Tag: NASA
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Launch preview: SpaceX to launch new, improved Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL resupply ship to the space station
Technicians use a crane to lift Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft’s pressurized cargo module out of the shipping container on Thursday, July 10, 2025, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new extended Cygnus capsule, scheduled to launch no earlier than Sept. 14, 2025, will carry supplies, food, and…
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SpaceX launches Cygnus XL to ISS on CRS NG-23 mission
Just days after the Progress MS-32 cargo ship launched to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan, SpaceX launched the first flight of a stretched Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo ship to the Station for an additional delivery of supplies. The Cygnus XL cargo ship, named S.S. William C. “Willie” McCool after the pilot of Columbia…
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After early struggles, NASA’s ambitious mission to Titan is “on track” for launch
A new independent report finds that although NASA’s ambitious mission to fly across the surface of Titan is delayed and over budget, the fault is due to the space agency’s management rather than the program itself. Released Tuesday by NASA’s Office of Inspector General, the report found that the mission’s budget has soared from an…
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Launch Roundup: Cygnus XL and Progress fly cargo missions to ISS
Two cargo resupply missions have launched to the International Space Station this week. A Russian Soyuz launched the Progress MS-32 spacecraft Thursday, to be followed on Sunday by a Falcon 9 carrying Northrop Grumman’s new Cygnus XL vehicle. In addition to Cygnus XL, Falcon 9 launched one Starlink mission and two customer missions. Russia and…
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Data from NASA’s Dawn reveals chemical energy source on Ceres
Using data from NASA’s now-retired Dawn spacecraft, scientists have found that Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have once had a lasting source of chemical energy. The Dawn data revealed evidence of molecules needed to fuel microbial metabolisms on Ceres. While the finding doesn’t confirm that microorganisms existed…
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NASA, NOAA prep spacecraft trio to study the Sun and its impacts
A group of technicians works to complete final inspections and checkouts of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft inside a cleanroom at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight Now Technicians inside a pair of clean rooms at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Florida, are busily readying a trio…
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NASA, SpaceX launch Dragon to the ISS on extended cargo, station boosting mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin SpaceX’s 33rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-33) mission to the International Space Station. Image: SpaceX A Cargo Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket in the early hours Sunday morning to begin…
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Launch preview: NASA, SpaceX to launch Cargo Dragon on a mission to boost space station orbit
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the launch of SpaceX’s 33rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-33) mission. Image: SpaceX NASA and SpaceX are preparing to embark on a unique cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft set to launch…
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After recent tests, China appears likely to beat the United States back to the Moon
In recent weeks, the secretive Chinese space program has reported some significant milestones in developing its program to land astronauts on the lunar surface by the year 2030. On August 6, the China Manned Space Agency successfully tested a high-fidelity mockup of its 26-ton “Lanyue” lunar lander. The test, conducted outside of Beijing, used giant…
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NASA takes a trip to Seattle area to thank suppliers for work on the next moonshot
NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg faces the TV cameras at L3Harris’ Aerojet Rocketdyne facility in Redmond, Wash. An R-4D-11 thruster and a decontamination oven are off to his left. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) REDMOND, Wash. — The first crewed flight around the moon in more than 50 years is still months away, but NASA is…