Northrop Grumman – Page 14

SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch X-ray telescope on reused rocket

July 8, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2021, bypassing Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus rocket for the task.

Photos: NASA conducts key Orion abort test

July 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA simulated an in-flight launch abort of an Orion crew capsule high above Cape Canaveral on Tuesday, in a major test of the safety system that would whisk astronauts on future moon missions away from a failing rocket.

Watch replays of the Orion inflight abort test

July 2, 2019 Spaceflight Now

Watch replays from launch pad and tracking cameras of the Orion AA-2 inflight abort test conducted at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 2, 2019.

Orion abort test post-launch briefing (members only)

July 2, 2019 Spaceflight Now

Watch NASA’s Orion inflight abort test post-launch news briefing, held at the Kennedy Space Center two hours after the test.

NASA successfully tests Orion launch abort system before moon flights

July 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Officials hailed an action-packed three-minute test flight Tuesday over Cape Canaveral that exercised the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort rocket, a key safety system on the capsule NASA is developing to carry astronauts back to the moon.

Orion data recorders come with return-to-sender instructions

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has a plan to retrieve 12 ejectable data recorders released from an Orion test capsule in the waters off Cape Canaveral following a launch abort test Tuesday, but local boaters and beachgoers could still find the floating orange devices.

Live coverage: NASA conducts Orion abort test over Cape Canaveral

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA and industry teams at Cape Canaveral launched an Orion capsule on a three-minute atmospheric test flight Tuesday to prove the spaceship’s ability to escape from an exploding rocket during launch, demonstrating a key safety feature before astronauts ride the vehicle into deep space. Liftoff occurred at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

Critical abort test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule set for Tuesday

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

A three-minute test flight Tuesday morning over Cape Canaveral will help ensure NASA’s Orion crew capsule — the vehicle being built to carry astronauts back to the moon — can safely escape from a catastrophic failure on launch.

Northrop Grumman looking into dramatic nozzle anomaly on Omega rocket motor

May 30, 2019 William Harwood

Near the end of a ground-shaking test firing of Northrop Grumman’s solid-propellant Castor 600 rocket motor — the first stage of a new booster being designed to launch spy satellites and other national security payloads — a major part of the rocket’s big nozzle appeared to break apart, littering the test site with shards of debris.

Atlas 5 rocket, U.S. Air Force satellite arrive at Cape Canaveral for June launch

April 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

Atlas 5 rocket hardware and a U.S. Air Force communications satellite have arrived at Cape Canaveral for United Launch Alliance’s next mission, scheduled for liftoff June 27.