2017 – Page 74 – Spaceflight Now

NASA studying whether to add astronauts to first launch of new super booster

February 24, 2017 William Harwood

NASA managers said Friday they hope to know within a month or so whether it might be feasible — or advisable — to put two astronauts on board the first test flight of a huge 322-foot-tall Space Launch System super booster scheduled for its maiden launch late next year.

Delta 4 receives communications satellite payload for launch into space

February 24, 2017 Justin Ray

A military communications satellite, built with international funding from Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand, has been stacked atop a Delta 4 rocket to launch into a worldwide information-relay network operated by the U.S.

Russian freighter links up with International Space Station

February 24, 2017 Stephen Clark

The International Space Station received its second cargo shipment in less than 24 hours Friday with the automated linkup of a Russian Progress refueling and resupply freighter.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket soars into overcast sky from pad 39A

February 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Check out one more gallery of photos from Sunday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon rocket from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Photos: Russian cargo craft fires away from snow-covered cosmodrome

February 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Progress MS-05 supply ship lifted off Wednesday on top of a Soyuz-U rocket, climbing into orbit from a snow-covered launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the way to the International Space Station.

Commercial space cargo ship’s ride to orbit assembled for March 19 launch

February 23, 2017 Justin Ray

An Atlas 5 booster core and Centaur upper stage have been stacked to launch another commercial freighter with supplies and scientific research gear to the International Space Station next month.

SpaceX supply ship completes journey to space station

February 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Running a day late after aborting a rendezvous to resolve a navigation glitch, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft made a smooth final approach to the International Space Station on Thursday, floating in range of the research lab’s robot arm for capture to deliver 2.7 tons of supplies and research experiments.

Europe’s next Sentinel land imaging satellite mated to rocket booster

February 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ground crews have mounted the fully-fueled Sentinel 2B spacecraft, the next mission in Europe’s multibillion-dollar Copernicus Earth observation satellite fleet, on top of a Vega rocket inside a protective gantry on its launch pad in French Guiana for blastoff next month.

Watch a video replay of NASA’s exoplanet announcement

February 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Wednesday the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a star 39 light-years from Earth, and three of the rocky worlds may have the right conditions to support life.

Star found with record seven Earth-size planets

February 22, 2017 William Harwood

Astronomers have discovered seven roughly Earth-size planets very close to a cool dwarf star some 39 light years from Earth, including three orbiting in the star’s habitable zone where liquid water, a key ingredient for life as it’s known on Earth, could be present, researchers announced Wednesday.