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☆ While Boeing's passenger planes glitch, NASA is entrusting the company's spaceship with 2 astronauts' lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Boeing is about to fly NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time. Still, the FAA, NASA, and other aerospace experts have questioned Boeing's overall safety culture. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams conduct suited operations in the Boeing Starliner simulator at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This Crew Flight Test mission is over a decade in the making. He added that those calculations are for a full 210-day mission, while Whilmore's and Williams's test flight lasts just one week.

Persons: —, NASA's Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Robert Markowitz They're, jetliner, AeroSystems, Bill Nelson, Kim Shiflett, George Nield, Bjorn Fehrm, Fehrm, KPIs, Doug Loverro, Baz Ratner, Bill Ingalls, Steve Stich, Nield, We've, Wilmore, Starliner, Whitmore, Williams Organizations: Boeing, NASA, International Space Station, FAA, Service, Defense, Boeing's, International Space, Space Center, ISS, Max, NTSB, AP, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Justice, Atlas, Cape Canaveral Space Force, Space Transportation, New York Times, Leeham, Business, Ethiopian, Ethiopian Airlines, Aerospace, Committee, White, Bill Ingalls NASA, US, Spaceflight Locations: Portland, Florida, It's, New Mexico

☆ New mission could reveal secrets of the moon’s ‘hidden side’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In one lunar region, Japan’s “Moon Sniper” mission has beaten the odds and survived three long, frigid lunar nights since its sideways landing on January 19. The Tianwen-2 mission will visit the space rock later this decade. But first, China has set its sights on returning to the moon’s “hidden side.”An illustration depicts the far side of the moon, with Earth behind it. Since the Chang’e 4 mission in 2019, China remains the only country to have landed on the moon’s far side, sometimes called the “dark side” of the moon. Scientists hope that returning samples from the far side could solve some of the biggest remaining lunar mysteries, including the moon’s true origin.

Persons: Graziano Ranocchia, Ranocchia, Plato, Emma Pomeroy, “ She’s, ”, Pomeroy, Armas Rakus, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Kevin Bacon, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Engineers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, Apollo, Platonic Academy of Athens, University of Pisa, Netflix, University of Cambridge, Norton Disney, Archaeology Group, Roman, International Space, CNN Space, Science Locations: China, Kurdistan, Gunung Leuser, South Aceh, Indonesia, Morocco

☆ Boeing’s Starliner set for historic astronaut launch after delays for years
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —After years of delays and a dizzying array of setbacks during test flights, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally set to make its inaugural crewed launch. “This is history in the making,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said of the upcoming Starliner mission during a March 22 news conference. Missteps riddled a Starliner test flight the prior year, leaving NASA and Boeing officials scrambling to figure out what went wrong. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has been flying routine trips ever since, carrying NASA astronauts and even paying customers and tourists. On May’s inaugural crewed flight, Boeing will instead use a “perfectly acceptable mitigation” that should prevent the valves from sticking, Nappi said in March.

Persons: CNN —, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, ”, Mark Nappi, “, we’ve, Ken Bowersox, SpaceX’s, Bill Nelson, “ We’re, Boeing’s Starliner, Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, Steve Stich, we’re, ” Nappi, Stich, Nappi, — Williams, Wilmore, —, ” Wilmore, Williams Organizations: CNN, NASA, International, Boeing, SpaceX, International Space, Alaska Airlines Locations: Florida, —, Starliner’s

☆ Fossil found on a beach by tween reveals massive marine reptile
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN —As Earth Day approaches and the Wonder Theory newsletter celebrates three years of arriving in your inboxes, I look to the future with hope. “And it’s up to you to choose what sort of impact you make.”Ocean secretsDr. Dean Lomax, (from left) Ruby Reynolds, Justin Reynolds and Paul de la Salle are shown with the fossil discovery in 2020. Dean LomaxIn May 2020, Ruby Reynolds, then 11, and her father, Justin, were searching for fossils on a Somerset beach along the English coast when she spotted something unusual. And when it came to sheer size, the marine reptile likely rivaled the blue whale, currently the largest living animal.

