Update October 9th, 2:55PM ET: NASA delayed the ICON launch due to bad weather at the rocket's drop zone. The agency will try again Thursday, October 10th at 9:30PM ET. The weather forecast is much better, with a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions.
Original Story: NASA is slated to launch a long-awaited satellite from Florida on Wednesday night that's designed to help scientists better predict how space weather events will behave high above Earth. But to get to space, the rocket launching this satellite won't take off from the ground like most others do. Instead, it'll launch from underneath the wing of a giant airplane, climbing to space from midair.
The mission is named ICON — for Ionospheric Connection Explorer — and it was originally supposed to launch in the summer of 2017. However, technical issues with the rocket, called Pegasus, forced the launch to be put on hold for the last two years! Videos for After Years Of Delays , NASA Is Finally 4:16 NASA attacks Elon Musk and SpaceX for 'years of delays' failing to deliver for US taxpayer Dailymotion!! Now, Northrop Grumman, which operates the Pegasus system, says the rocket is ready to fly after making a few modifications to the vehicle and performing a variety of qualification tests.
Not to change the topic here:
NASA Tests Mars 2020 Rover's Sky Crane Landing Tech | Space
NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission has checked off another milestone with a successful separation test of the descent stage that will deliver the six-wheeled robot to the surface of the Red Planet.
The test, which took place at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, on Sept. 28, involved using a crane to lift the large, rocket-powered descent stage away from the rover.
"Firing the pyrotechnic devices that held the rover and descent stage together and then doing the post-test inspection of the two vehicles was an all-day affair," Ryan van Schilifgaarde, a support engineer for Mars 2020 assembly at JPL, said in a statement from NASA.
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Mars 2020, which will get a new name soon , is heavily based on NASA's Curiosity rover, which has been exploring Mars' Gale Crater since August 2012. Like Curiosity, Mars 2020 will be lowered to the Martian surface on cables by a rocket-powered sky crane, which will then fly off to intentionally crash-land a safe distance away.
News | NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars
If you could travel back in time 3.5 billion years, what would Mars look like? The picture is evolving among scientists working with NASA's Curiosity rover.
Imagine ponds dotting the floor of Gale Crater, the 100-mile-wide (150-kilometer-wide) ancient basin that Curiosity is exploring! 0:26 NASA attacks Elon Musk and SpaceX for 'years of delays' failing to deliver for US taxpayer express.co.uk!! Streams might have laced the crater's walls, running toward its base. Watch history in fast forward, and you'd see these waterways overflow then dry up, a cycle that probably repeated itself numerous times over millions of years.
That is the landscape described by Curiosity scientists in a Nature Geoscience paper published today. The authors interpret rocks enriched in mineral salts discovered by the rover as evidence of shallow briny ponds that went through episodes of overflow and drying! After years of delays, NASA is finally poised to launch a ...www.msn.com /en-us/news/technology/ ...-poised...After years of delays, NASA is finally poised to launch a satellite to better understand space weather. Senators pressure Visa and Mastercard over work on Facebook's blockchain project.!! The deposits serve as a watermark created by climate fluctuations as the Martian environment transitioned from a wetter one to the freezing desert it is today.
NASA spacecraft ICON heads to space aboard the Pegasus rocket
On Wednesday evening, NASA is launching a spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station called the Ionospheric Connection Explorer which will gather critical data about volatile space weather located in the ionosphere in order to protect astronauts and spacecraft.
The colorful dance of lights in the night sky called aurora borealis, or northern lights, takes place in this mysterious boundary where Earth and space meet. But the beauty of this phenomenon is deceptive.
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The ionosphere is loaded with electrically charged gases, solar radiation, and electric and magnetic fields making it very turbulent and unpredictable! After years of delays, NASA is finally poised to launch a ...flipboard.com/@theverge/ ...to-launch...After years of delays, NASA is finally poised to launch a satellite to better understand space weather The Verge - Loren Grush NASA is slated to launch a long-awaited satellite from Florida on Wednesday night that's designed to help scientists better predict how space weather events will behave high above Earth.!! These forces can disrupt satellite communication and navigation signals and also damage spacecraft! Long-delayed NASA technology demonstration payloads ...spacenews.com/long- delay ed- nasa ...finally -set...After years of delays , a group of NASA technology demonstration payloads is finally set to lift off on a Falcon Heavy later this month.!! A sudden space storm can create intense radiation blasts that could be dangerous to astronauts on the International Space Station performing spacewalks.
Other things to check out:
NASA Shares Incredible 3D Map of the Moon | Space
Clouds may interfere with your skywatching for International Observe the Moon Night , but there's always a perfect view of our satellite in a stunning new NASA animation of the lunar landscape.
The animation, called the CGI moon kit, is composed of data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The agency released it online to make data more accessible to 3D artists, according to a statement from NASA.
"[The moon kit] will bring the LRO data within reach of lots of other artists who want to do the kinds of things that I do," Ernie Wright, creator of the CGI moon kit and a science visualizer at the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center , said in the statement .
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Wright used 3D animation software to create the CGI moon kit, which was originally intended to be a resource for NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. However, after receiving several requests, Wright decided to make his visualizations available to the public, allowing others to connect with the LRO mission.
NASA looks to support development of commercial space stations - SpaceNews.com
WASHINGTON — As NASA releases a draft solicitation to support development of commercial space stations, a former agency administrator is calling on industry to step up its investment in and use of such facilities.
NASA issued Oct. 3 a draft version of its call for proposals for what it calls Commercial Destination Development in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Free Flyer , part of its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program. Comments on the draft proposal are due Oct. 30, with a final version expected for release around Nov. 18.
The program seeks to support development of commercial facilities in low Earth orbit separate from the ISS, hence the term "free flyer." The draft solicitation states that the goal of the effort is "to develop and demonstrate commercial destination technologies and markets in LEO," part of a broader commercialization initiative announced in June that includes a separate NextSTEP solicitation for commercial modules to be added to the ISS.
After years of delays, NASA is finally poised to launch a satellite to better understand space weather… https://t.co/IYyTmOAZQi verge (from New York) Wed Oct 09 16:29:20 +0000 2019
It's one of our most easily recognizable neighbors. The Washington Monument opened to the public on this day in 188… https://t.co/5wPkC6wzKZ SmithsonianArch (from Washington, D.C.) Wed Oct 09 13:30:09 +0000 2019
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