MTV celebrated its 40th year on the air by revealing a new look for its iconic Video Music Awards (VMA) trophy at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
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Boeing crew capsule set for launch Tuesday on test flight to space station
A Boeing Starliner crew capsule stands on top of an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: United Launch Alliance
An Atlas 5 rocket was hauled back to its seaside firing stand Monday for launch Tuesday on a flight to boost Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule into orbit for a second unpiloted test to prove the commercial ferry ship is ready to carry astronauts.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 is scheduled for blast off from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, setting up a docking at the International Space Station Wednesday around 1:37 p.m. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable launch weather.
Boeing, ULA and NASA had hoped to launch the mission last Friday. But the day before, shortly after a Russian laboratory docked at the space station, a software error aboard the newly-arrived module led to unexpected thruster firings that pushed the station out of its normal orientation.
The alarming jet firings stopped before any harm was done and the module’s propulsion system was “safed” the next day. But NASA managers already had opted to delay the Starliner flight to the next available opportunity — Tuesday — and the Atlas 5 was hauled back to its processing facility. It was rolled back out to the seaside pad early Monday.
Boeing and SpaceX are independently building commercially developed space taxis for NASA to end the agency’s post-shuttle reliance on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft for transportation to and from the space station,
A Detailed Simulation of the Universe Creates Structures Very Similar to the Milky Way and its Surroundings
Last week, two companies teamed up to beam a recording of Debussy's piano masterpiece "Clair de Lune" to and from the International Space Station, then minted the file as a non-fungible token (NFT).
Wow! Astrophotographer images spacewalking astronauts from the ground (photo)
Russia’s Nauka module, at left, docked with the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Playing it safe, the seven-member crew of the International Space Station moved into the U.S. segment of the outpost Friday, closed hatches and window shutters and stood by while Russian flight controllers vented helium pressurization lines in the newly arrived Nauka lab module.
Because of earlier problems with the module’s propulsion system, the crew was taking no chances, but high-pressure helium in lines used to pressurize Nauka’s propellants was safely vented overboard. Moments later, station cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov opened a final hatch and floated into the roomy new addition.
“Congratulations for a successful venting,” station commander Akihiko Hoshide radioed flight controllers in Houston and Moscow. “We’ll stand down from the current posture.”
The 44,000-pound Nauka multi-purpose laboratory docked with the station’s Russian Zvezda module Thursday. But a software error resulted in unexpected thruster firings three hours later, while the lab was out of contact with Russian flight controllers, that pushed the space station out of its normal orientation, or “attitude.”
The unwanted motion prompted thrusters in the Zvezda module to fire in an attempt to counteract the push from Nauka’s jets. Thrusters in a Progress cargo ship also joined in to provide more strength.
'Megacomet' Bernardinelli-Berstein is largest ever seen, Hubble telescope confirms
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION
Artist’s concept of a Starship on the moon. Credit: SpaceXThe Government Accountability Office ruled Friday that NASA did not violate procurement law or regulations when it awarded a single $2.9 billion moon lander contract to SpaceX, denying appeals from competitors Dynetics, a Leidos company, and Blue Origin, owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos.
NASA managers initially hoped to award two moon lander contracts, but “down selected” to a single provider — SpaceX — in April based on current and projected funding levels from Congress.
Blue Origin and Dynetics protested the award, claiming NASA was required to make more than one award given the announcement’s stated goal and that the space agency should have given them an opportunity to adjust their bids when it became clear funding was not available to pay for more than one proposal.
“In denying the protests, GAO first concluded that NASA did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award,” the government said in a news release. “NASA’s announcement provided that the number of awards the agency would make was subject to the amount of funding available for the program.”
The Eta Aquarids: A spring meteor shower from Comet Halley
A Russian module accidentally pushed the International Space Station out of place. Now, a NASA flight director has revealed that the event was even more serious than initially reported.
Space Probes to Pass by Venus Next Week
Two spacecraft are heading for a close Venus encounter: Solar Orbiter passes by on August 9th and BepiColombo on August 10th.
