Category: Space Stations

Space stations in orbit or planned

‘Sailing’ satellites of the future could provide early warning of dangerous space weather

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NEW ORLEANS — Solar sails that allow satellites to glide on the light from the sun could soon become a reality. The technology would allow scientists to provide earlier warnings of space weather events such as geomagnetic storms, which have the potential to disrupt technological systems on Earth. “A lot of us have experienced sailing; it’s exactly like that,” Irfan Azeem, division chief of the Research to Operations and Project Planning Division at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Space Weather Observations, told Space.com in an interview here…

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The best sci-fi TV shows of the 1950s

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Early television in the 1950s was a freewheeling frontier of both live and taped offerings mostly dominated by comedies, game shows, kids programs, and westerns like “I Love Lucy,” “The $64,000 Question,” “Leave it To Beaver,” “The Mickey Mouse Club,” “The Honeymooners,” and “Gunsmoke.” But while post-war America’s interest in outer space and science fiction blossomed as the decade ran its course seeing the Soviet Union launch Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, in 1957 and igniting the Space Race, a wealth of science fiction offerings had already sprouted up on…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 148 — Clavius Base

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Clavius Base – Why Clavius Crater Is the Best Spot for Nasa’s Moon Base With Dr. Pascal Lee – YouTube Watch On On Episode 148 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik speak with Dr. Pascal Lee about why Clavius may be the ideal place to build our first lunar base. The very mention of Clavius, a vast lunar crater, brings to mind spectacular images from “2001: A Space Odyssey”— landing spacecraft, alien monoliths, and more. Notably, though, Clavius is not on NASA’s dance card as a…

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The force is strong with this JEDI

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Step aside, Darth Vader. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Joint Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) coronal Diagnostic Investigation, also known as JEDI, has an even bigger task to balance the force in space, giving researchers a brand-new view of the sun’s atmosphere. The instrument will be a state-of-the-art multi-thermal EUV imager that will include two telescopes, specific to studying the solar wind and extreme space weather events. It is planned to take flight on the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Vigil space weather mission in 2031, and will allow scientists to…

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Boeing Starliner astronauts on the ISS set the story straight: ‘We don’t feel stranded’

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Boeing’s Starliner astronauts are in the final stretch of their unexpectedly long stint in Earth orbit — and they’re setting the record straight on all the “stranded astronauts” talk. NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore launched to the International Space Station (ISS) last June on the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The duo expected their orbital stay to last about 10 days, but Starliner experienced thruster malfunctions during its approach and docking maneuvers. This led to an extensive investigation by NASA and Boeing back on the ground,…

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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin laying off 1,000 employees: reports

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Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, is laying off about 1,000 workers, according to media reports. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp announced the cuts in an internal email to employees, which was obtained by CNN and The New York Times, among other outlets. Blue Origin does not disclose how many people it employs, but that number is thought to be around 10,000, according to The New York Times. The new layoffs therefore represent a roughly 10% cull. “We grew and hired incredibly fast in the last few years, and with…

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What the asteroid with a 1-in-48 chance of hitting Earth in 2032 looks like (images)

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It might not look like much in this image, but this is the asteroid that has made a major news impact in 2025. That’s because this space rock, designated asteroid 2024 YR4, has a 1-in-48 chance of impacting Earth in 2032. For obvious reasons, astronomers are desperate to learn as much as they can about 2024 YR4, estimated to be as large as 177 feet wide (54 meters wide). That’s around as wide as Cinderella’s Castle in Walt Disney World Florida is tall. The image featured here was captured on…

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SpaceX test-fires Starship megarocket and Super Heavy booster ahead of next launch (video, photos)

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In preparation for its eighth Starship launch, SpaceX is finishing up preflight shakedowns for the megarocket’s first stage, or Super Heavy booster, and second stage, also known simply as “Ship.” As such, things have been busy down in Starbase, Texas, at SpaceX’s Starship manufacturing and test facilities. More specifically, the company recently completed static test fires on both vessels tapped to fly on Starship’s next integrated test flight (IFT-8). All 33 Raptor engines of SpaceX’s 233-foot (71-meter) Super Heavy booster were ignited last weekend for the vehicle’s launch simulation run.…

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Sony’s latest State of Play highlights three incredible sci-fi games coming to PlayStation 5

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We’re now halfway through the first trimester of 2025, which means that video game companies everywhere are rushing to show off some of the biggest releases arriving in the near future and 2026. On Feb. 12, Sony’s first State of Play stream of the year revealed several fantastic-looking titles from partners all over the world, and adventures set in outer space had a huge presence. Space-set science fiction games are finding lots of success right now. So much so that it’s becoming hard to keep track of them all, especially…

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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin targeting late spring for 2nd launch of powerful New Glenn rocket

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WASHINGTON, D.C.  —  The second launch of Blue Origin’s huge New Glenn rocket could be just a few months away. The 320-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) New Glenn lifted off for the first time on Jan. 16 from Florida’s Space Coast. The test flight was a success; the rocket’s upper stage successfully carried its payload, a test version of Blue Origin’s new Blue Ring spacecraft platform, to Earth orbit. A secondary objective didn’t go so well; New Glenn’s first-stage booster failed to stick its landing on a ship at sea. (This was the…

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