ScientistPankaj: Boeing's Starliner rolled off launch pad to replace 'buzzing' rocket valve (photo)

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Boeing's Starliner rolled off launch pad to replace 'buzzing' rocket valve (photo)

Boeing's Starliner rolled off launch pad to replace valve | SpaceX fires up Starship rocket for upcoming 5th test flight | Blinded by the light: How bad are satellite for astronomy?

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May 9, 2024

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The Launchpad

Boeing's Starliner rolled off launch pad to replace valve

(NASA)

Boeing's Starliner capsule has left the launch pad. Starliner and its rocket ride, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V, rolled off the pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (May 8), heading to an assembly building at the site so scientists can replace a misbehaving valve in the launcher's upper stage.

Full Story: Space (5/8)

SpaceX fires up Starship rocket for upcoming 5th test flight

(SpaceX)

The fourth test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket hasn't happened yet, but the company is already gearing up for launch number five. SpaceX conducted a "static fire" with a Starship upper stage today (May 8) at its Starbase site in South Texas, briefly igniting all six of the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) vehicle's Raptor engines while it remained anchored to the pad.

Full Story: Space (5/9)

Skywatching

Blinded by the light: How bad are satellite for astronomy?

(Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Over the past few years, our planet has become increasingly encircled by Starlink, OneWeb and other "megaconstellation" satellites. Yes, the emergence of those megaconstellations offers great benefits for humanity. But in a wait-a-minute pause, there are also substantial costs, including a growing imposition on astronomy. That's the view of David Koplow, the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Full Story: Space (5/9)

Spaceflight

Axiom Space eyes moon while dreaming big in Earth orbit

(Axiom Space)

Axiom Space was founded in 2016, so it's coming up on that 10-year mark - and the Houston-based company has already checked off a lot of boxes that were likely on its milestone list.

Full Story: Space (5/8)

Science & Astronomy

This diamond planet lost its atmosphere, then grew another

(NASA, ESA, CSA, Dani Player (STScI))

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered that a scorching hot lava planet, believed to be composed of diamond, grew a second atmosphere - and that was after its star destroyed its first atmosphere.

Full Story: Space (5/8)

SpaceX

SpaceX launching 20 satellites from California tonight

(SpaceX)

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Starlink craft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base tonight, during a two-hour window that opens at 11:20 p.m. EDT (8:20 p.m. local California time; 0320 GMT on May 10). SpaceX had originally planned to launch the mission on Wednesday night (May 8) but stood down from that attempt.

Full Story: Space (5/8)

Technology

NASA's TESS spacecraft resumes exoplanet hunt after glitch

(NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

TESS came out of "safe mode" on May 3, resuming its search for worlds in other star systems known as extrasolar planets (or exoplanets) as they cross or "transit" the face of their parent stars, causing a tiny dip in starlight. The satellite had gone into safe mode when halted operations on April 23, just five days after it celebrated the sixth anniversary of its launch on April 18, 2018.

Full Story: Space (5/8)

Star Wars

Star Wars makes Darth Jar Jar official

(Lego / Disney)

Following the May the 4th celebrations, which included the release of the Tales of the Empire mini-series and Fortnite's new batch of Star Wars content, we're also getting a Lego Star Wars mini-series called Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy that brings the infamous "Darth Jar Jar" meme into the Star Wars canon… kind of.

Full Story: Space (5/8)