A rocket ship built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company thundered away from Earth with two Americans on Saturday, ushering in a new era in commercial space travel and putting the United States back in the business of launching astronauts into orbit from home soil for the first time in nearly a decade. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-spacex-rocket-ship-americans.html…
Tag: Commercial space
What you need to know about SpaceX’s ‘Demo-2’ mission
SpaceX’s “Demo-2” mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend will be the first flight with astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon capsule built by entrepreneur Elon Musk’s commercial space company. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-spacex-demo-mission.html…
2 U.S. astronauts arrive at launch pad for SpaceX launch
With thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes threatening a delay, two NASA astronauts climbed aboard a SpaceX rocket ship Wednesday for liftoff on a history-making flight that was seen as a giant leap forward for the booming business of commercial space travel. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-astronauts-pad-spacex.html…
2 U.S. astronauts board SpaceX rocket for historic launch
With thunderstorms threatening a delay, two NASA astronauts climbed aboard a SpaceX rocket ship Wednesday for liftoff on a history-making flight that was seen as a giant leap forward for the booming business of commercial space travel. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-astronauts-pad-spacex.html…
First commercial space taxi a pit stop on Musk’s Mars quest
It all started with the dream of growing a rose on Mars. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-commercial-space-taxi-pit-musk.html…
After 5 Years of Construction, ‘Space Fence’ Finally Declared Operational
An anonymous reader quotes Space News:
The space surveillance radar site known as the Space Fence is ready for use after five years in construction, the U.S. Space Force announced March 27. The $1.5 billion Space Fence — located on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands — is a ground-based radar system that tracks satellites and space debris primarily…
NASA Moves Forward With International Space Station ‘Hotel’
Last June NASA announced plans to host visitors on the International Space Station for just $35,000 a day. “And now we know where they’ll be sleeping,” reports the Motley Fool: Earlier this week, NASA announced that it has selected Axiom Space to build “at least one habitable commercial module to be attached to the International Space Station….” In this particular demonstration…
Virgin Galactic unveils commercial space suits
The date for the world’s first commercial space flight is not even confirmed yet, but future passengers’ Star Trek-like outfits are ready and waiting. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-virgin-galactic-unveils-commercial-space.html…
US Govt Considers Changing Requirements for Rocket Launches. Commercial Space Group Objects
Long-time Slashdot reader apoc.famine writes: In a proposed change to the licensing of spaceflight operations, the FAA writes: “This action would fundamentally change how the FAA licenses launches and reentries…by proposing a regulatory approach that relies on performance-based regulations rather than prescriptive regulations…..This action would also enable flexible timeframes, remove unnecessary ground safety regulations, redefine when launch begins to allow specified…
NASA’s Lunar Space Station Might Be a Boondoggle
“NASA’s orbiting Lunar Gateway is either essential for a moon landing or a boondoggle in the making,” writes IEEE Spectrum. the_newsbeagle writes: NASA is under pressure to put humans back on the moon by 2024… NASA’s plan for meeting that ambitious target relies on building a space station in lunar orbit, called the Gateway. NASA says it will use its (over…