Space and astronomy news
Warp drives have a long history of not existing, despite their ubiquitous presence in science fiction. Writer John Campbell first introduced the idea in a science fiction novel called Islands of Space. These days, thanks to Star Trek in particular, the term is very familiar. It’s almost a generic reference for superliminal travel through hyperspace. …
Continue reading “What if you Flew Your Warp Drive Spaceship into a Black Hole?”
China is considering building spacecraft in orbit that would measure a few kilometers long and ensure they become the dominant power in space.
On Sunday, July 11th (weather permitting), Richard Branson will become the first billionaire to go to space, beating Jeff Bezos there by nine days!
Virgin Galactic lit up SpaceShipTwo’s rocket motor for the first time in the skies over New Mexico today, but only for an instant before the engine shut down and the plane glided back to a safe landing at Spaceport America. The flight test team had hoped that the SpaceShipTwo craft known as VSS Unity might …
Continue reading “SpaceShipTwo’s First Powered Test Flight Since Move to New Mexico Fizzles Out”
Using the Greenbank Radio Telescope, Breakthrough Listen plans to “listen” to ‘Oumuamua to see if there are any signs of alien transmissions.
Think of the ease. With a simple command of “Make it so” humans travelled from one star to the next in less time than for drinking a cup of coffee. At least that’s what happens in the time-restricted domain of television. In reality it’s not so easy. Nor does Rachel Armstrong misrepresent this point in …
Continue reading “Star Ark: A Living, Self-Sustaining Spaceship”
First view of the Boeing CST-100 ‘Starliner’ crewed space taxi at the Sept. 4, 2015 Grand Opening ceremony held in the totally refurbished C3PF manufacturing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. These are the upper and lower segments of the first Starliner crew module known as the Structural Test Article (STA) being built at Boeing’s …
Continue reading “Boeing ‘Starliner’ Crew Spaceship; America’s Next Ride to Space Takes Shape”
Check out that landing mark! A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three people touched down safely in remote Kazakhstan late Sunday (EDT) and went for a brief sleigh ride in the snow, as you can see from the drag marks on the landscape. The flawless landing included the Expedition 40/41 crew members of Reid Wiseman (NASA), Alexander …
Continue reading “Incredible Snow-Dragging Spaceship Landing From The Space Station”
Yes, there was a thumbs up. Through an interview with the father of the SpaceShipTwo pilot, the Daily Mail has reported more details of the near fatal plunge of Peter Siebold from the explosive event that destroyed Scaled Composites’ space vehicle. The ill-fated test flight resulted in the death of the co-pilot, Mike Alsbury. Siebold …
Continue reading “More Revealed about Siebold’s Escape from SpaceShipTwo”
In this reporter’s initial article for Universe Today on the SpaceShipTwo accident, it was already clear that the survival of one of the two pilots was remarkable. How did the SpaceShipTwo pilot Peter Siebold survive while co-pilot Michael Alsbury did not? The SpaceShipTwo test pilots do not wear pressure suits. There are no ejection seats like …
Continue reading “SpaceShipTwo Pilot’s Survival is Miraculous”