Tag: Lockheed-Martin
-
Two NASA probes catch first glimpses of primordial targets
On Aug. 17, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft obtained the first images of its target asteroid Bennu from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km), or almost six times the distance between the Earth and Moon. This cropped set of five images was obtained by the PolyCam camera over the course of an hour for…
-
Scotland site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated July 17 with Rocket Lab statement. Artist’s concept of a rocket lifting off from the U.K.’s first vertical orbital launch site in northern Scotland. Credit: Lockheed Martin Two companies — U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin and British start-up Orbex — seeking to carve out a share of the burgeoning small satellite launch market…
-
Lockheed Martin wins $31M from UK Space Agency for spaceport in Scotland
An artist’s conception shows Orbex’s Prime rocket lifting off. (Orbex Illustration) Lockheed Martin is in line to receive $31 million (£23.5 million) in grants from the UK Space Agency to establish Britain’s first spaceport on Scotland’s north coast, and to develop a new made-in-Britain system for deploying small satellites in orbit. The British government announced…
-
NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe’s engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the…
-
NOAA’s new GOES-17 weather satellite has degraded vision at night
Artist’s illustration of the GOES-17 satellite in space. Credit: Lockheed Martin Engineers are studying a malfunction with the main imaging instrument on NOAA’s GOES-17 weather satellite, launched March 1, that could limit the observatory’s ability to monitor storms, winds and other weather phenomena at night, officials said Wednesday. A cooling system aboard the satellite is…
-
Rocketcam replay of InSight’s launch to Mars
Video credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance has released a replay of the May 5 liftoff of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, as viewed by aft- and forward-facing cameras on the two-stage launch vehicle. The 188-foot-tall (57-meter) Atlas 5 rocket lifted off at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT;…
-
Photos: Shrouded in fog, Atlas 5 takes flight from Vandenberg
A layer of fog intruding on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California kept nearby observers from seeing any sign of Saturday’s predawn launch of an Atlas 5 rocket carrying a robotic NASA probe to Mars. The only images of the Atlas 5’s fiery takeoff came from remote cameras placed at the launch pad, or from…
-
After foggy departure, it’s clear sailing to Mars for InSight lander
A fog layer at Vandenberg Air Force Base prevented nearby observers from viewing the launch of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars, but viewing points farther away from the launch site had clear skies. This long exposure photo was captured at Ventura, California. Credit: William G. Hartenstein Making a fiery climb into a foggy sky Saturday…
-
Photos: Mobile gantry retracted for launch of Atlas 5 rocket at Vandenberg
Towering more than 20 stories tall, the 8-million-pound mobile gantry at the Atlas 5 rocket’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, was retracted into position late Friday for liftoff of NASA’s InSight mission to Mars. The mobile service tower began moving into launch position around 11:30 p.m. PDT Friday (2:30 a.m. EDT; 0630…
-
Video: InSight blasts off through the fog
Credit: NASA TV A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off Saturday from California with the InSight spacecraft heading for Mars. The 188-foot-tall (57-meter) Atlas 5 launcher lifted off powered by an RD-180 main engine at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT; 1105 GMT) Saturday, heading south-southeast from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a military…