Latest news with #Expedition71
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Expedition 72 crew lands in Kazakhstan
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, carrying Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, successfully returned to Earth, according to the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. The agency reported that the deorbiting and descent process proceeded normally. At 6:20 am Kazakhstan time (3:20 am CET), the Russian spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. The astronauts were on a mission in space spanning 220 days. During the course of their assignment, they spanned the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 150 million kilometres. Alexey Ovchinin completed his third spaceflight, Ivan Vagner his second, and Donald Pettit his fourth. NASA's Pettit served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72, and has accumulated a career total of 590 days in orbit The three formed the main crew of Expedition 72 on board the International Space Station and conducted dozens of scientific experiments during their mission. They first docked on the ISS on 11 September, 2024. The crew have been helicopter-lifted to the recovery staging city of Karaganda in Kazakhstan. Pettit will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia. On Friday, they handed the reigns of the ISS over to Expedition 73 crew, led by Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. The changing of the guard was marked by a change of command ceremony on board the station.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Expedition 72 crew lands in Kazakhstan
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, carrying Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, successfully returned to Earth, according to the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. The agency reported that the deorbiting and descent process proceeded normally. At 6:20 am Kazakhstan time (3:20 am CET), the Russian spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. The astronauts were on a mission in space spanning 220 days. During the course of their assignment, they spanned the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 150 million kilometres. Alexey Ovchinin completed his third spaceflight, Ivan Vagner his second, and Donald Pettit his fourth. NASA's Pettit served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72, and has accumulated a career total of 590 days in orbit The three formed the main crew of Expedition 72 on board the International Space Station and conducted dozens of scientific experiments during their mission. They first docked on the ISS on 11 September, 2024. The crew have been helicopter-lifted to the recovery staging city of Karaganda in Kazakhstan. Pettit will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia. On Friday, they handed the reigns of the ISS over to Expedition 73 crew, led by Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. The changing of the guard was marked by a change of command ceremony on board the station.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
'I miss the weather': NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore talk about extended stay on ISS
What was supposed to be a short test flight has turned into a nearly 1-year stay on the International Space Station for NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The extended stay in space has them pining for the simple pleasures of stepping outside, but there have been some perks. "It's been amazing to see what weather is going on around our planet," Williams told AccuWeather during a live interview from space. "We see a lot of lightning." A flash of lightning from a thunderstorm below the International Space Station. (NASA Earth Observatory) However, seeing the weather and being outside in the elements are two different things, and feeling the weather on their skin is one of the many things the astronauts are looking forward to after returning to Earth later this month. "I actually really do miss the weather," Williams said. "Part of the reasons I miss my dogs is I get to take them on a walk and when I take them on a walk, sometimes it's raining, sometimes it's windy, sometimes it's hot," she added. "I'm looking forward to feeling all that weather from Earth." This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) The weather is fairly consistent on the space station, with the thermostat set to 75 and humidity hovering around 40%. The only wind is the breeze from a fan or when floating through the station in microgravity. "You kind of miss the smell of fresh cut grass, and those type of things that just you kind of take for granted," Wilmore explained. "You don't have that up here, so [I'm] looking forward to just some of those basics." Williams and Wilmore blasted off from Florida on June 5, 2024, during a test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. After troubleshooting multiple issues, it was decided out of an abundance of caution for the astronauts to stay in space while Starliner returned to Earth without a crew. "Of course, you know, we came up here thinking we'd be only here for a little while and do our test flight, but then the added time here has allowed us to do all the science experiments," Williams told AccuWeather. "We've gone through a lot of holidays together. We've learned how to make cakes up here for each other. So it's been a lot of fun actually." In this image released by NASA, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, both Expedition 71 Flight Engineers, make pizza aboard the International Space Station's galley located inside the Unity module on Sept. 9, 2024. Items are attached to the galley using tape and velcro to keep them from flying away in the microgravity environment. (NASA via AP, File) The astronauts are slated to leave the ISS later this month and return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. "Opportunities for the betterment of mankind is what all this exploration is about, wherever it's taking place and to be able to take part in that, especially in such a wonderfully special place like this is, it's just a blessing," Wilmore said. NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
