Pic of the Week: The Last SpaceX Dragon Approaching the ISS?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, nosecone open, preparing to dock with the ISS on April 22, 2025. (NASA)

This week’s image shows the latest, but hopefully not last, docking of the SpaceX Dragon with the International Space Station (ISS) back in April.

Future flights of the Dragon to the ISS are now in question due to an ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, presumably over a bloated House budget bill. However, the issues also involve budget bill cuts to EV programs, the dropping of Musk’s friend as NASA administrator, and Musk’s departure from Washington after a less than sensational attempt to cut government programs.

In a tweet earlier today, Musk stated:

In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.

Oh yeah, Trump also threatened to end all SpaceX contracts, so I guess the Dragon would go anyway.

This is serious stuff, particularly after Musk and Trump attached Boeing earlier this year for “abandoning NASA astronauts on the ISS,” which was not true. Who is doing the abandoning now?

It appears Musk is already backing down, but the damage is done. He is demonstrating how NASA’s programs are under the control of this one, erratic man. Can things really go back to normal?

Stay tuned for more. I really just wanted to post a pic, but I had to say more today.

Pic of the Week: Flower Moon from the ISS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Flower Moon captured this month by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) . (NASA/Nichole Ayers)

While it almost looks like the Death Star on the horizon, you are looking at this month’s Flower Moon, as captured by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers from the ISS.

This month’s Moon was called the “Three-Milkings Month” back in 703 AD, but now it has a Native American name, either the Flower Moon, the Corn Moon, or even the Corn Planting Moon.

You can read more than you would ever want to know about this Moon via this NASA page.

Space Quote: Escaping the Aches and Pains of Earth

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA astronaut Don Pettit. (NASA)

“You’re floating, and your body, all these little aches and pains, and everything heal up, and you feel like you’re 30 years old again and free of pain, free of everything, and ready to do your mission work. So, I love being in orbit. It’s a great place to be for me and my physiology.”

-Comment by NASA astronaut Don Pettit during a press conference after his return to Earth from the International Space Station. The 70-year-old spent 220 days on the station. His 70th birthday was the same day he returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Space Stories: Safe Return of Astronaut & Cosmonauts from ISS, Resupply of ISS Successful, and Continuing Concerns About ISS Risks

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Expedition 72 NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner back to Earth from the ISS on April 19, 2025 (April 20, 2025, Kazakhstan time). (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Here are some recent stories of interest related to the International Space Station (ISS).

—ABC News: “Capsule with 1 American, 2 Russians returns to Earth from International Space Station“

A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Sunday in Kazakhstan, ending their seven-month research assignment. According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit of U.S. space agency NASA landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. (0120 GMT). Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing was a trouble-free descent.

—Space.com: “SpaceX CRS-32 Dragon Cargo Capsule Arrives at the ISS with 6,700 Pounds of Supplies“

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (April 22), wrapping up about 28 hours traveling on orbit to close the gap between them. Elon Musk’s company launched its 32nd robotic resupply mission to the ISS for NASA early Monday morning (April 21), sending a Dragon freighter aloft from Florida’s Space Coast.

—Gizmodo: “The ISS Is in the ‘Riskiest Period of Its Existence,’ NASA Safety Panel Warns“

During a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) held on Thursday, members of a NASA safety panel stated that there are growing risks threatening the space station as it nears the end of its use, SpaceNews reported. “The ISS has entered the riskiest period of its existence,” Rich Williams, a member of the panel, said during the meeting. At the top of the list of growing risks is a leak where air has been escaping at an increasing rate from a tunnel that connects a docking port to a Russian module.

Space Stories: A New Crew Arrives at the ISS, More Changes at NASA, and Student Rover Competitions

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 73 crew members on April 8, 2025 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—South China Morning Post: “Rocket Carrying NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim, 2 Russian Cosmonauts Docks with Space Station“

Jonny Kim, a former Navy SEAL, Harvard Medical School graduate and now a NASA astronaut, blasted off with two cosmonaut crewmates aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket early Tuesday, chased down the International Space Station and moved in for a picture-perfect docking three hours after liftoff. With veteran commander Sergey Ryzhikov, 50, at the controls, flanked on the left by rookie cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky, 32, and on the right by Kim, 41, the Soyuz MS-27/73S ferry ship rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:47 a.m. EDT (10:47 a.m. local time).

—Politico: “NASA May Consolidate Major Facilities Due to Trump Cuts“

NASA may consolidate work in some regional offices, shifting thousands of jobs, but has no plans for massive layoffs or the elimination of major departments, acting administrator Janet Petro said Monday. The changes in the structure of the space agency’s work force reflect both an effort to cut costs and improve collaboration as the Trump administration pushes ambitious space goals, Petro told POLITICO.

—NASA: “NASA to Kick Off 31st Annual Rover Competition“

NASA’s annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge returns Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, with student teams competing at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge course near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In addition to the traditional human-powered rover division, this year’s competition expands the challenge to include a remote-control division…Participating teams represent 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations.