Engineers and safety specialists from NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) gathered in Morro Bay, Calif., in late December to demonstrate how the company’s Dragon spacecraft’s parachute system would function in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during ascent.
Spaceflight
NASA’s Morpheus Lander Soars Over Kennedy Space Center As Tests Continue
NASA’s Morpheus lander testbed resumed testing following a break for the Christmas holiday, making its fifth successful free-flight on January 16 at Kennedy Space Center. The 57-second test began at 1:15 p.m. EST with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending about 187 feet, nearly doubling the target ascent […]
NASA Administrator Visits Michoud, Tours SLS Facilities
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Monday visited the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to see the progress being made on the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built that will take American astronauts into deep space, first to an asteroid beyond the Moon and eventually on to Mars.
Cygnus Arrives At ISS With Supplies, Experiments
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station Sunday used a robotic arm to capture and attach the Cygnus supply spacecraft, which carried dozens of new science experiments from across the country and the world to the orbiting laboratory. The arrival capped the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., for NASA.
NASA, White House Discuss ISS Life Extension At International Space Exploration Forum
Speaking at a global space exploration forum Thursday, John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, explained the importance of President Obama’s decision to extend International Space Station (ISS) operations until at least 2024. Holdren discussed the ISS extension plan at the International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF) in Washington, […]
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 […]
SpaceX Rings In The New Year With Launch Of Thai Satellite
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral for the second time in just over one month today, demonstrating the shortest pad turnaround for the spaceport in over a decade. Making its third flight in the upgraded v1.1 configuration, the rocket successfully placed a communication satellite into geostationary transfer orbit for Thaicom Plc, […]
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Poised For First Launch Of New Year
Looking to start 2014 with a roar, SpaceX is gearing up to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Thai communication satellite January 6 from Cape Canaveral. The launch comes just over one month since the last Falcon 9 mission, also a commercial launch from Florida and signifies the intensity with which SpaceX is solidifying […]
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 […]