December 9, 2023
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  • [ December 8, 2023 ] Falcon 9 flies from California with 22 Starlink satellites, SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days Falcon 9
  • [ December 6, 2023 ] SpaceX sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on 90th Falcon launch of 2023 Falcon 9
  • [ December 6, 2023 ] Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January Falcon 9
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  • [ December 2, 2023 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission Falcon 9
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Mercury

News

John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth, passes away at 95

December 8, 2016 William Harwood

John H. Glenn Jr., a decorated combat veteran and test pilot who gained worldwide fame as the first American to orbit the Earth, went on to become a U.S. senator and, in the autumn of his life, returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, has died. He was 95 years old.

News

On this date…Second American in orbit

May 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Scott Carpenter launched atop an Atlas rocket to become the second American to orbit the Earth today in 1962, flying for 4 hours and 39 minutes aboard Aurora 7 while making three revolutions of the globe.

Video

OTD…May 15 and Faith 7

May 15, 2016 Justin Ray

The final manned Mercury mission was launched atop an Atlas rocket on this day in 1963 with Gordon Cooper aboard Faith 7 for a 34-hour, 22-orbit flight.

Video

55 years ago today: America entered human spaceflight arena

May 5, 2016 Justin Ray

The U.S. launched its first man into space on this date, May 5, 1961, as Alan Shepard rode the Freedom 7 capsule on a 15-minute suborbital flight to 116.5 miles in altitude and 303 miles downrange to splashdown.

News

Messenger mission ends with plunge into Mercury

April 30, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft closed out a successful four-year tour in Mercury’s orbit Thursday with a cataclysmic crash into the scorching planet after consuming its last gasps of fuel.

News

Launch of BepiColombo mission to Mercury slips to 2017

April 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

The launch of a nearly $2 billion joint mission robotic mission to Mercury by Europe and Japan will be delayed from next year to early 2017 to account for late deliveries of critical components and scientific instrumentation, according to the European Space Agency.

News

NASA spacecraft to get bonus time studying Mercury

December 26, 2014 Stephen Clark

Running low on fuel after completing the first global survey of Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft could get an extra month of time at the solar system’s innermost planet thanks to a crafty new way of using helium gas to temporarily forestall the mission’s end next year.

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News Headlines

  • Falcon 9 flies from California with 22 Starlink satellites, SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days
    December 8, 2023
  • SpaceX sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on 90th Falcon launch of 2023
    December 6, 2023
  • Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January
    December 6, 2023
  • SpaceX conducts static fire test ahead of fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023
    December 3, 2023
  • SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission
    December 2, 2023
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