Archive for June, 2014

NASA’s LDSD “Saucer-Shaped” Mars Landing Test is a Partial Success

NASA’s LDSD “Saucer-Shaped” Mars Landing Test is a Partial Success

After a number of scrubs due to high winds at its Hawaii test site, NASA was finally able to conduct the first of three planned Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test flights on Saturday. From the NASA news release: The balloon launch occurred at 8:45 a.m. HST (11:45 a.m. PDT/2:45 p.m. EDT) from the US Navy’s […]

Posted in: Mars, NASA
A Decade of Discovery in Saturn’s System: The Great Cassini

A Decade of Discovery in Saturn’s System: The Great Cassini

It is sometimes difficult to attach an adequate number of superlatives to the Cassini probe, which is about to enter its second decade of operations in the Saturn system.  From launching the Huygens lander, to revealing Titan’s hydrocarbon seas and the ice geysers of Enceladus, Cassini has been much more than a probe.  In many […]

Posted in: Outer Planets
The World Cup at 17,000 MPH (and Zero G)

The World Cup at 17,000 MPH (and Zero G)

Even NASA’s getting in on the act. This may be one of the best reasons to look forward to a large diameter Bigelow station sometime in the future.    

Posted in: Space Stations
Ten Years Later NASA’s Opportunity Rover is Still Going Strong

Ten Years Later NASA’s Opportunity Rover is Still Going Strong

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ While the flashy new Curiosity rover is celebrating the completion of its first full Martian year,  the much smaller but remarkably resilient Opportunity rover is still going strong in its 10th (Earth) year on Mars.  And as JPL reports, perched on the rim of the Endeavour crater and scoured […]

Posted in: Mars
Solar City’s Push Towards Vertical Integration

Solar City’s Push Towards Vertical Integration

    Last week, what many think of as Elon Musk’d third company, Solar City, announced that it was purchasing Silevo, a comparatively small manufacturer of solar panels.  For Solar City, whose business is built on installing and often leasing solar power systems, not manufacturing them, the decision marks a change in strategy. The reason […]

Posted in: Solar Power
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Marks One Martian Year

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Marks One Martian Year

NASA’s Curiosity Rover marked one year on the Red Planet today, one Martian year that is, or 687 Earth days. It of course warranted a youtube update which provides a bit of insight into the wheel damage issue which has slowed the rover’s course of progress and challenged the JPL team to develop new driving […]

Posted in: Mars
IXV: Europe’s Experimental Space Plane

IXV: Europe’s Experimental Space Plane

IXV Undergoing Ocean Retrieval Tests Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser is far from the only space plane currently under development.  With the second super secretive Boeing X-37 still in orbit, and a variety of suborbital craft;  Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo,  XCOR’s Lynx and Swiss Space Systems SOAR space plane all in various stages of construction,  the Shuttle […]

Taking a Breath, SpaceX Postones Next Attempt Until Early July

Taking a Breath, SpaceX Postones Next Attempt Until Early July

It was a weekend that most of us would rather forget. For SpaceX and Orbomm, as well as disappointed supporters, and more than a few in the space media who let slip their frustrations, and their bias, it was not a pretty scene. Three launch attempts, three scrubs, and a virtual media blackout on Saturday […]

Posted in: SpaceX
SpaceX Saturday Launch Scrubbed Due to Weather

SpaceX Saturday Launch Scrubbed Due to Weather

The rocket was ready. The satellites were ready. Without a doubt both SpaceX and Orbcomm were ready. But the weather, that fickle Florida weather,  which held off for yesterday’s launch attempt, was also ready, to wreck some havoc of its own. After moving today’s liftoff time to the end of the launch window to allow […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Update : SpaceX New Launch Attempt Set for 5:46 pm Today

Update : SpaceX New Launch Attempt Set for 5:46 pm Today

Update: SpaceX states that the company will not be providing a live broadcast of today’s launch attempt. SFN reports this is the first Cape Canaveral launch since the end of the Cold War which will not have a feed to the press or the general public. Original story After scrubbing yesterday’s scheduled launch of the Orbcomm […]

Posted in: SpaceX
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