NASA astronauts can’t wear Boeing Starliner spacesuits in SpaceX’s Dragon. Here’s why
Science & Technology

NASA astronauts can’t wear Boeing Starliner spacesuits in SpaceX’s Dragon. Here’s why

NASA Space Technology NASA astronauts Suni Williams (foreground) and Butch Wilmore wearing Boeing spacesuits in the Starliner spacecraft simulator at NASA's Johnson Space Center during emergency training on Nov. 3, 2022.(Image credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz)In the unlikely event a space emergency arises on the space station in the near future, two astronauts will have to ride home without spacesuits.Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station (ISS) empty no earlier than tomorrow (Sept. 6). It carried NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams up to the ISS and was expected to bring them home in Boeing-made spacesuits. But after Starliner's propulsion system acted up during docking with the ISS June 6, NASA eventually concluded that putting the astronauts on board for a return would be too much of a risk.For a few weeks,...
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NASA reaffirms decision to cancel OSAM-1
Science & Technology

NASA reaffirms decision to cancel OSAM-1

NASA Space Technology WASHINGTON — NASA is proceeding with plans to shut down a satellite servicing mission at the end of the month after rejecting a proposal to revise the mission to meet a 2026 launch date.In a statement posted online Sept. 5, NASA announced it would proceed with closing out the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) project, ending work on the mission at the end of the current fiscal year, which concludes Sept. 30.NASA announced March 1 that it had decided to cancel the mission, which was years behind schedule and far over budget. A fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill enacted later that month, though, directed NASA to develop a plan that would revise OSAM-1 in a way that could allow it to launch in 2026.The agency confirmed in August that NASA...
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NASA’s newly unfurled solar sail has started ‘tumbling’ end-over-end in orbit, surprising observations show
Science & Technology

NASA’s newly unfurled solar sail has started ‘tumbling’ end-over-end in orbit, surprising observations show

NASA Space Technology An artist's interpretation of NASA's fully-deployed Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) in orbit around Earth.(Image credit: NASA)A NASA spacecraft that recently unfurled a state-of-the-art solar sail in Earth orbit is "tumbling or wobbling" through space as it circles our planet, new observations show. NASA representatives told Live Science that the unusual motion was expected but did not explain exactly what is happening.The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) mission aims to test the efficacy of a new type of solar sail — a device potentially capable of propelling spaceships to faster-than-currently-available speeds using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight. Researchers hope that this type of technology could one day help propel humans to the edge of the solar system and beyond.The ACS3 spacecraft consists of a roughly 860-square-foot (80 square meters) foil...
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