Three rockets will travel from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to where the Moon directly aligns with the Sun during the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023.

In order to gain a better understanding of the Earth’s atmospheric dynamics and the effects of solar phenomena on our planet, NASA is launching a sounding rocket mission called Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path (APEP).

Three rockets will embark on a journey from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, flying to positions just outside the path of annularity, where the Moon directly aligns with the Sun during the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023.

NASA’’s mission plans to investigate sunlight’s effect on the ionosphere through instruments on the rockets that measure electric/magnetic fields, density, and temperature changes.

By Ray Osorio As NASA takes its first steps toward establishing a long-term presence on the Moon’s surface, a team of propulsion development engineers at NASA have developed and tested NASA’s first full-scale rotating detonation rocket engine, or RDRE, an advanced rocket engine design that could significantly change how future propulsion systems are built.

The RDRE differs from a traditional rocket engine by generating thrust using a supersonic combustion phenomenon known as a detonation. This design produces more power while using less fuel than today’s propulsion systems and has the potential to power both human landers and interplanetary vehicles to deep space destinations, such as the Moon and Mars.

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and primary collaborator IN Space LLC, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, are confirming data from RDRE hot fire tests conducted in 2022 at Marshall’s East Test Area. The engine was fired over a dozen times, totaling nearly 10 minutes in duration.

Sept 25 (Reuters) — The chief executive officer of Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin, Bob Smith, will step down at the end of the year to be replaced by former Amazon executive Dave Limp, who ran products such as Kindle, according to emails seen by Reuters.

Limp, a former senior vice president at Amazon who led the company’s consumer devices unit, will become Blue Origin’s CEO on Dec. 4, an email from Bezos, Blue Origin’s founder, said.

“Jeff and I have been discussing my plan for months,” Smith told employees in an email sent Monday. He added he would remain with the company until Jan. 2 “to ensure a smooth transition with the new CEO.”

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon exec Dave Limp, CNBC has learned.