Archive for February, 2015

Mysterious Ceres Keeps Surprising

Mysterious Ceres Keeps Surprising

Latest image of Ceres, taken from 29,000 miles miles away. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Ceres just keeps getting more interesting. From NASA.gov: “Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA’s Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object. The latest images from Dawn, taken nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers) from Ceres, […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
Next SpaceX Launch Now Set for Sunday Evening

Next SpaceX Launch Now Set for Sunday Evening

The upcoming launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster carrying twin Boeing built satellites has been moved from Friday, February 27 at 10:49 PM EST, to Sunday evening at 11:01 PM EST. The liftoff, which will take place from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40, will not include an attempt at booster recovery, but it […]

Posted in: SpaceX
First Images of Stratolaunch “Roc” Taking Shape

First Images of Stratolaunch “Roc” Taking Shape

Image credit KGET 17. Notice workers circled in red for scale. A series of still images from an upcoming tv news story about Stratolaunch Systems has been released, providing a rare glimpse into the project. The original Aviation Week article, with more images, is here. Background and Analysis One of the least visible launch development […]

Posted in: Stratolaunch
Boeing, ULA Break Ground on Commercial Crew Access Tower

Boeing, ULA Break Ground on Commercial Crew Access Tower

Artists Conception of Boeing/ULA Commercial Crew Tower / Image Credit: ULA From NASA.GOV “Boeing and United Launch Alliance teams held a ceremonial groundbreaking Feb. 20 to begin construction on the first new crew access structure at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in decades. The preparations will enable Space Launch Complex 41 to host astronauts and […]

Mixed Messages From Mars One

Mixed Messages From Mars One

Some conflicting information came out this week regarding Mars One, the privately (un) funded project which aims to send teams of four colonists each to the Red Planet beginning in the mid- 2020”s. As the excerpt from the Mars One press release below indicates, the organization has culled the number of applicants from just over […]

Posted in: Mars
Ceres Rising

Ceres Rising

Two enlarged images of Ceres taken on February 12 / Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Dawn’s arrival at Ceres is now just over two weeks away. From NASA.gov: “Craters and mysterious bright spots are beginning to pop out in the latest images of Ceres from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. These images, taken Feb. 12 at a distance of […]

Posted in: Asteroids
A Valentine’s Tragedy Written in the Stars

A Valentine’s Tragedy Written in the Stars

Artists Impression of Stellar Fatal Attraction / Image Credit : ESO From the European Southern Observatory: “Astronomers using ESO facilities in combination with telescopes in the Canary Islands have identified two surprisingly massive stars at the heart of the planetary nebula Henize 2-428. As they orbit each other the two stars are expected to slowly […]

Virgin’s LauncherOne Small Booster Gets Its Own Factory

Virgin’s LauncherOne Small Booster Gets Its Own Factory

LauncherOne Factory Launch / Image Credit : Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic announced on Thursday that its is opening a dedicate factory in Long Beach, California for producing the LauncherOne small booster. Here is an excerpt from the press release, absent the obligatory statements from local officials:: LONG BEACH, Calif. – February 12, 2015 – Virgin […]

Falcon Descent Bodes Well for Next Effort and Beyond

Falcon Descent Bodes Well for Next Effort and Beyond

Image Credit : Elon Musk Before it was lost to massive waves roiling the Atlantic Ocean, the Falcon 9 first stage which helped send the DSCOVR spacecraft on its way to deep space Wednesday, sent out a resounding message of its own, the next space age is about to begin. Even before a Sunday launch […]

A Deep Space Company at Last

A Deep Space Company at Last

Image Credit: SpaceX “Beautiful ascent” said NASA launch announcer Mike Curie, and man oh man was he right. After two scrubs and a Monday launch attempt nixed by dreadful weather, the SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the DSCOVR spacecraft lifted off into cobalt blue skies in a picture perfect launch. With lighting of the all white […]

Posted in: SpaceX
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