Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
Houston native among seven astronauts spending the holidays onboard the International Space Station // Houston native Loral O’Hara celebrated Thanksgiving by donning turkey socks onboard the International Space Station.
The socks, a gift her family, turn her feet into three-toed turkey legs. O’Hara and two other members of the space station’s seven-person crew spoke to reporters this week about their time aboard the station and spending the holidays some 250 miles above Earth.
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
Houston-Australia team to use Antarctica's climate for space research // A new Houston-Australian partnership is looking to use the extreme conditions of Antarctica to advance health research as astronauts prepare for trips to the moon and Mars.
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
Spectators of SpaceX rocket may be damaging critical bird habitats in Texas, regulators say // Spectators visiting Starship are walking on delicate habitats crucial to shorebirds. Here's what to know about the mudflats that surround much of the launch pad -- and why you should avoid walking on them when seeing the rocket.
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
David Kerley@davidkerley
FAA on SpaceX "anomaly" // The FAA.. which licenses launches and flights into space.. says about the Starship test, "The anomaly resulted in a loss of the vehicle. No injuries or public property damage have been reported. The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led mishap investigation to ensure SpaceX complies with its FAA-approved mishap investigation plan and other regulatory requirements."
@spacex has released a slow motion video of liftoff.
Fetching preview...
#U.S. & 2 other topics
Top Story
David Kerley@davidkerley
SpaceX-"It absolutely was a test." // SpaceX hasn't provided specifics on what it thinks happened to its booster and Starship during the second flight test. "With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multiplanetary," is what the company says.
SpaceX control room for second Starship test. Elon Musk, his brother, and others try to understand what went wrong.
#U.S. & 3 other topics
Top Story
David Kerley@davidkerley
Third time will be charm? Starship blows up again! // SpaceX’s second launch of its Starship accomplishes more, but doesn’t complete mission. Launch was pretty. Separation of the heavy booster from the Starship looked OK. It was a “hot staging” igniting the upper stage engines to help with separation (no separation first flight test). That staging may have caused damage to booster. It blew up. The Starship flew on for a while. It blew up 7:07 into flight.
Photos of launch, separation, booster blows up, Starship blows up.
#U.S. & 2 other topics
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
SpaceX's Starship soars for a second time, surpassing earlier mark but falling short of full test // The world’s most powerful rocket climbed above the South Texas sky on Saturday, surpassing an inaugural attempt this spring by successfully igniting all 33 engines of the Super Heavy rocket and then separating from the Starship spacecraft — though Super Heavy exploded while coming down to land in the Gulf of Mexico.
The spacecraft lit its six engines and began hurtling toward Hawaii, though SpaceX lost signal with it a few minutes later.
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
White House proposes bill to expand FAA oversight of people on commercial spaceflight // New legislation proposed by the White House would give human spaceflight authority largely to the FAA, while the Department of Commerce would oversee robotic spaceflight (except for in-space transportation, such as delivering fuel from an in-space depot to a space station, which will go to the FAA).
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
Apollo 16 astronaut T.K. Mattingly, famously bumped from troubled moon mission, dies at 87 // NASA astronaut Thomas K. “TK” Mattingly II, who was exposed to German measles and pulled from the troubled Apollo 13 mission, died on Oct. 31. He was 87 years old.
Mattingly would later fly on the Apollo 16 moon mission, and he commanded space shuttle missions in 1982 and 1985. But he’s perhaps most famous for being bumped from Apollo 13 just two days before liftoff.
Fetching preview...
#Space
Top Story
Andrea Leinfelder@andrealeinfelder
Repeated Russian hardware issues at International Space Station concern industry experts // Russian hardware at the International Space Station has leaked coolant three times in the past year, prompting questions about the country’s quality control and posing immediate challenges to crew members forced to extend their stay or delay spacewalks.
Fetching preview...
#Space