Video: New Horizons phone home will confirm health of spacecraft

All NASA centers and facilities will begin a mandatory telework policy for agency and contractor employees effective immediately, except for “mission-essential” personnel, to combat the threat from the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Tuesday.

The launch of a NASA ionospheric research satellite off Florida’s east coast is targeted for Oct. 9 after persistent technical problems with its air-dropped Pegasus rocket stymied two launch opportunities last year.

Originally expected to take off Saturday, the launch of SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon mission was delayed to Sunday because of expected high winds at the Kennedy Space Center and weather off-shore where the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage will attempt to land on a SpaceX droneship. The company plans to re-use the booster for the next Crew Dragon flight.