Gizmodo reports United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno tweeted that company’s Vulcan rocket’s earliest estimated launch date would be “June/July.” ULA previously planned a May 4 inaugural flight, but in late March a spark triggered a fireball during testing of a Vulcan upper stage at the test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. The Vulcan’s first launch “is set to deliver Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, which, on behalf of NASA, will attempt to deliver 11 payloads to the surface of the Moon.”
Full Story (Gizmodo)
Tag: first
ULA Announces May Launch for First Vulcan Centaur Rocket
Space News reports that the “first launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket is now scheduled for no earlier than May 4, a date the company says is based on remaining tests of the rocket and its main engines as well as launch windows for its primary payload.” In a call with reporters Thursday, ULA CEO Tory Bruno “announced the date for the long-awaited inaugural flight of the rocket as the company gears up for a series of tests of the rocket at Space Launch Complex 41. The launch will carry Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation and a payload for space memorial company Celestis.” Bruno said, “We are now targeting the fourth of May so we plan our manifest around that and be ready to fly that payload when it comes in.” According to Space News, “ULA will have a window of about four days to conduct the launch.”
Full Story (Space News)
Rocket Lab Launches First US Mission
Reuters reports that Rocket Lab “launched its first mission from American soil on Tuesday, kicking off an expansion of the company’s launch business that adds to a surge in private rocket activity at U.S. space ports.” The Long Beach, California-based company’s workhorse “Electron rocket, an expendable launcher standing 40 feet (12 meters) tall, lifted off at 6 p.m. EST from its new launch pad at the NASA-operated Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.” The mission “marked Rocket Lab’s first outside its flagship launchsite on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, where the company has carried out all 32 previous Electron missions since the rocket’s debut in 2017.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Video
Rocket Lab Launches First Electron mission from Virginia, Tuesday, January 24, at 6 p.m. EST from Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
(NASASpaceflight; YouTube)
Firefly Aerospace Launches its First Rocket into Orbit
Bloomberg reported Firefly Aerospace Inc. has “launched its first rocket into orbit, advancing the private space startup’s bid to become a reliable partner for NASA.” Firefly’s Alpha rocket “took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Saturday and successfully put three small payloads into Earth orbit, including one for the US space agency. A previous launch attempt failed in September 2021 when the debut Alpha rocket veered off course and had to be exploded shortly after takeoff.” Saturday’s launch “follows years of engineering work, litigation and financial struggles for Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly, one of several companies NASA selected to deliver science payloads to the moon as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
KC-46 Flies First Combat Refueling Sortie
Aviation Week reports that the Boeing KC-46 “has flown its first combat refueling sortie as part of an exercise to employ the tanker downrange before it is officially operational.” A KC-46 deployed to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar “fueled up two Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles” on August 29.
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann to be First Native American Woman in Space
CBS News reports that NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann is set to become the first Native American woman to travel to space when “NASA launches its next crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon this fall.” Liftoff is targeted for September 29. Mann “will be joined on the Crew-5 mission by NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.”
Full Story (CBS News)
GE Aviation Conducts First High-Voltage, High-Altitude Test
Aviation Week reports GE Aviation “is preparing for the start of ground tests of a modified hybrid-electric CT7 turboprop variant following the completion of what the engine-maker says is the world’s first test in simulated altitude conditions of a megawatt-class and multi-kilovolt hybrid-electric propulsion system.” The tests are part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, through which GE “is developing a megawatt-scale hybrid-electric propulsion system which will be flight tested on a Saab 340B powered by modified CT7-9B turboprops.” Aviation Week mentions that BAE Systems “will provide energy management components, including the battery and cabling.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Air Force Retiring First XQ-58A Valkyrie
The Drive reports that the first XQ-58A Valkyrie stealthy, affordable UAV is being retired after having completed four public test flights. The test platform will be used as a museum exhibit. The XQ-58A in question “suffered a mishap in late 2019 while completing its third flight, but was subsequently repaired and flew again.”
Full Story (The Drive)
NASA Shares Video of Ingenuity’s First Flight on Mars
The Washington Post reports that NASA “shared the full video of its Ingenuity helicopter’s flight on the surface of Mars on April 19. Engineers also shared a reconstruction of the flight as well as photos from chopper’s landing camera.” Florida Today reports that the flight “was captured on several cameras including a video camera on the Perseverance rover, which was standing by.” Over the “next few days, the helicopter team will receive and analyze all data and imagery from the test and formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for no earlier than Thursday.”
Full Story (Washington Post); More Info (Florida Today)
First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicpoter in Flight
AIAA Marks First Flight on Another Planet
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) marks today’s historic first flight of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher issued this statement:
“What an amazing sight – an aircraft flying over Mars! The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made the first ever powered, controlled flight on another planet today. Congratulations to our corporate member, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the whole Ingenuity team. Your innovative and inspirational thinking continues shaping the future of aerospace.
“We all know the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright taking a huge risk and proving to the world that heavier-than-air, powered flight was possible. Today, we saw how taking off-world risks proves anything is possible. From this day forward, we’ll remember 19 April 2021, at Jezero Crater, Wright Brothers Field, Mars, just as we have remembered 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Earth.
“Earlier this year, we watched the Perseverance rover’s landing on Mars, carrying Ingenuity onboard and showing us what your motto – Dare Mighty Things – means. We are eager to witness the team achieve the next mission milestones, especially Ingenuity’s next test flight. There’s more work to do as we accelerate our off-world future. Go Ingenuity! Go Perseverance!”
First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicpoter in Flight
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.