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

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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.

Is Russia Making a Separate Peace with Russia?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The planet Mars. (NASA)

While the current White House discussions with Russia regarding its invasion of Ukraine has already raised some eyebrows, the Ukrainian newspaper The Kyiv Independent has reported that Russia appears to be making a separate offer to Elon Musk.

The newspaper reports that Russia has offered Mr. Musk a “small-sized nuclear power plant” for a future mission to Mars. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, called Mr. Musk a “great visionary.”

The newspaper also notes that Mr. Dmitriev has plans for a set of separate talks with Mr. Musk, stating:

Russia seeks cooperation with Musk’s SpaceX company in developing Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, and state-run nuclear energy company Rosatom.

Given that both President Trump and Mr. Musk need constant praise, it seems the Russians know who to push the buttons of both men. Of course, the Starlink system assisting the Ukranian military has been a Russian irritant from the very beginning, so you can assume any offer to Mr. Musk will come with a price tag.

Of course, maybe it makes sense to send Mr. Musk and his DOGE team to Russia now to assist with the restructuring of Roscosmos. That may be the best way to save NASA from his “vision” while ensuring Russia will not be a competitor for a very long time.

Russian Cargo Heads to the ISS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Launch of Russia’s Progress MS-30 lifting off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA)

While things are still unstable with the Russians here on Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions continue. Yesterday saw the launch of the Progress MS-30 cargo spacecraft from Kazakhstan. The supplies should be at the ISS by late tomorrow.

Whatever is happening between the US and Russia with regards to Ukrainian negotiations, it is good to see that space science is still taking place in the background.

It’s business as usual. Let’s keep it up.he

Update: The Progress MS-30 has successfully arrived at the ISS.

Moonshot: Russia and the Costs of Failure?

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Yuri Borisov, who has red Roscosmos since July 2022, was dismissed from his position last Thursday. It was called a normal rotation. However, you may recall the failed Russian attempt to put its Luna-25 lander on the Moon in August 2023, which happened during Mr. Borisov’s tenure.

His replacement is Dmitry Bakanov, who served as a deputy transport minister. Mr. Bakanov also ran the Gonets Satellite System company before joining the government. Gonets is more-or-less the Russian version of SpaceX’s Starlink.

Roscosmos has been struggling the last few years with troubled missions, including a leaking in one of its International Space Station (ISS) modules and cancelled partnerships with other nations due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That said, its Soyuz rockets and spacecraft continue to be major components supporting the ISS.

ISS Successfully Resupplied by Russian Mission

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Image (Credit): Russia’s MS-19 Mission approaching the ISS yesterday. (NASA)

The International Space Station (ISS) had another visitor on Saturday morning – this time a Russian Soyuz capsule bringing about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the station as part of its Progress MS-29 mission (Progress 90 mission to NASA).

The Russian News Agency provided a list of items delivered to the ISS and also noted that the resupply mission also included Christmas gifts for the crew.

Here are the items delivered:

…869 kg of refueling propellant, 420 liters of potable water and 43 kg of pressurized nitrogen, and also 1,155 kg of material and equipment in the dry cargo hold, in particular, for experiments dubbed Vampire (growing crystals in an electric vacuum furnace), BTN-Neutron-2 (studying the neutron spectrum) and 3D Print (3D printing of polymer materials).

It nice that the Russians took the time to assist Santa with his gift giving.

Of course, the U.S. Department of Defense’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be tracking the actions of Santa here on Earth this year, so be sure to visit the site closer to Christmas next month.