The pieces are finally starting to come together for Virgin Galactic’s space tourism — the company has flown SpaceShipTwo from Spaceport America for the first time. It was just a glide test from 50,000 feet up, but the flight let the spaceport fulfill its intended purpose and gave pilots familiarity with the New Mexico airspace. Read more about Virgin Galactic’s spaceship flies from its new home base for the first time[…]

There are more than 2,000 active satellites orbiting Earth. At the end of their useful lives, many will simply burn up as they reenter the atmosphere. But some will continue circling as “zombie” satellites — neither alive nor quite dead. “Most zombie satellites are satellites that are no longer under human control, or have failed Read more about ‘Zombie’ Satellite shutdown in 1972 Found alive By Amateur Radio Operator On COVID-19 Lockdown[…]

The colors divide the map into geologic units; scientists divide the Moon’s geologic history into a different eras, so a color represents the kind of rock and its era. For example, yellow on the map represents Copernican craters—the rim, wall, and floor of bright material from the Moon’s Copernican period, which lasted from a billion Read more about Incredible New Map of Moon Shows Its Every Nook and Cranny[…]

Space.com calls it “the first commercial satellite servicing mission.” But more specifically, it’s being called “the first in-orbit rendezvous and docking of two commercial satellites” in a statement from Northrop Grumman Space Systems, which also notes their “subsequent repositioning of the two-spacecraft stack.” And it was all done using robotics floating 36,000km (22,369 miles) above Read more about For the First Time, a Robot Repaired a Satellite in Orbit[…]

The water ice and other lunar resources that will help the United States establish a long-term human presence on the moon are there for the taking, the White House believes. President Donald Trump signed an executive order today (April 6) establishing U.S. policy on the exploitation of off-Earth resources. That policy stresses that the current Read more about Trump signs executive order to support moon mining, tap asteroid resources[…]

Last year, Rocket Lab announced that it would attempt to reuse the first stage of its Electron rocket. The company’s goal is to catch the stage as it falls back towards the ocean by plucking it out of mid-air with a helicopter. While that’s ambitious, a video released today shows that Rocket Lab may not Read more about Rocket Lab proves it can recover a rocket in mid-air by catching it with a helicopter[…]

This week, SpaceX workers in South Texas loaded the third full-scale Starship prototype—SN3—onto a test stand ​at the company’s Boca Chica launch site. On Wednesday night, they pressure-tested the vehicle at ambient temperature with nitrogen, and SN3 performed fine. On Thursday night SpaceX began cryo-testing the vehicle, which means it was loaded again with nitrogen, Read more about SpaceX loses its third Starship prototype during a cryogenic test[…]

Our galaxy is a whole lot bigger than it looks. New work finds that the Milky Way stretches nearly 2 million light-years across, more than 15 times wider than its luminous spiral disk. The number could lead to a better estimate of how massive the galaxy is and how many other galaxies orbit it. Astronomers Read more about Astronomers have found the edge of the Milky Way at last[…]

Comet ATLAS (C2019 Y4) is plunging toward the sun, and if it doesn’t fly apart it could soon become one of the brightest comets in years. “Comet ATLAS continues to brighten much faster than expected,” says Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. “Some predictions for its peak brightness now border on Read more about Comet ATLAS is Brightening Faster than Expected might be awesome to look at mid May[…]

Since 1976, Spinoff has annually profiled an average of 50 commercial technologies with origins in NASA missions and research. Issues of Spinoff published since 1996 can be read online in HTML or downloaded in PDF. Scanned copies of Spinoff are available in PDF for issues published between 1976 and 1995. Spinoff 2020 Click here to Read more about What good is investing in space? NASA Spinoff magazine shows you which technologies have trickled down to everyday life[…]

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket aborted a planned launch on Sunday morning at the last second due to an engine power issue. The event produced confusion at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where countdown appeared to be proceeding normally. However, the rocket stayed where it was. In a video published by SpaceX, you can Read more about Watch This SpaceX Rocket Abort Its Launch at the Last Second[…]

