Tag: Space Exploration

Blue Origin’s all-female spaceflight urges women to shoot for the stars — but astronaut memoirs reveal the cost of being exceptional

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Jasleen Chana is a PhD candidate at UCL in the department of Science and Technology Studies. For the first time since Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight in 1963, a spacecraft will fly with only women aboard. Blue Origin’s all-female spaceflight crew, which includes pop star Katy Perry, is set to take off this spring. You may like Jeff Bezos’ crew is assembled from successful and well-known women, also including…

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Launch of Amazon’s 1st Kuiper internet satellites delayed by bad weather

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Amazon may be a whiz at fast online deliveries, but the massive company will have to wait to launch the first satellites of its new space internet constellation after bad weather thwarted a liftoff on Wednesday night. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket attempted to launch 27 of Amazon’s first Project Kuiper internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 9, but persistent clouds near the pad violated launch rules, ULA officials said. “It is confirmed that we will not continue with the Amazon…

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SpaceX to launch new Intuitive Machines moon lander, lunar satellites in 2027

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Intuitive Machines may have crashed its latest moon lander on the lunar surface, but that’s not keeping the company down for long. The Houston-based company has picked SpaceX to launch IM-4, its fourth moon lander, on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2027 alongside two relay satellites for a NASA lunar communications network. The news comes just weeks after the company’s IM-2 moon lander crashed near the moon’s south pole, and as the firm continues work on its third moon lander (yes, it’s called IM-3), which is expected to launch in…

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SpaceX’s next Dragon cargo ship launch for NASA will lift off on April 21

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NASA’s next special delivery to the International Space Station has a launch date, but it’s going to be one for early-birds. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch an uncrewed Dragon cargo ship packed with tons of supplies on Monday, April 21, from the historic Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff is set for 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT), making it a predawn launch. “Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of experiments, including a demonstration of…

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How to watch Jared Isaacman’s NASA chief confirmation hearing in the Senate on April 9

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American billionaire Jared Isaacman heads to Capitol Hill this week for a Senate confirmation hearing on whether he’ll take NASA’s top job, and you can watch it live online. Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next NASA Administrator, will appear before the Senate on Wednesday (April 9) during a hearing with the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) and you’ll be able to watch it live directly from a Senate webcast or on the NASA+ streaming…

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Navy SEAL-doctor-astronaut lifts off with cosmonauts on Russian flight to ISS

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A Navy SEAL, medical doctor and NASA astronaut lifted off for an eight-month mission on the International Space Station — and that was just one of the three crewmembers on the trip into Earth orbit. Jonny Kim of the United States, together with Russia’s Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, launched on Tuesday (April 8) as the Soyuz MS-27 crew. Riding atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, they ascended from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:47 a.m. EDT (0547 GMT or 10:47 a.m. local time). “I am so proud and excited,”…

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SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on brand-new Falcon 9 rocket, aces Pacific Ocean landing (video)

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A never-before-flown Falcon 9 rocket launched the newest round of Starlink internet satellites Monday (April 7), in an afternoon liftoff from the U.S. West Coast. The booster, likely the one designated B1091, was the second new rocket that SpaceX has launched so far this year, both of which supported Starlink missions. Monday’s flight, known as Starlink 11-11, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT), lofting 27 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit (LEO). About eight minutes after liftoff, B1091 completed its descent…

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SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast (photos)

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SpaceX sent another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida on Saturday night (April 5). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday at 11:07 p.m. EDT (0307 GMT on Sunday, April 6). About eight minutes after launch, the rocket’s first stage came back to Earth for a landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 19th launch and landing for this particular booster,…

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Fram2 astronaut mission’s West Coast splashdown opens new era for SpaceX

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The West Coast is the best coast for Dragon landings, at least in SpaceX’s books. The company’s four-person Fram2 mission came to a successful end on Friday (April 4) with the splashdown of the Crew Dragon capsule “Resilience” off the coast of Southern California. That was a first for SpaceX, geography-wise: All 16 of its previous astronaut missions had hit the water off Florida, either in the Atlantic Ocean or in the Gulf of Mexico. Resilience is hauled aboard a recovery ship on April 4 after splashdown. (Image credit: SpaceX)…

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Jared Isaacman, Trump’s pick for NASA chief, to get Senate confirmation hearing on April 9

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Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, the Trump administration’s pick to lead NASA, will appear before a Senate committee on April 9 for a confirmation hearing on whether he will be the next leader of the U.S. space program. Jared Isaacman, who made his billions as CEO of the Shift4 payment processing firm and has flown to space twice on SpaceX missions he financed himself, was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead NASA in December. But his confirmation path has been slow at a time when NASA is facing substantial challenges,…

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