News Archive / Missions

• New mission given the go-ahead to search for beginning of universe and possibly life

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 17th, 2019

  A new space probe designed to observe hundreds of millions of galaxies to gain a better grasp on how the universe evolved has just been given the greenlight. This new spacecraft is also being developed to search for water and organics, the elements necessary for life as we know it.

• NASA planning to buy 2 more seats aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 16th, 2019

  NASA is looking to ensure uninterrupted access to the International Space Station while two commercial spacecraft finish development.

• MAVEN spacecraft to be moved to a lower Mars orbit

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 14th, 2019

  NASA's MAVEN orbiter is being prepared to act as a communications relay with the Mars 2020 rover, which is set to launch in 2020 and land in February 2021.

• Farewell Opportunity: NASA ends efforts to contact silent Mars rover

  Jim SharkeyFebruary 13th, 2019

  NASA said efforts to regain communications with the Opportunity Mars rover have ended, concluding one of the agency's most successful missions.

• Iridium NEXT constellation upgrade completed

  Cullen DesforgesFebruary 12th, 2019

  Iridium Communications announced last week in a press conference that it had finished its 10-year satellite upgrade project known as Iridium NEXT.

• ESA’s ExoMars rover named after Rosalind Franklin

  Jim SharkeyFebruary 12th, 2019

  The European Space Agency announced that its ExoMars rover will be named Rosalind Franklin. It and a Russian lander are scheduled for a July 2020 launch.

• New Horizons’ departure images shed new light on Ultima Thule’s shape

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 11th, 2019

  A new set of New Horizons flyby images taken on New Year's Day 2019 reveals Ultima Thule is shaped more like a flat object.

• Last Kepler images capture numerous planetary systems

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 10th, 2019

  Numerous planetary systems are visible in the final images taken by NASA's Kepler telescope on Sept. 25, 2018, just before it ran out of fuel.

• NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS to perform secondary mission

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 8th, 2019

  Northrop Grumman’s NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft has departed the International Space Station after three months at the orbiting complex.

• Survey shows ‘hundreds of impacts’ on ESA’s Columbus module

  Derek RichardsonFebruary 8th, 2019

  Each ISS module is designed with micrometeoroid debris protection. A recent survey of the Columbus module shows the importance of that shielding.

• MarCO CubeSats no longer communicating with Earth

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 7th, 2019

  Twin tiny satellites launched with NASA's Mars InSight lander have been out of touch with mission controllers on Earth for slightly over a month.

• Dome-shaped shield provides protection to InSight seismometer

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 6th, 2019

  The seismometer on NASA's Mars InSight mission was provided with a dome-shaped shield for protection from the planet's extreme temperature variations.

• Curiosity measures gravity of Mount Sharp

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 3rd, 2019

  NASA's Curiosity rove has measured the gravity on Mount Sharp in much the same way Apollo 17 astronauts measured the Moon's gravity in 1972.

• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe begins 2nd orbit of the Sun

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 31st, 2019

  Parker Solar Probe is pulling back the curtains of our parent star and is well on its way to rewriting humanity's understanding of how stars work.

• NASA trying to reestablish contact with Opportunity rover

  Jason RhianJanuary 29th, 2019

  Engineers are sending new commands to Mars rover Opportunity, addressing "low-likelihood" scenarios that could be preventing the vehicle from communicating.

• Latest image reveals Ultima Thule’s surface features

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 27th, 2019

  The most detailed image of Ultima Thule returned by New Horizons reveals surface details, including pits on both the object's lobes and contrasting patterns of darkness and light in various regions.

• Cassini data reveals Saturn’s rotation rate, age of rings

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 26th, 2019

  Data collected by the Cassini spacecraft in its final oribts has enabled scientists to accurately calculate Saturn's rotation rate and the age of its rings.

• Progress MS-09 leaves International Space Station

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 25th, 2019

  Progress MS-09 departed from the International Space Station after spending spending more than six months at the outpost.

• Juno snaps photo of two giant storms

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 24th, 2019

  NASA's Juno spacecraft captured an image of two massive storms in Jupiter's turbulent southern hemisphere during its most recent close pass.

• Stratolaunch abandons plans to develop family of rockets

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 21st, 2019

  It seems that Stratolaunch, a company working to develop an aircraft to air-launch rockets, may be scaling back its operations.