August 10th, 2024
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If you want to continue to land at the same site on the Moon, you may need to treat it to eliminate the effects of lander rocket plumes. And if that’s the case, you could call for shots of “Rhino Snot” – yes, you’re reading that correctly – but read on… Rocket ruckus Vehicles will […]
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The on-going, unfolding, wait-a-minute drama of the Boeing Starliner and its “stuck or stranded” crew in space was discussed the other day by NASA during a Starliner test mission briefing. For me, personally, the media gaggle was a late reminder of a wake-up call. It harkened back to my covering the space shuttle Challenger (O-ring […]
A major construction firm is scoping out robotic equipment needed for building purposes on the Moon. Announced today, ispace has signed a consulting agreement with Komatsu Ltd. to design equipment for the lunar surface. Heavy lifting, light-duty Komatsu is a global manufacturer and distributor of construction and mining equipment, utility (light-duty) equipment, forestry […]
Virgin Galactic has issued the company’s Second Quarter 2024 financial results, along with a business update on its Delta Class suborbital spaceship program. “Progress on our Delta Class spaceship program was substantial in Q2, with the pace of design completion accelerating and tool fabrication underway,” said Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic. Pivot […]
The first batch of China’s new satellite group – SpaceSail – has been lofted into Earth orbit, an initial volley of spacecraft projected to evolve to a roughly 14,000 low-orbit broadband satellite system to cover most human inhabited areas. Hurled into space by a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket on August 6, 18 first generation […]
A newly released report details the outcomes from potential near-term space-related scenarios that could significantly impact U.S. public perception, resourcing, and policy. The series of high-stakes, seminar-style wargames is designed to prepare U.S. leaders for possible space occurrences over the next two to three decades. The simulations focused on scenarios that might plausibly confront the […]
I just hung up from a wake-up call. NASA officials today addressed the on-going saga of the Boeing Starliner test mission to the International Space Station. NASA provided a Starliner crew flight test and space station mission update to a gaggle of attentive media, including me. On the end of that media call: Ken […]
Making Earth’s moon a long-term haven for human explorers, backed by incoming and outgoing supply chain traffic is foreseen by future planners – but also an outlook that is rife with technical challenges. The Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium held a launch and landing facilities workshop on July 23, staged by the Johns Hopkins Applied […]
A water-based, nuclear-enabled and commercially-invested vision of future operations on the Moon. Lockheed Martin, a big league aerospace industry firm, has issued a visionary look at the building blocks of lunar infrastructure. “By 2044, the Moon buzzes with international research and commercial infrastructure, transforming its barren surface into a livable ecosystem,” according to Lockheed Martin. […]
On Mars, it’s a wait-a-minute conundrum. Question: Has life been found on Mars? The answer: Well, maybe…maybe not. Clear as mud. NASA’s Perseverance rover is busily scouting about Jezero Crater on the Red Planet. Indeed, the Mars machinery is doing its assigned job with a key objective that’s fine-tuned for astrobiology, including caching samples that […]
