Tag: NASA
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SLS continues post-hurricane cleanups and prepares for Core Stage Green Run valve repair
NASA and Boeing continued troubleshooting issues with the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage found during summer Green Run testing while cleanup from the mess created by Hurricane Zeta continued in the greater New Orleans area. The hurricane plowed through NASA facilities in the area on the evening of October 28, causing roof and siding…
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Northrop Grumman updates Transfer Element portion of National Team lunar lander
In an interview with NASASpaceflight, Northrop Grumman’s Sally Richardson, Program Director, Human Landing System, provided key updates on the progress the company is making on its Transfer Element, part of a three-piece Human Landing System (HLS) lunar lander. Northrop Grumman is part of the National Team, also consisting of Blue Origin (project lead), Lockheed Martin,…
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Pentagon worries that satellite attacks could spark ‘mutually assured destruction’
Satellite constellations are becoming increasingly important for military communications. (DARPA Illustration) In the years ahead, the long-running nightmare of the nuclear Cold War — mutually assured destruction — could return in a new context on the final frontier, a Pentagon adviser said today at a Seattle-based space policy conference. Brad Townsend, a space strategy and…
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Scientists release new view from OSIRIS-REx’s asteroid smash and grab
This view from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s navigation camera shows asteroid Bennu as the probe moved in for a sample collection maneuver Oct. 20. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin Scientists say the touch and go landing by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on an asteroid last month revealed fresh insights into the structure of loose rocks that may…
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SLS Program hit by Hurricane Zeta while working through Green Run issues
The law of averages caught up to the New Orleans area and the two NASA facilities located nearby when Hurricane Zeta roared directly through them on the evening of October 28 as a Category Two storm. Several tropical weather systems had spared the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans East and the Stennis Space…
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Automating Robotics: CSA preparing for future with Canadarm2/Dextre
When Canadarm2 was first launched to ISS onboard Shuttle Endeavour on 19 April 2001 and installed three days later by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski, it was designed to be controlled and operated by astronauts with a primary goal of assembling of the orbiting outpost. Fast forward 19 years to today,…
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Asteroid samples sealed in OSIRIS-REx return capsule
A camera aboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft showed the mission’s sample return capsule closed its heat shield late Wednesday after a robotic arm placed asteroid samples inside for the trip back to Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin A collection chamber that could contain more than 2 pounds of samples gathered from an asteroid in deep…
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SOFIA: a telescope on the forefront of astrophysics research
From finding organic molecules in distant stars to discovering water on the sunlit surface of the Moon, NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is at the forefront of scientific research — especially when it comes to the potential for life either developing or being sustained on bodies other than Earth. The latest studies from…
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OSIRIS-REx begins stowing asteroid sample into return capsule
These images from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft were taken Tuesday, Oct. 27, showing the mission’s robotic arm placing the sampling head inside the capsule that will return the asteroid specimens to Earth in 2023. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin Working under close supervision from ground controllers more than 200 million miles away, the robotic arm on…
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Crew-1 mission in final preparations as launch date aligns
With Crew-1 just weeks away, SpaceX and NASA have entered final preparations for the first operational Crew Dragon flight that will mark the first long-duration crew rotation mission to the International Space Station to launch from a country other than Kazakhstan since 2009. The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon with Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover,…