December 2020 – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

Chinese probe completes sample collection work on lunar surface

December 2, 2020

Chinese officials said the Chang’e 5 mission finished drilling and scooping samples from a lunar lava plain late Wednesday, hours before the spacecraft’s robotic ascender was due to take off from the moon to begin the trip back to Earth.

Video replay of Chang’e 5’s landing on the moon

December 2, 2020

The China National Space Administration released an accelerated video replay of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft’s landing in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the moon Tuesday.

Live coverage of the first Dragon 2 cargo mission for members

December 2, 2020

Watch live coverage from launch complex 39A as SpaceX and NASA prepare for the first Dragon 2 cargo mission to the International Space Station.

Soyuz rocket launches Emirati military satellite after lengthy delay

December 2, 2020

After months of delays caused by launch vehicle issues and the coronavirus pandemic, a Russian Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage took off from South America and delivered the French-built Falcon Eye 2 military observation satellite to an on-target orbit Tuesday night for the United Arab Emirates.

Arecibo Observatory collapses as scientists lament loss of deep space radar

December 1, 2020

The 900-ton suspended platform of Puerto Rico’s famed Arecibo Observatory collapsed Tuesday after cable failures, crashing into the radio telescope’s iconic dish and shattering a research instrument used to study pulsars, galaxies, planets, and asteroids that might threaten Earth.

China lands sample return probe on moon

December 1, 2020

A Chinese spacecraft successfully touched down on the moon Tuesday, beginning what engineers have described as the most challenging phase of the mission to drill, scoop, and seal rocks for launch back into orbit later this week and return to Earth in mid-December.