#BepiColombo’s thrusters have fired in space for the FIRST TIME. The electric ion propulsion ‘jetpacks’ are now ready for routine firing from mid-December onwards, steering BepiColombo on its interplanetary trajectory ahead of its swingby of Earth in April 2020. See https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/BepiColombo_no…LMEBTF7xEw
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LIVE ROCKET LAUNCH! Tune in to see us send approximately 5,600 pounds of research and supplies to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket is slated for 1:16 p.m. EST from from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Don’t miss the countdown to liftoff!
Thousands of microscopic worms will be launched into space — wriggling around in SpaceX’s next cargo shipment to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon.
But the launch, which was planned for today (Dec. 4), has been postponed to tomorrow, and scientists are now worried that the worms will be a day “too old” for some of the planned experiments, according to the BBC.
If all goes well in spite of the delay, these tiny but mighty creatures with muscle structures very similar to that of humans, might help us understand why and how astronauts lose muscle mass in space. [Photos: The First Space Tourists].
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission flew over two billion miles through space to meet you. Here, the spacecraft’s camera captures a full rotation of the asteroid from only about 50 miles away: https://go.nasa.gov/2rhr6a3&h=AT1i_D7IINmmgUy-jZJD7S-NBK6d4F…dBHOk_2iFA OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for almost a year and eventually select a location to collect a sample to return to Earth. #WelcomeToBennu
Well, there’s some great news for Virgin Galactic as it prepares for an attempt to send SpaceShipTwo to space. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which maintains records for aviation and spaceflight, is considering lowering the boundary of space from 100 to 80 km (62.1 to 47.7 miles).
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo probably can’t reach the 100 km boundary, which is also known as the Karman line.
FAI issued the following statement last week:
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Twenty-five years ago today, a group of astronauts ascended in the space shuttle to accomplish a feat of unprecedented proportions: to fix NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, in space. Learn how the ingenuity of those repairs blazed the way for decades of not only satellite repairs, but also space exploration: https://go.nasa.gov/2FWHuXz&h=AT1qFoI48_v6tgpXkkQf7uBHIj2Xuh…jlZErelV8A
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine reflects on the former president’s contributions to our space program by saying, “The President noted it was humanity’s destiny to explore, and America’s destiny to lead. We salute this great American leader, who challenged us to chart a course for the future to benefit all humanity.”
