NASA – Page 22 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: OSIRIS-REx makes touch and go landing on asteroid

October 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a touch and go landing on asteroid Bennu at 6:12 p.m. EDT (2212 GMT) Tuesday. The craft aimed to collect samples from the asteroid’s gravely surface for return to Earth in 2023 for scientists to search for clues about the origins and evolution of the solar system.

How OSIRIS-REx will snag a sample from asteroid Bennu

October 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

Mars rovers go through seven minutes of terror when they plunge into the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speed. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will take a more glacial approach to its asteroid target Tuesday, and the event will be more akin to four-and-a-half hours of mild anxiety for ground teams, according to the mission’s operations manager.

After four-year journey, NASA spacecraft ready to touch an asteroid

October 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

Flying on autopilot more than 200 million miles from Earth, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on track for a daring touch and go landing on an asteroid Tuesday to grab a sample for return to scientists eager to scan the specimens for clues about the history of the solar system.

Photos: Soyuz launches new station crew with spectacular autumn blastoff

October 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

Photos released by Russia’s space agency show the launch of a Soyuz booster Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut heading for the International Space Station.

NASA selects proposals to demonstrate in-space refueling and propellant depot tech

October 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected 14 companies for contracts of more than $370 million to advance technology for human missions to the moon and Mars. Most of the money will support flight demonstrations by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and other companies that could lead to in-space refueling and propellant depots for reusable lunar landers and deep space transportation vehicles.

Soyuz crew docks with International Space Station

October 14, 2020 William Harwood

In a mission marking the end of an era, NASA astronaut and former virus hunter Kate Rubins, using NASA’s last currently contracted seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, rocketed into orbit Wednesday with two cosmonaut crewmates on a record-setting flight to the International Space Station.

Russia’s space agency unlikely to join NASA-led lunar program

October 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

The head of the Russian space agency said this week that the the Gateway mini-space station NASA plans to build around the moon is “too U.S.-centric” and added that Russia unlikely to significantly contribute to the project.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew arrives at International Space Station

October 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket carrying Russian commander Sergey Ryzhikov, flight engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and veteran NASA astronaut Kate Rubins blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT) Wednesday. The Soyuz crew took off on a three-hour express trip to the International Space Station that culminated in a docking at 4:48 a.m. EDT (0848 GMT).

NASA uses final purchased Soyuz seat for Wednesday flight to station

October 13, 2020 William Harwood

In a mission marking the end of an era, NASA astronaut and former virus hunter Kate Rubins, using NASA’s last currently contracted seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, blasts off Wednesday with two cosmonaut crewmates on a flight to the International Space Station.

Blue Origin completes successful suborbital space shot

October 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket to the edge of space Tuesday from the company’s remote desert test site in West Texas on an experimental flight to test precision lunar landing technology for NASA.