Atlas 5 – Page 32 – Spaceflight Now

Video: Take a virtual ride on the Atlas 5 launch pad emergency ziplines

April 4, 2017 Justin Ray

Commercial ziplines have been installed and tested at United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket pad as the emergency escape system if astronauts and ground personnel need to evacuate the Crew Access Tower.

Ziplines installed to whisk personnel from danger at Starliner launch pad

April 4, 2017 Justin Ray

Ziplines are used by thrill-seekers in adventures around the world, but now they are coming to the U.S. space program as the emergency escape system for personnel at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41.

Animation: The flight of a Boeing Starliner capsule from launch to landing

April 4, 2017 Justin Ray

Animation depicts the flight of Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew capsule, ascending into orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to reach the International Space Station and re-entry to make an airbag-cushioned touchdown on land.

Photos: Cygnus spacecraft readied for launch to International Space Station

April 4, 2017 Justin Ray

These photographs span activities in March as the news media got an up-close viewing of the Orbital ATK commercial Cygnus cargo ship, its placement aboard a mobile transporter and delivery of the craft to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket assembly building for hoisting and mating. Liftoff is scheduled for April 18.

United Launch Alliance wins three U.S. government satellite launches

April 2, 2017 Justin Ray

The most powerful variants of the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets have been purchased by the Air Force to launch intelligence-gathering spacecraft for the U.S. government, and NASA has bought an Atlas 5 to deploy a critical polar-orbiting weather satellite.

InSight lander’s troubled seismometer passes major test

March 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

A balky interplanetary seismic instrument that ran into technical problems in 2015, forcing a two-year delay in the launch of NASA’s InSight lander to Mars, cleared a major test last week after engineers redesigned part of the sensor package, boosting confidence that the mission will be ready to blast off in May 2018.

Q&A with Claire Leon, director of launch enterprise directorate at SMC

March 24, 2017 Stephen Clark

The head of the launch enterprise directorate at the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Claire Leon, spoke with reporters March 15 about the military’s award of a GPS launch contract to SpaceX, and she discussed plans for more head-to-head launch contract competitions in the coming months.

Astronauts gear up for spacewalks, resupply launch delayed

March 23, 2017 William Harwood

NASA is gearing up for an intense few weeks of work aboard the International Space Station, staging three spacewalks, moving a docking port from one module to another to support commercial crew ferry ships and capturing an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship carrying nearly 4 tons of equipment and supplies.

Atlas 5 rocket aims for Friday night launch to send supplies to space station

March 20, 2017 Justin Ray

Officials have accepted a Friday launch date for a commercial cargo ship to the International Space Station after Range availability scuttled notions of moving up the Atlas 5 flight by a day.

S.S. John Glenn vessel mounted atop Atlas 5 rocket for launch next week

March 17, 2017 Justin Ray

An eight-ton cargo ship destined for the International Space Station was hoisted aboard its United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur booster rocket today in preparation for liftoff to the orbiting laboratory next week.