Tag: European Space Agency
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NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021
Technicians inspect a critical part of the James Webb Space Telescope known as the Deployable Tower Assembly after fully extending it in the same maneuver it will perform in once in space. Credit: Northrop Grumman The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date…
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Scientists optimistic planetary probes won’t face coronavirus launch delays
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to correct spelling of Hal Levison’s name. Artist’s concept of the Lucy spacecraft flying by Trojan asteroids. Credit: NASA/SWRI Launches of interplanetary missions can only depart Earth when the positions of the planets are just right, and officials managing the development of probes set for launch in 2021 and 2022 to explore asteroids…
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NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars
This illustration shows a concept of how the NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle, carrying tubes containing rock and soil samples, could be launched from the surface of Mars in one step of the Mars sample return mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Catlech After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a…
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BepiColombo flies by Earth, completing first leg of journey to Mercury
A sequence of images captured by one of the selfie cameras on BepiColombo shortly before the closest approach to Earth. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM Working with a reduced staff due to coronavirus-related restrictions, European Space Agency flight controllers monitored the BepiColombo spacecraft during a flyby of Earth on Friday, a maneuver that used our planet’s gravity to…
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ESA science missions back in action after coronavirus-related shutdown
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab Four of the European Space Agency’s robotic missions, including the agency’s two Mars orbiters, are resuming science operations after a stand-down triggered by the positive diagnosis of an employee at ESA’s control center in Germany with the coronavirus. ESA said Thursday that the four…
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Pandemic prompts few changes to busy month on space station
The International Space Station’s robotic arm and Dextre, a two-handed robotic aide, extract the European Bartolomeo platform from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft in this March 25 photo. Credit: NASA U.S. and Russian vehicles ferrying crews and cargo will continue traveling to and from the International Space Station this month, sustaining the orbiting…
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Lean team readies ESA’s Mercury-bound BepiColombo for planetary flyby
Artist’s illustration of the BepiColombo spacecraft during its gravity assist flyby of Earth. Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab One job deemed essential by the European Space Agency during the coronavirus pandemic involves shepherding the BepiColombo spacecraft through a high-speed flyby of planet Earth next month, an immovable event on the $1.8 billion mission’s seven-year journey to Mercury.…
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Italian maker of Vega rocket says launch remains on track for later this month
The Italian-built Zefiro 23 second stage for the next flight of the European Vega rocket is raised into the mobile gantry on a launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron The head of Italian rocket-maker Avio said Thursday that preparations are…
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Launch of ExoMars rover delayed to 2022
The Rosalind Franklin rover for the ExoMars mission completed a series of environmental tests at an Airbus Defense and Space facility in Toulouse, France, in late 2019. Credit: Airbus Most parts of the joint European-Russian ExoMars lander and rover are nearly ready for launch, but trouble with parachutes, electronics, software and concerns about the growing…
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Astronauts capture SpaceX cargo capsule with robot arm for final time
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule is seen berthed to the International Space Station’s Harmony module Monday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule approached the International Space Station Monday for capture with the research lab’s robotic arm, delivering more than 4,300 pounds of food, experiments and spare parts. Future Dragon…