HOUSTON — Developers report a favorable conclusion to the first phase of the long-running Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) under way outside the International Space Station, the joint NASA/Canadian Space Agency initiative intended to demonstrate technologies to extend the operations of aging satellites.

HOUSTON — Canada’s first space mission command came to a successful close late May 13, as a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Canada’s Chris Hadfield, U.S. astronaut Tom Marshburn and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko departed the International Space Station and descended safely to Earth. Their TMA-07M capsule landed under parachute in southern Kazakhstan at 9:31 p.m. EDT, or May 14 at 8:31 a.m. local time, ending a 146-day mission.

A time-management trick learned by the Skylab 4 crew almost 40 years ago continues to work on the International Space Station today, according to commanders of missions on each orbital laboratory. Gerald Carr, the Skylab 4 commander, told an audience marking the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-era space-station program that his three-man crew held “the first sensitivity group in space” after controllers in Houston overloaded them with work.

Weeks or months of analysis will precede declaring full repair

HOUSTON — Two U.S. astronauts were preparing for a possible May 11 spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) in response to a significant ammonia coolant leak in the thermal control system radiator of the orbiting lab’s oldest solar power module. The NASA-led ISS Mission Management Team had scheduled a meeting for late May 10 to consider final approval for a 6-7-hr. extravehicular activity (EVA) to replace the suspected source of the leak, a pump and flow control system (PFCS) electronics box, or to carry out further troubleshooting.

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Air Force efforts to improve space systems acquisition are showing clear dividends in terms of enhanced operations and cost savings, according to Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Commander Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski.

Are 'days away' from agreeing on details of launch certification plan

NASA plans to send solar-powered version of Curiosity rover in 2020..