Tag

Space Exploration

All articles tagged with #space exploration

space16 hours ago•103 min saved

SpaceX hits 35th Falcon 9 flight, deploys 29 Starlink satellites

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base for its 35th flight, lifting 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit before the first stage, B1071, touched down on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Pacific about 8.5 minutes after liftoff; the Starlink satellites are slated for deployment roughly an hour after launch. The mission is the 81st Falcon 9 flight of 2026, with roughly 80% of flights to Starlink.

via Space|

#falcon-9 #rocket-launch #space

science1 day ago•12 min saved

Voyager 1 Survives on a Thread: NASA balances power to keep its signal alive

NASA is keeping Voyager 1 alive by cautiously turning off nonessential instruments and heaters to conserve the aging RTG’s power, while keeping it warm enough to prevent fuel lines from freezing and to maintain precise antenna pointing. The 25-billion-kilometre distance makes any misfire fatal, and a 2025 fuel-line clog nearly cut off thruster control—forcing a successful test of the long-dormant primary roll thrusters to extend the mission into the 2030s as communications depend on a 23-hour round trip.

via Space Daily|

#nasa #power-management #science

space2 days ago•9 min saved

New Horizons Wakes from Deep-Space Slumber Near Pluto

NASA's New Horizons, after roughly a year in hibernation about 5.9 billion miles from Earth, has awakened and is back online, with mission planners reporting all systems green as it resumes data gathering; it takes about nine hours for its radio signals to reach Earth, and the craft—launched in 2006 and famed for its 2015 Pluto images—continues exploring Pluto, the Kuiper Belt, and the outer heliosphere.

via upi.com|

#hibernation #nasa #new-horizons

space-exploration3 days ago•102 min saved

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 notches 36th flight with 29 Starlink satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 5:25 a.m. ET carrying 29 Starlink satellites; Booster 1067, on its 36th flight, extended SpaceX’s reuse record and landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, while the upper stage deployed the 29 satellites roughly 63.5 minutes after launch, as part of a year in which Falcon 9 missions are heavily focused on Starlink, now with more than 10,700 active satellites.

via Space|

#cape-canaveral-space-force-station #falcon-9 #rocket-landing

space-exploration3 days ago•91 min saved

China's Tianwen-2 captures first close-up of Earth's quasi-moon, but sampling may be trickier than hoped

China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has delivered the first close-up image of Earth's quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa (2016 HO3) after a roughly 400-day journey, suggesting a small, rubble-pile asteroid around 40–100 meters in size and signaling that planned sample collection could be more difficult than expected. If successful, any samples would be returned to Earth in 2027, making China the third country to achieve asteroid sample return; the mission will later pivot to a second target, 311P/PanSTARRS, in 2035.

via Live Science|

#china #kamooalewa #quasi-moon

investing3 days ago•41 min saved

Grantham: SpaceX's IPO Will Be a Laughable History Lesson

GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham calls Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO the “craziest in the history of man” and says future historians will laugh at it, even as SpaceX becomes part of the Nasdaq 100. Analysts are mixed on how high SpaceX can go, with targets ranging from about $205 to $300, while the stock sits near launch price. Grantham also questions governance given Musk’s 82% voting control and warns the venture’s success may hinge on massive AI developments, suggesting the IPO could become a landmark historical event regardless of near-term price action.

via Fortune|

#elon-musk #investing #markets

science4 days ago•2 min saved

Titan Emerges as the Next Stop for Human Spaceflight

A Boulder summit argues Titan could be a practical next target for crewed missions after Mars, thanks to its thick nitrogen atmosphere offering radiation protection and hydrocarbon seas ideal for low-temperature chemistry and possible in-situ resource use; NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft lander (launched 2028, landing 2034) will survey multiple sites for habitability, building on ESA's Huygens (2005) data and guiding future Titan operations.

via extremetech.com|

#dragonfly #huygens #saturn

sciencespace4 days ago•4 min saved

Voyager 1 Reaches One-Light-Day Milestone After 50 Years

NASA's Voyager 1 is set to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth on November 18, 2026, making it the farthest human-made object as it continues its nearly 50-year journey; data still travels back to Earth with about a 23-hour delay, and the probe carries on with a small set of instruments while power wanes. Voyager 2, launched shortly before its twin, is also in interstellar space at about 21.3 billion miles from Earth, with some instruments powered down to conserve energy.

