#spaceflight
15 posts
Wayward SpaceX Rocket Impacts Moon After Year-Long Drift, Confirmed by Chilean Telescope
A stray SpaceX upper stage collided with the Moon at 5,400 mph, producing a sodium‑lithium plume detected by Chile’s Very Large Telescope.
NASA and Boeing Assess Starliner-1 Schedule Amid ISS Mission Gaps
NASA says work with Boeing on Starliner is progressing, but no launch date is set for the cargo‑only Starliner‑1 mission slated for late 2026.
NASA’s Artemis III Lander Test Serves as Dress Rehearsal for 2028 Lunar Return
NASA will launch an Earth‑orbit test of SpaceX’s Starship V3 and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers in 2027, rehearsing docking and crew operations for Artemis III.
Japan’s RV‑X Prototype Completes First Hop‑Landing Test, Marking a Step Toward Reusable Launchers
Japan’s JAXA successfully flew and landed its 7.3‑meter RV‑X prototype in a 40‑second hop, a key milestone toward reusable launchers.
NASA Awards $158M Facilities Support Contract to Keep Ames Research Center Operational
NASA has awarded Chugach Intelligence Solutions a $158 million contract to maintain and operate Ames Research Center’s facilities, ensuring mission readiness.
SpaceX Starship’s 13th Test Flight Abort: Engines Fail Seconds Before Liftoff
Starship’s 13th test launch was aborted seconds before liftoff when four of its 33 engines failed to ignite, prompting a fuel drain and engine replacements.
Assessing Whether Mars’s Low Gravity Blocks Human Colonization Efforts
Explore how Mars’s weaker gravity could impact human health and settlement plans, and what it means for future colonization.
Rocket Lab completes 5‑minute Archimedes engine burn, clearing path for Neutron heavy‑lift rocket
Rocket Lab’s full‑duration Archimedes engine test lasted just under 5.5 minutes, confirming performance for the upcoming Neutron launch vehicle.
NASA’s Artemis III Lander Test Sets Stage for 2028 Crew Moon Landing
NASA’s 2027 Artemis III lander test will validate docking and descent operations, boosting safety for the agency’s first crewed Moon landing in 2028.
SpaceX schedules Starship Flight 13 for July 16 and addresses prior launch engine sequencing error
SpaceX plans to launch Starship Flight 13 on July 16, after fixing the engine sequencing issue that caused a 90-degree orientation error on Flight 12.
Artemis II sets NASA streaming record with 149.4 million platform views
NASA’s Artemis II lunar flyby attracted 149.4 million views across its livestreams, a new record that highlights soaring public interest in crewed spaceflight.
Starship's Ambitious Journey: Pushing the Boundaries of Fully Reusable Spaceflight
SpaceX's Starship is rapidly advancing towards fully reusable orbital spaceflight, promising to revolutionize access to space. Learn about its development, challenges, and profound implications for…
Suspended Animation and How Humans Might Survive Interstellar Travel
Even at the highest speeds physics allows, a journey to the nearest star would take decades in the best case, centuries in more realistic scenarios. One proposed solution is to put the crew to sleep — to slow the body's metabolism so dramatically that the traveler barely ages. The biology is real; the engineering is the challenge.
Could We Build a Self-Sustaining City on Mars This Century?
Elon Musk has said a million people on Mars within a century is his goal. That is an audacious claim, but the underlying question — what it would actually take to build a city that cannot depend on Earth for survival — is one of the most fascinating engineering and social problems of our time.
Generation Ships and the Centuries-Long Voyage to Another Star
The nearest star system is so far away that any realistic spacecraft would take thousands of years to arrive. Generation ships — self-contained worlds carrying thousands of people across the void — are the most serious solution anyone has proposed.