Tag: European Space Agency
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Balky connectors prevent full activation of European experiment platform
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated after end of EVA. STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Astronaut Mike Hopkins works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk Wednesday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now Two astronauts working outside the International Space Station Wednesday installed a European Space Agency data relay antenna and connected four of six cables to partially…
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Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021
The members of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station. Pictured from left are NASA astronaut Raja Chari, European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn. Credit: NASA/ESA Rookie NASA astronaut Raja Chari — a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot — veteran physician-astronaut Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency…
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Arianespace targets early 2021 for Vega return-to-flight
File photo of a Vega launch in 2018. Credit: ESA – S. Corvaja Presenting the results of an inquiry into a European Vega rocket failure last month, officials said Friday that misleading instructions and inadequate preflight checks caused teams to overlook wrongly-installed cables on the launcher’s upper stage steering system. Arianespace and European Space Agency…
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Photos: Falcon 9 launches and lands at Vandenberg Air Force Base
This composite image captures the launch of the the Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, followed by the booster’s return to Landing Zone 4 more than eight minutes later. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now These photos show the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 21 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in…
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Photos: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich encapsulated for launch
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite — named for the former head of NASA’s Earth science division who died of cancer earlier this year — is affixed to the top of the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket awaiting liftoff from the Central Coast of California at 12:17:08 p.m. EST (9:17:08 a.m. PST; 1717:08 GMT) Saturday. The…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches oceanography satellite from California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The mission will launch the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite for NASA, the European Space Agency, the European Commission, Eumetsat, and NOAA. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.…
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International satellite launches to extend measurements of sea level rise
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite. Credit: SpaceX A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on…
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European Vega rocket suffers second failure in three launches
A Vega rocket took off Monday night from French Guiana with two European satellites, but the launcher failed to deploy the payloads into orbit. Credit: Arianespace A European Vega rocket crashed back to Earth shortly after launching from French Guiana carrying a Spanish land imaging satellite and a French research probe with a combined value…
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Arianespace traces cause of Vega launch failure to ‘human error’
This frame grab from Arianespace’s live launch webcast shows an animation of the Vega rocket’s AVUM upper stage with the SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite. Credit: Arianespace Inverted cables on the Vega rocket’s upper stage control system apparently caused the launcher to tumble minutes after liftoff Monday night, a failure that resulted in the loss of…
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Vega rocket poised for launch with satellites for Spain and France
The SEOSat-Ingenio Earth observation satellite is seen mounted on top of the Vega rocket’s Vespa dual-payload adapter before encapsulation inside the payload shroud. The French Taranis satellite is contained inside the Vespa structure. Credit: Airbus A Spanish Earth observation spacecraft and a French research satellite to probe luminous phenomena above thunderstorms are packaged inside the…