Stay updated with the latest events in spaceflight.
NASA has selected the Centaur upper stage currently used on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket for future flights of the Space Launch System. The post NASA selects Centaur for new SLS upper stage appeared first on SpaceNews.
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The Exploration Upper Stage did not in any way get NASA closer to landing on the Moon.
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Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft will launch in April to the orbital laboratory on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for NASA. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 24 […]
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman unveiled sweeping changes to the Artemis program, aimed at restoring momentum,… The post NASA’s Artemis ‘Course Correction’ Boosts Moonward Momentum: Key Details Still Maturing appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.
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New research reveals that when NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft intentionally impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in September 2022, it didn’t just change the motion of Dimorphos around its larger companion, Didymos; the crash also shifted the orbit of both asteroids around the Sun. Linked together by gravity, Didymos and Dimorphos orbit each […]
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Eutelsat has completed the last step in a 5 billion euro ($5.8 billion) refinancing plan to refresh its OneWeb constellation and support Europe’s IRIS² sovereign connectivity program, the French satellite operator announced March 6. The post Eutelsat completes $5.8 billion refinancing plan appeared first on SpaceNews.
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Spacecraft Release
The JAXA HTV-X1 will be unberthed from the ISS before initiating a destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere taking waste along with it.
Spacecraft Release
The Northrop Grumman NG-23 Cygnus will be unberthed from the ISS before initiating a destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere taking waste along with it.
Rollout
NASA will roll out their second fully stacked Space Launch System (SLS) rocket back to LC-39B after a rollback from the pad to investigate issues with the upper stage helium tanks. The rollout is expected to take up to 12 hours.
Founded: 1998-11-20
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000. It has been inhabited continuously since that date. The last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and an experimental inflatable space habitat was added in 2016. The station is expected to operate until 2030. Development and assembly of the station continues, with several new elements scheduled for launch in 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS consists of pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, solar arrays, radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles.
Founded: 1986-02-20
Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space.
Founded: 1973-05-14
Skylab was a United States space station launched and operated by NASA, and occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974 – the only space station the U.S. has operated exclusively. In 1979 it fell back to Earth amid huge worldwide media attention. Skylab included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems necessary for crew survival and scientific experiments. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a weight of 170,000 pounds (77,000 kg). Lifting Skylab into low earth orbit was the final mission and launch of a Saturn V rocket (famous for carrying the manned Moon landing missions). Three missions delivered three-astronaut crews in the Apollo command and service module (Apollo CSM), launched by the smaller Saturn IB rocket. For the final two manned missions to Skylab, a backup Apollo CSM/Saturn IB was assembled and made ready in case an in-orbit rescue mission was needed, but this backup vehicle was never flown.