Spaceflight Now – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue

September 28, 2023 Spaceflight Now

The launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission is being delayed a week due to allow “verifications” of parameters used by the spacecraft’s thrusters, the space agency confirmed Thursday. Liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is now scheduled for no earlier than Oct. 12.

Live coverage: Space station crew return to Earth after 371-day mission

September 27, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut return to Earth after an extended tour of duty aboard the International Space Station. The landing marked the end of a 370-day-21-hour-22-minute-long mission. It was the third longest human space flight in history and the longest by a U.S. astronaut.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from California

September 25, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched its 42nd Starlink delivery mission of the year with a Falcon 9 lifting off from the West Coast carrying a batch of 21 satellites at 1:48 a.m. PDT (4:48 a.m. EDT / 0848 UTC) Monday morning.

Interview: Talking asteroid sample return

September 24, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith speaks with some of the key figures at Lockheed Martin, who helped bring the OSIRIS-REx mission to life and will continue working with both the spacecraft and the asteroid samples after the return capsule lands in the Utah desert.

As it happened: Seven-year asteroid adventure ends with sample return

September 24, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Live coverage as a capsule lands in the U.S. Army test range in the Utah desert carrying samples from the surface of asteroid Bennu. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (short for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission has been on a seven-year journey to Bennu and back. If all goes according to plan the capsule will land under a parachute at about 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 UTC) on Sunday.

Another Falcon 9 hits 17-flight milestone with Starlink launch

September 23, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Saturday night with a first-stage booster making its 17th flight. It was only the second to reach this milestone. Liftoff, with 22 Starlink satellites occurred at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 UTC Sunday).

Artemis 2 astronauts go to the launch pad for launch day practice

September 22, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Ahead of launching the Artemis 2 mission no earlier than November 2024, the four astronauts donned test flight suits to go through a pre-launch simulation. They rode to launch pad 39B in Canoo electric vehicles and climbed the Mobile Launcher tower.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 on record-breaking 17th flight for booster

September 20, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX continued to push the boundaries of booster reusability Tuesday night with the launch of a Falcon 9 using a first stage rocket making its 17th flight. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral with 22 satellites for the Starlink internet network occurred at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 UTC).

Radar-imaging satellite lost as Rocket Lab Electron rocket suffers launch failure

September 19, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket, carrying a radar-imaging satellite for Capella Space, failed on Tuesday after a problem occurred two and half minutes into flight. It was the fourth failure in 41 flights for the small satellite launcher.

Radar-imaging satellite lost as Rocket Lab Electron rocket fails

September 18, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket failed to launch a radar-imaging satellite for Capella Space on Tuesday after a problem occurred shortly after separation of the first stage about two and a half minutes into flight.