The space station will receive a new shipment of supplies this morning (Nov. 5), and you can watch the event live. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft laden with 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of food, equipment and experiments will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) today around 10:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT), if all goes according to plan. Coverage will run live on NASA+ and, if possible, Space.com will simulcast the events here. NASA’s broadcast will begin at 8:45 a.m. EST (1245 GMT). SpaceX launched the robotic Dragon aboard a…
Read MoreTag: Space Exploration
Astronomers urge FCC to halt satellite megaconstellation launches
Over 100 astronomers from leading U.S. universities have signed an open letter calling for an assessment of potential impacts of satellite megaconstellations on Earth’s environment. The researchers urge the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which approves satellite deployments in the U.S., to halt megaconstellation launches and conduct a thorough assessment of their possible environmental impacts before awarding further licenses. U.S. government agencies are bound by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), which requires them to consider the environmental impacts of their decisions. A 1986 categorical exclusion, however, means that satellites…
Read MoreWatch Rocket Lab launch mystery mission early on Nov. 5
Rocket Lab plans to launch a hush-hush mission early Tuesday morning (Nov. 5), and you can watch the action live. The mission, for a “confidential commercial customer,” is set to lift off atop an Electron vehicle from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand site on Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT). Rocket Lab will webcast the launch live, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff. Space.com will carry the feed if Rocket Lab makes it available. Tuesday’s mission, which Rocket Lab calls “‘Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” will send one commercial satellite…
Read MoreJapan launches military communications satellite on 4th flight of H3 rocket
Japan’s new H3 rocket flew for the fourth time ever on Monday morning (Nov. 4). The H3 launched Kirameki 3, a military communications satellite also known as DSN-3, from Tanegashima Space Center on Monday at 1:48 a.m. EST (0548 GMT; 3:48 p.m. local Japan time). The flight was apparently a success: Kirameki 3 deployed at about 29 minutes after liftoff as planned, eliciting cheers and handshakes in mission control, as seen in the launch webcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The two-stage H3 is Japan’s new workhorse medium-lift…
Read MoreChina’s Shenzhou 18 astronauts return to Earth today after 6 months in space
China’s Shenzhou 18 crew are ready to return home after more than six months in space. Astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu have been living aboard the Tiangong space station since April 25 this year, but are set to return to Earth on Sunday (Nov. 3) after completing their mission. The trio greeted the incoming Shenzhou 19 crew aboard Tiangong on Oct. 30, meaning China briefly has six astronauts in space. Commander Ye officially handed over the control of the orbital outpost to Shenzhou 19 commander Cai Xuzhe…
Read MoreWatch SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts move Crew Dragon spacecraft to new ISS parking spot on Nov. 3
Four astronauts will relocate a SpaceX spacecraft at the space station on Sunday (Nov. 3), and you can watch the event live. The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts, including two crew members formerly aboard Boeing Starliner, will move their Crew Dragon at the International Space Station. ISS procedures dictate that all astronauts assigned to a spacecraft climb on board for relocations, on the tiny chance something arises that would force the group to come early back to Earth. Live coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) courtesy of NASA+, and possibly…
Read MoreSpace isn’t all about the ‘race’ – rival superpowers must work together for a better future
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Art Cotterell is Research Associate at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University. In recent years, a new “space race” has intensified between the United States and China. At a campaign rally last weekend, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump invoked this rivalry when declaring the US will “lead the world in space,” echoing Democratic counterpart Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, the president of China, Xi Jinping, has…
Read MoreChina’s Shenzhou 19 astronauts take the reins of Tiangong space station (video)
China’s Shenzhou 18 crew have passed the keys to the Tiangong space station to its new occupants. The Shenzhou 19 mission launched on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China on Oct. 29 and arrived at the Tiangong space station 6.5 hours later. Shortly thereafter, at 12:51 a.m. EDT (0451 GMT) on Oct. 30, the hatch between the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft and Tiangong was opened, allowing the three Shenzhou 18 mission astronauts to greet the trio of new arrivals aboard. The formal handover of the station…
Read MoreBoeing can recover from its Starliner troubles, but it can’t afford any other misfires
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Loizos Heracleous is a Professor of Strategy at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. SpaceX has launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft on a “rescue mission” to bring back two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since June. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams travelled to the space station on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was on its first mission with a human crew. But several engines malfunctioned once in…
Read MoreEarth sure looks spooky in these ‘hyperspectral’ images from Europe’s Hera asteroid probe
A strange Earth shines in new imagery captured by a European asteroid mission. The Hera spacecraft, which launched this month to study a binary asteroid system up close. turned its gaze back at our planet to capture spooky views of Earth in multiple wavelengths of light. The imagery was captured fro roughly 1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) away, using Hera’s HyperScout H hyperspectral imager. Besides being beautiful space art, the imagery “allows us to observe cloud patterns on our planet”, instrument team member Marcel Popescu of Romania’s University of…
Read More