Collaborate Disseminate
The stage is set for a landmark launch for NASA, with the final dress rehearsal now complete ahead of Wednesday’s Demo-2 mission. The mission will see US astronauts launched into space from American soil for the first time in nine years, and if success… Continue reading Successful rehearsal readies SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for historic launch
Complexity is a funny thing. In prehistoric times, a caveman might float across a lake on a log. That’s simple. But as you add a rudder, a sail, or even a motor, it gets more and more complex. But if you add enough complexity — a GPS and an autopilot, …read more
Continue reading Docking with ISS isn’t as Easy as You Might Think
Through its Artemis mission, NASA will endeavor to return humans, including the first woman, to the Moon in the year 2024, and it has just narrowed down the field of firms that will help carry the astronauts safely down to the lunar surface. Blue Origi… Continue reading NASA narrows the field of firms to build its Artemis lunar lander
SpaceX has announced that it will mount a sun visor on each of its Starlink satellites and have them perform controlled maneuvers, to make them less visible to members of the astronomy community making detailed observations of the night sky. SpaceX has… Continue reading SpaceX will use sun visors to darken future Starlink satellites
The date for SpaceX’s first manned Crew Dragon flight has been set. NASA announced that the Demo-2 mission will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27, 2020, at 4:32 pm EDT with NASA ast… Continue reading First manned SpaceX Crew Dragon flight set for May 27 liftoff
Under the current Administration, NASA has been tasked with returning American astronauts to the Moon as quickly as possible. The Artemis program would launch a crewed mission to our nearest celestial neighbor as soon as 2024, and establish a system for sustainable exploration and habitation by 2028. It’s an extremely …read more
NASA and SpaceX have carried out a test of launch pad evacuation systems as part of the run-up to the first manned flight of the Crew Dragon. On April 3, 2020 at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams conducted an end-to-end d… Continue reading NASA and SpaceX test launch pad evacuation systems
NASA has selected SpaceX to carry cargo to the space agency’s deep-space Gateway outpost. Under the first Gateway Logistics Services contract to be awarded to a US company, SpaceX will deliver pressurized and unpressurized supplies, experiments, and it… Continue reading NASA contracts SpaceX for supply missions to Gateway outpost
Even for those of us who follow space news closely, there’s a lot to keep track of these days. Private companies are competing to develop new human-rated spacecraft and assembling satellite mega-constellations, while NASA is working towards a return the Moon and the first flight of the SLS. Between new …read more
Continue reading Phantom Express: The Spaceplane That Never Was
The introduction of 26,000 new megaconstellation satellites could have a significant effect on ground-based astronomy, according to a new study commissioned by the European Southern Observatory. Twice as many satellites could be visible to the naked ey… Continue reading Satellite swarms may impact exploration of the night sky