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The Boeing Starliner spacecraft approaching the ISS. @ NASA =================================================================================== It’s been nearly two months since Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) for its first crewed test flight. Despite several technical mishaps that have delayed Starliner’s return to Earth, NASA has continuously insisted that the vehicle is capable of carrying the crew back. Recent reports, however, suggest the space agency is looking at alternatives to bring two astronauts home safely. NASA officials are considering delaying the launch of SpaceX’s Crew 9 mission from August 18 to September 24, and putting two astronauts instead of four on...

CNN and the Washington Post are facing backlash for publishing misleading headlines downplaying the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.“Trump rushed off stage after loud noises at rally,” read the front page of the Washington Post, shortly after the former president flinched and bled from his ear after gunshots rang out around 6:10 p.m.Footage of Trump being escorted away by U.S. Secret Service officials while triumphantly pumping his fist in the air immediately went viral on social media:To View TweetView on TwitterEven with several firsthand witnesses corroborating that gunshots were heard, and...

Report signals concern for Artemis space missions | 3:04WKMG News 6 ClickOrlando | 436K subscribers | 7,082 views | May 10, 2024

The first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spaceship was dramatically called off just two hours before launch after a new safety issue was identified, officials said Monday, pushing back a high-stakes test mission to the International Space Station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped into their seats preparing for liftoff when the call for a "scrub" came, because engineers noticed audible buzzing from a liquid oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket meant to propel the capsule into orbit. In a late night press conference, Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA) that built...

Amazon on December 1, 2023 announced it has signed a three-launch contract with SpaceX to place its Kuiper satellites into orbit, supplementing the launch contracts it presently has with ULA, Arianespace, and Blue Origin. From the Amazon press release: ""SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage launch vehicle designed for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond, and it has completed more than 270 successful launches to date. Project Kuiper has contracted three Falcon 9 launches, and these missions are targeted to lift off beginning in mid-2025."" In 2022 Amazon had signed contracts...

[snip] ...In the suit, however, shareholders claim that Amazon "acted in bad faith" and made no effort to properly discharge their fiduciary duties when picking the launch providers. They primarily claim that SpaceX, the leader within the industry was glossed over and not even considered when making the decision. If that were the case, they would have a valid point considering the cost per launch and timeline these satellites are meant to launch by... [/snip]Amazon Shareholders Think SpaceX Should Have Been Picked For Kuiper Launches | 8:06TheSpaceBucket | 23.3K subscribers | 17,895 views | September 1, 2023

Pad : SLC-41 Location : Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA Rocket : Atlas V live in 2 hours

The Zhuque-2 rocket lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Wednesday China said the rocket completed the flight mission. Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua via EPA-EFE July 12 (UPI) -- A methane-fueled rocket, launched by China, has reached orbit for the first time, beating out potential competitors from the United States and indicating a renewed effort by that nation to land astronauts on the moon with a more powerful spacecraft. Built by Landspace, a private Chinese company, the 164-foot Zhuque-2 rocket lifted off from its Jiuquan launch complex, in China's Inner Mongolia, on Wednesday morning local time, Chinese...

KEY POINTS Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion while testing its BE-4 rocket engine last month, CNBC has learned. During a firing on June 30 at Blue Origin’s facility in West Texas, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test. A Blue Origin spokesperson confirmed the incident, noting no personnel were injured and an investigation is underway, with a “proximate cause” identified. =============================================================== A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC has learned, a destructive setback with potential ramifications for the company’s customers and its own rocket. During a firing...

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is scheduled to launch the Space Test Program-3 (STP-3) mission at 4:04 a.m. EST (0904 GMT) Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. You can watch the launch live here at Space.com, courtesy of ULA, or directly via the company. STP-3 was originally supposed to launch on Sunday (Dec. 5), but that plan was nixed after crews discovered a leak in the ground system that stores rocket propellant at Cape Canaveral. Fixing the leak and verifying that all is now well with the system resulted in a 48-hour delay... STP-3...

