News Archive / Tagged: Expedition 54

• Space station trio returns to Earth after record-setting mission

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 28th, 2018

  Three members of the International Space Station’s Expedition 54 crew returned to Earth on Feb. 27, 2018. Riding in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft, the trio blazed through the atmosphere and landed on the snow-covered Kazakh Steppe in Kazakhstan.

• Robonaut2 returning to Earth later this year

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 23rd, 2018

  A humanoid robot designed to eventually help International Space Station astronauts with various tasks will be returning to Earth for repairs, according to an IEEE Spectrum report. Robonaut2 was launched in 2011, but ran into problems in 2014 after an upgrade revealed unforeseen problems.

• Spacewalking astronauts finish Canadarm2 work at breakneck speed

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 16th, 2018

  Two astronauts—one American, the other Japanese—suited up to venture outside the International Space Station to finish work upgrading the outpost’s robotic Canadarm2, a process that has now involved five extravehicular activities (EVAs) over some four months.

• Progress MS-08 cargo spacecraft arrives at ISS with food, fuel and supplies

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 15th, 2018

  After spending two days catching up with the International Space Station, the Progress MS-08 Russian cargo freighter docked with the orbiting outpost, bringing several metric tons of supplies for Expedition 54 and future crews.

• Cosmonauts perform longest Russian spacewalk to upgrade high-gain antenna

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 3rd, 2018

  In the second spacewalk of 2018, two Russian cosmonauts went outside the International Space Station to upgrade an electronics box on the Lira high-gain antenna at the aft end of the outpost.

• Software patch fixes Canadarm2 anomaly, US EVA-48 postponed

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 28th, 2018

  NASA has postponed its planned Jan. 29, 2018, spacewalk to swap a latching end effector (LEE) on the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 after robotics specialists devised a software patch to fix a communications anomaly with the recently-installed mechanism.

• NASA reports problem with newly installed robotic arm ‘hand’

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 27th, 2018

  Just days after installing a new grapple fixture on the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2, NASA is working on a plan to re-install the old latching end effector (LEE) on an upcoming spacewalk after a problem was found with the new mechanism.

• Astronauts replace Canadarm2 ‘hand’ on ISS in first spacewalk of 2018

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 23rd, 2018

  The first spacewalk of 2018, U.S. EVA 47, is now in the history books after two NASA astronauts completed a nearly 7.5 hour extravehicular activity to replace an aging latching end effector on the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2.

• NASA planning 2 spacewalks to replace Canadarm2 ‘hand’ despite US government shutdown

  Bart LeahyJanuary 20th, 2018

  Despite budget battles in Washington, D.C. resulting in a temporary shutdown of the U.S. federal government, NASA and the International Space Station's Expedition 54 crew still plan to carry out a pair of spacewalks to replace one of the 16-year-old "hands" on the outpost's robotic arm.

• SpaceX’s CRS-13 Dragon capsule departs ISS after 4-week stay

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 13th, 2018

  The first visiting vehicle activity at the International Space Station in 2018 concluded Jan. 13 with the unberthing, departure and splashdown of SpaceX’s CRS-13 Dragon cargo ship after spending nearly a month at the orbiting outpost.

• 2 external instruments installed on ISS over New Year’s holiday

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 3rd, 2018

  While many around the world celebrated the arrival of 2018 with champagne, fireworks and social gatherings, robotics operators at NASA’s Johnson Space Center rang in the New Year by working to remotely install new external instruments recently brought to International Space Station inside the trunk of SpaceX’s CRS-13 Dragon cargo spacecraft.

• Progress MS-06 freighter undocks from ISS

  Derek RichardsonDecember 28th, 2017

  Closing out visiting vehicle comings-and-goings for 2017, the unpiloted Russian Progress MS-06 cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station in preparation for an eventual deorbit into Earth’s atmosphere.

• 3-person Soyuz MS-07 docks with ISS

  Derek RichardsonDecember 19th, 2017

  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.

• CRS-13 Dragon berthed with International Space Station

  Derek RichardsonDecember 17th, 2017

  Just 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.

• Soyuz MS-07 crew begins two-day trek toward ISS

  Derek RichardsonDecember 17th, 2017

  Just 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.