. 24/7 Space News .
SPACE TRAVEL
ISS Expedition 54 crew land safely in Kazakhstan
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Feb 28, 2018

illustration only

Three members of the Expedition 54 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), including NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba, returned to Earth on Tuesday after months of performing research and spacewalks in low-Earth orbit.

Vande Hei, Acaba and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos landed at 9:31 p.m. EST (8:31 a.m. Feb. 28 in Kazakhstan) southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

Their time on station marked the beginning of the first long-term increase in crew size on the U.S. segment, enabling NASA to double the time dedicated to research and achieve a record-setting week of research that surpassed 100 hours. Highlights from this research include investigations into the manufacturing of fiber optic filaments in microgravity, improving the accuracy of an implantable glucoses biosensor, and measuring the Sun's energy input to Earth.

The crew also welcomed four cargo spacecraft delivering several tons of supplies and research experiments. Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the station in November on the company's eighth commercial resupply mission, followed in December by SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on the company's thirteenth resupply mission. Two Russian ISS Progress cargo craft arrived at the station in October and February.

Vande Hei logged 168 days in space on this, his first, mission. He ventured outside the space station on four spacewalks to perform work that included replacing and lubricating the Latching End Effectors on both ends of the Canadarm2. Acaba completed one spacewalk to lubricate an end effector and install new cameras on the station's arm and truss. He now has accrued 306 days in space on three flights. Acaba and Vande Hei also participated in dozens of educational events while in space as part of NASA's Year of Education on Station.

Misurkin conducted one record-setting spacewalk with fellow cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to replace an electronics box for a high-gain communications antenna on the Zvezda service module in February. The spacewalk timed out at 8 hours and 13 minutes, the longest in Russian space program history. Misurkin now has spent 334 days in space on two flights.

Now operating the station are Expedition 55 crew members Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA, and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch March 21 and arrive at the space station two days later, returning the crew size to six.


Related Links
International Space Station
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SPACE TRAVEL
Cosmonaut, two US astronauts return to Earth from ISS
Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (AFP) Feb 28, 2018
Two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut returned to Earth on Wednesday, rounding off a mission of more than five months aboard the International Space Station. Alexander Misurkin of Russia's Roscosmos space agency and NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba touched down on steppe land southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan at the expected time of 0231 GMT. "All descent and landing operations went according to plan. The crew members that have returned to Earth are feeling well ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
ISS Expedition 54 crew land safely in Kazakhstan

Florida Poly developing Happy Suit for Astronauts

Shiseido researches stress in closed-off environments to simulate ISS conditions

Cosmonaut, two US astronauts return to Earth from ISS

SPACE TRAVEL
Arianespace Soyuz set to launch 4 more sats for SES O3b constellation

Millenium tapped for certification of Vulcan space launch systems

SLS Intertank loaded for shipment, structural testing

Space-X lobs Spanish military satellite into orbit

SPACE TRAVEL
Life in world's driest desert seen as sign of potential life on Mars

Mars Odyssey Observes Martian Moons

Atacama Desert study offers glimpse of what life on Mars could look like

Dormant desert life hints at possibilities on Mars

SPACE TRAVEL
China speeds up research, commercialization of space shuttles

Long March rockets on ambitious mission in 2018

Chinese taikonauts maintain indomitable spirit in space exploration: senior officer

China launches first shared education satellite

SPACE TRAVEL
Lockheed Martin Completes Foundation for Satellite Factory of the Future

Iridium Certus readies for takeoff with aviation service providers

Lockheed Martin Completes Assembly on Arabsat's Newest Communications Satellite

Goonhilly goes deep space

SPACE TRAVEL
Latest updates from NASA on IMAGE Recovery

Radioactive cylinder found on Lebanon coast: authority

Researchers demonstrate promising method for improving quantum information processing

Silk fibers could be high-tech 'natural metamaterials'

SPACE TRAVEL
Alien life in our Solar System? Study hints at Saturn's moon

Model based on hydrothermal sources evaluate possibility of life Jupiter's icy moon

When do aging brown dwarfs sweep the clouds away?

Proxima Centauri's no good, very bad day

SPACE TRAVEL
Chasing a stellar flash with assistance from GAIA

New Horizons captures record-breaking images in the Kuiper Belt

Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces

JUICE ground control gets green light to start development









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.