Tag: NASA
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NASA watchdog report sharpens debate over cost of SpaceX vs. Boeing spaceships
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner are being developed to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station for NASA. (SpaceX / Boeing Illustrations) Boeing is in line to get paid substantially more per seat than SpaceX for astronaut trips to the International Space Station, in part because it negotiated an increase in…
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SpaceX fires up Crew Dragon thrusters in key test after April explosion
Eight SuperDraco thrusters fired during a ground test Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX test-fired the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s eight SuperDraco abort engines Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, paving the way for a high-altitude rocket escape test and demonstrating engineers have apparently fixed the problem that triggered an explosion during a similar…
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Video: Crew Dragon tests abort thrusters at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the SuperDraco abort thrusters on the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft Wednesday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The test-firing occurred at approximately 3:08 p.m. EST (2008 GMT) Wednesday on a test stand at Landing Zone 1, the site where SpaceX lands Falcon 9 rocket boosters for reuse.…
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Next three-man Soyuz crew training to have space station to themselves
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy prepares for a spacewalk training session at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. Credit: NASA/James Blair The next three-man crew to launch on a Soyuz rocket — comprising two Russian cosmonauts and a veteran NASA astronaut — is training to have the International Space Station to themselves after their arrival at…
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Video: New view of Starliner pad abort test
Video credit: Boeing Boeing has released a new video of the company’s Nov. 4 abort test demonstrating the Starliner crew capsule’s ability to escape a launch pad emergency. Officials from Boeing and NASA briefed reporters Thursday on the initial results from the pad abort test, in which the abort engines pushed the spacecraft off…
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Sen. Maria Cantwell plays a role in drive to keep the space station going until 2030
An artist’s conception shows a Boeing Starliner space taxi approaching the International Space Station. (Boeing Illustration) Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has joined with three other U.S. senators in introducing a NASA authorization bill that aims to extend federal support for International Space Station to 2030. The bill voices support for NASA’s Artemis campaign to explore…
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Boeing traces problem with Starliner parachute system to an unsecured pin
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner space taxi descends on the end of two parachutes during this week’s pad abort test. The Starliner’s heat shield can be seen falling away beneath the craft. (Boeing Photo) For want of a pin, the use of a spaceship’s parachute was lost. That may be a simplistic way to explain why one…
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Photos: Starliner crew capsule performs pad abort test
Boeing conducted a critical test of the launch abort system of the company’s Starliner crew capsule Nov. 4 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Four launch abort engines, augmented with thrust from smaller maneuvering jets, ignited at 7:15 a.m. MST (9:15 a.m. EST; 1415 GMT) to swiftly launch the 16.5-foot-tall (5-meter) crew capsule…
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NASA is ‘thrilled’ with pad abort test for Boeing’s Starliner space taxi despite parachute glitch
Two parachutes ease the descent of the Boeing-built CST-100 Starliner space taxi during an uncrewed pad abort test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (NASA via YouTube) Boeing cleared a key milestone for launching NASA astronauts on its CST-100 Starliner space taxi today by executing an end-to-end test of its rocket-powered launch abort…
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Boeing tests crew capsule escape system
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, New Mexico — A Boeing Starliner crew capsule fired off a stand early Monday at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on a mile-high test flight to validate the spacecraft’s emergency escape thrusters. Only two of the ship’s three main parachutes deployed on descent, but Boeing officials do not expect…