SpaceX Announces all-Civilian Crew for Orbital Flight

SpaceX will add a dome window to their Crew Dragon. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four non-astronauts were introduced to the public on Tuesday as the first all-civilian space crew selected to spend three days in Earth orbit this autumn.

Businessman and jet pilot Jared "Rook" Isaacman will lead the rookie crew. A physician's assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist and pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, and former Air Force airman Chris Sembroski round out the crew.

Dr. Proctor, 51, will become the first woman of color to pilot an American space flight. She will be only the third American woman to pilot a space craft.

The crew is scheduled to lift-off a top reflown Falcon 9 booster on September 15 aboard the Crew Dragon known as Resilience. The Inspiration 4 crew will lift-off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA Sets Target Date for Mars Helicopter Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA announced on Tuesday a target date for the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet.

The small helicopter known as Ingenuity is expected to lift-off from the surface of Mars no earlier than Thursday, April 8. The copter remains attached to the belly of NASA’s new rover Perseverance, receiving electricity, warmth, and a ride to its launch zone.

NASA will have only one month to perform a series of flights once the copter is dropped from the rover’s belly. It’s deployment next week will start a 30 day clock on how long the team will have to fly the craft.

Deployment of the helicopter will take six days, four hours to complete. The tissue box-size aircraft will be cut loose on day six and drop five inches onto the Martian surface.

NASA's Martian Helicopter 'Ingenuity' Nears its First Flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A small helicopter attached to the NASA rover Perseverance will soon take flight to conduct the first flight of an aircraft on another world.

The drone-style helicopter known as Ingenuity will provide the Red Planet with a first of its kind air show the first week of April. During a 30-day window, engineers hope to perform up to five flight tests -- each building on the previous flight.

At $85 million, the Ingenuity program is an investment in understanding aviation in the very thin Martian atmosphere. The planet's surface pressure is only .088% that of Earth's, and this may make it difficult to provide the necessary lift in order to fly.

"When the Wright Brothers flew for the first time, they flew an experimental aircraft," Ingenuity's chief pilot Håvard Grip explained. "In the same way, the Mars helicopter is designed to show we can fly a powered helicopter flight in the Martian atmosphere."

NASA to Conduct the First Martian Air Show

Controlled from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Ingenuity will be lowered from the belly of Perseverance. Signals from Earth will then detach the copter and it will drop a few inches to the Martian surface and land on its four legs.

Exclusive Interview: Space Shuttle Discovery Pilot Col. Eric Boe

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA astronaut Col. Eric A. Boe, who piloted the final flight of space shuttle Discovery ten years ago this week, recalls the exciting 13-day mission to service the International Space Station.

The 133rd space shuttle flight delivered tons of supplies, including water, fuel, and oxygen to the orbital laboratory. Discovery's six-person crew also left the Leonardo multi-purpose module docked to the station.

On March 9, 2011, Boe and mission commander Steven Lindsay piloted Discovery to a safe landing at the Kennedy Space Center. In total, Discovery spent a combined 365 days in space; orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled a distance of 148,221,675 miles during 39 flights.

In an exclusive interview with this aerospace journalist, the former U.S. Air Force fighter and test pilot discusses his feelings related to the space flight. From the emotions of the mission to his piloting time around the space station.

Eric Boe: From a CAP Student to NASA Astronaut

Eric Boe's career in aviation began as he joined the Civil Air Patrol which is an auxiliary of the Air Force.