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Topic: Russia wants equal terms in US's "deep space gateway projec
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mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/17/18 04:56 AM

Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin during the briefing on the results of the Big Challenges 2018 educational program
The head of Russia's space research corporation has spoken about its latest planned projects and noted that cooperation with the United States could continue on condition that the American side treats Russia as an equal partner.

"As far as participation in the Deep Space Gatewayproject is concerned, if it's a purely American project with other participants performing minor helping functions, we are not interested in it. We are ready only to cooperation on equal terms," Dmitry Rogozin said in a major interview with TASS.

"We have the Angara heavy carrier rocket and soon we will get the Federation spacecraft - the tests for the super-heavy project will start in 2028. Russia, like the United States has its own transport system to work in the far space. We were not born yesterday, you know," Rogozin said.

"Unlike NASA, we already have the Soyuz MS manned spacecraft with a tremendous record of launches. Back in Soviet times designers foresaw the necessity of deep modernization for this vehicle, including its use in the Moon program."

The official also told reporters that he had invited American, European and Japanese space research specialists to visit Moscow in November this year to mark the 20th anniversary of the International Space Station (ISS). "I think it is time to start discussing future international cooperation in the field of manned space flights. Even if we seal no contracts we will at least have a serious discussion on the future fate of the ISS and of our future actions," he stated.

Rogozin also said that in October he plans to have a meeting with new NASA administrator at the Baikonur launching facility which Russia rents from Kazakhstan.

Rogozin was appointed as head of Roscosmos in May this year as part of a major government reshuffle. In previous press comments he advocated increase international cooperation and trade in the sphere of space exploration, noting that Russia could use the revenues from selling its products - such as the rocket engines - to finance its own space program and develop the newest technologies and devices.

Comment: While Trump has been touting the idea of the ISS being handed over to the private sector, the US deepstate needs to demonize Russia to justify its existence so it seems unlikely that any constructive cooperation will be allowed to happen between the two countries anytime soon:
petenh's photo

petenh

Fri 08/17/18 09:20 AM



Comment: While Trump has been touting the idea of the ISS being handed over to the private sector, the US deepstate needs to demonize Russia to justify its existence so it seems unlikely that any constructive cooperation will be allowed to happen between the two countries anytime soon:


Roscosmos and NASA are already pretty much in partnership regarding the ISS. For the past 5 years, the only way to get an American to the ISS was on a Russian rocket... But Americans are charged QUITE handsomely for the ride. The Russians have demonstrated they will do anything for cash, including carrying tourists on an expensive up-and-back to the ISS when one of the Soyuz needed to be swapped out. Can't remember the rich idiot's name, but he was on all the newscasts saying "I love space"

This "partnership" Roscosmos is looking for is nothing more than a cash infusion. With private US industry such as SpaceX and Blue Origin privatizing space transport to the ISS (plans to do so pre-date Dear Leader), Roscosmos is seeing their future business prospects and current revenue stream drying up.

Surrendering the ISS to private industry, however, is a stupid idea. Imagine the lawsuit by the new owners against the federal government when a weld fails. Things like metal fatigue (much higher in space, and the reason why they keep putting out packages of experiments on the ISS, testing new materials) mean there is a lifetime to that platform.

Oh, and "Deepstate" is just another one of those fear-mongering words like "bogeyman" and "Illumaniti".
Tom4Uhere's photo

Tom4Uhere

Fri 08/17/18 11:30 AM

I firmly believe that true space expansion will not happen with any significance, until the people of the planet pull together as one.

As far as space is concerned, we are Earthlings and or civilization is the Human Civilization.

For that matter, any significant achievement towards the Kardashev Type One Civilization will be a planet-wide achievement of our species.

If we are ever contacted by an alien civilization, they will see us as Humans from planet Earth.

It doesn't matter who pays for it, who invented which technology, It matters that humans left their planet. It wasn't alligators, worms, bees, monkeys...Humans will be the ones that did it.

