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Tuesday, March 31, 2026

24 Humans Traveled to The Moon, 12 Walked on its Surface | NASA History

24 Humans Traveled to The Moon, 12 Walked on its Surface | NASA History

Between 1968 and 1972, these 24 humans traveled to the Moon. Twelve of them walked on its surface.

With the Artemis II flight test mission, NASA looks forward to adding NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen to this photo.

Learn about NASA's Apollo Program:
https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/

The Artemis II Moon crewed test flight is set for launch no earlier than 6:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Wednesday, April 1, 2026, with a two-hour launch window. Additional opportunities for launch run through Monday, April 6.

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, splashdown, and other activities for the upcoming Artemis II flight test around the Moon. The crew will test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time with humans aboard, helping lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Image Credit: NASA History Office
Release Date: April 3, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ApolloProgram #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

How to Watch NASA's Artemis II Moon Crewed Test Flight Coverage

How to Watch NASA's Artemis II Moon Crewed Test Flight Coverage

The Artemis II Moon crewed test flight is set for launch no earlier than 6:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Wednesday, April 1, 2026 with a two-hour launch window. Additional opportunities for launch run through Monday, April 6.

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, splashdown, and other activities for the upcoming Artemis II crewed flight test around the Moon. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time with humans aboard, helping lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Wednesday, April 1 Schedule

7:45 a.m.: Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator.

12:50 p.m.: NASA+ coverage of launch begins. Coverage continues on YouTube after Orion’s solar array wings deploy in space.

Approximately two-and-a-half hours after launch, NASA will hold a post-launch news conference after the SLS rocket’s upper stage performs a burn to send Orion and its crew to high Earth orbit. The start time is subject to change, based on the exact liftoff time.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Release Date: March 31, 2026

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #CrewedMissions #Astronauts #ReidWiseman #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAKennedy #KSC #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #Infographics #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 R3 Panstarrs: View from Spain

Comet C/2025 R3 Panstarrs: View from Spain

Astrophotographer Frank Niebling: "Comet Panstarrs shows nice structures: It has now several jets that result in separate gas tails. These were interacting with a turbulence in the solar wind in the morning of 28.03.2026 and curled the gas tail."

Discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey in September 2025, the comet is diving toward its closest approach to the sun (0.50 AU) on April 19, 2026, bringing it well inside the orbit of Venus. If current trends continue, the comet could brighten to magnitude +2, easily seen and photographed in the pre-dawn sky.

The comet's brightness will receive a further boost between April 24-25 when it passes almost directly between Earth and the Sun. The process is called "forward scattering." Sunlight passing through the comet's dusty atmosphere could be amplified 100-fold or more.

We will not be able to see the April 24 surge from Earth. The comet will be too close to the Sun. However, coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) will have a great view of what could briefly become a truly magnificent object.

Image Credit: Frank Niebling
Location: PixelSkies, Spain
Image Details: 4x3min Tec 140 at f5, Asi 6200mm in L, 4h16-4h35 UT 8x3min Askar 300, Qhy367c, 4h14-4h42 UT Authors: Frank Niebling, Michael Buechner
Frank's website: https://www.sternfreundefranken.de
Release Date: March 28, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025R3Panstarrs #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #FrankNiebling #Astrophotographers #Spain #España #Europe #STEM #Education

China Launches Lijian-2 Commercial Rocket: Key to Next-gen Space Cargo System

China Launches Lijian-2 Commercial Rocket: Key to Next-gen Space Cargo System

Modular and universal design enables efficient production and launch for Lijian-2 (Kinetica-2) carrier rockets, said a designer as a Lijian-2 Y1 carrier rocket with three satellites onboard blasted off at 19:00 (Beijing Time) from a commercial aerospace innovation pilot zone in northwest China and sent the satellites into the planned orbit on March 30, 2026, including the New March-02 Satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft.

With a low Earth orbit payload capacity of 12 tonnes, the rocket is fully equipped to meet the demands of space station cargo missions. However, for commercial spaceflight, high payload capacity alone is not enough. The Lijian-2 is able to deliver impressive performance thanks to its design innovations.

