Archive for the 'Space' Category
NASA Resumes Human Spaceflight from U.S. Soil with Historic SpaceX Launch
May 30th, 2020Via: Reuters: SpaceX, the private rocket company of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, launched two Americans into orbit from Florida on Saturday in a landmark mission marking the first spaceflight of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil in nine years.
SpaceX Crew Demo-2: First Astronaut Launch from U.S. Since 2011
May 27th, 2020Live updates, NASA Commercial Crew. SpaceX livefeed:
X-37B Space Plane’s Microwave Power Beam Experiment
May 10th, 2020Via: The Drive: The X-37B’s upcoming mission is known as both Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OTV-6) and U.S. Space Force-7 (USSF-7). It will carry out missions that will assess the effects of cosmic radiation and other “space effects” on plant seeds and various material samples. According to a Space Force press release, which went out on […]
Trump Administration Drafting ‘Artemis Accords’ Pact for Moon Mining
May 7th, 2020Via: Reuters: The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon under a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, people familiar with the proposed pact told Reuters. … The Trump administration and other spacefaring countries see the moon as a key strategic asset in outer space. The moon also […]
NASA Awards Nearly $1 Billion to SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics for Moon Missions
May 2nd, 2020Via: CBS: SpaceX and teams led by Dynetics and Blue Origin won NASA contracts Thursday totaling nearly $1 billion to develop lunar landers that could carry astronauts back to the moon as early as 2024 and support sustained, long-term operations by 2028 under the space agency’s Artemis program. “With these contract awards, America is moving […]
Starlink 6, Two Days After Launch
April 30th, 2020Via: Sebastian Voltmer: Shooting the satellite batches: Starlink 6 two days after launch! from Sebastian Voltmer on Vimeo.
A Robotic Spacecraft Caught an Old Satellite and Extended Its Life
April 17th, 2020Via: CNBC: Intelsat’s IS-901 satellite is nearly 20 years old, and well beyond its expected lifespan, but a small spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman succeeded in docking with the satellite and giving it another five years of service, the companies announced on Friday. The feat is a space industry first, as extending the life of […]
COVID-19 Forces Earth’s Largest Telescopes to Close
April 11th, 2020Hmm. But actually pic.twitter.com/jlowaHobXO — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2020 Via: Astronomy: An Astronomy magazine tally has found that more than 100 of Earth’s biggest research telescopes have closed in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a trickle of closures in February and early March has become an almost complete […]
Pentagon’s New Satellite Constellation Part of Plan to Link Everything on the Battlefield
April 7th, 2020The Pentagon is already planning to use Starlink, Air Force laying groundwork for future military use of commercial megaconstellations: The Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation office in December awarded SpaceX a $28 million contract to test over the next three years different ways in which the military might use the company’s Starlink broadband […]
Trump Signs Executive Order to Support Moon Mining, Tap Asteroid Resources
April 7th, 2020Via: Space: The water ice and other lunar resources that will help the United States establish a long-term human presence on the moon are there for the taking, the White House believes. President Donald Trump signed an executive order today (April 6) establishing U.S. policy on the exploitation of off-Earth resources. That policy stresses that […]
