Blogs

Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:38 a.m. EDT. Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan of NASA continue with the second in a series of five planned spacewalks dedicated to replacing batteries on the far end of the International Space Station’s port truss. The existing nickel-hydrogen batteries will be upgraded …

  Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Christina Koch of NASA will continue the series of spacewalks outside of the International Space Station at about 7:50 a.m. EDT to upgrade the station’s solar array batteries. Watch the spacewalk coverage now on NASA TV and the agency’s website. This is the second of five battery replacement spacewalks …

A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket launched NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite at 9:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 10 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) to study the dynamic zone in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. The satellite was attached to the Pegasus XL rocket, …

The Pegasus XL rocket has gone through each of its three stage motors, reaching a top speed of nearly 17,000 mph. ICON has now separated from the rocket to begin its mission, orbiting 360 miles above the Earth. Learn more about NASA's ICON mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/icon

Following first stage separation, the second stage motor ignited 1 minute and 34 seconds after launch, burning for 1 minute, 14 seconds before shutting down and separating. At 7 minutes, 18 seconds after launch, the third stage engine ignited and will burn for 1 minute and 9 seconds.

We have ignition! Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL rocket is delivering ICON, NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer satellite, on its journey to the boundary between Earth and space where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. After reaching 39,000 feet, the rocket was dropped from the underside of the Northrop Grumman L-1011 Stargazer aircraft about …

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 aircraft, Stargazer, is making its way back to the drop box – a 40-mile long area that the company's Pegasus XL rocket can be dropped in. Secured in the rocket's payload fairing in NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) – a satellite developed to study the Earth's ionosphere, where terrestrial weather from below meets …

The first launch opportunity of a Pegasus XL rocket, carrying NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), was skipped due to communication issues between the ground team at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Northrop Grumman's L-1011 aircraft, Stargazer. The launch team is re-evaluating; the launch window remains open until 10:55 p.m. EDT.

Northrop Grumman's Stargazer aircraft, carrying the company's Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), has entered the drop box – a 40-mile long area that the rocket can be dropped in. At this point, Stargazer has reached the required altitude of 39,000 feet. In just a few moments, the rocket will drop from …

Follow along on NASA TV and the agency's website for the live launch broadcast, happening now. Before NASA's Pegasus XL rocket can carry the agency's ICON satellite to low-Earth orbit, Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft has to reach an altitude of 39,000 feet, which requires about an hour of flight time. Once there, Pegasus will …