space – Page 34 – Sidevalve EV News

Feasibility study suggests use of high-power lasers to contact alien civilizations

November 7, 2018 AstroJane Syndicated Comments Off

We currently have, or could quickly develop, the technology to communicate with nearby alien worlds, according to a study recently published by the Astrophysical Journal. To accomplish such a feat, the study proposes using a 2-megawatt laser, pointed through a 30-meter telescope, to build a beacon with significant enough reach to be detected by civilizations up to thousands […]

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Ex-SpaceX engineer leads Stratolaunch to major rocket engine test milestone

November 7, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

Led by rocket propulsion expert Jeff Thornburg, Stratolaunch – famous for owning the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built – has completed the first hot-fire test of a full-scale rocket engine component known as the preburner, a major milestone in the development of any launch vehicle or propulsion system. Despite the significant size and power of […]

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NASA’s famed Kepler telescope that discovered thousands of planets officially dead in space

October 31, 2018 AstroJane Syndicated Comments Off

After staring into the far reaches of our galaxy and beyond for nine years, space telescope Kepler was finally decommissioned by NASA on October 30, 2018 after expending all fuel reserves. Kepler’s primary function was to search for exoplanets of all kinds overall. However, the potential other Earth-like worlds discovered made most of the headlines, […]

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Elon Musk pegs SpaceX BFR program at $5B as NASA’s rocket booster nears $5B in cost overruns

October 15, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

At the same time as NASA’s overrun-stricken Space Launch System (SLS) continues to limp towards its continuously delayed launch debut, now tentatively expected no earlier than (NET) 2021, SpaceX is forging ahead with the development of an equivalently capable launch vehicle known as BFR, comprised of a spaceship (BFS) and booster (BFB). During a September […]

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SpaceX’s BFR and Raptor deemed “science-fiction” by French space agency manager

September 27, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

Speaking in a September 7th interview with French newspaper Courrier International, Dr. Francis Rocard – director of French space agency CNES’ solar system exploration program – had little good to say about SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk’s long-term ambitions in space, going so far as to question the CEO’s driving ethics and label the company’s next-generation […]

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ULA achieves 100 launch success streak with NASA’s ICESat-2 LIDAR satellite

September 15, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

Boeing – working as part of ULA – has completed the 100th consecutively successful launch of its 30-year-old Delta II rocket, bringing to an end the vehicle’s storied history of missions for the US military, NASA, and commercial customers. For its send-off, a lighter variant of Delta II placed ICESat-2 – essentially a large laser […]

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SpaceX competitor ULA readies for final launch of 30-year-old Delta II rocket

September 13, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

Long-time SpaceX competitor United Launch Alliance (ULA) is nearly ready for the final launch of its Boeing subsidiary’s Delta II family of rockets, culminating a nearly 30-year history mostly dominated by routine success. If completed without failure, the launch of NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite – built to track global ice-sheet variation with a huge space-based laser […]

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare launch to send a commercial lander to the Moon in 2019

September 12, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

According to a press release published on September 11 in conjunction with the 2018 World Satellite Business Week conference, satellite rideshare organizer Spaceflight Industries and SpaceX are on track for the first functionally dedicated rideshare mission to a relatively high-energy geostationary transfer orbit. Expected to occur as soon as early 2019, Spaceflight has arranged the addition […]

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters landing in great shape as competitors betray anxiety

September 11, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell has announced that the company’s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket – debuted in May 2018 – is making its way through peak-stress launches, reentries, and landings in “much better shape than anticipated”, ultimately meaning that Falcon 9 booster refurbishment can now take as little as four […]

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NASA may prematurely kill long-lived Mars rover with arbitrary wake-up deadline

September 5, 2018 Eric Ralph Syndicated Comments Off

In a decision with no obvious empirical explanation, JPL’s Opportunity Mars rover project manager John Callas was quoted in an August 30th press release saying that the NASA field center would be “forced to conclude” that the dust storm-stricken rover was effectively beyond saving if it fails to come back to life 45 days after […]

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