An engine problem foiled Monday’s efforts but mission managers said a change in fueling procedures would help
Nasa will make a second attempt at launching its Space Launch System moon rocket this Saturday, the agency has said, five days after technical issues foiled an initial attempt.
The US space agency made the decision on Monday to delay its first attempt to launch a rocket capable of putting astronauts on the moon in 50 years due to engine issues.
Continue reading...US space agency technicians working against the clock to correct ‘engine bleed’ in time for possible rescheduled lift-off on Friday
Nasa is delaying a decision on the timing of its next launch attempt for Artemis 1, the US space agency’s first human-rated moon rocket in 50 years, after calling off Monday’s scheduled liftoff late in the countdown because of an issue related to “engine bleed”.
Engineers at Nasa’s launch complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, discovered the problem with one of the four core-stage engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during overnight loading of 2.76m litres (730,000 gallons) of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel needed to send the spacecraft off on its 1.3m-mile, 42-day journey to the far side of the moon and back.
Continue reading...Test flight that will have no human crew aboard aims to return humans to the moon and eventually land them on Mars
For the first time in 50 years, Nasa on Monday is planning to launch the first rocket that can ferry humans to and from the moon.
The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is scheduled to take off from Nasa’s Cape Canaveral, Florida, complex at 8.33am ET (1.33pm UK time) atop an unmanned Orion spacecraft that is designed to carry up to six astronauts to the moon and beyond.
Continue reading...Megarocket to lift off from Florida on Monday morning, one of final crucial test steps before astronauts’ return to the moon
The most powerful space rocket ever to leave Earth will take a 50-year leap across the heavens when it rises from its Florida launchpad on Monday, one of the final crucial test steps before humanity’s return to the moon for the first time since 1972.
Artemis 1, comprising Orion, a six-person deep-space exploration capsule, atop a 98m (322ft), 2,600-tonne (2,875-ton) Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, is scheduled for its maiden liftoff at 8.33am ET (1.33pm UK time) from the same Cape Canaveral launch complex that staged the Apollo lunar missions half a century ago.
Continue reading...Nasa and Roscosmos made the announcement of integrated flights shortly after the Russian space program leader was replaced
The US and Russia have struck a deal to fly each other’s astronauts to the International Space Station, an apparent break in tensions between the nations over the war in Ukraine that includes the removal of the Russian space program’s bellicose leader.
Nasa and Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos made the announcement of integrated flights Friday, shortly after Moscow said President Vladimir Putin had replaced Dmitry Rogozin with the less confrontational Yuri Borisov, the country’s deputy prime minister and a former minister of defense.
Continue reading...The pictures show elements of the universe as they were 13bn years ago, reshaping our understanding of the cosmos
Nasa has released an image of far-flung galaxies as they were 13bn years ago, the first glimpse from the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, which promises to reshape our understanding of the dawn of the universe.
The small slice of the universe, called SMACS 0723, has been captured in sharp detail by the James Webb space telescope (JWST), showing the light from many different twinkling galaxies, among the oldest in the universe. Joe Biden, who unveiled the image at a White House event, called the moment “historic” and said it provided “a new window into the history of our universe”.
Continue reading...Rocket carrying instruments to study the evolution of the universe will be Nasa’s first launch from commercial port outside US
The first of three Nasa rockets scheduled to launch from the Northern Territory is due to take off on Sunday night, carrying precision instruments that will give scientists new data on the evolution of the cosmos.
If all goes according to plan, the rocket will take off from the Arnhem Space Centre on the Dhupuma plateau, near Nhulunbuy, at 10.44pm local time on Sunday.
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Continue reading...High-stakes test follows two years of delays in a program designed to give Nasa another vehicle for sending astronauts into orbit
Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule has docked for the first time with the International Space Station, completing a major objective in a crucial test flight into orbit without astronauts aboard.
The rendezvous of the gumdrop-shaped CST-100 Starliner with the orbital research outpost, currently home to a seven-member crew, occurred on Friday nearly 26 hours after the capsule was launched from Cape Canaveral US Space Force Base in Florida.
Continue reading...Researchers at the University of Florida planted thale cress in harsh lunar dirt returned by Apollo 11 astronauts
For the first time, scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon collected by Nasa’s Apollo astronauts.
Researchers had no idea if anything would sprout in the harsh moon dirt and wanted to see if it could be used to grow food by a new generation of lunar explorers. The results stunned them.
Continue reading...The bolide, which disintegrated in Louisiana, was also reportedly spotted in Arkansas and Mississippi
A loud boom prefaced a streaking fireball spotted in three Southern states, scientists confirmed Thursday.
