November 3rd, 2023
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Virgin Galactic has successfully completed “Galactic 05” – a suborbital flight on November 2 that saw the VSS Unity space plane converted into a suborbital lab for space-based scientific research for the second time. Astronaut 020 – Dr. Alan Stern, U.S. Planetary Scientist and Associate Vice President in Southwest Research Institute’s (SwRI) Space Sector Astronaut […]
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter made its flight #64 on October 27, 2023. According to NASA/JPL’s posting, the craft flew a Horizontal distance: 411 meters (roughly 1,348 feet; gained a Maximum altitude of 12 meters (roughly 39 feet); and carried out its flight in 139.1 seconds. This technology demonstration craft has now accumulated an overall flight […]
China’s Shenzhou-16 crew returned safely back to Earth on Tuesday after completing their five-month stay aboard the country’s Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou-16 return capsule, carrying astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 08:11 (Beijing Time) on Tuesday morning, […]
Mars itself is a world of puzzlement, particularly whether or not it’s home for past or even present-day life. But put that aside for the moment. The Red Planet is circled by a couple of oddballs. The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are brainteasers as to how they got there and what they […]
The Shenzhou-16 astronauts handed over control of the Tiangong space station to the newly arrived Shenzhou-17 crew on Sunday. Tang Hongbo, the commander of Shenzhou-17 mission, took over the key to the hatch door of the Tiangong space station at the handover ceremony. Due to return to Earth on October 31 is the Shenzhou-16 crew […]
China’s Shenzhou-16 crew is preparing for touchdown at the Dongfeng Landing Site in Inner Mongolia’s Gobi desert in north China. The trio of taikonauts — Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao – are slated to land there on Tuesday after a five-month stay in space, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). At […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently visited the Energia rocket and space corporation, receiving a briefing on the Russian Orbital Station, among other work-in-progress space projects. The October 26th visit by Putin included a meeting with young employees of various space industry enterprises. The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov briefed Putin, a visit also involving […]
It is clear that planet Venus is a cloudy, scientifically cool place, albeit a hellish world. Work is underway on developing a literal “new entry” in deciphering the origin, evolution, and present state of Venus. NASA’s Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging mission is mercifully abbreviated to DAVINCI. But that longhand […]
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is on tap to make flight #64, with an expected flight date of today, October 27. According to a NASA/JPL-Caltech posting the expected horizontal flight distance will be 1,339 feet (408.435 meters). The mini-chopper is anticipated to fly 124.5 seconds, rising to a flight altitude of 39 feet (12 meters) above […]
China’s Shenzhou-17 crew has successfully linked up with the country’s space station, joining the already resident Shenzhou-16 crewmembers. The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, rumbled off the launch pad at 11:14 (Beijing time) October 26 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. After entering orbit, the spaceship made an automated rendezvous […]