Astronomers have discovered 139 minor planets lurking at the edge of the Solar System after examining a dataset collected to study dark energy in the universe. Small worlds that circle our Sun in orbits further out than Neptune are labelled trans-Neptunian objects (TNO), with one being the relegated-planet Pluto. Eggheads, led by those at the Read more about 139 minor planets were spotted at the outer reaches of our Solar System.[…]

A star that pulsates on just one side has been discovered in the Milky Way about 1500 light years from Earth. It is the first of its kind to be found and scientists expect to find many more similar systems as technology to listen inside the beating hearts of stars improves. […] Stars that pulsate Read more about New type of pulsating star discovered[…]

After pondering the totality of issues that arose during a December test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft this week, NASA chief of human spaceflight Doug Loverro said Friday that he decided to escalate the incident. So he designated Starliner’s uncrewed mission, during which the spacecraft flew a shortened profile and did not attempt to dock Read more about NASA declares Starliner mishap a “high visibility close call”[…]

The Starship SN1 prototype was undergoing pressure testing at the Musketeers’ factory at Boca Chica in Texas, USA, by filling its tanks with liquid nitrogen. The base of the rocket appears to have ruptured, sending the structure crashing to the ground, which you can see here: SpaceX supremo Elon Musk himself seemed sanguine about the Read more about Watch Elon Musk’s Mars ferry prototype explode on the pad during liquid nitrogen test[…]

Astronomers have spotted molecular oxygen in a galaxy far far away, marking the first time that this important element has ever been detected outside of the Milky Way. This momentous “first detection of extragalactic molecular oxygen,” as it is described in a recent study in The Astrophysical Journal, has big implications for understanding the crucial Read more about Scientists Found Breathable Oxygen in Another Galaxy for the First Time[…]

SpaceX’s new Starship prototype appeared to burst during a pressure test late Friday (Feb. 28), rupturing under the glare of flood lights and mist at the company’s south Texas facility. The Starship SN1 prototype, which SpaceX moved to a launchpad near its Boca Chica, Texas, assembly site earlier this week, blew apart during a liquid Read more about SpaceX’s Starship SN1 prototype appears to burst during pressure test[…]

In a historic first for satellite operations, a commercial spacecraft “helper” has docked with a working communications satellite to provide life-extension services. The companies involved in the meetup  — Northrop Grumman and Intelsat — hailed the operation, which took place Tuesday (Feb. 25), as the beginning of a new era that will see robotic spacecraft Read more about Two private satellites just docked in space in historic first for orbital servicing[…]

View the high resolution version of this incredible map by clicking here In this stunning visualization, biologist Eleanor Lutz painstakingly mapped out every known object in Earth’s solar system (>10km in diameter), hopefully helping you on your next journey through space. Data-Driven Solar System This particular visualization combines five different data sets from NASA: Source: Read more about A Map of Every Object in Our Solar System[…]

Small-sat flinger Rocket Lab beat the winds to get the mysterious National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload off the New Zealand launchpad this morning. After multiple holds due to ground winds, the Electron lifted off at 02:56 UTC on 31 January from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the New Zealand Mahia Peninsula. Dubbed “Birds of Read more about US’s secret spy payload offloaded: Rocket Lab demos missile muscle with second Electron guided home[…]

This first images from NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope show a close-up view of the sun’s surface, which can provide important detail for scientists. The image shows a pattern of turbulent “boiling” plasma that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures—each about the size of Texas—are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the Read more about NSF’s newest solar telescope produces first images, most detailed images of the sun[…]

DART is a planetary defense-driven test of technologies for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid.  DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space.  The DART mission is in Phase C, led by APL and managed under NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program at Marshall Read more about NASA to launch projectile (DART) to see if it can deflect asteroids[…]

Ribose is an essential sugar for present life as a building block of RNA, which could have both stored information and catalyzed reactions in primitive life on Earth. Meteorites contain a number of organic compounds including components of proteins and nucleic acids. Among the constituent molecular classes of proteins and nucleic acids (i.e., amino acids, Read more about Extraterrestrial ribose and other sugars found in primitive meteorites[…]