The Mars 2020 mission is on track for launch next year, and nesting inside the high-tech new rover heading that direction is a high-tech helicopter designed to fly in the planet’s nearly non-existent atmosphere. The actual aircraft that will fly on the Martian surface just took its first flight and its engineers are over the moon.
View More Mars helicopter bound for the Red Planet takes to the air for the first timeCategory: Nasa
Stephen Colbert tears into NASA for its female spacesuit debacle
In case you needed any evidence that we’re still living in a world that’s built for men, you need look no further than this week’s news that an historic all-female spacewalk has been cancelled due to a lack of availability of appropriately sized …
View More Stephen Colbert tears into NASA for its female spacesuit debacleNASA cancels all-female spacewalk because it didn’t have enough spacesuits ready in the right size
That sad trombone you hear is the sound of NASA’s attempt at a history-making spacewalk falling apart. On Friday, NASA was planning to conduct its first all-female spacewalk, but realized it doesn’t have enough spacesuits that are the right size for its female astronauts. After conducting the first spacewalk this week, astronaut Anne McClain noted that […]
View More NASA cancels all-female spacewalk because it didn’t have enough spacesuits ready in the right sizeNASA pulls all-female spacewalk due to suit fitting issues
You’re just going to have to wait a little longer for an all-female spacewalk.
NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were scheduled to walk together in the historic moment, but NASA has pulled the event due to suit availability on the International Space Station.
Fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague completed the first of the series of spacewalks last Friday with McClain, who found out that a particular suit size fit her best. Unfortunately, there’ll only be one suit available in this size — and it also fits Koch. Read more…
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View More NASA pulls all-female spacewalk due to suit fitting issuesNASA posts image of a powerful fireball exploding over Earth
Boom.
A radiant fireball exploded over the remote Bering Sea in Dec. 2018, though it wasn’t until some three months later that scientists, scouring satellite images, discovered the dramatic event. NASA’s Terra satellite — an Earth-observing satellite the size of a small school bus — also unwittingly documented the fiery explosion, and the space agency released photos of the meteor’s violent passage through Earth’s atmosphere on Friday.
Fireballs — which are bright meteors breaking apart in the atmosphere — are common events, though this December explosion was quite potent, as the most powerful known fireball since 2013. Read more…
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View More NASA posts image of a powerful fireball exploding over EarthOpportunity’s last Mars panorama is a showstopper
The Opportunity Mars Rover may be officially offline for good, but its legacy of science and imagery is ongoing — and NASA just shared the last (nearly) complete panorama the robot sent back before it was blanketed in dust.
View More Opportunity’s last Mars panorama is a showstopperMarch 29 will be a historic day for NASA and women
On March 29, NASA will have the first all-female spacewalk in the agency’s history. Conducting the spacewalk will be astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch. On the ground, they will be supported by an all-female crew at Houston’s Johnson Space Cen…
View More March 29 will be a historic day for NASA and womenSpaceX makes history by completing first private crew capsule mission
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule has safely splashed down in the Atlantic, making it the first privately built crew-capable spacecraft ever to complete a mission to the International Space Station. It’s one of several firsts SpaceX plans this year, but Boeing is hot on its heels with a crew demonstrator of its own — and of course the real test is doing the same thing with astronauts aboard.
View More SpaceX makes history by completing first private crew capsule missionSpaceX splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, completes historic crew capsule mission
The Dragon has returned to Earth.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule parachuted down to the Atlantic Ocean Friday morning, successfully capping the first test of a commercial spacecraft that will likely bring astronauts to the International Space Station — possibly in the next year.
The Crew Dragon capsule gently splashed down off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida at 8:45 a.m. ET after spending five days docked to the space station. The demonstration mission — which carried no humans but a dummy covered in sensors — is the first of at least one more test that NASA will use to determine if the Dragon capsule passes the space agency’s rigid safety standards. Read more…
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View More SpaceX splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean, completes historic crew capsule missionSpaceX’s Crew Dragon test flight gets through the toughest bit without issue
SpaceX sent its Crew Dragon capsule skyward on Saturday for a crucial test of its ability to carry human passengers. Now, slightly more than 24 hours later, the next phase of the test has played out.
It went well.
The Crew Dragon capsule, designated Demo-1, was able to successfully dock with the International Space Station at roughly 3:00 a.m. ET. Although there was no crew aboard this time, SpaceX’s reusable capsule is designed to carry up to seven astronauts to and from Earth’s orbit.
The company has been sending an earlier version of its capsule to the ISS for a number of years, but in those instances the space station’s robotic arm has helped the smaller vehicle successfully dock. For this test, the Crew Dragon’s own navigational system handled the docking procedure — and it happened without issue. Read more…
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View More SpaceX’s Crew Dragon test flight gets through the toughest bit without issueSpaceX’s Crew Dragon makes its first orbital launch tonight
After years of development and delays, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is ready to launch into orbit. It’s the first commercially built and operated crewed spacecraft ever to do so, and represents in many ways the public-private partnership that could define the future of spaceflight.
View More SpaceX’s Crew Dragon makes its first orbital launch tonightRipley, the SpaceX test dummy, is buckled in and ready for launch
Space travel is set to take a pivotal step forward this weekend.
SpaceX, in the first test demonstration of a commercial crew capsule designed to eventually send astronauts to the International Space Station, plans to launch its Crew Dragon spacecraft on Saturday, March 2, at 2:49 a.m. ET, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The commercial spaceflight company has worked closely with NASA engineers to design a capsule that meets the agency’s rigorous safety standards. This six-day mission — which carries along a test dummy covered in sensors, nicknamed Ripley — endeavors to blast into space, attach to the space station, and then parachute back down to Earth. Read more…
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