Tag: Moon
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NASA ‘encouraged’ by tanking test for SLS moon rocket, but launch plan is still in flux
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson (at left) and launch team members Wes Mosedale and Jeremy Graeber monitor data inside Firing Room 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a tanking test. (NASA Photo / Kim Shiflett) NASA says it achieved all its objectives during today’s launch-pad rehearsal for fueling up its giant Space Launch…
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NASA scrubs second try to launch moon rocket due to persistent hydrogen leak
An overhead view shows the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket. (NASA via YouTube) NASA called off today’s attempt to launch its Space Launch System rocket due to a hydrogen leak encountered during the process of fueling up the core stage. Mission managers said they’d have to pass up the current opportunity for…
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NASA reschedules moon rocket’s launch for Saturday as it checks data from first try
A launch-pad screenshot shows the bottom of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, including the four RS-25 main engines on its core stage. (NASA via YouTube) One day after the first launch of NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket had to be scrubbed due to an engine cool-down issue, mission managers announced that they’d try again…
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Problem with rocket engine forces NASA to reschedule first launch of moon rocket
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket stands on its Florida launch pad. (NASA via YouTube) A plumbing issue on a rocket engine has forced a postponement in the first launch of NASA’s most powerful rocket on a history-making round-the-moon flight. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket went far into the fueling process for today’s start of the…
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Find out how to watch NASA’s mammoth moon rocket lift off, and why it’s a big deal
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket stands on its Florida launch pad. (Photo via Boeing Space / Twitter) Update: NASA scrubbed the initial launch attempt for Artemis 1 due to a problem with an engine on the Space Launch System rocket. Get the details. Previously: More than 100,000 people are expected to overwhelm Florida’s Space Coast…
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While NASA gets set for its first Artemis moon mission, Aerojet is working ahead
An artist’s conception shows the Orion spacecraft’s main engine firing during a lunar flyby, surrounded by eight of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Redmond-built auxiliary engines. (NASA Illustration) REDMOND, Wash. — When NASA’s Space Launch System rocket sends an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond the moon and back for the Artemis 1 mission, the trip will put rocket components…
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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter discovers thermally stable areas in surface pits suitable for future lunar bases
Using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a group of NASA-funded researchers has discovered that shaded locations inside surface pits on the lunar surface harbor comfortable temperatures that could prove useful for future lunar exploration. Furthermore, LRO continues to operate in a healthy state around the Moon and is regularly returning data, so much…
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SpaceX launches Danuri, South Korea’s first mission to the Moon
SpaceX has launched South Korea’s first mission to the Moon on Thursday. A flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket launched the Danuri spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC). Danuri, also known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), will be the first…
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NASA announces a challenging schedule for inaugural launch of its SLS moon rocket
A full moon shines above NASA’s Space Launch System rocket during pad testing on June 14. (NASA Photo) If all goes according to plan, NASA could launch its heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket on its first flight around the moon by as early as Aug. 29. That’s a big “if,” however: Workers at Kennedy Space…
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Rocket Lab & NASA launch CAPSTONE to the Moon
Rocket Lab has launched the CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) satellite to the Moon. It’s the first official mission of NASA’s Artemis program that is seeking to permanently return humans to the surface of our nearest astronomical body. Launching onboard the Electron rocket, liftoff occurred at 5:55 AM EDT (09:55…