Space exploration

Russia will end its participation in the International Space Station after it reaches the end of its planned lifespan in 2024, a senior official has confirmed. Moscow is already working on a new station to replace the current one.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the successor to Hubble, could detect signs of life on other planets within the next five to 10 years, according to Caprice Phillips, a PhD student at the Ohio State University.

The Soyuz MS-17 capsule carrying cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos and astronaut Kate Rubins of NASA has touched down in Kazakhstan, bringing the trio home after a six-month tour in orbit.

In a sign it’s serious about getting the “first woman” and “first person of color” to the Moon in the near future, the US space agency NASA has contracted Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build a lunar lander, based on the Starship concept.

Moscow has accused US diplomats of failing to acknowledge Soviet spaceflight achievements during commemorations held in honor of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human to orbit the Earth 60 years ago this week.

Anna Kikina is currently the only woman on Russia’s team of 30 cosmonauts. Speaking to RT, she talked about what helped her overcome the odds along the way and what inspired her.