Tag: Astrophysics

  • Video: Falcon 9 stands at the launch pad

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    The Falcon 9 rocket stands on launch complex 40 on 16 April as SpaceX prepares to launch NASA’s TESS spacecraft on a mission to seek out new planets beyond our Solar System. Video: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now.

  • SpaceX poised to launch planet-hunter

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: NASA SpaceX readied a Falcon 9 rocket for takeoff Monday to launch a planet-hunting satellite for NASA that will monitor the light from countless stars to find potentially habitable planets worthy of follow-up studies by more powerful ground- and…

  • Video: Mission officials brief reporters on TESS launch

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Officials from NASA, research institutions and companies involved in the development and launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite briefed reporters in the mission Sunday, the day before its scheduled liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The two briefings focused on the TESS mission, spacecraft, launch and scientific objectives.

  • Falcon 9 launch timeline with TESS

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 18 with new launch date. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, heading east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite into orbit approximately 49 minutes after launch. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for launch from pad 40 at Cape…

  • Photos: TESS prepared for launch in Florida

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    These photos show NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite undergoing preparations for launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These photos show the 798-pound (362-kilogram) spacecraft, built by Orbital ATK, deploying its power-generating solar panels during a ground test in February at KSC’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. TESS was encapsulated inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s…

  • Live coverage: NASA planet-hunting satellite launched by SpaceX

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV”] [tabby title=”SpaceX Webcast”] [tabby title=”SFN Clean Feed”] [tabbyending]

  • SpaceX rocket test-fired at Cape Canaveral for NASA telescope launch

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, without its payload fairing or the satellite passenger, fired its nine Merlin 1D booster engines for several seconds Wednesday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s launch team loaded super-chilled liquid propellants into a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday and fired the booster’s nine first stage…

  • Webb telescope’s launch delayed until 2020

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    The James Webb Space Telescope’s mirror and instrument section, known as the Optical Telescope element and Integrated Science (OTIS) module, is unpacked from its shipping container after arriving at Northrop Grumman’s satellite factory in Redondo Beach, California, earlier this year. JWST’s sunshield is visible at left. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Blaming a slew of technical snags…

  • NASA delays Webb Space Telescope’s liftoff to 2020, says it may bust $8B budget

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    An artist’s conception shows the James Webb Space Telescope with its five-layered, foldable sunshield. Issues with the sunshield have contributed to launch delays. (NASA Illustration) NASA is delaying the scheduled launch of its next flagship observatory, the $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, by a year — which may hike its cost so high that Congress…

  • Space Launch System, planetary exploration get big boosts in NASA budget

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Artist’s illustration of the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA NASA’s planned rocket to send humans back to the moon and the agency’s solar system exploration program were big winners in a $20.7 billion budget passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on Friday. The NASA funding was part of a $1.3 trillion federal spending…