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    Delta II Comes Together Ahead of ICESat-2 Launch

    This expanded-view graphic depicts the components of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket that will launch NASA's ICESat-2 spacecraft.

    The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket slated to launch NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, has made significant progress toward liftoff, planned for Sept. 12. Prelaunch preparations are well underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the rocket is coming together at Space Launch Complex 2. Earlier this month …

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    Revised Launch Date Targeted for Parker Solar Probe

    Illustration of Parker Solar Probe with the Sun behind it

    NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are now targeting launch of the agency's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft no earlier than Aug. 4, 2018. Originally scheduled to launch on July 31, additional time is needed to accommodate further software testing of spacecraft systems. The Parker Solar Probe will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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    NASA’s ICESat-2 Spacecraft Arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base

    ICESat-2 arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

    NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, June 12, from the Northrop Grumman facility in Gilbert, Arizona. The satellite will be offloaded in its shipping container from the heavy transport truck and moved into the Astrotech Space Operations facility where it will be …

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    Launch of NASA’s ICON Satellite Postponed

    Artist image of NASA's ICON satellite.

    NASA and Northrop Grumman have postponed the launch of the agency's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite. ICON, which will study the frontier of space, was targeted to launch on a Pegasus XL rocket June 14 from the Kwajalein Atoll in Marshall Islands.

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    Power Up: Solar Arrays Installed on NASA’s Mission to Touch the Sun

    NASA's Parker Solar Probe depends on the Sun, not just as an object of scientific investigation, but also for the power that drives its instruments and systems. On Thursday, May 31, 2018, the spacecraft's solar arrays were installed and tested. These arrays will power all of the spacecraft's systems, including the suites of scientific instruments …

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    NASA Completes Flight Readiness Review for ICON Satellite

    A technician uses an ultraviolet light to inspect the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL payload fairing

    Following a Flight Readiness Review NASA Launch Director Omar Baez and the mission team confirmed the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket will be ready for its targeted launch date for the agency's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. The spacecraft will be boosted to Earth orbit during a launch window between 10:01 to 10:38 a.m. …

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    ICON Satellite Arrives at Vandenberg

    ICON Satellite Arrives at Vandenberg AFB

    A solar array illumination test is performed on NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite in the Building 1555 clean room Friday, May 4, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The test checks for any imperfections and confirms that the solar arrays are functioning properly.

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    Both GRACE-FO Satellites Are Healthy

    Telemetry from both GRACE-FO satellites indicates that both satellites are healthy. For the next few days, they will be in different orbits, one slightly lower than the other. The different orbits cause them to move apart until the lower satellite is 137 miles (220 kilometers) in front of the other, the optimal separation distance for …

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    ULA Delta II Booster Arrives for ICESat-2 Mission

    ULA Delta II Booster Arrives for ICESat-2 Mission

    At NASA's Building 836, the Spacecraft Labs Telemetry Station at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II booster is removed from its shipping container on Monday, April 16, 2018. Once it was offloaded, preliminary checkouts and preflight processing began in preparation for the agency's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation …

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