-
The winds of change are stirring for Starship and Starbase
Cullen DesforgesJuly 26th A static fire and new build rumors abound as SpaceX continues to make progress at its Starbase site in South Texas.
-
Finding life on Europa requires drilling to its subsurface ocean
Laurel KornfeldJuly 24th A future mission seeking signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa will likely require drilling into its global subsurface ocean, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
-
Russian Nauka module on its way to International Space Station
Derek RichardsonJuly 21st After more than a decade's worth of delays, the Russian-built Nauka science module has launched toward the International Space Station.
-
Jeff Bezos touches space on 1st crewed flight of New Shepard
Theresa CrossJuly 20th Blue Origin launched its first crewed New Shepard mission on a suborbital trajectory into space with billionaire founder Jeff Bezos and three others.
-
SpaceX preparing for 1st Starship Super Heavy booster static fire
Cullen DesforgesJuly 19th The Orbital Launch Tower for SpaceX’s Starship launch system got its final section over the weekend as the company continues to press toward the first static fire of a Super Heavy booster.
-
Hubble switched to backup computer, science operations resume
Cullen DesforgesJuly 19th NASA announced the Hubble Space Telescope has been switched to a backup payload computer successfully, allowing the telescope to resume science operations.
-
Starliner attached to Atlas 5 rocket in advance of OFT-2 mission
Theresa CrossJuly 18th Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the upcoming second Orbital Flight Test was transported and attached to its Atlas 5 carrier rocket for launch.
-
‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ arrives in Port Canaveral
Theresa CrossJuly 18th On July 15, SpaceX’s newest drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” made its way into Port Canaveral on Florida’s Space Coast.
-
Isotope of carbon found in exoplanet’s atmosphere
Laurel KornfeldJuly 17th An international team of scientists has detected isotopes of carbon in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time ever, a discovery noted in the journal Nature.
-
Lunar Gateway habitation module contract finalized
Theresa CrossJuly 16th NASA and Northrop Grumman have finalized a contract for the living quarters of the Moon-orbiting Lunar Gateway for the Artemis program, the Habitation and Logistics Outpost.
-
Wally Funk of the ‘Mercury 13’ to finally fly into space next week
Theresa CrossJuly 13th On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Wally Funk, a member of the “Mercury 13," would fly into space atop the company’s suborbital New Shepard rocket.
-
Raptors abound at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas
Cullen DesforgesJuly 12th Raptor engines were the hot topic last week at SpaceX’s rocket production and testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas, also known as Starbase.
-
The winds of change are stirring for Starship and Starbase
Cullen DesforgesJuly 26th A static fire and new build rumors abound as SpaceX continues to make progress at its Starbase site in South Texas.
-
Russian Nauka module on its way to International Space Station
Derek RichardsonJuly 21st After more than a decade's worth of delays, the Russian-built Nauka science module has launched toward the International Space Station.
-
Jeff Bezos touches space on 1st crewed flight of New Shepard
Theresa CrossJuly 20th Blue Origin launched its first crewed New Shepard mission on a suborbital trajectory into space with billionaire founder Jeff Bezos and three others.
-
SpaceX preparing for 1st Starship Super Heavy booster static fire
Cullen DesforgesJuly 19th The Orbital Launch Tower for SpaceX’s Starship launch system got its final section over the weekend as the company continues to press toward the first static fire of a Super Heavy booster.
-
Hubble switched to backup computer, science operations resume
Cullen DesforgesJuly 19th NASA announced the Hubble Space Telescope has been switched to a backup payload computer successfully, allowing the telescope to resume science operations.
-
Starliner attached to Atlas 5 rocket in advance of OFT-2 mission
Theresa CrossJuly 18th Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the upcoming second Orbital Flight Test was transported and attached to its Atlas 5 carrier rocket for launch.
-
‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ arrives in Port Canaveral
Theresa CrossJuly 18th On July 15, SpaceX’s newest drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” made its way into Port Canaveral on Florida’s Space Coast.
-
Lunar Gateway habitation module contract finalized
Theresa CrossJuly 16th NASA and Northrop Grumman have finalized a contract for the living quarters of the Moon-orbiting Lunar Gateway for the Artemis program, the Habitation and Logistics Outpost.
-
Raptors abound at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas
Cullen DesforgesJuly 12th Raptor engines were the hot topic last week at SpaceX’s rocket production and testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas, also known as Starbase.
