January 12, 2025 – NeRDs Moonbase

China test-fires 5 new rocket engines in a single day. But what are they for? (video)

January 12, 2025 NeRD

China’s state-owned main space contractor tested five different rocket engines on one day last week in preparation for future missions and projects. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) tested the engines at two sites in Beijing and Laiyuan County in Hebei Province, north China, on Jan. 2. One test-fired a new hydrogen-oxygen engine for the upper stage of an unspecified rocket for 100 seconds. It was conducted by the 101 Institute of CASC’s Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology. On Jan. 2, 2025, China tested five new rocket engines,…

SpaceX will launch 2 private lunar landers this week, kicking off busy year for moon missions

January 12, 2025 NeRD

Two private lunar landers are set to launch this week aboard the same rocket, kicking off a busy year of missions to the moon. A six-day window for the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the missions begins early Wednesday morning (Jan. 15), with liftoff scheduled for 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT) from Launch Complex-39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Falcon 9 will carry both landers to Earth orbit, where each will begin independent trajectories toward the moon. Ghost Riders in the Sky, the mission for Firefly…

Smart robot helps out astronauts on China’s Tiangong space station (video)

January 12, 2025 NeRD

Astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station have been getting some assistance from an “intelligent” robot. Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze — the crew of the current Shenzhou 19 mission aboard Tiangong — have been working alongside a robot named Xiao Hang (“Little Space”) using human-robot collaborative interaction software. The software has allowed them to carry out a variety of experiments related to human-robot spatial relationships, robot behavior characterization and multimodal interaction technologies. The goal of these experiments is to help enhance mission efficiency by fostering a more effective…