Human spaceflight

The private Polaris Dawn was within view of the ISS when the four-person private mission concluded its work on Sept. 15. Experienced NASA astronaut Don Pettit wielded the camera.

The four Polaris Dawn astronauts splashed down safely off the coast of Florida today (Sept. 15), bringing an end to their historic commercial mission.

The decision to send Boeing's Starliner capsule home uncrewed from the ISS was driven in part by time constraints, according to NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore.

The private Polaris Dawn crew notched another milestone on Thursday (Sept. 12), beaming photos home using SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites.

Boeing Starliner's historic first mission with astronauts did not turn out as planned. Starliner's 2 NASA astronauts will share their experiences from the ISS today (Sept. 13).

The Polaris Dawn crew called down to Earth to honor the anniversary of 9/11, and to do a book-reading event to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Two private astronauts conducting the first commercial spacewalk did not so much float out of their spacecraft as they did "stand up."

Three people launched toward the ISS today (Sept. 11) aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, bringing the total number of people in Earth orbit to 19 — a new record.

The private SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew has now flown farther from Earth than any astronauts have traveled since the last Apollo mission left for the moon.

NASA's oldest active astronaut, Don Pettit, is set to return to space on Sept. 11. In his spare ISS time, he is known for stunning photography and tinkering with engineering.