Video: Fiery SpaceX Dragon streaks across sky after undocking from Space Station
Residents across Southern California reported seeing the brilliant trail and hearing a brief sonic boom as the capsule blazed through the atmosphere as it went through intense heat and friction generated during re-entry.The spacecraft returned with over 3,000 kilogram of cargo, including critical scientific experiments that benefited from the station's unique microgravity environment.Among the returned items was MISSE-20, a suite of materials exposed to the harsh conditions of space to test their resilience against radiation, atomic oxygen, and extreme temperature cycles.These findings are expected to inform the development of future spacecraft shielding and heat-resistant components.These are the first drogue parachutes built entirely in-house by SpaceX. Tested earlier this year, they include key data-driven upgrades such as stronger joints and ribbons and a re-positioned pack for smoother deployment and inflation pic.twitter.com/AQBkJxTJq9— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 25, 2025advertisementAlso aboard was the Astrobee-REACCH demonstration, featuring a robot with tentacle-like arms and adhesive pads designed to grasp and relocate objects in orbit.This technology could one day help capture space debris or service satellites, extending their operational lifespans and protecting valuable assets in low Earth orbit.Dragon's cargo included books from the Story Time from Space project, where astronauts read STEM-themed children's books on the ISS, as well as data from the OPTICA technology demonstration, which tested advanced image compression for faster, more efficient Earth observation data transmission.Must Watch
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NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
SpaceX Delivers 4 Astronauts To International Space Station Just 15 Hours After Launch
Cape Canaveral: SpaceX delivered a fresh crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, making the trip in a quick 15 hours. The four US, Russian and Japanese astronauts pulled up in their SpaceX capsule after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. They will spend at least six months at the orbiting lab, swapping places with colleagues up there since March. SpaceX will bring those four back as early as Wednesday. Moving in are NASA's Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russia's Oleg Platonov - each of whom had been originally assigned to other missions. "Hello, space station!" Fincke radioed as soon as the capsule docked high above the South Pacific. Cardman and another astronaut were pulled from a SpaceX flight last year to make room for NASA's two stuck astronauts, Boeing Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose space station stay went from one week to more than nine months. Fincke and Yui had been training for the next Starliner mission. But with Starliner grounded by thruster and other problems until 2026, the two switched to SpaceX. Platonov was bumped from the Soyuz launch lineup a couple of years ago because of an undisclosed illness. Their arrival temporarily puts the space station population at 11. "It was such an unbelievably beautiful sight to see the space station come into our view for the first time," Cardman said once on board. While their taxi flight was speedy by US standards, the Russians hold the record for the fastest trip to the space station - a lightning-fast three hours.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
The Assam connection in NASA-SpaceX's latest voyage to space
Nearly three decades ago, a friend excitedly called to tell me our fellow Assamese American, Jhuma, had gotten engaged…to an astronaut. Since the real Mike Fincke was in quarantine, we adorned NASA's cardboard cutout with a gamosa every chance we could.(S. Mitra Kalita) 'Is he Assamese?' I asked. 'How many Assamese astronauts do you know?' Good point. None. Like many of us second-generation Assamese born and raised on US shores, hers would be a blended marriage and, eventually, family. On Friday, Aug 1, at 11.43 am, the husband of Renita Saikia, my lifelong friend I've only ever called Jhuma, soared into space as a member of NASA's Crew-11, on a six- to eight-month mission. This week, I joined a few dozen of their family and friends at the Kennedy Space Center to wish Mike Fincke well. We began with a 'wave across' staged in a parking lot, a rope separating the four quarantined astronauts from loved ones, allowing us to say goodbye and good luck at a safe distance. We ended with the actual launch, the second attempt to send the SpaceX Dragon up after clouds and the threat of lightning thwarted the first try. In between were parties, photo ops, tours of space facilities, impromptu lunches and dinners, and late-night gatherings among disparate friend groups suddenly united. We infused these time-honored space traditions, though, with some of our own. Months ago, when Renita extended this precious invitation that comes with behind-the-scenes access to Kennedy Space Center, the astronauts, and the rocket launch itself, she did so not only because she's known me my whole life. Renita's father, Rupesh Saikia, emigrated from Assam in the 1960s, among the earliest pioneers of our tiny community on U.S. shores. He married Monju Aunty in 1966 and eventually settled in New Jersey, then Huntsville, Alabama. By the time my own father arrived in 1971, families like these were the ones who helped explain America, from foods and customs to bank transactions and mortgages. When my mom was pregnant with me, Renita's mother helped throw a baby shower combined with the Assamese ritual of panchamrit, blessings for the mother and child. As a child, I remember Renita coming over to color and play games with me and the long drives we'd take to go meet her family. 'I want you to be the Assamese rep,' Renita told me. 'The community has been so important for Mike and me…keeping some Assamese flavor in the mix would be so great.' And so I write these words, mission accomplished, with a sense of that obligation. It's really cool to attend a space launch, and I was aware of the privilege and once-in-a-lifetime nature of what I was experiencing. But at each and every event, I also felt an enormous responsibility to the many identities Mike and Renita straddle and inherit, and the one I happen to share. The Assamese infusion 'Do you know how to make that noise?' my friend Seebany Datta-Barua, another Assamese American at the launch, asked at the wave across. She was talking about uruli, the Assamese tradition of making a high-pitched sound by moving the tongue back and forth. We do this at weddings, festivals, moments of joy—and departures. 'I don't, but I can try,' I responded. And so we did. (It sounds like this) Seebany Datta-Barua holds a homemade sign in English and Assamese at an event for family and friends to wave goodbye to the astronauts.