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ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Space News We’ll Be Watching in 2021
Blast off to adventure in the amazing year 2021! No doubt, we’re expecting a ton of cool and exciting space-related happenings next year, with these stories being among the most highly anticipated. Three—count ‘em—three mission to Mars Our ability to study Mars will take a gigantic leap forward in 2021 owing to the arrival of … Continued
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ScienceSpaceNASA Completes ‘Wet Dress Rehearsal’ of Its Most Powerful Rocket
Engineers from NASA and Boeing have added cryogenic propellants to the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), reaching a major milestone in the development of this advanced rocket. That’s seven down, one to go. NASA is in the midst of its SLS core stage Green Run testing, a series of tests to ready … Continued
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ScienceSpaceWatch Live: SpaceX Attempts a High-Altitude Test of Its Starship Rocket
It’s a big day for SpaceX, as the Elon Musk-led company is planning to conduct a high-altitude test of its much-anticipated Starship rocket. You can watch the test flight live right here. Update: 5:45 p.m. ET: SpaceX just put out this tweet: Update: 5:39 p.m. ET: Well, Starship is still on the launch pad, as … Continued
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ScienceSpaceRussian Design for a Reusable Rocket Sure Looks Familiar
Roscosmos is moving ahead with plans to build Russia’s first reusable rocket. Glancing at the design, it appears the Russian space agency doesn’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel, given the vehicle’s uncanny resemblance to the SpaceX Falcon 9. Roscosmos signed a contract with the Progress Rocket Space Centre to sketch out a preliminary … Continued
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ScienceSpaceWatch ULA Try to Finally Launch an NRO Spy Satellite on a Delta IV Heavy Rocket Tonight
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office will take off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex-37 in Florida shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Assuming, that is, there isn’t another one of the last-minute delays that have hounded the mission for months. The rocket and its … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9BooksScience FictionStar Wars Author J.W. Rinzler Goes to the Moon With His New Book
Star Wars. Indiana Jones. Alien. Planet of the Apes. Author J.W. Rinzler has written books on them all. However, for his latest project, he’s tackling a story that’s more famous than all those iconic movies combined: the Space Race. Rinzler’s latest book is called All Up, a fact-based fiction thriller blending impressive research and creative … Continued
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ScienceSpaceSpaceX Starship Prototype Completes Its First ‘Hop’
SpaceX’s plans to build a reusable rocket capable of landing on the Moon and Mars took a major leap forward on Tuesday, following the first successful test of the Starship system. Starship made its inaugural test flight shortly before 8:00 pm ET on Tuesday August 4 at the SpaceX Boca Chica facility in Texas, reports … Continued
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io9Fast 9 Going to Space Might Not Be So Ludicrous After All
With eight core films, one spin-off, and an animated series under its belt, Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise revving up for its ninth installment of the Fast family’s ridiculous story about how a group of street racers ended up becoming…superheroes, more or less, whose abilities all revolve around being real good at making cars go … Continued
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ScienceSpaceSpaceX’s Starship Prototype Explodes in Fourth Failed Test
Like everything else in 2020, the fourth prototype of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket has gone up in flames. It’s the latest in a series of spectacular explosions to plague the company’s Starship program. Shortly before 3 p.m. ET on Friday, the Starship SN4 prototype underwent a ground-level trial of its Raptor engine known as a static-fire … Continued
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ScienceSpaceIncoming Space Junk Caused a Dramatic Light Show Over Australia Last Night
Incredible video taken last night in Australia shows what was likely the late-stage of a Russian rocket burning up on re-entry, in a light show that was seen across the southeast portions of the country. Australians living in parts of Victoria and Tasmania were treated to a remarkable spectacle last night, as a fireball soared … Continued
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ScienceBad Ideas WeekThe Space Shuttle Was a Beautiful—but Terrible—Idea
In 2005, then-NASA administrator Michael Griffin shocked the aerospace community when he openly criticized the Space Shuttle program, describing it to USA Today as a “mistake,” “just barely possible,” and “not the right path” for the United States. Griffin’s comments were astonishing, given that the program was still in full swing and very much celebrated by … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsFamed DIY Rocketeer “Mad” Mike Hughes Dies While Trying to Launch Another Homemade Rocket
The famed DIY rocketeer “Mad” Mike Hughes, who in 2018 successfully launched himself more than 1,800 feet into the sky in a homemade rocket, died on Saturday in a tragic accident. To the end though, it can be said that he passed doing what he loved to do: launching rockets. According to CNN, the 64-year-old … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
io9Trailer FrenzyFast 9‘s Trailer Doesn’t Take Us to Space But It Does Have Rockets and Resurrection
Now that the Fast and Furious has finally gone sci-fi, nothing is off-limits. And you see that in the first trailer for F9, the official title of the ninth Fast and Furious film. This time around they’re strapping rockets to cars. There are also cars attached to airplanes. Oh, and the franchise is bringing back … Continued
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io9Comic Book ShowsI May Have Died Laughing While Watching Riverdale
Greetings from the Afterlife (with Archie). I am now deceased after watching the latest episode of Riverdale. It may have started as just another day of shirtless car washes and rat corpses, but then it did what might be the most out-there thing in the history of the show. Yes, even stranger than Cheryl hiding … Continued
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ScienceSpaceElon Musk Unveils His Gigantic Starship Prototype, Says It’ll Be Flying Within Months
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the towering Mk1 prototype of his Starship space vehicle on Saturday evening in Boca Chica Village, Texas, announcing that the craft will be ready to fly within the next few months. According to the New York Times, Musk claimed that within one or two months the 164-foot-tall, 200-ton … Continued
By Tom McKay -
ScienceSpaceLocals Warned That ‘Malfunction’ During Test at SpaceX Facility Could Shatter Windows
Residents in Boca Chica Village, Texas, near a SpaceX facility in Brownsville received a warning from the Cameron County Office of Emergency Management that tests of the company’s Starhopper prototype on Aug. 26 could break windows in their homes, according to the Brownsville Herald. The alert stated that flight testing activities from 4:00 p.m. to … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsNewsRussian Nuclear Agency Rosatom Confirms Radiation Leak Following Rocket Engine Test
Russian nuclear agency Rosatom admitted late on Friday that a suspicious cloud of radiation that spread over the Arkhangelsk region was caused by an explosion at one of its facilities, the Guardian reported, involving experiments involving an “isotope power source for a liquid-fuelled rocket engine.” Rosatom said that the accident, which temporarily sent radiation spiking … Continued
By Tom McKay
