A Falcon 9v1.2 FT Block 5 launch vehicle successfully launched the first unmanned test of the Dragon 2 crew capsule – called DM-1 – at 0749 GMT on 2 March. The launch took place from Kennedy Space Center, near Cape Cape Canaveral in Florida. The initial orbit achieved...
At 1607 GMT on 15 February a Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Unity rocketplaine was air-dropped from its carrier aircraft Over the Mojave air strip in California, at. Aboard was David Mackay – the main test pilot and his co-pilot Mike “Sooch” Masucci (Co-Pilot). ...
The US Air Force has traditionally awarded its pilots “astronaut wings” if they have exceeded 50 miles (80km) in altitude. Others who support this limit of where “space begins” include astrophysicist and spaceflight expert Dr Jonathan McDowell. He has eloquently...
We joked a month or two ago that some would be wondering what Elon Musk had been smoking when they found out that the latest BFS (now called Starship) design had been deliberately changed to make it look more like Tintin’s rocket ship. Now NASA is apparently doing the...
NASA confirmed that the maiden flights of the Boeing Commercial crew systems’ CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon had been delayed again. Instead of their unmanned first launches occurring in January 2019 and late this year, respectively, the new schedule has the...
NASA has formally announced the names of the nine astronauts who will fly on commercial crew flights procured from Boeing and SpaceX. Some work for NASA and some are ex-NASA astronauts who are employed by commercial space firms. Critics note that the hoopla of this...
