Tag: Department of Energy
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Interlune announces deals for moon mining equipment — and for selling lunar helium-3
An artist’s conception shows a rocket with a capsule containing helium-3 heading back to Earth from the moon’s surface. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune provided a triple-barreled update today on its progress toward mining helium-3 on the moon and returning that resource to Earth. The startup joined Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered in Iowa,…
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USNC-Tech and Blue Origin win a contract for nuclear thermal propulsion design
An artist’s conception shows a spacecraft with a nuclear thermal propulsion system. (NASA Illustration) Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies and its partners are among three teams winning $5 million contracts from NASA and the Department of Energy to develop reactor designs for space-based nuclear thermal propulsion systems. USNC-Tech’s partners include its parent company, Ultra Safe…
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Video: Rocketcams show Mars-bound rover’s ride into space
Video credit: United Launch Alliance Cameras mounted on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket show the fiery ride into space for NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover after taking off from Florida’s Space Coast. The Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT)…
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket catapults into space with Mars rover
Carrying a $2.7 billion NASA mission to Mars, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off July 30 from Cape Canaveral and fired into a summer sky powered by four powerful solid rocket boosters and a kerosene-burning main engine. The Atlas 5 blasted off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at…
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Mars 2020 spacecraft resumes normal operations after post-launch safe mode
This illustration from NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” app shows the Mars 2020 spacecraft outbound from planet Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission resumed normal operations Friday after cold temperatures forced the spacecraft into safe mode soon after a successful launch from Cape Canaveral. “With safe mode exit, the team is getting…
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NASA’s Perseverance rover leaves Earth bound for Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover lifts off Thursday from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Persevering through a global pandemic, a last-minute earthquake, and the trials of a rocket launch, NASA’s next Mars rover — named Perseverance — took off from Cape Canaveral Thursday on a nearly…
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Atlas 5 launch timeline on the Mars 2020 mission
This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into space from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. Launch is scheduled for Thursday during a two-hour window opening at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT). The 197-foot-tall rocket will arc to the southeast from Florida’s Space Coast on its fourth…
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ULA’s Atlas 5 is NASA’s go-to rocket for nuclear-powered space probes
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, poses with the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA’s Perseverance rover, set for liftoff Thursday on a journey to Mars, posed some unusual challenges for launch crews working with the robot’s plutonium-fueled power generator, but United Launch…
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NASA’s Perseverance rover signals new era in Mars exploration
NASA’s Perseverance rover is lifted during launch preparations at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA JPL/Christian Mangano NASA’s Perseverance rover will depart Cape Canaveral Thursday on a $2.7 billion mission to Mars, carrying with it the first interplanetary aircraft, sophisticated instruments to search for signs of ancient life, and drill to core samples…
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Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket launches with NASA-built Mars rover
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with NASA’s Perseverance rover heading for Mars. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV Broadcast”] [tabby title=”Live view of SLC-41″] [tabbyending] Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the pad before the start of NASA TV’s broadcast…