The posturing we do to other people, nations, is immature and restrictive. It holds our species back from taking that next step.
Space exploration is not about power and money, its about survival of our species.
Our overpopulation problems are only going to get worse.
Do we perish as a species or expand off-planet?
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/17/18 01:58 PM


I firmly believe that true space expansion will not happen with any significance, until the people of the planet pull together as one.

As far as space is concerned, we are Earthlings and or civilization is the Human Civilization.

For that matter, any significant achievement towards the Kardashev Type One Civilization will be a planet-wide achievement of our species.

If we are ever contacted by an alien civilization, they will see us as Humans from planet Earth.

It doesn't matter who pays for it, who invented which technology, It matters that humans left their planet. It wasn't alligators, worms, bees, monkeys...Humans will be the ones that did it.

The posturing we do to other people, nations, is immature and restrictive. It holds our species back from taking that next step.
Space exploration is not about power and money, its about survival of our species.
Our overpopulation problems are only going to get worse.
Do we perish as a species or expand off-planet?
when I was a kid, I always thought NASA would be the pioneers of space exploration....but Reagan and Obama ruined NASA where it can't happen... Reagan turned NASA into a secretive missions instead of exploratory, and Obama defunding NASA to make way for international and private space exploration...bit I think he shouldn't have defunded NASA, but made them compete with the rest while still complying with international requirements..
Edited by mightymoe on Fri 08/17/18 02:09 PM
Rock's photo

Rock

Fri 08/17/18 03:58 PM

Typical commie basterds.

Are the russians paying wqually?

Or, are they simply demanding a fair share
with no investment of their own, like western
socialists?
no photo

d__u__b

Wed 08/29/18 02:05 PM


Typical commie basterds.

Are the russians paying wqually?

Or, are they simply demanding a fair share
with no investment of their own, like western
socialists?




sounds like a trumpian deal. laugh
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/31/18 12:44 PM


Typical commie basterds.

Are the russians paying wqually?

Or, are they simply demanding a fair share
with no investment of their own, like western
socialists?

thanks to Obama's screw ups, we have to use their rockets for everything, since obarry cut out NASA...
Tom4Uhere's photo

Tom4Uhere

Fri 08/31/18 12:57 PM

Not to defend another fecked up president but NASA's funding would not have been cut if We the People valued our space programs.
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/31/18 01:02 PM


Not to defend another fecked up president but NASA's funding would not have been cut if We the People valued our space programs.
true, that's why I said Reagan as well...NASA lost a lot of public trust from star wars , when everything started becoming classified...
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Tom4Uhere

Fri 08/31/18 01:17 PM

There's a lot of people that don't fully understand what NASA is for.
Space exploration is an infant endeavor.
NASA is the test bed and in any test bed things fail.
People expect cutting edge technology to work like a ball.
Balls do what balls do, you can count on a ball being and acting like a ball. If I spend money on a ball, I get a ball.

Cutting edge science and technology doesn't always do what its supposed to do. To get to the 'ball' stage, there's a lot of trail and error and trial and error costs tax money and lives of the test pilots.
However, to get it to be a 'ball' all the kinks have to be worked out and the place to work out those kinks is in space and getting to the "test chamber" is expensive.

SO, people say cut the spending of NASA because they are not doing anything of importance.
The thing is, even the failures show us things we need to learn to get to the 'ball' stage.
Its a species collective learning task.
One nation can't do it all, all by themselves.

I believe we, as a species, should pool our resources and work together to make space expansion a reliable ball.
That means USA, Russia, China, Europe and every other country that is investing in the technology should combine and become one.
Nobody 'owns' space. Nobody 'owns' planets.
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/31/18 01:25 PM


There's a lot of people that don't fully understand what NASA is for.
Space exploration is an infant endeavor.
NASA is the test bed and in any test bed things fail.
People expect cutting edge technology to work like a ball.
Balls do what balls do, you can count on a ball being and acting like a ball. If I spend money on a ball, I get a ball.

Cutting edge science and technology doesn't always do what its supposed to do. To get to the 'ball' stage, there's a lot of trail and error and trial and error costs tax money and lives of the test pilots.
However, to get it to be a 'ball' all the kinks have to be worked out and the place to work out those kinks is in space and getting to the "test chamber" is expensive.

