The modern avionics system that will guide NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built, has seen the light. The flight software and avionics for SLS were integrated and powered for testing Thursday at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., as part of a milestone known as first light.
Human Spaceflight
Antares Blasts Off With Cygnus On First Contracted ISS Resupply Mission
Marking the beginning of regular supply runs to the International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corporation sucessfully launched its Cygnus cargo craft aboard Antares rocket January 9 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Following a delay of several days due to record-breaking cold and a powerful solar flare, Antares blasted off on […]
Antares Set For Chilly Launch To Space Station
1/8/14 7:00 am EST UPDATE: Early this morning the Antares launch team decided to scrub today’s launch attempt due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket’s electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment. The solar […]
Photo Feature: NASA Readies TDRS-L Spacecraft For Late January Launch
NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-L was the focus of a media opportunity Januar 3, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, FL. Media viewed the TDRS-L spacecraft and interviewed project and launch program officials from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; the Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space […]
SpaceX Delays Falcon 9 Launch Of Thaicom 6, Remains Confident Of January Liftoff
Bird-watchers on the beaches of Cape Canaveral will have to wait a few more days to see Florida’s first satellite launch of 2014. SpaceX announced this afternoon that launch of the THAICOM 6 communication satellite is being delayed until at least January 6. Some sources reported that an unspecified issue with the launch vehicle’s payload […]
Cygnus Joins Antares For Second Space Station Supply Run
On December 10, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s operations team mated the Cygnus spacecraft to the Antares rocket that will launch it to the International Space Station on December 18. Later today they will conduct “Flight Sim 2” which will simulate the complete launch sequence to ensure that the integrated Antares and Cygnus systems perform as designed. […]
Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser Suffers Setback During First Free Flight Test
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) suffered an apparent setback of its efforts to develop a commercial orbital passenger spacecraft today during the maiden free-flight of the atmospheric test article of the company’s Dream Chaser lifting body. According to eyewitness and confirmed by SNC, a landing gear deployment failure occurred and Dream Chaser flipped over after touchdown, […]
Orbital’s Antares Blasts Off On First Cygnus Mission To ISS
Marking a giant stride forward in NASA’s plans to rely on the private sector for cargo, and eventually human, deliveries to ISS, Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket blasted into space today carrying the company’s Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft. The successful launch marked the beginning of a four-day in-orbit capabilities demonstration mission that will culminate in […]
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Conducts Second Powered Test Flight
Suborbital passenger spaceflight pioneer Virgin Galactic passed another major milestone today as the company’s first commercial reusable space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2) successfully completed its second powered flight test. During the test, carried out from the Virgin Galactic’s facility in the Mojave desert, SS2 reached a velocity over 1,000 miles per hour and a maximumum altitude […]
STS-3 Space Shuttle Columbia Photo And Video Collection
Former NASA astronaut Gordon Fullerton passed away this week. In memory of the death of a great astronaut, here is our photo and video history collection for STS-3, the third flight of space shuttle Columbia. Fullerton served as pilot of the third of four missions in the Orbiter Flight Test project. The primary mission objective […]