NASA says test good enough to try for Artemis launch next week
Friday, 23 September 2022 15:36NASA announced Thursday that the cryogenic fueling test this week at Kennedy Space Center did well enough to keep moving toward a launch attempt as early as Tuesday.
"Based on data from the test, teams are fine-tuning procedures for the next launch opportunity, targeted for no earlier than Sept. 27," reads a statement on the NASA website. "The rocket remains in a safe and flight-ready configuration at the launch pad."
The nearly 10-hour test at Launch Pad 39-B on Wednesday saw several issues with liquid hydrogen leaks, some similar to what caused a scrub on the last attempt to launch on Sept. 3.
But mission managers were able to troubleshoot and push through to accomplish all the goals for the test setting the rocket up for what would be its third attempt to get off the ground.
ULA’s Delta 4 prepares for final West Coast launch as Vandenberg seeks new tenants
Friday, 23 September 2022 14:03After completing the NROL-91 mission, ULA will start vacating SLC-6 and consolidate operations at SLC-3
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NASA gears up to deflect asteroid, in key test of planetary defense
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14Bet the dinosaurs wish they'd thought of this. NASA on Monday will attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship launched from California last November and is f
After asteroid collision, Europe's Hera will probe 'crime scene'
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14After NASA deliberately smashes a car-sized spacecraft into an asteroid next week, it will be up to the European Space Agency's Hera mission to investigate the "crime scene" and uncover the secrets of these potentially devastating space rocks. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) aims to collide with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Monday night, hoping to slightly alter its traje
NASA is crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to test a plan that could one day save Earth from catastrophe
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14On Sept. 26, 2022, NASA plans to change an asteroid's orbit. The large binary asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos currently pose no threat to Earth. But by crashing a 1,340-pound (610-kilogram) probe into Didymos' moon at a speed of approximately 14,000 mph (22,500 kph), NASA is going to complete the world's first full-scale planetary defense mission as a proof of concept. This mission is
541-million-year-old 3D fossil algae reveal modern-looking ancestry of the plant kingdom
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of algae called Protocodium sinense which predates the origin of land plants and modern animals and provides new insight into the early diversification of the plant kingdom. Discovered at a site in China, this 541-million-year-old fossil is the first and oldest green alga from this era to be preserved in three dimensions, enabling the
Gen Raymond reflects on US Space Force with National Harbor speech
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14In a speech that was as much an unofficial farewell as a proud update of the U.S. Space Force's youthful evolution, Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John "Jay" Raymond told an influential audience Sept. 20 that the service is on a strong footing and that it has deftly avoided two major traps. The first, Raymond told Guardians and Airmen during his keynote address at the Air Force Associatio
China's manned space program attracts more public attention
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14China's manned space program, initiated 30 years ago, has grown more popular among Chinese people, who return with extensive support and a vision for space exploration. On Sept. 21, 1992, China officially approved its manned space program, coded as "Project 921". The first batch of Chinese astronauts were all recruited from elite pilots of China's air force. Among them were Yang Liwe
Four-legged jumping robots LEAP to explore the Moon
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14A four-legged robot trained through artificial intelligence has learned the same lesson as the Apollo astronauts - that jumping can be the best way to move around on the surface the Moon. An update on LEAP (Legged Exploration of the Aristarchus Plateau), a mission concept study funded by ESA to explore some of the most challenging lunar terrains, has been presented at the Europlanet Science Cong
SwRI scientist helps identify new evidence for habitability in Enceladus's ocean
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14The search for extraterrestrial life just got more interesting as a team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute's Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence for a key building block for life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus. New modeling indicates that Enceladus's ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for life.
Sols 3599-3600: A Stay and Play Kind of Day
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14Coming into planning, we were ready for a standard "Touch and Go" plan, where we do some early morning science and then drive onto our next location. However, our workspace had some really great bedrock within arm reach, so we decided to convert the plan into a "Stay and Play" type of plan instead and spend more time characterizing the rocks here. On the first sol of the plan, APXS and MAH
Small craters add up to wandering poles on Moon
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14The Moon's craters preserve billions of years of history. Scientists have learned about the conditions of our early solar system by studying the composition, size, and distribution of these holes in the Moon's surface, created long ago by collisions with asteroids. But instead of directly studying the characteristics of these holes, a team based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Gre
New clues about Mars' early atmosphere suggest a wet planet capable of supporting life
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14New research published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that Mars was born wet, with a dense atmosphere allowing warm-to-hot oceans for millions of years. To reach this conclusion, researchers developed the first model of the evolution of the Martian atmosphere that links the high temperatures associated with Mars's formation in a molten state through to the formation of the first
Number of ancient Martian lakes might be dramatically underestimated
Friday, 23 September 2022 13:14Lakes are bodies of water fed by rainfall, snowmelt, rivers and groundwater, through which, Earth is teeming with life. Lakes also contain critical geologic records of past climates. Though Mars is a frozen desert today, scientists have shown that Mars contains evidence of ancient lakes that existed billions of years ago, which could contain evidence for ancient life and climate conditions on th