Tag: NASA
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ESA’s Hera mission launched to asteroid binary as Falcon 9 returns to flight
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission, which is traveling to asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos as a follow-up to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, beat weather odds and successfully launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This flight, the 95th Falcon flight of 2024, was the first Falcon 9 mission to…
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ESA’s Hera mission progresses towards launch pending Falcon 9 readiness
An artist’s rendering of the Hera spacecraft alongside the CubeSats, Juventas and Milani. Graphic: ESA The European Space Agency is on the cusp of launching its first planetary defense mission, a complement to NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. The goal of these missions is to understand how Earth can be protected from…
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Engineers investigate another malfunction on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
SpaceX is investigating a problem with the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage that caused it to reenter the atmosphere and fall into the sea outside of its intended disposal area after a Saturday launch with a two-man crew heading to the International Space Station. The upper stage malfunction apparently occurred after the Falcon 9 successfully deployed SpaceX’s Crew…
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Launch Roundup: Vulcan takes second flight; Hera mission set to study asteroid
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) has launched its Vulcan Centaur rocket for the second time. The successful, if dramatic, mission saw Vulcan carry an inert payload to orbit alongside some experiments and demonstrations and should complete its certification process with the U.S. Space Force (USSF). SpaceX has delayed missions this week following an off-nominal deorbit…
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SpaceX launches mission to bring Starliner astronauts back to Earth
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov lifted off Saturday from Florida’s Space Coast aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, heading for a five-month expedition on the International Space Station. The two-man crew launched on top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 1:17 pm EDT (17:17 UTC), taking advantage of a break in the…
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SpaceX, NASA launches Crew-9 with two people
SpaceX and NASA have launched Crew-9 for its six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, originally set to launch with four people, launched with only two. The empty seats will be used by Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams is to return home in February…
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SpaceX launches two to space station, giving Starliner astronauts a ride home in February
A SpaceX Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) for the first time on the Crew-9 mission. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew on a flight to the International Space Station Saturday, along with supplies and a pair of empty seats for two…
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NASA confirms space station cracking a “highest” risk and consequence problem
US space officials do not like to talk about the perils of flying astronauts on the aging International Space Station, elements of which are now more than a quarter of a century old. However, a new report confirms that NASA managers responsible for operating the space station are seriously concerned about a small Russian part…
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ISS finishes out eventful third quarter of 2024 with Expedition 71 giving way to Expedition 72
The International Space Station (ISS) has spent the last three months with a larger crew complement than usual following the Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) docking with the ISS on June 6. However, the Station’s crew complement is about to return to its normal number of astronauts with the imminent departure of Crew-8 and Crew…
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Starfish Space wins $15M NASA award for a SSPICY mission to visit dead satellites
An artist’s conception shows Starfish Space’s Otter spacecraft in orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration) Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space has won a three-year, $15 million contract from NASA for a mission aimed at doing up-close inspections of defunct satellites in orbit. Such inspections, to be carried out using Starfish’s Otter spacecraft starting in 2027, could blaze a…