Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) suffered an apparent setback of its efforts to develop a commercial orbital passenger spacecraft today during the maiden free-flight of the atmospheric test article of the company’s Dream Chaser lifting body. According to eyewitness and confirmed by SNC, a landing gear deployment failure occurred and Dream Chaser flipped over after touchdown, […]
Proton Rocket Successfully Launches FM-6 Satellite For Sirius XM Radio
International Launch Services (ILS), a leader in providing mission integration and launch services to the global commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the Sirius FM-6 satellite, built by SSL, into orbit October 26 on an ILS Proton for Sirius XM Radio Inc.
This LADEE Wasn’t Just Eating Bon Bon’s During The Government Shutdown
During the NASA shutdown, the LADEE mission continued to perform its critical maneuvers and capture into the commissioning orbit around the moon. The trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-1) was completed on Oct. 1, and set the spacecraft to rendezvous with the moon on Oct. 6.
Proton Set To Launch Comsat For Sirius XM After 24-Hour Delay
The launch of a Proton launch vehicle with the Sirius FM-6 satellite was postponed today for at least 24 hours due to issues with the satellite ground station network required for the launch and early orbital operations of the Sirius FM-6 spacecraft. Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev) and International Launch Services (ILS) […]
Dramatic Video Captures Grasshopper’s Highest Jump To Date
On Monday, October 7th, Grasshopper completed its highest leap to date, rising to 744m altitude, hovering and returning back to the launch pad. The test lasted 78.8 seconds and was conducted at SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, TX. The video is filmed from a single camera hexacopter drone, getting closer to the stage than […]
The View From Here: Curiosity Looks Back At Home
The HiRISE instrument would make a great backyard telescope for viewing Mars, and we can also use it at Mars to view other planets, such as Jupiter. This is an image of Earth and the Moon, acquired at 5:20 a.m. MST on 3 October 2007, at a range of 142 million kilometers, which gives the […]
SpaceX Releases New Photos And Video Of Next-Gen Falcon 9 Demo
SpaceX released stunning new photos and video from the demonstration flight of the company’s next-generation Falcon 9 v1.1 on September 29. In the video, one can watch the rocket’s first stage re-light after separation as the stage begins its descent back to Earth. Photos captured by the Air Force and released by SpaceX show the […]
MAVEN Granted Reprieve, Preparations Resume For November Launch
The cloud of pessimism over NASA because of funding shortfalls in the federal budget and partial government shutdown lifted somewhat today when the agency’s MAVEN mission to Mars was granted a special exemption from the mass furloughs that have caused activities across NASA and other agencies to grind to a halt. This has allowed workers […]
Second-Generation Falcon Takes Flight To Test New Engines, Recoverability
Equipped with upgraded engines, computer systems and greatly improved payload capacity, SpaceX’s first second-generation Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the company’s new West Coast launch pad at Vendenberg AFB, CA on a successful demonstration of the new rocket’s capabilities while deploying four small satellites for commercial customers. The 224 foot tall Falcon 9 v1.1 […]
Curiosity Fails To Find Methane And Adds To The Mystery Of Life On Mars
Data from NASA’s Curiosity rover has revealed the Martian environment lacks methane. This is a surprise to researchers because previous data reported by U.S. and international scientists indicated positive detections. The roving laboratory performed extensive tests to search for traces of Martian methane. Whether the Martian atmosphere contains traces of the gas has been a […]