NASA’s X-59 lights up the night sky with its unique Mach diamonds, also known as shock diamonds, during maximum afterburner testing at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The test demonstrates the engine’s ability to generate the thrust required for supersonic flight, advancing NASA’s Quesst mission.
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Five Facts About NASA’s Moon Bound Technology
4 Min Read Five Facts About NASA’s Moon Bound Technology A view of the Moon from Earth, zooming up to IM-2's landing site at Mons Mouton, which is visible in amateur telescopes. Credits: NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio NASA is sending revolutionary technologies to the Moon aboard Intuitive Machines’ second lunar delivery as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface. As part of this CLPS flight to the Moon, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate will test novel technologies…
Read MoreSpaceX wraps up investigation of Starship Flight 7 explosion (video)
SpaceX has finished its investigation into what went wrong on the seventh test flight of its Starship rocket, which ended with a dramatic explosion. Flight 7 launched on Jan. 16, sending Starship aloft from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas. The mission was partially successful; SpaceX caught Starship’s giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, back at Starbase using the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms as planned. The rocket’s upper stage — known as Starship, or simply “Ship” — was supposed to deploy 10 dummy satellites into a suborbital trajectory and…
Read MoreNASA to Provide Coverage of Progress 91 Launch, Space Station Docking
The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress spacecraft pictured on Aug. 13, 2024, from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft delivering approximately three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:24 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 27 (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time, Friday, Feb. 28), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live launch coverage will begin at 4 p.m. on…
Read MoreVenus Blows Off Some Steam
Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. NASA/Rick Guidice Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. A little over a year later, NASA’s Pioneer Venus 1 would launch as the first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to study the atmosphere of Venus. The first American spacecraft to orbit Venus, Pioneer Venus 1 used radar to map the surface of Venus. The probe found Venus to be generally…
Read MoreSpaceX targeting Feb. 28 for next launch of Starship megarocket
SpaceX’s Starship megarocket will fly again this week, if all goes according to plan. The company is planning to launch Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, for the eighth time on Friday (Feb. 28), Elon Musk said via X yesterday (Feb. 23). The 403.5-foot-tall (123 meters) fully reusable vehicle will lift off from Starbase, SpaceX‘s launch and manufacturing facility in South Texas. The company has not yet announced a target launch time, but you’ll almost certainly be able to watch it live whenever it happens; SpaceX has…
Read MorePrivate Blue Ghost moon lander captures amazing footage of Earth behind and lunar surface below (video)
Firefly Aerospace is primed for a lunar landing attempt on Sunday (March 2) following a series of successful maneuvers in lunar orbit. The company’s Blue Ghost lander entered lunar orbit on Feb. 13, after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 15. It has since been lowering its orbit in preparation for a moon landing and is now all set for the upcoming attempt. “Blue Ghost’s third and final lunar orbit maneuver is complete! Early this morning, our #GhostRiders performed a 16-second burn with our RCS thrusters to…
Read MoreNASA University Research Program Makes First Award to a Community College Project
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Project F.I.R.E. team, part of Falcon Research Labs and current students at Cerritos Community College in California, is researching the use of drones to extinguish fires as part of a NASA research award called the University Student Research Challenge. From left, Logan Stahl, Juan Villa, Angel Ortega, Larisa Mayoral, Jenny Escobar, and Paola Mayoral-Jimenez. Falcon Research Labs Great ideas, and the talent and passion that bring them to life, can be found anywhere. In that spirit, NASA’s University…
Read MoreAstronomers discover misshapen galaxy is a cosmic predator that bears ‘scars’ from its last meal (photo)
An unusual elliptical galaxy with a history of absorbing smaller galaxies appears to be approaching its next target. New images from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Paranal Observatory suggest that the galaxy, known as NGC 3640, may soon merge with a smaller galactic companion. Located 88 million light-years from Earth, NGC 3640 belongs to a group of galaxies that range in shape and size, including its own unusual oval or egg shape. The VLT images revealed that NGC 3640 has eaten other galaxies over…
Read MoreSwimming robots, fusion satellites and more! New NASA-funded studies could someday ‘change the possible’
NASA has awarded funds to 15 trailblazing concepts for space technology that could help us explore and inhabit the solar system. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) is the agency’s scheme to help support the development of early stage innovative space technology concepts formulated by academics, innovators and entrepreneurs. This year’s NIAC Phase 1 grants go to projects including robots for ocean and ice world exploration, in-space manufacturing, balloons for exploring Venus, unravelling the mysteries of black holes and more. “Our next steps and giant leaps rely on innovation,…
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