Rocket Lab will launch a commercial radar-imaging satellite on Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch the action live. An Electron rocket topped with one of Japanese company Synspective’s Strix-3 satellites is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand launch site on Tuesday during an hour-long window that opens at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT; 3:13 a.m. local New Zealand time on March 13). You can watch the event here at Space.com, courtesy of Rocket Lab, or directly via the company’s website. Coverage is expected to start…
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Watch SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA return to Earth March 12 in this free livestream
The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission will return to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch their homecoming live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, named Endurance, undocked from the International Space Station on Monday (March 11) after the astronauts’ 6.5-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday around 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 GMT). You can watch the reentry and recovery activities here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. Coverage will begin at…
Read MoreNASA gets $25.4 billion in White House’s 2025 budget request
NASA won’t be getting a big budget boost next year. The White House allocated $25.4 billion to NASA in its federal budget request for fiscal year 2025, which was released today (March 11). That’s a 2% increase over the $24.9 billion the agency is getting for fiscal 2024, an amount that was enacted by Congress just last Friday (March 8). That enacted amount is a substantial cut from the $27.2 billion that the White House requested for the current fiscal year. So there’s certainly no guarantee NASA will get the…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from California tonight in 2nd leg of spaceflight doubleheader
SpaceX will launch 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California tonight (March 10), in the second leg of a planned spaceflight doubleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base during a 3.5-hour window that opens tonight at 10:13 p.m. EDT (0213 GMT on March 11). It will be the second Starlink mission in a little over three hours, if all goes according to plan; the company earlier launched 23 of the broadband craft from Florida’s Space Coast…
Read MoreSpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida
SpaceX launched 23 of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida on Sunday (March 10). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT). Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, March 10, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X) The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to…
Read MoreBenro Rhino 24C Two Series travel tripod and VX25 head review
Unless you’re lucky enough to live near a dark sky site, most astrophotography sessions involve traveling to those dark sky areas — this could be by car, airplane, train or hiking. Having a lightweight, reliable travel tripod is essential. If this sounds like something you’re missing, let us introduce you to the Benro Rhino travel tripod. Specifications Weight: 3.8 lbs / 1.74kgMaximum payload: 39.7 lbs / 18kgMaximum Height: 66.3-inches / 1.69mFolded length: 19.3-inches / 490mmLeg sections: 4Head: Ball-headAccessory mounts: 3Feet: Rubber or spiky It’s compact and lightweight, made of excellent…
Read More10 things you probably didn’t know about the 2024 total solar eclipse
On April 8, 2024, North America will experience the world’s longest land-based total solar eclipse in over a decade. The path of totality will cross parts of four states in Mexico, 15 U.S. states, and five Canadian provinces, allowing around 40 million people to witness the celestial spectacle. You can watch the total solar eclipse live here on Space.com. And keep up with all the actions with our total solar eclipse 2024 live updates blog. But how much do you know about it? From exactly how long the moon’s central…
Read MoreThe next chapter of lunar exploration could forever change the moon — and our relationship to it (op-ed)
Aparna Venkatesan is an astronomer and dark-sky advocate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University of San Francisco. John Barentine is an astronomer, historian, author, science communicator, and founder of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC. For as long as there have been humans, the moon has been a calendar, ancestor, ritual, inspiration, and origin story for humanity. Its monthly and subtler generational cycles have been — and are still — painstakingly recorded and celebrated by cultures around the world since prehistoric times. These recurring sequences include the “major lunar…
Read MoreThis Week In Space podcast: Episode 101 — Nukes in Space
On Episode 101 of This Week In Space, Tariq and Space.com’s Brett Tingley discuss the recent reports and delve into the history of the militarization of space by Russia, China, and the United States. Russia is building a secret nuclear-powered space weapon, but what does that mean for the rest of us? Tariq and Brett delve into the history of nuclear weapons and reactors in space, as well as the existing international treaties governing weapons of mass destruction in orbit. They also cover the week’s top headlines, including SpaceX’s upcoming…
Read More‘Star Wars’ salutes Women’s History Month with Ahsoka Tano, Mon Mothma and more
March is the calendar page where we honor and salute Women’s History Month each year and nowhere do the female stars shine brightest than Marvel Comics’ batch of celebratory “Star Wars” variant covers spawned from a galaxy far, far away. Scattered across the full spectrum of iconic “Star Wars” characters, from deadly assassins to leaders of the Rebellion and famed Jedi Knights to key political figures, Marvel is rolling out the red carpet for seven of the franchise’s legendary heroic women for a respectful spotlight event all month long. The…
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