NASA – Page 23 – Spaceflight Now

China’s Tianwen 1 mission targets mid-May landing on Mars

April 1, 2021 Stephen Clark

China’s Tianwen 1 spacecraft — in orbit around Mars since February — is scheduled to deploy a descent module to attempt the country’s first landing on the Red Planet in mid-May. Officials plan to share the Mars rover’s scientific data with researchers around the world, a senior Chinese scientist said last week.

Busy month of crew rotations on tap at International Space Station

April 1, 2021 Stephen Clark

Seven astronauts and cosmonauts are gearing up for launches April 9 and April 22 to the International Space Station, replacing seven outgoing crew members set to land in Kazakhstan and off the coast of Florida on April 17 and April 28.

NASA blames recent Hubble woes on aging hardware

March 31, 2021 Stephen Clark

Hardware problems that cropped up earlier this month on the Hubble Space Telescope, now approaching the 31st anniversary of its launch, are the latest signs the observatory is showing its age.

Perseverance rover begins steps to deploy Mars helicopter

March 30, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is being lowered from the belly of the Perseverance rover this week as ground teams run through a choreographed long-distance command sequence to safely release the $80 million rotorcraft onto the surface of Mars.

Biden administration renews mandate for National Space Council

March 30, 2021 Stephen Clark

President Biden will renew the National Space Council, a space policy group revived by the Trump White House after 25 years of inactivity, to assist in “generating national space policies, strategies, and synchronizing America’s space activities,” an administration spokesman said Monday.

Northrop Grumman to supply solid rocket motors for first Mars Ascent Vehicle

March 29, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA awarded Northrop Grumman a contract worth as much as $84.5 million earlier this month to supply rocket motors for a first-of-its-kind launch vehicle to fire a capsule of rock samples off of Mars on a journey back to Earth.

Delta 2 rocket exhibit opens at Kennedy Space Center

March 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s final Delta 2 rocket is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, a monument to an industry workhorse that helped build the GPS navigation satellite fleet and enabled a new era of Mars exploration.

NASA primed for historic flight of experimental Mars helicopter

March 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Perseverance rover will soon release a small rotorcraft onto the surface of Mars and drive a safe distance away to observe a series of historic test flights in the ultra-thin Martian atmosphere, which could begin around April 8, officials said this week.

Testbed for NASA moon mission rides to orbit with six other satellites

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched seven satellites Monday from New Zealand on a rideshare mission serving the U.S. and Australian militaries and space services startups. A spacecraft developed in-house by Rocket Lab was also aboard to prove out technologies for a NASA moon mission launching later this year.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches small satellites from New Zealand

March 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s second mission of 2021 lifted off at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) Monday from New Zealand carrying six small satellites for customers in Australia and the United States, along with a test platform for a NASA small satellite mission to the moon launching later this year.