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212 articles
VideoMars 2020 rover on track for launch next July
The launch of NASA's Mars 2020 rover is less than a year away, and the steady pace of work inside the craft's pristine assembly hall in California is keeping the mission on schedule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral next July, despite growing costs, according to mission managers.
NASA picks three companies to send commercial landers to the moon
NASA has announced that Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond won contracts to deliver science instruments and technology demonstration payloads to the moon's surface in the first of a series of robotic missions preceding a human return to the moon.
NASA, ULA find launch opportunity for inflatable heat shield demonstrator
A flight demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could be used to retrieve reusable engines from United Launch Alliance's next-generation Vulcan rocket, and for the delivery of heavier cargo to the surface of Mars, is planned for launch in late 2021 or early 2022 as a piggyback payload on an Atlas 5 rocket with a NOAA weather satellite.
SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA
SpaceX has filed a protest challenging a nearly $150 million NASA contract awarded to United Launch Alliance last month to send a robotic asteroid probe into space.
First unpiloted test flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule reset for March 2
As expected, NASA announced Wednesday that the first unpiloted test flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ship has slipped from later this month to March 2. The first unpiloted flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule is now targeted for the April timeframe.
ULA wins contract to launch NASA’s Lucy mission to visit unexplored asteroids
NASA has selected United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket to dispatch the Lucy spacecraft on a mission from Cape Canaveral in October 2021 to fly by seven unexplored asteroids, including six objects locked in orbits leading and trailing Jupiter, where scientists expect swarms of miniature worlds could hold clues about the formation of the solar system.
Safety panel says much work left to do before commercial crew ships fly
NASA safety advisors on Thursday lauded hardware milestones on Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew capsules, but said multiple technical issues, including problems with parachutes, must be resolved before the human-rated ships are ready to carry astronauts, adding that both companies continue to pursue schedules that appear to be unachievable.
No commercial crew test flights expected this year
NASA has released new target dates for test flights of commercial crew capsules in development by SpaceX and Boeing, with unpiloted demo missions by SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spaceships now scheduled for January and March, followed by crewed orbital missions in mid-2019.
Photos: Final Delta 2 launch shines before dawn in California
Flying for the 155th and final time, a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket took off from California on Sept. 15 with NASA's ICESat 2 satellite.
Leftover Delta 2 rocket to go on display at Kennedy Space Center
United Launch Alliance plans to assemble leftover parts for a Delta 2 rocket display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida alongside other icons of U.S. rocketry, the company announced Saturday soon after the final Delta 2 launch.