Dive teams practice splashdown recovery for Artemis II
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Fresh off the heels of a successful Artemis I mission, NASA is already preparing for its 2024 Artemis II mission that will take two astronauts around the moon. On Monday, dive teams practiced splashdown recovery operations at the Kennedy Space Center. That training will be going on for months and prepare the teams to recover the crew after splashdown. Once the astronauts splash down after their trip around the moon, they’ll exit the Orion capsule on an inflatable front porch, where they’ll be picked up by helicopters and flown back to the recovery ship. (James Tutten, WFTV.com/WFTV)Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
wftv.comJupiter has too many moons and there's a bear on Mars: This Week in Outer Space
Here’s what you may have missed this week in outer space. Early in the week, the internet was ablaze over an image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that bears a striking resemblance to a bear. Jupiter now officially holds the title for most moons in our solar system, beating out Saturn's previous record of 83. The "Dragon Endeavour" launch also marked the first U.S.-led manned spaceflight since NASA's space shuttle program was retired in 2011. In addition to the tragic loss of the crew, the investigation that followed exposed a major flaw in the shuttle's heat shielding, marking the beginning of the end for the space shuttle program eight years later.
wftv.comJupiter's moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — (AP) — Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. Saturn, the one-time leader, comes in a close second with 83 confirmed moons. For the record, Uranus has 27 confirmed moons, Neptune 14, Mars two and Earth one. Jupiter's newly discovered moons have yet to be named. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group.
wftv.comLessons learned from Columbia disaster remain 20 years later
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Twenty years ago Wednesday, the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost when the spacecraft broke up during reentry over Texas. The lessons learned from that tragedy transformed the culture of NASA as an agency. On Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia was 16 minutes from touching down at the Kennedy Space Center when disaster struck and mission control lost contact with Columbia and her crew. Photos: Remembering the space shuttle Columbia tragedy“I’m a student of history, and I’m sure that someday in the future, there will be another accident,” said NASA associate administrator Bob Cabana. Columbia broke up upon re-entry to earth February 1, 2003.
wftv.com‘It didn’t have to happen:’ Space journalist reviews Columbia disaster 20 years later
Just 81 seconds into launch, a chunk of foam flew off the shuttle’s external fuel tank and struck Columbia’s heat-resistant panels on its left wing. The damage to the heat shield proved catastrophic when Columbia tried to return to Earth.
NASA’s Artemis 1 moonship reaches record distance from Earth in near-flawless mission
At the halfway point in NASA's Artemis 1 mission, the unpiloted Orion moonship is chalking up a near-flawless flight, mission managers said Monday, beaming back spectacular images of Earth disappearing from view as it was eclipsed by the moon.
Space diversity: Europe's space agency gets 1st parastronaut
The European Space Agency has made history by selecting an amputee who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident to be among its newest batch of astronauts — one step toward its pioneering ambition to send someone with a physical disability into space.