Mission | Common News Update

Oct192018 by adminNo Comments

Mission to Mercury: BepiColombo spacecraft ready for launch

Europe and Japan are set to launch their joint mission to Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun. The partners have each contributed a probe to be despatched on an Ariane rocket from French Guiana. The duo, together known as BepiColombo, are bolted to one another for the seven-year cruise to their destination, and will separate once they arrive. It's hoped their parallel observations can finally resolve some of the many puzzles about the hot, oddball planet. One of the key ones concerns the object's outsized iron core, which represents 60% of its mass. Science cannot yet explain why the planet only has a thin veneer of rocks. Bepi's high-resolution data should bring us nearer to an answer. Media playback is unsu...

Aug132018 by adminNo Comments

Lift off! NASA's 'touch the sun' mission launches

Technology

A space probe that will "touch the sun" and reach record-breaking speeds has successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Parker Solar Probe lifted off on the Delta IV Heavy rocket a day late, after a dramatic delay on Saturday saw lift-off halted with two minutes to go.The second attempt on Sunday at 3.31am local time was a success.Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles blasted out in the control centre moments after the team burst into applause at the successful lift-off. Image: The rocket took off in the early hours from Cape Canaveral The probe will get within 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometres) of the sun's surface after travelling at a record-breaking 430,000 mph.From Earth, it is 93 million miles to the sun (150 ...

Aug122018 by adminNo Comments

Parker Solar Probe: Nasa launches mission to 'touch the Sun'

World

Media playback is unsupported on your device US space agency Nasa has launched its mission to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before.The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history. Its data promises to crack longstanding mysteries about the Sun's behaviour. It is the first space craft to be named after a living person - astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958."Wow, here we go! We're in for some learning over the next several years," he said after watching the lift-off from the scene. The University of Chicago professor said he had been biting his nails in anticipation. ...

Aug112018 by adminNo Comments

Parker Solar Probe: Nasa delays mission to unlock Sun's mysteries

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device US space agency Nasa has delayed its mission to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before.The Parker Solar Probe was set to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, but last-minute investigations have delayed it for 24 hours. It is now scheduled to blast off - on board the mammoth Delta-IV Heavy rocket - on Sunday morning. The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history. The rocket was on the launch pad when the countdown clock was interrupted, as officials investigated an alarm. Nasa had a weather window of 65 minutes to launch, but the time elapsed before the issue could be resolved. The probe aims to dip directly into our star's outer atmosphere, or corona...

Jun292018 by adminNo Comments

Watch live: SpaceX to launch space station resupply mission

Science

June 28 (UPI) -- SpaceX is preparing to launch its 15th resupply mission to the International Space Station. The company's Dragon spacecraft will be launched by a Falcon 9 rocket early Friday morning from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Blastoff is scheduled for 5:42 a.m. ET. Friday's launch will be streamed live on NASA TV. The cargo ship will ferry 5,900 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware to the space station. The trip from Earth to ISS will take a little more than three days. Roughly ten minutes after launch, the spacecraft will be released into orbit. Over the weekend, a succession of thruster firings will push the Dragon spacecraft closer and closer to the space station. When the craft reaches ISS on Monday, NASA astronaut Ricky Ar...