Tag: Space Shuttle
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Space Shuttle Endeavour displayed vertically in new exhibit at California Science Center
After 25 flights, Space Shuttle Endeavour is set to complete its next mission of education. On June 25, the California Science Center unveiled the shuttle in its final display configuration, poised vertically for “launch” with an attached external tank (ET) and twin solid rocket boosters (SRBs). While the exhibit is not set to open until…
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How the Space Shuttle completed a final, daring Hubble repair 15 years ago
The Hubble Space Telescope continues to operate to this day in part due to the work performed 15 years ago by the crew of STS-125. Dubbed Hubble Servicing Mission 4 (HSM 4), scientists knew this would be their final chance to use the space shuttle to visit and upgrade the orbiting laboratory. As we look…
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SpaceX breaks Space Shuttle pad record with Falcon 9 Starlink mission
SpaceX launches its 74th Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. This mission, combined with the preceding Falcon 9 launches and the nine Falcon Heavy flights, allowed SpaceX to surpass the total number of Space Shuttle launches from this pad. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 3:14 p.m. EDT: SpaceX landed…
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30 years after its first repair mission, Hubble continues to observe the cosmos
30 years ago, on the very early morning of Dec. 2, 1993, the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the STS-61 crew launched on a high-stakes mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. 30 years after the successful flight, which enabled Hubble to finally fulfill its promise to revolutionize our view of the Universe, the veteran observatory…
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How Sierra Space Protects America’s Next Space Plane, Dream Chaser
Dream Chaser, the so-called “mini shuttle”, is set to bring back the capability of returning experiments and equipment from the International Space Station (ISS) through Earth’s atmosphere for an eventual runway landing. As much as the vehicle resembles NASA’s Space Transportation System, better known as the space shuttle, it’s actually based on a different NASA…
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Historic scrubs and aborts that could happen to Starship
There are two words that most people never want to hear at a rocket launch, “abort” and “scrub.” As Starship’s orbital test flight gets closer, it may take multiple attempts to get Booster 7 and Ship 24 off the ground. If so, it wouldn’t be the first super-heavy launch vehicle to experience issues before and/or…
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Roscosmos, NASA celebrate historic launch anniversaries while looking to the future
Today, Roscosmos is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Vostok-1 mission, which launched Yuri Gagarin and the first human spaceflight, while NASA simultaneously commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first launch of the world’s first reusable spacecraft, when John Young and Bob Crippen embarked on the most ambitious test flight in history aboard the shuttle…
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Hubble still going strong 30 years after launch
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, one day after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA Thirty years ago Friday, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the shuttle Discovery with a famously flawed mirror, the opening…
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Iconic free-flying shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless passes away at the age of 80
News Brief: Retired astronaut Bruce McCandless II, the first astronaut to fly untethered from his spacecraft, has died at the age of 80. NASA said McCandless passed away on Thursday in California, but gave no cause of death. The former naval aviator flew in space twice. During a spacewalk in 1984, McCandless tested a hand-controlled…
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Former astronaut Bruce McCandless dies
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Official portrait showing astronaut Bruce McCandless II, attired in the shuttle Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit with Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) attached and American flag in background. Credit: NASA Former astronaut Bruce McCandless II, a retired Navy captain and son of a Medal of Honor winner who joined NASA…