Tag: Orbital Sciences
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NASA satellite ends 17-year mission measuring the sun’s impact on climate
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13 to include mention of the University of Colorado’s role in the mission. The SORCE spacecraft undergoes preparations for launch. Credit: NASA NASA has shut down a spacecraft that measured the amount of solar energy entering Earth’s atmosphere for 17 years, more than three times the mission’s original design life. The Solar Radiation…
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Orbital Sciences signs contract for new Antares engines
File photo of an Antares rocket rolling out to the launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia. The rocket’s two AJ26 engines will be replaced by RD-181 engines. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky Orbital Sciences Corp. and Energia have signed a contract worth approximately $1 billion for up to 60 Russian-made RD-181 rocket engines to power the redesigned…
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NASA hopes to replace cargo lost on Antares failure this year
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft arrives at the International Space Station on Jan. 12 with 2.6 tons of supplies. Credit: NASA NASA officials say the International Space Station’s logistics chain was designed to absorb a launch failure like the mishap that destroyed an Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo craft in October, but pressure is on SpaceX to deliver…
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Orbital picks Atlas 5 to launch next space station cargo run
File photo of an Atlas 5 launch in the “401” configuration, the same version that launch Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus supply ship in late 2015. Credit: ULA Orbital Sciences Corp. announced Tuesday it selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket to launch a Cygnus space station resupply mission in late 2015 while the company redesigns its…
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Pegasus rocket selected to launch ICON satellite
File photo of a Pegasus XL rocket launch from June 2013. Credit: NASA TV NASA has selected an Orbital Sciences Corp. air-launched Pegasus XL rocket to place a small research satellite in orbit in 2017 to study the connection between Earth’s weather and space weather, the space agency announced Thursday. The Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or…
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Orbital looking for Cygnus launch slots next year
File photo of an Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship approaching the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Facing pressure to find a ride into space for its commercial Cygnus cargo craft in the wake of a catastrophic rocket failure, Orbital Sciences Corp. says it has found openings in the mission manifests of the world’s busiest launch…
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Engine turbopump eyed in Antares launch failure
File photo of an AJ26 engine being prepared for ground testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Credit: NASA With investigators zeroing in on a decades-old rocket engine as the cause of a catastrophic launch mishap last week, Orbital Sciences officials said Wednesday the company plans to use other launchers to send cargo to…
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Station astronaut calls private spaceflight ‘next breakthrough’
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Space station astronaut Reid Wiseman, preparing to return to Earth this weekend after 165 days in orbit, said Monday commercial spaceflight represents the “next breakthrough” in aerospace technology, and that he hopes Virgin Galactic can ultimately turn that dream into reality despite the fatal…
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Initial damage assessment shows Antares pad intact
An aerial view of the Wallops Island launch facilities taken by the Wallops Incident Response Team on Wednesday. Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach Initial inspections of the Antares rocket’s launch pad in Virginia revealed the facility escaped major damage after sustaining nearly a direct hit from the booster as it fell to the ground in flames seconds…
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First stage propulsion system is early focus of Antares investigation
The Antares rocket’s AJ26 engines are seen during the booster’s rollout to the launch pad at Wallops Island, Va. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky The first sign of failure during Tuesday’s doomed launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket from Virginia came from the booster’s first stage about 15 seconds after liftoff, according to engineers studying…