NASA – Page 18 – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight

April 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

The second flight of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter in the Martian atmosphere Thursday took the rotorcraft higher than its first hop. A third takeoff as soon as Sunday will take the helicopter more than 150 feet away from its makeshift airfield as engineers attempt more daring test flights.

SpaceX launches astronauts on recycled capsule and ‘flight-proven’ rocket

April 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ferried a multinational crew into orbit at the break of dawn Friday with a spectacular sky-lighting launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, dazzling early risers along the East Coast with a flawless start to a planned six-month expedition on the International Space Station.

Crew-2 mission timeline

April 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

This detailed mission timeline covers major vehicle and crew activities during the Crew-2 countdown and rendezvous with the International Space Station.

In another first, NASA’s Perseverance rover generates oxygen on Mars

April 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

In another first on Mars, an instrument inside NASA’s Perseverance rover has made oxygen out of carbon dioxide sucked in from the planet’s atmosphere, officials said Wednesday. The technology could help future astronauts “live off the land” by generating their own rocket fuel and breathing air.

Live coverage: Crew Dragon spacecraft docks with International Space Station

April 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

After a one-day delay to wait for improved conditions in the offshore abort zone, SpaceX and NASA launched four astronauts at 5:49 a.m. EDT (0949 GMT) Friday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spaceship from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts docked with the International Space Station at 5:08 a.m. EDT (0908 GMT) Saturday for a planned six-month mission.

SLS core ready for shipment to Florida; NASA still hopes for late 2021 launch

April 21, 2021 Stephen Clark

Teams at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi removed the core of NASA’s first Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket from a test stand earlier this week for loading onto a barge to carry it to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rocket stage is due to arrive by the end of the month to start final preparations for a test flight around the Moon.

SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to space station delayed to Friday by offshore weather

April 21, 2021 William Harwood

Launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed 24 hours to Friday because of bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean where the crew could be forced to ditch in an emergency, NASA announced Wednesday.

Our interview with Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s acting administrator

April 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now’s editor, asked NASA’s acting administrator about the space agency’s commercial crew and Artemis programs during a one-on-one virtual interview Tuesday, April 20.

NASA, SpaceX watching weather in downrange abort zones for crew launch

April 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

Preparations for the planned liftoff Thursday of a SpaceX Dragon capsule with a four-person crew to the International Space Station cleared another readiness review Tuesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but officials are tracking marginal wind and sea conditions in downrange abort zones in the Atlantic Ocean that could force a launch delay.

NASA chief: Russian cosmonauts unlikely fly on U.S. crew capsules until next year

April 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA’s acting administrator said Tuesday he does not expect Russian cosmonauts to start launching to the International Space Station on U.S. commercial crew vehicles until next year. A proposed agreement with Russia to ensure the space station is always staffed with an international crew is awaiting U.S. government approval.