Question

What is the most current satelite NASA has launched?

NASA launches new satellites at an almost weekly basis. Some of these are deployed by the Space Shuttle, while others are launched by Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV’s). The spaceport, or launch platform, is at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), which is located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. KSC keeps an updated page of launches at http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/mixfleet.htm. This page however does not include military launches or commercial launches. Two somewhat recent launches that are of special note to astrobiology are the Cassini and the Odyssey missions. The Cassini mission will study the surface and rings of Saturn; it also carries the Huygens probe, which will plunge into one of Saturn’s moons, Titan. Titan is of special astrobiological note since its atmosphere seems to be very similar to that of the early Earth environment. To learn more about Cassini-Huygens, check out http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/index.shtml. The other mission, Odyssey, recently arrived at Mars to study its composition and landscapes. Odyssey joins the Mars Global Surveyor in Martian orbit. Odyssey seeks to: • Map chemical elements and minerals on the Martian Surface. • Look for water. • Analyze the planet's radiation environment and assess the risk to human explorers. More about the objectives and mission of Odyssey can be found at http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars_missns/mars-mod.html.
May 27, 2002