Tag: exoplanets
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SpaceX and NASA delay launch of TESS planet hunter to check guidance analysis
An artist’s conception shows the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. (NASA Illustration) NASA and SpaceX say they’ll take more time to launch the Transiting Exoplanet Survey System, or TESS, just to make sure the $337 million mission will be on the right track to hunt for planets beyond our solar system. TESS’ liftoff aboard a SpaceX…
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SpaceX poised to launch planet-hunter
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…
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Video: Mission officials brief reporters on TESS launch
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.
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Falcon 9 launch timeline with TESS
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…
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Photos: TESS prepared for launch in Florida
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…
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Live coverage: NASA planet-hunting satellite launched by SpaceX
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]
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SpaceX rocket test-fired at Cape Canaveral for NASA telescope launch
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…
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Exoplanet telescope selected as ESA’s next space science mission
Artist’s concept of the ARIEL space telescope. Credit: UCL A mission to investigate the atmospheres of planets around other stars has been selected by the European Space Agency for launch in the late 2020s, officials announced this week. The space telescope will observe 1,000 exoplanets, using a spectrometer to measure the chemical make-up of their…
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What if scientists find signs of alien life? Experiment suggests we won’t freak out
An artist’s conception shows the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, monitoring a distant star and its planets. (NASA Illustration) AUSTIN, Texas — If extraterrestrial life exists, there’s a chance we’ll detect it sometime in the next 20 years. And then what? A recently published study suggests that most folks will take the news calmly, if…
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Exoplanet-hunting satellite arrives in Florida for April launch
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is pictured inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after arriving Feb. 12. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing, fueling and attachment to a Falcon 9 launcher for liftoff in…