Tag: NASA
-
Humanity’s most distant space probe jeopardized by computer glitch
Voyager 1 is still alive out there, barreling into the cosmos more than 15 billion miles away. However, a computer problem has kept the mission’s loyal support team in Southern California from knowing much more about the status of one of NASA’s longest-lived spacecraft. The computer glitch cropped up on November 14, and it affected…
-
SpaceX successfully launches NASA’s PACE mission on polar orbit flight
The Falcon 9 with NASA’s PACE mission atop stands ready for launch at pad 40. Image: SpaceX. Update 2:30 a.m. EST: SpaceX and NASA confirm a successful launch. SpaceX launched its second NASA mission of the year on Thursday morning. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Earth-observing spacecraft PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) lifted…
-
Falcon 9 launches PACE science satellite for NASA
After a record-setting month featuring 10 launches, SpaceX is gearing up for a busy February. One of the launches this month is the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) ocean science satellite, which flew aboard a Falcon 9 in a rare polar corridor launch from Florida. PACE launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at the…
-
NASA’s PACE mission aims to vastly increase understanding of the oceans, atmosphere
NASA’s PACE spacecraft inside a clean room at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, FL. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now From the oceans to the atmosphere, there’s still quite a bit we don’t understand about our planet. NASA’s latest Earth-observing spacecraft hopes to greatly expand our knowledge of the globe in just a few years. The PACE…
-
While Artemis II schedule remains uncertain, NASA EGS preparing to be ready and waiting for stacking
At the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program continues to prepare for the Artemis II circumlunar mission that was recently delayed to September 2025. EGS is finishing certification of new ground systems to support crewed launches of the agency’s Orion spacecraft with its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket beginning with Artemis…
-
Launch Roundup: NASA’s PACE mission, Chinese art satellites, and more Starlink missions
February started with two Chinese launches. On Feb. 2, a Long March 2C rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China at 23:37 UTC, carrying 11 satellites for a Geely Constellation. A Chinese multistage solid rocket, Jielong-3, launched from a barge in coastal waters off Yangjiang in the South China Sea a few…
-
ISS Roundup: new Axiom crewmates, robotic hops, and long-duration mission research
This month, the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew joined the seven existing astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) from the Expedition 70 mission, comprised of the crews of Crew-7 and Soyuz MS-24 — becoming the first all-European crewed mission to the Station. This brings a total of 11 astronauts aboard the ISS and a…
-
Ingenuity’s mission ends after 72 flights
NASA announced its Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, had ended its mission after experiencing an anomaly during its 72nd flight on Jan. 18. Images recovered after the flight showed severe damage to at least one of the aircraft’s rotor blades, making further flights impossible. The damage spelled the end for the small helicopter that made history in…
-
IXPE investigates microquasar jets, finds unexpected magnetic field structure
Creating some of the most powerful gravitational forces and fields in the universe, black holes are known for their extreme nature, including the ways in which they can devour and destroy whole planets and stars in a matter of seconds. When black holes consume planets, stars, and other cosmic objects, the matter from the collision…
-
NASA urged Astrobotic not to send its hamstrung spacecraft toward the Moon
Astrobotic knew its first space mission would be rife with risks. After all, the company’s Peregrine spacecraft would attempt something never done before—landing a commercial spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. The most hazardous part of the mission, actually landing on the Moon, would happen more than a month after Peregrine’s launch. But the…