Tag: Space Exploration

SpaceX launches 23 Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast (video, photos)

NeRD

SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida this afternoon (March 18). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT). About eight minutes later, the rocket’s first stage touched down on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 19th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description. A…

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Never-‘stuck’ Starliner astronauts return to Earth at last with Crew-9 duo in SpaceX Dragon splashdown

NeRD

The first astronauts to fly on board two different commercial spacecraft during a single mission have returned to Earth, splashing down with two of their International Space Station crewmates. Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore did not set out to make history other than being the first crew to launch on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule. After their capsule encountered propulsion issues, though, and NASA, out of an abundance of caution, decided to land it without them on board, Williams and Wilmore were reassigned to SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon to complete…

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Feel the burn with this amazing video of a Varda space capsule’s plunge through Earth’s atmosphere

NeRD

A small space private capsule has captured stunning onboard scenes from its high-velocity atmospheric reentry. Varda Space’s W-2 mission came to a successful and spectacular end on Feb. 27 when the capsule reentered the atmosphere and landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia. The 265-pound (120 kilograms) capsule spent six weeks in space after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter 12 mission. (Image credit: Varda Space via YouTube) The company has now released a video capturing dramatic images from its final moments…

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World’s largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a ‘time-lapse record of the universe’ (video)

NeRD

A major milestone with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has been reached with the installation of the telescope’s enormous LSST Camera — the last optical component required before the last phase of testing can begin. The car-sized Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Camera that was recently installed on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is the largest digital camera ever built and will be used to capture detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky over a decade. “The installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope is a triumph of science…

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This butterfly-shaped nebula owes its structure to 2 chaotic young stars

NeRD

A huge bipolar outflow of gas and dust, grown from the tumultuous birth of a double-star system, has formed a cosmic hourglass — and the James Webb Space Telescope imaged the scene in splendiferous detail. Referred to as Lynds 483, or LBN 483,, this nebulous outflow is located about 650 light years away. It provides an ideal opportunity for the James Webb Space Telescope to learn more about the process of star formation. (Beverly Lynds was an astronomer who catalogued both bright nebulas – BN – and dark nebulas –…

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SpaceX aces 3rd launch in 13 hours, sending 23 Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

NeRD

SpaceX just pulled off a spaceflight tripleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 15) at 7:35 a.m. EDT (1135 GMT). It was SpaceX‘s third launch in a 13-hour span, as the company noted via X this morning. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 15, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX) The rocket flurry began at 7:03 p.m.…

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SpaceX Crew-10 folds traits, hopes into origami crane zero-g indicator

NeRD

What do you get when you fold together the ambitions and contributions of four space station-bound astronauts from the United States, Japan and Russia? A zero-g indicator in the form of an origami crane. Minutes after arriving in Earth orbit on Friday (March 14), the members of Crew-10 — SpaceX’s 10th operational mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s commercial crew program — revealed their choice for the traditional plush toy used to signal they entered the microgravity environment of outer space. Mission specialist Takuya Onishi of the…

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Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket launching for 6th time ever soon: Watch it live

NeRD

Update for 12:15 a.m. ET on March 15: Firefly has called off the planned March 15 liftoff attempt due to an issue with the launch range. No new target date has been announced. Firefly Aerospace will launch its Alpha rocket for the sixth time ever on Saturday morning (March 15), and you can watch the action live. Alpha is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday during a 52-minute window that opens at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT; 6:25 a.m. local California time). Firefly will…

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SpaceX launches relief crew for NASA’s beleaguered Starliner astronauts on ISS (video)

NeRD

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Liftoff! Four astronauts are flying toward the International Space Station (ISS) to relieve crew members who have been waiting for a ride home since last summer. SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon capsule Endurance on a Falcon 9 rocket this evening (March 14) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) here on Florida’s Space Coast. The mission, called Crew-10, lifted off from KSC’s Launch Complex-39A at 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 GMT), carrying mission commander Anne McClain and mission pilot Nichole Ayers, both of NASA, and mission specialists Takuya…

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Former Google chief Eric Schmidt takes the reins at rocket startup Relativity Space

NeRD

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has assumed the top job at an ambitious launch startup. Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011, has been named CEO at Relativity Space, a California company that’s building a rocket to compete with SpaceX and other major players in the launch industry. Schmidt, who’s worth about $33 billion, has also made a “significant” financial investment in Relativity Space, according to The New York Times, which broke the story on Monday (March 10). Former CEO & Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt speaks at Chainlink’s…

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