A moon rock collected by Apollo astronauts during the first moon landing is enshrined in a stained-glass window – known as the Space Window – in the Washington National Cathedral. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/moon-rock-washington-national-cathedral-stained-glass-window…
Tag: Spaceflight
SpaceX vs NASA: Who will get us to the moon first? Here’s how their latest rockets compare
No one has visited the moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. NASA has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-spacex-nasa-moon-latest-rockets.html…
NASA “mole’s” attempts to dig into Mars failed. What’s next?
The mission team for NASA’s InSight lander called off its attempts to try to dig deeper into Mars with the heat probe known as “the mole.” Meanwhile, the rest of the mission gained an extension to December 2022. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-calls-halt-to-attempts-by-insight-mole-to-dig-into-mars…
6 space missions to look forward to in 2021
Here are some of the space missions to keep an eye out for in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/6-space-missions-2021-artemis-chandrayaa3-jameswebb…
Six space missions to look forward to in 2021
Space exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-space-missions.html…
SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype soars on epic test launch, with explosive landing
SpaceX’s Starship spaceflight system just took a big step on its path to Mars. Source: https://www.livescience.com/spacex-starship-sn8-test-launch-landing-explosion.html
The ESA Starts a New Commercial Sector in Space: Removing Space Debris
Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike brings some big news from outer space. European Space Agency announced this week that they’re signing “a €86 million ($102 million USD) contract with an industrial team led by the Swiss start-up ClearSpace SA to purchase a unique service: the first removal of an item of space debris from orbit” in the year 2025. “With this contract…
The best Lego sets for alien, sci-fi, space fans and more
Attention, Lego fans! If you love aliens and UFOs, or spaceflight and sci-fi, we’ve got the perfect sets for you and your kids. Source: https://www.livescience.com/best-lego-sets-aliens-ufos-space-sci-fi.html
Scientists expand space instrument’s capabilities
A new study by Southwest Research Institute scientists describes how they have expanded the capabilities of the prototype spaceflight instrument Chemistry Organic and Dating Experiment (CODEX), designed for field-based dating of extraterrestrial materials. CODEX now uses two different dating approaches based on rubidium-strontium and lead-lead geochronology methods. The instrument uses laser ablation resonance ionization mass spectrometry (LARIMS) to obtain dates using…
SpaceX Launches a Falcon 9 Rocket Carrying a Crew Dragon Capsule With Four Astronauts
The big launch finally happens in 2 minutes. “All systems are go for tonight’s launch at 7:27 p.m. EST of Crew Dragon’s first operational mission with four astronauts on board,” SpaceX tweeted this morning. But live coverage is already streaming on SpaceX’s web site. Space.com explains it’s the first operational flight of SpaceX’s “astronaut taxi,” the Crew Dragon:
Called Crew-1, this will…