Solar System – Page 19 – Spaceflight Now

Mars lander’s ground team begins inspection of stuck instrument

July 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

In a bit of interplanetary troubleshooting, the robot arm on NASA’s InSight Mars lander has lifted a support structure to reveal an underground thermal probe that got stuck soon after it started hammering into the Red Planet’s surface earlier this year.

NASA approves development of flying drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan

June 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA officials announced Thursday that the agency will move forward with the development of a plutonium-powered robotic quadcopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan, a hazy world covered with dunes and methane lakes that scientists say is reminiscent of the ancient Earth.

European space mission to get close-up view of new comet

June 21, 2019 Stephen Clark

A new flyby mission selected by the European Space Agency this week for launch in 2028 will be the first to intercept a new comet or interstellar object fresh from the frozen depths of the outer solar system, or beyond.

ESA books launch of Jupiter orbiter with Arianespace

June 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

The European Space Agency has reserved an Ariane launcher to send a spacecraft toward Jupiter in May 2022, and the mission’s project manager said Tuesday officials could assign the probe to Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket, assuming the vehicle has a successful debut by the end of 2020.

10 years since its launch, NASA lunar orbiter remains crucial for moon landings

June 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

Scientists marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Tuesday, celebrating a mission that has greatly outlived its original one-year design life and continues taking high-resolution pictures to help U.S. companies and international space agencies select destinations for moon landers.

Japanese probe readies for another possible touch-and-go on asteroid

June 6, 2019 Stephen Clark

Approaching the one-year anniversary since its arrival at asteroid Ryugu, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has deployed a target marker near an artificial crater created by an explosive charge in April, a guide post that could help the probe steer toward another pinpoint touchdown to collect a second batch of samples for return to Earth.

Scientists call on InSight’s robotic arm to assist stalled heat probe on Mars

June 6, 2019 Stephen Clark

Later this month, ground teams will send commands for the InSight lander on Mars to use its robotic arm in a series of carefully-choreographed movements to help inspect, and potentially assist, one of the mission’s main geologic instruments that stalled as it hammered into the Red Planet’s crust earlier this year.

NASA picks three companies to send commercial landers to the moon

June 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has announced that Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond won contracts to deliver science instruments and technology demonstration payloads to the moon’s surface in the first of a series of robotic missions preceding a human return to the moon.

NASA chooses Maxar to build keystone module for lunar Gateway station

May 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected Maxar Technologies for a $375 million contract to design, build and launch the core element of a mini-space station in orbit around the moon that will double as a deep space research outpost and a staging point for future human expeditions to the lunar surface.

India plans July launch of Chandrayaan 2 moon mission

May 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

Indian engineers hope to launch the country’s first robotic lunar lander between July 9 and July 16 on India’s most powerful rocket, the head of the Indian space agency said this week.