Persons: Jane Goodall, Goodall nurtures, Goodall, ” Goodall, Dean Lomax, Ruby Reynolds, Justin Reynolds, Paul de, Justin, ”, Gaia BH3, Nigel Raine, Dr, Matt Kasson, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Paul de la Salle, Indian Institute of Technology, ESA, West Virginia University, Explorations, NASA, International, CNN Space, Science Locations: Somerset, India, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Guatemala, France, Australia, Naples , Florida, what’s, Canada

Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder and chairman of Axiom Space Inc., speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. IBX's Kam Ghaffarian wants to go even further: the stars. Ghaffarian has been instrumental in ushering in the new space economy, having co-founded and invested in a cadre of commercial space ventures. Unlike other high-profile billionaires building commercial space companies, Ghaffarian made his fortune through the space industry, and rather than focusing on access to space, he's leveraging those falling costs to build out infrastructure and business activities in space. Ghaffarian believes the space economy will be worth trillions of dollars — and sooner than many realize.

Persons: Kam Ghaffarian, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, IBX's Kam Ghaffarian, CNBC's Morgan Brennan, Ghaffarian, Odysseus, he's, We've, Jeff, Bezos, we've, Morgan Brennan, it's Organizations: Space, International, Elon, Technologies, NASA, KBR, SpaceX Locations: Houston , Texas, U.S, Colorado Springs, Iran

☆ US-Russia collaboration has long endured in space. The Ukraine war could ruin it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Tom Porter | Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The International Space Station has long been a symbol of international cooperation. AdvertisementSince the end of the Cold War, the International Space Station (ISS) has been a symbol of international cooperation. By 1988, 15 nations had agreed to participate in the project, then known as Space Station Freedom. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThe Soviets had long-standing expertise in aerospace technology, having launched the world's first space station, "Salyut," in 1971. China has completed several unmanned Moon landings, has its own space station, and has developed a sophisticated commercial and military satellite program.

Persons: —, Peggy Whitson, Vladimir Putin, Jill Stuart, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov, Marco Tacca, Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, Virts, Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Alexander Grebenkin, Jeanette Epps, Stuart, Verts, Musk Organizations: Astronauts, Service, Space, Veteran, ISS, Imperial College London, Politics, NASA, European Space Agency, ESA, Inter, Soyuz, Keystone, Hulton, Roscosmos, Reuters, Anadolu, Getty, Imperial College, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Elon Musk's SpaceX, The Independent, CNBC Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Europe, China, Japan, loggerheads, Hollywood, Canada, Soviet Union, Milan, Italy, Luhansk, Luhansk People's Republic, Russian, Baikonur, Kazakhstan, The, Soviet Russia

☆ Space garbage hits Florida home, NASA confirms
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A piece of garbage jettisoned from the International Space Station unexpectedly survived a fiery reentry from orbit last month and pierced the roof of a home in Florida, according to NASA. Garbage disposal in spaceNASA routinely brings home batches of science experiments, cargo and garbage from the space station using capsules such as the Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX. But after the installation of new batteries on the space station in 2021, authorities disposed of a pallet of aging nickel-hydrogen batteries in a different way. But the debris that struck Otero’s house was the result of miscalculations about how space garbage would behave. The space agency should be more conservative in its analysis if it attempts a similar trash disposal method in the future, he added.

Persons: ” Alejandro Otero, Otero, ” Otero, “ I’m, Otero’s, John Crassidis, ” Crassidis Organizations: CNN, International, NASA, WINK News, Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, European Space Agency, ESA, China National Space Administration, University, Buffalo’s School of Engineering, Applied Locations: Florida, Naples , Florida, China

☆ How the Columbia disaster changed the future of spaceflight
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The CNN Original Series “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight” uncovers the events that ultimately led to disaster. The tragedy killed seven astronauts as the Columbia shuttle disintegrated upon its return to Earth on February 1, 2003, due to damage the vehicle sustained during launch. Changes at NASA were necessary, according to a formal investigation about the Columbia disaster published six months after the accident. Cultural changes: ‘Safety days,’ review boards and round tablesColumbia marked the second deadly mishap for the shuttle program after the space shuttle Challenger exploded during launch in January 1986. Following the Columbia disaster, NASA grounded its remaining fleet of three shuttles as the space agency sought to parse what went wrong.

