Astrophysics – Page 10 – Spaceflight Now

WFIRST astronomy mission faces cuts to contain rising costs

November 3, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA has directed the team developing the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, a flagship astronomy mission set for launch in the mid-2020s to study dark energy and exoplanets, to reduce the observatory’s scientific capabilities and keep it under a $3.2 billion cost cap.

Detector trouble expected to delay ESA’s Euclid dark energy mission

October 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Technical problems discovered during ground testing of U.S.-built detectors for the European Space Agency’s Euclid astronomy mission will delay the completion of the telescope’s scientific payload, jeopardizing the observatory’s 2020 launch target, the head of NASA’s astrophysics division said last week.

Neutron star collision an astronomical gold mine

October 17, 2017 William Harwood

On Aug. 17, gravity waves rippled through the solar system, slightly squeezing and stretching the space Earth occupies, the result of a catastrophic collision of two compact-but-massive neutron stars, producing a so-called “kilonova” explosion that seeded the local environment with a flood of heavy elements ranging from gold and platinum to uranium and beyond, scientists said Monday.

JWST launch slips to early 2019

October 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

Extra testing of the James Webb Space Telescope and delays in assembling the powerful observatory will push back the $10 billion mission’s launch by at least six months to early 2019, officials announced last week as the telescope successfully completed an extensive performance test inside a cryogenic vacuum chamber in Houston.

Q&A with Eric Smith, JWST program director

September 29, 2017 Stephen Clark

NASA’s senior manager in charge of the development of the James Webb Space Telescope, Eric Smith, recently spoke with Spaceflight Now about the decision to reschedule its launch from October 2018 to the spring of 2019.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket soars into space, lands back at Cape Canaveral

August 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

Look back on Monday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in this gallery of photos captured by remote cameras at the launch pad, plus views of the first stage returning to Cape Canaveral for a propulsive landing.

Station crew captures Dragon supply ship, gets early start on unpacking

August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two days after departing from a launch pad on Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday with more than 6,400 pounds of experiments and supplies after concluding an automated laser-guided approach.

SpaceX launches cargo capsule full of science experiments

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into space Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a column of gleaming exhaust, shooting a commercial resupply vessel toward the International Space Station with research projects looking into cosmic rays, the origin of Parkinson’s disease, the utility of small satellites and an experimental radiation-tolerant supercomputer.

4K video replay liftoff Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff on station cargo flight

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Check out a 4K video clip of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch viewed from Spaceflight Now’s office at the Kennedy Space Center.

Watch a liftoff-to-landing replay of Monday’s SpaceX launch

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, then the launcher’s first stage returned to landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after sending a Dragon supply ship toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station.