NASA – Page 85 – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft heads for New Year’s encounter with distant world

December 28, 2018 William Harwood

Three years and a billion miles past Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons probe is on the verge of at least one more pioneering, once-in-a-lifetime milestone: a New Year’s Day flyby of a small body known as 2014 MU69, unofficially dubbed Ultima Thule — “beyond the known world” — in a NASA naming contest.

Crew of three safely lands in Kazakhstan after 197-day space mission

December 20, 2018 William Harwood

A Russian cosmonaut, a German flight engineer and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth overnight Wednesday, landing on the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan to wrap up a six-month mission.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew lands in Kazakhstan

December 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, German flight engineer Alexander Gerst, and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor closed out a nearly 197-day space mission with a landing in Kazakhstan aboard their Soyuz MS-09 crew carry ship at 0502 GMT (12:02 a.m. EST) Thursday. The Soyuz crew undocked from the International Space Station at 0140 GMT (8:40 p.m. EST Wednesday) to begin their return to Earth.

Station crew set for overnight landing in Kazakhstan

December 19, 2018 William Harwood

Eight days after a dramatic spacewalk to inspect the site of a leak in the hull of his Soyuz ferry ship, Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, German flight engineer Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor geared up to depart the International Space Station Wednesday for a fiery plunge back to Earth.

NASA, Rocket Lab partner on successful satellite launch from New Zealand

December 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s commercial Electron booster fired into orbit from New Zealand on Sunday, carrying a flock of 13 CubeSats on the company’s first mission chartered by NASA, and closing out a landmark year for the new smallsat launch provider as Rocket Lab aims to grow its flight rate to at least one per month in 2019.

Mission timeline for Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s ELaNa-19 CubeSats

December 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its fourth flight from New Zealand, aiming to deliver 13 CubeSats to orbit on the company’s first mission for NASA.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launches on NASA mission

December 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, a commercially-developed light-class booster, lifted off at 1:33 a.m. EST (0633 GMT) Sunday, carrying 13 CubeSats into orbit under contract to NASA.

Rocket Lab preps to launch flock of NASA-funded CubeSats

December 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is set to launch 13 CubeSats Saturday night (U.S. time) under contract to NASA from the company’s privately-owned spaceport in New Zealand, a pathfinder mission that could pave the way for more NASA satellites to hitch a ride on future Electron flights.

SpaceX makes another space station cargo delivery

December 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

A commercial supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, delivering a pair of NASA experiments to demonstrate satellite refueling techniques and monitor changes in Earth’s forests, along with a special holiday menu of turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce and shortbread cookies.

SpaceX Falcon 9 boosts Dragon cargo ship to orbit, first stage misses landing target

December 5, 2018 William Harwood

Two days after a successful launch from California, SpaceX fired off another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, this one carrying a Dragon cargo ship loaded with 5,660 pounds of equipment and supplies bound for the International Space Station.