Atlas V Valve Issue Scrubs Starliner; Launch Date Now NET May 17

Atlas V Valve Issue Scrubs Starliner; Launch Date Now NET May 17

May 7, 2024Posted inAtlas V, Aviation and Space News, ISS, NASA, Space News, United Launch Alliance
Atlas V and Starliner sits on Launch Complex 41 Monday night.
Photo: United Launch Alliance

UPDATE: Several sources are now reporting that Starliner will have to be rolled back from the pad with a new launch date NET May 17th.

Cape Canaveral It was all going well until it wasn’t. That’s often the story with launch attempts: tens of thousands of things must work perfectly, perform as planned, and operate normally, and only one thing has to go wrong for the attempt to be called off.

Starliner Calypso Poised To Become NASA’s Second Certified Crew Vehicle Design

Starliner Calypso Poised To Become NASA’s Second Certified Crew Vehicle Design

May 3, 2024Posted inNASA, Space News, United Launch Alliance
The Crew Access Arm enables the astronauts to board the spacecraft. Photo by United Launch Alliance
The Crew Access Arm enables the astronauts to board the spacecraft. Photo by United Launch Alliance

NASA’s Commercial Crew program will take a big step forward on Monday, May 6th with the launch of the Boeing Starliner Calypso’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT-100). Scheduled for a 10:34 PM EDT liftoff, Starliner Calypso will carry its first-ever crew to the ISS on an important test flight. (The spacecraft was named in honor of the research vessel Calypso, used by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau from 1950-1996.)

Axiom Space Tests Lunar EVA Suit At Neutral Buoyancy Lab In Houston

Axiom Space Tests Lunar EVA Suit At Neutral Buoyancy Lab In Houston

April 29, 2024Posted inArtemis, Aviation and Space News, Axiom Space, NASA, Space News
Unoccupied AxEMU lunar EVA suit underwater at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Date unknown.
Photo: Axiom Space on X.com

Houston, Texas One of the critical tasks for the upcoming Artemis missions is completing new spacesuits for astronauts to wear while on the lunar surface. The suits are critical, as they must protect astronauts from severe temperatures, the moon’s lack of a meaningful atmosphere, and sharp, jagged lunar regolith. In September 2022, NASA awarded Axiom Space a $228.5 million contract to develop the next-generation spacesuit for the Artemis III mission to the moon. 

Astronauts Wilmore and Williams Arrive At KSC For First Starliner Mission

Astronauts Wilmore and Williams Arrive At KSC For First Starliner Mission

April 25, 2024Posted inNASA, Space News, United Launch Alliance
Astronauts arrive for test flight of Boeing Starliner
Astronauts Willmore and William pose for photographs after arriving at the Shuttle Landing Facility in NASA T-38 jet trainer aircraft. Image by Richard P. Gallagher

Kennedy Space Center, FL – Greeted by members of the press, Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the KSC Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) formerly known as the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) aboard a NASA T-38 jet Thursday afternoon. The two NASA astronauts will be aboard the first crewed launch of the new Boeing Starliner crew module early next month.

Launching atop a ULA Atlas V booster no earlier than May 6th at 10:34 PM EDT, the pair will head to the ISS for a 10-day stay on what will effectively be a “shakedown cruise” for the Starliner. Otherwise known as a flight certification test, a successful flight will see the Starliner routinely used to send astronauts to low Earth orbit.

Next Stop: ISS—Wilmore and Williams Prep for Starliner’s First Crewed Test Flight

Next Stop: ISS—Wilmore and Williams Prep for Starliner’s First Crewed Test Flight

April 24, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, NASA, Space News, United Launch Alliance
The official crew portrait for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Left is Suni Williams, who will serve as the pilot, and to the right is Barry “Butch” Wilmore, spacecraft commander. Photo credit: NASA
The official crew portrait for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Left is Suni Williams, who will serve as the pilot, and to the right is Barry “Butch” Wilmore, spacecraft commander. Photo credit: NASA

It’s getting real y’all. In less than two weeks, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will climb aboard the new Boeing Starliner crew capsule for a test flight that will carry them to the International Space Station for a 10-day stay. Launching no earlier than 10:34 PM EDT on May 6th, the flight represents the first crewed flight test of the Starliner.

Starliner Crew Capsule on the Move 

April 16, 2024Posted inAtlas V, KSC, NASA
Starliner Crew Capsule being moved to the vertical integration facility. Image by: Richard P Gallagher

As the aerospace community looks toward the future of crewed space travel, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is poised to become a pivotal player in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This morning’s rollout of the crew capsule ahead of the first crewed launch marks a significant milestone for Boeing.  The Starliner spacecraft was moved from the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center this morning at 4am to the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in order to be attached to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.  

