Tag: Mission

Virgin Galactic Launches First Suborbital Mission of 2024

Space News reported that Virgin Galactic “conducted its first suborbital mission of 2024 on Jan. 26 as the company prepares end flights of its current spaceplane.” The VSS Unity spaceplane, “attached the VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 12 p.m. Eastern.” Unity “separated about 45 minutes later, igniting its hybrid rocket engine.” The flight “carried four customers for the first time, along with its two pilots.
Full Story (Space News)

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#Galactic06 Recap
(Virgin Galactic; YouTube)

Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket Successfully Launches

AP reports that Blue Origin successfully “launched a rocket carrying experiments on Tuesday, its first flight since engine trouble caused a crash more than a year ago.” The New Shepard rocket “soared from West Texas, lifting a capsule full of tests, many of which were aboard the failed Blue Origin launch in September 2022.” No one “was aboard that flight or this latest one.” This time, the capsule “made it to the fringes of space, exposing the experiments from NASA and others to a few minutes of weightlessness, before parachuting back down to the desert.” The rocket “landed first, after releasing the capsule.” It “reached an altitude of 66 miles (107 kilometers) during the 10-minute flight.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
More Info (AIAA Statement)

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Blue Origin New Shepard Mission Launch 19 Dec. 2023
(YouTube)

AIAA Statement on Design/Build/Launch Student Experiments Onboard Successful Blue Origin New Shepard Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the Blue Origin team on today’s successful return to flight for their New Shepard rocket. AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who support New Shepard. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member Blue Origin for its perseverance in addressing the findings from the NS-23 mission mishap to achieve this successful mission today.

We are thrilled that two AIAA-sponsored student experiments were conducted during today’s New Shepard flight. The two experiments are winners of the Design/Build/Launch (DBL) competition sponsored by AIAA and Blue Origin:

Improving Fluid Management Through A Novel Microgravity Slosh Mitigation Technique by Eleanor Sigrest, graduate and valedictorian of a dual program at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, and the Governor’s School at Innovation Park, Manassas, Virginia
Acoustic Levitation Under Variable G by Puneeth Bheesetty, Anna Porter Puckett, and Jaden Shawyer, graduates ofGranby High School, Norfolk, Virginia

The DBL program is targeted to high school students, giving them an opportunity to develop creative research proposals for experimental payloads designed to study short-duration microgravity effects. The winners received $1,000 grants to prepare their work for flight onboard New Shepard.

We are excited to witness these students conducting their microgravity experiments and we can’t wait to hear more about their results. Their enthusiasm and passion inspire us as we anticipate their remarkable career journeys toward shaping the future of aerospace.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

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.

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Blue Origin New Shepard Mission Launch 19 Dec. 2023
(YouTube)

NASA Leadership to Call Frank Rubio after Record-Breaking Mission

The AP reports that on Wednesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy “will speak with agency astronaut Frank Rubio about his record-breaking mission aboard the International Space Station.” Rubio, who is “serving on a year-long mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, today surpassed NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s U.S. record of 355 days in space as the longest single spaceflight by an American.” When he “lands on Earth at the end of the month, Rubio will have 371 days in space.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

ULA Launches Atlas V Rocket Carrying SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 Mission

The Orlando Sentinel reports that United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday morning, “on a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office and Space Force called SILENTBARKER/NROL-107.” Last week, NRO Director Chris Scolese said the classified mission’s primary goal is to place watchdog satellites in geostationary Earth orbit “so that we can understand the intentions of other countries to see what they’re doing in the GEO belts and see if there’s any indications of threats or if it’s just normal operations.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

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Atlas V SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 Mission, September 10, 2023
(ULA; YouTube)

Japanese Successfully Launches Lunar Landing, Space Telescope Mission

The Washington Post reports Japan launched a “lunar mission on Thursday, overcoming multiple failures and delays to become the fifth country to head to the moon just weeks after India in a global race to better understand the Earth’s closest neighbor.” The Japanese H2-A rocket is scheduled “to enter the moon’s orbit in three to four months and land early next year,” and carries “two space missions: a new X-ray telescope and a lightweight high-precision moon lander that will serve as the basis for future moon landing technology.” The reputation of “Japan’s space program was on the line with the launch on Thursday,” and Japan’s performance is described as “important for its national security strategy in space, developed with an eye on advancements by China and Russia.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

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Japan Lunar Lander SLIM + XRISM Launch, September 6, 2023
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)

India’s Moon Landing Sparks New Space Race

The Washington Post reports that India’s successful moon landing reflecting Russia’s failed moon landing has seemed to be the signal flare that has started a race to divide up the moon and the possibilities that that implies. China and the US are also players in going to the moon – with the US set to launch astronauts on a trip circling the moon in next year’s Artemis II mission, and land people on the moon with its future Artemis III trip in 2025. The budget differentials are staggering, with India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission costing $74 million and NASA’s Artemis program projecting to hit $93 billion. For governments, space exploration “was always in large part about the ability to project power and influence on Earth.” India’s mission “marks a soft-power win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as New Delhi prepares to host the Group of 20 Summit next week.”
Full Story (The Washington Post)

Chandrayaan-3 Takes Lunar South Pole Temperature

SPACE reports India’s Chandrayaan-3 has been hard at work since its landmark landing on the lunar South Pole last week. On Sunday, ISRO posted an update on social media “regarding one of Chandrayaan-3’s payloads called the ChaSTE experiment, or Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment.” The purpose of this experiment “is to use a temperature probe as well as 10 individual temperature sensors to measure temperature profiles of lunar south pole soil.” ISRO says the goal “is for ChaSTE to help scientists understand what the thermal behavior of the moon’s surface is like.”
Full Story (SPACE)

AIAA Statement on the NASA SpaceX Crew-7 Launch

August 26, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate the entire NASA SpaceX team on its successful Crew-7 launch. We applaud this mission to the International Space Station (ISS) through NASA’s Commercial Crew program, showing how NASA and private industry are working together to extend the human neighborhood into low Earth orbit and beyond.

This mission also demonstrates the value of international partnership in space exploration, delivering the four-member international crew to the ISS. The scientific research they will conduct onboard the ISS will help prepare us for human exploration to the moon and cislunar space, and on to Mars. The addition of Crew-7 continues maximizing the use of the ISS, where astronauts have been living and working continuously in space for more than 22 years. We are encouraged to see these explorers and innovators work to improve life on Earth and accelerate our off-world future.

We recognize the aerospace industry professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute NASA, SpaceX, and Crew-7 for helping shape the future of aerospace.”

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

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, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

SpaceX, NASA Mission Delayed

CNN reports that a SpaceX and NASA mission that “was set to launch four astronauts – representing four nations and space agencies across the globe – to the International Space Station was abruptly called off Thursday evening.” The delay was announced late Thursday night for reasons that were not immediately clear. The astronauts’ SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft “had been slated to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:50 a.m. ET Friday.” In a social media post, SpaceX “said only that it was delaying the liftoff time to Saturday, August 26 at 3:27 a.m.” because it “provides teams additional time to complete and discuss analysis.” During a livestream, NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said “mission mangers met and elected to postpone the launch of the Crew-7 crew for 24 hours to provide just a bit more time to close out some open paperwork.” The latest forecasts from the US Space Force “projects a 95% chance that the weather will be favorable for the Saturday liftoff.”
Full Story (CNN)