WASHINGTON — An instrument on NASA’s InSight Mars lander that has struggled for more than a year to make its way into the Martian surface is now making steady, but slow progress with the help of the lander’s robotic arm.The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package instrument on the InSight lander was to deploy a probe, or “mole,” into the surface of the planet, using a hammering mechanism to burrow as deep as five meters below the surface to measure the heat flow from the planet’s interior. The probe, though, got stuck shortly after it started burrowing in February 2019, getting no deeper...…WASHINGTON — An instrument on NASA’s InSight Mars lander that has struggled for more than a year to make its way into the Martian surface is now making steady, but slow progress with the help of the lander’s robotic arm.The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package instrument on the InSight lander was to deploy a probe, or “mole,” into the surface of the planet, using a hammering mechanism to burrow as deep as five meters below the surface to measure the heat flow from the planet’s interior. The probe, though, got stuck shortly after it started burrowing in February 2019, getting no deeper...WW…

Please enable JavaScript to view the…Please enable JavaScript to view theWW…

A deorbit burn was completed at 1:21 a.m. Eastern, followed by separation of the service and crew modules at 1:33 a.m.Touchdown of the in the desert Dongfeng landing area occurred at 1:49 a.m.,The roughly 20-metric-ton core stage of the Long March 5B is currently in a 151 by 317 kilometer orbit inclined by 41 degrees, according to U.S. tracking data. Increasing atmospheric drag will see the spent booster make an uncontrolled reentry around .The core stage measures 31.7 meters in length and five meters in diameter. It is more than twice the mass of the Tiangong-1 test bed space laboratory...…A deorbit burn was completed at 1:21 a.m. Eastern, followed by separation of the service and crew modules at 1:33 a.m.Touchdown of the in the desert Dongfeng landing area occurred at 1:49 a.m.,The roughly 20-metric-ton core stage of the Long March 5B is currently in a 151 by 317 kilometer orbit inclined by 41 degrees, according to U.S. tracking data. Increasing atmospheric drag will see the spent booster make an uncontrolled reentry around .The core stage measures 31.7 meters in length and five meters in diameter. It is more than twice the mass of the Tiangong-1 test bed space laboratory...WW…

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected the longtime manager of its commercial crew program to be the next head of its overall human spaceflight efforts.NASA announced June 12 that Kathy Lueders will take over as associate administrator for human exploration and operations, effectively immediately. Lueders, the first woman to hold that post, had been manager of the commercial crew program at the agency since 2014.“Kathy gives us the extraordinary experience and passion we need to continue to move forward with Artemis and our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024,” NASA...…WASHINGTON — NASA has selected the longtime manager of its commercial crew program to be the next head of its overall human spaceflight efforts.NASA announced June 12 that Kathy Lueders will take over as associate administrator for human exploration and operations, effectively immediately. Lueders, the first woman to hold that post, had been manager of the commercial crew program at the agency since 2014.“Kathy gives us the extraordinary experience and passion we need to continue to move forward with Artemis and our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024,” NASA...WW…

The satellites Maxar will build are named Galaxy-31, Galaxy-32, Galaxy-35 and Galaxy-36; the satellites from Northrop Grumman are named Galaxy-33 and Galaxy-34. All six are expected to be ready for launch in 2022, according to their manufacturers.Please enable JavaScript to view the…The satellites Maxar will build are named Galaxy-31, Galaxy-32, Galaxy-35 and Galaxy-36; the satellites from Northrop Grumman are named Galaxy-33 and Galaxy-34. All six are expected to be ready for launch in 2022, according to their manufacturers.Please enable JavaScript to view theWW…

Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics have NASA’s trust, but not a lot of time, to meet a 2024 goal for landing on the moonIn about four and a half years, NASA envisions a lunar lander touching down near the south pole of the moon. Two astronauts will exit the lander’s crew module and go down a few steps to be the first humans on the lunar surface since 1972. Or, they’ll make their way down a much longer ladder to the surface. Or maybe just take an elevator.NASA looked to tap into the creativity of the private sector with its Human Landing System (HLS) program to develop the landers needed for...…Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics have NASA’s trust, but not a lot of time, to meet a 2024 goal for landing on the moonIn about four and a half years, NASA envisions a lunar lander touching down near the south pole of the moon. Two astronauts will exit the lander’s crew module and go down a few steps to be the first humans on the lunar surface since 1972. Or, they’ll make their way down a much longer ladder to the surface. Or maybe just take an elevator.NASA looked to tap into the creativity of the private sector with its Human Landing System (HLS) program to develop the landers needed for...WW…

WASHINGTON — The lunar lander under development by Dynetics for NASA’s Artemis program will make use of in-space refueling of cryogenic propellants and require three launches in quick succession, company officials revealed.In a Sept. 15 webinar held by Dynetics in cooperation with the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, the company discussed the overall architecture for the lander it is developing as part of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program. Dynetics is for initial design studies of a lander that can transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface.The Dynetics...…WASHINGTON — The lunar lander under development by Dynetics for NASA’s Artemis program will make use of in-space refueling of cryogenic propellants and require three launches in quick succession, company officials revealed.In a Sept. 15 webinar held by Dynetics in cooperation with the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, the company discussed the overall architecture for the lander it is developing as part of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program. Dynetics is for initial design studies of a lander that can transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface.The Dynetics...WW…

WASHINGTON — While NASA’s decision to award lunar lander development contracts to three companies won praise from a Senate committee, the leaders of the House Science Committee said they remained concerned about NASA’s approach to returning humans to the moon.NASA April 30 to begin detailed studies for landers under the Human Landing System (HLS) program. The three companies received fixed-price contracts valued at a combined $967 million to undertake 10-month studies of their concepts. That work will conclude with reviews in early 2021 where NASA will decide which company, or companies,...…WASHINGTON — While NASA’s decision to award lunar lander development contracts to three companies won praise from a Senate committee, the leaders of the House Science Committee said they remained concerned about NASA’s approach to returning humans to the moon.NASA April 30 to begin detailed studies for landers under the Human Landing System (HLS) program. The three companies received fixed-price contracts valued at a combined $967 million to undertake 10-month studies of their concepts. That work will conclude with reviews in early 2021 where NASA will decide which company, or companies,...WW…

Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the University of Arizona is building NASA’s LunaH-Map cubesat. Arizona State University is building the cubesat. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory knew flying cubesats all the way to Mars was a long shot. Its twin Mars Cube One spacecraft had to travel hundreds of millions of kilometers on their own propulsion and relay data from the agency’s Insight lander as it descended onto the Red Planet.During that nearly seven-month journey in 2018, one of the MarCO cubesats suffered a fuel leak, and both briefly lost...…Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the University of Arizona is building NASA’s LunaH-Map cubesat. Arizona State University is building the cubesat. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory knew flying cubesats all the way to Mars was a long shot. Its twin Mars Cube One spacecraft had to travel hundreds of millions of kilometers on their own propulsion and relay data from the agency’s Insight lander as it descended onto the Red Planet.During that nearly seven-month journey in 2018, one of the MarCO cubesats suffered a fuel leak, and both briefly lost...WW…

Tory Bruno said too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures.WASHINGTON — The chief executive of United Launch Alliance warned that there are too many venture-funded space launch companies competing for a static number of customers, and called on the U.S. government to encourage investments in other space activities that don’t exist today.Speaking Feb. 4 on a NewSpace New Mexico webinar, Tory Bruno said too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures. He suggested that money could be better directed to new economic activities related to space such as...…Tory Bruno said too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures.WASHINGTON — The chief executive of United Launch Alliance warned that there are too many venture-funded space launch companies competing for a static number of customers, and called on the U.S. government to encourage investments in other space activities that don’t exist today.Speaking Feb. 4 on a NewSpace New Mexico webinar, Tory Bruno said too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures. He suggested that money could be better directed to new economic activities related to space such as...WW…