ScientistPankaj: SpaceX Starship docking system readies for moon missions in tests with NASA

Friday, March 1, 2024

SpaceX Starship docking system readies for moon missions in tests with NASA

NASA's Jeanette Epps waited 6 years for her space mission | NASA tests Starship docking system for moon missions | SpaceX to launch Crew-8 to the ISS March 2: Watch live

Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version

February 29, 2024

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The Launchpad

NASA's Jeanette Epps waited 6 years for her space mission

(SpaceX)

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps had an unusual path to space: She waited an extra six years to fly. Epps will finally fly to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Saturday night (March 2) on the SpaceX Crew-8 mission for NASA, performing the second long-duration mission by a Black woman on the orbiting complex. But Epps was supposed to get there as soon as June 2018; that timeline was delayed twice, following reassignments from Russia's Soyuz and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

Full Story: Space (2/29)

NASA tests Starship docking system for moon missions

(SpaceX)

Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center spent 10 days using hardware from the Starship lander and NASA's Orion orbiter (designed by Lockheed Martin) at "various approach angles and speeds," NASA officials said in a release. "These real-world results, using full-scale hardware, will validate computer models of the moon lander's docking system," agency officials wrote.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Spaceflight

SpaceX to launch Crew-8 to the ISS March 2: Watch live

(Space.com / Josh Dinner)

The crew members' spacecraft, SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavor, will ride atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the historic Launch Complex-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is currently scheduled for no earlier than Saturday, March 2 at 11:19 p.m. EST (0419 GMT on March 3). Liftoff had been scheduled for early Friday morning (March 1), but bad weather forced a delay.

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Air is leaking from a Russian ISS module

(NASA Johnson)

The space station has a leak at the aft end of the Russian module where the nation's Progress spacecraft dock to the orbital lab, but there is "no impact to crew."

Full Story: Space (2/29)

Science & Astronomy

Star's planet-forming disk has 3x more water than Earth

(ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Facchini et al.)

Astronomers have discovered that a planet-birthing disk of gas and dust that surrounds an infant star is drenched with enough water to fill Earth's oceans three times over.

Full Story: Space (2/29)

SpaceX

SpaceX launches Leap Day Starlink satellites into orbit

(SpaceX)

SpaceX lofted a new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Florida's Space Coast today (Feb. 29) in a Leap Day launch that came after the company delayed its first astronaut launch of the year.

Full Story: Space (2/29)

Entertainment

Magic on the moon: Q&A with David Copperfield (exclusive)

(Intuitive Machines)

A little bit of magic landed on the moon last week - or actually, quite a lot of it. Aboard Intuitive Machines' robotic Odysseus lunar lander, which last Thursday (Feb. 22) became the first American spacecraft since 1972 to touch down on the moon, are the archives of magician David Copperfield.

Full Story: Space (2/29)

Star Trek

Watch trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season

(Paramount+)

It's been a long and somewhat bumpy road for Paramount Plus' "Star Trek: Discovery" since it first touched down on the streaming platform back in 2017 as the first "Star Trek" small screen enterprise in 12 years. It's taken a couple of seasons to moderate its tone and style but it seems on track to bring it all home safely starting on April 4, to stick the landing and satiate most temperamental fans.

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