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339 articles
SLS pathfinder stage arrives at Florida launch site
A steel tube built as a stand-in for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a series of rehearsals to hone the skills of technicians before the real rocket reaches the spaceport, an oft-delayed milestone that could still be a year or more away.
NASA to fly CubeSat pathfinder for Gateway in unique lunar orbit
As soon as next year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat the size of a microwave oven into a unique elliptical orbit around the moon as a scout for the future lunar Gateway, a mini-space station NASA intends to use as a staging point for crewed lunar landings beginning as soon as 2024.
NASA taps Lockheed Martin to build six more Orion crew capsules
NASA announced Monday it will order at least six reusable Orion crew capsules from Lockheed Martin for $4.6 billion to fly astronauts to the vicinity of the moon in the 2020s, and the agency said it plans to purchase hardware for up to 12 Orion vehicles by 2030.
Launch of South Korean lunar orbiter delayed to 2022
The launch of South Korea's first moon orbiter has been delayed from December 2020 until July 2022 after the mission encountered technical issues during development, officials recently announced.
NASA still looking for new human spaceflight chief
NASA hopes to have a new leader for the agency's human spaceflight directorate by the end of the year to replace Bill Gerstenmaier, who held the post for nearly 14 years before his reassignment in July amid the Trump administration's push to land humans on the moon by 2024, a NASA official said Wednesday.
SLS launch platform returns to pad 39B
The towering mobile platform for NASA’s Space Launch System emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday morning, returning to a seaside launch complex to complete tests interrupted by Hurricane Dorian last week.
Spaceport survey finds little damage from Hurricane Dorian
Launch facilities at Cape Canaveral were spared any significant damage as Hurricane Dorian churned northward off Florida's east coast earlier this week, and employees at the spaceport resumed their normal work Friday.
SpaceX’s first rocket built for humans test-fired in Texas
The Falcon 9 booster assigned to launch two NASA astronauts on an orbital test flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule has been test-fired in Texas, but the schedule for the long-awaited mission remains unclear.
Live coverage: Kennedy Space Center to reopen Friday
After assessing any damage to the spaceport caused by Hurricane Dorian as it narrowly missed Florida's east coast, NASA says the Kennedy Space Center will reopen for normal operations Friday. Teams rolled the Space Launch System's mobile launch platform from pad 39B back into the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building last week for safekeeping during the storm.
Kennedy Space Center braces for Hurricane Dorian
NASA civil servants and the agency's contractor work force are bracing for high winds and rain from Hurricane Dorian, securing rocket stages, spacecraft assembly areas and even hauling a 6.7-million-pound mobile launch tower, designed for the huge rocket being built for the Artemis moon program, back to the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building for safekeeping.