NASA’s search for Earth-like planets around other stars took one major step forward Wednesday night when the agency’s TESS exoplanet hunter received a smooth ride into a high-energy transfer orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 raced into crystal-clear afternoon skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral at 22:51:31 UTC on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite.
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 raced into crystal-clear afternoon skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral at 22:51:31 UTC on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite.
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NASA’s pursuit of Earth 2.0 will have to wait at least another two days for a critical search asset to head into orbit as the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was delayed from Monday to provide time for additional Guidance, Navigation & Control System analysis.
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The Orbital ATK-built TESS spacecraft looks somewhat lonely inside the large SpaceX payload fairing it will ride up in on
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired up atop the company’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pad on Wednesday for the customary static fire test ahead of entering final preparations for liftoff as early as Monday with NASA’s TESS exoplanet hunter
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NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) undergoes final pre-launch processing tasks at the Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility including final functional checks, deployment testing and propellant loading before attachment to the launch adapter and shipment to SpaceX’s facilities for integration with the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
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Engineers at Orbital ATK’s facilities integrate the four Wide Field Cameras of the TESS spacecraft onto their structural plate that precisely aligns their individual fields of view to create the spacecraft’s wide-field viewing sector.
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The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and its staring instrument undergo assembly at the various facilities involved in the mission, including MIT Lincoln Lab and Orbital ATK where the four wide-field cameras and the satellite platform were integrated, respectively.
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