How does Blue Orgin continue to get government contracts while suing the government and publicly criticizing Artemis?ANGRY UPDATE!! Why is Blue Origin still getting government contracts? What about Artemis? | September 27, 2021 | The Angry Astronaut

...two months after it first discovered an issue with some of the valves in the spacecraft’s service module, the company still doesn’t know with 100 percent certainty what caused 13 of those valves to remain shut when they should have been open... ...the company might even have to swap out the spacecraft’s service module for a new one... “We got very close to launch without having identified the valve problem,” said George Nield, a panel member who previously oversaw the Federal Aviation Administration’s office of commercial space transportation. “Are there any changes to hardware inspection, testing, vehicle processing or checkout...

Mars Base Camp is very simple. Basically, it consists of an orbital outpost where scientist-astronauts will be transported to after leaving Earth and flying from the Deep Space Gateway into orbit around Mars. From this base, crews will be able to conduct real-time scientific exploration of the Martian atmosphere, followed by missions to the surface. ...[T]he major components of their base camp will be launched separately. Some will be pre-positioned in orbit around Mars ahead of time while others will be assembled in cis-lunar space for the journey to Mars. In the end, six astronauts will launch on an Orion...

Lockheed Unveils Plans for Orbiting Mars Base Camp and Lander Within 10 Years By Mike Killian Mars Base Camp is Lockheed Martin’s vision for sending humans to Mars in about a decade. The Mars surface lander called the Mars Accent Descent Vehicle (MADV) is a single-stage system that uses Orion systems as the command deck. It could allow astronauts to explore the surface for two weeks at a time before returning back to the Mars Base Camp in orbit around Mars. Credits: Lockheed Martin Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide, Australia, officials with Lockheed Martin today revealed...

@ChadPergram A) From colleague Kelly Phares. GOP PA Sen Toomey tried to get clearance for his cryptocurrency amdt on the floor. But was blocked on the flr. GOP AL Sen Shelby wanted to include his amdt to hike defense spending. But Sanders objected to both amdts. B) Dem DE Sen Carper tried to get cryptocurrency added again. But couldn't get an agreement to do so. In short, the modifying cryptocurrency amdt was not adopted. Doubtful new language will be added before final passage.

The entire corporate culture is directed at telling White men that they are evil, an ideology that has profoundly dangerous consequences. Christopher Rufo’s fame as the person who exposes government agencies and corporations that have bought into critical race theory (“CRT”) is growing and that’s a good thing – knowing he’s there means that employees forced to participate in CRT “training” are beginning to see him as a way to expose their employers’ grotesquely un-American (and quite illegal) racist programs. The latest example of this pernicious program comes from Lockheed-Martin, which is the largest defense contractor in America -- thanks...

Liftoff is at 1:35 p.m. EDT (1735 GMT) Designated Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Flight 5 (SBIRS Geo-5), the mission marks ULA's first launch so far this year. However, the company has a busy summer planned, including the launch of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station. That mission, called OFT-2, will be the spacecraft's second uncrewed orbital flight test. The first, which occurred in Dec. 2019, failed to reach the space station due to a software issue. Following a successful second flight test, Boeing will launch its first crew of astronauts later this year. Weather...

The launch of NROL-44 was aborted three seconds before the rocket was to lift off from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The automatic abort was triggered by a hot fire after the Delta 4 Heavy’s three engines appeared to ignite but then shut off. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said on Twitter that the cause “appears to have been in the ground system.” He said the abort system “functioned as intended to protect the vehicle and payload.” ULA said in a statement it is “reviewing all data and will determine the path forward.” Another launch...

United Launch Alliance early Thursday delayed the launch of a triple-core Delta 4-Heavy rocket — the largest launcher in the company’s fleet — until Saturday to allow engineers more time to resolve an issue with a ground pneumatics control system. The launch company planned to fire the Delta 4-Heavy rocket into space at 2:12 a.m. EDT (0612 GMT) Thursday from Cape Canaveral with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. But the ULA launch team halted the countdown to give technicians time to troubleshoot an issue with a nose cone heater. Ground crews...

United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket will make its first launch in over 19 months Thursday, carrying out a clandestine mission to deploy a surveillance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff is expected between 02:12 and 06:16 Eastern Daylight Time (06:12-10:12 UTC), from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Thursday’s mission, designated NRO Launch 44 (NROL-44), marks the first Delta IV mission since the Medium+ variant of the rocket was retired in August 2019 and the first Delta IV Heavy since January 2019. Although ULA is phasing out the Delta IV in favour of its Vulcan...