The remnants of China’s largest rocket have plummeted back to Earth, plunging into the Indian ocean near the Maldives, according to Chinese state media, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit. Most of the debris burned up in the atmosphere, it reported, citing the Chinese Manned Space Engineering office. Parts of the…
The second stage of China’s space rocket CZ-5B, which carried into space the core module of a future space station, may enter the dense layer of the atmosphere over the Pacific on May 9, Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Friday. “According to calculations made as of May 7, the second stage may enter…
On April 30, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover made history as the first spacecraft to record sounds from another spacecraft on another planet. During Ingenuity’s fourth flight, a microphone included with the SuperCam instrument aboard Perseverance captured the humming sound of the blades and the din of wind. For the first time, a spacecraft on another…
‘Out-of-control’ Chinese rocket falling to Earth could partially survive re-entry. Part of a huge rocket that launched China’s first module for its Tianhe space station is falling back to Earth and could make an uncontrolled re-entry at an unknown landing point. The 30-metre high core of the Long March 5B rocket launched the “Heavenly Harmony”…
Four astronauts splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, completing NASA’s first commercial crew, long-duration mission aboard the International Space Station. The return comes nearly six months after the crew members arrived at the microgravity laboratory and also marks the longest-duration mission of a crewed American spacecraft to date. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, carrying…
The Ingenuity mini-chopper on NASA’s Perseverance Mars probe has suffered a major problem in its attempt at a fourth flight on the Red Planet, the US space agency said Thursday. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California tweeted on Thursday that the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter “didn’t get off the ground, but the team is assessing the…
Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins dead at 90, family statement says. Astronaut Michael Collins has often been called “the forgotten astronaut.” He flew to the Moon aboard Apollo 11 in July 1969, but never set foot there. During the mission, Collins orbited the Moon, doing photography and keeping the command module ready to receive moonwalkers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when…
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter can be seen here taking off, hovering and then landing on the Martian surface on April 19, 2021. The Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shot video of the helicopter’s flight.
Russia is ready to start building its own space station with the aim of launching it into orbit by 2030 if President Vladimir Putin gives the go-ahead, the head of its Roscosmos space agency said on Wednesday. The project would mark a new chapter for Russian space exploration and an end to more than two…
NASA and SpaceX Reschedule Launch for Friday. NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday, April 23, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station due to unfavorable weather conditions along the flight path on Thursday. Although conditions around the launch site were expected to be favorable for…
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has emerged from its first night on the surface of Mars. Evening temperatures at Jezero Crater can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components and damage the onboard batteries required for flight. Surviving that first night after being…
NASA is targeting to fly the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, currently attached to the Perseverance rover’s belly, on Mars on April 8, the first such attempt on another planet. However, before the 4-pound rotorcraft can attempt its first flight, both the mini-helicopter and its team must meet a series of daunting milestones. “The first flight is…