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2021-02-18 -Short Attention Span Theater-

NASA delays launch of planetary defense mission

[SpaceNews] NASA will delay the launch of a mission designed to test one technique for deflecting a potentially hazardous asteroid, although that delay won’t affect the spacecraft’s arrival at its target.

NASA announced Feb. 17 that it will postpone the launch of its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission from its primary launch window of July 21 to Aug. 24 of this year to a backup window that opens Nov. 24 and runs to Feb. 15, 2022. The spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

In a statement, the agency said issues with two major components of the spacecraft led it to postpone the launch. One involves its main instrument, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical-navigation (DRACO), which needs to be reinforced to withstand the launch environment. The other is its solar panels, known as Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA), whose delivery has been delayed by supply chain issues caused in part by the pandemic.

Posted by 3dc 2021-02-18 06:40|| || Front Page|| [14 views ] Top

#1 Better get moving, the guy in the middle ain't get'en any younger, and you know how grumpy old men get, not to mention fragile.

Posted by Elmating Protector of the Bunions4552 2021-02-18 07:28|| 2021-02-18 07:28|| Front Page Top

#2 The other is its solar panels, known as Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA), whose delivery has been delayed by supply chain issues caused in part by the pandemic.

And part because the panel contracts were offshored?

Posted by Pheager Ghibelline8658 2021-02-18 11:01|| 2021-02-18 11:01|| Front Page Top

#3 I read Ball Aerospace has a pretty good version of DRACO.

Posted by Vespasian Ebboting9735 2021-02-18 14:05|| 2021-02-18 14:05|| Front Page Top

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