SO, people say cut the spending of NASA because they are not doing anything of importance.
The thing is, even the failures show us things we need to learn to get to the 'ball' stage.
Its a species collective learning task.
One nation can't do it all, all by themselves.

I believe we, as a species, should pool our resources and work together to make space expansion a reliable ball.
That means USA, Russia, China, Europe and every other country that is investing in the technology should combine and become one.
Nobody 'owns' space. Nobody 'owns' planets.
then there shouldn't be any secrets...why lock the public out?
Tom4Uhere's photo

Tom4Uhere

Fri 08/31/18 01:31 PM

then there shouldn't be any secrets...why lock the public out?

Good Question...
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Fri 08/31/18 05:14 PM


There's a lot of people that don't fully understand what NASA is for.
Space exploration is an infant endeavor.
NASA is the test bed and in any test bed things fail.
People expect cutting edge technology to work like a ball.
Balls do what balls do, you can count on a ball being and acting like a ball. If I spend money on a ball, I get a ball.

Cutting edge science and technology doesn't always do what its supposed to do. To get to the 'ball' stage, there's a lot of trail and error and trial and error costs tax money and lives of the test pilots.
However, to get it to be a 'ball' all the kinks have to be worked out and the place to work out those kinks is in space and getting to the "test chamber" is expensive.

SO, people say cut the spending of NASA because they are not doing anything of importance.
The thing is, even the failures show us things we need to learn to get to the 'ball' stage.
Its a species collective learning task.
One nation can't do it all, all by themselves.

I believe we, as a species, should pool our resources and work together to make space expansion a reliable ball.
That means USA, Russia, China, Europe and every other country that is investing in the technology should combine and become one.
Nobody 'owns' space. Nobody 'owns' planets.
there's been plenty of fails...Hubble, soyez, 2 space shuttles, all sorts of crap falling on us...look at how much money Hubble costs, with going into space and repairing the mirror, and it's given us tons of data since...one of the best projects ever for space exploration and learning... But it's not the public who gripes about the costs, it's the government
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Tom4Uhere

Fri 08/31/18 10:12 PM

Yeah man but the government tries to appease the people.
You do realize that public opinion is a major factor in NASA funding right?
So, to offset that they have to be willing to gain any advantage anyway they can.
Part of that advantage is other governments but also in the enlightenment from civilian contractors like SpaceX.
The failures in recovery have been noted, even tho they were civilian experiments. It all adds to the common knowledge bank that will build real science in our children's future.
The ball may not be a good ball for us but what we figure out might enable it to be a ball for our children.
The way we are over-populating and eating our resources, they will need a reliable ball to sustain them.
Sadly, I believe we are being far too short-sighted for the next generation...perhaps two or three generations maybe...if we can come together as a species.
As it sets, if nothing is done, our children will see a world of 10 billion people or more and I shudder to think what our grandchildren will face.
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Sat 09/01/18 06:07 AM


Yeah man but the government tries to appease the people.
You do realize that public opinion is a major factor in NASA funding right?
So, to offset that they have to be willing to gain any advantage anyway they can.
Part of that advantage is other governments but also in the enlightenment from civilian contractors like SpaceX.
The failures in recovery have been noted, even tho they were civilian experiments. It all adds to the common knowledge bank that will build real science in our children's future.
The ball may not be a good ball for us but what we figure out might enable it to be a ball for our children.
The way we are over-populating and eating our resources, they will need a reliable ball to sustain them.
Sadly, I believe we are being far too short-sighted for the next generation...perhaps two or three generations maybe...if we can come together as a species.
As it sets, if nothing is done, our children will see a world of 10 billion people or more and I shudder to think what our grandchildren will face.
lol...20 trillion dollars in debt and you think the government cares what the people think?... Did they care what the people thought during the last few wars? It wasn't about the people thought, it was what obarry wanted...
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Tom4Uhere

