SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has been a huge success with the launch of DM-2 and Crew 1 for NASA last year. This year they have two more missions to launch crew rotations to the International Space Station under the Commercial Crew Program with the next coming up this week.
Date: Friday, April 23nd, 5:49 AM EDT
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JAXA recovered its Hayabusa 2 mission return capsule on December 5, and today they were able to confirm they did recover samples from the asteroid Ryugu.
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Six years ago, on December 3, 2014, Japan launched Hayabusa 2 into space to begin its three-year-long journey to an asteroid named “Ryugu.” Once the asteroid was reached, samples were taken and sent back towards Earth. Now, finally, those samples have successfully arrived.
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Japan’s newest launcher system has been in development for the past couple years and was planning on making its debut launch by the end of this year. But there have been several issues that will push the date to next year.
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Two Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts are scheduled to embark on long-term ISS missions in the near future. Their tasks will involve conducting science experiments and performing various maintenance work.
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s HTV-9 spacecraft will depart from the International Space Station for one last time today before the next generation of transfer cargo vehicles is readied in two years.
JAXA’s Kounotori spacecraft launched three months ago from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan to deliver four tons of supplies, including new space station lithium-ion batteries.
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NASA announced this week that astronaut Shannon Walker has been assigned to the first operational crewed SpaceX mission.
Walker will NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover Jr., and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi on a six-month mission on the International Space State.
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