This week we bring an interview out of the archives with NASA’s Tom Engler on how Kennedy Space Center has changed from the Shuttle program to now. Jared and Seth also discuss the week’s top headlines and correctly predicted Artemis 1’s fate.
After years of delays and several frustrating launch attempts, Artemis 1 has launched and is on its way to the Moon. Finally, the planets aligned for NASA and the SLS rocket to take flight and wow onlookers who have waited for this moment for a very long time.
Before settling down in NASA’s press center at Kennedy Space Center for tonight’s launch, I was able to speak with ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano on the role Europe plays in this launch. “NASA will always be the agency that put a man on the moon 50 years ago,” Luca said, “But nowadays, we as a European space agency are trying to catch up, and we want to be part of this incredible endeavor.”
I asked Luca if he believed tonight is the night Artemis 1 will finally launch. He thinks we are 50/50 but still very excited to see this candle light.
It seems to be a news story that takes place every couple of years, but early Saturday morning, sonic booms were heard across Florida Space Coast. Those rather iconic booms could only mean one thing, the arrival of NASA’s Space Shuttle or the Space Force’s classified X37-B spaceplane. Since all of NASA’s shuttles have been collecting dust in museums for the past decade, it must be that pesky X37-B.
It sounds like SpaceX’s Starship program is getting another leadership change, and this time it’s a big one. SpaceX employee number 11, Gwynne Shotwell, the President and COO of the company, will now lead its development.
Early this morning, Northrop Grumman’s SS Sally Ride Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station carrying 8,200 pounds of supplies for the seven crewmembers. However, the Cygnus is missing one of its now iconic circular solar panels due to an unknown failure.
This week (on the late episode of the podcast), Seth and Jared talk about their very different Falcon Heavy launch experiences, less than 13 miles apart. They also recap the headlines from the past week, including Amazon’s thoughts on the launch of Kuiper with SpaceX, Elon and Twitter, and even some Artemis news.
Have you ever woken up on a Monday morning and thought to yourself, “yeah, no, I don’t want to do anything,” and then you attempt to get up, and the day doesn’t stop punching? That was today for the space industry. We work up to a new report of Subtropical Storm Nicole making landfall on Florida’s Space Coast (just in time for Artemis 1 to be rolled out to the pad), Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft only having one solar panel deployed, and an absolutely terrible weather forecast for SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 launch.
I guess here’s the deal, Mondays suck not just for the average person but even for the most talented and intelligent people we know. I just got back from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch on Saturday, and I hopefully plan to drive back down from Wisconsin for Artemis 1 and an airshow this Thursday, both of which could be canceled, so I guess the joke is on me?
Two weeks ago, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk officially took control of Twitter, an app you probably used to get to this article. We’ve seen Musk start new companies since creating SpaceX, but this is the first significant company he has taken control of since Tesla in 2004. So what does this new addition to the Elon portfolio mean for SpaceX?
What do you get when you take three Falcon 9 boosters and strap them together? Well, a Falcon Heavy of course. Right now, the most powerful rocket (we won’t be able to say that for much longer), SpaceX doesn’t get to launch it often, but when they do, everyone wants to see The next Falcon Heavy launch scheduled for November 1 at 9:41 a.m. EDT from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.
According to a report from The Information, SpaceX could be pushing its Starship production too fast, with safety concerns reported by employees during a recent full stack test. All this under the eyes of Starlink’s chief, now unofficially running the program.
Sometimes it’s good to be a competitor, and sometimes it’s nice to be a launch provider. SpaceX gets to be both and profit off its competitors. Amazon Senior Vice President Dave Limp said the company is also open to SpaceX’s capabilities to launch its Project Kuiper satellites.
Talk about dedication to your job! While the average employee only stays at their company for four years, Edward Stone stuck around for 50. On Tuesday, he finally retired from JPL, where he served as Voyager’s Project Scientist.
This week Seth and Jared dive into the science that Polaris Dawn will complete while in space. There are also plenty of SpaceX headlines to talk about as we near the fourth Falcon Heavy launch.
It’s not often that we discuss the launch of a mega constellation other than Starlink, but over the weekend, OneWeb became the first commercial launch on India’s largest rocket. This was also the company’s return to launching since it broke ties with Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Seth and Jared discuss what is going on in Ukraine with Elon Musk and Starlink. They also catch you up on the top headlines in space from this past week.
It’s already been about a month since Astra’s closing price on NASDAQ went below the $1 limit, which triggers some issues with the powers that be in New York. Since then, the stock price has continued to decrease in value as failed launches have led the company to shift to a new rocket design.
This week Seth and Jared dive into Astra Space receiving a delisting warning from the NASDAQ and what that means if you own shares of the company. Also, they catch you up on all the rockets that launched last (eight in seven days!!!), Elon Musk’s peace idea for Ukraine and Taiwan, oh and what’s the deal with that Crew-5 Meatball?
This week Seth and Jared discuss SpaceX’s study to save Hubble, of course our update on the Artemis 1 mission (that we swear will end someday) and some surprisingly nice comments by Russia’s new space chief. The hot takes this week are about Tesla’s AI robot and the FCC taking on space debris.
In a press conference Thursday, NASA announced it is looking into the possibility of partnering with SpaceX to boost the legendary Hubble Space Telescope into a more stable orbit – something many people joked about but didn’t think would ever be real.
