Spaceflight Now – Page 34 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Orion lands in Pacific

December 2, 2014 Spaceflight Now

NASA’s first space-worthy Orion capsule blasted off atop a Delta 4-Heavy booster rocket for a two-orbit, four-hour shakedown cruise in orbit. Liftoff occurred at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT), with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11:29 a.m. EST (1629 GMT).

New Mars lander takes shape

November 17, 2014 Spaceflight Now

The next Mars lander — a platform to drill beneath the surface of the red planet — has begun its assembly phase in preparation for launch in March 2016.

Rosetta imagery shows Philae at first landing site

November 16, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Images recorded by Rosetta’s navigation camera appear to show the lander, its shadow and the dust cloud kicked up by its first touchdown.

Lander manager says Philae is doing well but battery life is low

November 14, 2014 Spaceflight Now

The lander project manager Stephan Ulamec says tremendous science has been collected during Philae’s short time on the surface but battery life is now limited and it is unlikely to last much longer.

Mission scientist reacts to historic first images from the surface of a comet

November 13, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Rosetta mission scientist Matt Taylor says the science team is jubilant after the Philae lander captured the historic, first close up images of the surface of a comet and began returning data from its science instruments.

Rosetta camera captures Philae’s descent to the comet

November 13, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera witnessed Philae’s descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Top ten Rosetta images from 10km

November 11, 2014 Spaceflight Now

On the eve of Philae’s landing, the European Space Agency has released its top ten images of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko taken by Rosetta’s navigation camera from its lowest orbit just 10 kilometres from the centre of the nucleus.

Video: Learn about the Orion flight test launching in December

November 6, 2014 Spaceflight Now

VIDEO: NTSB news conference on start of SpaceShipTwo investigation

November 2, 2014 Spaceflight Now

The NTSB’s Acting Chairman Christopher Hart holds a news conference to discuss the start of the investigation into the loss of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane over the Mojave Desert.

VIDEO: First NTSB briefing on Virgin Galactic accident

November 1, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Acting NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart briefs the news media on Saturday, soon after arriving at the Mojave Air & Space Port to begin an investigation into the loss of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.