Blogs

NASA's Psyche mission team continues to assess ongoing issues with the spacecraft's flight software. The team is evaluating its ability to meet a schedule to launch in 2022 – the current launch period is Sept. 20 to Oct. 11. If it is determined that launch in 2022 is not possible, a full range of actions …

European Robotic Arm (ERA) Operations: Today by adjusting and moving the angle of the ERA arms, ERA checkout and telemetry operations were completed successfully. ERA is located on MLM and is the intended to be the primary equipment for servicing the electromechanical systems on the Russian Segment once it completes commissioning. Payloads: EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments …

More information about InSight's power level will be available here in the weeks ahead. On June 19, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 410 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.12 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range …

A host of biomedical studies filled the Expedition 67 crew’s day as NASA and its international partners continue exploring how living in space long-term affects the human body. The residents aboard the International Space Station also set up a 3-D hologram device and tested a new robotic arm. The orbiting lab’s four astronauts took turns …

The Artemis I wet dress rehearsal ended today at 7:37 p.m. EDT at T-29 seconds in the countdown. Today’s test marked the first time the team fully loaded all the Space Launch System rocket’s propellant tanks and proceeded into the terminal launch countdown, when many critical activities occur in rapid succession. During propellant loading operations …

The launch control team is filling the Space Launch System’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) with liquid hydrogen (LH2) followed by liquid oxygen (LOX) loading. The core stage LH2 and LOX tanks, meanwhile, are being replenished as some of the supercool propellant boils off, meaning the propellant tank will be full through the rest of …

On Monday at 10:20 a.m. Central time, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG CRS-17 engine was scheduled to fire for 5 minutes, 1 second to test the cargo craft’s ability to reboost the International Space Station in the future. The engine firing was aborted after five seconds. Cygnus’ Mission Director at Dulles, Virginia reported that the cause …

The launch control team has begun chill down operations and resumed the countdown clock ahead of flowing super cold liquid oxygen (LOX) into the core stage tank. The T-0 time for today’s test is now 4:38 p.m. EDT for the first of the two terminal count runs for the wet dress rehearsal. The process for …

The launch director gave the “go” to start tanking operations. The countdown will resume at 9:20 a.m. EDT at T-6 hours, 40 minutes. Tanking begins with chilling down, or cooling, the liquid oxygen propellant lines for the core stage. In sequential fashion, liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) will flow into the rocket’s core stage …

The mission management team chair has given a “go” to proceed with tanking the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis I wet dress rehearsal test. As the countdown continues, the launch director will be responsible for giving the “go” to officially begin the tanking process. Meteorologists with Space Launch Delta 45 said that weather remains favorable for …