Tag: Heliophysics
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Atlas 5 for Solar Orbiter launch returns to assembly building for inspections
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for the Solar Orbiter mission rolled out to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Tuesday, Jan. 21, for a planned wet dress rehearsal Wednesday. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance moved its next Atlas 5 rocket off its Florida launch pad Wednesday for inspections after a cooling…
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Stacking of ULA’s next Atlas 5 rocket begins at Cape Canaveral
United Launch Alliance teams began stacking an Atlas 5 rocket inside a vertical hangar at Cape Canaveral Monday in preparation for an early February launch with the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a joint U.S.-European probe that will take the first pictures of the sun’s poles. This week at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility, ULA technicians are…
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Solar Orbiter arrives at Kennedy Space Center for launch preps
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrived at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility shortly after 9 p.m. EDT Friday (0100 GMT Saturday) after a trans-Atlantic journey from Germany aboard an Antonov An-124 transport plane. Credit: ESA/J. Fiebrich The European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrived in Florida late Friday after a trans-Atlantic journey from a test center…
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British-built solar probe shipping to Florida launch site before Brexit deadline
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft is ready for shipment from a test center in Ottobrunn, Germany, to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final launch preparations. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft — assembled in Britain and set for liftoff in February — has completed environmental testing in Germany…
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NASA’s resilient Van Allen Probes shut down
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Van Allen Probes. Credit: NASA Ground controllers transmitted commands to shut down the second of NASA’s Van Allen Probes on Friday, three months after turning off an identical satellite to conclude a seven-year mission that explored the donut-shaped radiation belts surrounding Earth. The Van Allen Probes were running low on fuel…
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NASA satellite to study ionosphere launches after two-year delay
Artist’s illustration of the Ionospheric Connection Explorer satellite. Credit: NASA A refrigerator-sized satellite soared into orbit aboard an air-launched Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket Thursday night over the Atlantic Ocean, finally setting off on a $252 million mission to probe the dynamic boundary region where space and Earth’s atmosphere meet. NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or…
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Timeline for Pegasus XL’s launch with NASA’s ICON satellite
Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket will take about 11 minutes to place NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite into a roughly 357-mile-high (575-kilometer) orbit after an airborne launch off Florida’s east coast. The nearly 53,000-pound (24-metric ton) rocket will drop from the belly of a modified L-1011 carrier plane, named Stargazer, flying on an…
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Live coverage: NASA’s ICON satellite successfully launched
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket with NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. NASA TV’s live video coverage of the Pegasus XL launch with the ICON satellite begins at 9:15 p.m. EDT (0115 GMT). Become a member today and support…
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Pegasus rocket ready for airborne launch with NASA scientific satellite
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Oct. 9 with 24-hour launch delay. A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is mounted underneath an L-1011 carrier jet, which will fire the launcher into orbit as soon as Wednesday night off Florida’s east coast. Credit: NASA/ Ben Smegelsky After a year-long delay to troubleshoot recurring…
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Air-launched rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral for satellite delivery mission
File photo of Northrop Grumman’s L-1011 carrier jet and Pegasus XL rocket arriving at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Free Station before a previous ICON launch attempt. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is back at Cape Canaveral after a cross-country ferry flight Tuesday under an L-1011 carrier jet, ready…