The first complete view of Earth as a globe — looking down from above the north pole.
The first complete view of Earth as a globe — looking down from above the north pole.
Tag: spaceflight
An asteroid that was discovered only four days before it flew by the Earth on June 14 has turned out to be much bigger than first thought.
An asteroid that was discovered only four days before it flew by the Earth on June 14 has turned out to be much bigger than first thought.
This particular asteroid may not have been a danger, but much of the concern was rooted in the late warning of its detection — 2012 LZ1 was spotted only four days before closest approach. One of the reasons for its late discovery is because it was detected in Southern Hemisphere skies, part of the world were we have few asteroid-watching programs. If it had been on a collision course with Earth, a few days notice is no time at all.
So, in the aftermath of the flyby, astronomers at the famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico used radar to image the interplanetary interloper (pictured top). What they uncovered was a surprise: Asteroid 2012 LZ1 is actually bigger than thought… in fact, it is quite a lot bigger. 2012 LZ1 is one kilometer wide (0.62 miles), double the initial estimate.
The second phase in the robotic satellite refueling demo on ISS has gotten underway.
The second phase in the robotic satellite refueling demo on ISS has gotten underway.
Test firing of SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor has begun.
The competition heats up: Test firing of SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor has begun.
Excalibur Almaz has signed a deal to use Xcor’s Lynx suborbital craft to train its astronauts.
The competition heats up: Excalibur Almaz has signed a deal to use Xcor’s Lynx suborbital craft to train its astronauts.
Since Xcor has not yet flown Lynx, and Excalibur Almaz as a lot of work to do to make its Soviet-era modules flyable, I would bet that this news release is mostly public relations hype, centered as much on raising investment funds for both companies as it is about training astronauts.
SpaceShipTwo was in the air on Friday, as WhiteKnightTwo did a 1.5 hour test flight with the ship attached to its belly.
The competition heats up: SpaceShipTwo was in the air on Friday, as WhiteKnightTwo did a 1.5 hour test flight with the ship attached to its belly.
This was the second flight of WhiteKnightTwo in three days, and is in line with Virgin Galactic’s test flight schedule announced in May. If the test flights go well, expect that first rocket-powered flight of SpaceShipTwo later this year.
Excalibur Almaz has announced plans for a privately funded trip to the Moon.
The competition heats up: Excalibur Almaz has announced its plans for a privately funded trip to the Moon.
The first manually flown docking by Chinese astronauts is now scheduled for June 24.
The first manually flown docking by Chinese astronauts is now scheduled for June 24.
A new company has announced plans to use the Gemini capsule design from the 1960s to provide crew and cargo capability to orbit.
The competition heats up: A new company has announced plans to use the Gemini capsule design from the 1960s to provide crew and cargo capability to orbit.
“Since this is an existing and proven design we could begin construction six to eight weeks after funding and complete a flying prototype ten to thirteen months later,” said WestWind President Bill Jolly.
Mars Odyssey is out of safe mode and should be back in full operation by next week.
Mars Odyssey is out of safe mode and should be back in full operation by next week.
Want to invest in a spacesuit company? Now you can!
Want to invest in a spacesuit company? Now you can! (Hat tip Clark Lindsey.)
The FAA and NASA have worked out their differences concerning their regulation of private commercial space.
The FAA and NASA have worked out their differences concerning their regulation of private commercial space.
Essentially, NASA has finally conceded with this agreement that it has no control over a private space launch that is not flying to a NASA facility. That the FAA continues to have as much regulatory control is bad enough, but getting NASA out of the loop will at least ease the bureaucratic burden for private companies.