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    Safety Training, Spacewalk Preps and Eye Checks Keep Crew Busy

    NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is pictured during a spacewalk in December of 2013 when he was a flight engineer during Expedition 38.

    Emergency training took precedence aboard the International Space Station today with the Expedition 64 crew reviewing safety procedures and equipment. The orbital residents also had eye checks while gearing up for a busy period of spacewalks. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins joined her two crewmates from Roscosmos, Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, at midday …

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    Green Run Update: Data and Inspections Indicate Core Stage in Good Condition

    SLS ocket core stage comes alive during the Green Run hot fire test

    The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket Green Run team has reviewed extensive data and completed preliminary inspections that show the rocket’s hardware is in excellent condition after the Green Run test that ignited all the engines at 5:27 p.m. EST at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After analyzing initial data, the …

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    ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/18/2021

    Payloads Antimicrobial coatings:  The crew touched coupons A-G, then took photos of each of the coupons. The experiment was set up in early January and is planned to remain deployed for a period of 6 months. Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes …

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    ELaNa 20 CubeSats Deployed

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system undergoes final preparations on a taxiway at Mojave Air and Space Port ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission. Taken in late December 2020. Photo: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson.

    Today at approximately 3:35 p.m. ET (12:35 p.m. PT), 10 CubeSats began deploying from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket into low-Earth Orbit as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 20 mission. Virgin Orbit’s 747-00 carrier, Cosmic Girl, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:38 p.m. ET (10:38 a.m. …

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    Takeoff! ELaNa 20 Mission on Its Way to Space

    Ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission, Virgin Orbit’s carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl is staged on a taxiway with LauncherOne underwing at Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. November 10, 2020.

    Marking the first payload carried by the LauncherOne rocket, Virgin Orbit’s 747-00 carrier, Cosmic Girl, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:38 p.m. ET today. The LauncherOne rocket, attached to the underside of Cosmic Girl’s left wing, is the carrying CubeSats for the encapsulated Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) …

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    Launch Window Opens for ELaNa 20 Mission

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system undergoes final preparations on a taxiway at Mojave Air and Space Port ahead of the company’s Launch Demo 2 mission. Taken in late December 2020. Photo: Virgin Orbit/Greg Robinson.

    Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl aircraft and LauncherOne rocket are positioned for takeoff from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, in preparation to launch 10 small NASA-sponsored research satellites, or CubeSats, as part of the agency’s 20th Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission. Cosmic Girl carries the LauncherOne rocket on the underside of the …

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    Green Run Update: Hot Fire Conducted on Jan. 16

    NASA's Artemis logo. Credit: NASA

    Teams from NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Program conducted a hot fire of the Artemis I core stage on Jan. 16 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. All four RS-25 engines ignited successfully, but the test was stopped early after about a minute. At this point, the test was fully automated. During the firing, the onboard …

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    Green Run Update: Engines Igniting as Hot Fire Gets Underway 

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    The hot fire is underway for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Engine ignition began at approximately six tenths of a second before T-0, beginning with Engine 1, then Engines 3, 4, and 2 ignited in sequence a few hundredths of a second apart. The test is expected to last about 8 minutes and will include three different power …

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    Green Run Update: Terminal Countdown Sequence Started

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    The test conductor polled the team and has approved the decision to proceed with the terminal countdown that includes the final 10 minutes before the hot fire. During the terminal countdown, the team is executing the autonomous launch sequence that simulates the countdown for the Artemis I launch. The test transitions from ground control to on-board software control of the core stage and so the test is fully automated starting at T-30 seconds.  Key milestones during the …

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    Green Run Update: Hot Fire Test Targeted for within an Hour

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    The teams are now targeting a hot fire test for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage within an hour. The team has completed a successful pressurization demonstration and is evaluating the data to ensure they are ready to proceed. Live coverage is underway on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Teams began the …

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