NASA – Page 34 – Spaceflight Now

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.

Russian rocket for next space station crew transferred to launch pad

October 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz booster arrived at its launch pad on the Kazakh steppe Sunday, the last stop before liftoff Wednesday with a three-person crew bound for the International Space Station.

Juno team planning close flybys of Jupiter’s moons

October 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Juno spacecraft could perform the first close flybys since the early 2000s of three of Jupiter’s largest moons, including Europa, if the space agency grants the mission an extension, Juno’s lead scientist said recently.

Crucial first fueling test on tap for SLS core stage later this month

October 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

If all goes according to plan, engineers in southern Mississippi later this month will load cryogenic propellants into the core stage of a rocket NASA says will launch astronauts back to the moon, exposing its tankage and internal plumbing to extreme operating conditions hundreds of degrees below zero for the first time. The fueling test — a major milestone in its own right — is a precursor to a high-stakes eight-minute test-firing of the Space Launch System’s four shuttle-era main engines planned as soon as November.

Photos: Antares blasts off from Virginia

October 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Northrop Grumman Antares launched from Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a commercial Cygnus supply ship Oct. 2 on a two-and-a-half day journey to the International Space Station.

JWST completes tests to simulate rigors of launch

October 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

The fully-assembled James Webb Space Telescope has completed testing in Southern California to verify the $10 billion mission can withstand the sound and shaking it will see during launch scheduled late next year on a European Ariane 5 rocket.

Commander of first piloted Starliner test flight steps down from mission

October 7, 2020 William Harwood

Christopher Ferguson, commander of the final space shuttle flight and now a Boeing executive, has stepped down as commander of the first piloted test flight of the company’s troubled CST-100 Starliner commercial spacecraft, he and Boeing announced Wednesday. He has been replaced by NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore.