NASA and SpaceX mission managers met Thursday night and are proceeding, weather permitting, with the return to Earth of two astronauts. Meanwhile, space research to improve life for humans on and off the planet kept the Expedition 63 crew busy today. Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are packing up to end a two-month …
Flight controllers for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission have returned the spacecraft to nominal flight operations. Launched on July 30 at 7:50 a.m. EDT (4:50 a.m. PDT), Mars 2020 entered a state called safe mode soon after it was placed on an interplanetary trajectory because a sensor indicated that part of the spacecraft was slightly colder …
The team controlling NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has received telemetry (detailed spacecraft data) down from the spacecraft and has also been able to send commands up to the spacecraft, according to Matt Wallace, the mission’s deputy project manager. The team, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has confirmed that the spacecraft …
The second to last piece of hardware for the Artemis I test flight around the Moon has arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) connects the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the upper stage, called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. The cone-shaped connector also helps protect the RL10 engine …
Payloads Colloidal Clusters: The crew enabled the UV (ultraviolet) illumination system for the Colloidal Clusters sample bags. UV light is used to activate the UV-curable gelling agent and terminate the experiment. Following the appropriate UV exposure time, the crew performed steps needed to close out the experiment. JAXA’s Colloidal Clusters investigates the mechanism for formation …
Two Flight Engineers and the Expedition 63 Commander, all from NASA, will talk to journalists Friday morning before the SpaceX Crew Dragon completes its stay at the International Space Station. Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, NASA’s first commercial crew, have been aboard the orbiting lab since May 31. They have been packing the Crew Dragon …
By Jim Cawley NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Not obstacles, not complexity — not even a worldwide pandemic — could keep NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover from blasting off on its historic mission to the Red Planet. On Thursday, July 30, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, Perseverance lifted off aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V …
See what NASA and industry leaders have to say about today’s successful Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida — and get the latest information on the status of the spacecraft — during a post-launch news conference, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The show will be broadcast live from NASA’s Kennedy …
Today’s final critical milestone — acquisition of signal — has been achieved. In essence, Perseverance has phoned home to let us know it’s officially on the way to Mars. “This signifies that JPL’s (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory) deep space network has locked on to the spacecraft, which is on its journey to Mars,” said NASA Launch …
Just over an hour into its flight, Perseverance is now officially on its way to Mars. A key milestone — spacecraft separation — has taken place. The official call just came in: “And we have successful separation of Mars 2020 with the Perseverance rover.” The final planned major event of the day is acquisition of signal, which …
