NASA Completes First Full-Scale Motor Test for Orion Spacecraft

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Apr 16, 2008 | 4.5 / 5 (10) | 2

NASA has completed the first full-scale rocket motor test for the Constellation Program's Orion spacecraft, a test of a solid rocket that will be used to jettison the craft's launch abort system.

NASA Conducts Full-Scale Test Firing of Orion Jettison Motor

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 21, 2008 | 4.3 / 5 (7) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA completed a full-scale rocket motor test on Thursday, July 17, to further development of the Orion jettison motor, which will separate the spacecraft's launch abort system from the crew ...

NASA Launch Tests Alternate Concept for Astronaut Escape System

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 04, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

NASA's Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, is scheduled to be tested June 15 at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The launch window extends from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT.

NASA, ATK Successfully Test First Orion Launch Abort Motor

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Nov 21, 2008 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Flames shot more than 100 feet high in a successful 5.5-second ground test firing Thursday, Nov. 20, of a launch abort motor for NASA's next generation spacecraft, the Orion crew exploration vehicle. NASA ...

Pieces Coming Together for First Test Launch of NASA's New Spacecraft

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jan 22, 2009 | 4 / 5 (3) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA is using powerful computers and software programs to design the rocket that will carry crew and cargo to space after the space shuttle retires. But those computers will have their work ...

NASA Prepares for First Unmanned Test of Orion

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Mar 12, 2008 | 3.7 / 5 (10) | 2

Returning humans to the moon by 2020 may seem like a distant goal, but NASA's Constellation Program already has scheduled the first test flight toward that goal to take place in less than 12 months.

NASA Successfully Tests Alternate Launch Abort System for Astronaut Escape

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jul 08, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's next generation of spacecraft will have the safest-ever astronaut escape system, a modern-day version of the reliable Apollo system. Like Apollo, the Orion launch abort system will ...

ESA's MetOp launch again aborted

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 18, 2006 | not rated yet | 0

The launch of the European Space Agency's MetOp satellite was postponed Wednesday for the fifth time with 2 minutes, 35 seconds left in the countdown.

NASA's Ares I-X moon rocket makes first test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 28, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (25) | 17

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight.

NASA puts new Ares I-X rocket on launch pad for test flight

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 20, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (10) | 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time in more than a quarter century, a new vehicle is sitting at Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Ares I-X flight test vehicle arrived at the pad ...

NASA Completes Assembly of Ares I-X Test Rocket

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Aug 17, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time in more than a quarter-century a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA's Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The Ares I-X rocket, its simulated crew module ...

NASA's Ares I Rocket First Stage Igniter Successfully Tested

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Mar 10, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA has completed a successful test firing of the igniter that will be used to start the Ares I rocket first stage motor.

NASA tries 2nd time to launch experimental rocket

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 28, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

(AP) -- Bad weather was interfering with NASA's attempt to launch a new, experimental rocket for the second day in a row early Wednesday.

WISE Launch Scheduled for Dec. 11

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Dec 04, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is scheduled for Dec. 11.

NASA Shuttle Engine Upgrades Improve Safety and Reliability

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Jun 05, 2007 | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

A main engine computer upgrade developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will fly on space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-117 mission, targeted for launch June 8. The upgrade is ...