Tag: Space
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Having sex in space would be tricky, but having kids in space is riskier
Researchers say the mechanics of having sex in space would be easier to manage than the biology of pregnancy and fetal development in a reduced-gravity environment. (Credit: ID 309694213 © Anna Ivanova | Dreamstime.com) Sex in space is the perfect subject for levity and double entendres, and the panelists at a Deep Tech Week session…
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Rocket Report: Nova moving through test campaign; SpaceX IPO launches Friday
Welcome to Edition 8.45 of the Rocket Report! Even though we are now two weeks removed from the catastrophic loss of the New Glenn rocket and its LC-36A launch pad, it continues to dominate discussion in the space community. This week, NASA said it nominally plans to fly Blue Origin’s test lander on New Glenn…
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A Falcon 9 booster turns 5 years old—and just set a remarkable reuse record
A little more than five years ago, a shiny white Falcon 9 rocket made its debut flight, boosting a Cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Over the next year, it would launch a pair of astronaut missions and a handful of commercial spacecraft. But since then, this first stage booster, designated B 1067,…
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How long will it take to rebuild Blue Origin’s launch pad? We asked some SpaceX vets.
A former NASA engineer named John Muratore sat on console as launch director in early September 2016 as propellant flowed onto a Falcon 9 rocket in Florida. Ahead of a planned launch two days later, SpaceX was preparing for a static fire test of the vehicle. Then, all of a sudden, the rocket exploded. “It…
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Analyst on China’s spent rocket stages: “Things only continue to get worse”
Up until a decade ago, China had never launched as many as 20 orbital rockets a year. But beginning in 2022, the Asian country launched 64 rockets and last year reached a record total of 93, marking it as the second-most productive space power in the world. Further growth is anticipated from both the company’s…
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Rocket Report: Starship launch delayed, German launch company may aid Canada
Welcome to Edition 8.42 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX nearly launched its Starship rocket on Thursday amid much pomp and circumstance in South Texas, only to be foiled by a ground system issue. Such delays are to be expected, with almost entirely new hardware on both the rocket and the ground side of things. The…
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Famously secret about its finances, SpaceX opens its books for the first time
After nearly a quarter of a century operating as a private company, with its financial accounts a closely guarded secret, SpaceX on Wednesday afternoon released a detailed accounting of its business in a nearly 400-page S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. SpaceX, founded in 2002 and still led by Elon Musk, submitted…
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In addition to space stations, Vast says it will now build high-power satellites
As part of its plan to develop a private space station, Vast Space built and then launched a small demonstration spacecraft in early November. This vehicle then completed dozens of test objectives with flying colors before making a successful de-orbit three months later. The mission, which tested power, propulsion, tracking, and a multitude of other…
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Could this be the moment that drug manufacturing takes off in orbit?
NASA has enabled scientists to study the impact of microgravity on drug development for decades, beginning with the Space Shuttle. This work accelerated in the 2010s, with the completion of the International Space Station and full-time crew members devoted to scientific research. There have been some notable successes during this timeframe, such as the ability…
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The US military just released a bunch of UAP files, but there’s no there there
There have been supposed alien sightings for centuries. These observations of “unidentified flying objects,” or UFOs, have periodically surged, such as during the late 1940s and early 1950s as the Cold War began. There have been more sightings since the early 2000s, driven by advances in sensors and cameras that capture images in real time.…