News Archive

Flight Readiness Review passed for next week’s Atlas 5 launch

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and NASA's four MMS satellite probes passed their Flight Readiness Review on Friday that assessed the progress of work and affirmed plans to launch next Thursday night.

Could Delta rockets soon be a thing of the past?

With as few as 15 more launches on the calendar over the next five years, the rocket name "Delta" that has been serving the U.S. and international customers since 1960 could permanently fade into history.

Photos: Shroud installed around satellite quartet, connected to Atlas 5

NASA's four Magnetospheric Multiscale mission spacecraft were encapsulated Feb. 23 in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket's nose cone at the commercial Astrotech processing campus in Titusville. Delivery of the payload to the Atlas 5 assembly building for mating occurred on Friday, Feb. 27.

On this date…March 4 launch of STS-62

#OTD in 1994, the launch of Columbia on the STS-62 microgravity research mission

Photos: Falcon takes flight

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off Sunday with a dual-satellite payload destined for geosynchronous orbits 22,300 miles above the Earth.

On This Day… Endeavour Launches on ASTRO-2 Mission

#OTD in 1995, Endeavour launched on the ASTRO-2 astronomy mission:

On This Date…March 1

A mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope blasted off on this date in 2002.

On This Date…Feb. 28

Four satellites mated to Atlas 5 rocket

Four NASA satellites that will create a constellation of formation-flying spacecraft were placed aboard their shared United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Friday.

Video: MMS preview briefing

During a Feb. 25 briefing at NASA headquarters, details were discussed about the upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, scheduled for launch March 12 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.