William Harwood – Page 13 – Spaceflight Now

James Webb Space Telescope spots what may be most distant galaxy yet found

November 17, 2022 William Harwood

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a remote galaxy shining just 350 million years after the birth of the cosmos 13.8 billion years ago, surprising astronomers who are struggling to figure out how stars and galaxies could have formed so rapidly in the wake of the Big Bang, researchers said Thursday.

NASA clears Artemis moon rocket for Wednesday launch

November 14, 2022 William Harwood

NASA managers Monday reviewed the threat posed by hurricane-damaged insulation on the agency’s Artemis moon rocket and cleared the $4.1 billion booster for launch “as is” early Wednesday to kick off a long-delayed flight to boost an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon and back.

Engineers assessing hurricane-damaged insulation before Artemis launch Wednesday

November 13, 2022 William Harwood

NASA managers cleared the agency’s leak-bedeviled Artemis moon rocket for the start of another countdown early Monday, but engineers must resolve questions about hurricane-damaged insulation before the huge booster can be cleared for blastoff on an unpiloted moonshot.

NASA assesses moon rocket after a brush with Hurricane Nicole

November 10, 2022 William Harwood

NASA’s $4.1 billion Artemis moon rocket, exposed to the elements atop its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, was rocked by high winds and driving rain early Thursday as Hurricane Nicole roared ashore just south of the spaceport.

SpaceX Crew Dragon returns to Earth with on-target splashdown

October 14, 2022 William Harwood

Three NASA astronauts and a European flier boarded their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Friday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean east of Jacksonville to close out a 170-day mission.

Dennis Tito, first space tourist, books trip around the moon on SpaceX’s Starship

October 12, 2022 William Harwood

Dennis Tito, an 82-year-old aerospace engineer-turned-financial analyst who paid Russia $20 million for a trip to the International Space Station in 2001, is working with SpaceX on plans to take his wife on what amounts to a belated honeymoon voyage to the moon.

NASA confirms DART probe impact changed asteroid’s orbit

October 11, 2022 William Harwood

The deliberate 14,000-mph crash of a small NASA probe into the asteroid Dimorphos two weeks ago nudged the 525-foot-wide body onto a slightly different course, NASA confirmed Tuesday, shaving 32 minutes off the time needed to complete one orbit around a parent asteroid known as Didymos.

Russian Soyuz brings three cosmonauts home from space station

September 29, 2022 William Harwood

Three cosmonauts undocked from the International Space Station Thursday and returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft, safely landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to wrap up a 195-day mission.

Hurricane Ian prompts NASA to move Artemis moon rocket back to its hangar

September 26, 2022 William Harwood

Faced with threatening weather from Hurricane Ian, NASA managers decided Monday to haul the $4.1 billion Artemis 1 rocket off its launch pad and back to the protection of the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building, likely ending any chance of launching the unpiloted moonshot before November.

NASA waves off Tuesday launch for Artemis moon rocket

September 24, 2022 William Harwood

Faced with stormy weather ahead of soon-to-be Hurricane Ian, NASA managers Saturday ruled out a third attempt to launch the Artemis 1 moon rocket Tuesday but held open the option of making a run at blastoff on October 2, the current backup date.