Exploring The Frontier Of Space
Unmanned Spaceflight
We should learn today whether or not SpaceX will be able to attempt a launch this week of its Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to the space station. However, a slip of a day or two, possibly longer, is expected after difficulties were encountered during Tuesday’s static test fire of the rocket’s nine Merlin […]
(Source: SpaceX) During our next flight, SpaceX will attempt the precision landing of a Falcon 9 first stage for the first time, on a custom-built ocean platform known as the autonomous spaceport drone ship. While SpaceX has already demonstrated two successful soft water landings, executing a precision landing on an unanchored ocean platform is significantly […]
The largest Atlas rocket to fly from California blasted off tonight on a successful mission to deliver the classified NROL-35 satellite to polar orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office. Following a one day delay due to bad weather, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 at 10:19 p.m. EST. “We […]
As the company continues to recover from October’s spectacular launch failure of the Antares medium-lift launch vehicle, Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it has signed a contract with United Launch Alliance to conduct one and possibly two cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station using ULA’s Atlas V. The Atlas launch vehicle, with a […]
Reaching a pinnacle in its nine-year development program, NASA’s next-generation Orion deep-space exploration craft soared through a picture-perfect test flight today to mark a major milestone in NASA’s plans to return to human space exploration with sights firmly fixed on Mars. Exploration Flight Test-1 was Orion’s first mission and the first “real-life” test for many […]
Read the story with a full page of launch pad remote camera photos and video! Last month, Zero-G News had the opportunity to travel to Wallops Flight Facility, VA in order to cover the anticipated launch of an Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket to deliver the Cygnus Orb-3 spacecraft on a cargo resupply run to […]
Launch of the Cygnus spacecraft was supposed to be the start of the third of Orbital Science Corporation’s eight NASA-contracted resupply missions to the International Space Station. Instead, Orbital and NASA are left picking up this pieces today after the company’s Antares rocket erupted into a roiling ball of fire after liftoff that consumed the […]
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the eighth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-8 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 1:21 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-41. This is ULA’s 12th launch in 2014, and the 89th successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006. “ULA is honored […]
Already delayed several times, the launch of an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility, VA was pushed back again today due to the expected passage of a powerful hurricane over a critical downrange tracking asset. Hurricane Gonzalo is forecsat to make a direct hit on the Atlantic island of Bermuda in the next […]
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has chosen proposals from 10 universities to study CubeSat concepts that could enhance a Europa mission concept currently under study by NASA. The CubeSat concepts will be incorporated into a JPL study describing how small probes could be carried as auxiliary payloads. The CubeSats would then be released […]