Historic NASA wind tunnel testing Mars Ascent Vehicle
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
The MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) team recently completed wind tunnel testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in a facility that has been a critical part of NASA missions going all the way back to the Apollo program.
The same facility that provided valuable testing for NASA missions to low-Earth orbit and the Moon is now helping the agency prepare to launch the first rocket from Mars. T All engines added to NASA's Artemis II core stage
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
Teams at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have structurally joined all four RS-25 engines onto the core stage for NASA's Artemis II Moon rocket. The flight test is the agency's first crewed mission under Artemis.
Technicians added the first engine to NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage Sept. 11. Teams installed the second engine onto the stage Sept. 15 with th Astronomers find an abundance of Milky Way-like Galaxies in early Universe
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
Galaxies from the early Universe are more like our own Milky Way than previously thought, flipping the entire narrative of how scientists think about structure formation in the Universe, according to new research published this week,
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of researchers including those at The University of Manchester and University of Victoria i China capable of protecting astronauts from effects of space weightlessness
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
China has the capability to protect astronauts from the effects of a weightless environment for 180 days in space, according to a forum on aerospace medicine that kicked off Thursday in Beijing.
The progress in this area has provided theoretical support and a technical platform for research in cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal systems, neurodegenerative diseases, human aging and drug Terran Orbital Announces Closing of $32.5 Million Public Offering
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) ("Terran Orbital" or the "Company"), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, has announced the closing of its previously announced public offering of 23,214,290 shares of its common stock (or common stock equivalents in lieu thereof) and warrants to purchase up to 23,214,290 shares of common stoc Curiosity Needs an Altitude Adjustment: Sols 3955-3956
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
Earth planning date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023: Curiosity speeds towards an exciting new region, specifically close to an area that, from orbit, has visible light and dark banding. Our hope is that within a few more drives we may find a new target for Curiosity to drill.
In preparation for an exciting new campaign of drilling, the team will be performing contact science on nearby bedro "Sombrero Rock": A Case of Case-Hardening?
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:46
Mars never fails to provide us with interestingly-shaped rocks, and recent observations have been no exception. The rock seen in this sol 907 Mastcam-Z image has captured the hearts and minds of our science team: our hearts for its sombrero-like shape, and our minds for the potential science implications behind it.
"Sombrero rock" (officially named Middle Mountain) was found along our jour Boeing’s Quantum Leap: Satellites in Record Time, Boosting National Security and Commercial Connectivity
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 10:00
NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe passes system integration review
Tuesday, 26 September 2023 08:59
The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) marked the completion of an important step on the path to spacecraft assembly, test, and launch operations in late September 2023 at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland.
The IMAP team met with a review panel to evaluate the plan for integrating all systems onto the spacecraft, such as the scientific instrumentation, electrical and communication systems, and navigation systems.
Successful completion of this System Integration Review (SIR) means that the project can proceed with assembling and testing the spacecraft in preparation for launch. This process is a bit like a carefully choreographed dance where the instruments and support systems are delivered to different facilities, tested together in chambers in Los Alamos, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; and Princeton, New Jersey; and shipped back to be integrated and tested again altogether.
Historic wind tunnel facility testing NASA's Mars ascent vehicle rocket
Monday, 25 September 2023 19:47
The MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) team recently completed wind tunnel testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in a facility that has been a critical part of NASA missions going all the way back to the Apollo program.
U.S. Space Force and Astroscale to co-invest in a refueling satellite
Monday, 25 September 2023 18:16
Image: Spacecraft bus for satellite servicing mission arrives at NASA Goddard
Monday, 25 September 2023 16:40
On Sept. 20, 2023, the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) spacecraft bus arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, after its journey from a Maxar facility in California. Following this critical milestone, engineers at Goddard can begin to integrate the mission's servicing payload onto the bus and begin to test the integrated spacecraft in simulated space environments.
When integration and testing are complete, OSAM-1 will be ready to demonstrate robotic satellite servicing technologies in space. The OSAM-1 mission is planned to be the first to robotically refuel a spacecraft not designed for on-orbit servicing. The servicer will rendezvous with, grapple, and berth the government-owned Landsat 7 spacecraft, and then use a suite of tools to replenish its hydrazine fuel tank.
In addition to the mission's servicing objectives, OSAM-1 will also include an assembly demonstration provided by commercial partner Maxar, the same company that provided the spacecraft bus. That demonstration will use a robotic arm from the Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER) payload to assemble a functional Ka-band antenna on orbit from stowed hexagonal pieces.
SpaceX sets up 200th reflight with Cape Canaveral launch Saturday night
Monday, 25 September 2023 16:37
SpaceX's reusability juggernaut keeps rolling with a planned Space Coast launch Saturday night that would mark the 200th time the company has relied on a previously launched booster to get its payloads to space.
A Falcon 9 rocket flying on the Starlink 6-18 mission carrying 22 of its Starlink satellites is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 9:07 p.m. with three more options Saturday night from 9:57 p.m. until 12:05 a.m. Sunday. Another four backup options fall Sunday night between 8:41 p.m. and 11:39 p.m.
The first-stage booster is making a record-tying 17th flight with a planned recovery landing down range on droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron predicts 95% chance for good conditions, and in the event of a 24-hour delay, chances would be 90% sliding to 80% chance across the three-hour window.
It marks the 200th reuse of a booster among its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. If it sticks the landing, it will be the 228th successful recovery since the first success in December 2015.