Tag: Utah
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Varda’s drug-cooking Winnebago will be remembered as a space pioneer
Varda Space Industries is finally able to celebrate. For nearly eight months, the in-space manufacturing company’s first mission was essentially stranded in low-Earth orbit, but not because of any technical malfunction or a restriction imposed by the laws of physics. Instead, the spacecraft couldn’t return to Earth until Varda and three government entities—the US military,…
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NASA spacecraft returns to Earth with pieces of an asteroid
Monday update: This story has been updated with comments from OSIRIS-REx officials about the drogue parachute. A small capsule carrying pristine specimens from an asteroid parachuted to a landing in the Utah desert Sunday, capping a seven-year voyage through the Solar System to bring home samples for eager scientists seeking clues about the origins of life.…
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Northrop Grumman conducts FSB-2 SLS solid rocket booster test
As the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket prepares for its first flight as soon as late August, Northrop Grumman conducted the program’s Flight Support Booster-2 test firing on Thursday at its facility in Promontory, Utah. The Flight Support Booster-2 test is part of an ongoing program to ensure the continued safety and flight-worthiness of the…
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SLS booster test-fired in Utah
An SLS flight support booster was test-fired Wednesday in Utah. Credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman/Scott Mohrman Northrop Grumman test-fired a five-segment solid-fueled booster for NASA’s Space Launch System Wednesday at the company’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. The powerful rocket ignited at 3:05 p.m. EDT (1:05 p.m. MDT; 1905 GMT) Wednesday and burned for a little more…
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High-tech camera records rocket test in never-before-seen detail
A major booster test for NASA’s Space Launch System in June doubled as a demonstration of a new high dynamic range video recorder that captured unprecedented imagery of the rocket firing, revealing hidden details normally masked by the motor’s bright-hot exhaust. Developed by engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the high-tech camera is…
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Photos: SLS test booster ignited in Utah
Pushing out a brilliant plume of nearly 5,000-degree exhaust, a test booster for NASA’s Space Launch System fired in Utah for more than two minutes Tuesday to verify the upgraded space shuttle-era solid rocket motor is ready to help send astronauts into deep space. The 154-foot-long (47-meter) booster ignited at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1405 GMT;…
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Space Launch System booster fired in final preflight qualification test
The 154-foot-long solid rocket motor ignited at 11:05 a.m. EDT (1505 GMT) in Promontory, Utah. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News A solid-fueled rocket motor mounted horizontally on a Utah hillside ignited and powered up to more than 3 million pounds of thrust Tuesday in a final full-up test-firing before a similar booster helps propel NASA’s…
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Huge solid rocket booster to be test-fired Tuesday
The qualification motor for Tuesday’s Space Launch System booster test sits at Orbital ATK’s test site in Utah. Credit: Orbital ATK A 154-foot-long (47-meter) solid rocket booster will be ignited for two minutes Tuesday at a remote test site in Utah, wrapping up a series of five ground firings to prove the motor’s readiness for…
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Stationary rocket to be test-fired in Utah for NASA
Coverage begins at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). The largest solid rocket booster in the world, an extended version of the space shuttle motor, will be test-fired in Utah on Wednesday to check its qualifications to be part of NASA’s new heavy-lift Space Launch System. Comprised mostly of legacy space shuttle parts, including a piece…