A closer look at the Lijian-2 reveals that its core stage and two boosters appear nearly identical. This is no coincidence but a deliberate "universal" design known as the "universal booster core" configuration. This approach allows major components of the rocket to be mass-produced, significantly streamlining the manufacturing process.

"From the very beginning of its design, the Lijian-2 followed a philosophy of large quantity and mass production. That is why the appearance of the rocket’s units is highly similar. The critical feature of this rocket is that the core stage and the boosters are designed to be identical in configuration," said Lian Jie, deputy chief designer of Lijian-2 carrier rocket of CAS Space, a commercial spaceflight company established by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

According to Lian, the greatest advantages of this design lie in its flexibility and efficiency. If a component encounters an issue, it can be quickly replaced like a standard part—a key feature that supports the development of high-frequency launch capability.

"If a problem occurs during the launch, we can quickly take a booster produced in the same batch to replace the faulty one, so as to ensure a smooth launch as scheduled," he said.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Lijian-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Lijian-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Lijian-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the China Space Station.

Video Credit: SMG
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: March 31, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Lijian2Rockets #Kinetica2Rockets #LaunchVehicles #Qingzhou #CargoSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Lijian-2 Commercial Rocket: Modular Design for Mass Production—Designer

China Lijian-2 Commercial Rocket: Modular Design for Mass Production—Designer

"If a problem occurs during the launch, we can quickly take a booster produced in the same batch to replace the faulty one, so as to ensure a smooth launch as scheduled," he said.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 52 seconds
Release Date: March 31, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Lijian2Rockets #Kinetica2Rockets #LaunchVehicles #CargoSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Close-up: NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

Close-up: NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B

A closeup view of the crew access arm connected to NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the launch abort system atop NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

A closeup view of NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the launch abort system atop NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket

This photograph shows a closeup view of one of the solid rocket boosters attached to NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at Launch Complex 39B with the Vehicle Assembly Building in the background at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In this angle looking up, this photograph shows NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secured to the mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Wednesday, April 1 Schedule

7:45 a.m.: Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator.

12:50 p.m.: NASA+ coverage of launch begins. Coverage continues on YouTube after Orion’s solar array wings deploy in space.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls/Frank Michaux
Image Dates: Jan. 17-March 30, 2026

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Wednesday, April 1 Schedule

7:45 a.m.: Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator.

12:50 p.m.: NASA+ coverage of launch begins. Coverage continues on YouTube after Orion’s solar array wings deploy in space.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls/Joel Kowsky/Keegan Barber
Image Dates: March 30-31, 2026

NASA Artemis II Moon Crewed Flight Test: How to Watch the Launch

NASA Artemis II Moon Crewed Flight Test: How to Watch the Launch

The Artemis II Moon test flight is set for launch no earlier than 6:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Wednesday, April 1, 2026 with a two-hour launch window. Additional opportunities for launch run through Monday, April 6.

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Wednesday, April 1 Schedule

7:45 a.m.: Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator.

12:50 p.m.: NASA+ coverage of launch begins. Coverage continues on YouTube after Orion’s solar array wings deploy in space.

Credit: NASA/Ashlee Elizabeth Nichols
Duration: 1 minute, 15 seconds
Release Date: March 31, 2026

How to Watch NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission Coverage

How to Watch NASA's Artemis II Moon Mission Coverage

Let's go to the Moon! 🚀🌖 | NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, splashdown, and other activities for the upcoming Artemis II crewed flight test around the Moon. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will test the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time with humans aboard, helping lay the groundwork for future crewed Artemis missions.

The Artemis II test flight is set for launch no earlier than 6:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Wednesday, April 1, 2026 with a two-hour launch window. Additional opportunities for launch run through Monday, April 6.

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are continuing final preparations for Artemis II with an 80% chance of favorable weather ahead of a launch as early as April 1.

Watch agency launch, lunar flyby, and splashdown coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Wednesday, April 1 Schedule

7:45 a.m.: Coverage of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket begins, including views of the rocket and audio from a commentator.