This week Seth and Jared discuss NASA’s “Hollywood moment,” by crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid all in the name of science! Also, Artemis 1 is still on the pad, with weather predictions worsening for NASA.
Monday evening, NASA’s DART mission finished its goal by smacking full speed into a little asteroid moonlet called Dimorphos. This mission has one goal: prepare humanity incase a killer asteroid is found.
After delaying the decision several times, NASA managers finally gave the okay to roll Artemis 1’s massive SLS rocket back to the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building before damaging winds from Hurricane Ian arrive.
This week Seth and Jared dive into the weather that has been and will affect Space Coast launches, especially now that we get into the thick of hurricane season. Starship is back in the news with a record-breaking static fire and organic material found on Mars?
In an interview with Newsweek, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made a rather interesting comment about the agency’s two Commerical Crew partners’ progress. The once anti-commerical Senator praised SpaceX for its progress and threw shade at Boeing for still not completing its test flights.
This week, Seth and Jared discuss what happened during Blue Origin’s mid-flight abort, the new Artemis 1 launch date, and more space news.
Since 2015 Blue Origin has been launching its New Shepard suborbital rocket from its facility in Van Horne, Texas. Additionally, in 2021 Blue Origin began launching paying customers atop its rocket for a 10-minute joy ride. The next launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, this time without crew is set for September 12 at 8:30 a.m. CDT. [Launch failure, read more here]
Seth and Jared discuss why Artemis 1 scrubbed on its second launch attempt and why it will be a longer delay this time. Also, SpaceX is gaining more ISS crew rotation flights and a new contract with Rocket Lab.
Apple announced its new iPhone 14 phones today with the long-rumored feature of satellite connectivity when using Emergency SOS. This service will be powered by the long-time satellite service provider Globalstar.
To say we are disappointed with the outcome of today’s launch attempt would be an understatement. With the development of an unmanageable leak on a hydrogen quick disconnect, Artemis 1 is unable to launch this window, pushing back NASA’s Moon mission at least a few weeks.
Monday’s high-profile scrub of the Artemis 1 launch had caused division within the launch media community. The decision to go through with a launch attempt versus completing a full wet dress rehearsal has some attacking NASA for wasting time and resources.
Last night SpaceX launched its 39th Falcon 9 of 2022 from Vandenberg Space Force Base to deploy another 46 Starlink satellites. The company has already shattered records for the past few years, but it wants to push harder, hoping for 100 launches in 2023 per its CEO, Elon Musk.
Seth and Jared discuss what happened during the launch countdown of Artemis 1 and what NASA is doing to hopefully launch again on Friday. Also, they talk about how we can see two new companies start launch operations in September.
In a press briefing Tuesday, NASA managers announced that September 3 would be the next launch attempt of the Artemis 1 mission. The managers also discussed what the team is doing to resolve the problems found during Monday morning’s countdown.
While the hype was real for today’s historic launch attempt of Artemis 1, today was just not the day. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know the severity of the issues that eventually put the nail in the coffin for today’s launch, but we should hopefully know soon.
Just over a year ago, Astra went public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, closing at $12.90 on its first day. Astra’s stock price has since plummeted to less than $1, starting a clock before it could be moved off the Nasdaq.
This week Seth and Jared discuss everything, and probably more, that you need to know about Artemis I. From where to view the launch, the mission objectives, and more, you’ll be ready for when launch coverage begins this weekend.
Hey, remember that giant telescope that launched on Christmas and blew our minds with awesome galaxy photos? Well, it’s back. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shared its official images of the king of gas giants, Jupiter. The Webb telescope continues to blow our minds with every new picture release.
It looks like someone finally took the bite on using Starship to launch its payload into space instead of a lesser, non-fully reusable rocket. A Japanese company announced Friday that SpaceX will launch its communication satellite on Starship as soon as 2024.
Isn’t that a nice headline to finally write? Artemis I (knock on wood) took its final rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B. With less than two weeks until the launch date, the feeling is real that it might happen.
This week Seth and Jared discuss the Artemis I mission as it nears closer and closer to launching. The two also talk about other current events in the space industry and look at the newest images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
On Tuesday, SpaceX conducted two static fires at its Starbase site in South Texas. The spacecraft being tested, Ship 24 and Booster 7, are believed to be the first SpaceX will use to launch Starship’s Orbital Flight Test as soon as this year, if you believe Elon Musk.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, we have been following how it will affect Northrop Grumman’s capability to launch its Antares rocket. Northrop Grumman has finally announced its solution to unavailable components in a partnership with Firefly Aerospace to supply engines and a new first stage to the Antares 330 rocket.
Coby Cotton, one of the five members of Dude Perfect, launched on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket early Thursday morning. Cotton’s participation is part of a partnership between the trick shooting YouTubers and a crypto company called MoonDAO.
Rocket Lab, the leader of the SmallSat launch market, has completed its “Back to Back” launch campaign for the National Reconnaissance Office. This marks a major cadence milestone for the company working to become the SpaceX of SmallSat launches.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has already blown the minds of humans across the globe with its original set of color images. Now Webb has a new image, one of the chaotic Cartwheel galaxy.
Surprising probably no one, the timeframe SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has given for a successful orbital Starship mission is anywhere from next month to next year.
Announced in February, Jared Issacman’s Polaris Program crew has been training for a flight on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft this year. At EAA’s AirVenture airshow this weekend, Issacman announced that the launch date for Polaris Dawn could be as soon as the end of this year.
