“SpaceX is setting out to prove a critical safety system will be able to save astronaut lives in the event of a launch emergency during ascent,” reports CNET: The Crew Dragon in-flight abort test…is a required step before NASA will allow astronauts to fly to the International Space Station in the SpaceX capsule as part of the Commercial Crew Program. [UPDATE:…
Tag: Kennedy Space Center
Scientists Sent Mighty Mice To Space To Improve Treatments Back On Earth
In December, scientists sent 40 very muscular mice to live temporarily at the International Space Station. The resulting research, they hope, could lead to new treatments for kids with muscular dystrophy, or cancer patients with muscle wasting. From a report: In early December at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two anxious scientists were about to send 20 years of research…
NASA’s SLS moon rocket readies for next pit stop on way to Kennedy Space Center
The next rocket NASA wants to send to the moon is about to leave the house it was built in for a new home, but isn’t quite ready for Kennedy Space Center. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-01-nasa-sls-moon-rocket-readies.html…
New launch communications segment empowers Artemis
As Artemis astronauts lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, new ground systems will provide them with the communications links needed to ensure safety and mission success. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-11-segment-empowers-artemis.html…
After Two Years The Air Force’s X-37B Space Plane Finally Lands
“An unpiloted Air Force X-37B spaceplane, one of two winged orbiters used to carry out classified research, made a surprise landing at the Kennedy Space Center early Sunday to close out a record 780-day mission,” reports CBS News: It was the fifth flight in the secretive Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) program, pushing total time aloft to 2,865 days. “This program continues…
How SpaceX Plans To Move Starship From Cocoa Site To Kennedy Space Center
New submitter RhettLivingston writes: Real plans for the move of Starship Mk 2 from its current construction site in Cocoa to the Kennedy Space Center have finally emerged. A News 6 Orlando report identifies permit applications and observed preparations for the move,which will take a land and sea route. Barring some remarkably hasty road compaction and paving, the prototype will start…
SpaceX Makes Plans For Up To 24 Starship Launches A Year From Florida
schwit1 quotes Space News: SpaceX plans to build facilities at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A for launches and, eventually, landings of its next-generation launch vehicle, according to a newly released report. An environment assessment prepared by SpaceX, and released by NASA Aug. 1, discusses plans to develop additional facilities at LC-39A, which currently hosts Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy…
NASA Cut 385 Acres of Trees In Florida For a Better View of Launch Pads
McGruber quotes UPI:
NASA has cut down trees on more than 385 acres of Kennedy Space Center in Florida to allow a better view of launch pads where human spaceflight is set to return after a lull of many years. The last astronauts to launch into space from the site were aboard space shuttle Atlantis in 2011. Since then, trees have grown…
Chandra X-ray observatory celebrates its 20th anniversary
On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center carrying the Chandra X-ray Observatory. In the two decades that have passed, Chandra’s powerful and unique X-ray eyes have contributed to a revolution in our understanding of the cosmos. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-chandra-x-ray-observatory-celebrates-20th.html…
Apollo 11 Had a Hidden Hero: Software
“Monday’s Wall Street Journal includes a special Apollo 11 feature,” writes Slashdot reader Outatime in honor of the 50th anniversary since Apollo 11’s Saturn V launched from the Kennedy Space Center. “[O]f particular interest to many Slashdot nerds is the piece on the pioneering computer hardware and software that took three astronauts, and landed two, on the moon.” Here’s an excerpt…