These photos show Firefly Aerospace’s second Alpha rocket as it was raised on its launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 10. Photographers captured these views on the eve of the rocket’s planned test flight carrying seven small satellites into orbit.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Using Virtual/Augmented Reality and Holoportation to Help Improve Mental Health for Future Mars Astronauts
We recently explored how the Apple TV+ series, For All Mankind, gives us a harsh reality check about the harshness of human space exploration. In the show, astronauts struggle, some go crazy, and a lot of them die in the pursuit of planting our flag just a little farther from home. We discussed how while For All Mankind is both science fiction while taking place in an alternate universe, our future Artemis and Mars astronauts will very likely endure the same struggles and hardships as the show’s beloved characters.
Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to one of its most complex missions yet
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starlink 4-2 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 34 Starlink internet satellites and a rideshare payload for AST SpaceMobile’s space-based cellular broadband network. Follow us on Twitter.
Firefly’s second rocket set for launch from California
Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle stands on its launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 10. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now
A year after an early engine shutdown cut short an inaugural test flight, Firefly Aerospace’s second Alpha launcher is scheduled to take off Sunday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a demonstration mission to place seven small satellites into orbit.
AMAZING JWST Image, iPhone 14 and Satellites, Green Sand on Mars
How iPhone 14 will connect to satellites. Why SLS didn’t launch and when it might. Growing rice in space. And a new incredible image from James Webb. All this and more space news in this week’s episode of Space Bites.
Watch live: Falcon 9 test-firing imminent at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX is counting down to a static fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The test-firing of the booster’s nine engines is in preparation for a launch with 54 more Starlink internet satellites as soon as Sunday night at 10:53 p.m. EDT (0253 GMT Monday).
DART Sees Asteroid Didymos for the First Time. In two Weeks, it'll Crash Into the Moon
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is on its way to rendezvous with the double-asteroid Didymos. When it arrives on September 26th, DART will collide with Dimorphos – the 160-meter (525-foot) moonlet that orbits the main body – to evaluate the kinetic impact technique for the very first time. This proposed method of planetary defense consists of a spacecraft colliding with an asteroid to alter its orbit and prevent it from colliding with Earth. In July, DART took its first image of the double-asteroid, which NASA released earlier this week!
SpaceX planning two weekend launches in Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 39A Saturday morning. Credit: Spaceflight Now
The 39th and 40th launches of the year from Florida’s Space Coast are set to blast off Saturday night and Sunday night, back-to-back missions to deploy more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet network, plus a rideshare payload for AST Space Mobile’s planned space-based cellular broadband network.
What is the Standard Model?
The Standard Model of Physics is the theory of particles, fields and the fundamental forces that govern them.
Fiery ancient asteroid impacts turned living things into charcoal
Ancient organisms were 'killed, grilled and buried," a study found after studying small impact craters.
Watch SpaceX launch the huge BlueWalker 3 satellite, Starlink fleet on rocket's record-setting 14th flight tonight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will fly for the 14th time on Saturday night (Sept. 10), launching 34 of the company's Starlink satellites and a smartphone connectivity test craft to orbit. Watch it live.
Celestron Inspire 100AZ refractor telescope review
An affordable refractor with lots of aperture, a built-in red light and a novel solution for smartphone astrophotography.
Giant blobs in Earth's mantle may be driving a 'diamond factory' near our planet's core
Water driven toward Earth's center by plate tectonics could lead to the creation of diamonds at the boundary between the core and the mantle.
Harvest Moon tonight! See the full moon rise near Jupiter and Neptune (Sept. 10)
September's full moon, the Harvest Moon, will be joined in the night sky by Jupiter and Neptune on Saturday (Sept. 10).
New Animation Shows how the Artemis Missions Will use the Lunar Gateway and a Starship to put Humans Back onto the Moon
A recent YouTube video made by YouTube account, Hazegrayart, combines awesome computer animation, great music, and crisp archived audio recordings to show how NASA’s future Lunar Gateway will function for the upcoming Artemis missions. The archived audio recordings encompass only about a third of the short four and a half minutes of video, with almost the entire length being filled with a gorgeous and relaxing soundtrack as the viewer is left fixated watching a slow and methodical ballet of spaceships come together at Gateway.
US will push other nations to abandon destructive anti-satellite tests, VP Harris says
The United States will soon ask other nations to follow its lead and abandon destructive, debris-spawning anti-satellite testing, Vice President Kamala Harris said.
Just 2,000 Years Ago, Betelgeuse Was Yellow, Not Red
Compared to the lifespan of stars, human lives are pretty short. Stars such as Betelgeuse (in Orion) live for millions of years. Others exist for billions of years. We (if we’re lucky) get maybe 100 years (more or less). So, to us, stars don’t appear to change much over our lifetimes, unless they blow up as supernovae. But, what about over the course of 20 or 30 successive lifetimes?
The art of 'Love, Death + Robots' comes alive in new book (exclusive)
Power up exclusive images and comments for Titan Books' "The Art of Love, Death + Robots"
DARPA developing small vertical-takeoff aircraft for military use
DARPA's ANCILLARY program aims to develop a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that can operate in areas without preexisting air bases or other infrastructure.
Ingenuity helicopter heads toward ancient river delta on 31st Martian flight
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter just flew for the 31st time on Mars, acing a short hop that took it closer to an ancient Red Planet river delta.
Insanely High-Resolution Images of the Sun Show its Chromosphere in Vivid Detail
New images of the Sun’s chromosphere – the lower region of the solar atmosphere — have been released, and to say they are ‘stellar’ is an understatement. Simply, they are stunning. The high-resolution images were taken with the now-fully-operational Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the summit of Haleakala, Maui, in Hawai‘i. Scientists say the new observatory — with its large 4-meter (13-ft) primary mirror — will enable a new era of solar science, and provide a leap forward in understanding the Sun and its impacts on our planet.