Sat 09/01/18 08:11 AM

Put it this way...
When budget cuts are needed to work out a better budget so the people feel better about our debt, NASA is one of the programs that gets slashed down so it "looks" like that regime is saving money and people like it.
If you ask random people on the street, many have no idea what NASA is but they believe our money should be going to "more important" things than space exploration.
Forty years ago if you asked people what the Apollo program was you would get an answer. Nowadays, people have no idea what the Apollo program was.
Hell, most can't even tell you what the Cassini mission was. What's even worst is the fact that many don't even know what the New Horizon mission is and that is still an active mission.
The only time people think about NASA is when there is a disaster.
People know about Challenger and Columbia shuttles but know nothing about Apollo 1.
People associate those disasters with NASA. Public opinion of NASA is low so when budget cuts are needed, their funding is chopped down. Nobody really notices, except those of us that focus on NASA.

Personally, I believe Earth's space expansion is the only "non-culling" solution to our over-population problem and we are a long way from being able to make it work reliably.
The only other solution is to start living in ocean biospheres and we know less about living underwater than we do about living in space.
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Sat 09/01/18 08:35 AM


Put it this way...
When budget cuts are needed to work out a better budget so the people feel better about our debt, NASA is one of the programs that gets slashed down so it "looks" like that regime is saving money and people like it.
If you ask random people on the street, many have no idea what NASA is but they believe our money should be going to "more important" things than space exploration.
Forty years ago if you asked people what the Apollo program was you would get an answer. Nowadays, people have no idea what the Apollo program was.
Hell, most can't even tell you what the Cassini mission was. What's even worst is the fact that many don't even know what the New Horizon mission is and that is still an active mission.
The only time people think about NASA is when there is a disaster.
People know about Challenger and Columbia shuttles but know nothing about Apollo 1.
People associate those disasters with NASA. Public opinion of NASA is low so when budget cuts are needed, their funding is chopped down. Nobody really notices, except those of us that focus on NASA.

Personally, I believe Earth's space expansion is the only "non-culling" solution to our over-population problem and we are a long way from being able to make it work reliably.
The only other solution is to start living in ocean biospheres and we know less about living underwater than we do about living in space.
misdirection... I guess 500 billion dollars a year for war makes more sense than learning about space...or the oceans for that matter...
Tom4Uhere's photo

Tom4Uhere

Sat 09/01/18 09:35 AM

I guess 500 billion dollars a year for war makes more sense than learning about space...or the oceans for that matter...

Wars are not effective at reducing over-population.
Right now there are (roughly) 7.5 billion people on Earth.
WW2 killed 56,125,162–85,000,000 people.
Even at 85 million its not enough.
Then you have to consider, to get higher numbers cities would have to be nuked, which ruins the planet with radiation.

7,646,933,000 (and counting)
-85,000,000
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not a very high percentage at all.

What war does is make rich powerful people richer and more powerful.
It can jumpstart and economy but over-population makes that a temporary fix so more wars are needed to re-jumpstart it again and again.
Does anyone actually think modern wars are about freedom or justice?
They are about power and money.

What is sad is the fact that most people don't want to think about over-population.
Nothing will be done until its in everyone's faces and affecting everything.
Then people will see 10 or 12 billion people and wonder why NASA and ESA don't have the ability to build a safe space habitat or start a colony on the Moon or Mars.
Then there will be a push for space exodus that will be rushed and more people will die than needed from the fact that the ball is not really a ball yet.

NASA's FY 2011 budget of $18.4 billion represented about 0.5% of the $3.4 trillion United States federal budget during that year, or about 35% of total spending on academic scientific research in the United States.
0.5% is less than a penny on the dollar (0.005) so one half of a penny of your tax dollar goes to space advancement.

The budget funds four branches of the U.S. military: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. In FY 2017, the Congressional Budget Office reported spending of $590 billion for defense, about 15% of the federal budget. For the FY 2019 president Donald Trump proposed an increase to the military to $681.1 billion.

Imagine what could be done if the budgets were reversed?
mightymoe's photo

mightymoe

Sat 09/01/18 09:42 AM


I guess 500 billion dollars a year for war makes more sense than learning about space...or the oceans for that matter...

