On March 02, 2024 (Beijing time) Chinese cosmonauts Tang Hongbo and Jiang Xinlin performed the spacewalk to complet the repair work on the solar wing of the “Tianhe” core module to eliminate the effects of the early impact of tiny particles in space. This was the first time that Chinese astronauts have completed the maintenance task on external systems of an orbiting spacecraft. During activities outside the spacecraft, the astronauts also checked the condition of the space station's cabin. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 52 minutes. It was the 3^rd spacewalk for Tang Hongbo and the 1^st spacewalk for Jiang Xinlin.

American astronaut Richard Harrison Truly passed away on February 27, 2024. He was 86 years old. He performed 2 space flights. He was the eighth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1989 to 1992. He was the first former astronaut to head the space agency.

On February 17, 2024 at 06:06 UTC, the Russian “Progress MS-26” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian “Zvezda” module. The spacecraft delivered about 2500 kilograms of cargo for the ISS crew.

On February 15, 2024 at 03:25 UTC, the “Progress MS-26” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier.

On February 13, 2024 the Russian “Progress MS-24” unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft drowned in the remote area of the Pacific.

On February 13, 2024 at 02:09 UTC the Russian “Progress MS-24” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station.

On February 9, 2024 at 13:30 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Freedom” (Axiom-3 mission) spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Daytona, Florida. The spacecraft delivered from the ISS to Earth US astronaut Michael López-Alegría, Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı, Swedish astronaut Marcus Wandt. They spent in space 21 days, 15 hours and 40 minutes. It was the first all-European commercial astronaut mission and Axiom Space’s third crewed mission to the ISS. 7 other ISS crew members – Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Loral O'Hara, Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa and Konstantin Borisov remained in orbit aboard the International Space Station as Expedition 70 crew members.

On February 7, 2024 at 14:20 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Freedom” (Axiom-3 mission) spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station to deliver to Earth 4 persons: the spacecraft Commander, US astronaut Michael López-Alegría, Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı, Swedish astronaut Marcus Wandt.

On February 1, 2024, the US "Cygnus” CRS-20 (NG-20, the S. S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson) private unmanned supply spacecraft was docked to the International Space Station (ISS). The Cygnus spacecraft was grappled by a robotic arm at 09:59 UTC. The cargo spacecraft was docked to the station’s "Unity” module at 12:14 UTC. The spacecraft delivered about 3700 kilograms of supplies to the Space Station.

On January 30, 2024 at 17:07 UTC the "Cygnus” privately owned U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (LC40), Florida, USA. The space vehicle was orbited by the “Falcon-9FT” rocket-carrier. The "Cygnus” NG-20 (the S. S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson) unmanned supply spacecraft, built by Northrop Grumman under the Commercial Resupply Services II (CRS-2) contract with NASA, was orbited on its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It was the first time a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Cygnus spacecraft for Northrop Grumman. The winding down of the use of Russian-made engines forced the retirement of the “Antares-230” rocket. This was also the first t ... Read more »