Tag: NASA
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A chunk of metal that tore through a Florida home definitely came from the ISS
NASA has confirmed that the object that fell into a Florida home last month was part of a battery pack released from the International Space Station. This extraordinary incident opens a new frontier in space law. NASA, the homeowner, and attorneys are navigating little-used legal codes and intergovernmental agreements to determine who should pay for…
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Boeing, ULA roll Starliner spacecraft out to pad 41 ahead of Crew Flight Test launch in May
The CST-100 Starliner spacecraft pauses in front of Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) before it embarks to Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 10:41 a.m. EDT: Added additional timing information regarding work at the VIF and a statement from Boeing regarding the…
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As Europa Clipper nears October launch date, scientists anticipate groundbreaking results
Later this year, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center with one of the most highly-anticipated and monumental planetary science missions of the decade — Europa Clipper. The mission will see the spacecraft travel to the smallest of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, Europa, to investigate the…
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NASA says it needs better ideas on how to return samples from Mars
NASA’s $11 billion plan to robotically bring rock samples from Mars back to Earth is too expensive and will take too long, the agency’s administrator said Monday, so officials are tasking government and private sector engineers to come up with a better plan. The agency’s decision on how to move forward with the Mars Sample…
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In exchange for a lunar rover, Japan will get seats on Moon-landing missions
On the sidelines of the state visit by the Japanese prime minister to Washington this week, US and Japanese officials have signed an agreement to cement a partnership that will pave the way for a Japanese astronaut to walk on the Moon. The Japanese astronaut, still unnamed, will become the first international astronaut to walk…
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NASA knows what knocked Voyager 1 offline, but it will take a while to fix
Engineers have determined why NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has been transmitting gibberish for nearly five months, raising hopes of recovering humanity’s most distant spacecraft. Voyager 1, traveling outbound some 15 billion miles (24 billion km) from Earth, started beaming unreadable data down to ground controllers on November 14. For nearly four months, NASA knew Voyager…
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NASA unveils three teams to compete for crewed lunar rover demonstration mission
NASA awarded contracts for three companies and their teams to move into the feasibility phase of developing options for a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV). Renderings: Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, Astrolab NASA selected three companies to move forward with developing crewed, unpressurized rovers capable of operating on the Moon’s South Pole on Wednesday. Intuitive Machine’s Moon…
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Trash from the International Space Station may have hit a house in Florida
A few weeks ago, something from the heavens came crashing through the roof of Alejandro Otero’s home, and NASA is on the case. In all likelihood, this nearly 2-pound object came from the International Space Station. Otero said it tore through the roof and both floors of his two-story house in Naples, Florida. Otero wasn’t…
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NASA, Lockheed Martin working to resolve Artemis II Orion issues, deliver spacecraft around summer’s end
NASA is working with Orion spacecraft prime contractor Lockheed Martin to resolve a handful of issues that came up late last year during ground testing, forcing the space agency to delay the launch readiness target date for its Artemis II circumlunar mission to September 2025. The Lockheed Martin assembly, test, and launch operations (ATLO) team…
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Three options for seeing the solar eclipse, from expensive to iffy to absolutely free
Skywatchers gather at Seattle’s Gas Works Park to watch the progress of 2017’s solar eclipse. (GeekWire Photo) After a seven-year gap, a total solar eclipse is once again due to make a coast-to-coast run across North America, boosting popular interest (and airfares) to astronomical proportions. The track of totality for the April 8 eclipse doesn’t…