Exploring The Frontier Of Space
Engineers took another step forward in preparations for the first test flight of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft, in December. The three primary core elements of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket recently were integrated, forming the first stage of the launch vehicle that will send Orion far from Earth to allow NASA […]
Dodging persistent thunderstorms that have beseiged Florida most of the summer, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into space overnight and sucessfully delivered a cargo-laden Dragon spacecraft in low Earth orbit to begin SpaceX’s fourth resupply mission to the International Space Station. Delayed a day by bad weather, the 208 foot tall pencil-like rocket blasted off […]
U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a […]
SpaceX experienced a rare but disappointing failure today when one of the company’s Falcon 9R (reusable) rockets exploded during a test flight at the SpaceX facility near McGregor, TX. It is unknown if the problem today will affect the scheduled August 27 launch from Cape Canaveral of a Falcon 9 carrying the commercial Asiasat 6 […]
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) launched Tuesday atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:47 p.m. EDT. The ATV-5 will take a two week trip to the International Space Station docking to the Zvezda service module on Aug. 12 at 9:43 a.m. with 7 tons […]
Following a one-day delay to fix a balky water valve on its launch pad, the Delta II launch vehicle returned to service early Wednesday morning with a fiery nighttime ascent from California on a mission to deploy NASA’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) will join a […]
With just six months until its first trip to space, NASA’s Orion spacecraft continues taking shape at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers began stacking the crew module on top of the completed service module Monday, the first step in moving the three primary Orion elements – crew module, service module and launch […]
With two companies now providing commercial cargo launch services for the International Space Station, NASA is issuing its final report on the now-complete Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that laid the groundwork for those flights. The report, titled “Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, A New Era in Spaceflight” (NASA/SP-2014-617), documents the work of NASA’s Commercial […]
Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. […]
UPDATE: Due to weather conditions, there will be no launch of the LDSD test vehicle June 4 or 5. Other potential launch dates include June 7, 9, 11 and 14. The decision to move forward with another launch attempt of the LDSD test is made the day before each launch opportunity date. NASA’s flying saucer-shaped […]