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NASA graduates its newest class of Astronauts
Sean CostelloJanuary 10th As NASA prepares to send astronauts to destinations far beyond Earth, a new breed of space flyers has joined the elite cadre of the agency's astronaut corps.
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New Year, new headquarters for Blue Origin
Laurel KornfeldJanuary 9th With Blue Origin opening its new headquarters, 2020 appears to be a year of further expansion for NewSpace.
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CRS-19 Dragon wet and waiting for next mission
Cullen DesforgesJanuary 7th After spending nearly a month berthed to the International Space Station, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule left the Station and splashed down marking the successful completion of its mission.
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SpaceX starts 2020 with Starlink launch
Patrick AttwellJanuary 6th SpaceX's Starlink constellation just got a major boost.
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OPINION: 2019 – Numbers and Names
Jason RhianJanuary 1st Well that happened. 2019 was a roller-coaster of ups and downs that will have far-reaching consequences for future space exploration efforts.
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SpaceX prepares for first of many Starlink launches in 2020
Jim SiegelDecember 31st 2020 looks to be a big year for space. The next twelve months could see the U.S. regain a long-lost capability and another rover should be sent on its way to the Red Planet. SpaceX is planning to kick off 2020 with the launch of the next batch of Starlink satellites.
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What’s in a name? Mars 2020 wouldn’t know, it doesn’t have one – yet
James RiceDecember 30th NASA's Mars 2020 rover is on the verge of traveling to the Red Planet and beginning its search for evidence of Martian life. But it's missing something very important.
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Launch of Shijian 20 lights up Chinese skies and exploration ambitions
SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 28th China has big plans for its space program. But before it can achieve them, it needed to make sure a key launch vehicle was up to the task. A recent mission suggests that it is.
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NASA Mars 2020 rover passes driving test
Jim SharkeyDecember 27th Remember how stressful it was taking your first driver's test? Now imagine driving a car that's worth $2.5 billion.
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Russia launches final Rockot with trio of communications satellites
SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 27th Russia launched its final mission on the nation's 2019 manifest when it sent three communications satellites to orbit on Friday, Dec. 27. The flight marked the close of a vehicle designed for violence.
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ULA gets the nod to launch GOES-T satellite
SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 23rd NASA has selected a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket to ferry the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T to orbit.
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Starliner makes history in redefined ‘victory’
SpaceFlight InsiderDecember 22nd Boeing's Orbital Flight Test concluded today (Sunday Dec. 22) when the Starliner capsule touched down at White Sands Missile Range. Launched Friday, the mission saw the first U.S.-built crew-rated capsule land on soil rather than splashing down in the ocean.
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NASA completes SLS core stage in preparation for Artemis 1 mission
Curt GodwinDecember 10th Boeing completes milestone in 15-year-long effort to reignite crewed deep space missions.
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This Bud’s for you! SpaceX sends ‘King of Beers’ to orbit on CRS-19
Jim SiegelDecember 5th Propellant? Check. Science experiments? Check. Hardware? Check. Budweiser? Checkity-check!
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Launch of CRS-19 cargo freighter to ISS delayed
Patrick AttwellDecember 4th Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. -- Beautifully clear skies do not necessarily ensure a launch. SpaceX, no stranger to the precise requirements for launch ran afoul of an old foe on Wednesday Dec. 4.
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Virgin Galactic begins Astronaut Readiness Program
Cullen DesforgesNovember 21st The commercial space industry is one step closer toward achieving its goal of sending paying customers to suborbit.
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Report suggests NASA made a $1.6B Boeing mistake
Patrick AttwellNovember 15th A damning new report released by NASA’s Office of Inspector General paints a dismal picture of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The report suggests one of the two participants attempted to extort the space agency for more money.
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Boeing completes test of hyper-critical pad abort system
Jim SiegelNovember 4th With SpaceX steamrolling ahead toward achieving the goal of sending U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, Boeing took a step of its own today toward accomplishing the same feat.
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OPINION: SpaceX’s upcoming Starlink mission means more than ending Florida’s launch drought
Curt GodwinNovember 3rd The Space Coast has not seen a liftoff since Aug. 22. SpaceX is set to launch the second group of its Starlink satellites on Nov. 11, ending a two-month "drought" of ground launches from Florida. This upcoming mission has a lot more riding on it other than just alleviating that.
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Northrop Grumman’s NG 12 paints the sky in honor of an American legend
Patrick AttwellNovember 2nd WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program continues to send payloads arcing across the sky. Today Northrop Grumman did it again, this one's orbital trajectory was marked - with a paintbrush.
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Critical tests for Boeing and SpaceX’s crewed efforts slated for next week
Jason RhianNovember 1st If things go according to plan next week, NASA, Boeing and SpaceX will check key systems that are required to keep astronauts safe on their way to orbit. If these last checks can be completed, the agency could finally regain a capability it lost almost a decade ago.
