SpaceX plans to launch 20 more of its Starlink satellites on Thursday night (July 11), including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Thursday from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, during a four-hour window that opens at 10:39 p.m. EDT (7:39 p.m. local California time; …
SpaceX is gearing up for the fifth test flight of its Starship megarocket, which could take place in the next few weeks. The company just rolled Starship‘s giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, out to the launch pad at Starbase, its facility in coastal South Texas. SpaceX documented the move via social media, posting …
SpaceX rolls Starship Super Heavy Booster To Launch Pad Ahead of 5th Test Flight. Read More »
While NASA’s portion of the Mars Sample Return mission sits in budgetary limbo, the European Space Agency (ESA) continues to move forward with its piece of the Red Planet sampling puzzle: the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO). ERO will provide the crucial transport of Mars samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover from the Red Planet to …
Europe’s Mars Sample Return Orbiter Moving Ahead Despite NASA Budget Uncertainty. Read More »
SpaceX’s plans to launch its Starship–Super Heavy two-stage rocket 44 times per year from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have come under fire from its two main rivals: United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The Starship vehicle is the world’s largest rocket. Its two stages are SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster rocket, …
Scientists may have solved a lingering mystery surrounding the ice giant Uranus and its weak radiation belts. It’s possible the belts’ weakness is linked to the planet’s curiously tilted and lopsided magnetic field; the field could be causing “traffic jams” for particles whipping around the world. The mystery dates back to Voyager 2’s visit to …
‘Traffic Jams’ Around Uranus Could Solve The Mystery Of Its Weak Radiation Belts. Read More »
Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket has finally taken flight, carrying the hopes of a continent on its broad back. The Ariane 6 launched for the first time ever today (July 9), lifting off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:01 p.m. EDT (1901 GMT). There was a lot riding on this debut: It …
Europe’s New Ariane 6 Rocket Launches On Long-Awaited Debut Mission. Read More »
A sparkling jeweled ring, created through a cosmic phenomenon called gravitational lensing, has been imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. The new image captures a distant quasar known as RX J1131-1231, which lies about 6 billion light-years from Earth. The powerful gravitational field of a nearby elliptical galaxy, located in the foreground of the …
The James Webb Space Telescope Finds A Jeweled Ring In The Cosmos. Read More »
NASA’s Goldstone planetary radar system recently recorded two near-Earth asteroids, 2024 MK and 2011 UL21, flying by our planet. Perhaps a tad alarming, one was only detected 13 days before it safely bypassed Earth, but scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California assure it never posed a threat. Still, the imagery …
2 Asteroids Just Zipped By Earth, And NASA Caught Footage Of The Action. Read More »
Two Chinese astronauts continued installing space debris protection outside the nation’s Tiangong space station this week. Ye Guangfu and Li Cong, two members of the three-person Shenzhou 18 mission, spent about 6.5 hours working outside Tiangong on Wednesday (July 3). Li Guangsu assisted the expedition from inside Tiangong, operating the station’s robotic arm. The main …
Chinese Astronauts Install Space-junk Shielding On Tiangong Space Station . Read More »
New images published by the European Space Agency have captured a 600-kilometer-long (373-mile-long) snaking scar on Mars’ surface in greater detail than ever before. The Red Planet is full of scratches and scars, and this one, named Aganippe Fossa, is another of these ditch-like grooves with steep walls — more specifically, however, Aganippe Fossa is …
Mars Orbiter Captures Red Planet Scar That’s Longer Than The Grand Canyon. Read More »
