A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket stands on the launch pad today, marking a critical and historic milestone of NASA’s plan to launch the first Orion spacecraft later this year. Overnight, workers from Delta IV manufacturer United Launch Alliance rolled the massive three-core booster – minus the upper stage and Orion – from […]
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft completed its 1.2 billion-mile (2 billion-kilometer) journey to arrive at the asteroid Bennu Monday. The spacecraft executed a maneuver that transitioned it from flying toward Bennu to operating around the asteroid. Now, at about 11.8 miles (19 kilometers) from Bennu’s Sun-facing surface, OSIRIS-REx will begin a preliminary […]
Blue Origin recently completed acceptance testing of its BE‑3 rocket engine, the first new hydrogen engine to be developed in the United States in more than a decade. The 110,000-lbf BE‑3 will power Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital system, and later, will be modified for upper stage applications. “The BE‑3 has now been fired for […]
