Tag: Launch Services Program
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Photos: Mars rover encapsulated for launch, mated with Atlas 5 rocket
NASA’s Perseverance rover, contained inside its aeroshell for a searing plunge into the Martian atmosphere next year, has been cocooned inside the payload shroud of its Atlas 5 launcher and mated with the rocket ahead of liftoff from Cape Canaveral scheduled for July 30. The six-wheeled robot is NASA’s next Mars rover. It’s similar in…
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Mars rover mated with Atlas 5 launcher after teams deal with coronavirus cases
The Atlas 5 rocket’s payload shroud containing the Perseverance rover was raised atop the launch vehicle Tuesday, July 7. Credit: NASA/Christian Mangano NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been hoisted on top of its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral for liftoff this month, passing a major pre-launch milestone after teams repaired a…
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NASA delays Mars rover launch to no earlier than July 30
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket undergoes a Wet Dress Rehearsal June 22 at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad in preparation for liftoff with NASA’s Peseverance Mars rover. Credit: United Launch Alliance A technical issue with the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s $2.4 billion Perseverance rover toward Mars…
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Launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover delayed to July 22
The two halves of the payload fairing for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket are seen on each side of the spacecraft containing NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover in this June 18 photo. Credit: NASA/Christian Mangano The launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has been delayed two days to July 22 after…
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Atlas 5 rocket runs through practice countdown before Mars rover launch
Vapors stream away from a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket during a fueling test Monday on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance The Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars next month aced a countdown rehearsal Monday at Cape Canaveral, helping ensure the United…
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Photos: NASA’s Perseverance rover buttoned up for launch
The Perseverance rover is enclosed within its aeroshell for launch. Credit: NASA/Christian Mangano NASA’s Perseverance rover has been closed up inside its protective aeroshell, the structure that will protect the spacecraft when it plunges into the Martian atmosphere, in preparation for launch no earlier than July 20 from Cape Canaveral. The six-wheeled Mars rover was…
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Fitted with super-clean sample tubes, NASA’s next Mars rover nears launch date
Technicians installed sample collection tubes into NASA’s Perseverance rover May 21 before launch to Mars in July. Credit: NASA/JPL The Perseverance rover’s sterilized sample tubes — designed to seal Martian rock and sediment for eventual return to Earth — are installed on the spacecraft as teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center prepare to enclose the…
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After crane problem, ULA caps build-up of Atlas 5 rocket for Mars rover launch
The first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, seen here with its RD-180 engine, is lifted into position on a mobile launch platform inside ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: Kim Shiflett/NASA United Launch Alliance has completed stacking of the major elements of the Atlas 5 rocket…
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Assembly of Mars rover’s rocket to begin this week
EDITOR’S NOTE: United Launch Alliance ground crews raised the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Thursday, May 28, to begin stacking of the launch vehicle for the Perseverance rover mission. Wrapped up for shipment, the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch…
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NASA to consider WFIRST launch options after mission passes key review
Artist’s illustration of the WFIRST spacecraft. Credit: NASA NASA expects to select a launch vehicle next year to carry the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope — a multibillion-dollar flagship astrophysics observatory targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration — into space in 2025 after the mission passed a key review last month, agency officials said.…