Austin DeSisto

The jets that make up Ghost Squadron were in town on Day 1 at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin this evening. Shortly after the airshow ended, the MiG-29, L-39 Albatross, and Alpha jets taxiied and took off for a presumed practice run over Lake Winnebago.

Using telescopes in space is often advantageous to get the best image of interstellar objects. Astronomers place telescopes on mountains in the middle of the ocean or in desert to remove as much as the atmosphere as possible. The middleground? An airplane.

In summer 1975, the Vietnam war came to and end, Jaws was just released as the big summer blockbuster and Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win Wimbledon. As Earth transformed and made history, two countries were busy changing the course of history in space.

Today marks the last day of meetings for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration in Berlin, Germany. The collaborative effort shared on X (formerly Twitter) last week that a meeting would be held in Berlin from July 14-18. “120 international scientists will gather to discuss the next big goals for black hole science – publishing new, better images using recent data and creating “movies” of M87*,” EHT shared on X.

As the sun began to set Friday evening, I sat on the quad in front of our library playing with friends and observing the sparse clouds glow with an incredible orange bloom. The moon, only a small crescent, began to appear above a large tree. It was cold, but a nice Friday evening after a long week of classes and projects. Throughout the day I posted to Instagram and Twitter, sharing the hope that we, in Exeter, New Hampshire, would see the aurora borealis tonight. Only a few friends took interest as I showed them photos from across Europe. Some took an interest in the science and asked how and when we could see them.

Over the course of the past six months, Crew-6 has delivered an abundance of breathtaking images from the International Space Station. These views of Earth give the rest of the population the ability to see our planet from unprecedented views.

Earlier today, Planet Labs released comparison imagery of the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Void of its typically lush green landscape, photos and videos from the ground have revealed the devastation and deeply personal, emotional, and cultural effects. Now, we get to see the widespread and visual destruction from thousands of kilometers up.

Only and little over a month after its first commercial launch, Virgin Galactic, on July 13, 2023, has announced its second commercial launch attempt, called Galactic 02, launching no earlier than August 10. Additionally, this flight will be the first private astronaut mission for the company.

Did you know that operators spent a little over two months without communication with the helicopter on the surface of Mars? Its 50th flight, back in April of this year, was a record-breaking flight for the rotorcraft, called Ingenuity.

Just hours ago, the teams operating BepiColombo, Europe and Japan’s mission to travel to and orbit Mercury, released images from the spacecraft’s third flyby of the closest planet to our sun. With each pass, the spacecraft gets closer, takes more images, and reveals never-before-seen views of the elusive rocky surface.

In Rocket Lab’s most secretive launch yet, they went sub-orbital. Utilizing its new Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), the company performed its first test of this new launch vehicle.

The end of an era is just around the corner with the final launch of Ariane 5, a heavy-lift launch that has delivered the most revered of payloads to a range of orbits. Famously, Ariane 5 launched the James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Day in 2021. The 117th flight has been delayed, extending the rocket’s final moments on Earth.

While Thursday’s inaugural flight of Starship brought excitement, incredible images, and a roar to South Texas, it also tossed concrete miles away (and at vans). Numerous leaked images, aerial photos, and ocean-based photos have revealed the extensive damage to Stage 0. Everything you need to see has been compiled into one article.

Unfortunately, but perhaps unsurprisingly, Starship did not launch today, Monday, April 17. This date marks the closest SpaceX has ever been to launching the world’s most powerful rocket ever. What’s next?

Sunday afternoon Elon Musk spoke to his Twitter Subscribers about tomorrow’s inaugural test flight of the fully integrated Starship system, tomorrow morning. He shared his expectations for the launch, his concerns, and talked about the Starship program as a whole.

Less than an hour ago, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released the Launch License for SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy rocket. This permits SpaceX to launch the fully stack vehicle on the planned trajectory on Monday, April 17 at the earliest.

On April 19, 2021, the Ingenuity helicopter earned the title of the first powered flight on another planet. Nearly two years later, the helicopter has completed its 50th flight on Mars. Was this longevity expected?

Seven years ago today marked the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 first stage on a floating ocean platform. Explosions and mishaps led up to the shining moment of success when this difficult and new feat was finally achieved. Seven years later, SpaceX has completed 144 landings of a Falcon booster on a drone ship.

We are officially at the T minus one-year mark for the next trans-American solar eclipse. April 8, 2024, will mark seven years since the last solar eclipse to transverse the nation. Here’s all you need to know to prepare for next year.

The FAA is expected to release the launch license for Starship as early as today. Reports from Christian Davenport, a reporter for The Washington Post, have stated that the license is nearly ready, barring some environmental concerns and a legal review. A strategy could come into play as to when the license is actually granted due to environmental activists attempting to halt the launch.

Edit: Road closure canceled for April 10.