September 17th, 2024
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing that SpaceX cough up $633,009 in civil penalties for allegedly failing to follow its license requirements during two launches in 2023, in accordance with statutorily-set civil penalty guidelines. The FAA proposal cites two incidents in May and June of 2023. SpaceX submitted a request to revise its […]
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Leading space officials in China are detailing deep space exploration plans, from setting up a scientific research station on the Moon, collecting and returning specimens of Mars and asteroid, as well as exploring the Jupiter system. A recently held 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference in Tunxi of Huangshan City in east China’s Anhui Province […]
A hot topic in Moon exploration is finding reservoirs of water ice within “cold traps” at the lunar south pole. If found in permanently-shadowed regions, or PSRs, that resource may be ripe for the picking and processing into oxygen and hydrogen – ideal for life support, even manufacturing rocket fuel. Exploitable water ice at the […]
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at Gale crater is targeted to make a thorough examination of the unusual, dark “Tungsten Hills” rocks. The robot is studying these rugged boulders covered in paper-thin sedimentary layers, some of which contain intriguing ripple structures that may have formed in running water or windblown sand. Earlier this week, Deborah Padgett, […]
In a new Wait-a-Minute report, the prestigious National Academies has taken a hard look at the NASA of today and what’s ahead. For a space agency that has been a leader in exploring our planet and other worlds, it is in a world of hurt, the report suggests. The report identifies out-of-date infrastructure, pressures […]
With the launch today of the Expedition 72 crew members — Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin – there are now 19 humans in space, circling the Earth: SpaceX Polaris Dawn Crew ISS – SpaceX Crew-8 ISS – Soyuz MS-25 Crew ISS – Starliner Crew Tiangong space station/Shenzhou […]
China’s reusable Zhuque-3 rocket has completed a vertical takeoff and landing test, attaining an altitude of 6 miles (10 kilometers) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. According to China Central Television (CCTV), the 200.7 seconds of Zhuque-3 flight by the LANDSPACE company took place on Wednesday. At the noon hour local time, […]
The European Space Agency’s Salsa spacecraft took the plunge into Earth’s atmosphere on September 8. That fiery finale yielded the first recorded observation of a satellite reentry from a high-speed orbit, taken from a plane in bright daylight. Bright dot A newly issued photo captures the craft burning up further out and to the left […]
In a wait-a-minute moment, U.S. lawmakers are probing NASA leadership regarding the space agency’s cancellation of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) project. On July 17, 2024, NASA announced its decision to cancel the VIPER lunar craft. In a September 6 letter to NASA chief, Bill Nelson, science committee leaders have requested the space […]
China continues to blueprint its future exploration plans for the Red Planet – hauling back samples from Mars. According to several reports from state-run sources, China is marching ahead on lofting a Mars land, grab, snag, save sample-return mission around 2028. China’s Tianwen-3 mission is on the books with two launches to Mars, aiming […]
