Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 22, 2024
In a significant milestone for European space exploration, ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt, along with colleagues Michael Lopez-Alegria, Walter Villadei, and Alper Gezeravci, embarked on the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), docking with the International Space Station at 10:57 GMT on Saturday, January 20. This event marked the beginning of what is known as the Muninn mission, setting a precedent for f

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 22, 2024
In a significant advancement for China's burgeoning space sector, the Zhuque-3 reusable rocket has successfully completed its first vertical return technology test at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This achievement marks a crucial step forward for the maiden flight of the country's first stainless steel liquid carrier rocket, heralding a new era of cost-efficient and environmentally consci

Washington (AFP) Jan 19, 2024
The head of the American space company whose lunar lander failed this week in its mission to reach the Moon expressed optimism Friday that the next attempt would achieve its goal. "I am more confident than ever now that our next mission will be successful and land on the surface of the Moon," Astrobotic CEO John Thornton told a news conference, highlighting challenges his team had overcome i

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 21, 2024
The astromaterials curation team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has at last completed the intricate process of disassembling the OSIRIS-REx sampler head, revealing the remaining sample of the asteroid within. This development marks a crucial step in the OSIRIS-REx mission, a project aimed at understanding the origins and evolution of our solar system. Asteroids like Bennu are co

Washington (AFP) Jan 21, 2024
NASA has re-established contact with its tiny helicopter on Mars, the US space agency said Saturday, after an unexpected outage prompted fears that the hard-working craft had finally met its end. Ingenuity, a drone about 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) tall, arrived on Mars in 2021 aboard the rover Perseverance and became the first motorized craft to fly autonomously on another planet. Data from t

Tokyo (AFP) Jan 20, 2024
Japan on Saturday became the fifth nation to achieve a soft lunar landing, but said its "Moon Sniper" spacecraft was running out of power due to a solar battery problem. After a nail-biting 20-minute descent, space agency JAXA said its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) had touched down and communication had been established. But without the solar cells functioning, JAXA official

Washington (AFP) Jan 20, 2024
An all-European crew including Turkey's first astronaut arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday on a voyage chartered by Axiom Space. Dubbed Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), it is the company's third launch to the space laboratory and the first where all three of the paid seats were bought by national agencies, rather than wealthy individuals. The spacecraft docked at the ISS at 10

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ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt took off on 18 January 2024 as part of the Axiom-3 crew for a 14-day mission to the International Space Station. After 36 hours catching up to the Space Station, the Dragon docked to the Space Station, the seal between the two tested and finally Marcus started his Muninn mission as he entered the International Space Station. ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen along with the rest of the crew of Expedition 70 was waiting to welcome them to space!

UPDATE: Tune in on Saturday 20 January from 07:30 GMT (08:30 CET) to see ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt dock to the International Space Station for his first mission, Muninn. Watch the action live on ESA Web TV 2 and ESA YouTube.