Tag: Space
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The New Glenn rocket’s seven powerful engines may light up as soon as today
In a widely anticipated test, Blue Origin may ignite the seven main engines on its New Glenn rocket as soon as Thursday at Launch Complex-36 in Florida. This is the final test the company must complete before verifying the massive rocket is ready for its debut flight, and it is the most dynamic. This will…
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We’re about to fly a spacecraft into the Sun for the first time
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Solar cycle, Not a sunspot was stirring, not even a burst; The stockings were all hung by the corona with care, In hopes that the Parker Solar Probe would soon be there. Almost no one ever writes about the Parker Solar Probe anymore. Sure, the spacecraft…
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Report: Elon Musk failed to report movement required by security clearance
A new investigation from The New York Times suggests that SpaceX founder Elon Musk has not been reporting his travel activities and other information to the Department of Defense as required by his top-secret clearance. According to the newspaper, concerns about Musk’s reporting practices have led to reviews by three different bodies within the military;…
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Russian space chief says country will fly on space station until 2030
In a wide-ranging interview with a Russian television station, the chief executive of Russia’s main space corporation said the country is now planning to participate in the International Space Station project all the way to NASA’s desired goal of 2030. “In coordination with our American colleagues, we plan to de-orbit the station sometime around the…
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Rocket Report: Chinese national flies drone near Falcon 9, Trouble down under
Welcome to Edition 7.23 of the Rocket Report! We’re closing in on the end of the year, with a little less than three weeks remaining in 2024. Can you believe it? I hardly can. The biggest question left in launch is whether Blue Origin will make its deadline for launching New Glenn by the end…
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In an odd bit of propaganda, Belarus claims to have its own Starlink technology
In recent days, there has been a smattering of coverage in state-run Russian media outlets about how the Belarusian army has developed its own satellite Internet service akin to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, called “Kulisa.” According to the TASS news service, for example, the Kulisa mobile communications technology has “already entered service and is being used…
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NASA believes it understands why Ingenuity crashed on Mars
Eleven months after the Ingenuity helicopter made its final flight on Mars, engineers and scientists at NASA and a private company that helped build the flying vehicle said they have identified what probably caused it to crash on the surface of Mars. In short, the helicopter’s on-board navigation sensors were unable to discern enough features…
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Ranking the 25 coolest things in space so far during the 21st century
There is, of course, no quantitative way to rank amazing things that happen in space. We cannot measure their absolute magnitude nor assign them a numerical value, and trying to do so is something of a fool’s errand. Are we fools? Maybe. But we’re fools who like to have a little fun. Understandably, then, this…
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In a not-so-subtle signal to regulators, Blue Origin says New Glenn is ready
Blue Origin said Tuesday that the test payload for the first launch of its new rocket, New Glenn, is ready for liftoff. The company published an image of the “Blue Ring” pathfinder nestled up against one half of the rocket’s payload fairing. “There is a growing demand to quickly move and position equipment and infrastructure…
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After critics decry Orion heat shield decision, NASA reviewer says agency is correct
Within hours of NASA announcing its decision to fly the Artemis II mission aboard an Orion spacecraft with an unmodified heat shield, critics assailed the space agency, saying it had made the wrong decision. “Expediency won over safety and good materials science and engineering. Sad day for NASA,” Ed Pope, an expert in advanced materials…