News Archive / Tagged: Expedition 54
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Space station trio returns to Earth after record-setting mission
Derek RichardsonFebruary 28th, 2018Three 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.
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Robonaut2 returning to Earth later this year
Derek RichardsonFebruary 23rd, 2018A 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.
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Spacewalking astronauts finish Canadarm2 work at breakneck speed
Derek RichardsonFebruary 16th, 2018Two 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.
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Progress MS-08 cargo spacecraft arrives at ISS with food, fuel and supplies
Derek RichardsonFebruary 15th, 2018After 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.
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Cosmonauts perform longest Russian spacewalk to upgrade high-gain antenna
Derek RichardsonFebruary 3rd, 2018In 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.
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Software patch fixes Canadarm2 anomaly, US EVA-48 postponed
Derek RichardsonJanuary 28th, 2018NASA 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.
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NASA reports problem with newly installed robotic arm ‘hand’
Derek RichardsonJanuary 27th, 2018Just 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.
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Astronauts replace Canadarm2 ‘hand’ on ISS in first spacewalk of 2018
Derek RichardsonJanuary 23rd, 2018The 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.
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NASA planning 2 spacewalks to replace Canadarm2 ‘hand’ despite US government shutdown
Bart LeahyJanuary 20th, 2018Despite 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.
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SpaceX’s CRS-13 Dragon capsule departs ISS after 4-week stay
Derek RichardsonJanuary 13th, 2018The 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.
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2 external instruments installed on ISS over New Year’s holiday
Derek RichardsonJanuary 3rd, 2018While 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.
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Progress MS-06 freighter undocks from ISS
Derek RichardsonDecember 28th, 2017Closing 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.
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3-person Soyuz MS-07 docks with ISS
Derek RichardsonDecember 19th, 2017The 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.
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CRS-13 Dragon berthed with International Space Station
Derek RichardsonDecember 17th, 2017Just 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.
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Soyuz MS-07 crew begins two-day trek toward ISS
Derek RichardsonDecember 17th, 2017Just 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.