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara and International Crew Return to Earth

NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara and International Crew Return to Earth

April 7, 2024Posted inISS, NASA, Space News
The MS-24 Soyuz capsule returns to Earth on April 6, 2024. Astronaut Loral O'Hara and two cosmonauts were in good health.
The MS-24 Soyuz capsule returns to Earth on April 6, 2024. The three crew members were all reported as being in good health (Image credit: NASA/Roscosmos)

In the quiet, expansive steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Expedition 70 to the ISS officially ended. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus, concluded their space mission with a parachute-assisted landing in the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 3:17 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 6 (12:17 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

NASA Rent-a-Car May Greet Lunar Astronauts

NASA Rent-a-Car May Greet Lunar Astronauts

April 4, 2024Posted inNASA, Space News
An initial rendering from the team led by Intuitive Machines. Photo Credit: Intuitive Machines.
An initial rendering from the team led by Intuitive Machines.  Photo Credit: Intuitive Machines.

At an April 3, 2024, news conference, NASA announced its approach for the development, construction, and fielding of one (or potentially more) lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) as one more element of the Artemis Program.  As opposed to selecting one company to produce an LTV, three “awardees” were selected to compete in a rather complicated process for the final project award. 

NASA Set to Announce Lunar Rover Winner(s) Today

NASA Set to Announce Lunar Rover Winner(s) Today

April 3, 2024Posted inArtemis, Aviation and Space News, NASA, Space News
Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan is seen test driving the “stripped down” Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV)
prior to loading the LRV up. Equipment later loaded onto the LRV
included the ground controlled television assembly, the lunar communications
relay unit, the hi-gain antenna, the low-gain antenna, aft tool pallet, and
lunar tools and scientific gear.
Photo: NASA

One of the most iconic parts of the Apollo missions were videos and photos of astronauts driving around a lunar rover on the moon’s surface. Used for the final three Apollo missions — Apollo 15, 16, and 17 — the 462-pound rovers were built by Boeing and had a top speed of 6 MPH. They were used for mobility and transporting astronauts and equipment, and were also equipped with a color television camera that showed live views to audiences back on Earth of the astronauts driving on the lunar surface. The cameras also provided remote views of the liftoff of the Lunar Module’s ascent module, and provided the only views of humans lifting off of the surface of the moon as they began their return to Earth.

Space Debris from International Space Station Crashes into Florida Home

Space Debris from International Space Station Crashes into Florida Home

April 2, 2024Posted inISS, Space News
Space Debris, believed to be a discarded battery from the ISS, crashed into a home in Naples, Florida last month. Photo: Alejandro Ortero
Space Debris, believed to be a discarded battery from the ISS, crashed into a home in Naples, Florida last month. Photo: Alejandro Ortero

In a bizarre incident, a piece of space debris from the International Space Station (ISS) plummeted through the roof of a Florida home last month. The unsuspecting homeowner, Alejandro Otero, was fortunate to be away at the time, but his son was inside when the nearly 2-pound object tore through the roof and both floors of their two-story house in Naples, Florida.

Former Astronaut and KSC Director Bob Cabana Joining IBX As Senior Advisor

Former Astronaut and KSC Director Bob Cabana Joining IBX As Senior Advisor

April 1, 2024Posted inAxiom Space, KSC, NASA, Space News
Astronaut Robert D. Cabana, mission commander on Shuttle Orbiter
Endeavour’s flight deck, logs a note regarding operations with Unity in 1998.
Photo: NASA

Robert D. “Bob” Cabana, a former NASA astronaut, NASA Associate Administrator (the agency’s third highest-ranking executive) and Director of Kennedy Space Center, has joined IBX, a firm that invests in and fosters innovation in space-related companies. Founded by engineer and entrepreneur Kam Ghaffirian, IBX supports companies Ghaffirian helped found: Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, Quantum Space and X-energy along with other ventures. Cabana will serve as a Senior Advisor with the company.

Soyuz MS-25 Launches Saturday Morning; On Its Way To ISS

Soyuz MS-25 Launches Saturday Morning; On Its Way To ISS

March 23, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, ISS, NASA, Space News
Soyuz MS-25 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 23. 2024.
Photo: NASA

The Russian Federation’s Roscosmos launched a Soyuz capsule on the MS-25 mission to the International Space Station Saturday morning. Three crew members including NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson successfully launched at 8:36 a.m. EDT Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station.