Category: Space

Virgin Orbit’s first rocket drop test was a success

[ad_1] Company chief Dan Hart told CNBC in an interview that he hoped the first full-fledged launch would take place “before the end of the summer.” A first commercial launch, meanwhile, could come roughly eight to 10 weeks after that. Virgin already has six rockets in progress in its factory, and thinks it can produce […]

Virgin Orbit preps the LauncherOne rocket for its first drop test

[ad_1] Ever wonder what #LauncherOne looks like from Cosmic Girl’s perspective? Here’s some more footage from our most recent captive carry flight test, featuring never-before-seen angles of our flying launchpad. pic.twitter.com/IqMNi5mK2x — Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) June 7, 2019 In fact, Virgin Orbit will release a fully built and fully loaded LauncherOne during that flight. The […]

Mars crew could 3D-print skin and bones for injuries

[ad_1] “In the case of burns, for instance, brand new skin could be bioprinted instead of being grafted from elsewhere on the astronaut’s body, doing secondary damage that may not heal easily in the orbital environment,” said Tommaso Ghidini, head of the division at the European Space Agency that oversees the project, in a statement. […]

X-rays help astronomers detect spinning black holes

[ad_1] The team used an in-between galaxy to get clear images of quasars consisting of the black holes, with Chandra offering a sharp-enough image to separate the multiple images that resulted from the lensing effect. From there, microlensing (in this case, magnification using individual stars from the galaxy) helped detect the spin in question. The […]

Amazon asks FCC for permission to launch internet satellites

[ad_1] They’d use Ka-band frequencies like those Iridium is using in its latest satellites, and Amazon is asking for clearance to use anti-interference technology to avoid headaches. And yes, Amazon is aware of the potential problems with space debris. The satellites would deorbit themselves in less than 10 years whether or not they were still […]

LightSail 2 sends its first signals back to Earth

[ad_1] “We’re all very happy — after years of preparation, we are flying an operational spacecraft!” Bruce Betts, said LightSail program manager and Planetary Society chief scientist in a statement. The spacecraft sent its first signal back to Earth yesterday as it flew over mission control in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Mission ground stations […]

NASA will livestream the total solar eclipse over South America tomorrow

[ad_1] If you happen to be in the path of the eclipse, we’ll remind you not to look directly at the sun. In 2017, one woman had permanent vision loss because she looked at the sun for six seconds, and at least one $11,500 Canon lens melted. Fortunately, eclipse glasses offer a safe viewing method, […]

NASA’s TESS spacecraft discovers its smallest exoplanet to date

[ad_1] TESS spotted the planets by using transits (regular dips in the star’s brightness caused by passing planets). You might get more information soon, at least. TESS completes its first year of studies in July, and that could be enough to both collect more detail about the known planets and possibly spot more. This isn’t […]

SpaceX is still in control of all but three of its internet satellites

[ad_1] SpaceX also intends to deorbit two of the functioning satellites in order to test the process. It’s still early days for Starlink, but it suggests that you won’t see a host of dead satellites clogging up Earth’s orbit. The concern is more one of scale. Eventually, SpaceX hopes to put a constellation of nearly […]