Set to launch to the ISS in Jan. 2024, the commercial mission Axiom-3 will continue to push the frontiers of science by conducting an array of experiments in microgravity.
Space News & Blog Articles
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SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites from Florida (video)
SpaceX launched another 23 Starlink internet satellites from Florida on Saturday night (Dec. 2).
Eris Could be Slushier Than Pluto
In 2005, astronomer Mike Brown and his colleagues Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz announced the discovery of a previously unknown planetoid in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune’s orbit. The team named this object Eris after the Greek personification of strife and discord, which was assigned by the IAU a year later. Along with Haumea and Makemake, which they similarly observed in 2004 and 2005 (respectively), this object led to the “Great Planet Debate,” which continues to this day. Meanwhile, astronomers have continued to study the Trans-Neptunian region to learn more about these objects.
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky above Florida’s Space Coast amid the Starlink 6-31 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein
SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 UTC).
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 89 — Who’s in Charge in Space?
On Episode 89 of This Week In Space, Tariq and Rod discuss the challenges of regulating spaceflight.
Unwrapping Uranus and its icy secrets: What NASA would learn from a mission to a wild world
Unvisited by spacecraft for more than 35 years, Uranus inhabits one of the least explored regions of our solar system.
Lockheed Martin's 'Tantrum' tech could help get satellites up and running without the wait
Lockheed Martin and Firefly Aerospace are combining to launch a demonstrator that aims to slash the time it takes spacecraft payloads to become operational.
The Peregrine Lunar Lander is set to launch on Dec 24. Here's what it'll bring to the moon
There will be 20 total payloads being brought to the moon, five of which are NASA's.
A Planetary System With Six Sub-Neptunes Locked in Perfect Resonance
A team of researchers led by University of Chicago astronomer Rafael Luque analyzed data acquired by both NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (Cheops) and found a unique planetary system. Orbiting a star cataloged as HD110067, this system contains six sub-Neptune planets. Incredibly, all six planets are orbiting in direct resonance with each other. The results of the work were published on November 29 in Nature.
After Stalling Out for 40 Years, the Largest Iceberg in the World is on the Move
In 1986, a gigantic iceberg separated from the Fichner-Ronne ice shelf in West Antarctica. It was so big that it became grounded, stuck to the seafloor, and remained in position for 40 years. Finally, it has now been pushed off the seafloor and has begun drifting in the Weddell Sea to a region in the South Atlantic called Iceberg Alley. Designated A23a, this monster berg measures 4000 sq km (1,500 square miles) and is about 400 meters (1,300 feet) thick – the world’s largest.
Lift-off for EIRSAT-1, Ireland’s first ever satellite
Six years of hard work and dedication paid off in spectacular fashion today, as the Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, successfully blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Hitching a ride on a Space-X Falcon-9 launcher, the tiny satellite – measuring just 10.7cm x 10.7cm x 22.7cm – has now made history as Ireland’s first satellite!
Amazon buys three launches from SpaceX for rival internet constellation
A pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation are encapsulated in a pair of payload fairings for launch aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. Image: ULA
Tech giant Amazon is adding a fifth rocket to launch its satellite internet constellation. In a surprise move on Friday afternoon, the company announced it purchased three flights aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to send batched of its Project Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit.
EIRSAT-1 liftoff
Video: 00:04:04
On 1 December 2023, at 19:19 CET (18:18 GMT), Ireland's first satellite EIRSAT-1 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.
SpaceX launches ride share mission with South Korean spy satellite, first Irish satellite
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Korea 425 mission from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX
Kicking off the month of December for SpaceX was a Falcon 9 ride share mission with a payload of 25 spacecraft on board. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was headlined by the Korea 425 mission.
Russia launches space station cargo ship
A Soyuz 2.1a rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying a Progress cargo ship loaded with 5,500 pounds of equipment, supplies and propellant bound for the International Space Station. Image: NASA TV.
A Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with more than 5,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, kicking off a two-day orbital chase.
Week in images: 27 November - 01 December 2023
Week in images: 27 November - 01 December 2023
Earth from Space: American Samoa
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission shows us an amazing view of the tropical island of Tutuila, the largest in the American Samoa archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 1 – 9
These moonless evenings open up the deep sky. For many of us the viewing is especially crisp through the low-humidity December air. The Big Dipper lies low, Cassiopeia stands high, and the Andromeda Galaxy crosses the zenith.
Iceberg on the loose
Image: After being grounded on the ocean floor for well over four decades, the largest iceberg in the world is on the loose.
December Podcast: A Tower of Brilliant Stars
This month’s Sky Tour podcast introduces you to a “tower of brilliance” in the eastern evening sky, along with tips for finding four planets and watching mid-December’s impressive Geminid meteor shower.
Should We Send Humans to Europa?
Universe Today recently examined the potential for sending humans to the planet Venus despite its extremely harsh surface conditions. But while a human mission to the clouds of Venus could be feasible given the environmental conditions are much more Earth-like, a human mission to the second planet from the Sun could be (at minimum) decades away. With NASA sending humans back to the Moon in the next few years, and hopefully to Mars, what if we could send humans to another planetary body worth exploring, though it could have its own harsh environmental conditions, as well? What about Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa? It has a massive interior liquid ocean that could harbor life, and NASA is currently scheduled to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft to this small moon in October 2024, arriving at Jupiter in April 2030. Therefore, given the exploration potential, should we send humans to Europa?
