Universe Today

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 by Fraser Cain

Planetary Society Deploys LightSail 2’s Solar Sail. What Does The Future Hold For Solar Sails?

Photo of LightSail 2's sail deployment. Credit: The Planetary Society

Where you can travel in space depends on how much propellant you’ve got on board your rocket and how efficiently you can use it. But there’s a source of free propellant right here in the Solar System – the Sun – which is streaming out photons in all directions. You just need to catch them.

And right now, the Planetary Society’s new LightSail 2 spacecraft is testing out just how well it’ll work.

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 by Matt Williams

Big News! SpaceX’s Starhopper Test Vehicle Completes First Free Flight!

Score one for SpaceX! Last night (Thursday, July 25th), after multiple delays that were causing no shortage of stress and concern, Elon Musk’s aerospace company succeeded in conducting their first untethered test with the Starhopper. This test once again validated the engine that will power the full-scale and fully-reusable Starship and its Super Heavy launch system that will fulfill Musk’s promise of sending people to the Moon and to Mars.

July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 by Matt Williams

First Free Flight of SpaceX’s Starhopper Aborted After Engine Fire

The Starhopper hop test experiencing a fire shortly after igniting it's Raptor engine on July 24th, 2019. Credit: SpaceX

Yesterday, on Wednesday, July 24th, the prototype test vehicle for the Starship (the Starhopper) commenced its first untethered “hop test” at the company’s test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. This test is an important milestone for SpaceX, intended to validate the Raptor engine in free flight and bring the company one step closer to creating the super-heavy launch system that will allow for trips to the Moon and Mars.

Unfortunately, the ground team was forced to abort the test due to a fire that began shortly after engine ignition. This comes shortly after a static fire test that took place last Tuesday, July 16th where the newly-installed Raptor engine erupted in a sudden and unexpected fireball. Though no damage appears to have been caused (again, thankfully!), this latest flare-up represents another technical glitch and another delay for the Starship.

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by Evan Gough

Toyota is Building a Pressurized Lunar Rover for Japan

An artist's illustration of a pressurized lunar vehicle. Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is teaming up with the nation’s largest company to build a lunar rover. Toyota, the second largest automobile company in the world (only Volkswagen makes more cars) has signed a development deal with JAXA that will last three years. The goal? To design, build, test and evaluate prototypes for a pressurized, crewed lunar vehicle that runs on fuel-cells.

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by Evan Gough

India’s Chandrayaan-2 is Heading to the Moon

India's Chandrayaan-2 launching to the Moon on July 22nd. Image Credit: ISRO

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) has successfully launched their Chandrayaan-2 mission to the Moon. The mission, which includes an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched into space on a GSLV Mk III rocket on July 22nd, after a week-long delay. On September 7th it will perform a soft-landing on the Moon.

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by Matt Williams

China’s Tiangong 2 was Destroyed Last Week, Burning up in the Atmosphere Over the South Pacific Ocean

On Friday, July 19th, China’s Tiangong-2 (“Heavenly Palace”) space laboratory successfully entered Earth’s atmosphere under controlled conditions and burned up above the South Pacific Ocean. This marked the successful completion of all of Tiangong-2’s tasks, which constituted China’s second attempt at testing their capability to conduct research and human operations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by Fraser Cain

Searching For The Red Edge: How The Earth’s Forests Are Telling The Aliens Where We Live

Examples of Earth at various eras: Illustration by Wendy Kenigsberg/Cornell Brand Communications

People are always worried that alien civilizations will detect the transmissions from our old radio shows and television broadcasts, and send in the invasion fleet. But the reality is that life itself has been broadcasting the existence of life on Earth for 500 million years.

July 23, 2019July 24, 2019 by Evan Gough

Drama In Low-Earth Orbit As LightSail2 Deploys Its Sails

LightSail 2 captured this image of Mexico on July 12th, 2019. The image is looking east across Mexico. The tip of the Baja Peninsula is on the left, and on the far right is Tropical Storm Barry. Image Credit: The Planetary Society

LightSail 2 has successfully deployed its solar sails. Shortly after 12:00 pm PST The Planetary Society tweeted that the sails were deployed, and that the spacecraft was sailing with sunlight. We can all enjoy their success and start to wonder how solar sails will fit into humanity’s plans for space exploration.

Update: This article has been updated with new images from LightSail2.

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by Matt Williams

VP Pence Unveils the Spacecraft that will Take Astronauts Back to the Moon in 2024!

In accordance with Space Policy Directive-1 – which was issued on December 11th, 2017 – NASA is busy developing all the necessary hardware to return astronauts to the Moon. On March 26th, 2019, NASA was officially directed to expedite the process and land the first astronauts of the post-Apollo era around the lunar South Pole by 2024. This mission is named Project Artemis, who is the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.

Over the weekend, Vice President Mike Pence visited the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. The occasion also saw the unveiling of the Orion crew capsule that will be used for the first Artemis lunar mission. The event, therefore, served as both a retrospective and a look at the future of lunar exploration.

July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by Nancy Atkinson

Chris Kraft, Legendary NASA Flight Director, Dies at 95

Christopher Kraft, flight director during Project Mercury, works at his console inside the Flight Control area at Mercury Mission Control. Credit: NASA

The man known as the ‘father of flight control’ – Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. – has died at the age of 95. Kraft joined the NASA Space Task Group in November 1958 and became the first flight director. He created the concepts of mission planning, and real-time monitoring and control for the first U.S. crewed spaceflight missions and became a driving force in the U.S. space program.