More than 30 people in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi reported seeing the exceptionally bright meteor in the sky around 8am Wednesday after hearing loud booms in Claiborne county, Mississippi, and surrounding areas, Nasa reported. It was first spotted 54 miles (87 km) above the Mississippi River, near Alcorn, Mississippi, officials said.
Continue reading...Crew of four on way to space station in mission hailed by Nasa as putting ‘commercial business up in space’
A SpaceX rocket ship has blasted off carrying the first all-private astronaut team ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS), a flight hailed by industry executives and Nasa as a milestone in the commercialisation of spaceflight.
The team of four selected by Houston-based startup Axiom Space Inc for its debut spaceflight and orbital science mission lifted off on Friday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Continue reading...Director of space agency Roscosmos says partnership will be restored only when ‘illegal sanctions’ are removed
Russia says it will end cooperation with western countries over the International Space Station until sanctions are lifted.
Russia’s space director said on Saturday that the restoration of normal ties between partners at the ISS and other joint space projects would be possible only once western sanctions against Moscow were lifted.
Continue reading...Cosmonaut says colours represent his university, after earlier saying they were chosen because they had a lot of yellow material
Russia has rubbished reports suggesting its cosmonauts wore yellow suits with blue accents to show solidarity with Ukraine.
The three cosmonauts wore the suits, bearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, when arriving at the International Space Station (ISS), leading to speculation they were a show of support for the country Russia is attacking.
Continue reading...Head of Russian space agency has made provocative comments about ending cooperation with US but missions are proceeding
The Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, has played down hostile comments by the head of the Russian space agency, after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to US companies.
“That’s just Dmitry Rogozin,” Nelson told the Associated Press. “He spouts off every now and then. But at the end of the day, he’s worked with us.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Continue reading...Trio appeared to get changed shortly before arrival at space station and one said every crew could choose their own suit
Three Russian cosmonauts have arrived at the International Space Station wearing yellow flight suits with blue accents, colours that match the Ukrainian flag.
The men were the first new arrivals on the space station since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine last month.
Continue reading...Picture is a test shot to see how a new telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirrors work together for a single coordinated image
Nasa’s new space telescope has gazed into the distant universe and shown perfect vision: a spiky image of a faraway star photobombed by thousands of ancient galaxies.
The image released on Wednesday from the James Webb Space telescope was a test shot – not an official science observation – to see how its 18 hexagonal mirrors worked together for a single coordinated image taken 1m miles (1.6m km) away from Earth. Officials said it worked better than expected.
Continue reading...Mark Vande Hei, who is set to break the US single spaceflight record, will be riding a Russian capsule back to Earth
The US astronaut Mark Vande Hei has made it through nearly a year in space, but now faces what could be his trickiest assignment: riding a Russian capsule back to Earth in the midst of deepening tension between the two countries.
Nasa insists Vande Hei’s homecoming at the end of the month remains unchanged, even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in canceled launches, broken contracts and an escalating war of words from the leader of the Russian Space Agency.
Continue reading...Nasa confirmed the ISS will plunge into the Pacific ocean to join other decommissioned space stations, satellites and space debris
The International Space Station (ISS) will continue its operations until 2030 before heading for a watery grave at the most remote point in the Pacific, Nasa confirmed in a new transition plan this week.
More than 30 years after its 1998 launch, the ISS will be “de-orbited” in January 2031, according to the space agency’s budget estimates. Once out of orbit the space station will make a dramatic descent before splash landing in Point Nemo, which is about 2,700km from any land and has become known as the space cemetery, a final resting place for decommissioned space stations, old satellites, and other human space debris.
Continue reading...$10bn observatory manoeuvred into position at four times the orbit of the moon, with first images expected in June
The world’s largest and most powerful telescope has reached its final destination – an observation post one million miles away from Earth.
Nasa’s $10bn James Webb space telescope launched on Christmas Day last year from French Guiana on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe. Due to its sheer size, Webb had to launch folded inside the Ariane 5, a European rocket.
Continue reading...From lunar missions to anti-asteroid defence systems, there are plenty of exciting scientific developments to look forward to
This year promises to be an important one for space exploration, with several major programmes reaching the launch pad over the next 12 months. The US is to return to the moon, undertaking a set of missions intended to establish a lunar colony there in a few years. China is expected to complete its Tiangong space station while Europe and Russia will attempt to land spacecraft on Mars, having failed at every previous attempt. India, South Korea and Japan are also scheduled to put a number of missions into space.
Continue reading...