Space Explored

Sierra Space delivered a model of its Dream Chaser spaceplane to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for the new Gateway exhibit. This model will “fly” over visitors, appearing as if it were in space.

Today NASA released software for their Autonomous Flight Termination Unit to the launch industry. This has been the primary reason for Rocket Lab’s delays in launching from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has officially begun today, and alongside the electric snowmobiles and smart home gadgets is a display product that is unlikely to enter your home any time soon.

Sierra Space is at CES 2022 showing off the company’s Dream Chaser space plane and LIFE habitat, which will both be vital to the company’s Orbital Reef space station.

Thursday evening SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of Starlink satellites. This will take off from Launch Complex-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first SpaceX mission of 2022.

Launch Date: Thursday, January 6, 4:49 p.m. EST

On January 5, 2005, the Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown discovered a large world, later known as Eris, after systematically scanning for large outer Solar System bodies for several years. Unfortunately for Pluto, this was the beginning of the end for its official planet title.

It’s time to visit the world of the United States Space Force again. Here’s everything we know about season two of ‘Space Force’ coming to Netflix next month.

Currently, more than 35,000 miles away, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is cruising through space on the way to its 1 million mile parking spot above the Earth. It will take the space telescope almost a month to complete orbital insertion. Here’s how you can track its way there.

FINAL UPDATE (1/31): James Webb is now fully deployed and orbiting in L2. The space telescope will spend the next few months commissioning and testing before taking its first photograph. Last week, NASA announced that Webb will point at HD 84406, a sun-like star 241 light-years away, to focus and align its mirrors in preparation for the moment we’ve been waiting for. Don’t hold your breath though, the mirror alignment process is very slow and tedious. We don’t expect James Webbs to take its first shot of the cosmos until around May 2022.

Early tomorrow morning, while those who celebrate Christmas will be busy opening gifts, NASA and Arianespace will be launching the most powerful space telescope ever built. Check before for updates on this once-in-a-generation launch.

In an SEC filing this week, SpaceX disclosed that the company has raised an additional $337 million in funding from 35 investors.

The Rosen Law Firm has opened an investigation into Astra Space, Inc. [NASDAQ: ASTR] due to allegations that Astra presented misleading material to the public. Astra’s stock price plummeted following the report by market analyst Kerrisdale Capital, a short seller of Astra Space.

SpaceX’s CRS-24 mission seemingly went off without a hitch. The company launched a cargo Dragon Capsule to the International Space Station for NASA, and the new booster, B1069, landed on Just Read the Instructions out in the Atlantic Ocean for the 100th successful landing of an orbital rocket booster. The booster sitting on JRTI seemed as if it took a slightly heavier-than-normal landing, but otherwise, all seemed well. It was known that the ocean weather wasn’t ideal, with a moderate rating, but there were still no major signs of issues… yet.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment has been delayed until February 28, 2022. This places the orbital launch attempt in March 2022 at the earliest.

The news that no one wants to hear is a failure in one of the James Webb Space Telescope‘s deployment processes. While there isn’t a rescue plan, you bet NASA has thought about one.

Over the weekend, we finally got to watch the James Webb Space Telescope begin its journey to space. The long-awaited telescope launch was followed by celebrations from both the President and Vice-President.

While the week of Christmas was a slow one, there were two highly anticipated launches. Check out this week’s top stories below.

This morning, the spaceflight and science communities held their breath as Arianespace launched the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope. But, while the launch is now done, Webb has a long trip to go and many more obstacles to face.

The largest and most powerful telescope ever made is finally set to launch on Christmas day. After years of delays, the long-anticipated James Webb Space Telescope has been given the green light for lift-off. Here’s how you can tune in live.

Space fans have long anticipated SpaceX’s next rocket, Starship. While, to this point, most of the early development and testing has taken place in Boca Chica, Texas, SpaceX intends to launch Starship from Florida. We recently learned that, in addition to the LC-39A, SpaceX would like to use LC-49 to launch and land Starship Super Heavy vehicles.

We had the opportunity to speak with Tom Engler, the director of center planning & development at Kennedy Space Center.

Georgia Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett Sr. issued a temporary restraining order to block Camden County from buying the land for Spaceport Camden Tuesday. The land acquisition now could depend on the results of a special election.

Back in June, Blue Origin’s auction for a seat on the first crewed flight of New Shepard ended with a $28 million bid. Yet as the first flight came around the winner was not announced. Instead, 18 year old Oliver Daemon joined the first flight and became the youngest person to fly in space.

Blue Origin only said that ‘scheduling issues’ stopped the auction winner from participating in the flight, but did not reveal the winner’s identity. Now the winner has been revealed as H.E. Justin Sun, and five people will be invited to join him on his journey to space.

SpaceX’s Hawthorne headquarters currently faces large COVID outbreak amidst the cOmicron surge.

SpaceX has launched 31 Falcon 9s this year, beating 2020 by five launches. Post-launch, the company stated it is now done for 2021, making its CRS-24 mission for NASA its final launch until January.

It’s Christmas week and also a good time to step outside and admire the sky for the peak of the annual Ursid meteor shower, which will grace the sky tonight. Here’s when, where, and everything you need to know.