William Harwood – Page 25 – Spaceflight Now

New NASA spaceflight chief makes no guarantees about 2024 moon landing goal

June 18, 2020 William Harwood

Kathy Lueders, NASA’s newly appointed head of human spaceflight operations, said Thursday that without a crystal ball, she could not give a yes-or-no answer when asked whether she believes NASA can put astronauts back on the moon by the end of 2024 as called for by the Trump administration.

Kathy Lueders named NASA chief of human spaceflight

June 12, 2020 William Harwood

Two weeks after the successful launch of two astronauts to the International Space Station, the director of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has been promoted to chief of the agency’s human spaceflight directorate, a portfolio that includes the Artemis moon program, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Friday.

Stormy weather delays Crew Dragon launch to Saturday

May 27, 2020 William Harwood

Stormy weather across Florida’s Space Coast forced SpaceX to call off the long-awaited launch of two astronauts aboard the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first piloted flight to orbit from U.S. soil in nearly nine years.

Crew Dragon astronauts, both married to veteran space fliers, share unique bond

May 25, 2020 William Harwood

It’s one thing to watch a spouse blast off on a rocketship, especially when the spacecraft is making its first flight with people on board. But it’s altogether another matter when the anxious spouse is an astronaut as well.

Hubble still going strong 30 years after launch

April 24, 2020 William Harwood

Thirty years ago Friday, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the shuttle Discovery with a famously flawed mirror, the opening chapter in an improbable saga of redemption and scientific discovery that revolutionized humanity’s view of the cosmos with jaw-dropping images now familiar to millions.

Soyuz with crew of three lands safely in Kazakhstan

April 17, 2020 William Harwood

A Russian cosmonaut and his two NASA crewmates undocked from the International Space Station and landed in Kazakhstan early Friday, returning to an unfamiliar world in the grip of a pandemic that will force them to extend the social isolation they were hoping to end.

Station crew ready for return to Earth, and coronavirus

April 11, 2020 William Harwood

Nearly seven months aboard the International Space Station may be an extreme case of social distancing and isolation, but astronaut Jessica Meir says she expects to feel more isolated than ever when she returns next week to a planet in the grip of the coronavirus.

Soyuz crew docks with the International Space Station

April 9, 2020 William Harwood

With an absence of fanfare amid coronavirus safety protocols, an upgraded Russian Soyuz rocket making its first piloted flight blasted off from Kazakhstan Thursday carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut on a speedy four-orbit trip to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut, two cosmonauts set for Thursday launch to space station

April 8, 2020 William Harwood

Working amid coronavirus restrictions, engineers readied a Soyuz spacecraft for launch Thursday to ferry two Russian cosmonauts and Navy SEAL-turned-astronaut Chris Cassidy to the International Space Station.

NASA inspector general says SLS moon rocket costs continue to climb

March 10, 2020 William Harwood

The powerful Space Launch System rocket being built for NASA’s Artemis moon program by Boeing, using solid-propellant boosters from Northrop Grumman and main engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne, will have cost more than $18 billion by the time it blasts off on its maiden flight in 2021, NASA’s Office of Inspector General reported Tuesday.