The Dragon spacecraft is now the first private spaceship to reach orbit and return safely to Earth. It just splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, after a perfect mission. This is a huge milestone in the history of space exploration. More »
Continue reading SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully launches, returns from orbit (video)
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully launches, returns from orbit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s $300 million Planet-C Venus Climate Orbiter is being pulled toward the sun after falling to successfully enter the planet’s orbit. The probe, nicknamed “Akatsuki” (“Dawn”), was set to monitor climate and volcanic activity on the second planet from the Sun. The probe was set to monitor the planet for two years.
The orbiter approached Venus earlier this week, but ultimately failed to enter its gravitational field, despite an engine reversal implemented by JAXA. Today, the organization told the press that the mission has officially been declared a failure.
“We started the maneuver to put the Venus probe Akatsuki into orbit around Venus at 8:49 am (Tokyo time) on December 7,” JAXA said in a statement, “but have confirmed that we could not put it into the orbit.”
JAXA is still in control of Akatsuki, but it will likely have to wait another six years to do so. Science guy Billy Nye, who is currently an executive director at the U.S.’s Plentary Society told the press solemnly that the organization “regrets that the innovative Akatsuki spacecraft seems to have missed its opportunity to lock into an orbit of Venus. Although Akatsuki has already accomplished some remarkable things on its voyage, this setback reminds us how difficult space exploration can be.”
California-based Space Explorations Technology (SpaceX) launched a test run of its Dragon capsule this morning. The first-ever privately owned space craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:45 ET. The capsule will separate from the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. Once out of the atmosphere, it will orbit Earth and transmit signals.
The Dragon will only orbit for a few hours, after which it drop down into the Pacific. The next step in the plans–should today’s launch prove successful–involves a five day mission, with the Dragon capsule getting within six miles of the International Space Station.
In the future, the ship may be used to supply the International Space Station, once NASA retires its fleet.
The launch was initially scheduled for 9:00, but was pushed back for unknown reasons.
The SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has launched successfully, carrying the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. Dragon is the first private spaceship in history. It would be able to carry seven astronauts to orbit. Watch the launch and the separation videos here. Updated More »
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientists have created a new material that is ten times blacker than the blackest black paint in the world. It’s made of carbon nanotubes grown on titanium. Why does NASA need this material? More »
Look, we don’t know what the Air Force sent the unmanned X-37B into space for, or why they didn’t offer us a ride, but we’re pretty sure whatever it was it was awesome. The spaceplane is now back on solid ground, and apparently it completed all of its orbital objectives during its seven month trip, which were supposedly mostly diagnostic self-tests. According to The Man, anyway. Still, we could swear we spotted some laser blast holes and a self-satisfied, Tom Cruisian smirk on the X-37B when it thought nobody was looking, which confirms all of our worst suspicions: there is extraterrestrial life, and it’s totally badass, and only highly trained space fighter jockeys can save us.
X-37B spaceplane back on earth after 7 months of spying on us, shooting aliens originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 01:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s been orbiting for seven months. Its mission is classified. And now the X-37B is back home. The unmanned spacecraft touched down at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:14 AM PT this morning.
The primary purpose of the mission was apparently to test the craft also known as the Oribital Test Vehicle. The military will not say whether the ship was carrying any cargo. According to a statement, the craft “completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission.”
The ship was built by Boeing. It weighs 11,000 pounds, measures 9.5 feet tall, 29 feet long, and has a wingspan of under 15 feet. The Associated Press likens it to a sports car, with the more traditional spaceship something more akin to a cargo truck.
According to the military, the ship is set to return to space in spring of next year.
A school bus-sized satellite—the world’s most capable—is for sale, as its corporate owner goes under. But rather than let it slowly die, a non-profit is raising money to repurpose it as a free internet provider for the poor. More »
The universe just got a lot more crowded. According to a new study, there may be three times as many stars in the universe as previously thought. How many? Three-hundred sextillion. How many is 300 sextillion? Behold:
300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
That is, as the Associated Press points out, three trillion times 100 billion.
That staggering new number comes from a new study published on Nature. The new study discovered that, unlike previously thought, most galaxies may be shaped like our own. One-third of the galaxies in the universe may actually be elliptical, not spiral, like the Milky Way.
Those elliptical galaxies, it turns out, contain 10 to 20 times more stars that previously thought. Those galaxies can contain as many as one- to 10 trillion stars.
The total number of stars is the universe is roughly equivalent to the number of human cells on earth–that’s 50 trillion cells times six billion people.
Speaking of earth, the lead astronomer in the findings, Pieter can Dokkum of Yale, suggested that, “There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars.” Way to make a guy feel insignificant, science.
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