Wars are not effective at reducing over-population.
Right now there are (roughly) 7.5 billion people on Earth.
WW2 killed 56,125,162–85,000,000 people.
Even at 85 million its not enough.
Then you have to consider, to get higher numbers cities would have to be nuked, which ruins the planet with radiation.

7,646,933,000 (and counting)
-85,000,000
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not a very high percentage at all.

What war does is make rich powerful people richer and more powerful.
It can jumpstart and economy but over-population makes that a temporary fix so more wars are needed to re-jumpstart it again and again.
Does anyone actually think modern wars are about freedom or justice?
They are about power and money.

What is sad is the fact that most people don't want to think about over-population.
Nothing will be done until its in everyone's faces and affecting everything.
Then people will see 10 or 12 billion people and wonder why NASA and ESA don't have the ability to build a safe space habitat or start a colony on the Moon or Mars.
Then there will be a push for space exodus that will be rushed and more people will die than needed from the fact that the ball is not really a ball yet.

NASA's FY 2011 budget of $18.4 billion represented about 0.5% of the $3.4 trillion United States federal budget during that year, or about 35% of total spending on academic scientific research in the United States.
0.5% is less than a penny on the dollar (0.005) so one half of a penny of your tax dollar goes to space advancement.

The budget funds four branches of the U.S. military: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. In FY 2017, the Congressional Budget Office reported spending of $590 billion for defense, about 15% of the federal budget. For the FY 2019 president Donald Trump proposed an increase to the military to $681.1 billion.

Imagine what could be done if the budgets were reversed?
that's my point.... What war needs all that money? Are we in a war?
Tom4Uhere's photo

Tom4Uhere

Sat 09/01/18 10:08 AM

CURRENT WARS INVOLVING THE USA

War in Afghanistan
(2001–present)
Part of the War on Terror

War in North-West Pakistan
(2004–present)
Part of the War on Terror

War in Somalia
(2007–present)

American-led intervention in Syria
(2014–present)
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the Syrian Civil War and the International ISIS campaign

Yemeni Civil War
(2015–present)

American intervention in Libya
(2015–present)
Part of the Second Libyan Civil War

LIST OF NASA MISSIONS

A

ACE
AIM
Analog Missions
Apollo
Apollo-Soyuz
Aqua
Aquarius
ARCTAS
ARTEMIS
ASTRO-1
ASTRO-2
Astro-E2 (Suzaku)
ATTREX
Aura

B

BARREL

C

CALIPSO
Cassini-Huygens
CHAMP
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
CINDI
Clementine
Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)
Cloudsat
Cluster ESA/NASA Mission
​Commercial Crew
​Commercial Resupply Services
​Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS)
CubeSats
Curiosity
CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System)

D

Dawn
Deep Impact
DISCOVER-AQ

E

Earth Observing-1
Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP-TOMS)
Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
EPOXI
​Euclid
Europa Clipper
Exploration Mission-1 (SLS/Orion)
Exploration Plans
Explorer
Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer

F

FAST
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Fire and Smoke
FUSE

G

GALEX
Galileo
Gemini
Genesis
Geotail
GLAST
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)
Glory
GOES
GRAIL
Gravity Probe-B
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO)

H

Herschel
HETE-2
Heliophysics
Hinode (Solar-b)
Hitomi (ASTRO-H)
Hubble
Hurricanes

I

IBEX
ICESat
ICESat-2
Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)
IMAGE
InSight
​International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)
International Space Station
IRIS: Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

J

James Webb Space Telescope
Jason
Juno

K

Kepler and K2

L

LADEE: Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer
LAGEOS 1 and 2
Landsat
Landsat Data Continuity Mission
LCROSS
Low-Boom Flight Demonstration
LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)
Lucy (Trojan Asteroid Mission)
Lunar Quest Program

M

Magellan
Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)
Mariner
Mars 2020 Rover
Mars Express
Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity)
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Odyssey
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)
MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN
Mercury (Human Spaceflight Program)
MESSENGER: Mercury, Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging
Mini-RF
Moon Mineralogy Mapper

