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splashdown
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

For about 15 minutes on July 21, 1961, American astronaut Gus Grissom felt at the top of the world—and indeed he was.

Grissom crewed the Liberty Bell 7 mission, a ballistic test flight that launched him through the atmosphere from a rocket. During the test, he sat inside a small capsule and reached a peak of over 100 miles up before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.

A Navy ship, the USS Randolph, watched the successful end of the mission from a safe distance. Everything had gone according to plan, the controllers at Cape Canaveral were exultant, and Grissom knew he had just entered a VIP club as the second American astronaut in history.

Grissom remained inside his capsule and swayed on the gentle ocean waves. While he waited for a helicopter to take him onto the USS Randolph's dry deck, he finished recording some flight data. But then, things took an unexpected turn.

An incorrect command in the capsule's explosives system caused the hatch to pop out, which let water flow into the tiny space. Grissom had also forgotten to close a valve in his spacesuit, so water began to seep into his suit as he fought to stay afloat.

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China calls on scientists of all nations to study lunar samples, but notes obstacle with the US
Bian Zhigang, Deputy Director of the China National Space Administration speaks during a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Thursday, June 27, 2024. China's space officials said Thursday they welcomed scientists from across the world to apply to study the lunar rock samples the Chang'e 6 probe brought back to earth in a historic mission, but noted there were limits to that cooperation, specifically with the U.S.
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NASA advances research to grow habitats in space from fungi
Bricks produced using mycelium, yard waste and wood chips as a part of the myco-architecture project. Similar materials could be used to build habitats on the moon or Mars. Credit: NASA

As NASA prepares for long-duration missions to the moon and Mars for the benefit of all, a habitat-growing concept selected Wednesday by the agency could help "grow" homes using fungi for future explorers.

A team of researchers at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley will receive new funding under the NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to propel their habitat research.

The Phase III NIAC award will provide $2 million over two years to continue technology development of the Mycotecture Off Planet project in preparation for a potential future demonstration mission.

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20 Years after 'Hyper-X', UVA team makes NASA hypersonic breakthrough
Doctoral student Max Chern takes a closer look at the wind tunnel setup where University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers demonstrated that control of a dual-mode scramjet engine is possible with an optical sensor. Credit: Wende Whitman, UVA Engineering

What if the future of space travel were to look less like Space-X's rocket-based Starship and more like NASA's "Hyper-X," the hypersonic jet plane that, 20 years ago this year, flew faster than any other aircraft before or since?

In 2004, NASA's final X-43A unmanned prototype tests were a milestone in the latest era of jet development—the leap from ramjets to faster, more efficient scramjets.

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Video: 00:08:43

They say it takes a village to raise a child. To launch a rocket, we have the combined expertise and passion of Space Team Europe. Sergi Inglada, Control Bench Technical Manager for GTD, is one of many making the first Ariane 6 launch possible and has been interviewed as part of a series highlighting some of the people that make up this dream team.

Sergi has been interested in space ever since he was a child and studied engineering at INSA in Rennes, France. After discovering the dynamism, operations, diversity and technology at Europe’s Spaceport he started working

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LEDs active on Proba-3's Coronagraph spacecraft

The two Proba-3 satellites were set facing each other across a cleanroom as cameras, LEDs, a laser and shadow sensors were activated in turn, testing the systems that will let the pair sense their precise positions relative to each other, allowing them to line up precisely in orbit down to a single millimetre.

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Hera's control team visits the spacecraft inside its cleanroom

ESA’s Hera mission is due to launch in October this year on a quest to survey the Didymos binary asteroid system and study the results of the first-ever test of asteroid deflection.

The spacecraft is currently undergoing its final system tests in the Netherlands in preparation for transport to its launch site in the USA. Meanwhile, in Germany, Hera’s Mission Control Team recently began launch preparations of their own.

Proba-2’s glimpse of home

Thursday, 27 June 2024 06:31
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Proba-2’s glimpse of home Image: Proba-2’s glimpse of home
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Vertical distribution of cloud particle concentration

Less than a month after it was launched, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has returned the first image from one of its instruments – an image that, for the first time from space, unveils the internal structure and dynamics of clouds.

This remarkable first image, captured by the satellite’s cloud profiling radar, offers a mere glimpse of the instrument's full potential once it is fully calibrated.

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Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jun 27, 2024
Space Machines Company, an Australian-Indian in-space servicing firm, has signed a significant Launch Service Agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a government entity under the Department of Space and the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This collaboration will facilitate the launch of Space Machines Company's second Optimus spacecraft, weighing 450
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