Tag: NASA
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First interplanetary CubeSats already setting records in deep space
Artist’s concept of the MarCO CubeSats. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Two CubeSats developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched May 5 with the InSight mission to Mars have deployed their miniaturized antennas and captured a distant family portrait of the Earth and the moon. The twin spacecraft have already set a distance record for CubeSats, and they…
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Frosty vs. Leaky: Spacewalkers shuffle spare coolant pumps at space station
News Brief: Two NASA spacewalkers repositioned a pair of spare coolant pumps outside the International Space Station today during a 6.5-hour outing. A faulty ammonia pump nicknamed “Leaky” was put into long-term storage while another spare pump, dubbed “Frosty,” was maneuvered into position on the station’s robotic arm for testing later this week. NASA’s Drew…
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Helicopter to accompany NASA’s next Mars rover to Red Planet
Artist’s concept of the Mars Helicopter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech A flying drone fitted with counter-rotating blades, on-board autonomy, and a lightweight carbon-fiber fuselage will ride to the Red Planet with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, officials announced Friday. Promising results from recent ground testing and a funding boost provided by a new NASA budget passed by Congress…
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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;…
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JWST beset by another problem as Northrop Grumman revamps training
The telescope element of the Webb observatory was unpacked from its shipping container March 8 after arriving at Northrop Grumman’s factory in Redondo Beach, California. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Engineers working on the James Webb Space Telescope, which had its launch delayed to 2020 earlier this year, recently discovered another problem during testing at the observatory’s…
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SpaceX Dragon cargo ship brings Robonaut and mice back to Earth from space station
News Brief: After a month of unloading and reloading, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule was set loose from the International Space Station today and made a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The two tons of cargo that were returned to Earth include mice that were part of a study focusing on zero-G’s effects on bones and…
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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…
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Fog and flames: Up-close photos from the Mars InSight mission’s launch pad
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — As thick fog enveloped Space Launch Complex 3 early this morning, the Mars InSight lander roared off the launch pad aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, starting its journey to the Red Planet. My three remote cameras were 300 to 400 feet away from the launch pad, and you can see…
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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…
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All systems go for launch of InSight, a mission to reveal the inside of Mars
Artist’s illustration of the InSight spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Credit: Lockheed Martin Scientists eager for answers to long-standing questions about the geology of Mars will get a lift Saturday with the blastoff from California of an Atlas 5 rocket with NASA’s InSight mission, a robotic landing craft that will take the pulse and…