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U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B shuttle returns under cover of night
Cullen DesforgesOctober 28th MERRITT ISLAND, FL – After a record-breaking 780 days on orbit the United States Air Force’s secretive space plane, the X-37B, touched down on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 27, 2019.
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Passengers on upcoming VG flights will get pins for spiffy new uniforms
Jason RhianOctober 27th When Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo takes to the skies with paying customers, those flying onboard the will be awarded pins by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) upon their return. This, however, will not be the apparel that will mark their voyage. Recent events suggest that Virgin Galactic is about to open its operational doors.
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‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this…’ Space Wars might be just around the corner
Jim SiegelOctober 26th Excitement is building as Star Wars aficionados are already rushing the virtual box office to buy tickets for the Dec. 20 release of the long-anticipated final episode of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker. But how close are those not in a galaxy "far, far away" away from experiencing actual wars in space?
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Blue Origin leads consortium of space stalwarts to develop Human Landing System
Curt GodwinOctober 25th Although the company has yet to launch a single human into suborbital space, much less into orbit, Blue Origin plans to be a key player in NASA's return to the Moon. At present, it's unclear if a recent announcement will join others in the lunar regolith or ignite a new era of human lunar exploration.
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Motel Rooms and Gas Stations: How to Leave Mars
Jay GallentineOctober 24th One day in the future, humans might actually land on the surface of Mars. After collecting rock samples, taking photos and performing all the other tasks demanded by this mission, the intrepid explorers will then face a daunting challenge, one often overlooked by most - leaving.
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Delta IV Medium ends 17-Year run with 100% success
Jim SiegelAugust 25th ULA's Delta IV Medium rocket, which made its debut flight in 2002, finished its 17-year career by propelling a GPS III satellite into medium Earth orbit.
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AEHF 5 lights up the sky atop ULA Atlas V 551
Patrick AttwellAugust 8th CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- United Launch Alliance completed its third flight of the year on Thursday, Aug. 8. The flight got off the pad and soared into the early morning sky a little later than planned.
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GALLERY: SpaceX launches JCSAT-18 and Kacific-1
December 17th
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New Horizons science instrument detects slowing of solar wind
December 12th
NASA's New Horizons mission has caught 'wind' of the ragged edges of our Solar System. -
Aerojet Rocketdyne opens new solid rocket motor facility
December 6th
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.- Aerojet Rocketdyne announced that it is ready to begin winding carbon fiber cases for large solid rocket motors now that a new machine has been installed and commissioned at its Advanced Manufacturing Facility. -
Uncrewed Boeing OFT-1 mission now targeting Dec. 19 liftoff
December 3rd
United Launch Alliance has announced that Boeing's OFT-1 mission has slipped. -
Two centaur missions proposed to NASA’s Discovery program
November 22nd
NASA is considering two Discovery Program missions that would head to the deepest regions of our solar system to study far flung bodies that reside there. -
New Horizons’ second target is formally named Arrokoth
November 15th
The double-lobed Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) located one billion miles beyond Pluto and visited by the New Horizons spacecraft on January 1, 2019, has been officially named Arrokoth, which means sky in the Native American Powhatan/Algonquian language. -
NASA funds study of possible Pluto orbiter
November 4th
There's no doubt that NASA's New Horizons mission crushed it. This has emboldened the space agency to take their exploration of the far reaches of our solar system to the next level. -
GALLERY: Alan Bean makes art – one more time
November 2nd
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Northrop Grumman NG-12 launch could be visible four states away
November 1st
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- Whenever a rocket lifts off it's a pretty dramatic event. The scheduled launch of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket should be no exception. A NASA map suggests that the NG-12 flight could be visible from up to four states away. -
New Horizons team releases images of Pluto’s far side
October 30th
More than four years after New Horizons' historic July 2015 Pluto flyby, mission scientists have released detailed images of Pluto's far side, which the spacecraft was able to image only in low resolution on approach and following departure. -
NASA to send VIPER to prowl Moon’s South Pole
October 28th
If humanity is going to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, it's going to need water. This precious substance can be found on the lunar surface and a newly-announced robotic explorer is being readied to seek out significant concentrations of ice. If all goes according to plan, this mission marka critical first step for planned crewed missions. -
Second group of names approved for features on Pluto
October 24th
A second set of names for features on Pluto, already used informally by members of NASA's New Horizons mission, has received formal approval by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the organization that names celestial objects and their features. -
OPINION: NASA administrator enters decades-long Pluto debate
August 28th
A comment by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine affirming he still considers Pluto to be a planet has drawn criticism from some media outlets that may be motivated more by politics than science. It is also a potential game changer in the decades-long planet debate. -
Gallery: Flight of GPS III marks final flight of Delta IV Medium
August 22nd
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Curiosity rover marks seven years of Martian exploration
August 9th
Seven years after successfully completing a difficult landing maneuver onto the floor of Mars' Gale Crater, NASA's Curiosity rover continues to make pioneering discoveries on the Red Planet.
