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VideoScientists thrilled with first look at asteroid sampler in action
The first images beamed back to Earth by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft after it briefly landed an asteroid buoyed expectations Wednesday that the probe collected enough samples to meet the mission’s minimum requirement for return to Earth.
VideoLive coverage: OSIRIS-REx makes touch and go landing on asteroid
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a touch and go landing on asteroid Bennu at 6:12 p.m. EDT (2212 GMT) Tuesday. The craft aimed to collect samples from the asteroid's gravely surface for return to Earth in 2023 for scientists to search for clues about the origins and evolution of the solar system.
VideoHow OSIRIS-REx will snag a sample from asteroid Bennu
Mars rovers go through seven minutes of terror when they plunge into the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speed. NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will take a more glacial approach to its asteroid target Tuesday, and the event will be more akin to four-and-a-half hours of mild anxiety for ground teams, according to the mission's operations manager.
VideoAfter four-year journey, NASA spacecraft ready to touch an asteroid
Flying on autopilot more than 200 million miles from Earth, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on track for a daring touch and go landing on an asteroid Tuesday to grab a sample for return to scientists eager to scan the specimens for clues about the history of the solar system.
VideoCrucial first fueling test on tap for SLS core stage later this month
If all goes according to plan, engineers in southern Mississippi later this month will load cryogenic propellants into the core stage of a rocket NASA says will launch astronauts back to the moon, exposing its tankage and internal plumbing to extreme operating conditions hundreds of degrees below zero for the first time. The fueling test -- a major milestone in its own right -- is a precursor to a high-stakes eight-minute test-firing of the Space Launch System's four shuttle-era main engines planned as soon as November.
VideoNASA asteroid explorer aces final rehearsal before sampling run
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft moved within about 131 feet, or 40 meters, of asteroid Bennu this week in the $1 billion mission's final practice run before a touch-and-go landing on the asteroid in October to collect samples for return to Earth.
VideoVideo: Rocketcams show Mars-bound rover’s ride into space
Cameras mounted on United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket show the fiery ride into space for NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover after taking off from Florida's Space Coast.
VideoAtlas 5 launch timeline on the Mars 2020 mission
This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into space from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission.
VideoULA’s Atlas 5 is NASA’s go-to rocket for nuclear-powered space probes
NASA's Perseverance rover, set for liftoff Thursday on a journey to Mars, posed some unusual challenges for launch crews working with the robot's plutonium-fueled power generator, but United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket is uniquely suited for the job, the company's CEO says.
VideoNASA’s Perseverance rover signals new era in Mars exploration
NASA's Perseverance rover will depart Cape Canaveral Thursday on a $2.7 billion mission to Mars, carrying with it the first interplanetary aircraft, sophisticated instruments to search for signs of ancient life, and drill to core samples for eventual return to Earth.