12:50 p.m.: NASA+ coverage of launch begins. Coverage continues on YouTube after Orion’s solar array wings deploy in space.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Date: March 31, 2026

The Coma Galaxy Cluster: Clusters within Clusters in Coma Berenices | Hubble

The Coma Galaxy Cluster: Clusters within Clusters in Coma Berenices | Hubble

This image, from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), reveals thousands of globular clusters lying at the core of a galaxy cluster. It was created by a Hubble survey that drew on data from three of the telescope’s separate observing programs to explore the center of the Coma cluster, a huge gathering of over 1,000 galaxies, about 320 million light-years away, all bound together by gravity.

Astronomers spotted over 22,000 globular clusters. A number of these have formed a bridge connecting a pair of well-known interacting galaxies, such as NGC 4889 and NGC 4874. A globular cluster is a spherical group of stars that usually orbits a galaxy as a self-contained satellite. However, the globular clusters studied here are another type, intracluster globular clusters. Specifically, these are globular clusters that are not bound to an individual galaxy, but to a galaxy cluster—in this case, Coma.

While globular clusters orbiting our Milky Way reveal themselves as sparkling spherical assemblies of densely packed stars, at the distance of the Comla cluster, they only appear as tiny dots of light, even to Hubble's advanced vision. However, a characteristic feature of globular clusters is their color; since the stars in any given cluster all formed at around the same time and from the same “stuff”, they usually have a consistent color. In this way, the astronomers were able to identify the clusters—and rule out background galaxies lying in the same region of sky—by analyzing their color and size, painting a beautiful family portrait of Coma and its clusters.

With the help of the identified globular clusters astronomers can map the distribution of matter and — even more important—of dark matter in the Coma cluster. The Coma Cluster was one of the first places where observed gravitational anomalies indicated the existence of dark matter.

Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Mack, and J. Madrid et al.
Release Date: Dec. 3, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #ComaCluster #IntraclusterGlobularClusters #ComaBerenicesConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Giant Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4874 in Coma Berenices | Hubble

Giant Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4874 in Coma Berenices | Hubble

In the center of a rich cluster of galaxies located in the direction of the constellation of Coma Berenices, lies a galaxy surrounded by a swarm of star clusters. NGC 4874 is a giant elliptical galaxy, about ten times larger than the Milky Way, at the center of the Coma Galaxy Cluster. With its strong gravitational pull, it is able to hold onto more than 30,000 globular clusters of stars, more than any other galaxy that we know of, and even has a few dwarf galaxies in its grasp.

In this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image, NGC 4874 is the brightest object, located to the right of the frame and seen as a bright star-like core surrounded by a hazy halo. A few of the other galaxies of the cluster are also visible, looking like flying saucers dancing around NGC 4874. However, the really remarkable feature of this image is the point-like objects around NGC 4874, revealed on a closer look—almost all of them are clusters of stars that belong to the galaxy. Each of these globular star clusters contains many hundreds of thousands of stars.

Recently, astronomers discovered that a few of these point-like objects are not star clusters but ultra-compact dwarf galaxies, also under the gravitational influence of NGC 4874. Being only about 200 light-years across and mostly made up of old stars, these galaxies resemble brighter and larger versions of globular clusters. They are thought to be the cores of small elliptical galaxies that, due to the violent interactions with other galaxies in the cluster, lost their gas and surrounding stars.

This Hubble image also shows many more distant galaxies that do not belong to the cluster, seen as small smudges in the background. While the galaxies in the Coma Cluster are located about 350 million light-years away, these other objects are much further out. Their light took several hundred million to billions of years to reach us.

Most unusually, the image also shows a very faint blue satellite trail, extending across the whole image, from the upper left corner of the frame to the lower right. Since Hubble’s cameras can only see a tiny part of the sky at one time, such trails are very rare.

This picture was created from optical and near-infrared exposures taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is 3.3 arcminutes across.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: Sept. 19, 2011

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #NGC4874 #EllipticalGalaxies #ComaGalaxyCluster #DwarfGalaxies #StarClusters #ComaBerenicesConstellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Aurora Borealis over Alaska

Aurora Borealis over Alaska

Astrophotographer Marybeth Kiczenski: "Wow! This was one of the best substorms I've ever seen! A glancing blow from a CME really made the Aurora come alive this morning in Alaska! What a way to end this trip to Fairbanks! The way the Aurora framed the Moon was just icing on the cake!"

