international

International Space Station commander Gennady Padalka and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko floated out of the Pirs docking compartment today and had no problems completing the primary objective of a 5-hour 51-minute spacewalk -- moving a telescoping space crane to a different module in preparation for arrival of a Russian laboratory compartment late next year.

The cosmonauts then launched a small science satellite, using a handling tool to manually deploy the 20-pound spacecraft on a trajectory to the rear of the space station.

"Nice throw. Beautiful! Really beautiful!" a translator in the Russian mission control center relayed from air-to-ground radio … Read more

Big changes may be on the horizon for Hulu. According to an internal memo that entertainment news source Variety got its hands on, CEO Jason Kilar's jig may be up.

The three-page memo, dated from July, lists several possible changes for the streaming service, according to Variety. Of the most striking are the top two bullet points, which say this: "Outline transition plan for new CEO" and "Discuss potential candidates and process."

Kilar has had an up-and-down relationship with backers for the last couple of years. He initiated a rift with Hulu's parent company … Read more

After an intense competition, NASA announced contracts Friday totaling up to $900 million to be divvied up between three companies -- SpaceX, Boeing, and Sierra Nevada -- to continue development of commercial manned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

While it is far from clear whether Congress will provide enough funding to keep all three companies in the mix, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, a former shuttle commander, said the program was critical to America's future in space.

"Today we are announcing another critical step towards launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on … Read more

An attempt to re-dock an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship with the International Space Station was aborted by the ship's flight computer Monday night when a new rendezvous system failed to operate as expected, flight controllers said.

By design, the spacecraft ended up on a passive return trajectory that will permit another docking attempt later this week, after engineers have a chance to diagnose what went wrong. The station's six-member crew was never in any danger, officials said.

The Progress M-15M spacecraft was undocked from the station's Pirs module Sunday afternoon and directed to back away to … Read more

An unmanned Japanese rocket carrying more than five tons of space station hardware, scientific gear and crew supplies vaulted away from its scenic seaside launch stand in southern Japan Friday (U.S. time) and set off on weeklong flight to the International Space Station.

The powerful H-2B rocket's two hydrogen-fueled first stage engines roared to life as the countdown ticked to zero, followed a few seconds later by ignition of four strap-on solid-fuel boosters at 10:06 p.m. EDT (11:06 a.m. Saturday local time), roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the … Read more

A Russian Soyuz ferry craft glided to a computer-orchestrated docking with the International Space Station early Tuesday, bringing a Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and a Japanese engineer to the lab complex two days after launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

With veteran cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko monitoring the autonomous approach from the center seat of the Soyuz TMA-05M command module, the spacecraft's docking system engaged its counterpart on the Earth-facing Rassvet module at 12:51 a.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed 252 miles above northeast Kazakhstan.

"Docking confirmed," someone said on the Russian flight … Read more

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian commander, a NASA flight engineer, and a Japanese astronaut -- all veteran space travelers -- blasted off and streaked into orbit late Saturday (U.S. time), the first leg of a two-day flight to the International Space Station.

Under a partly cloudy sky, the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:40 p.m. EDT Saturday (GMT-4; 8:40 a.m. Sunday local time) and quickly climbed away atop a rush of fiery exhaust.

The launching came on the 37th anniversary of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that … Read more

Engineers are making final preparations for launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft this weekend to ferry an all-veteran U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew to the International Space Station to boost the lab's crew complement back to six. The launch will kick off a "fantastically busy" timeline, with nine space station "visiting vehicle" operations and two spacewalks over the next six weeks.

"The mission is going to be action packed," Soyuz flight engineer and eventual space station commander Sunita Williams told CBS News. "I think we're really up for the pace, we're … Read more

The guests of Hotel Indigo can now browse the Bible on Kindles left in their room.

The Newcastle hotel has removed all the complimentary Gideon Bibles from its rooms and replaced them with e-versions loaded on Kindles, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

The hotel said it's the first in Britain to offer the service, which includes the ability to download any other religious texts that costs 5 British pounds or less. Guests can also order books, but those will be added to their hotel bills.

The hotel is trying out the service for two weeks to see if it wants … Read more