WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Hubble space telescope, which has been in orbit since 1990, has temporarily suspended operations because of a gyroscope failure, the US space agency said Monday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Hubble went into “safe mode” on Friday. “Hubble entered safe mode after one of the three gyroscopes actively being used to point and steady the telescope failed,” NASA said in a statement. “Safe mode puts the […]
Tag: NASA
Lockheed Martin unveils its lunar lander concept vehicle
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, responding to NASA’s plans to renew the exploration of the moon and Mars in the next decade, unveiled Wednesday a concept spacecraft able to land on the lunar surface. The US space agency said it plans to send astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 as the initial stage for a future trip to Mars — part of an official US policy […]
NASA counts down to launch of laser study of ice sheets
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth’s ice sheets. The mission will inform sea level rise forecasts and is “exceptionally important for science,” according to Richard Slonaker, ICESat-2 program executive at NASA. The half-ton satellite should reveal unprecedented detail about the current thickness of […]
NASA space lasers to reveal new depths of planet’s ice loss
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA is poised to launch Saturday its most advanced space laser ever, ICESat-2, a $1 billion dollar mission to reveal the depths of the Earth’s melting ice as the climate warms. The half-ton satellite, about the size of a smart-car, is scheduled to blast off atop a Delta II rocket on September 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The 40-minute launch window […]
NASA launches historic probe to ‘touch Sun’
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA on Sunday launched a $1.5 billion spacecraft toward the Sun on a historic mission to protect the Earth by unveiling the mysteries of dangerous solar storms. “Three, two, one, zero, and liftoff! Of the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, a daring mission to shed light on the mysteries of our closest star, the Sun,” said the narrator […]
NASA counts down to launch of first spacecraft to ‘touch Sun’
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) – NASA counted down Friday to the launch of a $1.5 billion spacecraft that aims to plunge into the Sun’s sizzling atmosphere and become humanity’s first mission to explore a star. The car-sized Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to blast off on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida early Saturday. The 65-minute launch window opens at 3:33 am (0733 GMT), and the weather forecast is […]
NASA poised to launch first spaceship to “touch the Sun”
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — NASA is poised to launch a $1.5 billion spacecraft on a brutally hot journey toward the Sun, offering scientists the closest-ever view of our strange and mysterious star. After the Parker Solar Probe blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 11, it will become the first spacecraft ever to fly through the Sun’s scorching atmosphere, known as the corona. Understanding how the […]
NASA poised to launch first Sun-skimming spaceship
by Kerry SHERIDAN TAMPA, Unites States (AFP) — NASA is poised to launch a $1.5 billion spacecraft on a brutally hot journey toward the Sun, offering scientists the closest-ever view of our strange and mysterious star. After the Parker Solar Probe blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 11, it will become the first spacecraft ever to fly through the Sun’s scorching atmosphere, known as the corona. Understanding how the corona works will help […]
LOOK: “Blood moon” as seen from NASA’s telescopes
NASA footage from telescopes of the ‘blood moon’ as longest eclipse of the century begins. (AFP Video)
‘Flying brain’ designed to follow German astronaut launches Friday
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) – A floating, ball-shaped, artificial intelligence robot, specially trained to follow around a German astronaut at the International Space Station, is scheduled to blast off Friday on its ground-breaking mission. The basketball-sized device called CIMON — shortened from Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN — was described as a “flying brain” by Manfred Jaumann, head of microgravity payloads at Airbus. It launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday […]
Martian dust storm silences NASA’s rover, Opportunity
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — A massive dust storm raging across Mars has overcome NASA’s aging Opportunity rover, putting the unmanned, solar-powered vehicle into sleep mode and raising concerns about its survival, the US space agency said Wednesday. The unusually severe dust storm has blocked out the Sun over one-quarter of the Red Planet, blanketing an area spanning 14 million square miles (35 million square kilometers), NASA said. Opportunity, […]
Moonwalking astronaut-artist Alan Bean dies at 86
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth person to walk on the moon, has died, his family announced in a statement released by NASA. He was 86 years old. The moonwalker who went on to become a painter died Saturday in Houston after suddenly falling ill weeks before, the statement said. He was among the elite group NASA chose for its third group of astronauts in 1963, having served as a […]





