SpaceX retools problem booster for overnight launch from Space Coast
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 09:24
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SpaceX is rolling a booster that was part of a scrubbed launch attempt last month back to the launch pad for an early morning mission on the Space Coast.
A Falcon 9 rocket on the Starliner 8-9 mission carrying 20 Starlink satellites including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities aims for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 2:57 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday during a window that lasts until 5:59 a.m.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts an 80% chance for good conditions. Additional opportunities fall to Sunday, July 7, during a window that opens at 12:28 a.m.
This is the 16th flight of the first-stage booster, which was previously on the pad for the Starlink 10-3 mission, but was changed out after an issue when it hit T-0 during a launch attempt on June 14.
The flight eventually took off with a new booster while SpaceX reconfigured this for Wednesday morning's attempt. SpaceX never revealed the reason behind the scrub or the booster switch.
It will attempt a landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas stationed in the Atlantic.
Stellar success for ESA's first open day in the UK
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 08:53 Write a comment
Thousands of visitors flocked to ESA’s establishment in the UK last Saturday to experience first-hand how the agency is pushing the boundaries of exploration and using space to improve life on Earth.
A snaking scar on Mars
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 08:00 Write a comment
A fascinating feature takes centre stage in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express: a dark, uneven scar slicing through marbled ground at the foot of a giant volcano.
EnduroSat gets order for Botswana’s debut satellite
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 05:00
SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch gamma-ray astronomy mission
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 04:44
NASA assessment suggests potential additional delays for Artemis 3 lunar lander
Wednesday, 03 July 2024 04:39
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket finally ready for liftoff
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket is set for its first-ever launch next week, carrying with it the continent's hopes of regaining independent access to space and fending off soaring competition from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
After four years of delays, the European Space Agency's (ESA) most powerful rocket yet is finally due to blast off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 3:00 pm (180 Japan succesfully launches H3 next-gen rocket with new observation satellite
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
In its third attempt in more than a year, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launched Monday its new H3 rocket carrying with it this time an observation satellite intended to monitor damage on Earth from natural disasters.
"Today, the payload, Daichi-4, was deployed into its operational environment - space - and has commenced its mission," Hiroshi Yamakawa, JAXA's pre Ahead of Ariane 6 launch, what are the other big rockets?
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket is due to blast off for the first time next week, but it will launch into a quickly changing market for heavy space launchers increasingly dominated by SpaceX.
Here are some of the other big rockets competing for the lucrative job of hauling satellites and other missions into space.
- Ariane 6 -
The first flight of the European Space Agency's biggest roc SpaceX launches U.S. spy satellites from Vandenberg
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
SpaceX launched spy satellites for the United States from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday night.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at the opening of a two-hour window, 8:14 p.m. PDT.
The United States' National Reconnaissance Office described the classified mission as "the second launch of NRO's proliferated architecture, delivering critical sp Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission Prepares for Launch
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
Space Systems Command's (SSC) two Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) payloads, integrated with Space Norway's Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) vehicles, have arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The satellites are set for final integration with the launch vehicle, targeting a dual launch as early as July.
The payloads and host vehicles received shipment China's Tianwen 2 Probe to Undertake Ambitious Asteroid and Comet Mission
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
China's Tianwen 2 probe is set to launch on a Long March 3B rocket in May 2025. This ambitious mission aims to return samples from a near-Earth asteroid and then explore a comet, marking a significant step in space exploration.
The probe's first target is the near-Earth asteroid 469219, also known as Kamo'oalewa in Hawaiian. Tianwen 2 will conduct remote sensing to identify potential landi Mapping Mars with Open Science Tools
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
Mars rovers uncover new discoveries through careful decision-making by scientists. The Mars 2020 mission focuses on Jezero Crater's geology and searching for signs of ancient microbial life with the Perseverance rover. Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California utilized innovative mapping methods to guide both the rover and the Ingenuity helicopter, using open-s University of Michigan wins NASA's lunar lander challenge award
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 22:02 Write a comment
The University of Michigan may have topped its college football title with an out-of-this-world science challenge win.
NASA named its team as the winner of its 2024 Human Lander Challenge at a forum in Huntsville, Ala., on Friday.
Michigan beat out 11 other universities throughout the United States who made presentations in front of NASA and space industry experts addressing the Robotic rover could support astronauts on moonwalks
Tuesday, 02 July 2024 18:52 Write a comment
Robotic companions are a mainstay of sci-fi series everywhere. From R2D2 to Johnny 5, these characters typically have a supporting role in the story and are helpful to their human companions. But what if they were integral to the humans in the story? So much so that they couldn't live without their robotic compatriots?
That's the idea behind Biobot, which was given a NIAC grant in 2018—why not use a robotic companion to carry supporting equipment on human extravehicular activities (EVAs) on other planets?
If you watch the footage from the Apollo missions, you can see how awkward it is for the astronauts to bend over to pick things up. Also, these extraordinarily naturally fit and gifted people seem to fall over an awful lot, given how coordinated they are on Earth. That's probably because of a 61 kg pack on their back that is helping to keep them alive.
Each moonwalker had to carry a life support system on their suit to maintain conditions inside the suit that allowed them to breathe and not cook to death.