NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft completed its final task for this mission when it released its sample capsule toward Earth less than an hour ago. About 20 minutes after doing so, the spacecraft fired its engines to divert past Earth toward its new mission to asteroid Apophis and was renamed OSIRIS-APEX. Roughly 1,000 feet wide, Apophis will …
Doppler data indicates that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released its sample capsule toward Earth at 6:42 a.m. EDT (4:42 a.m. MDT), as planned, from 63,000 miles of Earth’s surface – about one-third the distance from Earth to the Moon. After traveling for about four hours through space, the capsule will enter the atmosphere off the coast …
Following a team briefing minutes ago, operators gave the “go” for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to release its sample capsule. The poll of the lead engineers and military personnel was unanimous. Each team lead responded based on a list of criteria. Are projections showing that the capsule will land in its target area? Yes. Do the …
A weather briefing today predicted a dry Sept. 24 with low winds. These are optimal conditions for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample recovery team: A wet and windy day would have made a speedy capsule recovery from the desert floor of the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range more difficult. The OSIRIS-REx team will continue …
Payloads: Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM) Mission 85: A week-long science objective was successfully performed. As of this report, around 12,000 students from 24 countries participated, and more than 2,800 images have been downlinked. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the …
Now that fueling and testing are complete, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is ready to meet its ride – a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Launch is now targeting 10:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after optimizing the trajectory for the mission to study a metal-rich asteroid. …
Friday sees a busy day for the Expedition 69 crew ahead of their off-duty weekend aboard the International Space Station. Preparing for upcoming crew departures and October spacewalks, health exams, and space gardening topped the ten crew members’ research schedules today. Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA started her day with orbital plumbing and maintenance …
Payloads: Cold Atom Lab (CAL): The crew verified that the Ion Pump Controller Power LED was illuminated. This allows the health of the new science module 3B to be preserved until it can be installed in the CAL facility next week. CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of …
As the Expedition 69 crew members near the end of their work week, the ten orbital residents completed a variety of cleaning and maintenance tasks on Thursday aboard the International Space Station. After arriving to the orbital outpost on Sept. 21, 2022, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio has reached one full year in space today. His …
Editor’s note: This blog was updated Dec. 5 with the latest on the agency’s request for proposals for the U.S. deorbit spacecraft. NASA has updated a request for proposal from U.S. industry for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), a spacecraft meant to safely deorbit the International Space Station as part of its planned retirement. To …
