NASA’s Mars 2020 spacecraft has completed acoustic and thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The acoustic test of the spacecraft that will carry the Mars 2020 rover to a soft touchdown in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, is the best Earthly approximation for what the spacecraft will endure during launch, where it will encounter…
Tag: Jet
First look at NASA’s completed spacecraft that will carry Mars 2020 rover
An engineer inspects the completed spacecraft that will carry NASA’s next Mars rover to the Red Planet, prior to a test in the Space Simulator Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-05-nasa-spacecraft-mars-rover.html…
Startup Hermeus Wants to Build a Hypersonic Jet That Flies at 5 Times the Speed of Sound
At Mach 5, flight times from New York to London would be reduced from 7 hours to 90 minutes. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65518-hermeus-hypersonic-jet-project.html
Bound for Mars in 2020
The spacecraft for NASA’s next Mars mission – Mars 2020 – is really beginning to take shape now. Here’s the complete cruise stage, suspended in a cleanroom at JPL. It’ll power and guide the spacecraft on its 7-month voyage to Mars. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/photo-mars-2020-spacecraft-cleanroom-jpl-may-2019…
German Startup Unveils Electric ‘Flying Taxi’ Prototype
German startup Lilium has unveiled a new “flying taxi” that can vertically take off and be the basis for an on-demand air service within six years. The Guardian reports: The electric jet-powered five-seater aircraft is designed to travel up to 300km, a journey that would take it an hour at top speed. While a smaller version of its novel plane flew…
Boeing’s New Plan: Replace Human Inspectors With Technology
“Boeing is pushing ahead on a plan to cut about 900 inspectors, replacing their jobs with technology improvements at its Seattle area factories, despite being under fire for software flaws in the 737 Max and quality issues in its other aircraft,” reports USA Today. “The union has raised an outcry, calling it a ‘bad decision’ that will ‘eliminate the second set…
What you need to know about derechos
Derechos typically form in late spring and summer. They are violent storm systems that can produce widespread wind damage across a large area. Check out the images in this post. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/what-you-need-to-know-about-derechos…
Blackout imagines the collapse of civilization from a small New Hampshire town
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/5/18528065/blackout-podcast-rami-malek-scott-conroy-post-apocalypse-recommendation…
Insight lander captures sunrises, sunsets on Mars
Sunrises and sunsets on Mars, captured by the camera on NASA’s InSight lander. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-insight-lander-sunset-sunrise-photos…
Preparing for asteroid Apophis
Astronomers are meeting today at the Planetary Defense Conference to discuss plans to observe asteroid 99942 Apophis, a relatively large asteroid that’ll sweep past Earth safely – but rather closely – in 2029. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/preparing-asteroid-apophis-april-13-2029-passage…