Persons: ”, “, ” Wayne Hale, Rick D, Evelyn Husband, Bill Readdy, Bruce Weaver, Hale, ” Hale, Garrett Reisman, ” Reisman, Ilan Ramon, Reisman, —, NASA didn’t, SpaceX’s, Kevin Dietsch Organizations: CNN, Shuttle Columbia, Sunday, Columbia, SpaceX, NASA, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Getty, Endeavour, Atlantis, International Space, Elon, Boeing, Columbia —, Challenger, International Space Station, Vigilance, ” Locations: Russia, AFP, California, Israel, Columbia

☆ Peer inside Barely Fair, the exhibition where major artists present at miniature scale
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Roland Miller/Barely FairThat same year, the New York gallery Selenas Mountain showcased Juan Arango Palacios' canvases and woven works. Artists and their galleries are responsible for producing all of the small works, but Barely Fair’s team helps with installation as needed. Roland Miller/Barely FairBarely Fair began as a joke between the co-founders of the artist space Julius Caesar, but they quickly realized its potential as a serious art fair. “And I think that Barely Fair is much more successful at that.”For nascent galleries and artists, Barely Fair is a more accessible way to participate in Chicago’s art week, which draws curators and collectors from around the world. “(It’s) inverting the dynamics of making a monument at small scale,” she said, explaining that Barely Fair “happened to feel almost tailor-made” for her work.

Persons: Anish Kapoor, Barbara Kruger, Yoko Ono, Rebecca Morris, Roland Miller, Juan Arango Palacios, Julius Caesar, ”, Josh Dihle, Tony Lewis, Kate Sierzputowski, ” Miller, “, Ellie Rines, Henry, Daid Puppypaws, Ingrid Olson, Jonas Müller, Miller, Alice Tippit, Evan Jenkins, Julia Fischbach, Fischbach, gallerists, Al Freeman, Rines, Amanda Ross, Ho, Michiko Itatani, Kay Hoffman, Katharine Hamnett, Ross, ” Ross, Price, that’s, Tatjana Pieters, Charles Degeyter, Mae Alphonse Dessauvage, Pieters, ” Pieters, “ I’ve, — Organizations: CNN, Color, Barely, Artists, New, Los, Chicago —, NADA Miami, Miami Art Locations: Chicago, New York, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, Ross, Belgian, NADA, Ghent, Belgium

In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, with an elevation one mile closer to space than sea level, lies an area that's home to a burgeoning cluster of aerospace businesses. Voyager Space CEO Dylan Taylor traveled to space on a Blue Origin flight in 2021. For Voyager, that's been true. For Taylor, who has been to space himself after a trip on Blue Origin's New Shepard, the Denver-Boulder space story extends beyond Voyager too. Denver area startup Orbit Fab is building refueling ports for satellites that will allow them to fuel up in space.

Persons: Dylan Taylor, CNBC's Morgan Brennan, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Jeff Bezos, Morgan Brennan, Sen, John Hickenlooper, Hickenlooper, that's, Taylor, Shepard, He's, Northrop, Daniel Faber, Orbit, Faber Organizations: Buckley Space Force, CNBC, Aerospace, Colorado Space Coalition, Voyager, Denver . Voyager, AFP, Getty, Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, Launch Alliance, BAE Systems, Space, Space Station, Airbus, Mitsubishi, Northrop Grumman, AAA Locations: Colorado, CNBC's, Rocky, Denver, Boulder, California, Silicon Valley

Amid preparations for its spaceplane's maiden flight and an initial public offering as soon as next year, Sierra Space is expanding its satellite offerings. "We've actually been waiting for six months, so it's like, this [name], we really thought about it," Tom Vice, Sierra Space chief executive said in an interview for CNBC's "Manifest Space" podcast. Valued at $5.3 billion as of September, Sierra Space was spun out of defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation three years ago. Sierra Space touts a diverse space and defense tech portfolio spanning space transportation, space habitation, propulsion and satellites. It's perhaps best known for its NASA-contracted, reusable spaceplane Dream Chaser which will run cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station and eventually carry humans to and from orbit.

Persons: We've, Tom Vice, Eren, Jeff Bezos Organizations: Space, Sierra Space, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Fatih, NASA, International Space Station, Pentagon, U.S, FAA

☆ Opinion: NASA was America’s crown jewel. After the Columbia disaster it was never quite the same
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Opinion Douglas Brinkley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. The environmentally controlled chamber was mated to Space Shuttle Columbia for access into the orbiter. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. Students and staff of the Shoshone-Bannock High School had an experiment on board Space Shuttle Columbia.

