As much of the space world counts down to the 7:00 PM PT “reveal” of the SpaceX Dragon V2, (or DragonRider if you prefer) and executives at other aerospace companies reach into the desk to reassure themselves that the bottle of Xanex isn’t completely empty yet, a lot of the discussion has been regarding how […]
Image credit: JPL A fascinating news release out of JPL suggests once more just how weird and wonderful our own solar system is turning out to be. Today’s story offers speculation that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede may have “layered” oceans in which water alternates with different tiers of ice, depending on the relative salt content. Furthermore, […]
One of the long term challenges facing would-be pioneers off planet, is what to do with the all the waste generated. While the space station has experimented with partially closed loop recycling systems, producing potable water from urine, there is of course the other inevitable by-product of human presence to deal with as well, and […]
China’s Jade Rabbit may have company yet. After a slow start which saw many of the teams stymied by the multiple challenges of putting together a credible entry in the Google Lunar X-Prize contest. GLXP altered the rules last year to allow for the insertion of milestone prizes totaling $6 million aimed at helping leading […]
Equating a product with the Apollo program and America’s signature accomplishment in the Moon landing is hardly unusual, and in this regard Cadillac is no different. A new commercial featuring actor Neal McDonough as a hard driving, over achieving American seems to mirror the current Administration’s somewhat ambivalent attitude towards the Moon. When the White […]
Apparently there is no need to compose “Ode to a Rover Dying Young.” At least not yet. Chinese new service Xinhuan.ner has confirmed that the Yutu, or “Jade Rabbit” Moon rover is coming back to life after surviving the deep cold of the two week lunar night. Shortly before going into a planned hibernation mode, the […]
Recent years have seen a number of meaningful space anniversaries, and to some they can are increasingly somber moments of reflection on what we once could do, on what happened a long time ago. Today however, is something else. Today marks the ten year anniversary of something the we didn’t do at all, implement the […]
If you happened to be playing the Orbital Science’s drinking game, you might have lost track somewhere around 5th stage ignition, but after a flawless countdown and launch, the 844 lb. LADEE probe is on the way to the Moon. Taking off right on time, the Minotaur V continued Orbital’s very good year, boosting the […]
NASA’s LADEE, Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission stands poised for liftoff aboard an Orbital Sciences Minotaur V launch vehicle from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at 11:27 p.m. EDT this evening. With the near midnight flight expected to be visible from much of the U.S. East Coast, it is likely to […]
On Thursday, May 23 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow will hold a “media availability” to discuss the Space Act Agreement between the two organizations. The event comes two months after the original document outlining the participation was signed in late March of this year, and almost midway through […]
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