Two vital pieces of equipment for the Mars 2020 rover were flown from Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado, and recently delivered to the agency's Kennedy Space Center. The rover's heat shield and back shell arrived at Kennedy's Launch and Landing Facility (formerly the Shuttle Landing Facility) on Dec. 11, 2019, and were then transported …
Critical ground support equipment needed to prepare NASA's Mars 2020 rover for its journey to the Red Planet has arrived at a payload processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rover is being manufactured at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and, once complete, will be sent to Kennedy for assembly, …
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster that will launch the Solar Orbiter on its upcoming mission to study the Sun has arrived at the Florida spaceport, while the spacecraft is beginning launch preparations of its own. Meanwhile, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been removed from its shipping container for the start of its own prelaunch preparations at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida. The spacecraft was uncrated Nov. 15 and rotated to vertical on Nov. 18, paving the way for upcoming processing and checkouts, including tests of the spacecraft and its suite of science instruments, as well as its propellant pressurization system.
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part VII I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII Three months later, the science team convened at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Button-up shirts replaced down coats, their hair not ruffled from beanies and headlamps. But the …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part VI I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII On the snow-covered balcony, the science team huddled together in t-shirts and indoor slippers, too rushed to don their coats. Everyone was there except Rowland. The first rocket was already in the air, but …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part V I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII Pfaff paced in front of the Wall of Science, stroking his chin, weighing the signs that launchable conditions were approaching. He had spent earlier hours on the phone, rapidly rebooking flights to make his …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part IV I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII Each day, the science team prepared just the same. At 3 a.m., Rowland opened the giant doors of the Telemetry Readout building, where they were stationed. Over the next five hours, they stepped through …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part III I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII At the entrance to the mess hall, Ny-Ålesund residents abandon snow-covered shoes for cozy slippers or socks. Inside, the warm air washes over wind-whipped faces, carrying the smell of rich soups, tea, and bread. …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range Part II I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII At 3:45 am, the van rumbled over a snow-covered road away from the team's dormitories. The launchpad was a ten-minute ride outside the town limits. Ny-Ålesund's boundaries are marked with triangle-shaped signs, outlined in …
A SHOT IN THE DARK Chasing the aurora from the world's northernmost rocket range In the tiny Arctic town of Ny-Ålesund, where polar bears outnumber people, winter means three months without sunlight. The unending darkness is ideal for those who seek a strange breed of northern lights, normally obscured by daylight. When these unusual auroras …
