Tonight at 5:54 PM ET, United Launch Alliance intends to launch a national security mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. The countdown began today at 11:04 AM. You can track the live countdown on ULA’s site.
Expand Expanding Close
United Launch Alliance’s next mission is getting geared up to launch this week. ULA attempted to roll out its Atlas V rocket out to its pad but ended up returning the rocket back to its vertical integration facility. Media was told during remote camera setup scheduled for today that the rocket will be rolled back, and they will have to reschedule setup for a later time.
Expand Expanding Close
NASA’s Perseverance lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on July 30. The new Mars rover traveled atop a United Launch Alliance-operated Atlas V rocket. The Countdown to Mars is just beginning, however. The rover’s months-long journey to Mars will continue through February 2021, then the next decade of Martian science and astrobiological discovery can commence. In this Dispatches from NASA installment, Space Explored captures the week that the Mars 2020 mission took flight in photos, video, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
In a widely anticipated announcement, U.S. Space Force and Air Force officials awarded Phase II of U.S. national security missions launch contracts to ULA and SpaceX as the primary launch providers through 2027. The NSSL (National Security Space Launch) Contract is a firm-fixed-price that will support launches planned from fiscal 2022 – fiscal 2027.
These contracts include early integration studies, launch service support, fleet surveillance, launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations, mission assurance, spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for each mission.
Expand Expanding Close
Space Time is a new podcast from Space Explored, part of the 9to5Mac Network.
In this Mars 2020 edition of Space Time, Zac Hall speaks with Dr. Lori Glaze (Planetary Science Division Director) and Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen (Associate Administrator, Science) of NASA, and Scott Messer (Program Manager for NASA’s Launch Service Program missions) of ULA.
Subscribe to receive new episodes every Thursday: 🟣 Apple Podcasts 🟠Overcast 🟢 Spotify 🔴 YouTube
On the heels of the return to human space flight from American soil, NASA is launching another historic mission this year. Perseverance, the newest of NASA’s Mars rovers, plans to launch as soon as July 30, and the mission is packed full of new science experiments to learn more about the Red Planet. The new Mars rover will be launching on top of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
What makes Perseverance special? For starters, it’s the result of previous Mars missions dating back to the mid ’90s, and the state-of-the-art rover will be accompanied by the first-ever space helicopter…
Expand Expanding Close
The window for launching from Earth to Mars opens on July 17. NASA planned to use the date to launch its newest Mars rover Perseverance tasked with finding signs of past life on Mars.
NASA associate administrator Steve Jurczyk shared on June 9, however, that the earliest date launch partner United Launch Alliance can lift off is July 20. The launch date slipped back another two days on June 24 following a “ground support systems issue identified during the packing of the spacecraft into protective fairings that go on top of the rocket.”
As of June 30, however, the current launch target is no earlier than July 30. The original launch target extended through August 5, although NASA and ULA believe they can launch as late as August 15 if needed.
Expand Expanding Close
Thursday, March 26, 2020 is launch day at Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. United Launch Alliance is completing the Sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF-6, mission for the United States Space Force.
Expand Expanding Close