Russia’s Progress 50 cargo capsule departed the International Space Station’s (ISS) Russian segment on July 25, opening a berthing port for the July 27 arrival of a replacement freighter carrying a NASA space suit repair kit among its nearly 3 tons of supplies. Progress 50, filled with trash and unneeded equipment, departed the station’s Pirs docking port at 4:43 p.m. EDT, destined for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

DENVER — Dextre, the multipurpose dexterous manipulator that rides at the end of the International Space Station’s robotic arm, will acquire some new tools and tasks by year’s end. Among the cargo tucked into Japan’s fourth H-II Transfer Vehicle scheduled for launch to the ISS on Aug. 4 is Phase II hardware for NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), a testbed the size of a window air conditioner bolted onto the station truss that mimics operational satellites.

The mass simulator was dropped from a USAF C-17 at 35,000 ft

NASA will expand its probe into the water leak that prompted an abrupt end to a July 16 spacewalk outside the International Space Station with the creation of a five-member mishap investigation board.

FIZZY COMET: Observations using NASA’s Spitzer space telescope have revealed what most likely are strong carbon dioxide emissions from Comet ISON ahead of its anticipated pass through the inner solar system later this year, the agency announced. Images captured last month with Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera indicate carbon dioxide is “fizzing” away from what has now been dubbed the “soda-pop comet,” along with dust, forming a tail 186,400 mi. long. Scientists estimate the comet is emitting about 2.2 million lb. [1 million kg] of gas and about 120 million lb.

Apollo-shaped capsule has met eight of 19 milestones

India’s Insat-3D weather satellite is getting ready for liftoff on July 25 from Europe’s spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. “The satellite has been installed on [an] Ariane 5 launcher for Arianespace’s heavy-lift mission and the final payload integration is under way,” a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says. The Indian spacecraft is integrated in the lower payload position for Ariane 5’s dual-launch mission, along with Europe’s Alphasat telecommunications platform.

A private company plans to mount the first commercial mission to the Moon as a step toward a private lunar sample return flight around 2020. Moon Express, Inc., a strong contender in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition, says it will mount a follow-on mission to the Moon’s South Pole in partnership with the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), one of the piggyback customers for its X-Prize entry.