WASHINGTON: With Artemis II successfully completing its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/artemis-2-extraordinary-views-of-home-as-astronauts-head-towards-moon" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">historic lunar mission</a>&nbsp;on Friday, NASA is banking on billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for the next step: landing astronauts on the Moon. The Apollo program &ndash; which sent the first and only humans to the Moon&#39;s surface between 1969 and 1972 &ndash; was designed so that only two astronauts could land on the lunar surface for a maximum of a few days. More than 50 years later, American ambitions and expertise have grown, with NASA hoping to send four people on a mission lasting several weeks and eventually building a lunar base. For the second phase of its mission, the space agency is looking to commercial landers designed by Musk&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-to-bring-spacex-crew11-back-early-over-medical-concern" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">SpaceX</a>&nbsp;and Bezos&#39;s Blue Origin to get its astronauts on the Moon. After Artemis II&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/artemis-ii-astronauts-descend-into-earths-atmosphere-in-critical-heat-shield-test" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">splashed down in the Pacific Ocean</a>&nbsp;on Friday after its record-breaking journey, NASA officials urged all hands on deck for a crewed landing in 2028. &quot;We need all of industry to work and come along with us, and they need to accept that challenge and come with us and really start the production lines that are going to be required in order to achieve that goal,&quot; Lori Glaze, the acting associate NASA administrator, told a press conference. The Apollo program relied on a single rocket, the Saturn V, which carried both the lunar lander and the capsule carrying the astronauts. NASA has opted for two separate systems for Artemis: the first to launch the Orion spacecraft carrying the crew from Earth, and another to launch the lunar lander, which will be privately contracted. &#39;Camping trip&#39; The decision was driven by the technical limitations of the Apollo program, Kent Chojnacki, a senior NASA official in charge of lunar lander development, told AFP. &quot;It was very not expandable to long-term exploration and long-term stays,&quot; he explained. Although spectacular, the Apollo missions were like &quot;camping trips,&quot; said Jack Kiraly, director of government relations at the Planetary Society, which encourages space exploration. The systems NASA is looking at now are &quot;huge compared to Apollo,&quot; said Chojnacki, noting that the new lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX are two to seven times larger than before. The space agency is also drawing from external partners, such as the European companies that built the propulsion module for Orion. The new approach opens access to more equipment and resources, but also significantly complicates operations. To send these giant spacecrafts to the Moon, the private space exploration companies will need to master in-flight refueling, a complex maneuver that has not yet been fully tested. After the lunar lander is launched, additional rockets will be needed to deliver the fuel required for the journey to the Moon, some 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth. &#39;Lose the Moon&#39; Given this risky undertaking and the numerous delays &ndash; particularly those experienced by SpaceX that was supposed to have its lander ready first &ndash; pressure has mounted in recent months. &quot;We are once again about to lose the Moon,&quot; three former NASA officials warned in an article in SpaceNews last September. China, which is hoping to send humans to the Moon by 2030, has been making progress as well, raising fears in the Trump administration that the United States could get left behind. With that in mind, NASA raised the possibility last fall of reopening the contract awarded to SpaceX and using Blue Origin&#39;s lunar lander first, sending shockwaves through the rival companies. Both firms announced they were realigning their strategies to prioritize the lunar project &ndash; and keep their lucrative contracts with NASA. But concerns remain, particularly regarding the feasibility of in-orbit refueling. &quot;We do have a plan,&quot; Chojnacki said, noting that NASA has a back-up plan in case of failure. The timeline is also up in the air. NASA says it plans to test an in-orbit rendezvous between the spacecraft and one or two lunar landers in 2027, and carry out a crewed lunar landing in 2028. Before that, companies will need to test in-orbit refueling and send an unmanned lunar lander to the Moon to demonstrate its safety. That all needs to happen within the next two years. &quot;It feels like a very small amount of time,&quot; said Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

This handout picture released by NASA on April 10, 2026 and taken on April 6, 2026 shows an image of Earthset captured by the Artemis II crew as they pass behind the Moon’s far side. (AFP)

Artificial Intelligence

NASA is turning to SpaceX and Blue Origin for upcoming Artemis Moon landings after Artemis II, aiming for a 2028 crewed landing while relying on commercial lunar landers and new technology development.

