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Assembly of Mars rover’s rocket to begin this week
Two key pieces of hardware needed for NASA's next Mars rover -- an Atlas rocket booster and sterile components of the rover's sample collection system -- recently arrived at Cape Canaveral ahead of the mission's scheduled launch July 17.
Launch preparations continue for NASA’s next Mars rover
On track for launch from Cape Canaveral in July, NASA's Perseverance rover has been secured to its rocket-powered descent stage and back shell, part of the protective shield that will safeguard the robot when it arrives at Mars next year.
Emirates Mars Mission arrives in Japan for launch preparations
The Arab world's first Mars probe has arrived at its launch site in Japan after officials navigated coronavirus-related quarantine protocols and travel restrictions to ensure the spacecraft can launch on time in July.
VideoNASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars
After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft carries out first of two rehearsals before sampling asteroid
Operating with on-board autonomy more than 140 million miles from Earth, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft succeeded Tuesday in a rehearsal for the sample return mission's touch-and-go landing on an asteroid later this year.
Intuitive Machines announces moon mission’s launch date, landing site
Intuitive Machines, under contract to carry NASA science instruments to the moon on a privately-developed robotic spacecraft, said this week its first commercial lunar mission will target landing in October 2021 near a deep, narrow valley named Vallis Schröteri.
NASA awards robotic lunar landing contract to Masten Space Systems
NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon's south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic lunar lander.
Ground teams fuel Perseverance rover landing system, attach Mars Helicopter
Working under the cloud of the global coronavirus pandemic, technicians and engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have installed a rotor-driven drone on the agency's next Mars rover and fueled the spacecraft's "sky crane" landing system in preparation for launch in July.
BepiColombo flies by Earth, completing first leg of journey to Mercury
Working with a reduced staff due to coronavirus-related restrictions, European Space Agency flight controllers monitored the BepiColombo spacecraft during a flyby of Earth on Friday, a maneuver that used our planet's gravity to steer the mission on a course toward Mercury.
NASA satellite ends 17-year mission measuring the sun’s impact on climate
NASA has shut down a spacecraft that measured the amount of solar energy entering Earth's atmosphere for 17 years, more than three times the mission's original design life.