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By NASA
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endeavour lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 1, 2025. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov are aboard the spacecraft. After the crew arrives at the International Space Station, they will perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the orbiting laboratory. Crew-11 will also contribute to NASA’s Artemis campaign by simulating Moon landing scenarios that astronauts may encounter near the lunar South Pole, showing how the space station helps prepare crews for deep space human exploration.
The flight is the 11th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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By NASA
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov onboard, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is the eleventh crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Cardman, Fincke, Yui, Platonov launched at 11:43 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission aboard the orbital outpost. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani Four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission launched at 11:43 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a science expedition aboard the International Space Station.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The spacecraft will dock autonomously to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2.
“Thanks to the bold leadership of President Donald J. Trump, NASA is back! The agency’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the space station is the first step toward our permanent presence on the Moon. NASA, in conjunction with great American companies, continues the mission with Artemis in 2026. This Moon mission will ensure America wins the space race – critical to national security – and leads in the emerging, exciting and highly profitable private sector commercial space business,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “The Commercial Crew Program and Artemis missions prove what American ingenuity, and cutting-edge American manufacturing can achieve. We’re going to the Moon…to stay! After that, we go to Mars! Welcome to the Golden Age of exploration!”
During Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA’s live coverage resumes at 1 a.m., Aug. 2, on NASA+ with rendezvous, docking, and hatch opening. After docking, the crew will change out of their spacesuits and prepare cargo for offload before opening the hatch between Dragon and the space station’s Harmony module around 4:45 a.m. Once the new crew is aboard the orbital outpost, NASA will provide coverage of the welcome ceremony beginning at approximately 5:45 a.m.
Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The number of crew aboard the space station will increase to 11 for a short time as Crew-11 joins NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Alexey Zubritsky.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 will depart the space station after the arrival of Crew-11 and a handover period. Ahead of Crew-10’s return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California prior to departure from station.
During their mission, Crew-11 will conduct scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Participating crew members will simulate lunar landings, test strategies to safeguard vision, and advance other human spaceflight studies led by NASA’s Human Research Program. The crew also will study plant cell division and microgravity’s effects on bacteria-killing viruses, as well as perform experiments to produce a higher volume of human stem cells and generate on-demand nutrients.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which provides reliable access to space, maximizing the use of the station for research and development and supporting future missions beyond low Earth orbit by partnering with private companies to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Learn more about the agency’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 01, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research SpaceX Commercial Resupply View the full article
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By Space Force
Space Operations Command, in partnership with Space Systems Command, approved the operational acceptance of a milestone upgrade to the Ground-Based Optical Sensor System at the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance site in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
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By NASA
Technicians have successfully installed two sunshields onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s inner segment. Along with the observatory’s Solar Array Sun Shield and Deployable Aperture Cover, the panels (together called the Lower Instrument Sun Shade), will play a critical role in keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe.
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This video shows technicians installing two sunshields onto NASA's nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on July 17. The large yet lightweight panels will block sunlight, keeping Roman’s instruments cool and stable as the mission explores the infrared universe.Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts The team is on track to join Roman’s outer and inner assemblies this fall to complete the full observatory, which can then undergo further prelaunch testing.
“This shield is like an extremely strong sunblock for Roman’s sensitive instruments, protecting them from heat and light from the Sun that would otherwise overwhelm our ability to detect faint signals from space,” said Matthew Stephens, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The sunshade, which was designed and engineered at NASA Goddard, is essentially an extension of Roman’s solar panels, except without solar cells. Each sunshade flap is roughly the size of a garage door — about 7 by 7 feet (2.1 by 2.1 meters) — and 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) thick.
“They’re basically giant aluminum sandwiches, with metal sheets as thin as a credit card on the top and bottom and the central portion made up of a honeycomb structure,” said Conrad Mason, an aerospace engineer at NASA Goddard.
This design makes the panels lightweight yet stiff, and the material helps limit heat transfer from the side facing the Sun to the back—no small feat considering the front will be hot enough to boil water (up to 216 degrees Fahrenheit, or 102 degrees Celsius) while the back will be much colder than Antarctica’s harshest winter (minus 211 Fahrenheit, or minus 135 Celsius). A specialized polymer film blanket will wrap around each panel to temper the heat, with 17 layers on the Sun side and one on the shaded side.
