Falcon 9 Cleared To Return To Flight

Falcon 9 Cleared To Return To Flight

July 25, 2024Posted inFalcon 9, Space News, SpaceX, Starlink
Falcon 9 launching from Pad LC-39A Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Falcon 9 launching from Pad LC-39A
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

SpaceX has been cleared to resume launching Falcon 9 by the FAA. Almost immediately afterward, the company announced a launch of the venerable rocket from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center early Sunday morning.The company stated that the Starlink 9-3 mishap in a statement on their website “The cause of the leak was identified as a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system. This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line,” SpaceX said.

Boeing And NASA Provide Starliner Update

Boeing And NASA Provide Starliner Update

July 25, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, Boeing, Crewed, ISS, NASA, Space News, SpaceX, Starliner
Starliner docked to the International Space Station photo: NASA
Starliner docked to the International Space Station
photo: NASA
No Return Date Set, Readiness Review May Come Late Next Week

NASA’s Steve Stich and Boeing’s Mark Nappi provided an update on the Boeing Starliner CFT flight today in a teleconference. They stated that while no return date has been set for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return aboard the spacecraft, the agency and Boeing are relatively close to a Readiness Review that must be conducted prior to Starliner undocking from ISS and returning to Earth. According to NASA, that review may come as soon as the end of next week — or August 2, 2024.

“I think we’re starting to close in on those final pieces of the flight rationale to make sure that we can come home safely,” said Steve Stich.

NASA’s Lunar Comeback: Everything You Need to Know 

July 25, 2024Posted inArtemis, NASA, Space News
The SLS core stage for Artemis II enters the VAB. Image by Richard P Gallagher
The SLS core stage for Artemis II enters the VAB. Image by Richard P Gallagher

NASA’s Artemis II mission is progressing steadily with the recent arrival of the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage to the Kennedy Space Center. This event marks the beginning of months of assembly and testing of SLS before its roll out to LC-39B sometime next year.   

The flame plume of a Falcon 9 Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

SpaceX Performs Falcon 9 Static Fire Last Night

July 25, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, Falcon 9, Space News, SpaceX, Uncategorized
Closeup of Falcon 9’s Merlin engines as the rocket lifts off. The static fire conducted last night was testing this part of the spacecraft.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

SpaceX conducted a static-firing of the nine Merlin engines of a Falcon 9 booster first stage at SLC-40 last night as the company prepares to return to flight after a very rare in-flight failure on July 11.

Artemis II Core Stage Offloaded, Now In The VAB

Artemis II Core Stage Offloaded, Now In The VAB

July 24, 2024Posted inAerojet Rocketdyne, Artemis, Aviation and Space News, Boeing, KSC, NASA, Space News
Artemis II's Core Stage traveling towards the VAB on July 24, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
Artemis II’s Core Stage traveling towards the VAB on July 24, 2024.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

After berthing in the Turn Basin by the Press Center yesterday, the Core Stage of Artemis II was offloaded today and moved into the VAB. The process began around 9 a.m. EDT and took nearly three hours until the 212-foot rocket traveled the relatively short distance—perhaps 1/2 kilometer—to the VAB.

NASA Grants Media Rare Look Inside RPSF Building 

July 23, 2024Posted inUncategorized
The Front of the RPSF building containing segments of the SRB’s. Image by Richard P Gallagher

Kennedy Space Center, FL – Today media gathered at KSC to greet the arrival of the NASA Pegasus barge ship carrying the iconic orange center core of the SLS Artemis ll rocket. It arrived about 10:30 this morning at the KSC Turning Basin where tugboats Termite and American position it at the dock so the rocket core can be unloaded and prepared for its truck journey to the nearby VAB son July 24th.  

Pegasus Barge Arrives In Port Canaveral Carrying Artemis 2 Core Stage

Pegasus Barge Arrives In Port Canaveral Carrying Artemis 2 Core Stage

July 22, 2024Posted inArtemis, Aviation and Space News, NASA, Space News
The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
The Pegasus Barge carrying the Artemis-2 core stage arriving in Port Canaveral this afternoon.
Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now

Business is picking up for the Artemis teams at Kennedy Space Center — the core stage for Artemis 2 has arrived in Port Canaveral, after it traveled from its manufacturing site in Mississippi.

Timeline of Recovery: When Will SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Fly Again? 

July 20, 2024Posted inFalcon 9, Space News, SpaceX
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars skyward moments after liftoff from launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Image by Richard P Gallagher

On July 11, 2024, SpaceX experienced a rare in-flight failure with its Falcon 9 rocket during the Starlink 9-3 mission. This mission aimed to deploy 20 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch initially appeared successful, but the second stage encountered an anomaly during its critical burn phase, which prevented the rocket from achieving its intended orbit. 

Starliner Team Completes Ground Hot Fire Testing at White Sands, No Date For Return Yet

Starliner Team Completes Ground Hot Fire Testing at White Sands, No Date For Return Yet

July 18, 2024Posted inAviation and Space News, Boeing, ISS, NASA, Space News, Starliner
Starliner CST-100 prior to launch earlier this year Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
Starliner CST-100 prior to launch earlier this year
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

In a statement released today, NASA stated that, “[Agency] and Boeing engineers are evaluating results from last week’s engine tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the team works through plans to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test from the International Space Station in the coming weeks.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Updated RS-25 Engines For Artemis IV

Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Updated RS-25 Engines For Artemis IV

July 18, 2024Posted inAerojet Rocketdyne, Artemis, Aviation and Space News, Boeing, NASA, Space News
An upgraded RS-25 on its way to its test stand in Mississippi.
An upgraded RS-25 on its way to its test stand in Mississippi.
Photo: NASA

Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, announced last week that it has completed modernizing the four flight-proven RS-25 engines that will help power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the Artemis IV mission. Artemis IV will be the first flight of the enhanced Block 1B configuration of the super-heavy-lift rocket and the last to use engines remaining in inventory from the space shuttle program.