ScientistPankaj: SpaceX's Starship booster was '1 second away' from aborting epic launch-tower catch

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

SpaceX's Starship booster was '1 second away' from aborting epic launch-tower catch

Crew-8 astronaut released from hospital, returns to Houston | Space Quiz! What is the second largest body in the asteroid belt? | Starship booster was '1 second away' from tower catch abort

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October 29, 2024

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The Launchpad

Crew-8 astronaut released from hospital, returns to Houston

(NASA)

The NASA astronaut who was hospitalized for a night after the splashdown of SpaceX's Crew-8 mission has been released and is doing well, according to the agency. The landing Friday morning (Oct. 25) went well, and everything appeared to be normal. However, shortly thereafter, NASA announced that all four Crew-8 astronauts -- NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin of Russia's space agency Roscosmos -- were taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola, a hospital in Florida, for evaluation. This was done "out of an abundance of caution," agency officials said in a post-splashdown news conference.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

Space Quiz! What is the second largest body in the asteroid belt?

Learn the answer here!

Starship booster was '1 second away' from tower catch abort

(SpaceX)

SpaceX's historic rocket catch earlier this month was even more dramatic than it looked. That catch occurred on Oct. 13, during the fifth test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket. Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, came back to Earth about seven minutes after liftoff, nestling next to its launch tower, which secured the rocket with its "chopstick" arms. But that epic moment almost didn't happen: Super Heavy was just one second away from aborting the launch-tower landing and crashing into a patch of nearby ground, SpaceX engineers told company founder and CEO Elon Musk recently.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

Skywatching

Watch comet ATLAS burn up as it flies into the sun (video)

(Space.com / Josh Dinner)

Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is no more. On Monday (Oct. 28), the comet evaporated as it was heading toward perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its orbit. There were earlier hopes that the comet, officially designated C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), could become a "Halloween treat" visible to the naked eye, but these were ultimately just wishful thinking; astronomers had already begun observing the cosmic snowball beginning to disintegrate earlier this month.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

Spaceflight

Artemis 2 astronauts train for emergencies with Orion

(Lockheed Martin)

The four Artemis 2 astronauts recently practiced a key contingency operation as they continue to prepare for their moon mission: opening the side hatch of their Orion spacecraft. If all goes well during Artemis 2's planned September 2025 launch and round-the-moon mission, of course, the astronauts will keep all doors firmly shut. Conducting the first human lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, however, requires a strict focus on safety - just in case.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

Science & Astronomy

Saltwater may explain mysterious features on asteroid Vesta

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

On a large asteroid named Vesta, mysteriously curved gullies and fan-shaped deposits may have formed from short-lived flows of saltwater, a new study reports - a discovery that's quite surprising because Vesta shouldn't really have any water at all.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

SpaceX

Talks between Musk and Putin would be 'concerning'

(NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has expressed concerns over reports that SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Full Story: Space (10/29)

Technology

Boeing considers selling its space business

(NASA)

Boeing is known for decades of work with NASA, including being the prime contractor for the International Space Station. (The company continues engineering support services for ISS to this day.) But Boeing is facing mounting financial issues this year, including a protracted strike by its largest labor union and significant deficits in the Starliner program.

Full Story: Space (10/28)

Star Wars

Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi reunite in Marvel Comics

(Marvel Comics)

Just when it seems like every conceivable gap in the timeline of the "Star Wars" Universe has been invaded by comic books, feature films, novels, video games, and TV series, here comes a new Marvel Comics release announced last week at New York Comic Con that's fully committed to its Jedi-centric subject matter. Yes, it's back to that polarizing Prequel Era of "Star Wars," or to be exact, a storyline that spins out of events occurring right before those infamous Trade Federation Wars erupt and everybody got all riled up about a certain Podracing kid of destiny with a high midichlorian count living on Tatooine.

Full Story: Space (10/28)