‘The Crawler’ is on the move ahead of Artemis 1 rocket rollout

Everybody’s favorite giant rocket truck is back in action.  Today (March 11), NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2) vehicle began to slowly “crawl” its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will pick up the agency’s Space Launch System megarocket and Orion spacecraft. The pair are set to launch … Read more

Lego rolls out Artemis toy sets ahead of new NASA moon missions

Lego rolled out its version of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) on Tuesday (March 1), two weeks before the space agency was scheduled to do the same with the real moon-bound rocket. The toy company released the SLS and three other sets inspired by NASA’s Artemis program as part of an expansion to its long-running … Read more

Elon Musk shows off massive Starship, the world’s tallest rocket, ahead of SpaceX update

Image 1 of 4 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled this view of the company’s Starship SN20 prototype attached to its Super Heavy booster near Boca Chica village in South Texas on Feb. 10, 2022 ahead of a project update. (Image credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX) Image 2 of 4 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled this view of … Read more

SpaceX is stacking its giant Starship ahead of Elon Musk’s big update this week

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk will have a nice visual aid to point to during his highly anticipated Starship presentation on Thursday (Feb. 10). That talk is an update about Starship, the giant vehicle that SpaceX is developing to take people and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond. Starship consists of two fully … Read more

SpaceX and NASA eye Dragon parachute issue ahead of next astronaut launch

The parachute system on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule hasn’t behaved exactly as expected recently, and NASA and SpaceX want to know why. The Dragon named Endeavour returned to Earth with four astronauts on Nov. 8, 2021, wrapping up SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station for NASA. During its descent that day, one of Endeavour’s … Read more

Astra test-fires rocket ahead of 1st Florida launch (video)

Astra took another step forward in preparing for its first-ever launch of operational satellites. The California company performed a “static fire” test with its Rocket 3.3 vehicle at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday (Jan. 22), briefly igniting the launcher’s first-stage engines while keeping it anchored to the pad. The test is part … Read more

This 19th Century ‘Eco-Villain’ Made Space Art That Was Truly Ahead of Its Time

Astrophotography allows us all to become citizens of the cosmos.  At a glimpse, we can be transported into the depths of space to gaze upon Jupiter’s dazzling cloudscape. Moments later we can picture the shifting rust-colored sands of Mars, or navigate our way across the lunar surface.   It’s a gift that’s easy to take … Read more

SpaceX fires up Starship SN20 prototype again ahead of landmark test flight

SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype has breathed fire again.  The Starship SN20 vehicle performed a “static fire” test on Wednesday (Dec. 29) at the company’s Starbase site in South Texas, briefly igniting its Raptor engines while remaining anchored to the ground. The trial continued the launch-prep campaign for SN20 (“Serial No. 20”), which is scheduled to … Read more

Nerves run high ahead of the James Webb Space Telescope launch this Saturday

The primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope. In a new interview, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared he is “nervous” ahead of the launch. (Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn) Amid all the excitement, there is no shortage of nerves ahead of the launch of the world’s most powerful telescope.  This Saturday (Dec. 25), the James … Read more

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope secured atop rocket ahead of Dec. 24 launch (photos)

NASA’s next big space telescope just took another step toward its highly anticipated launch this month. On Saturday (Dec. 11), the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope was secured atop the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket that will send it into the final frontier from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.  “After its arrival in the final … Read more