Persons: Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff, John F, Kennedy, ”, Douglas Brinkley Moore Huffman, Nancy Currie, Gregg, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Sean O’Keefe, Jeff Bezos, Lockheed Martin, Sir Richard Branson, “ Organizations: Rice University, CNN, Shuttle Columbia, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, Russian Space Agency, Russia, United Arab, Challenger, Columbia, Space, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Shuttle, Investigation, Elon, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Lockheed, Virgin Galactic, JFK Locations: China, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Columbia, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, American

☆ NASA’s space shuttle program reimagined rocketry. What went wrong?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

The CNN Original Series “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight” uncovers the events that ultimately led to disaster. Deemed an “engineering marvel,” the first of five winged orbiters — the space shuttle Columbia — made its inaugural flight in 1981. Crews aboard the recovery ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star retrieve a reusable right solid rocket booster (below) after a space shuttle mission. Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:39 a.m. NASA Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003.

Persons: ”, Sean O’Keefe, Casey Dreier, Crews, O’Keefe, Scott Andrews, NASA's, Michael P, Anderson, William C, McCool, Rick D, David M, Brown, Laurel, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Joe Skipper, Karl Ronstrom, Ramon, NASA Chawla, Clark, Chawla, Robert Giroux, Kathryn O'Neill, Zachary, Brett Coomer, Florida Sen, Bill Nelson, Matt Stroshane, Tommy Peltier, Eric Gay, Smiley, Gene Theriot, Sean O'Keefe, George W, Bush, Ron Dittemore, Joe Cavaretta, O'Keefe, Mannie Garcia, NASA Sandy Anderson, Carlos Noriega, Michael L, Coats, Evelyn Husband, Thomas, John Raoux, Glenn Benson, Kim Shiflett, Rodney Rocha, Columbia’s, Rick Husband, “ Roger, Sen, Mark Kelly, “, ” Kelly Organizations: CNN, Shuttle Columbia, Sunday, NASA, Columbia, America’s, Planetary Society, European Space Agency, Space, International Space, Hubble, Liberty Star, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Space Shuttle Columbia, Kennedy Space Center, Reuters Space Shuttle Columbia, Scott Andrews People, Control Center, Getty, NASA Space, Israeli Air Force, Space Shuttle, Red Team, Blue Team, Johnson Space Center, Former, Houston, Houston Chronicle, People, US Navy Corps, Columbia Reconstruction, NASA Workers, Astronauts Memorial Foundation, Reuters, Bannock, Bannock Junior, Senior, Bannock High School, Johnson Space, Challenger, Shuttle, East Texas Locations: Columbia, America’s Soviet, Florida, Houston, Israel, SPACEHAB, New York, Laguna Hills , California, Texas, San Augustine , Texas, Washington ,, Shoshone, Fort Hall , Idaho, New Mexico, East

☆ Biden Takes Aim at SpaceX’s Tax-Free Ride in American Airspace
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Minho Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Every time a rocket soars into the sky carrying satellites or supplies for the International Space Station, air traffic controllers on the ground must take crucial steps to ensure that commercial and passenger aircraft remain safe. The controllers, hired by the Federal Aviation Administration, close the airspace, provide real-time information on rockets and their debris and then reopen the airspace quickly after a launch is completed. But unlike airlines, which pay federal taxes for air traffic controllers’ work for each time their planes take off, commercial space companies are not required to pay for their launches. That includes companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 300 rockets over the past 15 years that often carried satellites for its Starlink internet service. President Biden’s latest budget proposal, released last month, suggests that for-profit space companies start paying for their use of government resources.

Persons: Biden, Biden’s Organizations: International, Federal Aviation Administration, Elon, SpaceX

☆ Chasing the eclipse with sounding rockets and high-altitude planes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

NASA will launch sounding rockets and WB-57 high-altitude planes to conduct research on aspects of the sun and Earth that‘s only possible during an eclipse. During the 2017 eclipse that crossed the US, NASA and other space agencies conducted observations using 11 different spacecraft and two high-altitude planes. Three sounding rockets will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on April 8 to study the eclipse. During the 2023 annular eclipse, instruments on the rockets measured sharp, immediate changes in the ionosphere. The jets have custom noses that can carry specialized scientific instruments.

Persons: Bill Stafford, Albert Einstein’s, Einstein, Sir Arthur Eddington, Allison Stancil, Barjatya, ” Barjatya, Peter Layshock, Amir Caspi, Layshock, ” Caspi Organizations: CNN, NASA, International Space, Embry, Riddle Aeronautical University, WB, NASA Airborne Science, Johnson Space Center, Southwest Research Locations: Mexico, United States, Canada, Brazil, West Africa, Virginia, Daytona Beach , Florida, Houston, Boulder , Colorado

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station blasted off Saturday, two days after its launch was aborted at the last minute. The spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus launched smoothly from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Borisov, said the launch abort was triggered by a voltage drop in a power source. The space capsule atop the rocket separated and went into orbit eight minutes after the launch and began a two-day, 34-orbit trip to the space station. Russia has continued to rely on modified versions of Soviet-designed rockets for commercial satellites, as well as crews and cargo to the space station.

