Launch

Watch SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts undock from ISS today after weather delays

  • October 23, 2024
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SpaceX’s Crew-8 quartet of astronauts will at last depart the space station today following more than two weeks of weather-related delays. The Dragon spacecraft for SpaceX Crew-8, called Endeavour, is set to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday (Oct. 23) at 5:05 p.m. EDT (2105 GMT). You can watch the event live […]

Satellites

A communications satellite made by Boeing disintegrates in orbit. “Complete loss,” the operator states.

  • October 23, 2024
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Intelsat declared a “total loss” of one of its satellites on Monday (Oct. 21) and is investigating the cause of the issue. The Intelsat-33e communications satellite is no longer operational after an outage Oct. 19; affected customers are being moved to other platforms, the company added in a statement. Meanwhile, U.S. Space Force was tracking […]

Military

Millennium Space secures $386 million contract for missile-defense satellites

  • October 23, 2024
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force awarded a $386 million contract to Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary, to build six satellites designed to detect and track missiles that could threaten the United States and allies.The contract, announced Oct. 23, marks the second major deal for Millennium Space in this program, following a $509 million […]

NASA’s Pioneering Solar Sail Hits a Snag While Tumbling in Space

  • October 23, 2024
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A microwave-sized spacecraft with large silver wings is tumbling in orbit as engineers work to fix a glitch that’s causing it to lose orientation. After deploying four composite booms on board the experimental solar sail mission, NASA engineers observed a slight bend in one of the poles that extends along the spacecraft’s wings, the space […]

Science

Epic Three-Body Problem: Astronomers Uncover a Black Hole Love Triangle

  • October 23, 2024
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Physicists from MIT and Caltech have discovered a first: a black hole triple system, consisting of three bodies spinning around each other about 7,800 light-years from Earth. Black hole binaries—two-body systems in which at least one is a black hole—are fairly commonplace in the universe. Often, the black hole is observed gobbling up an orbiting […]

Launch

China rolls out rocket for Shenzhou-19 astronaut launch (video)

  • October 23, 2024
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China’s next space station mission is almost ready for launch. A Long March 2F rocket, topped with the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft, now sits on its pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, northwest China, ready for launch to the Tiangong space station. The 203-foot-long (62 meters) rocket was transferred 0.93 miles (1.5 kilometers) by rail from […]

How moon-landing teams are learning from each other to make the next lunar leap

  • October 23, 2024
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Lunar landing attempts are becoming so frequent that companies are watching and learning from each other. A panel discussion at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, on Oct. 17 gave insights into four teams that attempted moon landings over the past year, with participants from Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) […]

NASA astronaut creates a stunning ‘Jupiter-like planet’ on the ISS with water and food coloring (photo)

  • October 23, 2024
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NASA astronaut makes dazzling ‘Jupiter-like planet’ on ISS using water and food coloring (photo) (Image Credit: Space.com) An astronaut just created a colorful little world with the help of microgravity. NASA astronaut Don Pettit used water and food coloring to make a “Jupiter-like planet” on the International Space Station. Bold orange, blue and red shine […]

One of the finest telescopes in existence captured a breathtaking picture of deep space.

  • October 23, 2024
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One of humanity’s best telescopes snapped a stunning image of deep space (Image Credit: Mashable) A powerful telescope, perched above the clouds at some 13,800 feet, has snapped a brilliant view of distant galaxies. Astronomers pointed the Gemini North telescope into deep space at the Perseus Cluster, capturing a “dazzling collection of galaxies in the […]