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Firefly awarded NASA contract for CLPS Lunar Lander
Matt HaskellFebruary 6th As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, Firefly Aerospace has been awarded a $93.3 million contract to land a set of 10 research payloads on the moon in 2023 as part of CLPS Task Order 19D.
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Amount of water on the Moon varies by location and time of day
Laurel KornfeldFebruary 6th Two Earth-based studies confirm water molecules are present on the Moon, but amounts vary depending on location and time of day, Casey Honniball of NASA.
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SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on record-setting rocket
Matt HaskellFebruary 4th Under perfectly clear skies, a SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the skies over Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40, taking another batch of 60 Starlink satellites to orbit.
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Starship SN9 lands hard following high-altitude test
Nicholas D'AlessandroFebruary 2nd SpaceX was finally able to launch its Starship SN9 prototype in a much-anticipated sophomore outing for the high-altitude test flight program. However, an engine issue appeared to cause the vehicle to land explosively.
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Following FAA approval, SpaceX set to fly Starship SN9 today
Derek RichardsonFebruary 2nd Late on Feb. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration granted approval for SpaceX to test its Starship SN9 prototype as early as Feb. 2.
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NASA, Boeing to conduct second SLS rocket core hot fire
Cullen DesforgesFebruary 2nd Nearly two weeks after the first attempt, NASA and prime contractor Boeing announced their decision to proceed with a second hot fire test of the Space Launch System core stage.
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NASA astronauts finish ISS battery upgrades, replace cameras
Derek RichardsonFebruary 1st In the second spacewalk in less than a week, two NASA astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station to wrap up a battery upgrade project started four years ago, and completed various other small tasks.
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Amid FAA delays, twin Starships stand tall in Boca Chica
Nicholas D'AlessandroJanuary 29th While SpaceX and Starship SN9 continue to face regulatory holds from the Federal Aviation Administration for flight certification, Starship SN10 has been rolled out to the launch pad.
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Regulators withhold Starship SN9 flight approval, test delayed
Derek RichardsonJanuary 28th When SpaceX employees in South Texas woke up this morning, they likely expected they'd be flying their Starship SN9 prototype on a high-altitude test, hopefully ending with a successful landing. However, the regulatory process appeared to keep the test article firmly planted on the ground.
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Cable issues prevent spacewalkers from finishing Bartolomeo installation
Derek RichardsonJanuary 27th Two NASA astronauts performed the first spacewalk of 2021 at the International Space Station to connect cables to a new European science platform as well as prepare the outpost for future power upgrades.
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SpaceX set for ambitious Starship SN9 high-altitude test
Nicholas D'AlessandroJanuary 26th SpaceX's Starship SN9 continues the company's theme of ultra-rapid development, with the next high-altitude flight test coming as early as this week.
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Asteroid naming contest sparks discussion of women in astronomy
Laurel KornfeldJanuary 26th The selection of the late astronomer Ada Amelia Carrera Rodriguez as the winner of an asteroid-naming contest sparked an online panel discussion by the contest's sponsors about the role of women in astronomy.
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CRS-21 cargo Dragon splashes down off the Florida coast
Derek RichardsonJanuary 13th SpaceX’s CRS-21 cargo Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of Tampa, Florida.
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SpaceX launches latest satellite for SiriusXM Radio
Cullen DesforgesDecember 13th On Dec. 13, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the SXM-7 satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit.
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NASA announces “Artemis Team” of 18 astronauts
Cullen DesforgesDecember 11th In a somewhat unannounced and surprising fashion, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced the 18 astronauts that will be focused on advancing the Artemis program, including those who will be first to fly aboard the Orion capsule as early as 2023.
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Following extensive delays, ULA successfully launches NRO satellite
Matt HaskellDecember 11th Following a series of scrubs, delays and aborts, United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket finally took to the skies at 8:09 p.m. EST, Dec. 10, lofting the NROL-44 payload into a geostationary transfer orbit.
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Starship makes successful first, high altitude test flight
Nicholas D'AlessandroDecember 11th At 4:45 p.m. CDT Dec. 9, 2020, the SpaceX Starship prototype SN8 finally launched in an unprecedented and long-awaited flight test of the vehicle.
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15-kilometer test flight approaching for Starship SN8
Nicholas D'AlessandroDecember 2nd The most complex test yet for SpaceX's Starship design, prototype SN8, is fast approaching, according to road closure notices from Cameron County, Texas.
