Behind the scenes inside the ATV factory
As one European cargo ship ended its mission Tuesday, production teams in Germany are testing the next Automated Transfer Vehicle before shipping it to the launch site in August. Liftoff of the third...
View ArticleAdditional software reviews will delay SpaceX demo flight
Launch of SpaceX's commercial Dragon cargo freighter to the International Space Station will be delayed until at least early May to give engineers more time to wring out the craft's software, the...
View ArticleDragon bolted to Falcon rocket ahead of engine firing
Engineers connected SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to its Falcon 9 launcher Thursday, setting the stage for a busy weekend of preparations for a brief firing of the rocket's nine main engines on the...
View ArticleATV production terminated as decision on follow-on nears
Confronted by parts obsolescence and waning political support, the European Space Agency has shut down subsystem production lines for the Automated Transfer Vehicle as member states debate how they...
View ArticleVIDEO: GRAIL returns views of far side of the moon
NASA released footage Wednesday from one of the agency's twin GRAIL lunar probes, showing the rugged far side of the moon in a time lapse video from a camera built to help educate and inspire U.S....
View ArticleTime running out to save Russian Mars moon probe
An international effort is under way to save Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars, but time is quickly running out on propelling the probe toward the Red Planet. The interplanetary undertaking is...
View ArticleSuccessful Chinese space launch breaks annual record
Shattering a record for annual Chinese launch activity, a Long March rocket streaked into a predawn sky Thursday and entered orbit with a Beidou navigation satellite. The Long March 3A rocket lifted...
View ArticleAtlas 5 rockets to launch next weather satellite series
The next-generation U.S. weather observatories now in development for flights to geostationary orbit will be deployed by United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets, officials announced Thursday. The GOES...
View ArticleRussian satellite destroyed despite promise for scientists
Engineers on Sunday intentionally crashed a Russian Express communications satellite stranded in space by an August rocket mishap, declaring the mission a total loss despite efforts by a start-up...
View ArticleNext Monday's SpaceX Falcon 9 launch date in doubt
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL--The long-awaited launch of a commercial cargo ship bound for the International Space Station almost certainly will be delayed from May 7 to at least May 10 and possibly...
View ArticleESA chooses Jupiter as destination for science probe
The European Space Agency announced Wednesday it will launch a robotic mission in 2022 on a tour of Jupiter's icy moons to examine the subsurface oceans and frozen crusts of Ganymede, Callisto and...
View ArticleEurope's next MetOp satellite arrives at launch base
Europe's next polar-orbiting weather satellite was shipped from France to Kazakhstan on Tuesday, where it will be tested, fueled and bolted to a Soyuz rocket for liftoff in May. Metop B is loaded into...
View ArticleMedvedev threatens criminal penalties for space officials
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested officials should be punished for recent failures in the country's space program. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks with reporters Saturday....
View ArticleESA says BepiColombo will stay on budget despite delay
Technicial difficulties with BepiColombo, a joint project between Europe and Japan, will push back its launch to Mercury by 13 months until August 2015, but officials do not expect the postponement to...
View ArticleRussian Mars mission halted by glitch in low Earth orbit
Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission, an audacious effort to retrieve samples from a Martian moon, is stranded in low Earth orbit following a successful liftoff Tuesday from Kazakhstan, according to Russian...
View ArticleSoyuz booster fails in launch of communications satellite
A Soyuz rocket and a Russian military communications satellite crashed in Siberia on Friday, continuing a pesky series of launch mishaps blemishing Russia's space program in the last year. File photo...
View ArticleDecember deadline for stranded Russian Mars probe
Russia has until early December to establish contact with the stranded Phobos-Grunt Mars probe and send it toward the Red Planet, the head of the Russian space ageny said Monday. Phobos-Grunt's...
View ArticleRussians successfully launch space station resupply ship
Dispatching a freighter filled with food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station, an unmanned Russian Soyuz booster successfully launched Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Main engine...
View ArticleRussians now preparing for re-entry of failed Mars probe
Russia's $163 million Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, stranded in low-Earth orbit after a malfunction following launch Nov. 8, is expected to fall back into Earth's atmosphere next month, Russian officials...
View ArticleRussia: Computer crash doomed Phobos-Grunt
After floating accusations against U.S. military radars, flawed foreign parts and space radiation, Russian space officials have concluded a software glitch caused the failure of the Phobos-Grunt Mars...
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