ScientistPankaj: Space Perspective completes 1st uncrewed balloon flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere (video)

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Space Perspective completes 1st uncrewed balloon flight to the edge of Earth's atmosphere (video)

Orion can shield astronauts from radiation, study shows | Space Perspective completes 1st uncrewed balloon flight | 1 week until dramatic 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse

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September 25, 2024

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The Launchpad

Orion can shield astronauts from radiation, study shows

(NASA)

A recent paper published by an international team, including researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA, reveals that Orion's shielding is effective in protecting astronauts in deep space. The study analyzed radiation data collected over the 25-day Artemis 1 mission from sensors placed throughout the spacecraft and inside two life-size mannequin torsos, named Helga and Zohar.

Full Story: Space (9/24)

Space Perspective completes 1st uncrewed balloon flight

(Space Perspective)

Spaceship Neptune Excelsior, the first of the company's teardrop-shaped pressure pods, lifted off from Space Perspective's Marine Spaceport (MS) Voyager vessel off the coast of Saint Petersburg, Florida, on Sept. 15. and completed its first full flight test from takeoff to landing. Over the course of six hours, Space Perspective's trademarked "SpaceBalloon" ascent system carried Excelsior to an altitude of approximately 100,000 feet (30,480 meters) before its slow descent to a safe ocean splashdown and recovery.

Full Story: Space (9/24)

Skywatching

1 week until dramatic 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse

(Chayanan via Getty Images)

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, an annular solar eclipse will be visible over parts of the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina. Though the path of annularity - a 165 to 206-mile (265 to 331-kilometer) wide route where the moon will cover up to about 93% of the sun's disk - passes over a small portion of land, eager eclipse chasers unable to watch in person will be able to follow along here on Space.com's solar eclipse live blog and watch the action unfold via numerous livestreams.

Full Story: Space (9/25)

Spaceflight

Image of China's space plane shows delta-wing design

(Felix Schöfbänker)

While that mysterious Chinese space plane rolled to full stop on a landing strip earlier this month, little is known about the craft. It was hurled into orbit on Dec. 14, 2023 atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The whatever it is and does spacecraft touched down after 268 days of in-orbit operation, making its touchdown on Sept. 6, 2024.

Full Story: Space (9/24)

Science & Astronomy

'Missing link' black hole lurks in strange binary system

(Robert Lea (created with Canva))

For astronomers, finding a new black hole orbiting an aged red dwarf star is an exciting find in itself, but when that black hole seems to be a "missing link" stellar-mass black hole, you can crank the excitement up to 11! That is exactly what seems to be lurking in binary system G3425, estimated to be around 5,800 light-years away.

Full Story: Space (9/24)

SpaceX

Tropical Storm Helene delays SpaceX's Crew-9 launch to 9/25

(SpaceX)

SpaceX's next astronaut mission has been delayed by a powerful storm. The company had been planning to launch the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 26). However, that target date has slipped by at least two days, thanks to a maelstrom named Helene. Helene is a tropical storm at the moment, but it's expected to slam into Florida's Gulf Coast on Thursday as a Category 3 hurricane. Thus, NASA and SpaceX now aim to launch Crew-9 on Saturday (Sept. 28) at the earliest. Liftoff that day would be at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT).

Full Story: Space (9/24)

Technology

US Space Force partners with India on microchip factory

(BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States Space Force is partnering with the Indian government to establish a new factory that will manufacture semiconductors, which are microchips essential for building next-generation technologies.

Full Story: Space (9/24)

Search for Life

'We are close:' SETI's Nathalie Cabrol on the search for life

(Linus Platt/Getty Images)

A leading astrobiologist melds her passion with the weighty nature of trying to grasp for answers to two key questions: Are we alone in the universe? How did life on Earth begin in the first place? Nathalie Cabrol's book, "The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life" (Scribner/Simon & Schuster), released last month, offers an insightful and reflective view of the search for life - a mind-stretching quest not only looking "out there" but also right here on Earth.

Full Story: Space (9/24)