SpaceX launch of robotic arm to space station reset for Sunday
Sunday, 29 August 2021 01:23Launch of a SpaceX rocket from Florida carrying part of a robot that could help perform routine tasks for astronauts on the International Space Station was postponed early Saturday morning because of storms near the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. "Weather is not in our favor today," SpaceX production supervisor Andy Tran said during a live webcast of the launch attempt. "The vehicl
Astra rocket fails after liftoff from Alaska
Sunday, 29 August 2021 01:23California-based Astra Space, a small, relatively new rocket company, failed in flight Saturday after a launch from Alaska supported in part by the U.S. Space Force. The rocket "suffered an anomaly" about 2 1/2 minutes after liftoff from Kodiak shortly after 6:30 p.m. EDT, the company said, not elaborating on what happened. The failure followed an aborted attempt the day before,
Astra Rocket 3.3 launch fails
Saturday, 28 August 2021 22:36Astra’s third attempt to reach orbit failed Aug. 28 when its Rocket 3.3 vehicle struggled to get off the launch pad and eventually failed in flight.
Space Force launch director on Vulcan and BE-4: ‘We have to be very focused from here on out’
Saturday, 28 August 2021 21:29The head of the U.S. Space Force launch enterprise said it is “unfortunate” that Blue Origin is taking far longer than expected to complete the testing and production of BE-4 rocket engines for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle.
NASA Mars smallsat mission passes review
Saturday, 28 August 2021 18:34A smallsat Mars mission that had to revise its plans after it lost its initial ride has won NASA approval to move into full-scale development.
Astra aborts small-rocket launch for Space Force from Alaska
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36California-based Astra Space, a relatively new rocket company, aborted the launch of its first payload, an experiment for the U.S. Space Force, from Alaska on Friday. The company did not explain immediately the reason for the abort at 5:45 p.m. EDT on a livestream provided by space media publication NASAspaceflight.com. The launch window stretches to Sept. 11 at the Pacific Space
Mystery investor orders life support system for private space station
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36The billionaire space race formally kicked off last month after companies owned by Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson and Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos sent the men soaring to the edge of space. Critics have viciously attacked the billionaires for bringing a dystopian sci-fi vision of the future one step closer to reality. Raytheon Technologies subsidiary Collins Aerospace has confirmed that it
Robotic arm to help astronauts will head to space station
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36Part of a robot that could help perform routine tasks for astronauts is among the cargo on SpaceX's planned launch Saturday to the International Space Station from Florida. Tokyo-based GITAI Japan is developing the S1 robotic arm to work in space much like industrial robots work on Earth. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the arm, supplies and science experiments is planned for
Space pens, pencils, and how NASA takes notes in space
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36The Space Pen has captured the American imagination in more ways than one. It's appeared repeatedly in pop culture and even worked as a plot device in a "Seinfeld" episode titled "The Pen," and in 2021 was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. It's also the subject of a myth that the space agency spent millions to invent a pen that can write in zero gravity, while cosmonauts simply us
Collins Aerospace to provide an Earth-like atmosphere for future travelers heading into orbit
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36Collins Aerospace has been awarded a $2.6 million contract by an undisclosed customer for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) that will support a mission to establish a privately owned and operated orbital outpost in low Earth orbit. The ECLSS is a suite of technologies that enable livable conditions as low as 250 kilometers above Earth's surface. The ECLSS includes air
How disorderly young galaxies grow up and mature
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36Using a supercomputer simulation, a research team at Lund University in Sweden has succeeded in following the development of a galaxy over a span of 13.8 billion years. The study shows how, due to interstellar frontal collisions, young and chaotic galaxies over time mature into spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way. Soon after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, the Universe was an unruly
Unravelling the mystery of brown dwarfs
Saturday, 28 August 2021 07:36Brown dwarfs are astronomical objects with masses between those of planets and stars. The question of where exactly the limits of their mass lie remains a matter of debate, especially since their constitution is very similar to that of low-mass stars. So how do we know whether we are dealing with a brown dwarf or a very low mass star? An international team, led by scientists from the Unive
Two experiments to help humans "go farther / stay longer" in space
Friday, 27 August 2021 12:28When the Space X23 rocket launches on August 28th to resupply the International Space Station, it will carry two experiments designed to sustain humans as they go farther and stay longer in deep space: A physical science investigation known as DEvice for the study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization—Directional Solidification Insert-Reflight (DSI-R), and a space biology experiment known as the Advanced Plant EXperiment-08 (APEX-08).
While DSI-R's full title may be long, its purpose is succinct: How can material scientists make metal alloys stronger, and last longer under various gravity conditions? The answer may lie in a series of computational models that researchers hope to refine as a result of this experiment. Dr. Rohit Trivedi, a senior scientist at Ames Laboratory and a professor of materials science and engineering at Iowa State University in Ames Iowa is the principal investigator: Dr. Alain Karma, a professor of physics at Boston's Northeastern University is the Co Investigator.
Week in images: 23 - 27 August 2021
Friday, 27 August 2021 12:06Week in images: 23 - 27 August 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Dragonfly Aerospace’s journey from camera specialist to microsatellite builder
Friday, 27 August 2021 11:05Currently more known for the high-resolution cameras it builds than for spacecraft, Dragonfly Aerospace’s plan to move into microsatellite manufacturing got a major boost in April when it was sold to serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov.