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NASA Awards SpaceX Contract for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector Launch

NASA Awards SpaceX Contract for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector Launch

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts. The StarBurst mission is part of NASA's Astrophysics Pioneers Program, which focuses on lower-cost investigations utilizing small spacecraft and other platforms. The launch is scheduled to occur no earlier than 2028, aboard a Bandwagon rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This selection is a firm-fixed-price task order under NASA’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract. This contract allows NASA to procure launch services over a 10-year period, with a total maximum value of $1 billion across all contracts. The StarBurst satellite will observe the entire sky not obscured by Earth to detect brief, powerful gamma-ray bursts, specifically focusing on the initial high-energy emissions from short gamma-ra...

Icarus Robotics Tests 'Joy' Robot in Canada for Future ISS Deployment Amidst U.S. Facility Shortage

Icarus Robotics Tests 'Joy' Robot in Canada for Future ISS Deployment Amidst U.S. Facility Shortage

Icarus Robotics Tests 'Joy' Robot in Canada for Future ISS Deployment Amidst U.S. Facility Shortage

How Elon Musk Built a Company Out of an Idea Investors Mocked

How Elon Musk Built a Company Out of an Idea Investors Mocked

Explore the inside story of how Elon Musk's SpaceX went from a concept ridiculed by investors to a titan of the aerospace industry.

New Mexico Museum of Space History to Induct Space Pioneers into Hall of Fame

New Mexico Museum of Space History to Induct Space Pioneers into Hall of Fame

The New Mexico Museum of Space History is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a gala and induction ceremony for the International Space Hall of Fame. The event, scheduled for October 3, 2026, at the Tays Special Events Center on the campus of New Mexico State University Alamogordo, will honor several individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to space exploration and science. Among the inductees are Dolores “Dee” O’Hara, NASA’s first nurse to astronauts and their families; Michel Mayor, the Swiss astrophysicist credited with the first discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star; twin astronauts Sen. Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly, known for their participation in NASA’s landmark Twins Study; Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose work was crucial to the U.S. space program and highlighted in the film 'Hidden Figures'; and the Mercury 13, a group of women who successfully completed astronaut testing but were never permitted to become astronauts. Dolores O’Hara is expec...

Rocket Lab Expands U.S. Launch Infrastructure and Vehicle Architecture to Boost Domestic Market Share

Rocket Lab Expands U.S. Launch Infrastructure and Vehicle Architecture to Boost Domestic Market Share

Rocket Lab Expands U.S. Launch Infrastructure and Vehicle Architecture to Boost Domestic Market Share

NASA Funds Early Stage Innovations in Space Technology Research Grants for U.S. Universities

NASA Funds Early Stage Innovations in Space Technology Research Grants for U.S. Universities

NASA's Early Stage Innovations (ESI) program is actively funding groundbreaking, high-risk, high-reward space technologies through partnerships with U.S. universities. This initiative, part of NASA's Space Technology Research Grants (STRG), focuses on advancing technologies at low Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) to lay the groundwork for future space missions. The program supports research and technology development for up to three years, with awards reaching up to $750,000. The ESI26 solicitation, for instance, focused on eight specific topics, including advanced computational fluid dynamics, autonomous maintenance and manufacturing for the Moon and Mars, and electrospray thrusters. Recent projects funded include the development of spherical flying robots, or "Aerobots," for exploring Titan's caves, and a lunar levitation track system called FLOAT for revolutionizing lunar transportation. The application process involves a mandatory preliminary proposal followed by an invited full proposal, ensuring th...

Apollo's Demand Once Accounted for 60 Percent of U.S. Integrated Circuits

Apollo's Demand Once Accounted for 60 Percent of U.S. Integrated Circuits

The Apollo program, while primarily focused on landing humans on the Moon, generated a ripple effect of innovation that extended far beyond space e...

NASA says new Roman telescope's lifespan could more than double, to 22 years

NASA says new Roman telescope's lifespan could more than double, to 22 years

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Even before the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has reached its planned orbital position, NASA says its newest flagship observatory's potential operational lifespan may reach 22 years — more than double the length previously announced.

The Corpus Christi Caller Times

After 3 years of tests, SpaceX targets Starship's first trip to orbit

After 3 years of tests, SpaceX targets Starship's first trip to orbit

SpaceX's Starship rocket has not reached orbit in more than three years of flight tests in Texas. That could be about to change in September.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing Team Receives Inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize for Reusable Rocket Technology

SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing Team Receives Inaugural Neil Armstrong Space Prize for Reusable Rocket Technology

The team responsible for developing and mastering the landing capability of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has been awarded the first-ever Neil Armstrong Space Prize. The award, created by Purdue University, recognizes the team's significant contributions to making rocket reuse practical and scalable. The prize was presented during a ceremony at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. The inaugural honorees include five SpaceX employees: Lars Blackmore, Shana Diez, Jon Edwards, Yoshiaki Kuwata, and Eduardo Velazquez, representing the larger Falcon 9 landing team. The Falcon 9, which debuted in June 2010, was designed with a reusable first stage, a goal that took several years to achieve. The first successful vertical touchdown of a Falcon 9 first stage occurred on December 21, 2015, at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, followed by a successful landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean on April 8, 2016. These advancements have led to over 650 booster landings during orbital missions to date.

Starship has yet to reach orbit. SpaceX hopes that's about to change.

Starship has yet to reach orbit. SpaceX hopes that's about to change.

SpaceX's Starship rocket has not reached orbit in more than three years of flight tests. That could be about to change in September.

NASA Develops Integrated Medical Model to Forecast Astronaut Health Risks for Deep-Space Missions

NASA Develops Integrated Medical Model to Forecast Astronaut Health Risks for Deep-Space Missions

NASA has developed the Integrated Medical Model (IMM), a decision-support tool designed to forecast health risks for astronauts undertaking long-duration space travel, particularly for missions to the Moon and Mars. This model addresses the unique health challenges posed by cosmic radiation, microgravity, and the significant distance from Earth. The IMM utilizes decades of flight records and clinical research from NASA’s Integrated Medical Evidence Database (iMED). It employs Monte Carlo simulations to model thousands of potential mission scenarios, considering factors such as crew size, flight duration, planned spacewalks, and spacecraft environment. This approach allows for the evaluation of risks for new mission profiles that lack historical data. The model assesses over 100 medical conditions, including common ailments and spaceflight-specific hazards like decompression sickness, radiation sickness, and space motion sickness, as well as routine conditions like infections and kidney stones. The IMM gene...