Tag: Ames Research Center
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NASA Activates Athena Supercomputer to Expand High-End Computing Capacity
NASA has placed its Athena supercomputer into service at the Modular Supercomputing Facility at the Ames Research Center, significantly increasing the agency’s high-end computing capacity for science and exploration missions. Athena delivers 20.13 petaflops of peak performance and replaces the Pleiades system, which offered 7.09 petaflops and was retired earlier this month. The new system…
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SpaceX smashes record with launch of 143 small satellites
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday from Cape Canaveral with 143 small satellites, a record number of spacecraft on a single mission, giving a boost to startup space companies and stressing the U.S. military’s tracking network charged with sorting…
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Falcon 9 launch timeline on the Transporter-1 mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, heading due south over the Atlantic Ocean on a trajectory hugging the east coast of Florida to deliver 143 small satellites into polar orbit. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches rideshare mission on Falcon 9 rocket
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission will launch 143 small satellites for numerous U.S. and international customers. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”SpaceX webcast”] [tabby title=”SpaceX mission audio”] [tabbyending]
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Virgin’s satellite launcher reaches orbit for first time
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket fires its NewtonThree main engine moments after release from the Boeing 747 carrier jet, named “Cosmic Girl.” Credit: Virgin Orbit An air-launched rocket built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached orbit Sunday for the first time, delivering 10 experimental CubeSats for NASA and positioning the company for the start of commercial…
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NASA takes a chance on Virgin Orbit with company’s second test launch
The LauncherOne rocket’s payload fairing is emblazoned with the NASA “meatball” logo for Virgin Orbit’s second orbital test flight. Credit: Virgin Orbit On its second launch attempt after a propulsion problem prevented its light-class air-dropped rocket from reaching space last year, Virgin Orbit will try to deliver 10 experimental CubeSats into orbit as soon as…
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Coronavirus concerns force closure of NASA center, some space industry events canceled
File photo from the Satellite 2019 conference in Washington. Credit: Satellite 2019 An annual meeting of planetary scientists near Houston has been canceled due to concerns about the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, and NASA has instructed its 1,200 employees at a field center in California to work from home until further notice after a worker there…
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NASA’s VIPER rover in development for scouting mission to moon’s south pole
NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is a mobile robot that will roam around the moon’s south pole looking for water ice. Credit: NASA Ames/Daniel Rutter Building on a mission canceled last year, NASA is developing a mobile robot named VIPER for launch in 2022 to scout for water ice at the moon’s…
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CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology
Students work with the TechEdSat 8 CubeSat before its launch to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on…
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Cygnus supply ship departs space station for extended mission
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) after departure, with updated information on nanosatellite deployments. The Cygnus spacecraft is released from the space station’s robot arm Friday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now A commercial Cygnus supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday for an extended mission to deploy five nanosatellites and conduct other…