NASA opens hatch of Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft (photo)

NASA has started unpacking the Orion spacecraft after its epic moon mission. Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida have opened Orion‘s hatch and begun removing payloads that flew to the moon and back aboard the capsule on the Artemis 1 mission. This work will take quite a bit of time. “This week, technicians will extract nine avionics boxes from the Orion, which will subsequently be refurbished for Artemis 2, the first mission with astronauts,” NASA officials wrote in an update (opens in new tab) on Tuesday (Jan. 10).…

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In photos: Virgin Orbit’s first UK launch from Spaceport Cornwall

(Image credit: Daisy Dobrijevic/Space.com) Virgin Orbit’s “Start Me Up” mission was the first-ever orbital mission to lift off from the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan when its 70-foot-long (21 meters) LauncherOne rocket suffered an anomaly, preventing it from making orbit.  The company’s carrier plane Cosmic Girl lifted off from Spaceport Cornwall on schedule on Monday (Jan. 9) at 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT). The lift-off was celebrated by thousands of onlookers who had descended on Spaceport Cornwall to be part of the historic launch. Cornwall Airport Newquay…

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Rocket Lab targeting Jan. 23 for 1st launch from US soil

Rocket Lab’s debut mission from American soil will lift off less than two weeks from now, if all goes according to plan. The launch window for Rocket Lab‘s “Virginia Is for Launch Lovers” mission will open on Jan. 23, the company announced on Wednesday (Jan. 11). The flight will lift off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia (hence the name).  The launch window runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST on Jan. 23 (2300 GMT to 0100 GMT on Jan. 24) and on the daily backup dates, which…

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