Space

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Hera Beats the Weather – Sets Sights on Dual Asteroid

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft has lifted off on a unique mission to the binary asteroid pair Didymos and Dimorphos. The probe will seek new insights into planetary defense techniques that could protect the Earth from asteroid impacts in the future, following up on NASA’s DART mission which intentionally struck Dimorphos in September of 2022.

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ArtemisHuman SpaceflightInternationalNASAScience Missions

Moon to Mars Part II: Evolving to Mars

Artemis’ stated goal to “prepare for human missions to Mars” is an ambitious undertaking, with visible consequences on its organization. With Artemis entering flight across its various programs, and hardware which will eventually support its primary missions in flow, we have entered a unique era for spaceflight.

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Blue OriginCommercial CrewHuman SpaceflightInternational Space StationNASANew SpaceNews and UpdatesPolicySierra Space

A Graceful Exit, Part 2: What Comes After ISS?

The end of the International Space Station will mark a tectonic shift in human spaceflight. The ISS program united the efforts of fifteen nations, including a landmark union between the United States and Russia, and citizens from eight other countries have since visited the orbiting laboratory. Now, approaching retirement, we begin to ask the question of what comes next?

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Human SpaceflightNews and UpdatesOp-Eds

Op-Ed: Human Health Research, the Key to the Commercial Space Revolution

If one word can summarize the past five years of human spaceflight, it’s “commercialization.” The early 2020s have been defined by a dramatic shift in the way we think about space exploration, particularly as NASA moves beyond LEO to procure new capabilities for its groundbreaking Artemis program.

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News and Updates

Preparing for Totality

If you want to experience the true beauty and awe of the upcoming total solar eclipse, you have to be within the path of totality. There is no compromise. Totality is a unique experience, it is a truly cosmic event where the concept of daytime slips away from you, plunging the world into a momentary 360 degree twilight. It’s a night and day contrast, a captivating reminder of the majesty of the Solar System. 

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Cape CanaveralEast CoastInternational Space StationNASANews and Updates

Crew Dragon lifts off carrying astronauts to the Space Station

MAY 30, 2020–At 3:22 p.m. today, Crew Dragon successfully lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying astronauts Bob Benkhen and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. Now at T+ 1 hour 30 minutes, the mission is proceeding smoothly.

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ArtemisNASANews and Updates

NASA’s SLS Program prepares for re-start of SLS operations amid COVID-19

MAY 6, 2020- After temporarily pausing on-site work for the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, NASA is now preparing to reopen the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC), Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility alongside other agency centers and locations which are critical to the Artemis Program.

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Cape CanaveralNASANews and Updates

Solar Orbiter launches with impeccable accuracy

FEB. 14, 2020–Five days ago, the cooperative NASA-ESA Solar Orbiter mission took off on an Atlas V 411 from Space Launch Complex-41, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, towards the poles of the sun. Yesterday, United Launch Alliance’s CEO Tory Bruno hinted that it may be the most accurate insertion ever done by ULA.

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Cape CanaveralNews and Updates

Starliner has on-orbit anomaly after flawless launch

DEC. 20, 2019–Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test took off flawlessly at 6:36 a.m. this morning from Cape Canaveral’s pad 41. However, after separation from the Atlas V N22, which performed without trouble, Starliner ran into what NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called a Mission Elapsed Time anomaly, leading Starliner to “believe it was in an orbital insertion burn, when it was not”.

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Cape CanaveralNews and Updates

OmegA first flight confirmed for Spring 2021 from Cape Canaveral

DEC. 13, 2019–In a press release yesterday, Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that Saturn Satellite Networks has chosen their new OmegA launch vehicle to launch up to two satellites on OmegA’s inaugural flight scheduled for spring 2021, from Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B.

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