The post Space Probes to Pass by Venus Next Week appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
SpaceX installs 29 engines on giant Super Heavy Mars rocket (photos)
SpaceX has made significant strides toward the planned first orbital test flight of its Starship system, installing engines on the giant first-stage booster known as Super Heavy.
Slowdown of Earth's spin caused an oxygen surge
Billions of years ago, a slowdown in Earth's rotation period lengthened days and offered photosynthesizing bacteria the chance to release more oxygen, transforming the planet.
Soyuz launches to space station with first all-Russian cosmonaut crew in 22 years
Starliner rolled out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the second time this morning (Aug. 2).
Houston Astros launch new 'Space City' uniforms with nods to NASA
China's upcoming exploration mission to the lunar south pole will carry one of more than 500 experiments designed and submitted by students across the country.
James Webb Space Telescope will do a galaxy deep dive into the dust
Scientists already know the oceans are rapidly warming and sea levels are rising.
Pulsar Shoots 7-light-year-long Phaser Blast
Image: Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on 30 July 2021, this image shows smoke billowing from several fires along the southern coast of Turkey.
Bulova marks Apollo 15 50th with golden replica of moon-worn watch
Bulova is launching the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Lunar Pilot, a golden replica of its infamous watch.
NASA Chooses Falcon Heavy Over SLS to Launch Europa Clipper, Saving About $2 Billion
The bureaucracy of government control is slowly fading away in space exploration, at least in the US. A series of delays, cost overruns, and imposed requirements have finally started taking its toll on the Space Launch System (SLS), the next generation NASA rocket system. Now, the space agency has finally conceded a point to the commercial launch industry. It has elected to use Space X’s Falcon Heavy to launch one of its upcoming flagship missions – Europa Clipper.
That decision was made despite a massive push from SLS contractors to try to keep the mission on board. In fact, Congress originally had not allowed NASA to open Europa Clipper’s contract up to other bidders. Pressure came from the constituents of the variety of Congressional districts that the SLS is built in. But the downsides of using the oft-delayed system became too big to ignore.
Another artist’s illustration of Europa ClipperCredit – NASA / JPL-Caltech
One downside was the cost – and not only of the rocket itself. Overall the Falcon Heavy, which is reusable, unlike the SLS, is expected to save $2 billion when it launches the Clipper on its path to Jupiter. About half of that savings will come from avoiding a costly redesign.
That redesign had to do with the vibrational load of the SLS system on launch. Known in the jargon as “torsional load”, the current iteration of the Clipper could not withstand those forces, according to a NASA inquest. To redesign the whole Clipper to make it compatible with the SLS’s launch forces would have cost around $1 billion alone. Adding a single use, expensive rocket to the mix adds another $1 billion to the launch costs.
The first commercial launch (and second successful launch) of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy.Credit: SpaceX
Another nail in the coffin was timeline – the SLS has been repeatedly delayed and is now more than 2 years behind schedule, though it still hasn’t completed its first launch yet, which is expected in November. Falcon Heavy on the other hand, started development after the SLS and has already proved flight worthy, having 3 successful flights to date and a number of ongoing launch contracts. SLS is primarily designed to support Artemis, NASA’s effort to return to the moon. It was unclear, given the commitment the SLS program had made to Artemis and its repeated delays, whether or not the system would even be ready to support the Clipper’s Launch in 2024, and its usefulness for other science missions has been called into question as well.
Live coverage: ULA set to roll Atlas 5 and Starliner capsule back to launch pad
Live coverage of the unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule on the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
Rollout Live Stream
NASA chief excited for Starliner launch, touts importance of competition
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is ready to cheer on the launch of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule on a vital uncrewed test flight this week.
A space laser is tracking subglacial lakes hidden in Antarctica
A NASA satellite in space that shoots a laser beam down to Earth has spotted still more subsurface lakes sandwiched between Antarctica's land and ice.
Hubble telescope spots a complex cloud of gas expanding into space
Iceland may be the last exposed remnant of a nearly Texas-size continent — called Icelandia — that sank beneath the North Atlantic Ocean about 10 million years ago
Progress supply freighter docks with space station
This year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to launch the first private space mission into orbit with no professional astronauts.
