News Archive / Missions

• Probe finds deep space is not completely dark

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 1st, 2020

  Now more than four billion miles away from Earth, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, acting as a distant space observatory, has found that deep space is not entirely dark.

• First operational Crew Dragon spacecraft docks to ISS

  Derek RichardsonNovember 17th, 2020

  SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” and its four-person astronaut occupants arrived at the International Space Station a day after an evening launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

• SpaceX Successfully launches first operational crewed mission

  Matt HaskellNovember 16th, 2020

  At 7:27 PM EST on November 15, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule containing 4 astronauts lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A in Florida.

• Arrokoth’s flattened shape could shed light on planetesimal formation process

  Laurel KornfeldNovember 15th, 2020

  The flattened shape of the two lobes that make up Arrokoth, the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) visited by the New Horizons spacecraft in January 2019, may hold clues to the formation process of planetesimals and even planets.

• NASA and SpaceX set to launch first operational Crew Dragon mission

  Matt HaskellNovember 15th, 2020

  Following up on the successful launch and return of NASA Astronauts in May, SpaceX is on the cusp of flying the first certified operational mission of their Crew Dragon capsule.

• Breakdown of Crew-1 Flight Plan: an inside look

  Cullen DesforgesNovember 13th, 2020

  On Tuesday November 10, teams at SpaceX and NASA completed the final launch readiness review for the first operational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

• ULA set for second launch attempt of classified NRO payload

  Matt HaskellNovember 13th, 2020

  United Launch Alliance is set to re-attempt the launch of their Atlas V rocket and its NROL-101 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on Friday evening. 

• Crew-1’s dress rehearsal complete; countdown to launch continues

  Sean CostelloNovember 12th, 2020

  With less than 48 hours until the scheduled liftoff of Falcon 9 and NASA’s Crew-1 mission, all systems appear go on Florida’s Space Coast.

• ULA set to launch classified spy satellite atop Atlas V, featuring first GEM 63 boosters

  Matt HaskellNovember 4th, 2020

  United Launch Alliance is set to launch their Atlas V rocket on Wednesday evening, November 4, launching the highly classified NROL-101 spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral.

• The ISS marks two decades of continuous human presence

  Derek RichardsonNovember 2nd, 2020

  The International Space Station has just crossed 20 years of continuous human occupation as its unbroken string of expedition crews continue to perform a wide range of scientific research aboard this multinational outpost.

• OSIRIS-REx capsule closed following successful Bennu sample collection

  Laurel KornfeldNovember 1st, 2020

  NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft collected enough soil samples of the asteroid Bennu on its first attempt that mission controllers commanded the spacecraft to close its Sample Return Capsule (SRC).

• Expedition 1 and the early International Space Station

  Derek RichardsonNovember 1st, 2020

  Two decades ago, Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station to begin an unbroken chain of expeditions to inhabit this outpost.

• SpaceX marks their 100th successful flight during Starlink launch

  Matt HaskellOctober 24th, 2020

  On Saturday Oct 24, A SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the stars from Cape Canaveral with another batch of Starlink satellites, marking the company’s 100th successful launch. 

• White mountain peaks on Pluto not caused by snow

  Laurel KornfeldOctober 24th, 2020

  Images captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its July 2015 Pluto flyby reveal the small planet to be the only place in the solar system other than Earth to have white-capped mountains.

• Boeing wins contract award for next generation SATCOM satellites

  Cullen DesforgesOctober 24th, 2020

  In a press release earlier this month, Boeing announced the award of a developmental contract for the next generation communications satellite on behalf of the United States Space Force.

• ISS Expedition 63 crew returns home safely

  Cullen DesforgesOctober 22nd, 2020

  On October 21, 2020, the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 63 crew members departed the International Space Station, successfully returning NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, and Russian Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner back to planet Earth at a landing site in Kazakhstan.

• GHGSat releases PULSE, an online tool to visualize worldwide methane gas concentration

  Sean CostelloOctober 21st, 2020

  Accessible at no-cost for public and community use, GHGSat’s newly released PULSE project brings methane gas concentration data within reach of anyone seeking to explore their interactive, online worldwide map. In this screenshot taken by the author during a tour of the PULSE platform, Dr. Sarah Gallagher with the Canadian Space Agency is explaining how […]

• Inter-satellite laser communications improving Starlink performance, as SpaceX expands constellation

  Theresa CrossOctober 18th, 2020

  SpaceX launched its fourteenth batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral’s LC-39A, at 8:25 a.m. EDT, October 18, 2020, flying into blue Florida skies atop a Falcon9 booster flying for its sixth time. 

• Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson resigns from Starliner test flight

  Cullen DesforgesOctober 16th, 2020

  On Wednesday October 7, Boeing Astronaut Chris Ferguson announced that he has removed himself from the first crewed test flight of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.

• ISS Expedition 64 crew launches to ISS in record time

  Cullen DesforgesOctober 16th, 2020

  On Wednesday, October 14 at 1:45 AM EDT, three astronauts and their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft left the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin a six month mission to the International Space Station.