29 August 2022
Lift-off draws close for NASA’s spectacular lunar return mission
... programme, though the Orion crew spacecraft did survive the transition. The five-segment solid rocket boosters on the SLS rocket (slightly larger than those used on NASA's Space Shuttle) and originally part of Constellation...
20 March 2020
SpaceX plans first crewed flight to ISS in May
... that the capsule could carry astronauts to safety in an emergency. SpaceX has pioneered the use of reusable rocket boosters, landing them 50 times after launches. Company founder Elon Musk has said often that reusability lowers...
26 May 2020
Virgin Orbit's first orbital test flight fails due to anomaly
... a clean release. After being released from the carrier aircraft, the LauncherOne rocket successfully lighted its booster engine on cue — the first time the company had attempted an in-air ignition. An anomaly then occurred early...
15 June 2020
Space Shuttle A Photographic Journey
... on the pad to its delta-wing silhouette gliding to a landing; from the raw power of the solid rocket booster flames to the stark clarity of the silent Orbiter engines in space. It’s always difficult to choose favourites, but the...
25 November 2020
Chang'e 5 is on its way to the Moon
.... After the Long March 5 carrier rocket was launched into space, it carried out four separations, including booster separation, fairing separation, primary and secondary separation, and rocket separation. Once at the Moon, the Chang...
19 March 2021
NASA conducts successful test of its massive SLS Moon rocket
... to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, the core stage will be assembled with the solid rocket boosters and other parts of the rocket and NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle...
