Hasta La Gadget!

Just a week or so after Expedition 34 left the International Space Station, a new set of crew members have joined the three already on board. Expedition 35 successfully docked to the International Space Station last night at 10:28 pm ET carrying one American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts. The Soyuz capsule launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at around 4:30 pm ET.

This was the first launch in which a manned flight made an “express” route towards the International Space Station, cutting down flight time from around two days to just six hours. Previously, Russian Progress cargo vehicles have made the express flights, but this is the first time that a manned flight has done so.

After docking to the ISS at approximately 10:30 pm ET, the capsule opened its hatch and was welcomed by the ISS at 12:35 am ET. So, in total, it took around eight hours to get from the ground to inside the space station — a full day’s work. The crew joined ISS Commander Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn of NASA, and Roman Romanenko of Roscosmos, who have in been the ISS since December 21, 2012.

There’s a total of six crew members now aboard the ISS, making it slightly more crowded than before, but Hadfield, Marshburn, and Romanenko will return to Earth in May aboard the Soyuz capsule that Expedition 35 came up in last night. Three additional crew members will join Cassidy and cosmonauts in late May. Cassidy, Vinogradov, and Misurkin are scheduled to return to Earth in September.

Expedition 35 crew successfully docks to the International Space Station is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today the SpaceX capsule that’d three weeks ago visited the International Space Station has splashed down into the Pacific Ocean. This trip was planned and executed precisely, with NASA’s announcement of a landing (today) being issued back on the 22nd of this month. What we’ve got inside of this lovely machine is a set of science samples from the space station from areas of human research, biology and biotechnology studies, and physical science investigations, as well as education activities.

The landing was called successful this morning and right around the full 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms) will be collected and studied into the future. One of the areas these particular samples are being used is in the study of long-lasting spaceflight’s impact on the human body. Another is the study of plants as they’ve been grown on the space station, these samples being set for aiding in growing better and more fruitful plants in the future both on the space station and here on our planet’s surface.

Also onboard the ship – and shipped back this month – were a collection of crystals grown aboard the ship. With these crystals, NASA scientists hope to aid in the development of new more efficient solar cells as well as semiconductor-based electronics. As NASA reminds us, the SpaceX capsule Dragon “is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact.”

Elon Musk himself Tweeted at 11:59 AM CST that the recovery ship had secured Dragon. He went on to note that as they powered down all secondary systems, it was apparent that all cargo looked “A ok”. According to the official SpaceX Twitter account, the Dragon capsule made its splashdown at 9:34AM PST – now it’s time to watch the research and see SpaceX and NASA head upward once again!

[Photo via SpaceX]

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns to Earth: what’s in that 2,668 pounds of cargo? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

What? If Shepard Fairey is capable of making Andre the Giant and Neil Diamond relevant to the 21st Century, there’s no way he could have not knocked the design for the ISS out of the park. More »

America’s space shuttle program may have come to an end when Atlantis was laid to rest at the Kennedy Space Center, but that’s done nothing to dampen our interest in the universe through which we float. NASA’s Curiosity captivates us with pictures and data from the Martian surface, and private ventures are popping up to replace shuttered, publicly funded programs. Join the SS Engadget for our panel on the future of space exploration — introduced by Patrick O’Neill of the ISS, steered by our captain Brian Heater, and manned by Tom Rivellini of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alexandra Hall of Google’s Lunar X PRIZE, and Michael Laine of the LiftPort Group.

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

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