NASA has issued a fierce condemnation of the Russian space agency after three cosmonauts displayed anti-Ukraine propaganda aboard the International Space Station. The trio were seen holding flags of the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic -- two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that are only recognised as independent states by Moscow and Syria. They also said the capture of the region was'a liberation day to celebrate both on Earth and in space.' In response to the pictures, posted by Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, NASA said it'strongly rebukes Russia using the International Space Station for political purposes to support its war against Ukraine.' Press secretary Jackie McGuinness added that it was'fundamentally inconsistent with the station's primary function among the 15 international participating countries to advance science and develop technology for peaceful purposes.' Rebuked: NASA has condemned the Russian space agency after three cosmonauts displayed anti-Ukraine propaganda on the International Space Station.

MOSCOW – It was second time lucky on Tuesday as an unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot docked at the International Space Station following a failed attempt over the weekend. Am ready to carry on with work," the robot's Twitter account said in a jokey first tweet from space. Copying human movements and designed to help with high-risk tasks, the life-size robot, Fedor, is due to stay on the ISS until Sept. 7. Speaking to Russian cosmonauts on the ISS via a video link-up, President Vladimir Putin lavished praise on them for the way they handled the glitch. The problems with docking were "in some way abnormal," he said, adding that "as usual for our cosmonauts, you dealt with this work magnificently. The robot sat in the commander's seat of an unmanned Soyuz spaceship that blasted off Thursday from a Russian spaceport in southern Kazakhstan.

An unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit failed to dock at the International Space Station on Saturday, in a new setback for Moscow. "Russian cosmonauts issued a command to abort the automated approach of an uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station," the US space agency NASA said in a statement. "The craft was unable to lock onto its target at the station," and "backed a safe distance away from the orbital complex while the Russian flight controllers assess the next steps," NASA said. Russian flight controllers had told the ISS crew it appeared the problem that prevented automated docking was in the station and not the Soyuz spacecraft, NASA added. The docking had been scheduled for 0530 GMT but a live broadcast of the event on the website of the Russian space agency Roscosmos was interrupted when the Soyuz approached to about 100 metres (yards) off the ISS.

MOSCOW – In a new setback for Moscow, an unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot to be sent into orbit failed to dock automatically at the International Space Station on Saturday. "Russian cosmonauts issued a command to abort the automated approach of an uncrewed Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station," the U.S. space agency NASA said in a statement. "The craft was unable to lock onto its target at the station," and "backed a safe distance away from the orbital complex while the Russian flight controllers assess the next steps," NASA said. Russian flight controllers had told the ISS crew it appeared the problem that prevented automated docking was in the station and not the Soyuz spacecraft, NASA added. Moscow news agencies quoted the flight center control as saying the Soyuz craft had to retreat to a "secure distance" from the ISS.

Russia's space agency says that one of the International Space Station's computers has malfunctioned, but the glitch doesn't pose any risks to the crew. Roscosmos said Tuesday that one of three computers in the station's Russian module has failed. It said Russian flight controllers plan to reboot it Thursday. The International Space Station photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking. Roscosmos said Tuesday that one of three computers in the station's Russian module has failed.

The head of the U.S. space agency said that he's sure that investigators will determine the cause of a mysterious hole that appeared on the International Space Station, which his Russian counterpart has said was deliberately drilled. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also said that collaboration with Russia's Roscosmos remains important, despite recent comments by agency head Dmitry Rogozin that Russia wouldn't accept a'second-tier role' in a NASA-led plan to build an outpost near the moon. The hole that appeared in a Russian Soyuz capsule docked to the ISS caused a brief loss of air pressure in August before being patched. Sabotage: Russian astronaut Sergei Prokopyev showed the original'drilled hole' during a video released by the space agency Roscosmos The incident sparked wide speculation and consternation. 'I strongly believe we're going to get the right answer to what caused the hole on the International Space Station and that together we'll be able to continue our strong collaboration,' Bridenstine said.

This article originally appeared on the Motley Fool. Ever since the United States retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides to the International Space Station (ISS) in Russian Soyuz spaceships -- paying Russian space agency Roscosmos for the privilege. The plan is for NASA to soon switch over sometime soon to using its own rockets -- built by SpaceX and Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) United Launch Alliance joint venture -- but it remains an open question when these companies will have their spacecraft ready for use. In the meantime, American astronauts must continue to fork over $82 million a seat in payment for rides aboard Soyuz. And what is Russia doing with all that money, you ask?

International Space Station (ISS) crew work pretty hard, but when they do get time off, they often head to the "Cupola," according to Andrey Borisenko. The Russian cosmonaut shows us what it's like to hang around the space station's observational dome, thanks to a new 360 degree, 4K video from Russia's RT News. He dryly mocks flat-Earth types, saying "you can see from here that the Earth is round -- no elephants or whales holding it up. The Cupola was built in 2010 to give astronauts and cosmonauts the best view to operate the Mobile Servicing System robotic arm (the Canadarm2). However, it soon became a favorite R&R spot thanks to the spectacular view through the seven bay windows.

Deep-learning machines are conquering realm after realm of human expertise, but is there a difference between Them and Us? I think the only thing that distinguishes us from the machines is memory. It is what makes us human, says Rajeev Srinivasan. In the wake of the astonishing feat by Google's AlphaGo machine in defeating, nay thrashing 4-1 the world's best player of Go, it is time for us to wonder what it is that is truly human, that which distinguishes us from the machines. Deep-learning machines are conquering realm after realm of human expertise, from chess to natural language to Go to other domains, and there is no reason to imagine their progress will come to a halt any time soon.