Television: Season Five of For All Mankind

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Apple TV

If you thought last season of For All Mankind was hair-raising with the disasters and battles on Mars, wait until you see what happens this season.

This trailer from Apple TV gives you a taste of the drama coming to your television on March 27th. We see the return of many of our favorite characters (those who survived) as well as a few new ones.

The season picks up years after the “Martians” hijack an asteroid intended for Earth, thereby giving the Martian economy plenty of mining revenue. Apple TV states:

Happy Valley has grown into a thriving colony with thousands of residents and a base for new missions that will take us even further into the solar system. But with the nations of Earth now demanding law and order on the Red Planet, friction continues to build between the people who live on Mars and their former home.

It did not take long for the new Martians to seek independence. We may want to keep that in mind as we continue to allow Mr. Musk to be the spokesperson for the colonization of Mars. He does not play well with others on this planet, so good luck with him running the show on Mars.

Anyway, the series offered plenty of ideas regarding a space race for a lunar base followed by a space race for Mars. The only odd part of this series is that while the USSR and North Korea are present on Mars, we hear almost nothing about China and its space program.

As NASA contemplates a whole new approach to the Moon and Mars (as highlighted just today), it’s fun to watch a show where the space travel timetable is faster and the private sector is more engaged with its own separate mission to Mars. Again, I can picture this happening with SpaceX, where Blue Origin takes the lead on the Moon and Musk takes all of his marbles so he can proceed to Mars on his own.

One thing we can bet on with our expansion into space, regardless of the timetable, is that mankind’s foibles will be front and center in any of these space missions. The hardware issues will be easy to solve compared to dealing with the egos and emotions of space-bound humanity.

In the meantime, while we await the real thing, sit back and enjoy Apple TV’s version of our future in space.

Note: Apple TV announced earlier today that the sixth season of the series will be the last.

Russia Resupplying the International Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress 94 mission just prior to launch. (Roscosmos)

The Russians successfully launched a cargo shipment of food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today. The Roscosmos Progress 94 spacecraft left the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Not everything was perfect, but there is no need to worry. An antenna issue may compromise the unmanned attaching to the ISS on Tuesday morning, but manual controls are available. The Russians are more than able to perform this tasks.

The Progress 94 spacecraft was originally slated for a December 2025 launch, but it had to be delayed due to earlier rocket damage at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. With repairs completed, things appear to be back to normal at the site.

You can watch the entire launch via the NASA site on YouTube.

Launch of Crew-12 to ISS Goes Without a Hitch

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA’s Crew-12 launches toward the ISS via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 13, 2026. (NASA)

The International Space Station’s (ISS) Crew-12 is safely on its way. As NASA Administrator Isaacman noted:

With Crew-12 safely on orbit, America and our international partners once again demonstrated the professionalism, preparation, and teamwork required for human spaceflight.

The launch carried NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The four crew members should climb aboard the ISS tomorrow afternoon.

This crew replaces Crew-11, which left the space station earlier than expected last month due to a medical emergency.

Image (Credit): Crew-12 sitting in the SpaceX Dragon capsule in preparation for this week’s launch. From left to right you have Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Mier, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot. (NASA)

Update: The four member Crew-12 are now safely aboard the ISS.

ISS Astronauts on Their Way Home as Part of Medical Evacuation

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The official portrait of the four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission aboard the ISS. From left, are Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. (NASA)

The Crew-11 mission departed the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today for their trip home. The four astronauts that are part of this medical evacuation – NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov – are expected to splash down off the coast of California early Thursday morning.

Here is NASA’s schedule of events from yesterday covering both days:

Wednesday, Jan. 14

  • 3 p.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.
  • 3:30 p.m. – Hatch closing
  • 5 p.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.
  • 5:20 p.m. – Undocking

Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will distribute audio-only communications between Crew-11, the space station, and flight controllers during Dragon’s transit away from the orbital complex.

Thursday, Jan. 15

  • 2:15 a.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.
  • 2:51 a.m. – Deorbit burn
  • 3:41 a.m. – Splashdown
  • 5:45 a.m. – NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will lead a Return to Earth news conference streaming live on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.

The remaining member of Expedition 74 will be commanded by Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who will remain on board with Flight Engineers Sergei Mikaev (Roscosmos) and Chris Williams (NASA). The Crew-12 mission may be moved up to cover the gap caused by this early departure.

NASA is keeping quite about the underlying medical conditions, yet something will probably need to be said sooner rather than later. Maybe the news conference tomorrow will give us a few more details.

Who is Currently in Space?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: https://whoisinspace.com/

With all the talk about the current set of astronauts returning early from the International Space Station (ISS) due to medical issues as well as last year’s issue with Chinese astronauts stuck on their station, it is hard to keep track of who is in space these days.

Hence, you may want to stay up to date on those floating in space by using this website – https://whoisinspace.com/. As of today, there are 10 humans in space – 6 on the ISS (3 from the US, 3 from Russia, and 1 from Japan) and 3 on China’s Tiangong space station.

As shown in the image above, the site also gives some stats on the crews, such as the mission that brought them to the station as well as each person total amount of time in space.

Just think of it as a Who’s Who listing for low Earth orbit.