NASA details how Artemis missions prepare us for Mars
Organization: Orbital Velocity
Publication: April 3, 2020 While some of the near-term details of the Artemis program have yet to be finalized, it appears NASA is well on its way toward formalizing a plan for sustainable lunar and Mars exploration after the agency’s initial surface stay planned for 2024. Phase 1 of the Artemis program is about getting back to the Moon as soon as possible to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface. Phase 2 is geared toward sustainability as well as proving out deep space technologies needed for eventual crewed missions to Mars. Read More |
Anomaly occurs during OmegA first stage static fire test
Organization: SpaceFlight Insider
Publication: May 30, 2019 PROMONTORY, Utah — During the first static fire test for Northrop Grumman’s OmegA first stage, debris could be seen coming away from the nozzle section of the booster.
This test, which occurred at 1:05 p.m. MDT (19:05 GMT) May 30, 2019, at Northrop Grumman’s Utah facility, was the first full-scale static fire test for the rocket, which the company plans to qualify by 2021 to launch national security payloads into orbit for the U.S. military. Read More --—-- For this story, I went to the test site to cover the event on behalf of SpaceFlight Insider. The accompanying photo gallery can be found here. |
NASA InSight lander launches toward Red Planet
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Organization: SpaceFlight Insider
Publication: May 5, 2018 Initially flying through early-morning fog, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air force Base’s Space Launch Complex 3 to send NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander on a six-month journey to Mars.
Liftoff took place at 4:05 a.m. PDT (7:05 a.m. EDT / 11:05 GMT) May 5, 2018. In the days leading up to the launch, meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force’s 30th Space Wing predicted a 20 percent chance of favorable weather for the launch due to an expected marine layer fog which would reduce visibility. This range safety constraint was the only area of concern. Read More --—-- Around a month before launch, I was tasked by SpaceFlight Insider to fly to California and participate in a media photography event with InSight in a clean room at Vandenberg Air Force Base. During that photo opportunity, I was also able to interview several people involved in the mission, including its principal investigator, Bruce Banerdt. Using the content and b-roll I acquired, I also created a video highlighting the mission and its objectives. |
Elon Musk shows off Interplanetary Transport System
Organization: SpaceFlight Insider
Publication: Sept. 27, 2016 In a presentation akin to something out of science fiction, Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, announced the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). The two-stage rocket would be bigger and send more payloads to orbit (and beyond) than anything in the history of spaceflight.
At the 67th International Astronautical Congress held in Guadalajara, Mexico, Musk detailed the components of ITS – a giant booster stage with a giant spaceship totaling 400 feet (122 meters) tall. The NewSpace entrepreneur’s discussion was titled “Making humans a Multiplanetary Species.” Read More
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Yearlong ISS crew returns to Earth
Organization: SpaceFlight Insider
Publication: March 2, 2016 Blazing through the atmosphere and landing at the steppes of Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko returned to Earth on the morning of March 2, 2016, after spending nearly a year at the International Space Station (ISS).
Kelly and Korniyenko returned in the Soyuz TMA-18M with Sergey Volkov, who launched to the orbiting laboratory back in September and spent 181 days in space. The one-year duo were launched to the ISS on March 27, 2015, in Soyuz TMA-16M and subsequently spent 340 days in space—the longest single flight for an American and longest mission in the history of the ISS program (to date). Read More
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FCC approves net neutrality regulations
Organization: Washburn Review
Publication: March 4, 2015 Internet service providers were reclassified by the Federal Communications Commission on February 26, 2015 as “common carriers” in which many heralded as a win for net neutrality -- the idea that all data on the Internet is to be treated equally.
The five FCC members voted 3-2 along party lines, with three democrats voting for the new regulation which reclassifies the Internet as a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Read More
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