April 6, 2020
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Mission Reports

Crew training continues for SpaceX’s first launch with astronauts

April 3, 2020

During a visit to Cape Canaveral this week, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken strapped in to the SpaceX crew capsule they will ride into orbit as soon as mid-to-late May. Next week, the astronauts will be in Houston to continue training for an extended stay on the International Space Station that could last two-to-three months.

  • Video: Slidewire basket crew egress system tested at pad 39A

    April 3, 2020

    SpaceX tested astronaut slidewire escape baskets and fire suppression capabilities Friday at launch pad 39A in Florida, demonstrating systems that would be activated in the event of an emergency before liftoff of a crewed mission.

  • Pandemic prompts few changes to busy month on space station

    April 2, 2020

    U.S. and Russian vehicles ferrying crews and cargo will continue traveling to and from the International Space Station this month, sustaining the orbiting lab in its 20th year of continuous human occupation amid an escalating pandemic on Earth.

  • In parallel with rocket development, Firefly launches lunar lander initiative

    April 1, 2020

    A souped-up version of the Israeli Beresheet moon lander built in Texas could be ready to carry NASA science and technology payloads to the lunar surface before the end of 2022, according to officials from Firefly Aerospace.

  • Swarm of NASA nanosats to probe source of solar eruptions

    April 1, 2020

    NASA has selected a mission to dispatch six CubeSats, each the size of a toaster oven, to an orbit more than 20,000 miles from Earth to study massive particle ejections from the sun.

  • NASA, JAXA assign two more astronauts to second piloted Crew Dragon flight

    March 31, 2020

    Veteran astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker have been assigned to fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s second piloted Crew Dragon mission later this year, joining commander Mike Hopkins and astronaut Victor Glover on a planned six-month expedition in orbit.

  • Photos: Atlas 5 soars into clear skies over Cape Canaveral

    March 31, 2020

    Propelled by five strap-on solid rocket boosters and a Russian-made kerosene-fueled RD-180 main engine, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 26 with the U.S. military’s sixth AEHF communications satellite.

  • Lean team readies ESA’s Mercury-bound BepiColombo for planetary flyby

    March 30, 2020

    One job deemed essential by the European Space Agency coronavirus pandemic involves shepherding the BepiColombo spacecraft through a high-speed flyby of planet Earth next month, an immovable event on the $1.8 billion mission’s seven-year journey to Mercury.

  • Back in Florida, Orion capsule nears readiness for Artemis test flight

    March 30, 2020

    The Orion spacecraft slated to fly around the moon on an unpiloted mission next year has arrived back at the Kennedy Space Center following an environmental test campaign in Ohio, ready for a series of final checkouts before officials pause launch preparations this summer to await readiness of NASA’s Space Launch System.

  • OneWeb files for bankruptcy

    March 30, 2020

    OneWeb — three launches into a series of nearly 20 missions to deploy 650 satellites to provide global Internet service — has announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reduced its workforce after unsuccessful negotiations for more cash from its largest investor.

  • NASA picks SpaceX to deliver cargo to Gateway station in lunar orbit

    March 27, 2020

    NASA has selected SpaceX to deliver supplies to the planned Gateway mini-space station in lunar orbit using a new version of the Dragon cargo vehicle launched atop Falcon Heavy rockets.

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