May 2018 – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

Dragon cargo craft’s return to Earth delayed to Saturday

May 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

A commercial Dragon cargo capsule will remain at the International Space Station until Saturday, three days later than previously planned due to high sea states observed by the SpaceX recovery team in the spaceship’s splashdown zone in the Pacific Ocean.

Managers clear InSight for launch after heat shield review

May 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA officials have determined that the robotic InSight lander is ready for its mission to Mars after concluding that the probe should not suffer the same flaw that led to a crack in a heat shield undergoing tests for the space agency’s Mars 2020 rover, InSight’s chief scientist said Monday.

NASA cancels lunar rover, shifts focus to commercial moon landers

May 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

As NASA turns up support for future commercial lunar landers, the space agency last week canceled a mission that would have placed a rover on the moon to survey resources, such as water and helium, that could be used by future human explorers.

Live from launch pad 39A (members only)

May 1, 2018 Spaceflight Now

Watch live views from the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A as SpaceX prepares for the first flight of the Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket.