This week, the Webb team has been working on the fourth stage of mirror alignment, called Coarse Phasing, which measures and corrects smaller height differences between the mirror segments. In the meantime this past week, Webb's Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) team successfully finished the check-out and initial characterization of three crucial onboard mechanisms. Today, members of …
Two NASA astronauts are assembling gear today they will install on the International Space Station during an upcoming spacewalk. The rest of the Expedition 66 crew focused on life science, space physics gear, and orbital maintenance. NASA Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Kayla Barron began assembling modification kits today to ready the station’s truss structure …
As NASA's Parker Solar Probe completes its latest swing around the Sun, it's doing so in full view of dozens of other spacecraft and ground-based telescopes.
Media accreditation is now open for SpaceX’s fourth commercial crew mission for NASA to the International Space Station. The earliest targeted launch date for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission is Friday, April 15, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Kennedy. Media …
The Artemis I Moon rocket is getting closer to rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time. The first two of 20 platforms surrounding the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft that allow work on the integrated system inside the building were retracted …
Payloads: Electro-static Levitation Furnace (ELF): Tools and materials were gathered, and specific harnesses were disconnected from the Electro-magnetic Laboratory (EML) modules in preparation for Gas Circulation pump removal and replace. The EML is a multi-user facility is designed for containerless materials processing in space. It supports research in the areas of meta-stable states and phases, …
The seven-member Expedition 66 crew juggled a variety of science experiments on Wednesday including space physics and human research. Four International Space Station astronauts also reviewed procedures for a pair of spacewalks set to begin in less than two weeks. A new experiment on the space station is using artificial intelligence to help process complex …
Following completion of a third planned start and then cutoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 Centaur main engine, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) satellite separated from the spacecraft and is continuing on its journey to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events, including thunderstorms, …
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 Centaur main engine successfully restarted and then cut off again just a few minutes later as the GOES-T mission heads into a planned coast phase.
This will last approximately three hours, after which the Centaur main engine will start and then cut off for a third – and final – time.
Check out continuing coverage on NASA TV, the NASA app, or the agency's website. Check back here for a live report on GOES-T's separation from the rocket.
Have you ever wondered what the three numbers (541) on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V 541 rocket stand for? The numbers signify a payload fairing, or nose cone, that is approximately 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter; 4 solid-rocket boosters fastened alongside the central common core booster; and a 1-engine Centaur upper stage. Just an …
