Happy Launching with NASA’s Launch Services Program(LSP) Schedule Manifest for 2018
Get ready! NASA is Launching six missions, six launching sites, in six different months and five different rockets all happening in 2018. The missions could not be any more different form one another. It’s been 15 years since LSP has had such a robust launch schedule for a single year. From Earth base missions to Solar System missions and here how you can keep up with all the action. Remember to follow ALL NASA’s launches and landings here.
Here is a break down for each mission:
| NASA Mission | Mission | Rocket use | Launch site | Launch Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOES-S is now GOES 17 | NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite | Atlas V | Complex 41- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station CCAFS | March 1st, 2018 at 5:02 PM |
| TESS | Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite | Space X- Falcon 9 | Space Launch Complex 40 at CCAFS | April 16th, 2018 at 6:32PM |
| InSight | Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport | Atlas V | Space Launch Complex-3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California | May 5th, 2018 |
| Parker Polar Probe | Journey to the Sun | Delta IV Heavy | Space Launch Complex 37 at CCAFS | July 31st, 2018 |
| ICESat-2 | Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite | Delta II | Space Launch Complex-2W at Vandenberg, CA | September 12th, 2018 |
| ICON | Ionospheric Connection Explorer | Pegasus | L-1011 Stargazer aircraft-Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands | June 14th, 2018 |
Here an image of the types of rockets NASA uses:
Teachers, remember every NASA mission has Education and Outreach resources that range from mission overview, images gallery, videos and media releases. Visit the site for each mission and explore its vast amount of resources.
For Example: NASA’s InSight website to resources https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/multimedia/resources/
Happy launching indeed!
Lester Morales, M.D.
Educator Professional Development Specialist, NASA STEM EPDC
NASA Kennedy Space Center