Missions Archives - SpaceFlight Insider

Commercial spaceflight advocate outlines revolution in the field

Laurel KornfeldJuly 7th, 2020

Bruce Pittman of NASA’s Space Portal Office, a 35-year advocate for commercial spaceflight, outlined his vision of the endeavor over the next 42 months in a June webinar run by NASA’s Night Sky Network.

Pluto’s subsurface ocean may date back to planet’s formation

Laurel KornfeldJune 29th, 2020

Scientists who recently studied the detailed images of Pluto’s surface returned by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 have found evidence that the dwarf planet’s subsurface ocean may have been around since Pluto’s formation over four billion years ago.

Perseverance mission scientist outlines rover’s instruments, mission

Laurel KornfeldJune 23rd, 2020

One month before the scheduled launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, Roger Wiens, who serves as both principal investigator of its SuperCam laser instrument and as co-investigator of its SHERLOC team, discussed the mission’s science instruments and its purpose in a virtual webinar presented by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI).

Locked and Loaded: Artemis I’s muscle delivered to KSC

SpaceFlight InsiderJune 16th, 2020

NASA, still riding high on regaining the ability to launch astronauts to low-Earth-orbit is now preparing to turn the dial up to eleven. LEO is nice and all - but flying to the Moon is way better. The agency is pulling this pieces to achieve just that.

NASA TAPS ASTROBOTIC TO DELIVER VIPER ROVER TO THE MOON

Michael ColeJune 16th, 2020

NASA awarded a nearly $200 million contract Thursday to Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, to deliver NASA’s VIPER rover to a destination at the moon’s south pole in 2023.

New Horizons parallax experiment observes an alien sky

Laurel KornfeldJune 14th, 2020

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, now over 4.3 billion miles (6.9 billion km) from Earth, successfully imaged two nearby stars displaced from the locations in the sky where they are seen from Earth in its April stellar parallax experiment.

3 SkySat, 58 Starlink satellites fly during first SpaceX Rideshare launch

Cullen DesforgesJune 13th, 2020

At 5:21 a.m. EDT, SpaceX’s ninth set of Starlink satellites departed Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, flying with three SkySat satellites, part of the company’s first commercial ride share arrangement.

President Trump delivers remarks after Demo-2 launch

Michael McCabeJune 6th, 2020

President Donald J. Trump gave a speech inside of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building after the successful launch of astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

First Starlink VisorSat takes flight aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

Sean CostelloJune 3rd, 2020

On Wednesday June 3, SpaceX successfully launched its eighth batch of Starlink satellites, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at 9:25 p.m. EDT, 1:25 UTC on June 4.

SOFIA data sheds new light on endurance of Pluto’s atmosphere

Laurel KornfeldJune 1st, 2020

Data captured by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne observatory that studied Pluto’s atmospheric hazes just two weeks before New Horizons‘ 2015 flyby, indicates the hazes in Pluto’s atmosphere are regularly replenished.

Crew Dragon Endeavour docks with International Space Station

Derek RichardsonMay 31st, 2020

Less than 19 hours after soaring into orbit from Florida, SpaceX’s Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken has reached the International Space Station.

The drought is over: NASA and SpaceX successfully launch Demo-2

Cullen DesforgesMay 30th, 2020

History has been made and an almost nine-year drought has ended. SpaceX has successfully launched its first crewed mission, marking the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight. The SpaceX Crew Dragon is now officially on her way to the International Space Station for the first time with humans on board.

NASA researcher provides overview of science on the ISS

Laurel KornfeldMay 29th, 2020

Research conducted on board the International Space Station (ISS) encompasses numerous science fields, such as biology and biotechnology, human research, the physical sciences, technological demonstrations, Earth and space science, and public education, noted Brandon Redell of NASA’s ISS Integration Office at the Johnson Space Center.

Weather not favoring backup Demo-2 launch dates

Patrick AttwellMay 28th, 2020

Yesterday’s attempt to launch NASA’s and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station was plagued by weather issues that ultimately caused the attempt to be scrubbed. There remains the potential for weather complicate Saturday’s and Sunday’s launch attempts.