Tag: Launch
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ULA’s Atlas 5 is NASA’s go-to rocket for nuclear-powered space probes
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, poses with the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA’s Perseverance rover, set for liftoff Thursday on a journey to Mars, posed some unusual challenges for launch crews working with the robot’s plutonium-fueled power generator, but United Launch…
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NASA’s Perseverance rover signals new era in Mars exploration
NASA’s Perseverance rover is lifted during launch preparations at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA JPL/Christian Mangano NASA’s Perseverance rover will depart Cape Canaveral Thursday on a $2.7 billion mission to Mars, carrying with it the first interplanetary aircraft, sophisticated instruments to search for signs of ancient life, and drill to core samples…
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Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket launches with NASA-built Mars rover
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with NASA’s Perseverance rover heading for Mars. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV Broadcast”] [tabby title=”Live view of SLC-41″] [tabbyending] Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the pad before the start of NASA TV’s broadcast…
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Photos: Atlas 5 rolled out to launch pad with NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket emerged from its vertical hangar Tuesday for the 1,800-foot journey to pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, moving into position for liftoff Thursday with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Riding a mobile launch platform, the 197-foot-tall (60-meter) Atlas 5 rocket — tail number AV-088 — emerged…
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Good weather predicted for NASA’s Mars rover launch Thursday
The Atlas 5 rocket with NASA’s Perseverance rover on-board stands inside ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance In the first official weather outlook the planned launch this week of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, meteorologists predict an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions to allow liftoff of…
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Proton rocket rolled out for launch with two Russian communications satellites
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated with launch delay to July 30. Two satellites designed to beam radio and television broadcasts, Internet connectivity and other communications services across Russia have arrived at a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for liftoff Thursday on the first flight of a Russian Proton rocket this year. The Proton rocket rolled…
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Virgin Orbit traces cause of LauncherOne engine failure to propellant line
Virgin Orbit’s first LauncherOne rocket ignites its engine after release from a Boeing 747 carrier jet during the company’s first orbital launch attempt May 25. Credit: Virgin Orbit An engine failure that cut short the first test flight of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped LauncherOne rocket in May was caused by a faulty propellant feed line, the…
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China launches high-resolution mapping satellite
A Long March 4B rocket lifts off Saturday with the Ziyuan 3-03 mapping satellite and two secondary payloads. Credit: Xinhua China launched a Long March 4B rocket Saturday with a high-resolution mapping satellite for the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources and two smaller spacecraft designed for astronomical observations and data relay services. The three-stage rocket…
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Astra ships next small satellite launcher to Alaska spaceport
Astra’s second orbital-class small satellite launcher undergoes a hotfire test before its shipment to Alaska for final launch preparations. Credit: Astra Astra’s next small satellite launcher has shipped to Kodiak Island in Alaska for final preparations ahead of a test flight planned in early August, five months after the company’s first orbital rocket faltered before…
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Astra ships next small satellite launcher to Alaska spaceport
Astra’s second orbital-class small satellite launcher undergoes a hotfire test before its shipment to Alaska for final launch preparations. Credit: Astra Astra’s next small satellite launcher has shipped to Kodiak Island in Alaska for final preparations ahead of a test flight planned in early August, five months after the company’s first orbital rocket faltered before…