SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early Friday morning (Dec. 15), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 21 Starlink craft is scheduled to launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday during a roughly 3.5-hour window that opens at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 GMT; 9:04 p.m. on Dec. 14 local California time). And some of those satellites are trailblazers. “This launch will include the first six Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities that will enable mobile network operators…
Read MoreArmstrong Flight Research Center: A Year in Review
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) It was an abundant year of innovation, exploration, and inspiration for NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Armstrong continues to demonstrate America’s leadership in aeronautics, Earth and space science, and aerospace technology. Our researchers, engineers, and mission support teams continually seek to revolutionize aviation, add to mankind’s knowledge of the universe, and contribute to the understanding and protection of Earth. The video above shows many of our achievements, below are a few special moments. The X-59…
Read MoreNASA: Una jugosa historia de tomates en la Estación Espacial Internacional
El cultivo de alimentos a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional es una de las muchas investigaciones que han alcanzado la madurez para las misiones de vuelos espaciales de larga duración a la Luna y Marte. El astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio compartió recientemente una jugosa historia de dos tomates rebeldes, a los que había perdido el rastro accidentalmente mientras recogía la cosecha para el experimento Sistema de Prueba en Órbita de Raíces Expuestas (XROOTS, por sus siglas en inglés) que llevó a cabo durante su permanencia a bordo…
Read MoreSee the Geminid meteor shower 2023 light up the sky in these amazing photos
The Geminid meteor shower stunned in its first of two peak nights in 2023. Photos from around the world showed Geminid meteors streaking through the sky overnight on Wednesday (Dec. 13), and more “shooting stars” are expected on Thursday (Dec. 14). The new moon, only two days old, should allow for peaks of as much as 100 meteors per hour this year, according to SpaceWeather.com. Webcasts are also available to check out the show if you can’t get outside or you’re clouded out. Both the the Slooh telescope network and…
Read MoreSun unleashes monster X-class solar flare, most powerful since 2017 (video)
The sun just gave us a reminder of its immense might. Our star unleashed an X-class solar flare today (Dec. 14), blasting out an immense pulse of high-energy radiation that was captured on video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. (Solar physicists classify strong flares into three categories, with C being the weakest, M the middling group and X the most potent.) The outburst, which occurred at 12:02 p.m. EST (1702 GMT), registered as an X2.8, making it the most powerful solar flare since September 2017, according to SpaceWeather.com. Related:…
Read MoreNASA Awards Turbofan Engine Core Technology Demonstration Contract
Credits: NASA NASA has selected GE Aerospace of Cincinnati to work with the agency’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, which is aiming to develop more fuel efficient engines for single-aisle aircraft. The HyTEC’s Phase 2 Integrated Core Technology Demonstration is a cost-sharing contract with a maximum value of approximately $68.1 million and a five-year performance period that begins Feb. 15. The contract is awarded with a 50% minimum GE Aerospace cost share during the contract period. Part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles program, HyTEC was established to accelerate the…
Read MoreInventor of Air Conditioning Helped Chill NASA Wind Tunnels
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) When constructed in the early 1940s, NASA Glenn Research Center’s Altitude Wind Tunnel was the nation’s only wind tunnel capable of studying full-scale aircraft engines under realistic flight conditions. NASA/William Bowles Global tensions were high in the fall of 1941 as U-boats harassed ships in the Atlantic and German forces pushed deep into the Soviet Union. There was a critical need for the United States to get the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s new engine laboratory (today, NASA’s…
Read MoreNASA: Let’s Ketchup on International Space Station Tomato Research
Two rogue tomatoes have been recovered nearly a year after astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally lost track of them while harvesting for the XROOTS experiment. NASA NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is photographed performing fluid management and seed cartridge/plant inspections for the XROOTS experiment. Growing food aboard the International Space Station is one of the many research investigations ripe for long duration spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio recently shared the saucy story of two rogue tomatoes, which he had accidentally lost track of while harvesting for…
Read MoreNASA Facility Builds on Space Station Legacy at Kennedy
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida pose inside the Space Station Processing Facility’s high bay to celebrate 25 years of supporting the International Space Station. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Built to be the last stop for components of the International Space Station, the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been given a new name that honors this legacy while embracing its role as a multi-tenant processing facility. Agency officials have updated the name of the 457,000 square foot, three-story building to “Space Systems…
Read MoreLead Space Launch System Avionics Engineer Ales-Cia Winsley
“Once the rocket launched, [I saw] how it illuminated such a dark space. So even when you’re in a dark space, you can let your light shine. And it won’t just shine for you and those that are immediately around you, but even people that you don’t know will notice it, even people that you will never see will notice your light shining and be inspired.” — Ales-Cia Winsley, Lead Space Launch System Avionics Engineer, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
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