Tag: NASA
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Juno illuminates 25 year old Jovian mystery, mission extended to 2025
More than four and a half years after arriving in orbit of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno mission continues to excel at its primary goal of answering outstanding questions about the Jovian system, something highlighted in a recent science release detailing a much drier region of the planet’s upper atmosphere than previously predicted. Meanwhile, with the spacecraft…
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NASA selects potential small-scale astrophysics missions, Hubble measures exoplanet’s odd orbit
The Hubble Space Telescope has successfully measured the highly eccentric and distant orbit of an exoplanet circling a double star system 336 light years from Earth. The new exoplanet information is potentially important much closer to home as scientists search for the proposed Planet Nine in our solar system. Meanwhile, NASA has selected four small…
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Chinese mission returned nearly 4 pounds of lunar samples
Staff members handle the capsule containing lunar samples returned by the Chang’e 5 mission. Credit: Xinhua Chinese officials say they plan to share a portion of the nearly 4 pounds of lunar material returned by the Chang’e 5 mission with other countries, but an allocation for U.S. scientists will hinge on a change in U.S.…
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Year in Review: Mars missions, Lunar Samples, Crew launched from the US, and Starlink
Despite a worldwide pandemic which affected agencies around the world, 2020 featured many significant achievements in spaceflight. In total, 114 orbital launches were attempted, including deep space missions like Solar Orbiter, three missions to Mars, and the Chinese Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission. Also this year, the United States regained domestic crew launch capability…
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Preparing for “Earth to Earth” space travel and a competition with supersonic airliners
Commercial spaceflight companies are preparing to enter a new market: suborbital flights from one place to another on Earth. Aiming for fast transportation for passengers and cargo, these systems are being developed by a combination of established companies, such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, and new ones like Astra. Technical and business challenges lie ahead…
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SLS Core Stage Green Run WDR countdown ends early – Next steps considered
NASA partially completed the Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) test of the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage on the second attempt in the B-2 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center. The test was again conducted in secrecy on 20 December, and the test team was able to fill the rocket stage with…
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Kennedy Space Center Expands as Launch Complex 48 Opens for Operations
After planning began in 2016 for a small, multi-user launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Launch Complex 48 is now ready to support small to medium lift launch vehicles. The complex is the first new launch pad built at Kennedy since the 1960s when the much larger LC-39A and B pads, which have…
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SLS Core Stage tanking test is first Green Run moment of truth for NASA
NASA stood down from a second attempt to complete a critical propellant loading and countdown demonstration test of its first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage December 18 in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. Prime contractor Boeing is conducting the Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) test which is a…
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Canada to become second nation ever to send people to the Moon
To date, only Americans have travelled to the Moon. On Artemis 2, that will change when the Canadian Space Agency sends one of its four astronauts on the first-ever crewed flight of NASA’s Orion capsule and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on a near two week test flight around the Moon. The as yet…
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NASA adds Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn rocket to its launch services catalog
An artist’s conception shows the New Glenn rocket on its launch pad. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture hasn’t yet finished its orbital-class New Glenn rocket, but today NASA put it on the “on-ramp” for future missions. The NASA Launch Services II contract, or NLS II for short, essentially puts…