NASA – Page 76 – Spaceflight Now

Carbon-monitoring instrument poised for launch to International Space Station

April 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

A $110 million NASA science instrument twice targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration is set for launch Tuesday inside the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for delivery to the International Space Station, where it will spend three years charting changing carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere.

Few details available in early days of SpaceX accident investigation

April 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX officials have said little this week about the apparent explosion of a Crew Dragon capsule Saturday during a ground test at Cape Canaveral, and members of a safety advisory panel said Thursday they will be patient as investigators review high-speed imagery, telemetry data and wreckage to determine the cause of the accident.

InSight lander detects first likely ‘quake’ on Mars

April 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

Sensors delivered to Mars by NASA’s InSight lander have detected the first signals suggesting seismic activity on the red planet, a major discovery that extends the field of seismology to a new world beyond the Earth and the moon.

Photos: Antares rocket blasts off from Virginia

April 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launch April 17 from Virginia’s Eastern Shore marked the start of the 11th Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX likely to move next rocket landing to drone ship

April 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is likely to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket set for launch April 30 on a drone ship just off the coast of Cape Canaveral, not at the company’s onshore recovery site as originally planned, after a ground test of the company’s Crew Dragon capsule at the landing pad ended in an explosion Saturday.

SpaceX confirms anomaly during Crew Dragon abort engine test

April 20, 2019 Stephen Clark

An accident Saturday during an abort engine test on a Crew Dragon test vehicle at Cape Canaveral sent a reddish-orange plume into the sky visible for miles around, a setback for SpaceX and NASA as teams prepare the capsule for its first mission with astronauts.

Antares rocket boosts Cygnus supply ship toward International Space Station

April 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

A commercial Cygnus cargo freighter packed with 3.8 tons of medical and pharmaceutical experiments, technology demonstration hardware, CubeSats and crew provisions rode an Antares rocket into orbit from Virginia’s Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon on the first leg of a day-and-a-half journey to the International Space Station.

Photos: Ground crews load final cargo into Cygnus supply ship

April 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Technicians working at launch pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia completed the final loading of cargo into Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship late Tuesday, and the Antares rocket was raised vertical again in preparation for Wednesday’s countdown.

Antares launch timeline on the NG-11 mission

April 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Wednesday to begin a day-and-a-half pursuit of the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship arrives at International Space Station

April 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

A day-and-a-half after launching from Virginia aboard an Antares rocket, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship loaded with nearly 7,600 pounds of experiments and provisions arrived at the International Space Station on Friday. Astronaut Anne McClain captured the Cygnus spacecraft with the space station’s Canadian-built robotic arm at 5:28 a.m. EDT (0928 GMT).