Persons: Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky, Marina Vasilevskaya, Yuri Borisov, Loral O’Hara, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai, Alexander Grebenkin, O'Hara Organizations: MOSCOW, Russian Soyuz, International Space, NASA Locations: Russian, Belarus, Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine

The SpaceX logo is shown on a Falcon 9 rocket as it is prepared for launch to carry NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 2, 2024. The National Labor Relations Board accused SpaceX in a new complaint of entering into unlawful severance agreements with terminated employees nationwide. The unfair labor practices complaint comes two months after SpaceX filed a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of the NLRB's oversight authority, and after the federal agency in a separate complaint accused the company of illegally firing eight workers who had criticized its CEO Elon Musk in an open letter. The new NLRB complaint claims that SpaceX included unlawful confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements and that it unlawfully limited the terminated workers' ability to participate in other claims against the company. It also alleges that the rocket maker and satellite internet company maintained an unlawful rule that required workers — as a condition of their employment — to sign an agreement for arbitration and dispute resolution, and to waive their right to receive money in class-action lawsuits against the company.

Persons: Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Alexander Grebenkin, SpaceX, Elon Musk Organizations: SpaceX, International, Kennedy Space Center, National Labor Relations Board, Company Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S

NASA awarded Blue Origin $172 million to develop a space station for both astronauts and tourists. The space station, called Orbital Reef, will need to be able to support human life. AdvertisementThe International Space Station won't be around forever, and NASA is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its potential replacements. One promising candidate is Orbital Reef — a joint venture between Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin and Sierra Space. "Think spacious modules with large windows to view Earth, our blue origin, while experiencing the thrill of weightlessness in complete comfort," Blue Origin states on its website.

Persons: —, Jeff Bezos's, Angela Hart, Chris Hadfield, Matthias Maurer, Blue, Thomas Pesquet, Hart, Artemis, George Scott, NASA's, NASA It's, Biden, there's Organizations: NASA, Service, Origin, NASA's, ISS, Space Station, Space, International, ESA, Artemis, Soyuz, Shepard

WASHINGTON (AP) — Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, who commanded a dress rehearsal flight for the 1969 moon landing and the first U.S.-Soviet space linkup, died Monday. He died in a hospital near his Space Coast Florida home, said Max Ary, director of the Stafford Air & Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 set the stage for Apollo 11’s historic mission two months later. He volunteered for the Air Force and had hoped to fly combat in the Korean War. After the Apollo-Soyuz mission, Stafford returned to the Air Force and worked in research and commanded the Air Force Flight Test Center before retiring in 1979 as a three-star general.

Persons: Thomas P, Stafford, Max, Tom Stafford, Bill Nelson, “ Tom, Gene Cernan, John Young, Charlie Brown, ” Stafford, Alexei Leonov, Tom, Gerald Ford, Leonid Brezhnev, “, you’re, Neil Armstrong, Frank Borman, Pete Conrad, Wally Schirra, Stafford’s, Cernan, didn’t, Get, Linda Organizations: WASHINGTON, Air Force, Coast, Stafford Air & Space Museum, NASA, Apollo, Soviet Union, Disney World, Soyuz, Russian, Space, U.S . Naval Academy, Air, Gemini, Gene, Stafford's Air Force, Pentagon Locations: U.S, Stafford, Coast Florida, Weatherford , Oklahoma, Soviet, Soviet Union, Russia, Oklahoma, Florida, Cape Canaveral

Such blackouts happen, for instance, when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule returns to Earth from the International Space Station with its complement of four astronauts. Mission controllers must wait with bated breath to be reassured that the spacecraft’s heat shield has held up and protected the crew during atmospheric re-entry. Until Starship succumbed to the intense forces of re-entry on Thursday, SpaceX used its Starlink internet satellites to relay the live video feed. The Starlink satellites are in higher orbits, and sending signals upward — away from the plasma — is easier than trying to communicate through it to antennas on the ground. Before it parachuted to the ground, its Winnebago capsule recorded a day-glow re-entry.

