequence of damaging the foundation upon which the Hospitals develop medical breakthroughs for their patients. Basic science research—often conducted at universities like Harvard—enables hospitals to do clinical research and develop breakthrough treatments or cures for disease. The Hospitals expand on the insights derived from the basic science research to launch clinical trials, and ultimately, treat and cure patients. The termination of Harvard's federal research grants threatens to stunt future discoveries and medical advances.' Former Harvard students have also joined the fray. More than 12,000 Harvard alumni filed a 14-page brief, condemning the 'Government's reckless and unlawful attempts to assert control over the core functions of Harvard and its fellow institutions of higher education.' The alumni include individuals from Harvard's graduating classes for every single year from 1950 to 2025, and they represent all 50 states, D.C., U.S. territories, and dozens of countries around the world. 'The Government's escalating attacks—and this case—are about much more than funding. The Government strikes at the very core of Harvard: the longstanding practices and values of openness, free inquiry, and mutual respect, and its founding commitment to veritas—the quest for truth above all,' the brief states. And the alumni contend that 'the Government's end goal is to narrow our freedoms to learn, teach, think, and act, and to claim for itself the right to dictate who may enjoy those freedoms.' Harvard has asked that Judge Burroughs grant a summary judgment in the case before September 3, claiming that after that deadline, the administration will argue that it can't reinstate the frozen funds. Oral arguments on the matter are scheduled for July 21.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store