NASA postpones Artemis 1 launch because of tropical storm
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-24 16:05
NASA won't proceed with the next launch opportunity for the Artemis 1 mission. It cited the threat posed by Tropical Storm Ian, currently in the Caribbean Sea. NASA deferred a decision on rolling the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center.
NRO satellite flies to orbit in Delta 4’s final West Coast launch
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-24 23:12
NROL-91 was the Delta 4’s 10th mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. About four minutes into flight, the outer boosters of the three-core Delta 4 Heavy separated. At the request of the NRO, ULA ended the webcast nearly seven minutes into the flight.
NASA and ESA sign lunar cooperation statement
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-26 10:27
NASA, European Space Agency sign agreement on lunar exploration. Agreement could open door to additional ESA roles in NASA-led Artemis effort. ESA provides Orion service module, is building components of lunar Gateway. In return, ESA will get to fly three astronauts on later Artemis missions.
DART on track for asteroid collision
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-25 15:52
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is on a trajectory to collide with a small asteroid. The collision will change slightly the orbit of Dimorphos, allowing scientists to measure how effective such a collision could be. A network of ground-based telescopes will observe the asteroids in days and weeks after the impact.
NASASpaceFlight.com
The SSLV or Small Satellite Launch Vehicle conducted its launch debut from Sriharikota, India on Sunday, August 7 at 03:48 UTC. The SSLV program’s genesis was a December 2015 National Institute of Advanced Studies proposal to create a “Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-1” to launch small national security payloads on demand.
Commercial Archives
SpaceX has launched yet another batch of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit on its Starlink Group 4-35 mission. This mission marks SpaceX’s 43rd mission of 2022 and 15th mission in the year’s second half – a mission every 6.2 days and 5.7 days, respectively.
International Archives
The European Service Module (ESM) is the provider of propulsion and life support for the Orion crew capsule. The ESM sits on top of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) on the Space Launch System (SLS), which is being prepared for its third launch attempt on the Artemis I mission. As the prime contractor for the ESM, Airbus is leading the construction and assembly for ESA.
Chinese Long March 3B Launches APStar-6C Communications Satellite – Spaceflight101
China launched a rare commercial launch of a Long March 3B rocket with the APStar-6C communications satellite. Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:06 UTC on a mission of under half an hour to lift the spacecraft into an elliptical Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Confirmation of launch success was provided by APT Satellite around 40 minutes after liftoff when the satellite had been separated into its target orbit.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reaches new Heights in latest Test Flight – Spaceflight101
Blue Origin has completed its eighth flight of its reusable New Shepard launch system. Sunday’s mission was the second for “Crew Capsule 2.0” featuring large panoramic windows that are among Blue Origin’s prime selling points for tourist missions on New Shepard. Blue Origin is operating New Shepard under a commercial launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
SpaceX Falcon 9 takes to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. The flight-proven Dragon spacecraft will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the International Space Station. It will be the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
News – Spaceflight101
A Russian Rockot booster is set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. The rocket will carry the multi-function Sentinel-3B satellite into orbit. The launch is scheduled to take place at around 17:57 UTC.
Re-Entry: Long March 11 Rocket Body – Spaceflight101
The CZ-11 fourth stage used leftover propellant for a partial de-orbit maneuver, lowering its perigee to 120 Kilometers. It is reportedly built around a YF-50 main engine and in a nominal mission conducts the orbital circularization after the three CZ-11 stages finish their job.
NASA’s Asteroid-Striking DART Mission Team Has JPL Members
DART will be at a point 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth when it impacts Dimorphos, which is just 525 feet (160 meters) across. The spacecraft will be closing in on the space rock at about 4 miles (6.1 kilometers) per second. DART will utilize an autonomous onboard navigator created by APL to stay on course.
NASA’s Juno Will Perform Close Flyby of Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa
Juno will come within 218 miles (351 kilometers) of Europa. Scientists think a salty ocean lies below a miles-thick ice shell. The close flyby will modify Juno’s trajectory, reducing the time it takes to orbit Jupiter from 43 to 38 days.
NASA’s InSight ‘Hears’ Its First Meteoroid Impacts on Mars
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flew over the estimated impact site to confirm the location. The orbiter used its black-and-white Context Camera to reveal three darkened spots on the surface. InSight’s seismometer has detected over 1,300 marsquakes.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Investigates Geologically Rich Mars Terrain
The rover has collected four samples from an ancient river delta in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater since July 7. Twenty-eight miles (45 kilometers) wide, Jezero Crater hosts a delta – an ancient fan-shaped feature that formed about 3.5 billion years ago at the convergence of a Martian river and a lake.
NASA to Host Briefing on Perseverance Mars Rover Mission Operations
The briefing will be live on NASA Television, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Questions can be asked on social media during the briefing using #AskNASA. Perseverance marks the first step in the Mars Sample Return campaign. The Mars Sample Return campaign would return scientifically promising samples to Earth for further study.
NASA’s AIRS Instrument Records Typhoon Hinnamnor Before Landfall
Airlift is one of six instruments aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. AIRS was the first instrument to reveal the 3D distribution of rain within tropical storms like Hinnamnor. These 3D images have made a major contribution to knowledge of how hurricanes and typhoons develop, improving forecasts and saving lives.
A Cosmic Tarantula, Caught by NASA’s Webb
The Tarantula Nebula has a similar type of chemical composition as the gigantic star-forming regions observed at the universe’s “cosmic noon,” when the cosmos was only a few billion years old. Webb will provide astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in the Tarantula Nebula with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies from the actual era of cosmic noon.