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Astra aces return-to-flight mission, deploys satellites for 1st time

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Astra bounced back from last month’s launch failure with a groundbreaking success, deploying satellites in Earth orbit for the first time ever. The California company’s two-stage Launch Vehicle 0009 (LV0009) lifted off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska’s Kodiak Island today (March 15) at 12:22 p.m. EDT (1622 GMT; 8:22 a.m. local time on … Read more

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 21st Red Planet flight

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The Ingenuity helicopter’s Red Planet flight tally is up to 21. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) NASA chopper just aced another Mars sortie, agency officials announced today (March 11). “#MarsHelicopter can’t be stopped! Ingenuity successfully completed its 21st flight on the Red Planet. The small rotorcraft traveled 370 meters [1,214 feet] at a speed of 3.85 … Read more

Ingenuity helicopter aces 20th Mars flight

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NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has now outflown its Red Planet expectations by a factor of four. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity landed on the floor of Jezero Crater with NASA’s life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance rover on Feb. 18, 2021. The solar-powered chopper soon embarked on a five-flight technology-demonstrating mission designed to show that powered flight is … Read more

Roc soars again: Biggest airplane ever built aces 4th test flight

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The biggest airplane ever built, Stratolaunch’s Roc carrier aircraft, just aced its fourth test flight. Roc, which will eventually haul hypersonic vehicles into the air, successfully finished its latest flight on Thursday (Feb. 24), a jaunt that came on the heels of another test flight in January. Roc lifted off from the Mojave Air and … Read more

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay

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The dust storm couldn’t keep NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded forever. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced a 100-second sortie on Tuesday (Feb. 8), its 19th Red Planet flight overall but its first since Dec. 15. The flight had originally been targeted for Jan. 5. But on New Year’s Day, a big dust storm kicked … Read more

SpaceX aces 100th rocket landing after Dragon cargo ship launch to space station

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched its 31st rocket of the year early Tuesday (Dec. 21), sending a used Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station  before nailing the company’s 100th landing.  A new two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:07 a.m. EST … Read more

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 18th Red Planet flight (video)

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NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has soared through alien skies yet again. “The #MarsHelicopter keeps going, going, going! Ingenuity successfully completed its 18th flight, adding 124.3 seconds to its overall time aloft on the Red Planet,” officials with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity’s pioneering mission, said via Twitter today (Dec. … Read more