SPACEX TEST-FIRES STARSHIP SUPER HEAVY BOOSTER AHEAD OF CRITICAL FLIGHT 14 - SpaceX just took another step toward the highly anticipated next test flight of its Starship megarocket. The company conducted an engine test with Starship's giant first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, on the launch pad at its Starbase site in South Texas on Friday (Aug. 28). "Full duration 33-engine static fire with the Super Heavy booster preparing for Flight 14," SpaceX wrote in a Friday X post that shared two videos of the test.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 30)

NASA'S NEWEST TELESCOPE HAS A TOP SECRET PAST - The new Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is slated to launch this weekend. It was originally built for the National Reconnaissance Office as a spy satellite, but was never launched. Instead, NRO gave it to NASA about 15 years ago. After some major modifications, it's set to begin its five-year mission peering at new supernovas, distant galaxies and planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. It should help scientists get a better understanding of the mysterious force known as dark energy – which will tell us about the fate of the universe.   More
(Source: NPR - Aug 29)

HOBBY ASTRONOMERS UNITE WITH FORMER NASA ENGINEER TO UNCOVER SOURCE OF MYSTERIOUS SPACE LIGHTS - Orbs of light streaking across the night sky below the planet Venus are fascinating Queensland sky watchers. They appear about 8pm to the west, sparking online debate about their origin, with theories ranging from aliens to min min lights and defence testing.    More
(Source: ABC News - Aug 29)

AFTER FAILURE OF PRIVATE RESCUE MISSION, NASA'S SWIFT SPACE TELESCOPE WILL CRASH BACK TO EARTH. BUT WHEN AND WHERE? - A private spacecraft failed to rescue NASA's Swift space telescope, meaning the big observatory will come crashing back to Earth in the near future. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched to Earth orbit in November 2004. Over the past two decades, it studied gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the universe — and other cosmic objects and events using a trio of telescopes. But Swift's science work is now done, and its days in orbit are numbered.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 28)

NASA, NORTHROP GRUMMAN COMPLETE CYGNUS XL SPACE STATION REBOOST - Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft today fired its thrusters for 20 mins, 43 seconds boosting the International Space Station’s orbit. The Cygnus XL’s gimbaled delta velocity engine was used to adjust the space station’s altitude by 2/10-of-a-mile at apogee, or highest point of station’s orbit, and 2.6 miles at perigee, or lowest point of station’s orbit, placing the station in an orbit of 266.5 x 254.9 miles.    More
(Source: NASA - Aug 28)

MTG-I2 SATELLITE LAUNCHES ON ARIANE 6, COMPLETING EUROPE'S NEW WEATHER SATELLITE CONSTELLATION - The European Space Agency (ESA) has reached a historic milestone in Earth observation and meteorological science, amid the climate crisis and meteorological disasters. The MTG-I2 ("Meteosat Third Generation Imager-2") satellite has been successfully launched aboard the Ariane 6 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.   More
(Source: Euronews - Aug 28)

MASSIVE SPACE MIRRORS COULD BE 40 TIMES BRIGHTER THAN THE FULL MOON, ASTRONOMERS WARN. 'IT WILL BE WORSE THAN BIG CITIES LIKE LONDON' - Sun-reflecting space mirrors proposed by U.S. startup Reflect Orbital will have an even more devastating effect on the night sky around the world than previously thought, a study has found. Each of the sun-reflecting mirrors proposed by U.S.-based startup Reflect Orbital will appear 40 times brighter than the full moon to observers standing within its beam on Earth, a study has found. The light pollution produced by each of those mirrors would completely wipe out stars from the sky for those underneath them, turning the starry night into an eerie twilight zone.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 28)

SPACEX LAUNCHES 27 STARLINK SATELLITES ON FALCON 9 ROCKET FROM VANDENBERG - SpaceX launched its latest Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the predawn hours of Wednesday morning. The Starlink 15-22 mission will add another 27 broadband internet satellites to the company’s low Earth orbit megaconstellation. SpaceX has flown more than 2,000 of its Starlink satellites to orbit so far this year. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 2:35 a.m. PDT (5:35 a.m. EDT / 0935 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Aug 27)

'YOU JUST SAVED THE VIDEO DISH': TWO ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE SPACEWALK TO REPLACE ISS ANTENNA - "Houston, we have a working comm link again." Thanks to the efforts of two astronauts, such a call is possible again using one of two Space-to-Ground antennas outside the International Space Station (ISS). The pair finished the replacement of a faulty dish assembly during a spacewalk on Tuesday (Aug. 25).   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 26)

Previous Next