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras:
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Alaska is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is considered to be the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state in the United States. It borders the Canadian territory of the Yukon and the province of British Columbia to the east. It shares a western maritime border in the Bering Strait with Russia. The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean lie to the north, and the Pacific Ocean lies to the south.

Image Credit: MaryBeth Kiczenski
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
MaryBeth's website: https://Shelbydiamondstar.com
Date: March 25, 2026

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #Moon #SpaceWeather #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #MarybethKiczenski #Astrophotographers #Fairbanks #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Monday, March 30, 2026

Best Wishes to NASA's Artemis II Mission Crew! | International Space Station

Best Wishes to NASA's Artemis II Mission Crew! | International Space Station

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer and NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir: "Our work on the International Space Station has provided the foundation to explore further, preparing us to return humans to the Moon this week. Stay tuned as we enter the NASA Artemis era!"

"Expedition 74 will certainly be keeping a close watch."

"Godspeed, Artemis II!"

NASA Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman responded: "Thank you, Jessica . . . and thanks for the wonderful note you left my crew on the dry erase board in crew quarters. Talk soon! ❤️"

Follow Expedition 74:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey-Kud Sverchkov (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Andrey Fedyaev, Sergei Mikaev

European Space Agency Flight Engineer: Sophie Adenot

NASA Flight Engineers: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Chris Williams

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credits: NASA's Johnson Space Center/J. Meir

Release Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #ISS #Planets #Earth #Moon #ArtemisII #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisGeneration #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #ChrisWilliams #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition74 #JSC #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education

Close-up: China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch

Close-up: China CAS Space's New Commercial Kinetica-2 Rocket Launch

🚀Announcing the success of a China CAS Space Kinetica-2 rocket on its first flight. A 53-meter-tall Kinetica-2 Y1 rocket launched on March 30, 2026, from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in Northwest China. It has delivered three satellites into space—the New March 01 Technology Demonstration Satellite, the New March 02 Satellite, and TS 01 Educational Satellite into their designated orbits.

Developed by Chinese commercial space firm CAS Space, Kinetica-2 is China's first to adopt a Common Booster Core (CBC) configuration. The Kinetica-2 is a medium-lift, liquid-fuel rocket and the second launch vehicle developed by CAS Space, following the Kinetica-1. It is the company's first liquid-propellant rocket, and is tasked with supporting China's large-scale satellite deployment and low-cost cargo transportation for the Chinese space station.

The rocket consists of a multi-stage core booster that has a diameter of 3.35 meters, and two side boosters that also are 3.35 m wide. Its liftoff weight is 625 metric tons with a maximum thrust of 753 tons. The rocket is able to transport spacecraft with a combined weight of 8 tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers or 12 tons to a low-Earth orbit 200 km.

The New March 02 satellite, also known as the Qingzhou prototype test spacecraft, that launched today, adopts a single-module integrated configuration, allowing it to flexibly adapt to a variety of launch vehicles via its wide launch compatibility. It weighs only 4.2 metric tons.

CAS Space is a commercial spaceflight company established by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Video Credit: CAS Space

Duration: 22 seconds
Date: March 30, 2026

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #CASSpace #中科宇航 #CAS #中国科学院 #Kinetica2Rocket #Kinetica2Y1Rocket #LaunchVehicles #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight #NewMarch01TechnologyDemonstrationSatellite #NewMarch02Satellite #TS01EducationalSatellite #JSLC #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Rocket & Crew Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, left, Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, right, stop for a group photograph as they visit NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, Monday, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Sunday, March 30, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), around the Moon and back to Earth with launch opportunities beginning in April 2026.

NASA’s Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), around the Moon and back to Earth with launch opportunities beginning in April 2026.

Read more about NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: nasa.gov/sls

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Artemis blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Date: March 30, 2026