[ad_1] If NASA is going to have a long-term presence on the Moon, it’s going to need an alternative to typical solar power — lunar nights can last for over two weeks in some cases. And the agency is turning to outsiders for help. It’s partnering with HeroX on a “Watts on the Moon” crowdsourcing […]
Category: Space
NASA delays its Titan drone mission by another year
[ad_1] It’s an ambitious project. This will represent NASA’s first multi-rotor science vehicle on another celestial body, and the first of any kind to carry its full science payload between multiple areas. The drone will spend nine years flying relatively regular missions to collect samples and study both the habitability of Titan as well as […]
SpaceX’s reused rockets will carry national security payloads for the first time
[ad_1] There’s clearly a pragmatic incentive to allow reused rockets. The Space Force expects to save $52.7 million for the GPS III missions alone. It might also be difficult to insist on brand new rockets. SpaceX is shifting its focus to Starship, and might not be eager to make more Falcon 9 rockets than necessary. […]
SpaceX scales back plans for Starship’s first high-altitude flight
[ad_1] You might want to dial back your expectations for the first high-altitude SpaceX Starship flight. Elon Musk now says the flight with the SN8 prototype will top out at 15km, or close to 50,000ft, instead of the 18km and 60,000ft he’d mentioned earlier. It’s not clear what prompted the lowered expectations, but Musk added […]
Hitting the Books: The invisible threat that every ISS astronaut fears
[ad_1] Workman Excerpted from How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth by Terry Virts (Workman). © 2020. For all the emergency training I went through as an astronaut, I never expected to be holed up in the Russian segment of the ISS, the hatch to the US segment sealed, with my crew waiting and […]
OSIRIS-REx will attempt its first asteroid sample collection next month
[ad_1] Once OSIRIS-REx has landed, a robotic sampling arm will perform Touch-And-Go (TAG) collection. The mission is to collect at least two ounces, or 60 grams, of rocky material. If the first TAG attempt in October does not collect enough material, OSIRIS-REx has onboard nitrogen charges to power two more attempts. The spacecraft is scheduled […]
A reality show wants to send its winning contestant to the ISS
[ad_1] Deadline says that Space Hero is working with Axiom Space, a company working to build its own commercial space station in the future. It has secured a potential trip to the ISS at some point in 2021, riding a SpaceX Crew Dragon to the space station, and carrying three space tourists. Axiom confirmed to […]
Japan will send an 8K camera to Mars and its moons
[ad_1] The MMX spacecraft is expected to launch in Japan’s fiscal 2024 and reach Mars by fiscal 2025. It’ll be longer still before the return capsule arrives. It could be worth the wait. MMX should not only provide highly detailed photography of Mars from above the surface, but land on Phobos and collect surface material. […]
SpaceX’s next Starship prototype will try a 60,000-foot return flight
[ad_1] SpaceX is nearly done with short-hop Starship test flights. Elon Musk has shared (via TechCrunch) that the company’s SN8 Starship prototype should be finished in “about a week,” and will conduct Starship’s first high-altitude flight. After static fire tests and checkouts, SpaceX will attempt a 60,000-foot return trip with the rocket. The machine will […]
Space startup Astra’s first orbital rocket launch ends prematurely
[ad_1] Astra stressed that it didn’t expect to reach orbit with its first rocket. It anticipated three flights before reaching that milestone. The mission still ended sooner than expected, though, and the company positioned the premature end as a chance to collect “valuable experience” and flight data. It remained confident that could can reach orbit […]