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Thursday

SpaceX launches 4 people for a private mission to the International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with its Crew Dragon capsule launches from pad LC-39A during Axiom Space's Ax-3 Mission at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on January 18, 2024. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Space

SpaceX launches 4 people for a private mission to the International Space Station

The mission, Ax-3, is the third time Houston-based Axiom Space has sent paying passengers to the I.S.S. During 16 days of orbit, the all-European crew will conduct 30 experiments and public outreach.

Sunday

Houston, we have a tomato: ISS astronauts locate missing fruit (or vegetable)

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio checks tomato plants growing inside the International Space Station for a space botany study. Koichi Wakata/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/NASA hide caption

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Koichi Wakata/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/NASA

Space

Houston, we have a tomato: ISS astronauts locate missing fruit (or vegetable)

A missing tomato sparked a lighthearted mystery for the astronauts on board the International Space Station — and it's finally been solved after months of accusations and intrigue.

Houston, we have a tomato: ISS astronauts locate missing fruit (or vegetable)

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Thursday

The wheel's many reinventions

Indian potter Darga Ashok throws a traditional earthenware pot in Hyderabad NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images

The Indicator from Planet Money

The wheel's many reinventions

"Don't reinvent the wheel" is a common phrase, but structural engineer Roma Agrawal doesn't buy it.

The wheel's many reinventions

Listen · 8:23
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Friday

The microbiologist studying the giant floating petri dish in space

Microbiologist Monsi Roman stands next to an ISS Life Support test module at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Monsi Roman hide caption

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Monsi Roman

Short Wave

The microbiologist studying the giant floating petri dish in space

Microbiologist Monsi Roman joined NASA in 1989 to help design the International Space Station. As the chief microbiologist for life support systems on the ISS, Roman was tasked with building air and water systems to support crews in space. That meant predicting how microbes would behave and preventing them from disrupting missions. And so, on today's show, host Aaron Scott talks to Roman about microbes in space: the risks they pose and where they might take us in the future of space travel.

The microbiologist studying the giant floating petri dish in space

Listen · 11:25
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Thursday

An Arab astronaut made history in space. Now his country has its sights on Mars

Mission Specialist Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates, member of the SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission, gestures during the crew walkout from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A ahead of their liftoff at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 1. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Space

An Arab astronaut made history in space. Now his country has its sights on Mars

The United Arab Emirates celebrated after Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi splashed down to Earth following six months in space, a milestone for its growing space program.

An Arab astronaut made history in space. Now his country has its sights on Mars

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Monday

Splashdown! NASA's Crew-6 returns after 6 months at the International Space Station

In this image from video made available by NASA, the SpaceX Crew Dragon, slowed by parachutes, splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, as it returns to Earth with NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. NASA via AP hide caption

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NASA via AP

Space

Splashdown! NASA's Crew-6 returns after 6 months at the International Space Station

The four-member crew — three astronauts and a cosmonaut — launched in March and conducted more than 200 experiments. They also performed spacewalks and did maintenance on the orbiting outpost.

Wednesday

SpaceX mission returns from space station with ex-NASA astronaut, 3 paying customers

In this image taken from video broadcast by SpaceX, crew members wave after the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Florida Panhandle, late Tuesday, May 30, 2023. AP hide caption

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AP

Space

SpaceX mission returns from space station with ex-NASA astronaut, 3 paying customers

The return caps a nine-day mission to the International Space Station. The mission was funded by Axiom Space, a company that wants to build and operate the world's first commercial space station.

Monday

The importance of sustainable space exploration in the 21st century

TOPSHOT - A computer-generated artists impression released by the European Space Agency (ESA) depicts an approximation of 12 000 objects in orbit around the Earth. -/ESA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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-/ESA/AFP via Getty Images

Short Wave

The importance of sustainable space exploration in the 21st century

In 1957, the Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. Since then, the number of objects humans have hurled toward the stars has soared to the thousands. As those objects have collided with one another, they've created more space debris in Earth's orbit. According to some estimates, all of that debris and human-made space trash, the number of objects — from satellites to screws — could be in the millions. In this iteration of our AAAS live show series, Short Wave co-host Aaron Scott talks to Danielle Wood, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, about the dangers of accumulating space debris, and how she and others are working to make space more sustainable.

