NASA SPACE NEWS/LAUNCHES

NASA ASTRONAUTS BOB BEHNKEN AND DOUG HURLEY ARE NOW SAFELY DOWN IN THE GULF

Splashdown OCCURED in the Gulf of Mexico ON TIME!

Splashdown occurred at 2:48 p.m. EDT on Sunday. This marks the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station and it wrapped NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission after more than two months at the International Space Station.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Hurley and Behnken lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 and arrived at the space station the following day. The Demo-2 test flight is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.

WATCH THE RETURN LIVE

A SPACEX LAUNCH IS SCHEDULED FOR

August 18, 10:30AM from SLC-40 @ KSC

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of approximately 58 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink 10. Two Earth imaging satellites will also be onboard as rideshare payloads on this mission.

See all SpaceX launches live at: https://www.spacex.com/launches/

UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE (ULA) HAS A DELTA 4+ HEAVY SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH ON AUGUST 26 (Time is TBD)

It will be carrying a classified spy satellite for the National Recon Office. More information will be provided as it becomes known.

ON THE WAY TO MARS

NASA's mission to the Red Planet

Perseverance’s astrobiology mission will search for signs of past microbial life on Mars and characterize the planet's climate and geology. It will also collect rock and soil samples for future return to Earth and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

"Fifty-one years ago..., NASA was deep into final preparations for the first Moon landing," said Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "Today we stand at the threshold of another monumental moment in exploration: sample collection at Mars. As we celebrate the heroes of Apollo 11 today, future generations may well recognize the women and men of Perseverance — not only for what they will achieve 100 million miles from home, but for what they were able to accomplish on this world on the road to launch."

Perseverance is scheduled to land at Mars' Jezero Crater, Feb. 18, 2021

Click Here to See the mars rover Video

EAA288

THE NEXT EAA 288 MEETING WILL BE VIRTUAL ON THURSDAY AUGUST 20 AT 7PM

NASA ASTRONAUTS BOB BEHNKEN AND DOUG HURLEY ARE NOW SAFELY DOWN IN THE GULF

ON THE WAY TO MARS

MARS ROVER LOWERED ON ATLAS V AT KSC 7/10/2020