Today, SpaceX will launch 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit using its Falcon 9 rocket and then land the booster stage on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX faces an important test with this mission, designed to demonstrate that Starship and its Super Heavy first stage can withstand atmospheric re-entry before safely splashing…
Most space missions require rockets to be launched at high speeds to overcome Earth’s gravity and reach their destination. All launch vehicles, with the exception of partially reusable space shuttles, are expendable launch vehicles (ELV). Propellers make up the bulk of a rocket’s mass; fuel and oxidizer must combine to power its flight upward. What…
JPL launches spacecraft into orbit via launch vehicles like Soyuz or NASA’s shuttles; each one designed for specific tasks. They must generate enough thrust to counter the force of gravity pulling down on them, but to do that they require lots of fuel. How a Spacecraft is Launched Spacecraft may be efficient machines, but their…
Atlas V rocket will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral with the SILENTBARKER/NROL-107 payload belonging to National Reconnaissance Office. Psyche will visit an asteroid with unusually high metal content to gain new insights into Earth’s core formation and solar system development, and advance ocean health research. Starlink Starlink is a satellite constellation…
Apollo 12 successfully navigated its journey to and from the moon despite two lightning strikes which caused minor instrumentation issues, allowing Conrad and Bean to conduct scientific experiments on its surface. Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean were Navy pilots who became close as shipboard cabin-mates; all three astronauts formed an unbreakable bond as…
NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft have outlived everyone’s expectations. Now approaching interstellar space, nearly 19 billion miles from our Sun. The probes still possess power to run their instruments, but limited supplies of radioactive material that generate the craft’s electricity will eventually force scientists to deactivate each of the seven remaining science subsystems. Mission Goals Voyager…