The importance of sustainable space exploration in the 21st century

Listen · 12:54
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Thursday

SpaceX launches its 9th crewed mission as it heads to space station

This timed exposer shows the trail as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from pad 39A for the Crew-6 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, early on March 2, 2023. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

Space

SpaceX launches its 9th crewed mission as it heads to space station

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.

Saturday

An uncrewed Russian spacecraft docked at the space station loses pressure

The Russian Progress MS-21 cargo craft is pictured on Oct. 28, 2022, shortly after docking at the International Space Station. On Saturday, the Russian space corporation said the spacecraft lost cabin pressure. NASA hide caption

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NASA

World

An uncrewed Russian spacecraft docked at the space station loses pressure

The incident does not pose a danger to the station's crew, Russian space officials said. The announcement came shortly after a new Russian cargo ship docked at the station.

Wednesday

What do astronauts do all day? We talked to one 250 miles above Earth to find out

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada recently spoke to Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber from the International Space Station (ISS). As he orbited Earth, they discussed some of the science experiments happening aboard the ISS. The experiments span multiple scientific fields including physics and biology. NASA/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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NASA/Screenshot by NPR

Short Wave

What do astronauts do all day? We talked to one 250 miles above Earth to find out

Speaking to Short Wave from about 250 miles above the Earth, Josh Cassada outlined his typical day at work: "Today, I actually started out by taking my own blood," he said. The astronauts aboard the International Space Station are themselves research subjects, as well as conductors of all sorts of science experiments: Gardening in microgravity, trapping frigid atoms, examining neutron stars. Then, there's the joy of walks into the yawning void of space. Speaking from orbit, Cassada told fellow physicist and Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber about research aboard the station, what it takes to keep the ISS going and which countries' astronauts make the best food.

What do astronauts do all day? We talked to one 250 miles above Earth to find out

Listen · 11:57
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Thursday

A spacewalk has been canceled after a leak was discovered on a Soyuz capsule

In this handout provided by NASA the International Space Station is seen from NASA space shuttle Endeavour after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation in 2011. NASA/Getty Images hide caption

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NASA/Getty Images

Space

A spacewalk has been canceled after a leak was discovered on a Soyuz capsule

A planned spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts has been called off after ground teams noticed a significant leak from one of the spacecraft docked at the orbiting International Space Station.

A spacewalk has been canceled after a leak was discovered on a Soyuz capsule

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Wednesday

The International Space Station had to move to dodge space junk

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour on Nov. 8, 2021. On Monday, the ISS had to fire its thrusters to avoid space junk. NASA Johnson Space Center via Flickr Creative Commons hide caption

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NASA Johnson Space Center via Flickr Creative Commons

Space

The International Space Station had to move to dodge space junk

A piece of what used to be a Russian satellite was coming uncomfortably close to the International Space Station. Space junk is a growing problem and has major implications for satellite services.

Tuesday

Russia says it will quit the International Space Station after 2024

U.S. Space Shuttle Commander Terrence Wilcutt (right) and Mir Commander Anatoly Solovyev hug after opening the hatches between the space shuttle Endeavour and the Russian Space station Mir Saturday, Jan. 24, 1998, in this image from television NASA via AP hide caption

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NASA via AP

Space

Russia says it will quit the International Space Station after 2024

NASA and other international partners hope to keep the space station running until 2030. Meanwhile, Russia says it will focus on building its own orbiting outpost.

Wednesday

War On Earth, Cooperation In Space

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with cargo transportation spacecraft Progress МS-20 blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Friday, June 3, 2022. AP hide caption

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AP

Short Wave

War On Earth, Cooperation In Space

For decades, U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts have lived side-by-side aboard the International Space Station. Host Aaron Scott talks with Science Correspondent Geoff Brumfiel about how a war on planet Earth is changing life in space and what those changes say about the limits of science as a tool for diplomacy.

War On Earth, Cooperation In Space

Listen · 12:58
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