Aviation Week reports that The Boeing Company “has delivered the sixth and final test MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter to the US Air Force, completing the evaluation phase before a shift to production.”
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Tag: Final
Final Antares 230+ Rocket Lifts Off to Resupply ISS
Spaceflight Insider reports that in near-perfect weather, the final Antares 230+ rocket “took to the skies to send the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station.” Carrying the autonomous NG-19 Cygnus resupply freighter, dubbed the S.S. Laurel Clark, the Antares rocket successfully “launched at 8:31 p.m. EDT Aug. 1 (00:31 UTC Aug. 2), 2023, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.” It flawlessly lifted off “from its launchpad, drawing a bright arc of light against the fading evening sunset, marking the start of another critical cargo run to the ISS.” Some 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) of supplies, hardware and experiments “are aboard NG-19. It is expected to arrive at the ISS on the morning of Aug. 4 where it will be captured by the outpost’s robotic arm and attached to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.” Over the coming weeks, members of the station’s Expedition 69 crew “will work to unload the cargo before beginning to reload it with trash.” After about two months, Cygnus “is expected to depart the ISS for an eventual destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Insider)
Video
Last Antares Rocket Using Russian Rocket Engines
Spaceflight Now; YouTube)
Northrop Grumman Prepares for Final Antares Flight
Space News reports that a Cygnus cargo spacecraft “is set to launch to the International Space Station on the final flight of a version of an Antares rocket with Russian and Ukrainian components.” NASA and Northrop Grumman “completed a launch readiness review July 30 for the NG-19 mission, approving plans to launch the spacecraft on Aug. 1 at 8:31 p.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.” The Cygnus is “carrying nearly 3,750 kilograms of cargo to the station, including experiments, hardware and crew supplies.” An on-time launch “would allow the spacecraft to arrive at the station early Aug. 4 and remain there at least three months.”
Full Story (Space News)
Boeing Finishes Production of Final 747
Bloomberg reports that The Boeing Company “plans to roll out the final 747 jumbo jet late Tuesday from its factory in Everett, Washington, ending production of the aircraft after more than 50 years.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)