As the Artemis I countdown progresses, rain and thunderstorms have continued throughout the afternoon at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Earlier this afternoon, there were three lightning strikes to the lightning protection system towers at Launch Pad 39B – a strike to Tower 1, and two strikes to Tower 2. Initial indications are that …
The mission management team for Artemis I met this morning to review the status of operations and have polled “go” to proceed with the launch countdown. The countdown commenced at 10:23 a.m. EDT today, Aug. 27, after the launch team arrived at their stations in the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy …
Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 continue to predict a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch of Artemis I on Aug. 29. The primary weather concern for the two-hour launch window remains scattered rain showers. The weather guidelines for NASA’s Artemis I flight test identify conditions to launch the agency’s …
Payloads: AstroPi: The AstroPi photography checkout activity was continued with the removal of the 6 mm camera lens and the installation of the 12 mm camera lens. In this checkout, ground teams are assessing night-time photography capabilities of the AstroPi system with both lenses. Two augmented Raspberry Pi computers (called AstroPis) were flown to the …
Biomedical research topped the science schedule for the Expedition 67 crew members at the end of the week. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is ramping up for another spacewalk to configure its third robotic arm. An astronaut’s skin experiences accelerated aging in microgravity and scientists are exploring if the space-caused molecular processes affect the way …
ISS Reboost: Today, the ISS performed a reboost using the Aft Progress 81P R&D thrusters. This reboost was the second of three reboosts to set up proper constraints for 68S 2-orbit rendezvous on September 21 and 67S landing on September 29. The burn duration was 5 minutes 33 seconds with a Delta-V of 0.68 m/s. …
Engineers continue to prepare NASA’s mega Moon rocket, Orion spacecraft, and ground systems for the Artemis I launch. The two-hour launch window opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT on Monday, Aug. 29. At Launch Pad 39B, technicians completed servicing the hydraulic power units on the Space Launch System rocket’s boosters Wednesday. After finishing final work inside …
NASA and SpaceX have announced the date for the upcoming Crew-5 launch to the International Space Station. The space station is also orbiting higher today to prepare for next month’s Soyuz crew vehicle swap. The fifth crewed operational mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has been given a launch date of Oct. 3 from Florida’s …
NASA, the French space agency Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), and SpaceX are now targeting Monday, Dec. 5, for the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT, satellite. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch SWOT from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The SWOT project team determined a …
Life science continued dominating the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday to benefit humans living on and off the Earth. The seven Expedition 67 orbital residents explored how living in microgravity affects tissue regeneration, crew psychology, and the human digestion system. Learning to heal wounds in space is critical as NASA and …
