Blogs

For the first time for a spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe completed an autonomous, closed-loop solar array angle control based on temperature.

On Oct. 4, 2018, technicians at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, installed the payload fairing on the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket that will launch NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. ICON is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket which will be carried aloft by Northrop Grumman’s L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. …

Cold Atom Lab (CAL):  A Crewmember attached the Helium monitor to the front of the CAL hardware to collect readings. The CAL produces clouds of atoms that are chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero — much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms …

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test – Cohesive Sediment (BCAT-CS): Over the Weekend, the crew checked the camera alignment and focus settings by viewing the latest BCAT images on a laptop. BCAT-CS focuses on the study of forces between particles that cluster together by using sediments of quartz and clay particles. Conducting the research in the microgravity …

NASA astronaut Nick Hague is safe and sound and back in Houston after last week’s mission to the International Space Station was aborted during ascent. Meanwhile, the three orbiting Expedition 57 crew members continue ongoing research, maintenance and cargo packing. Hague returned to Houston Saturday following his emergency landing shortly after launch in the Soyuz …

56 Soyuz (56S) Anomaly Follow Up:   Following yesterday’s launch anomaly, the 56S crew returned to Moscow after medical evaluations in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.  Roscosmos has created an investigative commission to look into the booster anomaly. In addition, Energia has formed a commission to find ways to improve performance and reliability of the Soyuz launch escape system.  …

NASA and Northrop Grumman managers have completed the Flight Readiness Review ensuring preparations are on track for the launch of the agency’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. The meeting took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where the spacecraft is being processed. ICON is scheduled to be launched Oct. 26, 2018, by …

Three Expedition 57 crew members are staying busy aboard the International Space Station after the climb to orbit of two crewmates was aborted Thursday morning. American Nick Hague and Russian Alexey Ovchinin made an emergency landing shortly after launch, but are in excellent shape and back in Russia. The trio in orbit is continuing science …

NASA and Northrop Grumman managers are holding a Flight Readiness Review to ensure preparations are continuing on track for the launch of the agency’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. The meeting is taking place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where the spacecraft is being processed. ICON is scheduled to be launched Oct. …

NASA held a news conference at noon EDT, Oct. 11, from Johnson Space Center in Houston, to provide a status update on the International Space Station following this morning’s Soyuz spacecraft abort during launch that ended with the safe landing of two Expedition 57 crew members. Participants are Kenny Todd, International Space Station Operations Integration …