-
‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ added to SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet
Theresa CrossJuly 12th SpaceX is adding a third autonomous spaceport drone ship to its fleet. "A Shortfall of Gravitas" has left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to begin sea trials before heading to the Space Coast.
-
Richard Branson rides Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo into space
Theresa CrossJuly 11th Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft took its first full crew, which included the company's billionaire founder Richard Branson, on a brief foray into space.
-
Space Launch System stage adapter and ICPS upper stage stacked
Michael McCabeJuly 9th NASA's Space Launch System, currently being assembled in the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the Artemis 1 mission later this year, recently received its Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter and upper stage.
-
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter breaks records with 9th flight
Cullen DesforgesJuly 8th The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter that has proven itself to be the star of the Perseverance mission recently made its ninth and most daring flight to date.
-
SpaceX Super Heavy Booster 3 rolled to Starbase launch pad
Cullen DesforgesJuly 5th SpaceX's Super Heavy Booster No. 3 stacked at the company’s high bay facility made an appearance last week. The vehicle was transported down Boca Chica’s Highway 4 on July 1, 2021, to a modified section of Pad A, where it is expected to begin cryo testing.
-
Progress MS-17 cargo craft docks with International Space Station
Derek RichardsonJuly 1st Two days after launching from Kazakhstan, Russia’s unpiloted Progress MS-17 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station.
-
SpaceX launches Transporter-2 Falcon 9 rideshare mission
Theresa CrossJune 30th A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Transporter-2, the second dedicated rideshare mission for the company, into a polar orbit from Florida.
-
Finding life on Europa requires drilling to its subsurface ocean
July 24th
A future mission seeking signs of life on Jupiter's moon Europa will likely require drilling into its global subsurface ocean, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy. -
Isotope of carbon found in exoplanet’s atmosphere
July 17th
An international team of scientists has detected isotopes of carbon in the atmosphere of an exoplanet for the first time ever, a discovery noted in the journal Nature. -
Wally Funk of the ‘Mercury 13’ to finally fly into space next week
July 13th
On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Wally Funk, a member of the “Mercury 13," would fly into space atop the company’s suborbital New Shepard rocket. -
Former Shuttle Landing Facility to get new ‘utility corridor’
July 10th
Construction on a new "utility corridor" has begun at the former Shuttle Landing Facility, now known as the Launch and Landing Facility, which is run by Space Florida. -
Surface, geology of Pluto studied via opposition observations
July 4th
Six years after the New Horizons spacecraft returned close-up images of Pluto, researchers are teasing out more information about its geology and surface. -
Scientists trace meteor showers back to long-period comets
June 19th
Scientists traced up to 15 lesser-known meteor showers through which Earth travels annually to long-period comets with orbits that take up to 4,000 years. -
DOGE-1 CubeSat to fly to the Moon atop a Falcon 9 rocket
June 10th
Last month, Geometric Energy Corporation announced the first mission to the Moon paid entirely with the Dogecoin cryptocurrency — DOGE-1. -
Atlas V STP-3 mission delayed
June 5th
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Space Force's STP-3 mission has been delayed, according to a release by the launch provider. -
NASA releases 3D video of Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s 3rd flight
May 31st
On April 25, 2021, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter performed its third test flight. Recently, NASA engineers converted a video of the flight into anaglyph 3D. -
Titan sample return mission being explored by NASA engineers
May 30th
Funded by a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program grant, scientists are exploring a possible mission to return samples from Saturn's moon Titan. -
NASA’s CAPSTONE lunar mission to fly later this year
May 13th
Later this year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat to test a special orbit around the Moon to verify its characteristics in advance of sending the Lunar Gateway there as early as 2024. -
Exoplanets and their characterization the focus of STScl workshop
May 11th
The various methods used over the last 25 years to discover exoplanets and the science of categorizing the many types of exoplanets that have been found was the focus of an April 19 workshop for science writers sponsored by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). -
Petition asks NASA to name Lunar Gateway after Michael Collins
May 6th
There is a Change.org petition to rename NASA’s Lunar Gateway after former Apollo astronaut Michael Collins, who died April 28, 2021, at age 90. -
Light this candle! The 60th anniversary of the first American in space
May 5th
Sixty years ago today, on May 5, 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard rocketed to space in his Mercury capsule to become the first American and the second human in space. -
New Horizons spacecraft is now 50 AU from the Sun
April 22nd
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft achieved a major milestone on Saturday, April 17, when it reached a distance of 50 AU from the Sun.
