Tag: Space Exploration

Watch Atlas V rocket launch on its final national security mission early July 30

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July 30 LIVE Broadcast: Atlas V USSF-51 – YouTube Watch On United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) venerable Atlas V rocket will fly its final national security mission on Tuesday morning (July 30), and you can watch the action live. The Atlas V is is scheduled to launch from Florida’s Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday at 6:45 a.m. EDT (1045 GMT), on a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force called USSF-51.  You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of ULA, or directly via the company. Coverage will begin…

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Watch devastating Park Fire rage in stunning satellite video

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The second-largest wildfire of 2024 continues to rage in northern California, and satellites are watching the destruction unfold. The Park Fire wildfire is currently burning north of Sacramento and has already consumed more than 560 square miles (1,455 square kilometers), an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. It is already the largest wildfire California has experienced this year. As of July 29, the fire was only 12% contained, according to InciWeb, a wildfire information service operated by the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center. As the fire continues to…

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SpaceX launches back-to-back Starlink satellite missions (photos, videos)

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SpaceX has regained its stride after a failure earlier this month. The company launched two missions on Sunday morning (July 28), lofting batches of its Starlink internet satellites from both coasts atop Falcon 9 rockets less than five hours apart.  The two liftoffs came about 24 hours after a Saturday morning (July 27) Falcon 9 launch, which was the vehicle’s return-to-flight mission after a July 11 failure. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida on July 28, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX) Sunday’s first launch occurred at…

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Sierra Space won’t stop blowing up inflatable space station modules (video)

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Sierra Space has announced the completion of another full-scale burst test in which the company exploded one of its inflatable modules being developed as part of efforts to build a commercial space station. Sierra Space’s “Ultimate Burst Pressure test” was conducted on June 18, 2024 and involved an inflatable space station module built to full scale at more than 20 feet tall (6 meters). The test unit, which compares to the size of a typical family home, is about one-third the volume of the International Space Station (ISS) at 10,600…

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A moon of Uranus could have a hidden ocean, James Webb Space Telescope finds

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Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers discovered that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, could be hiding in a buried liquid water ocean.  The discovery could supply an answer to a mystery surrounding this Uranian moon that has perplexed scientists: the fact Ariel’s surface is covered with a significant amount of carbon dioxide ice. This is puzzling because at the distance Uranus and its moons exist from the sun, 20 times further out from the sun than Earth, carbon dioxide turns to gas and is lost to space. This…

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‘Wonderlab’ host Emily Calandrelli will fly to suborbital space with Blue Origin

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The Space Gal is headed to the final frontier, as part of Space for Humanity’s Citizen Astronaut Program.  Emily Calandrelli, known for her Emmy-nominated Netflix science series “Emily’s Wonder Lab,” was selected to launch to suborbital space as a citizen astronaut ambassador with Blue Origin, though the launch date has not yet been set.  “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to fly with Blue Origin,” Calandrelli, a West Virginia native, said in a statement from Space for Humanity. “I look forward to representing my home state in this way and…

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Chinese astronauts simulate a debris-strike emergency on the Tiangong space station (video)

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China’s Shenzhou 18 mission staged an emergency drill recently to boost preparedness aboard the country’s space station. Shenzhou 18 commander Ye Guangfu and crewmates Li Cong and Li Guangsu conducted the drill in mid-July to practice procedures for the case of a decompression event aboard the Tiangong space station. The crew worked in collaboration with the ground team in Beijing, simulating the whole process of emergency response to a simulated scenario of space debris striking Tiangong and causing decompression. The astronauts of China’s Shenzhou 18 mission simulate a debris-strike emergency…

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SpaceX makes Starlink Roam available throughout the US

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Your internet connection today is brought to you by space. No, that’s not an ad from a science fiction movie; it’s the reality now thanks to SpaceX‘s ever-growing constellation of Starlink satellites. In June, SpaceX introduced its new version of its satellite internet antenna, providing users the option to have an on the go service that’s the perfect size to throw in your backpack. Now, Starlink Roam is available anywhere across the United States, connecting customers in even the most remote locations with high-speed internet that can be accessed from…

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SpaceX wins $113 million contract to launch advanced NOAA climate satellite

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SpaceX just added another mission to its already crowded launch manifest. Elon Musk‘s company won the launch contract for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) JPSS-4 satellite. If all goes according to plan, JPSS-4 will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in 2027. The firm, fixed-price contract is worth $112.7 million, “which includes launch services and other mission-related costs,” NASA officials wrote in an update on Monday (July 22).  The JPSS (“Joint Polar Satellite System”) program is a cooperative effort of…

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Alien weather report: James Webb Space Telescope detects hot, sandy wind on 2 brown dwarfs

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered stormy weather in the sky of two brown dwarfs in the most detailed weather report yet from such “failed stars.” The two brown dwarfs form a binary pair called WISE 1049AB that was discovered by NASA‘s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2013; the duo sits just 6.5 light-years away from us. They are the closest brown dwarfs to our sun, and thus make an excellent target for the James Webb Space Telescope‘s powerful infrared instruments. A brown dwarf is an object…

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