Mission Reports – Page 261

Mars 2020 rover arrives at Kennedy Space Center for July launch

February 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two U.S. Air Force cargo planes delivered the Mars 2020 rover, cruise stage, descent module and the Mars Helicopter to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week for final assembly, fueling and mounting atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in preparation for liftoff in July.

Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship arrives at space station

February 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two-and-a-half days after launch from Virginia, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday with nearly 7,500 pounds of cargo. Capture with the station’s robotic arm occurred at 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT).

Photos: Atlas 5 lifts off with Solar Orbiter

February 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

Take a look back at the Feb. 9 launch of a 189-foot-tall (57.6-meter) Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral carrying the European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

NASA to assess proposals for probes to Venus, moons of Jupiter and Neptune

February 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday it will fund four concept studies for potential robotic missions to Venus, Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton ahead of a decision next year to approve up to two of the projects for launch in the mid-to-late 2020s.

Discoveries at solar system’s distant frontier shed light on how planets form

February 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Data from the encounter of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft with a frozen reddish snowman-shaped object a billion miles beyond Pluto last year suggest the building blocks of planets may have formed less violently than many scientists expected, officials said Thursday.

Live coverage: SpaceX readies Falcon 9 for fifth Starlink mission

February 13, 2020 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral in preparation for liftoff as soon as Sunday with the company’s fifth batch of Starlink broadband satellites.

Christina Koch having no problems re-adapting to Earth after record space flight

February 12, 2020 William Harwood

Astronaut Christina Koch, six days after returning from a record 11-month stay aboard the International Space Station, said Wednesday she’s re-adapting to gravity with no major problems, enjoying family life, an initial trip to the beach, playing with her dog “LBD” and a kitchen packed with chips and salsa, a favorite food in short supply aboard the station.

ULA to debut unflown variant of Atlas 5 rocket later this year

February 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

The last unflown variant of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 launcher — fitted with a five-meter fairing and a single strap-on solid rocket booster — will carry a pair of U.S. military space surveillance satellites toward geosynchronous orbit from Cape Canaveral late this year, according to a Space Force spokesperson.

Trump administration requests funding boost for NASA’s Artemis moon program

February 10, 2020 William Harwood

The Trump administration is requesting $25.2 billion for NASA in fiscal 2021, a 12 percent increase that includes $3.3 billion to kickstart development of a human-rated lander for the Artemis moon program. Nearly half of the budget request, $12.3 billion, is devoted to new and ongoing projects focused on the return to the moon and eventual flights to Mars.

Iran fails in satellite launch attempt

February 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Iranian government officials admitted Sunday that an attempt to place a small Earth-imaging satellite into orbit was unsuccessful, the fourth consecutive launch failure for the country’s space program.