The Coronavirus Relief Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) legislation includes $60 million for NASA to “prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally.”
The agency anticipates spending a total of $7 billion over 15 years—shared among multiple companies—to carry cargo to the Gateway as part of its Artemis lunar exploration program.
NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) is soliciting proposals from U.S.-based companies and institutions for methods of dealing with mental health challenges that astronauts are likely to face during multiyear missions to Mars— strategies that could also address the psychosocial effects of pandemics like the current novel coronavirus.
The Vega light launcher and its evolutions will continue to enjoy brisk sales, despite the current health crisis around the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact in the short term, Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo says.
The Orion spacecraft slated to fly aboard NASA’s first Space Launch System flight test next year arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 25, as six more NASA facilities were shut down to help stem the spread of COVID-19.
The European Space Agency is reducing on-site personnel at its mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, and switching some science missions into standby mode.
The European Space Agency is planning a public webcast on March 26 for astronauts to share their experience and techniques for living in confined spaces.
The U.S. Space Force is looking forward to “voice recognizable” communications with the expected completion of the six-satellite Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation.
Preparations for Rocket Lab’s next launch, a rideshare mission of small research satellites, have been suspended because of newly announced New Zealand government restrictions designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Using the International Space Station’s robot arm, ground controllers removed Bartolomeo, the recently launched European commercial external experiment platform, from the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule late March 24.
The four-way competition for a pair of National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts remains on track for award this year despite work restrictions stemming from concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. Air Force said on March 24.
In the midst of shutdowns and work restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing at Cape Canaveral AFS here are preparing for the March 26 launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying the sixth and final member of the Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite network.
Representatives from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program are joining the SpaceX investigation into why a Falcon 9 engine shut down early during launch last week, NASA said on March 23.
British scientists and academics are studying the potential use of diamond batteries to provide long-lasting energy resources that could power small satellites and sensors.
Looking to close dozens of capability gaps for reaching Mars with human explorers, NASA expects to rely on activities aboard the International Space Station and future lunar-orbiting Gateway, as well as terrestrial work in locations that can act as analogs for the red planet.
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida remained open on March 23 to personnel working on Mars 2020, Commercial Crew and Cargo and other mission-critical programs despite its first confirmed case of the coronavirus COVID-19.
Launching the Mars 2020 rover, recently named Perseverance, this summer remains among NASA’s highest priorities, despite agency-wide shutdowns of its facilities due to health concerns over the coronavirus disease COVID-19.
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program, which provides ground processing and launch facilities for the integrated Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, is in better shape now than when the program was last audited in 2016, but the agency needs to improve cross-program integration and testing, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) said March 19.
