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The Moons of Saturn
Saturn is well known for being a gas giant, and for its impressive ring system. But would it surprise you to know that this planet also has the second-most moons in the Solar System, second only to...
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Dramatic Imagery from NASA of Supersonic Shock Waves
NASA is using a 150-year-old photographic technique with a few 21st century tweaks to capture unique and stunning images of the shockwaves created by supersonic aircraft. Called schlieren imagery, the...
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Spotting Asterix: France Marks 50 Years of Space Exploration
Author's note: In the wake of the November 13th terrorist attacks, the French Space Agency CNES canceled the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Asterix. This post commemorates the...
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Space Stories to Watch in 2016
2015 was an amazing year in space, as worlds such as Pluto and Ceres snapped into sharp focus. 2015 also underlined the mantra that 'space is hard,' as SpaceX rode the roller coaster from launch...
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Blue Origin Reaches Another Milestone: Reusable Rocket Launches and Lands Safely
On Friday, January 22nd, commercial space company Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its reusable rocket, New Shepard, at their launch facility in Texas. This is the second flight for New...
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NASA’s New X-Plane Program to Bring Quiet Supersonic Flight
NASA has plans to develop new supersonic passenger aircraft that are not only quieter, but also greener and less expensive to operate. If NASA's 2017 budget is approved, the agency will re-start their...
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90 Years Ago Goddard’s Liquid-Fuelled Rocket Launched Spaceflight
The invention of the rocket changed space science forever. The Universe could only be inspected from the surface of the Earth, with all that atmosphere in the way, until rockets were invented. And as...
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What Is Air Resistance?
Here on Earth, we tend to take air resistance (aka. "drag") for granted. We just assume that when we throw a ball, launch an aircraft, deorbit a spacecraft, or fire a bullet from a gun, that the act...
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NASA Brings Back the X-Plane, and This One’s Electric
While NASA has had a long and storied history of building and testing experimental aircraft – called X-planes -- it has been almost a decade since the space agency has developed any new aircraft. But...
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ESA Prepares Revolutionary Air Breathing Rocket Engine
If new rocket engines being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) are successful, they could revolutionize rocket technology and change the way we get to space. The engine, called the...
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Bloostar: Launching Satellites via Balloon
Is there a better way to get to space? Current traditional methods using expendable rockets launching from the surface of the Earth are terribly inefficient. About 90% of the bulk and mass of what you...
View ArticleNew Zealand’s First Rocket Launch to Space!
Earlier this week, the island nation of New Zealand made history with the first successful launch of a rocket from their soil. The rocket in question was Rocket Lab's Electron prototype. The post New...
View ArticleNASA Begins Construction of its New Quiet Supersonic Plane
In partnership with Lockheed Martin, NASA has begun developing their quiet supersonic plane, a revolutionary aircraft that will generate quiet sonic booms The post NASA Begins Construction of its New...
View ArticleLaunching Rockets from Balloons is About to be a Thing, But We Need a Better...
A new company is developing a hybrid rocket-balloon system to launch microsatellites cheaply from high altitude. The post Launching Rockets from Balloons is About to be a Thing, But We Need a Better...
View ArticleMusk Says that SpaceX will use a Giant Party Balloon to Bring an Upper Stage...
Elon Musks hints in a tweet that SpaceX wants to use "giant party balloons" to retrieve upper stage rockets. The post Musk Says that SpaceX will use a Giant Party Balloon to Bring an Upper Stage Back....
View ArticleSpaceX Starhopper Damaged in High Winds
Elon Musk indicates that the SpaceX Starhopper has been damaged after being toppled in 50 mile-per-hour winds. This will take a few weeks to repair. I just heard. 50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks...
View ArticleThis is an Actual Photograph of the Shock Waves from Supersonic Jets...
After more than 10 years of hard work, NASA has reached another milestone. We’re accustomed to NASA reaching milestones, but this one’s a little different. This one’s all about a type of photography...
View ArticleProgress for the Skylon. Europe agrees to continue working on the...
The ESA and Reaction Engines recently took another step towards the realization of the hypersonic SABRE engine. The post Progress for the Skylon. Europe agrees to continue working on the air-breathing...
View ArticleSLS Rocket Promises To Do Better
The SLS rocket found its future launch manifest severely curtailed in a new budget request. This leaves the long overdue rocket with uncertain long term prospects. The post SLS Rocket Promises To Do...
View ArticleAirplane Contrails are Contributing to Global Warming Too
To the scientifically uninitiated, it might seem like a frivolous idea: That those slight, wispy clouds that trail behind jet aircraft at such high altitudes could contribute to climate change. But...
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