Space Exploration, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2020

Planned satellite constellation poses a collision threat, NASA says: Reports

NASA has voiced substantial concerns about a planned constellation of broadband satellites, saying the commercial spacecraft would increase the risk of collisions in an important slice of Earth orbit. On Oct. 30, NASA submitted an official comment letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding a request by Texas-based...

Sep 30, 2020

Elon Musk says SpaceX's 1st Starship trip to Mars could fly in 4 years

SpaceX is almost ready to start building a permanent human settlement on Mars with its massive Starship rocket. The private spaceflight company is on track to launch its first uncrewed mission to Mars in as little as four years from now, SpaceX's founder and CEO Elon Musk said Friday (Oct....

Sep 30, 2020

Hubble telescope spots a 'Greater Pumpkin' in space for Halloween

As families tuck into their couches to watch Charlie Brown help his friend Linus await the Great Pumpkin this Halloween, they may be surprised to hear that NASA has already discovered a greater pumpkin. Images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show what looks remarkably like a giant jack-o'-lantern in the...

Aug 31, 2020

Laika and her crew: 'Space Dogs' documentary explores Moscow through a stray's eyes

A new film channels the spirit and traces the lineage of Laika, the first creature ever to orbit Earth. Laika, a stray dog scooped off the streets of Moscow, launched on the Soviet Union's Sputnik 2 mission in November 1957, just a month after Sputnik 1's liftoff opened the space...

Aug 31, 2020

SpaceX pops Starship tank on purpose in explosive pressure test

SpaceX just popped another Starship test tank. The Starship SN7.1 tank was destroyed on purpose Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at SpaceX's South Texas facilities, during a pressure test designed to take the stainless-steel hardware to its bursting point. SpaceX has performed several other such tests, including one this past June...

Aug 31, 2020

Here's everything we know about the secretive spy satellite launching tonight

Update: The launch of the U.S. spy satellite was aborted just 7 seconds before liftoff. The U.S. government is putting something big and secret in orbit tonight (Sept 30). Such classified launches aren't all that rare. The military and various intelligence agencies routinely put satellites and other cargo into space...

Jul 31, 2020

The first SpaceX astronauts are back on Earth

Update 2:50 pm EDT: Everything went as planned, with SpaceX and NASA reporting a successful splashdown. The astronauts radioed in from inside the capsule that they were feeling good. A recovery team has begun the process of extracting the crew from the capsule, while the astronauts run some final checks....

Jun 30, 2020

Rocket Lab Electron launch fails to reach orbit, 7 satellites lost

A Rocket Lab Electron booster failed to reach orbit while attempting to launch seven small satellites for three different customers on Saturday (July 4). The two-stage Electron booster rose off the pad at Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site at 5:19 p.m. EST (0919 GMT; 9:19 p.m. local New Zealand...

May 31, 2020

Watch a rocket launch triple header from SpaceX, Rocket Lab and Japan tonight. Here's how.

In the next 24 hours, no less than three rockets — built by Interstellar Technologies, Rocket Lab and SpaceX — will launch from three different countries in a space age triple-header. But if you want to watch them all online, you're going to need to stay up late (or rise...

May 31, 2020

SpaceX launches 58 Starlink satellites and 3 Planet SkySats, nails rocket landing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched its first rideshare mission into orbit today (June 13), lofting a new batch of 58 Starlink internet satellites along with three small Earth-observation satellites before nailing a Falcon 9 rocket landing at sea. It was a mostly clear morning, with just a few...

Apr 30, 2020

Launch of secret X-37B space plane delayed by bad weather

The U.S. Space Force's next secret mission of a robotic X-37B space plane has been delayed at least 24 hours after bad weather thwarted a launch attempt today (May 16). An Atlas V rocket was scheduled to launch the X-37B from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station...

Apr 30, 2020

Space Force launches robotic X-37B space plane on new mystery mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The U.S. Space Force's mysterious X-37B space plane successfully launched on its sixth mystery mission from Florida today (May 17). Riding atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the clandestine craft blasted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here...

Apr 30, 2020

Russian military satellite launch spawns space-junk fireball over Australia (video)

EPIC!! Check out this incredible vision captured by Mel Aldridge not long ago at Cashmore near Portland! We're getting plenty of reports. @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/1KuldCy6OJMay 22, 2020 See more Russia launched a military satellite to orbit on Friday (May 22), and the mission generated plenty of action in the downward direction...

Apr 30, 2020

SpaceX successfully launches two NASA astronauts into orbit for historic flight

Amid an uncertain weather forecast, SpaceX successfully launched two NASA astronauts toward the International Space Station today (May 30). Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley became the first U.S. astronauts to head into orbit from American soil since 2011, when the Space Shuttle program ended and NASA astronauts began relying...

Feb 29, 2020

What's that in the sky? It's a SpaceX rocket, but it sure doesn't look like it

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Planetary nebula? Supernova remnant? No, this incredible image is actually a photo of a rocket launch. The rocket's exhaust combined with atmospheric effects emulates an image of a deep-space object. A photographer captured the shot during the launch of SpaceX's 20th cargo resupply mission on March...