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A Day of Flight Testing at NASA Armstrong
NASA

A Day of Flight Testing at NASA Armstrong

Flight testing is a team sport. For nearly 80 years, teams at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, have used flight testing to push the limits of aerodynamics and advance aviation. Earlier this year, NASA’s Crossflow Attenuated Natural Laminar Flow (CATNLF) initiative tested a wing concept that would maximize the smooth flow of […]

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NextSTEP-3 B: Moon Base Demonstrations
NASA

NextSTEP-3 B: Moon Base Demonstrations

Notice ID: Coming Soon NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate is seeking innovative ideas from industry partners through a new solicitation appendix under the NextSTEP-3 Omnibus Broad Agency Announcement. Appendix B: Moon Base Demonstrations calls for industry-led demonstrations, risk reduction, and special topic activities that enable an enduring human presence on the lunar surface. NASA’s Moon […]

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NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities
NASA

NASA Awards More Moon Base Science, Previews New Opportunities

NASA announced Tuesday the selection of three companies to land four new missions on the Moon in late 2028 as part of the agency’s Moon Base Program. Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines will deliver NASA science payloads to the lunar surface as the agency builds the first outpost on another celestial world. “These new […]

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Electron | The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7)

Rocket Lab
Mission Type Earth Science
Orbit Low Earth Orbit
Pad Unknown Pad, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

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Active Space Stations

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International Space Station

International Space Station

Status: Active Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

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.

CSAESAJAXANASARFSA
Mir

Mir

Status: De-Orbited Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

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.

RFSA
Skylab

Skylab

Status: De-Orbited Orbit: Low Earth Orbit

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.

NASA