SpaceX launched its 40th mission of the year this evening (April 18). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 6:40 p.m. EDT (2240 GMT). The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch …
SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites On Company’s 40th Mission of 2024. Read More »
China is all set to send its next crew to its Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou 18 spacecraft currently sits atop a Long March 2F rocket, on its pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket was transferred 0.93 miles (1.5 kilometers) by rail from the vertical integration building to the pad on April 17, …
China Rolls Out Rocket For Next Astronaut Mission To Tiangong Space Station. Read More »
The Russian space agency Roscosmos conducted a successful orbital test launch of its new Angara A5 heavy-lift rocket, helping to open a new chapter of spaceflight for the nation. The Angara A5 lifted off April 11 on its fourth orbital test launch, and its first from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s far east. The 179-foot-tall …
Russia Launches New Angara A5 Heavy-Lift Rocket On 4th Orbital Test Mission. Read More »
A “devil comet” is about to rear its icy green head over Earth — but you’ll have to look soon to spot it. On April 21, the 10.5-mile-wide (17 kilometers) Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the “devil comet” or “Mother of Dragons comet,” will reach its closest point to the sun — known as perihelion …
Will’Devil Comet’ 12P/Pons-Brooks Survive Its Close Encounter With The Sun? Read More »
Another one signs the (moon) dust. Sweden is the newest nation to sign onto NASA’s Artemis Accords for peaceful and responsible exploration. During a signing event in Stockholm on Tuesday (April 16), Swedish Minister for Education Mats Persson penned the agreement alongside U.S. Ambassador Erik D. Ramanathan. “By joining the Artemis Accords, Sweden strengthens its …
Sweden Becomes 38th Country To Sign NASA’s Artemis Accords For Moon Exploration. Read More »
A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today (April 17) at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 GMT). The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned. It landed vertically on SpaceX‘s Just Read the Instructions …
SpaceX Launches 23 Starlink Satellites From Florida. Read More »
The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role. Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled for one last time in a control room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in …
Ingenuity Team Says Goodbye To Pioneering Mars Helicopter. Read More »
Like Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” character in “Top Gun,” Boom Supersonic is feeling the need for speed. The Colorado company has received a first-of-its-kind approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to exceed Mach 1 during test flights of its XB-1 supersonic jet. These flights are slated to occur sometime this year within the Black …
Boom’s XB-1 Test Plane Gets FAA Green Light For Supersonic Flight. Read More »
Less than 2,000 light-years away from Earth, scientists have discovered a “sleeping giant”—the Milky Way’s largest stellar black hole, with a mass 33 times greater than that of our sun. Though the black hole, named Gaia BH3, is the second-closest known to our home planet, it is “dormant” and had therefore gone undetected. “It’s a …
Astronomers have long believed that the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are rich in frozen water. However, a new study suggests they may also have tons of methane ice. The findings could help solve a puzzle about how these icy worlds formed. Much about Uranus and Neptune remains unknown. These ice giant worlds have had …
Uranus and Neptune Aren’t Made Of What We Thought, New Study Hints. Read More »
