Blue Origin successfully fires the thrust chamber assembly for its new 100,000 pound thrust BE-3 liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine. As part of the company’s Reusable Booster System (RBS), the engines are designed eventually to launch the biconic-shaped Space Vehicle the company is developing in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Human Spaceflight
J-2X Engine ‘Goes the Distance’ at Stennis
J-2X rocket engine testing continues at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi with the second in a series of tests conducted on Feb. 27. The 550-second, full-duration test provided critical information on the combustion stability of the engine and on its performance with the nozzle extension. Engineers also continued evaluation of the test stand’s clamshell […]
Dragon Reaches ISS With Experiments, Supplies And Apples
The Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft was berthed to the International Space Station at 8:56 a.m. EST Sunday. The delivery flight was the second contracted resupply mission by the company under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. Space station Expedition 34 crew members Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn of NASA used the station’s robotic […]
SpaceX Overcomes Glitch, Dragon Safely On Way To ISS
CAPE CANAVERAL, AFS – After overcoming a nerve-wracking crisis after successfully launching their fifth Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX appears to have salvaged the latest commercial International Space Station resupply mission. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 occurred on time at 10:10 a.m. EST, during an instantaneous launch window, under cloudy skies but otherwise perfect weather. […]
“Inspiration Mars” To Pursue Human Mission To The Red Planet In 2018
New nonprofit foundation to move U.S. farther and faster toward its destiny as world leader in technical innovation, science, exploration and discovery. A unique window of opportunity for humankind will open in January 2018, and the Inspiration Mars Foundation intends to seize it, announcing plans today to pursue a challenging manned mission to Mars and […]