United Launch Alliance is currently planning to launch a Delta IV Medium+ 5,4 rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian / AmericaSpace
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — No sooner has the smoke and fire settled from last Wednesday’s liftoffof an Atlas V to deliver the GPS IIF-4 satellite into orbit, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is primed to rattle Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., again on Thursday, 23 May, with the roar of a Delta IV Medium booster from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-37. The mission will insert the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS-5) into orbit on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. Originally scheduled to fly Wednesday, 22 May, a decision was made at the weekend to delay by 24 hours. “During acceptance testing for another mission,” explained ULA in a Sunday news release, “an avionics box that is used for controlling the Delta booster RS-68 engine experienced an anomaly.” As a result, ULA has replaced the box “with one that has been inspected and confirmed not to have the suspect condition.”
Continue reading WGS-5 Launch to Mark Delta IV’s Return to Flight
United Launch Alliance is currently planning to launch a Delta IV Medium rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 in Florida. Photo Credit: Jeffrey J. Soulliere
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla — Everything is moving ahead with a planned Thursday evening launch attempt of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta-IV medium rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s (CCAFS) Space Launch Complex 37. The Wideband Global Satellite 5 (WGS-5) will be the payload for this mission. As long as weather and technical issues allow, the launch is scheduled to occur tomorrow at 8:26 p.m. EDT. Engineers have roughly 32 minutes to get the rocket off the pad before the close of the launch window at 8:58 p.m. EDT.
Continue reading Launch Viewing Guide: Delta IV Medium (WGS-5)
The Kepler Space Telescope has had another of its reastion wheels fail, meaning the spacecraft’s mission of finding Earth-like worlds is probably over. Image Credit: NASA
Launched on March 7, 2009, NASA’sKepler space telescope, designed to hunt for Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars, has proved to be an outstanding success and has surpassed its initial planned lifetime of 3.5 years. But the recent failure of one of its three remaining reaction wheels—a fourth had stopped working earlier—has put the mission in jeopardy. In fact, it’s quite possible that Kepler has made its last planet-seeking observation. So what comes next?
AS10-34-5115 The ascent stage of the Apollo 10 Lunar Module rises up from the Moon. Photo Credit: John Young / NASA
Remembering Apollo 10 — The Lunar Module “Snoopy” is shown in this rendezvous image taken by astronaut John Young aboard the Command Module “Charlie Brown.” Astronauts Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan had just completed checking out the LM systems a final time, thus paving the way for a lunar landing by Apollo 11 two months later.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla — With less than a month to go before the doors open on what could be one of the most exciting space exhibits ever, Space Shuttle Atlantis is one step closer to being ready to make her grand entrance. This past week, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Atlantis’ payload bay doors were open; in doing so the concept behind the structure’s design was clearly validated.
Continue reading Atlantis Takes Flight at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
On the 3,309th Martian day, or sol, of its mission on Mars (May 15, 2013), NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove 263 feet (80 meters) southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
PASADENA, Calif — While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth’s moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission’s Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.
Continue reading Nine-Year-Old Mars Rover Passes 40-Year-Old Record
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drilled into this rock target, “Cumberland,” during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (May 19, 2013) and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock’s interior. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
PASADENA, Calif — NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called “Cumberland.”
Continue reading NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Drills Second Rock Target
WASHINGTON — NASA and President Obama are honoring the life and legacy of Sally Ride on the day a national tribute was held for the first American woman in space.
Continue reading NASA and the White House Pay Tribute to Sally Ride
Pictured during training in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit, Tim Peake will be the first official British astronaut whose mission has been sanctioned and financed directly by the U.K. government. Photo Credit: NASA
Four years after his selection as a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut candidate, Britain’s Tim Peake has been formally named as a crewmember aboard Expedition 46/47 to the International Space Station. He will launch with Russian and U.S. crewmates aboard Soyuz TMA-19M in November 2015 and is expected to spend almost six months in orbit. Born in Chichester, England, Peake will not be the first Briton to enter space, but will be the first to officially represent the British government. News of Peake’s assignment was made public by the BBC and several U.K. publications Sunday, although the announcement from ESAwas made Monday afternoon.
Continue reading Britain’s Tim Peake Assigned to Six-Month ISS Mission in 2015-16
View of the docking port on the Zvezda module, marking the area potentially impacted by Progress M-19M in April 2013. Image Credit: Roscosmos/Anatoly Zak/Russianspaceweb.com
While the fourth European ATV has been sitting on top of an Ariane 5 launcher set for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5, engineers are still analyzing a potential problem with a Laser Radar Reflector (LRR) which allows ATV’s autonomous approach to the station. On April 26, Progress M-19M cargo docked at the ISS with one of its KURS rendezvous antennas folded, due to a failure in the deployment mechanism. One out of three LRR mounted around the Zvezda’s aft docking port happened to be in the way of the undeployed antenna. No strange noises or problems were reported, but concerns were expressed on possible damage to the delicate optical sensor.
Continue reading As ATV Launch Approaches, Damage to Docking Sensor Still to be Assessed
In Antarctica in January, 2013 – the summer at the South Pole – scientists released 20 balloons, each eight stories tall, into the air to help answer an enduring space weather question: when the giant radiation belts surrounding Earth lose material, where do the extra particles actually go? This NASA-funded mission is called BARREL, for Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses. Each balloon launched by the BARREL team floated for anywhere from three to 40 days, measuring X-rays produced by fast-moving electrons high up in the atmosphere.BARREL works hand in hand with another NASA mission called the Van Allen Probes, which travels directly through the Van Allen radiation belts. The belts wax and wane over time in response to incoming energy and material from the sun, sometimes intensifying the radiation through which satellites orbiting Earth must travel. Scientists need to understand this process better, and even provide forecasts of such space weather, in order to protect our spacecraft.› Read MoreImage Credit: NASA Read More
