Category: Exploration
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Is NASA out of the Space Business?
It is now 2015 and in July it would have been four years since an American Spacecraft launched a crew into space. I have heard many people say that NASA is no longer in the space business because of this. In this article we will explore not only the missions that are currently operating in…
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Orion completes maiden voyage
NASA’s Orion spacecraft has completed it’s maiden voyage with a successful splashdown in the pacific ocean. After the launch this morning a number of tests were performed during the two orbit mission, Orion was the first human rated spacecraft to travel beyond Low Earth Orbit since Apollo 17 which flew 42 years ago. This mission…
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T-1 day and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
Tomorrow the first Orion mission should be under way, however the future for Orion and it’s carrier rocket Space Launch System (SLS) is not guaranteed. The first flight for SLS is still four years away maybe sooner if they can finish the rocket faster but given the number of delays already it seems more likely…
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Japanese H-2A rocket lifts off carrying Hayabusa 2
This evening a Japanese H-2A rocket lifted off with the Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Sample Return mission. Following the success of the previous Hayabusa mission this mission is designed to go one step further and return an actual sample back to Earth. Once in orbit the second spacecraft and upper stage will coast for 90 minutes…
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T-3 days and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
Officially known as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) the vehicle was announced in May 2011. The design of the vehicle is derived from the cancelled Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle which was to be a part of the Constellation program announced by President Bush in 2004, that program was eventually cancelled by President Obama and the…
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T-4 days and counting to NASA’s Orion EFT-1
A few days from now the first flight of NASA’s new crewed space vehicle Orion is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral. The mission called Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) will not be a crewed test flight and is designed to test out the Orion systems and heat shield. For this mission the capsule will…
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Humans vs Robots for Space Exploration
Last week the European Space Agency achieved an important milestone in the history of Space Exploration with the first landing on a Comet. The lander named Philae was released from it’s parent spacecraft Rosetta and seven hours later touched down in the surface. Due to some complications the spaecraft ended up bouncing and landed two…