NASA completes engine test firing of moon rocket on 2nd try
With this critical test finally finished, NASA now will send the rocket segment to Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ NASA completed an engine test firing of its moon rocket Thursday, after the first attempt in January ended prematurely. This time, the four main engines of the rocketโs core stage remained ignited for the full eight minutes. John Honeycutt, NASA's program manager for the Space Launch System or SLS rocket, said everything seemed to go well in Thursday's test firing. The SLS rocket will send an empty Orion capsule to the moon and back.
Not a comet or UFO! SpaceX rocket launch dazzles in predawn sky
ROANOKE, Va. โ At 6:01 Sunday morning, SpaceX launched yet another rocket in its StarLink mission. The trail left behind was enough to make you think that a) you were seeing things or b) it was some sort of comet. The sunโs light, low on the horizon, was enough to provide an extra glow to the rocket and its vapor trail. Keep scrolling below for more pictures, videos and a timelapse of the launch as seen from Virginia and Maryland. Video submitted by Phillip Hurt in RoanokePicture submitted by Justin Bayes in CascadePhoto of the SpaceX rocket launch as seen from Cascade - Justin Bayes (Copyright 2021 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)
First woman, next man on moon will come from these NASA 18
The first woman and next man on the moon will come from this elite group. The announcement was made at Floridaโs Kennedy Space Center, beneath one of only three remaining Saturn V moon rockets from the 1960s and 1970s Apollo program. Half of the NASA astronauts have spaceflight experience. Two are at the International Space Station right now: Kate Rubins and Victor Glover. The other experienced members on the list include Kjell Lindgren, Anne McClain and Scott Tingle, both former space station residents.
Double Dragons: SpaceX launches space station supplies
The Dragon โ packed with Christmas treats and presents โ should reach the space station on Monday, joining the Dragon that delivered four astronauts last month. โDragons everywhere you look,โ said Kenny Todd, NASAโs deputy space station program manager. With NASAโs commercial crew program officially under way, SpaceX expects to always have at least one Dragon capsule at the space station. The station crew watched a live broadcast of the launch, from 250 miles (400 kilometers) up. This updated cargo-carrying model โ as large as the SpaceX crew capsule โ will dock to the orbiting lab by itself.
SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts reaches space station
In this frame grab from NASA TV, the SpaceX Dragon is seen after docking at the International Space Station, late Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. (NASA TV via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ SpaceXโs newly launched capsule with four astronauts arrived Monday at the International Space Station, their new home until spring. The Dragon capsule pulled up and docked late Monday night, following a 27-hour, completely automated flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. โOh, what a good voice to hear,โ space station astronaut Kate Rubins called out when the Dragon's commander, Mike Hopkins, first made radio contact. And so it will go, with SpaceX โ and eventually Boeing โ transporting astronauts to and from the station for NASA.
SpaceX flying ex-football players, flight controller, Scout
The three Americans and one Japanese should reach the International Space Station late Monday for a five- to six-month stay, following Sunday's liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. A brief look at each:โCrew commander Mike Hopkins, 51, is an Air Force colonel and former space station resident who grew up on a hog and cattle farm in Missouri. He played football for the University of Illinois and, before becoming an astronaut in 2009, worked at the Pentagon. โShannon Walker, 55, a Houston-born-and-raised physicist, also has lived before on the space station. She worked as a flight controller at NASAโs Johnson Space Center and then behind the scenes in the space station program, before becoming an astronaut in 2004.
SpaceX launches 2nd crew, regular station crew flights begin
It is due to reach the space station late Monday and remain there until spring. Even the two astronauts on the first SpaceX crew flight stayed behind at Johnson Space Center in Houston. โI didnโt start breathing until about a minute after it took off,โ Pence said during a stop at SpaceX Launch Control to congratulate the workers. The first-stage booster is expected to be recycled by SpaceX for the next crew launch. NASA turned to private companies to haul cargo and crew to the space station, after the shuttle fleet retired in 2011.
SpaceX crew flight delayed; Musk gets mixed COVID-19 results
Fridayโs postponement news came after SpaceX chief Elon Musk disclosed he had gotten mixed test results for COVID-19 and was awaiting the outcome of a more definitive test. โI can assure everyone that weโre looking good for the (crew) launch and all of the critical personnel involved,โ said SpaceXโs Benji Reed, senior director for human spaceflight. โSo โElon Musk Tests Negative for Covidโ is an equally correct title,โ he tweeted. The upcoming crew flight comes just three months after the end of the test flight with Hurley and Bob Behnken, both NASA astronauts. NASA and SpaceX are especially eager to retrieve this first-stage booster; it will be used for the next crew launch.
NASA, Space-X set sights on the International Space Station Saturday
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fl โ The countdown continues Friday morning in Florida ahead of what could be a historic launch. After a successful test flight earlier in the year, NASA begins what it expects to be a regular, continuous commute to the I.S.S. A string of delays, thanks to weather earlier in the week, now has SpaceX Falcon 9 rushing to launch and to history. with three U.S. astronauts and a fourth from Japanโs Space Agency. Michael Hopkins, Crew Dragon Commander, says, โAs a crew we are ready.
Arizona Senate race could impact confirmation of new justice
FILE - In this May 16, 2011, file photo, former NASA astronaut STS-134 commander Mark Kelly, front, waves a he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building with fellow crew members, including Mike Fincke, for a trip to Launch Pad 39-A, and a planned liftoff on the space shuttle Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. A Kelly victory would shrink the GOP's Senate majority at a crucial moment and complicate the path to confirmation for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Space Curious: The origin story of the International Space Station
That means most college students today have never known a day without an astronaut orbiting above them on the International Space Station. The International Space Station, or ISS, is just shy of the same length as an American football field and the largest spacecraft ever built. โI felt as an International Space Station, we needed to enter as an international crew.โAdCabana and Krikalev went into the ISS at the same time. โSergei and I enter side by side, so there was no first person to enter the International Space Station,โ Cabana said. Hosted by space reporter Emilee Speck, each episode is designed to inspire everyone, from the space curious to the space fanatics.
