A SpaceX rocket prototype, known as SN10, soared over South Texas during test flight Wednesday before swooping down to a pinpoint landing near its launch site. Approximately three minutes after landing, however, multiple independent video feeds showed the rocket exploding on its landing pad. CNN reports: SpaceX’s SN10, an early prototype of the company’s Starship Mars rocket, took off around 5:15…
Tag: rocket
NASA selects 16 futuristic space technology concepts
NASA has selected 16 cool new futuristic space technology concepts for further study. Four of them are from NASA’s own Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including a railway system on the moon to move cargo. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/futuristic-space-technology-concepts-nasa-jpl-niac…
Rocket Lab Reveals Plans For Reusable Rocket With 8 Ton Payload
Rocket Lab has unveiled plans for a larger rocket that can carry bigger payloads than its current reusable trooper, the Electron. It’s called the Neutron and will be capable of carrying 8 metric tons to low-Earth orbit compared to the Electron’s 660 lbs capacity. Engadget reports: The Neutron will also have a fully reusable first stage that can land on an…
Perseverance saw its own descent stage crash
The Mars rover images a plume of debris from the impact of the descent stage that helped the spacecraft land safely on the red planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/photo-mars-perseverance-descent-stage-smoke-plume…
Cool video! Perseverance’s descent and touchdown on Mars
Check out this amazing new video from NASA’s Perseverance rover, showing its own descent and landing on the surface of Mars last week. Truly, it’s like nothing seen before! Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/video-perseverance-rover-descent-and-touchdown-on-mars…
Big ideas in small packages: The seeds and worms making their way to the ISS
On Feb. 20, 2021, Northrop Grumman will launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard an Antares rocket to deliver several tons of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for its 15th resupply mission (CRS-15). Included in these bulky supplies will be a handful of items that weigh no more than a few grams—a sampling of seeds, some microscopic proteins, and…
James Webb Space Telescope – Hubble’s successor – to launch in October
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s most complex infrared telescope, built for a wide range of research projects. NASA is now targeting October 31 for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-telescope-hubble-successor-to-launch…
Perseverance: How to Land on Mars
Slung beneath its rocket powered descent stage Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Sounding rocket CLASP2 elucidates solar magnetic field
Cooperative operations between a solar observation satellite and a sounding-rocket telescope have measured the magnetic field strength in the photosphere and chromosphere above an active solar plage region. This is the first time that the magnetic field in the chromosphere has been charted all the way up its top. This finding brings us closer to understanding how energy is transferred between…
Timing of next Virgin Galactic flight still up in the air
A window is set to open for Virgin Galactic to make another attempt at a rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space, but the company announced Friday it would be holding off on a new effort. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-virgin-galactic-flight-air.html…