Orion conducts lunar flyby; captures Earth and Moon in photos
NASA’s new era of Artemis exploration continues gathering momentum as the unpiloted Orion crew capsule successfully completed its outbound powered flyby (OPF) engine burn Monday morning, Nov. 21, and made its closest flyby of the Moon – keeping the human space vehicle and Artemis 1 mission precisely on track for targeting its distant retrograde orbit …
Artemis era is underway as test flight launches to the Moon
The Artemis era of exploration officially opened with the spectacular nighttime blastoff of NASA’s mammoth SLS rocket for the first time on the Artemis 1 mission on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from the Kennedy Space Center on its maiden lunar test flight with the Orion crew capsule. The mission places America back on the path of …
Artemis 1: Here’s what to expect and why it’s important
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission is poised to take a key step toward returning humans to the Moon after a half-century hiatus. The launch was initially scheduled for the morning of Aug. 29, 2022 but was postponed due to an issue with one of the rocket’s engines. NASA rescheduled the launch to Sept. 3, 2022, but …
Hurricane delays launch of Artemis to Nov. 16
While Hurricane Nicole did not cause any significant damage to NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket stack on Thursday, Nov. 10, the program managers have delayed the next launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 16. That amounts to a two-day delay from the prior target of just past midnight on Nov. 14. NASA decided to leave the …
Who is Artemis? Ancient lunar goddess turned feminist icon
Artemis I will send a rocket without a crew on a monthlong journey around the Moon. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration – 30% of its engineers are women. In addition, the Artemis I mission will carry two mannequins designed to study the effects of radiation on women’s bodies so that …
NASA targeting Nov. 14 for next Artemis 1 launch attempt
NASA is targeting Monday, Nov. 14 as the date for the next launch attempt of the Artemis I mission with a nighttime liftoff of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back. The late-night launch window on Nov. 14 opens at 12:07 a.m. EST and …
DART mission a success as NASA spacecraft crashes into asteroid
In a world first, NASA has crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to push the rocky traveler off its trajectory. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test – or DART – is meant to test one potential approach that could prevent an asteroid from colliding with Earth. David Barnhart is a professor of astronautics …
Artemis second launch attempt set for Saturday afternoon
Following a scrub called on the first launch attempt of the Artemis I Moon rocket on Monday, Aug 29, NASA officials have reviewed their options and decided to make a second launch attempt this weekend. Liftoff of the Artemis 1 mission is now slated for Saturday, Sept. 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT (18:17 UTC) from …
Stay busy with NASA’s Artemis coloring and activity pages
Put the “art” in Artemis with these 18 coloring and activity pages created by NASA. Through NASA’s Artemis program, the SLS rocket will power a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon. After you have completed your artwork, share your masterpiece with the hashtag #ColorWithNASA on social media. Individual Pages Everyone is free to …
Download NASA’s Space Launch System Info Guide
The Space Launch System Reference Guide was prepared by NASA’s SLS Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama, which has responsibility for the design, development, testing, and engineering of SLS, the new super heavy-lift rocket that will send astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis missions. The first flight …
Artemis I Mission Word Search
NASA is launching the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion human-crated spacecraft on their maiden voyage – a long test flight around the Moon and back. We’re celebrating the milestone here at RocketSTEM with a section devoted to Artemis-related articles and activities. In our latest Word Search puzzle, we’ve hidden 33 words related to …
NASA slates August 29 launch of maiden SLS rocket on Artemis 1 mission
August 29 has been selected by NASA as the launch date for the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on the Artemis 1 unpiloted test flight from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. NASA officials earlier determined that the fourth Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) Tanking Test conducted on June 20 was …
Nichelle Nichols’ legacy defined by more than a kiss
On a 1968 episode of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk in what’s widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and white man on American television. The episode’s plot is bizarre: Aliens who worship the Greek philosopher Plato use telekinetic powers to force the …
Artemis 1 rolls out to Pad 39B for launch rehearsal
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop Launch Complex 39B on March 18, 2022, after the first-ever rollout from the VAB the previous day. Prior to the Artemis 1 flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) …
James Webb Space Telescope: How to send a giant telescope to space – and why
The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to head to space on Dec. 22, 2021. With it, astronomers hope to find the first galaxies to form in the universe, will search for Earthlike atmospheres around other planets, and accomplish many other scientific goals. I am an astronomer and the principal investigator for the Near Infrared …
Star Trek’s William Shatner rides emotional journey to final frontier aboard Blue Origin mission
William Shatner, aka Capt. James T. Kirk of Star Trek, launched to space successfully on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, riding along on an emotional journey to the final frontier as the oldest the human ever. Shatner was invited aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket whose development was financed by billionaire Jeff Bezos …
Inspiration4 mission represents a new type of space tourism
On Sept. 15, 2021, the next batch of space tourists are set to lift off aboard a SpaceX rocket. Organized and funded by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, the Inspiration4 mission touts itself as “the first all-civilian mission to orbit” and represents a new type of space tourism. The four crew members will not be the first …
S.S. Ellison Onizuka on way to ISS after successful launch
Northrop Grumman successfully launched its 16th resupply mission to the International Space Station from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in Wallops Island, Virginia on August 10, 2021, at 6:01:05 p.m. EDT. The NG16 mission will deliver approximately 8,200 pounds of cargo to the station including crew supplies, hardware, and scientific research once …
Northrop Grumman to launch its 16th resupply mission to the ISS
The 16th resupply mission by Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is currently targeted to lift off on August 10th at 5:56 p.m. from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. On top of the Antares booster, the Cygnus spacecraft will carry more than 8,200 pounds of science and research, …
QuizMe: Pluto Quiz
Discovered by humanity less than 100 years ago, Pluto has largely remained an enigma ever since. It was not until 2015 that the first spacecraft from Earth – an uncrewed probe sent by NASA – made a flyby of the distant planet, passing within 7,750 miles of the surface after traversing three billion miles since …