Space tourism has unlocked a new brand of luxury travel, one which promises expensive meals and designer flight suits with views of Earth’s curvature as a backdrop. A Florida-based startup is offering six passengers the chance to ride on board its balloon-propelled capsule while chowing down on what it claims to be the first Michelin-starred … Read more
The cargo pallet after being tossed by the by the Canadarm2 robotic arm in 2021.Photo: NASA On Friday, March 8, a pallet of used batteries from the International Space Station (ISS) reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico following an unpredictable journey through orbit. Taking out the Trash (in Space) The pallet contained nine … Read more
After eight years of experimenting with flames in space, NASA lit a fire inside a cargo spacecraft for the last time and sent its Saffire experiment toward a burning reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Former NASA Astronaut Leland Melvin on the “Overview Effect” NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments, also known as Saffire, came to a fitting … Read more
Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is well on its way to the moon after launching without a hitch on Thursday, but it managed to snap a few incredible images of Earth while it was still close to home. The company shared the first batch of images from the IM-1 mission on X today after confirming in … Read more
An unspecified defect in early model Starlink satellites has prompted SpaceX to preemptively deorbit the units before they potentially fail and become hazards in low Earth orbit. While the company remains confident that the deorbiting of these problematic units will prevent any issues, this incident underscores the challenges and uncertainties in navigating the realm of … Read more
Starlab Space’s forthcoming space station is so big and heavy that only the formidable SpaceX Starship megarocket can launch it into orbit, but the one-time delivery option comes with distinct benefits. Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View Starlab Space, like several other commercial ventures, is racing to deliver a commercial … Read more
Japan has become the fifth nation to land on the moon, but the sun may have the final say in how much life is left in the mission. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — NASA’s Japanese counterpart known as JAXA — announced that its robotic spacecraft survived descent onto the lunar surface at 12:20 a.m. … Read more
Shandong-based Orienspace pulled off its first-ever launch, breaking the record for the largest payload capacity on a commercial rocket for China’s growing space industry. Would Peter Capaldi Return to Doctor Who? The Chinese company launched the Gravity-1 rocket on Thursday at 12:30 a.m. ET from a mobile platform in the Yellow Sea, producing massive plumes … Read more
It’s time to look back at spaceflight in 2023, a real “two steps forward, one step back” kind of year, filled with highs, lows, and everything in between. China’s Plan to Land Astronauts on the Moon The New Space Race is in full swing, and with both public and private entities pushing the limits of … Read more
China’s Shenlong robotic spaceplane, on its third mission, has added a new layer of intrigue to its space activities by deploying six unidentified objects into Earth’s orbit. Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View Shenlong, meaning “Divine Dragon,” embarked on its third mission on December 14, successfully deploying six objects into … Read more