N

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)
NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations)
NEOWISE
New Horizons
Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)
NMP EO-1
NOAA-N
NOAA-N Prime
NPP
NuSTAR

O

Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2
Operation IceBridge
Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2
Orion Spacecraft
OSIRIS-REx

P

Parker Solar Probe
Phoenix
Pioneer
Pioneer Venus
Planck
POES
Polar
Psyche (Asteroid Mission)

Q

QuikSCAT

R

Radiation Belt Storm Probes/Van Allen Probes
Ranger
RapidScat
RHESSI
Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT)
Rosetta
RXTE

S

SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory)
SEAC4RS
SERVIR
Scientific Balloons
Shuttle-Mir
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
Skylab
Small Satellites
SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive)
SOFIA
SOHO
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospherice Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)
Solar Orbiter Collaboration
Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE)
Sounding Rockets
Space Launch System (SLS)
Space Shuttle
Space Station
Space Technology 5
Spitzer
Stardust-NExT
STEREO
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS)
Suomi NPP
Surveyor
Suzaku
Swift

T

TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellites)
Terra
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)
THEMIS
TIMED
TOMS-EP
TOPEX/Poseidon
TRACE
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
TWINS

U

Ulysses
Upper Atmosphere Radiation Satellite (UARS)

V

Van Allen Probes
Viking
Voyager

W

Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)
WIND
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)

X

XMM Newton


Date: September 7, 2018
Launch Window: 9:30 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m. Eastern
Mission: Sounding Rocket Launch With ASPIRE III
Description: A Terrier-Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility with the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment (ASPIRE) III mission on board. ASPIRE will test a parachute for possible future missions to Mars.


Date: September 10, 2018 - 6:32 p.m. Eastern
Mission: HTV-7 Cargo Spacecraft
Description: Launch of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-IIB rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, with the “Kounotori7” HTV-7 cargo ship, delivering supplies to the International Space Station.


Date: September 15, 2018
Launch Window: 8:46 a.m. -- 9:26 a.m. Eastern
Mission: ICESat-2
Description: The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, spacecraft will lift off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the final launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will provide precise measurements of the changing height of Earth's glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice.


Date: October 4, 2018
Mission: Expedition 56 Landing
Description: NASA astronauts A.J. (Drew) Feustel and Ricky Arnold, and crewmate Oleg Artemyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will undock their Soyuz spacecraft from the International Space Station and land in Kazakhstan.


Date: October 6, 2018
Launch Window: 4:00 a.m. -- 5:30 a.m. Eastern
Mission: ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer)
Description: The Ionospheric Connection Explorer will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where Earth weather and space weather meet. ICON will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard an Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket.


Date: October 11, 2018
Mission: Expedition 57 Launch
Description: Astronaut Nick Hague of NASA and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Nikolay Tikhonov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will launch to the International Space Station aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.


Targeted Date: November
Mission: Commercial Crew SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1 (Uncrewed)
Description: NASA and industry partners are targeting the return of human spaceflight from Florida’s Space Coast. These flight tests will prove the space systems meet NASA’s requirements for certification to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. For this uncrewed flight test, SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.


Date: November 26, 2018
Mission: InSight Landing on Mars
Description: The Entry, Descent and Landing phase is the final plunge of the Mars InSight Lander through the Martian atmosphere. It lasts about six minutes and delivers the lander safely to the surface of the Red Planet.


Date: December 13, 2018
Mission: Expedition 57 Landing
Description: Astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA), and cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will undock their Soyuz spacecraft from the International Space Station and land in Kazakhstan.


Date: December 20, 2018
Mission: Expedition 58 Launch
Description: NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos launch to the International Space Station aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.


Targeted Date: April
Mission: Commercial Crew SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2 (Crewed)
Description: NASA and industry partners are targeting the return of human spaceflight from Florida’s Space Coast. These flight tests will prove the space systems meet NASA’s requirements for certification to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. This mission will see two NASA astronauts flying to and from the station in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, launching on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.