JAXA – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Crew launch delayed to Sunday

November 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX have delayed the launch of the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center until 7:27 p.m. EST Sunday (0027 GMT Monday) to wait for improved downrange weather and sea conditions, and better onshore winds at the launch site.

Crew Dragon “Resilience” meets Falcon 9 rocket at Florida spaceport

November 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

Fully fueled for a flight to the International Space Station later this month, SpaceX transferred the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spaceship Thursday to a hangar near pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for attachment to its Falcon 9 launcher.

International Space Station offers ‘blueprint’ for exploration, first crew says

November 1, 2020 Stephen Clark

Bill Shepherd, a former Navy SEAL-turned astronaut who arrived at the International Space Station 20 years ago Monday to begin the continuous occupancy of the orbiting research outpost, says the experience gained by NASA and its global partners over the last two decades provides a blueprint for missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Mercury-bound spacecraft gets an assist from Venus

October 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft flew by Venus late Wednesday, using the planet’s gravity to help redirect the probe toward its ultimate destination of Mercury.

SpaceX crew launch delayed to assess Merlin engine concern

October 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA said Saturday that the launch of four astronauts on SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station has been delayed from Oct. 31 until “no sooner than early-to-mid November,” allowing time for SpaceX to resolve an issue with Falcon 9 rocket engines that halted a recent launch attempt with a GPS navigation satellite.

First operational Crew Dragon launch slips to Halloween

September 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Monday that the launch of the first operational crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is set for the predawn hours of Halloween, eight days later than previously planned.

Last in current line of Japan’s HTV cargo ships departs space station

August 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

The last of Japan’s first series of HTV supply ships departed the International Space Station on Tuesday with several tons of trash, old batteries, and unneeded equipment, heading for a destructive re-entry before the debut of an upgraded cargo freighter design.

Back at Cape Canaveral, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule preps for next mission

August 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

Fresh off a 64-day test flight to the International Space Station with astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spaceship is back at Cape Canaveral for inspections, refurbishment and upgrades before flying to the station again with a four-person crew next spring.

Asteroid samples aboard Japanese probe on track for return to Earth in December

July 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

A capsule carrying extraterrestrial specimens collected by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is scheduled for landing in South Australia on Dec. 6 to wrap up a six-year round-trip mission to an asteroid, officials announced this week.

Behnken describes spacewalk views of Crew Dragon as “just awesome”

July 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, now in the second half of his mission to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship, glimpsed the commercial crew capsule from a unique viewpoint at the far end of the station’s solar power truss during a pair of recent spacewalks.