(S Mitra Kalita) Mike instantly responded by smiling in recognition, bowing his head and clasping his hands into a namaskar. My husband and I, Seebany, and her daughter also had very American signs spelling out M–I–K–E, but on the backside of one, Seebany had written, in Assamese, 'Mike, infinite blessings to you!' We planned our outfits to include elements of Assamese flair. On the day of a pre-launch celebration, we wore mekhela chadors, the signature two-piece Assamese garment. I hesitated, especially in Florida's 100-degree humidity, but my husband assured me the designs of the japi, an Assamese ornamental hat made of cane or bamboo, resembled flying saucers. Sold. We took NASA's life-size cardboard cutouts of Mike and adorned him in the ceremonial gamosa, a red-and-white cloth that we simultaneously use as towel, altar covering, offering and assertion of our identity.(S Mitra Kalita) This mission marks Mike's fourth journey to space, and he has taken the gamosa up before as one of his sentimental items. Sure enough, a NASA livestream commentator detailed why in the moments before he boarded the spacecraft: Mike Fincke's embrace of our people As Mike has learned, and my own husband too, to marry an Assamese—at least a certain type of Assamese—is to enter a community that is so unique and tight-knit, where everyone knows everyone else due to the smallness of our diasporic population, a complex collective that teeters between parochial and progressive. Because so few people know where we come from, we quickly learn how to define ourselves and how to fit in. Being Assamese, I maintain, allows us to traverse lands, languages, and cultures because there's a universality in being unknown. Except for the years he's been in space or quarantine, I see Mike at least once a year at our annual Assam Conventions. He and Renita make it a point to fly or drive from their home outside Houston, three children in tow, as a way of keeping tradition alive. My family feels similarly, and our children have often choreographed and danced the folk dance known as Bihu together. In the years he can't physically join, Mike still makes an appearance. In 2004, he called in from space—projected onto a screen in the hotel ballroom in Austin, Texas—to wish everyone well and perform a Bihu dance. Check out this clip that went viral in our communities across the world: When the cameras aren't rolling, though, I can attest to Mike's sense of respect for our culture and people. I see it in how he treats his in-laws and elderly people like my parents. I see it in how he springs into action when my own daughter, who now attends college in Houston, gets stranded after a flight cancellation and he does not hesitate to go collect her from the airport—at 2 a.m. These are the stories of immigrant solidarity, of community building, that many of us grew up with—but have waned in recent years. Some of it is understandable and more pragmatic (a taxi is a perfectly reasonable option from the airport) as our tiny Assamese population grows. But once upon a time, if you found a Kalita or Saikia in the phone book, chances were high that you would call as strangers and emerge as friends. In the decades I have known Mike and Renita—who, it's worth noting, also works for NASA—the behaviors I describe of immigrants are also traits I have come to associate with astronauts. I was reminded of it this week as the escorts NASA assigned to be with the families of the crew are astronauts themselves, in the unique position of knowing exactly the high stakes and high pressure and many emotions of a launch. I watched them carry suitcases, drive loved ones to and fro, soothe fears, cook comfort food, answer lay questions. The flat hierarchy and sense of service are remarkable—and necessary—and challenge the oft-held notion that the smartest people in the room aren't always the most compassionate. Here, intellect and humanity are equal ingredients for success. I walked away from this week with new appreciation for space travel as a means of understanding what it means to be human. Perhaps that study of said humans attracts the best humans in the process because their examination actually begins with themselves—and their daily actions. So how many Assamese astronauts do you know? I know a guy who comes pretty close. S. Mitra Kalita is a veteran journalist, author, and commentator. This piece is published in collaboration with URL Media, a network of community media.
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8 hours ago
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Are the viral ‘August 2 solar eclipses' claims true? Here is what NASA has to say about it
In recent weeks, social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), exploded with claims of a total solar eclipse darkening the skies on August 2, 2025. With hashtags like #AugustEclipse2025 racking up millions of views, users are dubbing the event a 'once-in-a-century' spectacle, which, as per the claims, will plunge the Earth into six minutes of darkness. But here is the truth: no solar eclipse is happening on August 2, 2025, anywhere in the world, stated a report. Another North Jersey report quoted NASA and astronomical databases stating there was no solar eclipse on August 2 this year. The source of the confusion appears to stem from misleading social media posts and viral videos, which failed to mention the correct year, the report added. The report added that one such article from The Daily Galaxy, titled 'The World to go dark for six minutes in August' likely contributed to the misinformation wave, referencing a real eclipse in 2027 but failing to clarify the timeline. A total solar eclipse will indeed occur on August 2, 2027. The report added that the highly anticipated event is being called 'eclipse of the century' due to its long duration, up to six minutes and 23 seconds of totality, and its path crosses Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. However, the eclipse will not be visible in most of North America, aside from a partial view in parts of Maine. According to a USA Today report, the path of totality in 2027 will stretch approximately 160 miles wide and across countries including: Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia. The solar eclipse of 2027 is not the longest ever, though the title belongs to the July 22, 2009, eclipse, which lasted six minutes and 39 seconds, the report added. However, the 2027 event offers a rare chance to witness a long-eclipse which humankind won't see again until 2124. September 21, 2025- Partial Solar Eclipse: Visible from Australia, Antarctica, and parts of the Pacific. February 17, 2026- Annular Solar Eclipse: Best seen from Antarctica and parts of South America and Africa. August 12, 2026- Total Solar Eclipse: Visible from Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. No. NASA confirms there is no eclipse of any kind visible anywhere on Earth on that date. Viral posts and misleading articles on TikTok and X fueled misinformation by referencing the 2027 eclipse but omitting the year. The next total eclipse is on Aug 12, 2026, visible from Spain and parts of the North Atlantic. A total solar eclipse, dubbed the 'eclipse of the century,' will be visible across parts of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Only a partial eclipse may be visible from extreme northeastern parts of the US, such as Maine.
