Copernical Team
SpaceX sends up Falcon Heavy on sunset launch for Space Force
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The winds died down for SpaceX as it queued up its rarely used Falcon Heavy right after sunset from the Space Coast on Sunday.
The fifth flight of the powerhouse rocket lifted off at 5:56 p.m. Eastern time from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A on a mission for the Space Force dubbed USSF-67. With winds over 20 mph gusting on Saturday across the region, the launch was pushed by a day.
But Sunday's skies were clear and calm so at liftoff, the rocket's plume lit up in glorious orange billows while creating a distant dark shadow slanting across the horizon.
The cheers of employees and their families on site were soon drowned out by the rumble of the 5.1 million pounds of thrust that tumbled across the space center, eventually dying away but not without setting off a few car alarms.
Falcon Heavy, which only falls second to NASA's Space Launch System in terms of most powerful active rockets, is essentially three Falcon 9s strapped together outfitted with 27 Merlin engines across the three first stages.
Looking back at the eruption that shook the world
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One year ago, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted, causing widespread destruction to the Pacific Island Nation of Tonga, spewing volcanic material up to 58 km into the atmosphere. It brought a nearly 15 m tsunami that crashed ashore, destroying villages, and creating a sonic boom that rippled around the world – twice.
Satellites orbiting Earth scrambled to capture images and data of the aftermath of the disaster. Almost a year later, you can now listen to a sonification of the largest eruption of the 21st Century, created using wind data from ESA’s Aeolus mission.
US government examining over 500 'UFO' reports
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The US government is examining 510 UFO reports, over triple the number in its 2021 file, and while many were caused by drones or balloons, hundreds remain unexplained, according to a report released Thursday.
The 2022 report by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said that 247 "unidentified anomalous phenomena" or UAP reports have been filed with it since June 2021, when it revealed Seven nations meet to address space security
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The Department of Defense participated in the annual Combined Space Operations (CSpO) Initiative Principals Board, hosted by the New Zealand Defense Force and New Zealand Ministry of Defense, December 6-8.
The annual event brought together counterparts from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with a focus on advancing collaboration an SpaceX launches fifth Falcon Heavy mission, carrying military satellites
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SpaceX launched its fifth Falcon Heavy rocket mission, USSF-67, on Sunday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
The rocket made liftoff at 5:56 p.m. EST, with 5 million pounds of thrust.
The payload included two military satellite systems: the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM and Long Duration Propulsive ESPA.
The first system is a geostationary relay satellite which China launches 14 new satellites
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China successfully launched a Long March-2D rocket on Sunday, sending 14 new satellites into space.
The rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province at 11:14 am (Beijing Time).
The satellites, including Qilu-2 and Qilu-3, have entered their planned orbits.
This was the 462nd flight mission using the Long March rocket series. Carrier rockets place four satellites into orbit
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China launched two carrier rockets on Friday to place four satellites into orbit. A Long March 2C rocket blasted off at 2:10 am at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province and soon deployed the APSTAR 6E communications satellite into its preset geosynchronous orbit, according to a news release from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's dominan China launches 3 new satellites
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China on Friday launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket, placing three satellites in space.
The rocket blasted off at 3 pm (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent the satellites Yaogan 37, Shiyan 22A, and Shiyan 22B into preset orbit.
The three satellites will mainly be used for in-orbit verification of new technologies such as space enviro The world in grains of interstellar dust
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Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles.
Laboratory and rocket-borne studies have revealed new insights into how interstellar dust grains came into being before our solar system formed. The results, published by Hokkaido University researchers and colleagues in Japan an Mounting the first human mission to the Lunar South Pole
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Humans have always been drawn to explore, discover, and learn as much as we can about the world-and worlds-around us. This isn't always easy, but it's in our nature. For the benefit of all humanity, NASA and its partners will land the first woman and first person of color on the surface of the Moon with Artemis.
Following two Artemis test missions, Artemis III, currently planned for 2025, 
