JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is ready to begin its journey to asteroid 1999 JU3

(The probe being prepared for flight – Photo Credit: JAXA)

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has finished its pre-flight operations and is now complete and ready to be shipped to its launch site. The interplanetary probe will travel to asteroid “1999 JU3” after lifting off in December on a mission to collect samples from the asteroid and later return them to Earth for analysis. 

NASA confirms Space Launch System will be ready for 2018 test flight

(Space Launch System will become the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions – Photo Credit: NASA/MSFC)

After a thorough review, NASA managers have formally approved the development of the Space Launch System, something no other exploration class vehicle has achieved since the agency built the space shuttle, and have confirmed that the rocket will be ready for its first test flight no later than November 2018. 

Aquanauts complete underwater NEEMO 18 mission

(Mark T. Vande Hei and Thomas Pesquet collecting core samples – Photo Credit: NASA/NEEMO)

Four astronauts have ‘splashed up’ from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, ending the 18th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) expedition.