Tag: NASA
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NASA could extend space station stays as hedge against commercial crew delays
File photo of acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani NASA is working with the Russian space agency to potentially extend crew stays on the International Space Station, the agency’s acting administrator said last week, as a cushion against expected delays in the development of commercial crew capsules by Boeing and SpaceX. Robert Lightfoot,…
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Webb telescope’s launch delayed until 2020
The James Webb Space Telescope’s mirror and instrument section, known as the Optical Telescope element and Integrated Science (OTIS) module, is unpacked from its shipping container after arriving at Northrop Grumman’s satellite factory in Redondo Beach, California, earlier this year. JWST’s sunshield is visible at left. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Blaming a slew of technical snags…
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NASA delays Webb Space Telescope’s liftoff to 2020, says it may bust $8B budget
An artist’s conception shows the James Webb Space Telescope with its five-layered, foldable sunshield. Issues with the sunshield have contributed to launch delays. (NASA Illustration) NASA is delaying the scheduled launch of its next flagship observatory, the $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, by a year — which may hike its cost so high that Congress…
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Space station crew returns to full strength with trio’s arrival on Russian Soyuz craft
News Brief: Two days after their launch, a fresh trio of spacefliers floated through the International Space Station’s hatch today to start a five-month tour of duty in orbit. The arrival of Russia’s Oleg Artemyev and NASA’s Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft brought the crew back up to its full…
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U.S.-Russian crew lifts off on two-day trip to International Space Station
News Brief: Russia launched a Soyuz rocket from its Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, sending two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station. Russia’s Oleg Artemyev and NASA’s Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold are due to dock with the orbital outpost at 12:41 p.m. PT Friday. They’ll join Russian station commander…
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Relativity strikes deal with NASA to use rocket engine test complex in Mississippi
Relativity’s Aeon 1 engine undergoes a test firing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. (Relativity Photo) Relativity, a rocket startup with roots at Blue Origin and SpaceX, says it has been awarded an exclusive 20-year lease to use a 25-acre engine test complex at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The arrangement furthers Relativity’s plans to…
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Did space scramble Scott Kelly’s genes so much he’s no longer a twin? Um, not really
Retired astronauts Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly are still identical twins. (NASA Photo / Robert Markowitz) My Twitter feed was buzzing this week with reports that Scott Kelly’s genes were knocked permanently out of phase because he spent a year in space. Some of the reports made it sound as if Scott Kelly was no…
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NASA’s acting administrator says he’ll retire in April, adding to power vacuum
Acting NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot, shown here in a 2015 photo, says he’ll retire in April. (NASA / MSFC Photo / Fred Deaton) Robert Lightfoot, who has been serving as NASA’s acting administrator since the start of the Trump administration, says he’ll be retiring at the end of next month. His departure after more than…
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BluHaptics and Tethers Unlimited get in on $750,000 grants from NASA program
Derek Martin and Ryan Cox work on robotic instrumentation with the BluHaptics team in Seattle. (University of Washington Photo / Conrado Tapado) Space projects led by two small businesses headquartered in Washington state — Seattle-based BluHaptics and Bothell-based Tethers Unlimited — are among 128 proposals selected by NASA to receive grants of up to $750,000. NASA today announced…
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Space station trio gets warm welcome back to Earth in frosty Kazakhstan
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft descends through the morning sky on its way to a touchdown in Kazakhstan. (NASA Photo / Bill Ingalls) News Brief: Three spacefliers touched down amid subfreezing temperatures in Kazakhstan tonight, closing out their 168-day mission on the International Space Station. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft brought NASA’s Joe Acaba and Mark Vande…