NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have selected a new technology for planetary sample collection and return for future missions to the Moon and Martian moon Phobos.
As NASA continues feasibility studies into nuclear propulsion for deep space missions, DARPA has awarded an initial contract to help pave the way toward possible orbital tests of a nuclear-powered rocket for U.S. military use in and around cislunar space.
The scrub of Northrop Grumman’s 14th NASA contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was logged at 2 min. 40 sec. prior to a planned liftoff on Oct. 1 at 9:43 p.m., EDT.
The rate of the leak has "slightly increased, so the teams are working a plan to isolate identify, and potentially repair the source,” NASA says, stressing that it poses "no immediate danger to the crew or the space station.”
Resources like the vast quantities of water ice believed to reside within shadowed craters at the Moon’s south and north poles promise to reduce the costs of initial exploration substantially.
The combined 40-ft.-plus structure includes the Blue Origin lander and the Lockheed Martin ascent module that is expected to house NASA’s Artemis astronaut crews during their initial, weeklong lunar sorties.
The board will assess the joint effort with the European Space Agency to retrieve and return to Earth samples of rock cores drilled and preserved by the Perseverance Mars 2020 rover.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral AFS on July 30, sending the $2.4-billion NASA Perseverance rover on its way to Mars to search for signs of past life and cache promising rock and soil samples for a future return to Earth.
The commercial human lander system is a critical part of the Trump administration’s directive that NASA accelerate its return to the surface of the Moon with human explorers from 2028 to 2024.
Issues with ground support equipment for a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket are causing a second delay in the upcoming launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.
Veteran astronaut Kate Rubin’s trip will ensure a U.S. presence on the International Space Station while NASA strives to complete the certifications of a second commercial crew launch provider.
“Things worked exactly the way we expected them to work," Demo-2 astronaut Doug Hurley said. " It’s a pretty awe-inspiring trip so far, pretty humbling,”
“I’m very confident that we’ll continue to fund NASA and fund NASA aggressively,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said shortly after SpaceX's Demo-2 mission successfully docked with the International Space Station.
The 3:22 p.m. liftoff marked SpaceX’s first launch with people aboard and the first U.S. human orbital launch since the final STS-135 shuttle mission in July 2011.
The Coronavirus Relief Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) legislation includes $60 million for NASA to “prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally.”
The agency anticipates spending a total of $7 billion over 15 years—shared among multiple companies—to carry cargo to the Gateway as part of its Artemis lunar exploration program.
