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334 articles
Scientists eager to renew global ice measurements with ICESat 2 mission
The satellite awaiting launch early Saturday from California aboard the final flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket should allow scientists to more precisely track changes in our planet's ice sheets, using six green laser beams to chart the height and slope of polar ice and glaciers, providing a key input into climate change research.
Two NASA probes catch first glimpses of primordial targets
Two NASA spacecraft -- the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission and the New Horizons probe at the edge of the solar system -- have captured their first looks at their targets as they approach a pair of primordial relics for the first time.
Installation of ice-measuring satellite caps assembly of last Delta 2 rocket
NASA's ICESat 2 satellite has been bolted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as ground teams prepare for the final liftoff of the workhorse launcher Sept. 15.
Engineers still hopeful Mars rover will wake up after dust storm
Flight controllers have not heard from NASA's Opportunity Mars rover since June 10 when an increasingly severe global dust storm blocked out the sun, preventing its solar arrays from recharging the robot's batteries. But the dust storm is finally abating and engineers are hopeful the long-lived rover will wake up and phone home in the next few weeks.
Photos: Final Delta 2 rocket assembled for launch in California
The step-by-step stacking of United Launch Alliance's final Delta 2 rocket was completed in June at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for liftoff Sept. 15 with an Earth science satellite for NASA.
Tanking test marks resumption of Delta 2 rocket’s final launch campaign
A team of United Launch Alliance and NASA engineers worked through Delta 2 launch day fueling procedures during a simulated countdown Wednesday for what should be the second-to-last time before the venerable rocket's final liftoff next month from California's Central Coast.
First interplanetary CubeSats already setting records in deep space
Two CubeSats developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched May 5 with the InSight mission to Mars have deployed their miniaturized antennas and captured a distant family portrait of the Earth and the moon.
VideoHelicopter to accompany NASA’s next Mars rover to Red Planet
A flying drone fitted with counter-rotating blades, on-board autonomy, and a lightweight carbon-fiber fuselage will ride to the Red Planet with NASA's Mars 2020 mission, officials announced Friday.
Q&A with Mimi Aung, Mars Helicopter project manager at JPL (members only)
Mimi Aung leads a cadre of engineers developing the Mars Helicopter, an aerial drone set to fly to the Red Planet with the Mars 2020 rover.
VideoRocketcam replay of InSight’s launch to Mars
United Launch Alliance has released a replay of the May 5 liftoff of NASA's InSight mission to Mars aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, as viewed by aft- and forward-facing cameras on the two-stage launch vehicle.