On a space high? Tune in to this outer space playlist
Letโs be serious, weโre all in a space mood after watching NASA astronauts launch from Kennedy Space Center last month. Whether youโre taking your shuttle out for a Sunday drive, taking a road trip, or blasting off to the stars -- a playlist is absolutely necessary to make the trip memorable. NASA Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made a playlist for their 3-mile ride to Launch Complex 39A before liftoff. Youโll hear melodies like โSpace Oddityโ, โRocket Manโ as well as โA Sky Full of Starsโ made famous by Coldplay. Buckle up and don your space suit -- or whatever NASA apparel you have close by, as we dive into our space jams.
WATCH: SpaceX Dragon capsule launching NASA astronauts
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceXs historic launch took place Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Space Center. The launch took place at 3:22 p.m. Saturday after Wednesdays launch was canceled earlier this week. Watch video of the launch in the video player above, and follow the latest updates here.
How to watch the historic astronaut launch with your children: Thereโs an invaluable lesson here
If it goes off as planned, this will mark the first mission involving astronauts from U.S. soil since 2011. Still, NASA astronaut Bob Behnken has said he and Doug Hurley are โreally comfortableโ with the risks. So youโre making educated guesses, at best.โIt seems thereโs just more uncharted territory when it comes to space travel. โThe first astronauts really started out as test pilots,โ Garfinkle said. But assuming this launch goes well, โIt would be great for kids to see a successful, triumphant moment of science,โ Fink said.
For launch spectators, storms more worrisome than virus
The two astronauts are set to travel on the SpaceX test flight to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)TITUSVILLE, Fla. For the spectators gathered along the Space Coast on Wednesday for an astronaut launch, the rumbling thunder and darkening clouds were more worrisome than any pandemic. They turned out to watch the first launch with astronauts from Florida in almost a decade, and the first by a private company, SpaceX. About half of the spectators at the Titusville park wore masks as encouraged by health officials to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. I wanted them to see the flip side and get to see the next era of space travel," said Gatz, who lives about an hour away in Deltona.
SpaceX ready to launch NASA astronauts, back on home turf
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A SpaceX rocket is ready to boost two NASA astronauts into orbit Wednesday, the first launch of Americans from the U.S. in nearly a decade. Riding aboard the brand new SpaceX Dragon capsule for the historic flight: veteran NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. SpaceX is controlling the vehicle, theres no fluff about that, said Norm Knight, a NASA flight operations manager. The last time astronauts launched from Florida was on NASAs final space shuttle flight in July 2011. Development of SpaceXs Dragon and Boeings Starliner capsules took longer than expected, however, and the U.S. has been paying Russia to launch NASA astronauts in the interim.
Weather better for historic SpaceX launch of NASA astronauts
Veteran NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were set to make history Wednesday afternoon, riding SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on a test flight. On the eve of the launch, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said from Kennedy Space Center that both the space agency and SpaceX have been diligent about making sure everyone in the launch loop knows they're free to halt the countdown if there's a concern. SpaceX has been launching cargo capsules to the space station since 2012. NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to transport astronauts to the space station, after commercial cargo shipments had taken off. Development of SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner capsules took longer than expected, however, and the U.S. has been paying Russia to launch NASA astronauts in the interim.
Stormy weather puts damper on SpaceX's 1st astronaut launch
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Stormy weather is threatening to delay SpaceXs first astronaut launch. It will be the first time astronauts launch from Florida in nine years and a first for a private company. We're continuing to be vigilant and careful and make sure we do this right.Forecasters put the odds of acceptable launch weather at 40%. Hans Koenigsmann, a vice president for SpaceX, said the launch control team will incorporate global weather patterns and models to determine whether it's safe to launch. If the weather gods are working with us," he said, liftoff will occur at 4:33 p.m. SpaceX has a split-second launch window.
Trump to attend Wednesday's NASA astronaut launch in Florida
(Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)STERLING, Va. President Donald Trump plans to be on the Florida coast Wednesday to watch American astronauts blast into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center for the first time in nearly a decade. It will be the first time since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 that U.S. astronauts will launch into space aboard an American rocket from American soil. Elon Musks SpaceX is the conductor and NASA the customer as businesses begin chauffeuring astronauts to the International Space Station. The NASA/SpaceX Commercial Crew flight test launch will carry NASAs newest test pilots, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Vice President Mike Pence, who is chairman of the National Space Council, also plans to attend Wednesday's launch.
WATCH: NASA astronauts hold news conference ahead of next weeks manned space launch
The two astronauts who will end a nine-year launch drought for NASA flew to Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, exactly one week before their historic SpaceX flight. NASA astronauts hold news conference ahead of next weeks manned space launch Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are taking part in a news conference ahead of their historic SpaceX flight next week. NASA test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken departed Houston aboard one of the space agency's jet planes. They'll soar from the same pad where Atlantis closed out the space shuttle program in 2011, the last home launch for NASA astronauts. Awaiting the astronauts at Kennedy's former shuttle landing strip were the center's director, former shuttle commander Robert Cabana, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Tuesday marks 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's mission to the moon
ROANOKE, Va. - This week we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic mission to the moon. Fifty years ago Tuesday, the Saturn-V rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida -- and sent Apollo 11 into orbit. Four days later, humans landed on the moon for the first time ever. It was Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the lunar module eagle who landed on the moon's surface at the sea of tranquility. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum is hosting a special presentation of Apollo 50: Go for the Moon this week.