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List Of Launch Services Program Launches
The launch history of NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) since the program formed in 1998 at Kennedy Space Center. The launch of NASA robotic missions occurred from a number of launch sites on a variety of rockets. After the list of launches are descriptions of select historic LSP missions. Launch history The table below is a complete history of the NASA robotic spacecraft launched by the Launch Services Program The dates are relative to the launch site and may not match the UTC date. 1990s 2000-2004 2005-2009 2010s 2020s ElaNa launches Historic missions Below are descriptions of historic NASA missions launched by the Launch Services Program. Mars Exploration Rovers (MER-A & B) (Delta II) NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers launched aboard Delta II vehicles from CCAFS. MER-A "Spirit" launched June 2003, and MER-B "Opportunity" launched July 7 that same year. Both rovers reached Mars in January 2004. Information sent back to Earth from the rovers revealed the existe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Launch Services Program
The NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for procurement of launch services for NASA uncrewed missions and oversight of launch integration and launch preparation activity, providing added quality and mission assurance to meet program objectives. LSP operates under the NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). Since 1990, NASA has purchased expendable launch vehicle launch services directly from commercial providers, whenever possible, for its scientific and applications missions. Expendable launch vehicles can accommodate all types of orbit inclinations and altitudes and are ideal vehicles for launching Earth-orbit and interplanetary missions. The Launch Services Program was established at Kennedy Space Center for NASA's acquisition and program management of expendable launch vehicle missions. A NASA/contractor team is in place to meet the mission of the Launch Services Program, which exists to provide leadership, expertise and cost-effective services in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth Observing-1
Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) is a decommissioned NASA Earth observation satellite created to develop and validate a number of instrument and spacecraft bus breakthrough technologies. It was intended to enable the development of future Earth imaging observatories that will have a significant increase in performance while also having reduced cost and mass. The spacecraft was part of the New Millennium Program. It was the first satellite to map active lava flows from space; the first to measure a facility's methane leak from space; and the first to track re-growth in a partially logged Amazon forest from space. EO-1 captured scenes such as the ash after the World Trade Center attacks, the flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, volcanic eruptions and a large methane leak in southern California. Overview Its Advanced Land Imager (ALI) measured nine different wavelengths simultaneously, instead of the seven measured by the imager in Landsat 7. This permitted a greater flexibility ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site
The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site (formerly Kwajalein Missile Range), is a missile test range in Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean). It covers about and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll (on multiple islands), Wake Island, and Aur Atoll. It primarily functions as a test facility for U.S. missile defense and space research programs. The Reagan Test Site is under the command of the US Army Kwajalein Atoll, or USAKA (pronounced ). Purpose and facilities The facility is part of the Defense Major Range and Test Facility Base. They provide range instrumentation, missile launch facilities, mission control center, range safety, meteorological support, and support space operations. , the facility's budget was US$182 million. The site hosts a suite of unique instrumentation, located on eight islands throughout the Kwajalein Atoll. This instrumentation includes a comprehensive suite of precision metri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Energy Transient Explorer
High Energy Transient Explorer 1 (HETE-1) was a NASA astronomical satellite with international participation (mainly Japan and France). History The concept of a satellite capable of multi-wavelength observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) was discussed at the Santa Cruz, California meeting on GRBs in 1981. In 1986, the first realistic implementation of the HETE concept by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT-led International Team was proposed. This concept, which was adopted, emphasized accurate locations and multi-wavelength coverage as the primary scientific goals for a sharply-focused small satellite mission which would ultimately solve the gamma-ray burst mystery. In 1989, NASA approved funding for a low-cost "University Class" explorer satellite to search for GRBs. In 1992, the HETE-1 program was funded, and the design and construction of HETE-1 began. The original spacecraft contractor for HETE-1 was AeroAstro, Inc., of Herndon, Virginia. AeroAstro was responsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charts the seas, conducts deep sea exploration, and manages fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S. exclusive economic zone. Purpose and function NOAA's specific roles include: * ''Supplying Environmental Information Products''. NOAA supplies to its customers and partners information pertaining to the state of the oceans and the atmosphere, such as weather warnings and forecasts via the National Weather Service. NOAA's information services extend as well to climate, ecosystems, and commerce. * ''Providing Environmental Stewardship Services''. NOAA is a steward of U.S. coastal and marine environments. In coordination with federal, state, local, tribal and international authorities, NOAA manages the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tracking And Data Relay Satellite
A tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft, the International Space Station, and remote bases like the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This system was designed to replace an existing worldwide network of ground stations that had supported all of NASA's crewed flight missions and uncrewed satellites in low-Earth orbits. The primary system design goal was to increase the amount of time that these spacecraft were in communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could be transferred. These TDRSS satellites are all designed and built to be launched to and function in geosynchronous orbit, above the surface of the Earth. The first seven TDRSS satellites were built by the TRW corporation. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaceport Florida Launch Complex 36
Launch Complex 36 (LC-36)—formerly known as Space Launch Complex 36 (SLC-36) from 1997 to 2010—is a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County, Florida. It was used for Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launches by NASA and the U.S. Air Force from 1962 until 2005. Blue Origin has leased the launch site since 2015 in order to build a new launch site for launching the company's orbital spaceflight, orbital rockets. Orbital launches are expected to begin from LC-36 no earlier than Q4 2022, and the first launch vehicle slated to launch there is New Glenn, under development by Blue Origin since 2012. As of 2019, LC-36 is under major construction, including for a large launch pad for the launch vehicle with nearby Horizontal Integration Facility, lightning tower, water tower, and propellant tank farm for liquid methane and liquid oxygen. Historically, the complex consisted of two launch pads, SLC-36A and SLC-36B, and was the launch site for the Pioneer progra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorology research. Spacecraft and ground-based elements of the system work together to provide a continuous stream of environmental data. The National Weather Service (NWS) and the Meteorological Service of Canada use the GOES system for their North American weather monitoring and forecasting operations, and scientific researchers use the data to better understand land, atmosphere, ocean, and climate dynamics. The GOES system uses geosynchronous equatorial satellites that, since the launch of SMS-1 in 1974, have been a basic element of U.S. weather monitoring and forecasting. The procurement, design, and manufacture of GOES satellites is overseen by NASA. NOAA is the official provider of both GOES ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IMAGE (spacecraft)
IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, Explorer 78 or MIDEX-1) is a NASA Medium Explorer mission that studied the global response of the Earth's magnetosphere to changes in the solar wind. It was believed lost but as of August 2018 might be recoverable. It was launched 25 March 2000, at 20:34:43.929 UTC, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a two-year mission. Almost six years later, it unexpectedly ceased operations in December 2005 during its extended mission and was declared lost. The spacecraft was part of NASA's Sun-Earth Connections Program, and its data has been used in over 400 research articles published in peer-reviewed journals. It had special cameras that provided various breakthroughs in understanding the dynamics of plasma around the Earth. The principal investigator was Jim Burch of the Southwest Research Institute. In January 2018, an amateur satellite tracker found it to be transmitting some signals back to E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 3
Space Launch Complex 3 (SLC-3) is a launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base that consists of two separate launch pads. SLC-3E (East) is currently used by the Atlas V launch vehicle, while SLC-3W (West) has been demolished. Launches from Vandenberg fly southward, allowing payloads to be placed in high-inclination orbits such as polar or Sun-synchronous orbit, which allow full global coverage on a regular basis and are often used for weather, Earth observation, and reconnaissance satellites. These orbits are difficult to reach from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where launches must fly eastward due to major population centers to both the north and south of Kennedy Space Center. Avoiding these would require hugely inefficient maneuvering, greatly reducing payload capacity. SLC-3E was the launch site of the Mars lander ''InSight'' in May 2018. SLC-3E History One of two Atlas-Agena pads at VAFB, SLC-3E was originally the designated facility for MIDAS (Missile Defense Alarm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlas II
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. The Atlas II was a direct evolution of the Atlas I, featuring longer first stage tanks, higher-performing engines, and the option for strap-on solid rocket boosters. It was designed to launch payloads into low earth orbit, geosynchronous transfer orbit or geosynchronous orbit. Sixty-three launches of the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS models were carried out between 1991 and 2004; all sixty-three launches were successes, making the Atlas II a highly reliable space launch system. The Atlas line was continued by the Atlas III, used between 2000 and 2005, and the Atlas V which is still in use. Background In May 1988, the US Air Force chose General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) to develop the Atlas II vehicle, primarily to launch Defense Satellite Communications System payloads under the Medium Launch Vehicle II (MLV-II) program. Additional commercial and U.S. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
