News Archive
Browse every article published on Spaceflight Now, from launch reports and mission previews to spacecraft development coverage. Use the filters to narrow by topic or search by keyword.
Matching Articles
324 articles
SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch
Teams at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi removed the core of NASA's first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket from a test stand earlier this week for loading onto a barge to carry it to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rocket stage is due to arrive by the end of the month to start final preparations for a test flight around the Moon.
VideoOur interview with Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s acting administrator
Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now's editor, asked NASA's acting administrator about the space agency's commercial crew and Artemis programs during a one-on-one virtual interview Tuesday, April 20.
VideoAfter successful first flight, NASA wants to push Mars helicopter to its limits
The work isn't over for NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter. Engineers hope to fly the rotorcraft four more times in the next two weeks before calling it quits on the pioneering technology experiment, which accomplished the first powered flight of an aircraft on another planet Monday.
NASA celebrates first historic helicopter flight on Mars
An automated mini-helicopter driven by two fast-spinning, counter-rotating rotors took off from the surface of Mars, hovered for 30 seconds, then successfully landed Monday to complete the historic first powered flight of an aircraft on another planet.
VideoLive coverage: NASA confirms successful first flight of Mars helicopter
NASA's robotic Ingenuity helicopter is poised to make the first attempt at a powered flight in the atmosphere of Mars. Watch live at 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT) Monday as NASA officials receive signals confirming the outcome of the automated flight attempt.
VideoNASA schedules first Mars helicopter test flight for Monday
After some long-distance troubleshooting, NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter will attempt the first flight of its kind on another world Monday in a demonstration that could open the door to a new era of interplanetary aerial scouts. Watch live at 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT) Monday as NASA officials receive signals confirming the outcome of the flight attempt.
VideoNASA chooses SpaceX to land next astronauts on the Moon
NASA has selected SpaceX to build a spacecraft to land the first astronauts on the moon since 1972, choosing Elon Musk's space company over competing proposals from Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and the aerospace firm Dynetics, officials announced Friday.
Astrobotic selects SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch robotic lunar lander
A commercial lunar lander built by Astrobotic will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2023 to deliver a water-hunting NASA rover to the moon's south pole, officials announced Tuesday.
Mars helicopter needs a software update before attempting first flight
NASA said Monday the Ingenuity helicopter needs a software update to resolve a problem that cut short the drone's rotor startup sequence on Mars last week, postponing the craft's first flight in the Red Planet's atmosphere until later this month.
NASA’s Mars helicopter ready for pre-flight checkouts
Mission controllers plan to unlock the blades on NASA's Ingenuity helicopter and spin them up to more than 2,000 rpm for a test later this week, a bit of "calisthenics" before the rotorcraft's first flight in the atmosphere of Mars as soon as this weekend, the helicopter's operations lead said Monday.