Tag: NASA
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NASA’s Orion spacecraft program gets a multibillion-dollar vote of support
The Orion crew capsule meant for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon and back is being prepared for its flight. (NASA Photo / Radislav Sinyak) NASA says it’s ordering three more Orion spacecraft for missions to the moon, at a cost of $2.7 billion — and plans to order as many as nine…
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Launch of South Korean lunar orbiter delayed to 2022
The moon as seen from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA The launch of South Korea’s first moon orbiter has been delayed from December 2020 until July 2022 after the mission encountered technical issues during development, officials recently announced. The design of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, or KPLO, has grown beyond its original launch…
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft sees moon’s otherworldly shadow on Jupiter
The shadow of Jupiter’s moon Io is cast on the cloud tops of the giant planet in this view taken Sept. 12 by a camera on-board NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Kevin Gill, a software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this mosaic from imagery taken by the JunoCam instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill Fresh images…
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NASA, ESA officials seek formal approvals for Mars sample return mission
Artist’s concept of a Mars sample return mission, including a U.S.-built Mars Ascent Vehicle (left), a European-built Earth Return Orbiter (center), and a NASA-provided Earth Entry Vehicle (right). Credit: ESA/ATG medialab After crystallizing a partnership to retrieve samples from the surface of Mars and return them to Earth, NASA and European Space Agency officials are seeking…
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NASA lunar orbiter to image Chandrayaan 2 landing site
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to correct date of LRO flyover. This mosaic of the near side of the moon was created using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will try to locate India’s Vikram lander on the moon during a flyover of the landing site Tuesday. Indian space officials said they…
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SLS launch platform returns to pad 39B
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Sept. 11 with pad arrival. The Space Launch System’s mobile tower emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday morning to begin the 4.2-mile trip back to pad 39B. Credit: Spaceflight Now The towering mobile platform for NASA’s Space Launch System emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at…
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Mini-helicopter installed on NASA’s next Mars-bound rover
Members of the NASA Mars Helicopter team attach a thermal film to the exterior of the flight model of the Mars Helicopter. The image was taken on Feb. 1, 2019 inside the Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory…
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NASA checks SpaceX’s potential Starship landing sites on Mars, with water in mind
An artists’s conception shows SpaceX’s Starship craft on Mars. (SpaceX Illustration) NASA is helping SpaceX get a fix on potential landing sites on Mars for its Starship super-spaceship, with an emphasis on Arcadia Planitia and Amazonis Planitia, regions where deposits of water ice may be found. Another focus of NASA’s reconnaissance campaign in Phlegra Montes,…
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James Webb Space Telescope fully assembled in California
Teams have connected James Webb Space Telescope’s science and spacecraft segments for the first time. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Teams working in Northrop Grumman’s spacecraft factory in Southern California have connected the spacecraft and science modules of the James Webb Space Telescope for the first time, a major milestone as engineers prepare to verify a fix…
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Hey, kids: Name NASA’s 2020 Mars rover!
This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover on the surface of Mars. (NASA / JPL-Caltech) NASA says a student will provide the official name for its 2020 Mars rover, continuing a tradition that began 16 years ago. The space agency will kick off its “Name the Rover” contest on Sept. 3, just as most…