NASA and SpaceX called off Monday’s launch intended to take the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station following a last-minute technical issue with Falcon 9’s engine ignition system.
Providing the issue is resolved, the teams will attempt another launch at 12:34AM ET on Thursday, March 2nd.
There was a lot going on in the space industry this year — here are some of the highlights.
It landed on Mars in 2018 to detect marsquakes — rumblings in the planet’s crust. But now, the robot seismologist is running low on power and sent what may be its final image of the red planet’s surface. While InSight surpassed its two-year primary mission, it’s still hard not to feel sad for the lil’ guy in its final hours. You did good bud.
NASA and the European Space Agency are developing a plan to bring interplanetary rock samples — already collected by the Perseverance rover — from Mars back to Earth by 2033.
Watch as Lizzie Philip explains the plan, as it exists so far, for the Mars Sample Return Mission.
Naming the United States’ flagship space after James Webb, a former Administrator of NASA was a controversial choice. Webb was: a.) not a scientist, and b.) presided over NASA during a time in which people identifying as LGBTQ+ were discriminated against. NASA investigated Webb’s involvement in those practices last year, and released the full report today.
Based on the available evidence, the agency does not plan to change the name of the James Webb Space Telescope. However, the report illuminates that this period in federal policy – and in American history more broadly – was a dark chapter that does not reflect the agency’s values today.
We sent our smart home reviewer to check out an Alexa designed for space travel before it launched on its journey to the Moon.
The countdown clock has just started, we’re less than 8 minutes away from the launch of the Artemis 1 mission.
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was scheduled to launch at 1:04AM ET. But the launch is now in a holding pattern while engineers try to figure out how much work still needs to be done after troubleshooting multiple issues, including an ‘intermittent’ hydrogen leak a ‘problematic’ ethernet cable.
With just hours to go before the latest launch window opens for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, a small team of technicians is about to enter the launch area to try to fix an intermittent hydrogen leak.
NASA says it should take the Red Crew about 15 minutes to “torque the packing nuts” at the base of the mobile launcher. Watch NASA’s coverage, or follow along with us as we watch the launch attempt.
Here’s a cheat sheet for the Artemis I mission
In a few minutes, NASA will start loading propellant into the SLS in preparation for its scheduled launch time at 1:04AM ET. Coverage has already started on NASA TV.
It’s a giant inflatable heat shield, aka NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID). It was just fished out of the Pacific Ocean this morning.
Falcon Heavy is back on the pad, preparing for a launch as early as October 31st, as it delivers... something into orbit for the US Space Force.
JWST’s latest shot takes on the iconic Hubble image ‘Pillars of Creation’, and the result is gorgeous. Also, so sparkly.
