Tag: Aerospace
SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics will build human lunar landers for NASA’s next trip back to the Moon
NASA has selected the companies that will provide them with the human landing system for their Artemis Moon missions, including a lander vehicle which will carry astronauts from space to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics were picked from a larger field…
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Here’s what NASA’s Mars helicopter will look like when it makes history with the first extraterrestrial powered flight
[embedded content] NASA is getting ready to send its next Mars rover to the red planet later this year, and that mission will also carry Ingenuity, a brand new helicopter robot that will attempt to make history by becoming the first vehicle to perform a powered atmospheric flight on another…
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NASA will test a new spacecraft solar sail using a NanoAvionics satellite
NASA is going to test a new solar sail system to determine if it’s a viable alternative to propellant-based thrusters for maneuvering small satellites, and potentially for low-cost transportation of spacecraft set on deep-space missions. The agency has selected Illinois-based NanoAvionics to provide the spacecraft that will be used to…
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Elon Musk provides more details about SpaceX’s plan to reduce Starlink satellite visibility
During a virtual conference briefing this week, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk provided more details about a new plan that his company has to mitigate the impact of their Starlink satellite constellation on night sky observation. Musk first revealed the intent to build a “sun visor” to lower their…
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SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype passes a key test that puts it on track for a first flight
SpaceX has been developing its next-generation Starship rocket for some time now, but the large-scale prototypes it’s building in Boca Chica, Texas, have thus far always encountered a fatal error during an important part of testing called “cryo” – or filling the fuel tank to full pressure in conditions that…
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FCC updates orbital debris rules for the first time since 2004
The FCC has finally gotten around to updating its 15-year-old orbital debris rules, adding new requirements and streamlining the approval process. With hundreds of satellites going up every year into increasingly crowded orbits, these rules are more important than ever. In stating the necessity for mitigating the accumulation of orbital…
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