[ad_1] If you simultaneously drop a feather and a bowling ball in a vacuum, they’ll hit the ground at the same time. In other words, despite their mass, they’re affected by a gravitational field in exactly the same way. The same goes for massive objects like stars, according to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, and astrophysicists […]
Category: Space
Elon Musk says Starship is SpaceX’s ‘top priority’ from now on
[ad_1] Don’t expect SpaceX to lavish much more attention on Crew Dragon now that it has launched people into orbit. CNBC said it had obtained email from Elon Musk asking staff to treat Starship as the “top SpaceX priority,” pushing them to “dramatically and immediately” speed up progress on the super-heavy rocket. About the only […]
Scientists find a likely Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star
[ad_1] Astronomers have found Earth-like planets before, but usually around red dwarf stars. That’s a rather large problem when their flares and radiation could make orbiting planets uninhabitable. Thankfully, there may be a much more viable candidate in the pipeline. Researchers have found (via MIT Technology Review) a likely exoplanet, KOI-456.04, that’s less than twice […]
SpaceX will answer Crew Dragon and Starlink questions on Reddit at 3PM ET
[ad_1] If you’ve wanted to learn more about SpaceX’s projects than you normally see in the news, now’s your chance. The company’s software team is holding a Reddit AMA session today starting at 3PM Eastern to answer questions on the software that guides SpaceX’s projects, including Crew Dragon and Starlink. Six key staffers will be […]
SpaceX’s latest batch of internet satellites includes one with a sun shield
[ad_1] SpaceX is launching another pack of Starlink satellites into orbit at 9:25PM Eastern (weather permitting), but this won’t be a typical mission. As TechCrunch explains, one of the 60 internet satellites in the bunch will test a sun visor that should make the vehicles less of a nuisance in the night sky. If the […]
Scientists find the universe’s ‘missing matter’ using mysterious cosmic bursts
[ad_1] As such, it’s been a challenge to detect this matter using traditional techniques and telescopes. However, the research team was finally able to locate the missing matter by leveraging the phenomenon of FRBs — brief flashes of energy that come from random directions in the sky and last for milliseconds. Scientists don’t yet know […]
SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station
[ad_1] SpaceX just completed another milestone in Crew Dragon’s historic journey. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have successfully docked the capsule with the International Space Station just under 19 hours after launch from Cape Canaveral. The largely automated process was uneventful. The crew tested manual operation at one point, which they said behaved much […]
Watch SpaceX’s second attempt at launching astronauts at 3:22PM ET
[ad_1] It’s time for take two. NASA and SpaceX are making their second attempt at launching the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission after scrubbing the first due to weather, and they’re once again livestreaming the potentially historic event. The launch itself is scheduled for 3:22PM Eastern, although pre-launch coverage is available now and will continue right […]
Virgin Orbit’s first launch demo flight ends abruptly after rocket release
[ad_1] Virgin Orbit’s first launch demonstration flight has ended in a very unceremonious fashion. The spaceflight firm reported a “clean release” of LauncherOne from the Cosmic Girl host aircraft, but the rocket’s journey “terminated shortly into the flight.” In other words, LauncherOne didn’t have a realistic chance of reaching orbit. The company had warned that […]
You can try crowdfunded space sim ‘Star Citizen’ for free right now
[ad_1] Will Star Citizen ever be finished? That’s a question I doubt anyone knows the answer to right now. If you’re curious about the state of the game, though, and haven’t yet contributed to its absurdly-successful crowdfunding campaign, good news: it’s currently free to play. Developer Cloud Imperium Games is running a two-week ‘Free Fly’ […]