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Damaged Arecibo Observatory collapses
Laurel KornfeldDecember 1st The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a world-famous 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope through which major discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics were made, collapsed on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 1, after one of its main cables broke on Nov. 6.
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First operational Crew Dragon spacecraft docks to ISS
Derek RichardsonNovember 17th 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.
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SpaceX Successfully launches first operational crewed mission
Matt HaskellNovember 16th 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.
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NASA and SpaceX set to launch first operational Crew Dragon mission
Matt HaskellNovember 15th 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.
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ULA successfully launches NRO-101 mission into evening Florida sky
Sean CostelloNovember 13th With the tell-tale crackle of three GEM 63 solid rocket boosters, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket leapt from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 pad at 5:32 p.m. EST this evening, carrying a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload skyward.
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Breakdown of Crew-1 Flight Plan: an inside look
Cullen DesforgesNovember 13th 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.
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ULA set for second launch attempt of classified NRO payload
Matt HaskellNovember 13th 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.
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Crew-1’s dress rehearsal complete; countdown to launch continues
Sean CostelloNovember 12th 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.
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GPS III-SV04 takes flight atop new Falcon 9 booster, B1062
Theresa CrossNovember 7th On November 5 at 6:24 p.m. EST, SpaceX successfully launched the fourth in a series of third-generation global positioning satellite, departing from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.
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ULA set to launch classified spy satellite atop Atlas V, featuring first GEM 63 boosters
Matt HaskellNovember 4th 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.
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President Trump delivers remarks after Demo-2 launch
June 6th
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. -
SOFIA data sheds new light on endurance of Pluto’s atmosphere
June 1st
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. -
NASA researcher provides overview of science on the ISS
May 29th
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
May 28th
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. -
Meet Crew Dragon: narrated tour of design features, design history
May 26th
Crew Dragon capsule, about to fly atop a Falcon 9 as part of the Demo-2 mission with two humans aboard, is a great advance in the field of spacecraft design. -
SpaceX to test sun visors on Starlink satellites
May 19th
SpaceX will test sun visors on one of their Starlink satellites on their next launch, currently planned for early June. -
Astronaut Douglas Hurley to serve as Demo-2 spacecraft commander
May 8th
NASA astronaut Douglas Gerald Hurley flew on the last crewed mission to launch from American soil 11 years ago, and fittingly, will serve as spacecraft commander of Crew Dragon Demo-2, the first crewed flight to resume launches from the US. -
James Webb Space Telescope to unlock wonders of the Universe.
May 8th
The James Webb Space Telescope will work to further uncover the mysteries of the Universe after it launches in 2021 from the Guiana Space Center aboard an Ariane 5 rocket -
Astronaut Bob Behnken will be one of two-person crew on Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch
May 6th
When NASA’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 launches astronauts from American soil for the first time since 2011, astronaut Robert L. “Bob” Behnken will ride on the spacecraft as the mission’s joint operations commander. -
SpaceX completes final testing milestone before first crewed launch
May 3rd
SpaceX successfully completed its 27th test of the Mark 3 Parachute for the Crew Dragon capsule, fulfilling the final testing requirement for NASA certification and review of the parachute system. The test comes following several successful milestones, including January’s in flight Abort test. -
Booster B1051 in port following Starlink-6 flight
April 26th
Booster B1051.4 returned to Port Canaveral on April 26, sailing into port slightly delayed relative to previous returns but looking good on the deck of the autonomous drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). -
30 years since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope
April 24th
Thirty years ago today, the Hubble Space Telescope took to the skies aboard STS-31 and Space Shuttle Discovery. -
New Horizons conducts parallax experiment; team searches for KBOs
April 24th
More than five billion miles from Earth and over 14 years past launch, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is conducting an experiment measuring the distance to two nearby stars while mission scientists are using Earth-based telescopes to search for new Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) for the spacecraft to study. -
Kepler data reveals Earth-like planet in star’s habitable zone
April 21st
Scientists who took a second look at data returned by NASA’s Kepler space telescope have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. -
Pluto may have deep, ancient underground ocean
April 14th
Two new studies of data collected by the New Horizons spacecraft during its 2015 Pluto flyby suggest the dwarf planet has a deep subsurface ocean that may have been present all 4.5 billion years of Pluto’s existence.
