From the robotic arms of the Shuttle era and the International Space Station to synthetic aperture radar programs and satellites studying critical elements of Earth’s changing climate to telecommunication needs in the northern parts of the country, Canada has been a mainstay of space exploration from the beginning. While many […]
NASA Space Flight
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After a lengthy nine-month lull in flights following the previous test of Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard launch system, the company is ready to return to action with another test launch and landing of the fully reusable booster and capsule duo. The flight is currently scheduled to take place from […]
A new Falcon booster has been installed on the test stand at SpaceX’s Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. Based on the logos and hardware on the exterior of the booster, the stage has been identified as a Falcon Heavy side booster, slated to support the next flight […]
It’s one of the most baffling problems in astrophysics. If the solar surface is 5,500℃, how can the solar atmosphere (the corona) be between 1 million and 10 million degrees C? For the first time, scientists have observed nanojets, bright thin lights traveling perpendicular to the magnetic field lines of […]
China launched a new ocean observation satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Monday. Launch of the Haiyang-2C took place at 05:40 UTC under the power of a Long March-4B (Chang Zheng-4B) rocket. The Haiyang-2 program represents the second generation of ocean observation and monitorization satellites, with the program […]
SpaceX’s family of Starship prototypes continues to grow ahead of what promises to be one of the most ambitious test programs in rocket history. However, with “excitement guaranteed,” per CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk, the test flight of Starship SN8 will require fans to set their expectations accordingly – […]
Student teams from around the country have partnered with NASA to test prototype tools for upcoming Artemis missions. This week, students remotely directed divers at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab to test their designs, which addressed a variety of NASA’s needs through the Micro-g NExT program. This year’s testing was impacted […]
The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to take place Thursday September 17 at 2:19pm EDT (18:19 UTC) from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. The weather forecast shows a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions with the primary concerns being the Cumulus Cloud Rule and Anvil […]
A potential planet… where no planet should be. An international team of astronomers utilizing NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and data obtained from the now-retired Spitzer space telescope have reported an astounding potential discovery of a surviving planet closely orbiting a white dwarf. So what’s the big deal? Scientists have […]
The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a design, manufacturing, and testing contract with OHB of Germany for their Hera planetary defense mission, marking a major advancement toward the agency’s commitment to NASA for their joint Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment project. NASA’s portion is scheduled to launch in July […]
Three days after losing a high-resolution remote sensing satellite due to an apparent problem with its upper stage, China launched nine new satellites for the Jilin-1 remote sensing constellation from a barge out at sea. Launch of the nine Jilin-1 Gaofen-03 satellites took place at 01:23 UTC on Tuesday using […]
Let’s get the biggest point out of the way first: No, scientists did not announce proof of life on another planet. What they did find, however, is tantalizing in its potential meaning – though a great deal of work remains to rule out the possibility that other, unknown processes could […]
Starship SN8 is to become the next prototype vehicle to undergo a test flight. CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk confirmed a readiness schedule for the vehicle that will fly with three Raptors, a nose cone, and aero surfaces. The update is an advance on SpaceX’s previous test schedule that […]
China launched a new high-resolution remote sensing satellite for the Jilin-1 satellite constellation on Saturday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. However, the solid fuelled Kuaizhou-1A launch was declared a failure after several hours of waiting for information from Chinese state media. No specifics were noted other than the rocket […]
Following the cancellation of Northrop Grumman’s OmegA rocket, work to demolish the vehicle’s launch tower on a repurposed former Shuttle program Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) will mark the erasure of the program from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). It was hoped OmegA would allow the “clean pad” at 39B to […]
Teams are preparing to support another launch attempt for Astra’s first orbital test flight, featuring the company’s Rocket 3.1 launcher. Liftoff from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Kodiak, Alaska, is scheduled for a window from 7:00 to 9:30 pm PDT on September 10 (02:00 to 04:30 UTC on Sept. 11). […]
NASA’s Juno spacecraft, the agency’s flagship mission to Jupiter, continues to stream back an incredible amount of scientific data about the largest planet in our solar system just over four years after arriving in orbit. Some of the most recent discoveries pertain to lightning in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, called “shallow […]
Humanity’s fleet of robotic explorers peppered throughout the solar system continue to reveal new and exciting pieces of information regarding other members of the Sun’s stellar family. New research from India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission shows the Moon is rusting. The baffling discovery led scientists on an intriguing search for the […]
Following the successful launch and return of its recoverable experimental spaceplane, China launched another remote sensing satellite on September 7, 2020, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Launch of the Gaofen-11 (02) took place at 05:57 UTC from the LC9 Launch Complex using the Long March-4B – Chang Zheng-4B – […]
With two successful 150-meter hops in the bag for SpaceX, Starship testing is preparing to enter the next phase. Starship SN6’s successful 150-meter hop followed just weeks after SN5’s achievement. While SN5 is preparing to conduct another leap, Starship SN8 is closing in on its maiden flight, this time sporting […]
Four veteran Space Shuttle Main Engines will benchmark the performance of the rookie Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage in the final two critical tests of NASA’s Green Run campaign. After loading the stage with propellant for the first time and demonstrating in a countdown that it can satisfy engine […]
China launched a new experimental reusable space vehicle on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March-2F/T – Chang Zheng-2F/T – launch vehicle. Launch from the LC43/91 launch complex, under a veil of secrecy with no official launch photos or even a launch time disclosed. Chinese media […]
Rocket Lab has announced that the kick stage used on their 14th Electron launch, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” was transitioned into satellite mode after payload deployment. This is the first Photon satellite to fly, named “First Light.” The technology demonstration tested the spacecraft systems needed to enable new […]
Starship SN6 is aiming to conduct a 150-meter hop test on Thursday, just a few weeks after SN5 completed the first Starship prototype launch. SN6’s test will be a near-mirror of SN5’s short flight, with both prototypes aiming to refine SpaceX’s launch and landing operations. Meanwhile, additional Starships continue to […]