International Space Station (ISS)

International Space Station (ISS)

The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying the NROL-113 mission into orbit can be seen over the ocean and high in the night sky, in this time exposure taken from Encinitas, California, US September 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake

What is helium and why is it used in rockets?

Past missions that have been affected by pesky helium leaks include ISRO's Chandrayaan 2 and ESA's Ariane 5. Why do spacecraft and rockets use helium, and what is so tricky about it?

The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, October 4, 2018. Photo: NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

NASA narrows Crew-9 lineup to accommodate astronauts aboard ISS

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper

SpaceX to return Boeing's Starliner astronauts from space next year: NASA

The NASA logo hangs in the Mission Operations Control Center at Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, U.S., October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

SpaceX, NASA to launch Crew-9 mission next month

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. Photo: NASA via AP

Boeing's Starliner with Williams and Wilmore stuck in space for entire summer but they're 'enjoying free time'

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT), is launched on a mission to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US June 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Is the Boeing Starliner ‘stuck’ in space? Return to earth delayed for 3rd time, sparking concerns

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT), is launched on a mission to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US June 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

NASA, Boeing push back Starliner's crewed return to June 18

The ISS may be on a precarious orbit just above politics and terrestrial strife, but it’s still up there, seeing 16 sunrises a day. Photo: Reuters

New 'Superbug' detected on the International Space Station

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule launches aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on a second un-crewed test flight to the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US May 19, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

Boeing's Starliner set for first crewed mission to ISS

NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin launch to the International Space Station, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, 3 March 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper

SpaceX launches eighth long-duration crew for International Space Station orbit

When Turkey's first astronaut blasts off for the International Space Station (ISS) this week, he will embody his country's pride and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's outsized geopolitical ambitions. Photo:BSS

Turkey's first astronaut brandishes Erdogan's ambitions

Photo: BSS

India plans manned Moon mission, space station

The International Space Station (ISS) is photographed by Expedition 66 crew member Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov from the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, in this image released April 20, 2022. Pyotr Dubrov/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi Arabia to send its first woman into space