Tag: Space
-
A century after the first rocket launch, Ars staffers pick their favorites
Robert Goddard, a Massachusetts-born physicist, launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket on this date 100 years ago. It was not an overly impressive flight. The rocket, fueled by gasoline and liquid oxygen, rose just 41 feet into the air, and the flight lasted 2.5 seconds before it struck ice and snow. Nevertheless, this rocket, named…
-
After falling far behind the rest of industry, Blue Origin creates new stock option plan
Editor’s note: On Monday afternoon, Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp sent employees an email announcing a “new stock option” plan that would allow all employees to participate in and eventually convert vested options. This article explains why this is so important for the company in the competitive space industry. Two years after he founded…
-
Ding-dong! The Exploration Upper Stage is dead
In his 1961 novel The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck wrote of loss, “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” The death of NASA’s Exploration Upper Stage today represents the inverse of that sentiment. The world of spaceflight is so much brighter…
-
As Moon interest heats up, two companies unveil plans for a lunar “harvester”
The Moon has received a lot of attention in recent months, particularly the surface of Earth’s cold and dusty companion. This has largely been driven by a decision from SpaceX founder Elon Musk to pivot, at least in the near term, from Mars to lunar surface activities and the potential for using material there to…
-
Former NASA chief turned ULA lobbyist seeks law to limit SpaceX funding
A former NASA administrator says he is “encouraged” that the US Congress is considering legislation to prevent NASA from spending more than 50 percent of its launch funding on any single provider. “America succeeds in space when American companies compete, innovate, and grow,” former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m encouraged to see…
-
A non-public document reveals that science may not be prioritized on next Mars mission
The US space agency has released a “pre-solicitation” for what is expected to be a hotly contested contract to develop a spacecraft to orbit Mars and relay communications from the red planet back to Earth. Ars covered the intrigue surrounding the spacecraft in late January, which was initiated by US Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as…
-
Why would Elon Musk pivot from Mars to the Moon all of a sudden?
As more than 120 million people tuned in to the Super Bowl for kickoff on Sunday evening, SpaceX founder Elon Musk turned instead to his social network. There, he tapped out an extended message in which he revealed that SpaceX is pivoting from the settlement of Mars to building a “self-growing” city on the Moon.…
-
Another Jeff Bezos company has announced plans to develop a megaconstellation
The announcement came out of the blue, from Blue, on Wednesday. The space company founded by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, said it was developing a new megaconstellation named TeraWave to deliver data speeds of up to 6Tbps anywhere on Earth. The constellation will consist of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites, with a majority in low-Earth orbit…
-
Webb reveals a planetary nebula with phenomenal clarity, and it is spectacular
The Helix Nebula is one of the most well-known and commonly photographed planetary nebulae because it resembles the “Eye of Sauron.” It is also one of the closest bright nebulae to Earth, located approximately 655 light-years from our Solar System. You may not know what this particular nebula looks like when reading its name, but…
-
The first commercial space station, Haven-1, is now undergoing assembly for launch
As Ars reported last week, NASA’s plan to replace the International Space Station with commercial space stations is running into a time crunch. The sprawling International Space Station is due to be decommissioned less than five years from now, and the US space agency has yet to formally publish rules and requirements for the follow-on…