The sunshade will be stowed and gently deploy around an hour after launch.
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In this time-lapse video, technicians manually deploy the Lower Instrument Sun Shield for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The test helps verify the panels will operate as designed in space.NASA/Sophia Roberts “The deploying mechanisms have dampers that work like soft-close hinges for drawers or cabinets, so the panels won’t slam open and rattle the observatory,” Stephens said. “They each take about two minutes to move into their final positions. This is the very first system that Roman will deploy in space after the spacecraft separates from the launch vehicle.”
Now completely assembled, Roman’s inner segment is slated to undergo a 70-day thermal vacuum test next. Engineers and scientists will test the full functionality of the spacecraft, telescope, and instruments under simulated space conditions. Following the test, the sunshade will be temporarily removed while the team joins Roman’s outer and inner assemblies, and then reattached to complete the observatory. The mission remains on track for launch no later than May 2027 with the team aiming for as early as fall 2026.
Click here to virtually tour an interactive version of the telescope Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc. in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California.
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Jul 31, 2025 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzerashley.m.balzer@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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Article 3 months ago View the full article
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By NASA
NASA Astronaut Kate RubinsNASA NASA astronaut and microbiologist Kate Rubins retired Monday after 16 years with the agency. During her time with NASA, Rubins completed two long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station, logging 300 days in space and conducting four spacewalks.
“I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Kate for her dedication to the advancement of human spaceflight,” said Steve Koerner, acting director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “She is leaving behind a legacy of excellence and inspiration, not only to our agency, but to the research and medical communities as well. Congratulations, Kate, on an extraordinary career.”
Rubins’ first mission to the orbiting laboratory began in July 2016, aboard the first test flight of the new Soyuz MS spacecraft. As part of Expedition 48/49, she contributed to more than 275 scientific experiments, including molecular and cellular biology research, and she was the first person to sequence DNA in space. Her work enabled significant advances with in-flight molecular diagnostics, long-duration cell culture, and the development of molecular biology tools and processes, such as handling and transferring small amounts of liquids in microgravity. Rubins also led the integration and deployment of biomedical hardware aboard the space station, supporting crew health and scientific research in space and on Earth.
She again launched in October 2020, aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, taking part in Expedition 63/64. Alongside her crewmates, Rubins spent hundreds of hours working on new experiments and furthering research investigations conducted during her mission, including heart research and multiple microbiology studies. She also advanced her work on DNA sequencing in space, which could allow future astronauts to diagnose illness or identify microbes growing aboard the station or during future exploration missions.
“From her groundbreaking work in space to her leadership on the ground, Kate has brought passion and excellence to everything she’s done,” said Joe Acaba, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA Johnson. “She’s been an incredible teammate and role model. We will miss her deeply, but her impact will continue to inspire.”
In addition to her flight assignments, Rubins served as acting deputy director of NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate, where she helped guide strategy for crew health and biomedical research. More recently, she contributed to developing next-generation lunar spacesuits, helping prepare for future Artemis missions to the Moon.
Before her selection as an astronaut in 2009, Rubins received a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego, and a doctorate in cancer biology from Stanford University Medical School’s Biochemistry Department and Microbiology and Immunology Department. After returning from her second space mission, Rubins commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, serving as a microbiologist in the Medical Service Corps. She currently holds the role of innovation officer with the 75th U.S. Army Reserve Innovation Command’s MedBio Detachment, headquartered in Boston.
A frequent keynote speaker at scientific, educational, and industry events on space biology, biomedical engineering, and human exploration, Rubins has advocated for NASA’s scientific and exploration missions. As she transitions from government service, she remains committed to advancing innovation at the intersection of biology, technology, and space.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to live and work in space,” said Rubins. “I am grateful for the extraordinary advances at NASA, and it was a privilege to serve and contribute to something so meaningful. The mission of exploration continues, and I can’t wait to watch this nation do what once seemed impossible.”
Learn more about how NASA explores the unknown and innovates for the benefit of humanity at:
https://www.nasa.gov/
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Raegan Scharfetter
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-910-4989
raegan.r.scharfetter@nasa.gov
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