Tag: SpaceX-8
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SpaceX rocket tagged for reuse test-fired in Texas
The test-firing of a previously-flown Falcon 9 first stage booster in late January paves the way for its second launch scheduled for no earlier than March. Credit: SpaceX The Falcon 9 first stage booster assigned to launch as soon as March on SpaceX’s first mission with a previously-flown rocket has been test-fired at the company’s…
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NASA calls off inflation of experimental station habitat
Mission control used this grid to chart the progress of BEAM’s expansion. Credit: NASA TV Mission control halted the expansion of Bigelow Aerospace’s experimental space station module Thursday after the structure did not grow as predicted when air began flowing into it. Working in the International Space Station’s Tranquility module, astronaut Jeff Williams opened a…
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Bigelow’s station habitat to be expanded Thursday
Artist’s concept of an astronaut entering BEAM. Credit: NASA Space station flight engineer Jeff Williams will send commands Thursday to pump air into an experimental soft-sided module developed by commercial space habitat builder Bigelow Aerospace, expanding the structure to four times its current size in a stepping stone to future orbital destinations. The Bigelow Expandable…
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Cargo-carrying Dragon spaceship returns to Earth
The Dragon spacecraft descends to the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, fired rocket thrusters to brake out of orbit, and parachuted to a picture-perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with approximately 3,461 pounds (1,570 kilograms) of experiment samples and equipment. Concluding a 31-day…
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Live coverage: Dragon supply ship back on Earth
Live coverage of the departure of SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship from the International Space Station and its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with several tons of experiment samples and cargo. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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New views of Falcon 9 landing from on-board SpaceX’s drone ship
SpaceX has released new photos of last week’s thrilling rocket landing aboard a floating drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, showing the 15-story Falcon 9 first stage slowing to a hover just as it touched down on the platform. The first stage booster landed less than nine minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral on Friday…
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Flown Falcon 9 booster hoisted off landing platform
SpaceX rocket technicians offloaded the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket from its landing platform Tuesday, beginning a pioneering test campaign to verify its readiness for another launch later this year. The 15-story booster arrived at Port Canaveral, a few miles south of the Falcon 9 launch site, around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT)…
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket returns to port
Photo credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now Riding into port aboard a floating platform before dawn, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster arrived back at Cape Canaveral early Tuesday after sticking a historic landing at sea last week, kicking off a series of inspections and tests before engineers ready it for launch again. A small crowd of…
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Video: SpaceX lands rocket on drone ship for first time
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster steered toward a first-ever landing on a drone ship floating 185 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral in the Atlantic Ocean minutes after blasting off from Florida with a space station cargo ship. The 156-foot-tall booster, slowed by one of its Merlin rocket engines, descended to the football field-sized vessel about 8…
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Videos: Previewing SpaceX’s eighth International Space Station resupply launch
Pre-launch news conference What’s aboard the Dragon