Tag Archives: space program

The New York Times reports: The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication …

ABC News reports: Six women, including pop star Katy Perry, are scheduled to be launched into space for about 11 minutes on Monday on a Blue Origin rocket, a lift-off that would mark the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, according to the company. The window for the latest New Shepard rocket launch is expected to open on Monday morning at …

The Associated Press reports: NASA’s science budget could be cut nearly in half under an early version of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress, a move that would terminate billions of dollars’ worth of ongoing and future missions. The budget plan, sent to NASA by the Office of Management and Budget, would give NASA’s Science Mission Directorate $3.9 billion, …

Space.com reports: SpaceX is poised to land its Crew Dragon Freedom from the International Space Station with the two crewmates who launched on it and two astronauts who arrived at the space station last June on Boeing’s Starliner, which landed uncrewed without them. SpaceX’s Crew-9 is scheduled to splash down on Tuesday (March 18) at about 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 …

CNN Science reports: A SpaceX Starship spacecraft, the upper portion of the most powerful launch system ever built, exploded during its eighth test flight Thursday, disrupting air traffic and marking the second consecutive failure for the vehicle this year. The uncrewed Starship mission lifted off at 5:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas, with …

The Associated Press reports: A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth’s celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient …

The Associated Press reports: A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said Wednesday. Scientists put the odds of a strike at slightly more than 1%. “We are not worried at all, because of this 99 percent chance it will miss,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object …

The Verge reports: Falling debris from the SpaceX Starship explosion yesterday created what looked like a meteor shower, or a colorful fireworks show based on videos shared by people in the area, but it also delayed flights. Eight and a half minutes after launch yesterday, the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship “experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly,” following the separation …

CNN reports: SpaceX just took to the social media platform X to rehash what happened today: Starship experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” That’s a favored SpaceX euphemism for an explosion or unplanned destruction of a launch vehicle. It’s not clear how, when or why the Starship spacecraft exploded. The vehicle is equipped with a “flight termination system,” which is designed …

NBC News reports: NASA is preparing to “taste” the sun on Christmas Eve. The agency’s Parker Solar Probe is days away from making its closest-ever approach to the sun on Tuesday, swooping nearer to our star than any other human-made object in history. The spacecraft, which is about the size of a small car, is set to dive within 3.86 …

Via press release from NASA: Just what you need for the holidays… the coziness of a crackling and roaring rocket engine! Technically, this fireplace packs the heat of FOUR RS-25 rocket engines and a pair of solid rocket boosters – just enough to get you to the Moon. (And get through the holidays with your in-laws.) Video description: A stock …

The New York Times reports: SpaceX’s latest test flight of its Starship vehicle got off to a sobering start as the company was unable to recover the enormous booster stage of the rocket, the most powerful ever built. Instead of snapping back into its original place on the tower it lifted off from at a South Texas site, as it …

ABC News reports: SpaceX pulled off the boldest test flight yet of its enormous Starship rocket on Sunday, catching the returning booster back at the launch pad with mechanical arms. A jubilant Elon Musk called it “science fiction without the fiction part.” At the flight director’s command, the first-stage booster flew back to the launch pad where it had blasted …

CBS News reports: After standing down from the piloted Polaris Dawn launch late Tuesday, SpaceX shifted gears and pressed ahead with plans for back-to-back launches of Starlink internet satellites early Wednesday, one from Florida and the other from California. But the second flight was called off after the first stage used in the Florida launch toppled into the Atlantic Ocean …

Axios reports: NASA picked SpaceX to develop and deliver a spacecraft that’ll bring the International Space Station out of orbit after the operational life of the ISS ends in 2030, the space agency announced Wednesday. The spacecraft, which NASA is calling the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, needs to guide the ISS safely back through Earth’s atmosphere before its planned crash into …

Via press release from NASA: Although there are no known significant asteroid impact threats for the foreseeable future, hypothetical exercises provide valuable insights by exploring the risks, response options, and opportunities for collaboration posed by varying scenarios, from minor regional damage with little warning to potential global catastrophes predicted years or even decades in the future. During the exercise, participants …

The New York Times reports: Starship, the gargantuan rocket under development by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, launched on Thursday morning to make a fourth attempt to get to space and back. The previous three flights of the vehicle all ended in explosions, but each got farther than the last. Such progress is regarded as success in SpaceX’s break-it-then-fix-it approach to engineering …

The Washington Post reports: After more than a year and a half, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin launched another space tourism mission, the first since the company suffered an engine failure on a flight that ended with the capsule’s emergency escape system blasting it away from the rocket booster, which crashed in the West Texas desert. On board the flight is …

The New York Times reports: Every time a rocket soars into the sky carrying satellites or supplies for the International Space Station, air traffic controllers on the ground must take crucial steps to ensure that commercial and passenger aircraft remain safe. The controllers, hired by the Federal Aviation Administration, close the airspace, provide real-time information on rockets and their debris …

Reuters reports: The White House on Tuesday directed NASA to establish a unified standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies, as the United States aims to set international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies. The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy instructed the space agency …