Earth science – Spaceflight Now

NASA satellite ends 17-year mission measuring the sun’s impact on climate

April 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

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.

SpaceX selected to launch Intelsat telecom satellite, NASA pollution monitor

March 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch an Intelsat communications satellite with a NASA-funded air pollution monitor to be positioned over the Americas in 2022, officials announced Tuesday.

Falcon 9 rocket completes static fire test, aims for launch early Wednesday

April 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

A week after a test-firing of SpaceX’s new crew capsule went awry, SpaceX successfully completed a hold-down firing of its next Falcon 9 launcher Saturday morning at Cape Canaveral in preparation for a predawn liftoff Wednesday carrying several tons of food, supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.

Carbon-monitoring instrument poised for launch to International Space Station

April 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

A $110 million NASA science instrument twice targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration is set for launch Tuesday inside the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for delivery to the International Space Station, where it will spend three years charting changing carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere.

Photos: Final Delta 2 launch shines before dawn in California

September 21, 2018 Stephen Clark

Flying for the 155th and final time, a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket took off from California on Sept. 15 with NASA’s ICESat 2 satellite.

Leftover Delta 2 rocket to go on display at Kennedy Space Center

September 15, 2018 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance plans to assemble leftover parts for a Delta 2 rocket display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida alongside other icons of U.S. rocketry, the company announced Saturday soon after the final Delta 2 launch.

Early morning launch closes book on Delta 2 legacy spanning nearly 30 years

September 15, 2018 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket fired away from a California military base and disappeared into an overcast cloud deck Saturday on its final flight, carrying a NASA research satellite into orbit and closing the book on a nearly 30-year legacy of launches.

Engineers say goodbye to society-changing Delta 2 rocket

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

When the first Delta 2 rocket took off on Valentine’s Day 1989, ideas like navigating by smartphone and driving robots on Mars were science fiction. More than 150 launches over the last 30 years helped change all that.

Live coverage: Final Delta 2 rocket launches from California

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

The final flight of a Delta 2 rocket, a mainstay of the U.S. launch industry for nearly 30 years, began at 6:02 a.m. PDT (9:02 a.m. EDT; 1302 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with NASA’s ICESat 2 Earth science satellite.

Scientists eager to renew global ice measurements with ICESat 2 mission

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

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.