Image (Credit): The SpaceX Dragon, with its nose cone open and carrying four Crew-13 members, approaches the International Space Station for a docking yesterday evening. (NASA)
A new ISS crew was launched from Cape Canaveral at 11:10 a.m. EDT Thursday, October 1, 2026 . Crew-13, consisting of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The ride to the space station was scheduled to be about 8 hours. The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the crew safely docked with the ISS at 9:19 p.m. EDT.
The new crew will replace Crew‑12 consisting of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. These four crew members will be returning to Earth as soon as Monday, weather permitting.
Image (Credit): From left to right, Crew-13 NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. (NASA)
An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station Saturday carrying supplies and equipment for the orbiting outpost. The Progress M-25 docked at the space-facing port of Russia’s Poisk module at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 UTC). It circled the station before making its final approach using the automated Kurs rendezvous system. Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina were standing by to take manual control of the approach using remote controls, but everything went smoothly as the craft closed in, 260 miles above the Black Sea. A series of hooks inside the docking mechanism were driven closed to complete the docking operation.
Astronomers have confirmed the youngest known planet yet, a world less than 1 million years old that is still surrounded by the gas and dust from which it formed. The planet, called Elias 2-24 b, was identified using observations preserved in NASA-funded archives. It is still orbiting within its young star’s dusty disk, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study planet formation while it is still happening.
French President Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to develop its own way of sending astronauts into space within a decade. Europe already builds rockets and satellites and sends astronauts to the International Space Station – but it still relies on American spacecraft to get them there. As the global space sector expands, the question is whether Europe should invest in closing that gap, and what it would take to do so.
Image (Credit): An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts head to the ISS aboard a Soyuz rocket launched earlier today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
With their arrival, Expedition 74 will come to a close by month’s end and Expedition 75 will begin.
The Expedition 74 crew currently on the ISS includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams; European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev.
Expedition 75 will begin once NASA’s Williams and Roscosmos’s Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev depart the station after an eight month mission.
With all of the attention on the Chinese and race to the Moon, it is sometimes easy to forget that Russian cosmonauts have been working together with NASA aboard the ISS for over 25 years. The first crew on the ISS in November 2000 was composed of NASA astronaut William M. Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri P. Gidzenko and Sergei K. Krikalev (shown below). The three were the Expedition 1 crew, and stayed aboard the station until March 2001.
Image (Credit): Expedition 1 crew members (from left to right) Sergei K. Krikalev, Yuri P. Gidzenko, and William M. Shepherd in the ISS’s Zvezda Service Module. (NASA)
Image (Credit): Artist rendering of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in orbit with parts of spacecraft highlighted. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab)
NASA will soon attempt something it’s never done before: Save a space telescope from falling back to Earth using a servicing robot. It sounds like something right out of a sci-fi film, but NASA is hoping it might be enough to keep its sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in action a little longer. According to the US space agency, the mission could launch as soon as this Tuesday 30 June, 6:17 am EDT (10:17 UTC), and we’ll be keeping you updated on the progress. If this mission works, the much-beloved Hubble Space Telescope is one of the next targets to have its life extended.
Saudi Arabia has announced plans for AlUla Manara, a major astronomical observatory and research centre in the kingdom’s north-west…AlUla Manara is planned to include large telescopes, observation platforms, exhibitions, interactive experiences, a planetarium, a restaurant and a visitor and research centre. The project is intended to support scientific research as well as public astronomy experiences. No opening date has been announced.
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed its forces struck the Vladimir Space Communications Center near Gus-Khrustalny on 22 June, destroying the main 25‑metre parabolic antenna, damaging satellite modem halls, multiplexers, and cooling systems. Additional damage to the Main Hardware and Software Complex and a key technical building severely degraded Russia’s satellite operations…The Vladimir facility plays a central role in Russia’s satellite communications, and its loss comes amid accusations that Moscow has manoeuvred satellites near European systems used by Ukraine, causing GPS disruption across Europe, Greenland, and Canada.
Image (Credit): Laika in a training capsule prior to her mission. (Sputnik / Alamy)
On this day in 1960, the Soviet Union sent two dogs into space on a sub-orbital flight – Otvazhnaya and Malyok. Both returned from the trip safely.
Between 1951 and 1966, it is estimated that the Soviets sent 48 dogs into space on both sub-orbital and orbital flights, while China sent only two dogs into space on sub-orbital flights. The United States did not send any dogs into space. Of the 48 Soviet dogs, 20 died in space. Both Chinese dogs survived.
Little Otvazhnaya, which means “brave” in Russian, flew on the most missions of any of the dogs. She flew on five sub-orbital missions between July 1959 and September 1960.
The most famous Soviet space dog, Laika (pictured above), was the first dog to fly on an orbital flight on November 3, 1957. She did not survive the mission.
One of the Russian canine cosmonauts has a link to the Kennedy family. Strelka, one of the first dogs to orbit the Earth and survive, had six puppies, including one named Pushinka, or “Fluffy.” Pushinka was presented as a gift to President John F. Kennedy’s family in 1961.
Image (Credit): Letter from President Kennedy to Soviet Chairman Krushchev thanking him for Pushinka. (JFK Library)