via bgr.com|

#interstellar-space #milestone #nasa

space4 days ago•103 min saved

China's Tianwen-2 Captures First Image of Kamo'oalewa, Earth's Quasi-Moon

China's Tianwen-2 asteroid-sampling mission released its first image of quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa (asteroid 2016 HO3), taken from about 20 km away on July 2, 2026. The spacecraft will study the object with 11 instruments for roughly a year before attempting a return sample to Earth. Kamo'oalewa, about 16–20 meters across, is a near-Earth quasi-satellite and may be material from the Moon formed by a past large impact Giordano Bruno; a sample could test that idea. Tianwen-2, launched in May 2025, marks China's first asteroid-sample mission, with future plans including Tianwen-3 (Mars sample return in 2028) and Tianwen-4 (Jupiter/Uranus study in 2030).

via Space|

#asteroids #quasi-satellite #sample-return

space-exploration5 days ago•102 min saved

ISS captures Los Angeles fireworks during America’s 250th birthday celebration

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station watched hundreds of Fourth of July fireworks over Los Angeles as the U.S. marked its 250th birthday. NASA’s Expedition 74 crew—seven astronauts from the U.S. and international partners—observed the display from orbit, underscoring NASA’s anniversary activities that also included Artemis II branding on the rocket and upcoming flyovers.

via Space|

#america250 #internationalspacestation #losangeles

science5 days ago•2 min saved

NASA Seeks Four Volunteers for a Year-long Moon/Mars Analog Mission

NASA is seeking four US citizens or green-card holders aged 30–55 with strong STEM or military backgrounds to participate in a 14‑month program that includes 12 months living in two habitats and a transit vehicle to simulate a year‑long deep‑space mission for Moon and Mars exploration at the Johnson Space Center.

via extremetech.com|

#analog-mission #deep-space #nasa

space5 days ago•14 min saved

Cosmic Ray Light Shows: Astronauts See Retinal Flashes from Apollo to the ISS

Astronaut Don Pettit described seeing “luminous dancing fairies” in the ISS, a retinal flash caused by galactic cosmic rays that pierce the craft and the eye. Apollo crews reported similar flashes, and the ALTEA detectors on the ISS linked heavy-ion particles to these events, explained by direct ionization or Cherenkov radiation. Although brief and seemingly harmless, these particles pose long-term brain and eye health risks for deep-space missions, influencing radiation-mitigation strategies for Artemis and future journeys to the Moon and Mars.

via Space Daily|

#apollo-program #astronauts #cosmic-rays

space-exploration6 days ago•102 min saved

NASA's ERNEST rover tests autonomous desert trek to rewrite planetary mobility

NASA's ERNEST rover prototype, built by JPL, completed a 16-mile desert trek in Southern California, mostly autonomously, thanks to new wheels, an active suspension and AI-driven obstacle navigation. The seven-day test aims to inform future lunar and Martian rovers with greater range, speed and terrain flexibility than traditional six-wheel rocker-bogie designs.

via Space|

#autonomous-navigation #ernest #jpl

space-exploration7 days ago•101 min saved

Private satellites complete first orbital interception in Space Force’s Victus Haze test

A Space Force TacRS mission, Victus Haze, achieved its first tactical interception between two private spacecraft: True Anomaly’s Jackal-0004 and Rocket Lab’s Puma. Jackal conducted proximity ops, imaging, and tracking after Puma’s Puma/ Pioneer platform was launched by Rocket Lab on June 19, 2026 (Jackal launched earlier in May). The intercept beat the 72-hour deadline and wrapped up 11 hours early, with Jackal’s control handed to Mosaic for mission planning. This milestone demonstrates the collaboration between the U.S. Space Force and commercial partners to rapidly acquire and characterize orbital objects, a key capability for space-domain awareness and defense.

via Space|

#jackal-0004 #rocket-lab #space-exploration

space-exploration7 days ago•102 min saved

Moon base on the horizon: Artemis pushes toward a polar outpost as China closes in

NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish a human outpost near the Moon’s south pole within the next decade, building on Artemis I’s lunar return and Artemis II’s crewed orbit; Artemis III will test docking with lunar landers in Earth orbit, with Artemis IV possibly placing astronauts near the south pole by 2028. That timeline unfolds as China plans a 2030 moon landing and base, signaling a renewed space race that could shape humanity’s next steps toward Mars.

via Space|

#artemis #china #moon