SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronaut mission delayed a day to April 20

The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will have to cool their heels here on Earth for at least one extra day. The launch of Crew-4 had been scheduled for April 19. But it’ll now lift off no earlier than April 20, and NASA and SpaceX are also considering the backup date of April 23 as an option, Kathy Lueders, the agency’s human spaceflight chief, announced today (April 6). “The additional spacing provides mission teams time to complete final prelaunch processing for Crew-4 following…

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SpinLaunch’s rocket-flinging launch system will loft NASA payload on test flight this year

NASA will soon take a unique launch system out for a spin. The agency has signed on to send a payload up using a suborbital, kinetic-energy based system developed by California-based company SpinLaunch. The test flight, which is expected later this year, will “provide valuable information to NASA for potential future commercial launch opportunities,” SpinLaunch representatives said in an emailed statement. The newly revealed Space Act Agreement is part of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, which helps demonstrate technologies that could aid the agency’s science and exploration portfolios down the road…

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Bjarni Tryggvason, one of Canada’s original astronauts, dies at 76

Bjarni Tryggvason, one of Canada’s original six astronauts who flew on board NASA’s space shuttle, has died at the age of 76. The news of Tryggvason’s death (opens in new tab) on Monday (April 5) was first shared online by former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, who trained with Tryggvason as a member of the U.S. space agency’s 1998 group of international astronaut candidates. “Rest In Peace Penguin classmate. It was an honor to train and work with you,” Melvin wrote on Instagram (opens in new tab) on Wednesday (April 6).…

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SpaceX rolls Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon capsule out to pad for Ax-1 astronaut launch (photos)

The hardware that will launch the first-ever all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station has made its way to the pad. On Tuesday (April 5), SpaceX rolled the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule that will fly the Ax-1 mission out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. SpaceX posted photos of the rollout on Twitter (opens in new tab).  Ax-1, which was organized by Houston company Axiom Space, is scheduled to lift off on Friday (April 8). It will send three paying customers…

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