Tag: NASA
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NASA successfully tests Orion launch abort system before moon flights
Officials hailed an action-packed three-minute test flight Tuesday over Cape Canaveral that exercised the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort rocket, a key safety system on the capsule NASA is developing to carry astronauts back to the moon. “We couldn’t have asked for a better flight, better mission, better performance,” said Don Reed, head of the…
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Watch replays of the Orion inflight abort test
Watch replays from launch pad and tracking cameras of the Orion AA-2 inflight abort test conducted at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on July 2, 2019. Video: NASA.
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The moon in 2069: Top space scientists share their visions for lunar lifestyles
The European Space Agency’s vision for lunar settlement includes habitats shielded by piled-up moon dirt. (ESA / Foster + Partners Illustration) LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Fifty years ago this month, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission transformed the idea of putting people on the moon from science fiction to historical fact. Not much has changed on the moon…
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Live coverage: NASA conducts Orion abort test over Cape Canaveral
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of the Orion spacecraft’s ascent abort vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV”] [tabby title=”SFN Clean Feed”] [tabbyending] NASA TV coverage of the Orion ascent abort test begins at 6:40 a.m. EDT (1040 GMT), and…
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Critical abort test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule set for Tuesday
The abort test booster and Orion test article stand at Space Launch Complex-46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 27. Credit: NASA A three-minute test flight Tuesday morning over Cape Canaveral will help ensure NASA’s Orion crew capsule — the vehicle being built to carry astronauts back to the moon — can safely…
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Orion data recorders come with return-to-sender instructions
Jenny Devolites, NASA’s test conductor for the Orion ascent abort test, holds an Orion flight data recorder during a press conference Monday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now NASA has a plan to retrieve 12 ejectable data recorders released from an Orion test capsule in the waters off Cape Canaveral following a launch abort test Tuesday, but…
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SLS mobile launcher moves to pad 39B for final exams
The Space Launch System’s Mobile Launcher rolls down the crawlerway Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida toward pad 39B. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now A towering mobile platform for the agency’s Space Launch System arrived at launch pad 39B Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a sequence of water and propellant…
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NASA picks Dragonfly mission to send a nuclear drone to Saturnian moon Titan
An artist’s conception shows the Dragonfly probe on the dunes of Titan. (NASA / JHUAPL Illustration) NASA has chosen to commit up to $850 million to creating an interplanetary probe unlike any seen before: a rotor-equipped spacecraft that will fly through the smoggy atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s biggest moon. The Dragonfly mission will be managed…
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NASA approves development of flying drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan
Artist’s concept of the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. Credit: NASA 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. The…
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Rover teams practice for spelunking on the moon and Mars in California lava tubes
NASA’s robotics team drives the test rover, CaveR, into Valentine Cave at Lava Beds National Monument in California. One of the CaveR engineers is perched on a lava ledge, a marker of one of the lava flows in the cave. (NASA Photo) BELLEVUE, Wash. — Underground lava tubes are great places to set up bases…