After Artemis II, NASA looks to SpaceX, Blue Origin for moon landings

WASHINGTON: Four astronauts docked at the International Space Station&nbsp;(ISS) on Sunday for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iss-crew-splashes-down-on-earth-after-medical-evacuation-nasa-video" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">medical issue</a>. The US space agency&#39;s <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/international-crew-en-route-to-space-station" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crew-12</a> arrived at the orbiting laboratory after a journey of about 34 hours that started with blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. &quot;We have bridged the legacy of humankind&#39;s continuous presence in space spanning more than 25 years at this very site,&quot; American astronaut Jessica Meir said after docking at the ISS. &quot;As we look back at Earth from these windows, we are reminded that cooperation is not just possible, it is essential. Up here, there are no borders and hope is universal.&quot; Other members of Crew-12 are American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The foursome are replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned in the first medical evacuation in the space station&#39;s history. The ISS, which orbits 400 kilometers above Earth, has since been staffed by a skeleton crew of three. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-to-send-humans-to-moon-after-five-decades" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>&nbsp;declined to disclose any details about the health issue that cut the previous mission short. Crew-12 will be one of the last crews to live aboard the football field-sized space station. Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth&#39;s orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030. Microgravity and the human body During their eight months on the outpost, the astronauts will conduct many experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on their bodies. Meir, who previously worked as a marine biologist studying animals in extreme environments, will serve as the crew&#39;s commander. Adenot has become the second French woman to fly into space, following in the footsteps of Claudie Haignere, who spent time on the Mir space station. Among other research, she will test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow astronauts to carry out their own medical ultrasounds. &quot;I am proud to bring France and Europe along on this incredible adventure that transcends borders,&quot; Adenot said. &quot;Count on me to share every step with you and bring a sparkle to the eyes of the French people.&quot; The <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-moves-moon-rocket-to-launch-pad-for-artemis-2-mission" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">ISS</a>, once a symbol of warming post-Cold War relations, has been a rare area of continued cooperation between the West and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. However, the space station has not entirely avoided the tensions back on Earth. In November, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev &ndash; who had long been planned to be a member of Crew-12 &ndash; was suddenly taken off the mission. Reports from independent media in Russia suggested he had been photographing and sending classified information with his phone while training at a SpaceX facility. Russian space agency Roscosmos merely said he had been transferred to a different job. His replacement, Fedyaev, has already spent some time on the ISS as part of Crew-6 in 2023.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on February 13, 2026. (AFP)

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Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station for an eight-month mission, replacing a crew that returned early for medical reasons, as the aging outpost nears its planned retirement in 2030.

Crew-12 docks at ISS for months-long research mission

WASHINGTON: Four International Space Station (ISS) crew members splashed down in the Pacific Ocean early Thursday, video footage from NASA showed, after a medical issue prompted their mission to be cut short. The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the four crew members --&nbsp;American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui -- landed off the coast of San Diego about 12:41 a.m. (0841 GMT), marking the first-ever medical evacuation from the ISS. First-ever medical evacuationThe US space agency has declined to disclose which&nbsp;crew member has the health problem or provide details about the issue, but it has stressed that the return is not an <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nasa-to-bring-spacex-crew11-back-early-over-medical-concern" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">emergency</a>. The affected crew member &ldquo;was and continues to be in stable condition,&rdquo; NASA official Rob Navias said Wednesday. &ldquo;First and foremost, we are all OK. Everyone on board is stable, safe and well cared for,&rdquo; Fincke, the pilot of SpaceX Crew-11, said previously on social media. &ldquo;This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists. It&rsquo;s the right call, even if it&rsquo;s a bit bittersweet,&rdquo; he added in a post this week. The Crew-11 quartet arrived at the ISS in early August and had been scheduled to stay on board until they were rotated out in mid-February with the arrival of the next crew. James Polk, NASA&rsquo;s chief health and medical officer, said &ldquo;lingering risk&rdquo; and a &ldquo;lingering question as to what that diagnosis is&rdquo; led to the decision to bring back the crew earlier than originally scheduled. American astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who arrived at the station in November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, remained on the ISS. The Russian Roscosmos space agency operates alongside NASA on the outpost, and the two agencies take turns transporting a citizen of the other country to and from the orbiter &mdash; one of the few areas of bilateral cooperation that still endures between the United States and Russia.

This screengrab taken from NASA+ livestream shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with parachutes deployed before splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, on January 14, 2026, carrying NASA astronauts Mike Finck

Four International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean early Thursday, video footage from NASA showed, after a medical issue prompted their mission to be cut short.

NASA video: International Space Station crew returns to Earth after medical evacuation

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: NASA and SpaceX will return the four astronauts of the Crew-11 mission from the International Space Station (ISS) on Jan. 14, cutting short their stay aboard the space station following a medical issue involving a crew member, the US space agency said on Monday.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2010797683796070660&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=384c2a3b4c5180f70fba7affb93efc2f29ddfa48&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 667px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>NASA said the decision was taken after consultations with flight surgeons and mission managers, concluding that the astronaut would be better evaluated and treated on Earth. The agency described the move as a precautionary medical return, stressing that the crew member is in stable condition and that the spacecraft and station remain safe. &ldquo;This is the first time in the International Space Station&rsquo;s 25-year history that a mission has been ended early for medical reasons,&rdquo; a NASA spokesperson said, calling the step &ldquo;unprecedented&rdquo; but necessary to prioritize the astronaut&#39;s health. Crew-11 launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in August 2025 for a mission originally expected to last about six months. The crew includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. NASA said it would not disclose the identity of the affected astronaut or details of the medical condition, citing privacy rules. Officials emphasized that there was no emergency aboard the station and that the return would follow standard procedures. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the ISS on Jan. 14, with a splashdown off the US West Coast expected the following day, weather permitting. Recovery teams will be on standby, and NASA plans to conduct post-landing medical evaluations and briefings after the crew returns. NASA said the early departure would not significantly disrupt space station operations. Other astronauts and cosmonauts currently aboard the ISS will continue routine research and maintenance work. The agency added that it is reviewing whether adjustments are needed to the schedule for upcoming crew rotations.

Official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to the International Space Station: from left, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov; NASA astronaut Mike Fincke; JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui; and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. (Image: SpaceX)

The astronauts are scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Jan. 14, weeks ahead of schedule, after doctors advised Earth-based evaluation, marking the first such health-related early return in the station’s 25-year history.

Articles tagged with "SpaceX"

After Artemis II, NASA looks to SpaceX, Blue Origin for moon landings

Crew-12 docks at ISS for months-long research mission

NASA video: International Space Station crew returns to Earth after medical evacuation

NASA to bring SpaceX Crew-11 back early over medical concerns