Persons: Varda Organizations: International, SpaceX

☆ NASA is hiring for astronauts. The selection manager explains how to make your resume stand out from the thousands of other applicants.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But only eight to 14 candidates make the cut, April Jordan, manager of NASA astronaut selection, told Business Insider. "One of the first hurdles is to look at minimum qualifications for applicants," Jordan said. Some parts of the interview process to become a NASA astronaut are similar to what you'd encounter for many jobs, Jordan said. AdvertisementFor example, the selection team scrutinizes candidates during individual and team assessments and simulations. "We probably collect hundreds of data points on an applicant before we move to final selection," Jordan said.

Persons: —, Jordan, Leland Melvin, Jasmin Moghbeli Organizations: NASA, Service, Harvard, MIT, Johnson Space Center, International Space Station, BioFabrication, Space Station Locations: Houston .

☆ 'Holes' in Earth's magnetic field could cause extra northern lights this month. Here's how to spot them.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

March 2024 may be the best month in the best year to see the Northern Lights, aka aurora borealis. Here's everything you need to know to spot the northern lights. AdvertisementThis could be the best month, of the best year for two decades, to see the Northern Lights, in part, thanks to openings in Earth's magnetic field. The northern lights dance in the skies above Riverton, Wyoming. If you're lucky and you plan right, you might be able to see the Northern Lights this month.

Persons: —, Matt Owens, SANKA VIDANAGAMA, Rune Stoltz Bertinussen, we've, It's Organizations: Service, NASA, International Space Station, University of Reading, Getty, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reuters, Weather, NWS, Royal Photographic Society Locations: Riverton , Wyoming, Riverton, Arizona, Florida, Australia, New Zealand, Phoenix , Arizona, Christchurch , New Zealand, AFP, Alaska, Norway, Tromso, Gaylor , Missouri

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts headed to the International Space Station on Sunday where they will oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships during their half-year stint. SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin. “When are you getting here already?” space station commander Andreas Mogensen asked via X, formerly Twitter, after three days of delay due to high wind. Epps should have launched to the space station on a Russian rocket in 2018, but was replaced for reasons never publicly disclosed. Flight controllers are monitoring a growing cabin leak on Russia’s side of the space station.

Persons: Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Russia’s Alexander Grebenkin, “, Andreas Mogensen, Epps, Billy Joel, Dominick, Barratt, ” Barratt, Joel Montalbano Organizations: International, Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, NASA, Sierra, Ford Motor Co, CIA, Navy, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, U.S, Denmark, Japan, Russia, New York, Syracuse, N.Y, Russian

☆ What it would take for humans to actually survive the harsh conditions on Dune's planet Arrakis
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Frank Herbert first described this harsh, fictional world of Arrakis in his 1965 novel "Dune," which was recently adapted into a film trilogy. The movie was shot in the deserts outside Abu Dhabi, but we wondered what it would actually take to survive on a real-life Arrakis. AdvertisementDune's planet Arrakis has enormous sandworms, a drug known as spice that helps with interstellar travel, and two moons. Planet Arrakis lacks oceans, lakes, or even tiny puddles on its surface. Surviving the temperature extremesIf the lack of water on Arrakis doesn't kill you, the heat certainly will if you're not prepared.

Persons: —, Frank Herbert, Seth Collings Hawkins, Amy J, it's, Alexander Farnsworth, Farnsworth, Herbert, Hawkins, Arrakis, Kreykes Organizations: Service, Business, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Warner Bros, University of Bristol, Mexican - Locations: Abu Dhabi, Arrakis, Sonoran, Mexican, Mexican - U.S, Arizona , New Mexico, California

☆ A dead Russian spacecraft almost collided with a NASA satellite. The crash could have sent 7,500 bits of debris rocketing around Earth.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In the worst-case scenario, the collision would have ejected 7,500 bits of debris into low-Earth orbit. Satellite collisions are becoming more likely as the amount of space junk in low-Earth orbit grows. Even the tiniest debris can damage the space station and endanger astronauts, though no astronaut has lost their life due to space debris (yet). The race to clean up spaceThe consequences of space debris are very real, so much so, that the worst-case scenario has a name: Kessler syndrome. TransAstra's capture bags could help solve Earth's space debris problem.

Persons: —, LeoLabs, Darren McKnight, NASA ODPO, Kessler, Astroscale Organizations: Service, Space, NASA, European Space Agency, Federal Communications Commission, Dish Locations: Russia, India

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