Tag: Human Spaceflight

  • First SLS core stage departs factory

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    The SLS core stage is powered by four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now The heart of NASA’s first flight-ready Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket emerged from its factory in New Orleans Wednesday morning for a barge trip to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an eight-minute test-firing of…

  • SpaceX reschedules crew capsule in-flight abort test for Jan. 18

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is pictured being prepared for an in-flight abort test inside of a SpaceX processing facility at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Four of the capsule’s SuperDraco abort thrusters are visible in this image. Credit: SpaceX Credit: SpaceX The final major test of the high-power launch abort engines on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft…

  • Koch marks record stay in space for female astronaut

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Christina Koch works with an experiment on the International Space Station in this Dec. 22 photo. Credit: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch, launched to the International Space Station in March, marks her 289th day in space Saturday, breaking retired astronaut Peggy Whitson’s world record for the longest…

  • NASA declares first SLS core stage complete

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    All four RS-25 engines, leftovers from the space shuttle program, have been installed on the first Space Launch System core stage. Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon NASA has declared assembly complete on the core stage for the first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket in New Orleans, signaling a long-awaited transition from manufacturing to testing as the core…

  • Blue Origin launches New Shepard on 12th test flight

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Blue Origin’s New Shepard booster blasts off Wednesday from West Texas. Credit: Blue Origin Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a reusable New Shepard rocket Wednesday, boosting an unpiloted capsule on a successful up-and-down flight to space in the 12th test of a spacecraft designed to carry “space tourists”…

  • Blue Origin preps for suborbital launch

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 9:15 a.m. CST (10:15 a.m. EST; 1515 GMT) after Blue Origin scrubbed Tuesday’s launch attempt. File photo of a New Shepard rocket at Blue Origin’s test site in West Texas before a previous flight. Credit: Blue Origin After poor weather scrubbed a launch attempt Tuesday, Blue Origin plans to launch the 12th…

  • Astronauts perform third spacewalk to fix cosmic ray detector

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT) after conclusion of spacewalk. Astronaut Luca Parmitano rides the space station’s robotic arm during Monday’s spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now After prepping their patient — a $2 billion cosmic ray detector — during two earlier spacewalks, two space station astronauts…

  • Spacewalkers continue repair of cosmic ray detector

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 2:15 p.m. EST (1915 GMT) after end of spacewalk. STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano rides the space station’s Canadian-built robotic arm during a spacewalk Friday. Credit: NASA In a complex bit of orbital surgery, two spacewalking astronauts cut into a $2 billion cosmic ray detector Friday,…

  • SpaceX fires up Crew Dragon thrusters in key test after April explosion

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Eight SuperDraco thrusters fired during a ground test Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX test-fired the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s eight SuperDraco abort engines Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, paving the way for a high-altitude rocket escape test and demonstrating engineers have apparently fixed the problem that triggered an explosion during a similar…

  • Video: Crew Dragon tests abort thrusters at Cape Canaveral

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the SuperDraco abort thrusters on the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft Wednesday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The test-firing occurred at approximately 3:08 p.m. EST (2008 GMT) Wednesday on a test stand at Landing Zone 1, the site where SpaceX lands Falcon 9 rocket boosters for reuse.…