News Archive / Missions

• 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.

• Company that will print 3D rockets approved to use Cape Canaveral launch facility

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 20th, 2019

  Relativity Space has received approval from the U.S. Air Force to use Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 16 for the construction of its own launch facilities.

• NROL-71 kicks off ULA’s 2019 launch manifest

  Patrick AttwellJanuary 19th, 2019

  LOMPOC, Calif. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed its first flight of 2019. Today's launch utilized the largest rocket in the Colorado-based company's arsenal to send a classified payload into space. In doing so the company finally managed to move past a saga of delays.

• Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 resumes operations

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 17th, 2019

  The Wide Field Camera 3  (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has resumed science operations after spending a week and two days in a safety mode that suspended its activities.

• Animation shows Ultima Thule rotating as New Horizons approached

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 17th, 2019

  Using images of Ultima Thule by the the New Horizons spacecraft, mission scientists have created an animation depicting the Kuiper Belt Object's rotation during the last hours before the probe's approach.

• InSight lander deploys seismometer on Mars

  Paul KnightlyJanuary 15th, 2019

  NASA's InSight Mars lander has been busy getting its suite of instruments prepared for regular use to explore the interior of the Red Planet.

• SpaceX completes 16th Dragon mission to ISS

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 14th, 2019

  After spending just over a month attached to the International Space Station, SpaceX's CRS-16 Dragon spacecraft departed the outpost and returned to Earth.

• In first six months, TESS discovers three exoplanets and more

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 12th, 2019

  During the first six months of its two-year mission, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered three confirmed planets and many planet candidates while also observing other astronomical phenomena such as supernovae, asteroids, comets, and eclipsing binary stars.

• Hubble camera shut down following anomaly

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 10th, 2019

  Operations of Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have been suspended following an anomaly, the space agency said.

• SpaceX not alone in 2018’s high launch rate

  Patrick AttwellJanuary 7th, 2019

  United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic conducted 14 launches from the United States this past year.

• New Horizons team releases first stereo image of Ultima Thule

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 4th, 2019

  NASA's New Horizons team released the first stereo image of Ultima Thule, enabling viewers wearing 3D glasses to see its shape.

• China’s Chang’e 4 mission lands on Moon’s far side

  Derek RichardsonJanuary 3rd, 2019

  The China National Space Administration successfully soft-landed a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, a historic first in lunar exploration.

• First flyby images reveal Ultima Thule is a contact binary

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 3rd, 2019

  New Horizons' first close flyby images of Ultima Thule show the Kuiper Belt object to be a contact binary composed of two lobes joined together.

• OSIRIS-REx spacecraft enters record-breaking orbit around asteroid Bennu

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 2nd, 2019

  Almost overshadowed while New Horizons was zipping past Ultima Thule, another spacecraft went into orbit around an asteroid, albeit a little closer to home.

• New Horizons signals successful flyby of Ultima Thule

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 1st, 2019

  The New Horizons team recieved signals confirming a tiny spacecraft raced by a small world to complete the farthest exploration of any Solar System object.

• New year, new era? Commercial Crew Program poised for first flights

  Cullen DesforgesJanuary 1st, 2019

  As 2018 comes to a close, NASA could be edging closer to regaining what it lost almost eight years ago - the ability to launch astronauts on its own (with the help of private companies) from U.S. soil.

• 2018 showcased the International Space Station program’s elasticity

  Derek RichardsonDecember 31st, 2018

  The 20th year of International Space Station operations showcased the international partner agencies' ability to handle large unexpected events.

• Robotic spacecraft spent 2018 exploring the solar system and cosmos

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 31st, 2018

  Robotic spacecraft launched by the world's space agencies spent 2018 studying the Sun, planets and asteroids as well as the cosmos beyond the Solar System.

• 2019 US launch manifest to open with Delta IV Heavy, Falcon 9 flights

  Derek RichardsonDecember 30th, 2018

  The United States' 2019 orbital launch manifest looks to be just as busy as 2018 with the first two missions of the year poised to be spillover from 2018.

• New Horizons cleared for optimal approach to Ultima Thule

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 25th, 2018

  New Horizons is clear to fly an optimal path for observation after hazard searches near Ultima Thule found no debris that could pose a danger to the probe.