The Delta IV Heavy, a rocket whose time has come and gone, will fly once more

Enlarge / United Launch Alliance’s remaining Delta IV Heavy rocket, seen right here in December when floor crews rolled it to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station, Florida. That is the rocket that actually lights itself on fireplace earlier than it heads to area. It is the world’s largest rocket totally fueled … Read more

Finally, engineers have a clue that could help them save Voyager 1

Enlarge / Artist’s illustration of the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Caltech/NASA-JPL It has been 4 months since NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft despatched an intelligible sign again to Earth, and the issue has puzzled engineers tasked with supervising the probe exploring interstellar area. However there is a renewed optimism among the many Voyager floor workforce primarily based … Read more

Rocket Report: Starship heats up in third flight; Chinese lunar launch failure

Enlarge / Starship made its third take a look at flight in mid-April. SpaceX Welcome to Version 6.35 of the Rocket Report! It has been an enormous week for rocket failures, with a small launch in Japan going sideways shortly after liftoff, a uncommon misstep for China’s Lengthy March household of rockets, and one other … Read more

SpaceX has a license to launch Starship—this time it might fly at dawn

Enlarge / SpaceX’s third flight-ready Starship rocket underwent a countdown gown rehearsal earlier this month. The Federal Aviation Administration mentioned Wednesday it has authorized a business launch license for the third full-scale check flight of SpaceX’s big Starship rocket. That is the final regulatory hurdle earlier than SpaceX can launch Starship from South Texas. The … Read more

Mining helium-3 on the Moon has been talked about forever—now a company will try

Enlarge / That is no spice harvester. It is an extractor pulling helium-3 from the lunar floor. Interlune Two of Blue Origin’s earliest staff, former President Rob Meyerson and Chief Architect Gary Lai, have began an organization that seeks to extract helium-3 from the lunar floor, return it to Earth, and promote it for functions … Read more