Jessica Jensen, vice president of customer operations and integration at SpaceX, said securing an updated Federal Aviation Administration launch license was the key factor driving the schedule for the third Starship test flight. The third flight should be sometime in
[12 Jan 2024] NASA and Lockheed Show Quiet Supersonic X-59 Quesst Jet
NASA’s rolled out the new X-59 Quesst supersonic aircraft live from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. Quesst is NASA’s mission to demonstrate how the X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms, and then survey what
[12 Jan 2024] NASA Outlines the Pathway for Cost-competitive Space-Based Solar Power
Washington DC, January 12, 2024 – In a new report released yesterday, NASA outlined how developing Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) can provide a strategic clean energy source for the United States. Their analysis underscores the carbon reduction and economic growth
[11 Jan 2024] ESA Targets 15 November for Vega C Return to Flight Mission
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique Video du CSG/S Martin The European Space Agency has announced that it is targeting 15 November for the return to flight of the grounded Avio-built Vega C launch vehicle. Vega C was grounded following a failed flight in
[11 Jan 2024] Swarming Proxima Centauri: Coherent Picospacecraft Swarms Over Interstellar Distances
Graphic depiction of Swarming Proxima Centauri: Coherent Picospacecraft Swarms Over Interstellar DistancesThomas Eubanks Thomas Eubanks Space Initiatives, Inc. Tiny gram-scale interstellar probes pushed by laser light are likely to be the only technology capable of reaching another star this century.
[11 Jan 2024] NASA’s Troubled Mars Sample Mission Has Scientists Seeing Red
NASA’s Mars Sample Return program is the agency’s highest priority in planetary science, but projected multibillion-dollar overruns have some calling the plan a “dumpster fire” BY LEONARD DAVID An artist’s impression of NASA’s Perseverance rover exploring Mars. As part of
[11 Jan 2024] PEREGRINE MISSION ONE: Updates 6-12
UPDATE #6 FOR PEREGRINE MISSION ONE: An ongoing propellant leak is causing the spacecraft’s Attitude Control System (ACS) thrusters to operate well beyond their expected service life cycles to keep the lander from an uncontrollable tumble. If the thrusters can
[09 Jan 2024] NASA delays Artemis 2 and 3 missions
Jeff Foust January 9, 2024 The Artemis 2 astronauts inspect their Orion spacecraft. Issues with the spacecraft have delayed the mission to September 2025. Credit: NASA NEW ORLEANS — NASA is postponing the next two Artemis missions, including the first
[09 Jan 2024] America’s first lunar lander in a half-century won’t reach the Moon
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander appears to be stricken by a propellant leak. STEPHEN CLARK – 1/8/2024, 1:29 PM Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander carries 20 payloads, including five NASA-funded science instruments. A few hours after a successful liftoff on United Launch Alliance’s
[08 Jan 2024] MAGGIE: NASA plans massive solar-powered electric plane for Mars mission
MAGGIE is a compact fixed-wing aircraft with ultra-high productivity efficiency powered by solar energy to fly in the Martian atmosphere with vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) capability,” says NASA. Graphic depiction of Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE). After successfully