SpaceX is keeping up cadence with Starlink Group 6-4 mission
Sunday, 04 June 2023 13:34At 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 UTC) on Sunday, a Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 of SpaceX's brand-new "V2 Mini" internet satellites for its Starlink communications network from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. The rocket went upright at 3:20 a.m. earlier this morning and was originally scheduled to launch before sunrise at 5:56 a.m. EDT (0
Three Chinese astronauts return safely to Earth
Sunday, 04 June 2023 13:11Three Chinese astronauts working at the country's space station have returned safely to Earth, state media reported Sunday, hailing the mission as a "complete success".
The return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 spaceship touched down at a landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu emerged from the capsule in "good physical condition", Xinhua reported.
"The mission... was a complete success," it said.
Footage showed medical officials in white jumpsuits and face masks swaddling the astronauts in blue blankets and carrying them away from the arid landing site, where the copper-colored capsule lay flanked by red flags.
The trio had spent six months at the Tiangong space station, conducting spacewalks and a variety of scientific experiments.
China last week sent three more astronauts—including its first civilian in orbit—to the space station as part of the successor Shenzhou-16 mission.
The world's second-largest economy has pumped billions of dollars into its military-run space program in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia.
Kim's sister slams UN meeting on North Korea's spy satellite launch
Sunday, 04 June 2023 09:58North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister Kim Yo Jong slammed the UN Security Council for holding a "most unfair" meeting over Pyongyang's recent spy satellite launch, state media reported on Sunday. North Korea's new Chollima-1 rocket lost thrust and crashed into the sea with its satellite payload on Wednesday, Pyongyang said in a rare same-day announcement, adding that another test
Human extinction threat 'overblown' says AI sage Marcus
Sunday, 04 June 2023 09:58Ever since the poem churning ChatGPT burst on the scene six months ago, expert Gary Marcus has voiced caution against artificial intelligence's ultra-fast development and adoption. But against AI's apocalyptic doomsayers, the New York University emeritus professor told AFP in a recent interview that the technology's existential threats may currently be "overblown." "I'm not personally th
Sidus Space Secures Additional NASA Subcontracts for Artemis Program
Sunday, 04 June 2023 09:58Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU), a key player in the aerospace industry, recently announced that it had been granted additional hardware manufacturing subcontracts. The contracts are intended to bolster NASA's Artemis Program and the Space Launch System ("SLS") Manned Vehicle.
Catastrophic failure assessment of sealed cabin for ultra large manned spacecraft
Sunday, 04 June 2023 09:58Hypervelocity impacts of Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (M/OD) seriously threaten the safety of manned spacecraft and astronauts in orbit. At present, M/OD above 10 cm, which can be monitored and predicted in advance, can usually be avoided by orbital maneuver. As for the small-size M/OD, because of the difficulty of monitoring, it is the main impact threat, as well as the main object of impa
Weather delay moves SpaceX resupply mission to same day as Starlink launch
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55Weather in Florida has delayed the launch of the SpaceX Dragon cargo mission, which is now slated to lift off Sunday, the same day the company also plans to send a new batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is now scheduled to launch at 12:12 p.m. Sunday to send an automated Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station. However, the company s
Dream Chaser comes to life
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55In an important milestone for space travel technology, Sierra Space announced the successful power-up of its revolutionary Dream Chaser spaceplane. The test conducted by the company signifies the activation of the spacecraft's integrated systems and demonstrates the culmination of several years of meticulous engineering, design, and testing efforts. The Dream Chaser, with its unique liftin
Sidus Space awarded additional SLS contracts
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) has received additional hardware manufacturing subcontracts to support NASA's Artemis Program and Space Launch System ("SLS") Manned Vehicle. Under the terms of the subcontract between Sidus Space and Craig Technologies, Sidus will be responsible for the fabrication of the Umbilical Quick Disconnects on the Universal Stage Adapter for the SLS. Dynetics (NYSE: LDOS), is
NASA marks significant milestone with successful SLS engine test
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55NASA has recently made critical progress in the testing of its RS-25 engine, an integral component for upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. On June 1st, the space agency successfully carried out the ninth in a series of critical engine hot fire tests at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. This comes as part of NASA's ongoing efforts to certify new RS-25 engines for deep space missio
Asia's largest rocket engine test bench achieves dual 700-ton testing capacity
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55In a significant milestone for Asian space exploration, the Tongchuan Test Center at the 165th Institute of the Sixth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has successfully executed a run on its No. 2 test bench on May 30. This accomplishment comes on the heels of a successful test run of the No. 1 station test bench on April 24. Together, these developments confirm that
Mars Express by the numbers
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55Exactly two decades ago, on 2 June 2003, ESA's Mars Express orbiter launched and began its journey to the Red Planet - Europe's first ever mission to Mars. The spacecraft aimed to enter orbit around Mars (something it did in December of that year) and use its vantage point to study the martian atmosphere and climate, unravel the planet's structure, mineralogy and geology, and search for traces o
Mars in colour as never seen before
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55
Exactly 20 years ago, on 2 June 2003, the Mars Express spacecraft, the first European mission to explore another planet in the Solar System, launched on a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A Fregat upper stage delivered the mission on a transfer orbit to Mars, which the spacecraft reached on 25 December of the same year. The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC),
Engineers test VIPER's very nimble gimbal
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55As VIPER, NASA's next Moon rover, wheels about atop Mons Mouton - a large flat-topped mountain on the Moon's South Pole - one small but mighty piece of hardware will be critical for the team of rover drivers and scientists to send it commands, know where it is going, and receive valuable science data: a gimbal-pointed high-gain antenna. VIPER has both a low-gain and high-gain antenna to tr
Mysterious dashes revealed in Milky Way's center
Sunday, 04 June 2023 05:55An international team of astrophysicists has discovered something wholly new, hidden in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. In the early 1980s, Northwestern University's Farhad Yusef-Zadeh discovered gigantic, one-dimensional filaments dangling vertically near Sagittarius A*, our galaxy's central supermassive black hole. Now, Yusef-Zadeh and his collaborators have discovered a new populati