Astronaut » SpaceX
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Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
NASA’s Gateway is an orbital outpost that will support astronauts on the Moon. In the future it will be the link between Earth and Mars. At first glance Gateway resembles the International Space Station, but there are a few key differences.
Comparison of Gateway and the ISS
The I.S.S. is designed for astronauts to live on it for months to a year. Gateway isn’t designed for astronauts to live for long durations on it, but to support astronauts who are performing long duration missions on another planet. Astronauts will launch from Earth to Gateway, then a lunar lander will carry them to ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
On May 30th, the sky opened up in Cape Canaveral allowing the SpaceX Crew Dragon to launch, carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station. This was the first crewed orbital mission to space on a commercial spacecraft. If you saw the launch, whether by watching the livestream or reading about it in the news, you understand that this was a significant event. This launch ushered in a new era of human spaceflight, an era that could very well end with humans on Mars.
The last time any astronaut had launched from a NASA shuttle, it was on the Shuttle Atlant ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
If you’ve got a case of the Mondays, NASA is here to help: the agency will be broadcasting live as two astronauts climb outside the International Space Stationfor a spacewalk today (April 8).
NASA astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques are scheduled to switch their suits to battery power at 8:05 a.m. EDT (1205 GMT), kicking off a scheduled 6.5-hour spacewalk. The spacewalk will be broadcast live beginning at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT); you can watch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, or directly through the space agency.
During the excursion, the du ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
WASHINGTON — SpaceIL announced April 4 that its Beresheet spacecraft has entered orbit around the moon, setting the stage for a landing attempt in a week.
The lander fired its main engine for six minutes starting at 10:18 a.m. Eastern time, slowing the spacecraft down by about 1,000 kilometers per hour, enough for it to be captured into orbit around the moon. SpaceIL said in a statement that that maneuver went as expected, putting the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with a perilune of 500 kilometers and apolune of 10,000 kilometers.
“After six weeks in space, we have succeeded in overcomin ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
SpaceX just fired up the “Starhopper” prototype for the company’s planned Starship spacecraft for the first time, according to company CEO Elon Musk.
Musk confirmed the short rocket test firing at SpaceX’s newest launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville in a Twitter post late Wednesday (April 3). (In that post, he confirmed the Starhopper nickname for the Starship prototype as well.)
“Starhopper completed tethered hop,” Musk wrote in the update, which also included a video from Starship watcher @LabPadre. “All systems green.”
The test occurred at 8:56 p.m. EDT (00 ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
Falcon Heavy could augment Space Launch System on road back to the Moon.
On Monday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine held a town hall for agency employees to begin talking about how they can return humans to the Moon by 2024. This was the goal set down by Vice President Mike Pence last week during a space policy speech in Huntsville, Alabama.
The discussion was short on details until Bridenstine was asked why an idea to use private rockets to launch the Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight around the Moon was unworkable. The administrator replied that the agency ha ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
SpaceX Releases a New Render of What the All-Steel Starship Will Look Like Returning to Earth
The design for SpaceX’s Starship (aka. Big Falcon Rocket) is really starting to come together! Over the holidays, sections of the Starship Hopper (a miniature version of the Starship) were photographed being put together at the company’s South Texas Launch Site. By mid-January, the parts were fully-integrated, forming the body of the stainless-steel prototype that would test the spacecraft’s overall architecture.
What followed, earlier this month, were tests of the ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
WASHINGTON — Shortly after Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA to return humans to the moon by 2024, four years earlier than previous plans, reactions from space companies and organizations ranged from excitement to bewilderment.
Lockheed Martin embraced Vice President Pence’s call to accelerate a human return to the moon, saying it could use technology it’s developed for the Orion spacecraft for a lunar lander. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Pence, speaking at a March 26 meeting of the National Space Council, directed NASA to use “any means necessary” to accomplish the goal, including ado ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
WASHINGTON — A spacesuit sizing issue has prompted NASA to reshuffle assignments for a pair of upcoming spacewalks at the International Space Station, cancelling a first-ever all-woman spacewalk and in the process turning what had been an accidental public relations coup for the agency into a headache.
NASA astronaut Anne McClain during a March 22 spacewalk. A decision by McClain to use a smaller spacesuit led NASA to reshuffle assignments for upcoming spacewalks, in the process cancelling what would have been the first all-female EVA. Credit: NASA
NASA announced March 25 that Anne McClain ..read more
Astronaut » SpaceX
3y ago
A spaceflight fan’s unofficial render has offered the best look yet at what SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy could look like in the unlikely but not impossible event that NASA decides to launch its uncrewed Orion demonstration mission on commercial rockets.
ASA’S ORION SPACECRAFT (LEFT) AND SPACEX’S FALCON HEAVY ROCKET (RIGHT). (NASA/SPACEX
Oddly enough, the thing that most stands out from artist brickmack’s interpretation of Orion and Falcon Heavy is just how relatively normal the large NASA spacecraft looks atop a SpaceX rocket. The render also serves as a visual reminder of just how little Spac ..read more