Tag: NASA

Artemis II Crew Nears Moon as Spacecraft Enters Lunar Orbit Phase

The New York Times reports, “Early on Monday morning Eastern time, the astronauts of Artemis II will enter the lunar sphere of influence, when the pull of the moon’s gravity becomes stronger than Earth’s. That is when their spacecraft will start speeding up for the main event of the 10-day mission, swinging around the moon for a first close-up look by astronauts in more than 53 years.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)

Artemis II Crew Begins First Full Day in Space After Historic Launch

CBS News reports, “With an exhilarating launch behind them, NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are turning their attention to the next big challenge of their historic mission: a ‘crazy first day’ in space. The crew is spending about 24 hours orbiting the Earth while they put their Orion capsule through its paces before finally heading for the moon. Their spectacular launch Wednesday evening marked the first piloted moonshot since the end of the Apollo program 53 years ago.”
Full Story (CBS News)

NASA Advances X-59 Testing After Resolving Cockpit Alert Issue

Aviation Week reports, “The cockpit warning light that cut short the second flight of NASA’s X-59 low-boom supersonic flight demonstrator on March 20 proved to be a false positive and the aircraft resumed envelope expansion testing with back-to-back flights on March 26 and 27. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works-built X-59 was forced to return to base at Edwards AFB, California, after only 9 min. of a planned hour-long flight on March 20 when NASA Test Pilot Jim Less saw a vehicle system warning in the cockpit.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

NASA Says Artemis II on Track for April 1 Launch

Space News reports, “While the Artemis 2 mission is primarily a test flight, the four astronauts on board will conduct some science during the nearly 10-day mission. ‘Science wasn’t in the driver’s seat to define what Artemis 2 is,’ said Jacob Richardson, deputy lead of Artemis 2 lunar science at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, during a panel discussion at the Goddard Space System Symposium March 12. ‘Instead, we are using Artemis 2 as an opportunity to get science to prepare for our later Artemis missions when science is more of a driver.’”
Full Story (Space News – Subscription Publication)

Skyfall Mission Targets 2028 to Bring Aerial Exploration to Mars

SPACE reports, “Skyfall is happening, and it will get to Mars in a totally new way. Last summer, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Virginia company AeroVironment unveiled their Skyfall mission concept, which would send a fleet of tiny helicopters to explore the skies of Mars.”
Full Story (SPACE)



Video

Skyfall – Future Mission Concept for Next-gen Mars Helicopters and Exploration
(Aerovironment; YouTube)

NASA’s Juno Delivers New Science While Its Future Remains Uncertain

Ars Technica reports, “Jupiter’s colossal storms generate lightning flashes at least 100 times more powerful than those on Earth, according to scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The findings were published March 20 in the journal AGU Advances. Researchers used data recorded by Juno in 2021 and 2022, after NASA granted an extension to the spacecraft’s operations upon completing a five-year science campaign at Jupiter. Juno remains in good health, but NASA officials have not said if they will approve another extension for the mission.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

NASA Taps ULA’s Centaur V to Power Future SLS Upper Stage

Spaceflight Now reports, “NASA officially selected United Launch Alliance’s Centaur 5 as the upper stage for its Space Launch System rocket starting with the Artemis 4 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than early 2028. The Centaur 5 was developed as the upper stage of ULA’s Vulcan rocket. The launch vehicle flew four times since its debut in January 2024 and the upper stage performed well across all flights.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)