Tag: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, AstroForge’s Odin face post-deployment challenges
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, is prepared for encapsulation inside SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Beneath the lander are rideshare payloads from Epic Aerospace (front), AstroForge (right), and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (behind). Image: SpaceX via Intuitive Machines Two spacecraft that launched as rideshare payloads on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission are dealing with post-deployment…
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SpaceX launches Intuitive Machines’ 2nd Moon lander, 3 rideshare spacecraft
A streak shot of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it launched the IM-2 mission for Intuitive Machines and sent its Nova-C lander, Athena, to a lunar transfer orbit. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Intuitive Machines is heading back to the Moon following its first trip a year ago. The company based in Houston, Texas, sent another…
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Weather delays launch of NASA’s billion-dollar Psyche mission to Friday
Update 6:35 p.m. EDT: NASA delays launch to Friday due to weather. The eighth Falcon Heavy to fly was raised to launch configuration overnight on Wednesday as it prepares to send the Psyche spacecraft off to the asteroid of the same name as early as Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Image: Adam Bernstein Original story: With…
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NASA’s Lunar Flashlight CubeSat mission ends before entering orbit around moon
This screenshot from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D visualization tool shows Lunar Flashlight making its close approach with Earth late on May 16. The CubeSat was expected to pass about 40,000 miles (65,000 kilometers) from our planet’s surface over Brazil’s east coast on May 17.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s small Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, sent to…
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has now flown more than 50 times
NASA’s Perseverance rover glimpsed the Ingenuity helicopter earlier this month after the rotorcraft’s 50th flight. This view shows dust accumulation on the vehicle. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to outperform its design specifications, having now notched up more than 50 record-breaking forays across the Red Planet’s surface, 10 times as many flights…
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NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces first longer-range flight on Mars
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 28 with new color image showing the Perseverance rover. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew farther and faster Sunday than the rotorcraft’s first two test flights in the Martian atmosphere, traveling the length of a football field while exceeding distances and speeds achieved during testing on Earth, officials said. On Sunday’s test flight, the…
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NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight
This is the first color image of the Martian surface taken by an aerial vehicle while it was aloft. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured it with its color camera during its second successful flight test on April 22, 2021. At the time this image, Ingenuity was 17 feet (5.2 meters) above the surface and pitching…
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In another first, NASA’s Perseverance rover generates oxygen on Mars
This view from the Perseverance rover’s navigation cameras shows the “Mars 2020” and “Perseverance” name plates on the vehicle’s robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In another first, an instrument inside NASA’s Perseverance rover has made oxygen out of carbon dioxide sucked in from the atmosphere of Mars, officials said Wednesday. The technology could help future astronauts…
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NASA celebrates first historic helicopter flight on Mars
A navigation camera on NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this view of the Ingenuity helicopter’s historic flight Monday. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech An automated mini-helicopter driven by two fast-spinning, counter-rotating rotors took off from the surface of Mars, hovered for 30 seconds, then successfully landed Monday to complete the historic first powered flight of an aircraft on another…
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After successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits
The work isn’t over for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. Engineers hope to fly the rotorcraft four more times in the next two weeks before calling it quits on the pioneering technology experiment, which accomplished the first powered flight of an aircraft on another planet Monday. As officials celebrated the helicopter’s historic flight, teams were…