News Archive / Missions
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Intelsat 29e satellite deemed a ‘total loss’
Derek RichardsonApril 20th, 2019After experiencing damage in orbit two weeks ago, satellite communications company Intelsat declared its Intelsat 29e spacecraft is not salvageable.
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NG-11 Cygnus begins 3-month ISS stay
Derek RichardsonApril 19th, 2019Two days after launch, Northrop Grumman’s NG-11 Cygnus cargo freighter rendezvoused and was berthed to the International Space Station's Unity module.
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New details emerge about Titan’s methane lakes
Laurel KornfeldApril 17th, 2019Methane lakes on Titan run deep and play a crucial role in its hydrologic cycle, according to new studies published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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Stratolaunch aircraft makes 1st flight
Patrick AttwellApril 13th, 2019At 6:58 a.m. PST (13:58 GMT) April 13, 2019, the world’s largest airplane took to the skies for the first time above the Mojave Desert.
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Israeli Beresheet lander crashes on Moon
Laurel KornfeldApril 11th, 2019What would have been a historic first in space exploration was not meant to be as SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft failed to successfully land on the Moon.
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Astronomical history! First image of black hole captured
Jason RhianApril 10th, 2019Black holes were known to exist but, until recently, no images of them had ever been captured. An international network of radio telescopes has changed all that.
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Video: SpaceX raises the Heavy
Jason RhianApril 10th, 2019KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Launch preparations continued for the second flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. Part of those efforts included raising the 730-foot-tall rocket into the vertical position.
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Astronauts route power cables during 3rd spacewalk of 2019
Derek RichardsonApril 9th, 2019During a 6.5-hour spacewalk, two International Space Station astronauts finished battery work and routed cables across the outpost.
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Hubble Kuiper Belt survey to focus on binary systems
Laurel KornfeldApril 8th, 2019The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is set to use the Hubble Space Telescope to conduct the largest ever survey of the Kuiper Belt.
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Curiosity update: Methane spike confirmed and Martian eclipses observed
Jim SharkeyApril 7th, 2019A methane spike detected by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in 2013 has been confirmed by researchers reanalyzing data captured by the Mars Express orbiter.
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SpaceIL’s Beresheet now in lunar orbit
Joe LatrellApril 5th, 2019After firing its engines for six minutes, the Beresheet Moon lander transitioned from a highly-elliptical Earth orbit to a new lunar orbit.
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Progress MS-11 launches toward ISS on 2-orbit trek
Derek RichardsonApril 4th, 2019Russia launched a Soyuz 2.1a rocket with the latest Progress resupply freighter bound for the International Space Station.
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Prototype high-gain antenna being tested for Europa Clipper
Laurel KornfeldApril 3rd, 2019A prototype high-gain antenna that will transmit data for NASA's Europa Clipper mission is being tested at an indoor electromagnetic testing facility.
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Dust and ice from Saturn’s rings are falling on nearby moons
Laurel KornfeldApril 1st, 2019Particles of dust and ice from Saturn's rings are falling onto five of the giant planet's tiny moons, all of which are located close to and even within the ring system.
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NASA’s Mars Helicopter completes flight testing
Jim SharkeyMarch 31st, 2019While multiple space agencies have landed spacecraft on other celestial bodies, none have flown in the skies above those worlds—but that may soon change.
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Chinese commercial spaceflight company fails 1st launch
Laurel KornfeldMarch 30th, 2019OneSpace, a Chinese commercial spaceflight company, failed in its first attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit on Wednesday, March 27.
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Astronauts wrap 2nd spacewalk of 2019
Derek RichardsonMarch 30th, 2019Astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch ventured outside the International Space Station to continue work replacing aging batteries on the exterior truss.
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Proposal to have Trump’s ‘Space Force’ be situated in Florida moves forward
Jason RhianMarch 27th, 2019This proposal to create the Space Force, a new wing of the U.S. Armed Forces, has received a wide spectrum of responses, including a recent show of support.
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Assignment shuffle precludes all-female spacewalk
Derek RichardsonMarch 26th, 2019NASA said assignments for the next two spacewalks outside the International Space Station have been changed because of “spacesuit availability.”
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New observations help scientists understand lunar water cycle
Cullen DesforgesMarch 23rd, 2019Recently, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter made an observation that could help scientists understand the water cycle present on the lunar surface.
