Spacecraft

How the Weird Mars Science Laboratory Floating Sky Crane Works

When I read that the UFO-looking Mars Science Laboratory’s aeroshell would use a floating crane-called Sky Crane by NASA-to softly land the rover on Mars, I couldn’t believe it. Now, watching this hyperrealistic NASA simulation showing how the mechanism actually floats, lowers the rover, and then flies away, I still can’t believe it. This is…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Oct 20

Air Force to Launch Military Orbital Spaceplane

The USAF and Boeing will launch the X-37B-the first military orbital space plane if you discount the secret military shuttle-on top of an Atlas V rocket in November. They want to test its flying features in space and during atmospheric reentry. And probably its anti-matter rays and nuclear bays and hyperspace engines too (but of…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Jul 30

NASA’s First Solar-Sail Powered Craft Set to Ride on a Stream of Photons Next Week

NASA’s getting set to launch the NanoSail-D next week, its first solar-sail powered spacecraft which catches photons like wind on a 10 square-meter sail made of a thin metallic polymer. The craft uses a crazy Rube Goldberg-like method to deploy the sail that involves burning fishing line at critical moments to release the spring-loaded sail,…

Space & Spaceflight John Mahoney Jul 24

First Look At New Russian-Euro Lunar Capsule

Here it is, fellow space-geeks, the first official image of the new joint Russian-European manned spacecraft, and we’ll be damned if it doesn’t look like something out of the Ikea Kitchen Collection. It’s made to ferry up to four people (cosmonauts or astronauts?) to the moon and back, with a two-stage orbiter-and-lander design much like…

Space & Spaceflight Matt Hickey Jul 22

Mars Lander Can Move Arm Now, Probably Just Slept On It Wrong

Putting rest to fears that the Phoenix Lander might be DOA, the lander wagged its robotic arm on Thursday. NASA was worried that a stuck piece of plastic casing could prohibit the 7.7 ft titanium appendage from extending, making it impossible for the Phoenix to carry out crucial drilling experiments. https://gizmodo.com/mars-phoenix-we-got-touchdown-393200 The primary goal of…

Space & Spaceflight Adrian Covert May 30

Colonies in Space (1987)

The January, 1987 cover of Odyssey magazine featured colonies in space, as drawn by their cover contest winner. Stay tuned as we explore some of the best 1980’s content from this magazine. See also: Space Colony Pirates (1981) Space Spiders (1979) Welcome to Moonbase (1987)

Tech News Matt Novak Apr 17

DARPA Close To Awarding Contract For Spy Plane That Stays Aloft For 5 Years

According to Flight Global, DARPA is close to awarding a contract to build an unmanned aircraft that can stay in the air for up to 5 years at a time. DARPA describes the “Vulture” project as a “persistent pseudo-satellite capability in an aircraft package.” In other words, the aircraft can hover over a single area,…

Tech News Sean Fallon Mar 4

Ulysses Spacecraft Dying Alone in Space

The Ulysses spacecraft, which was launched way back in 1990, has been visiting the planets of the solar system for some 17-years, but now the Ulysses looks like it is doomed. A critical error has occurred in the mechanism that prevents the fuel from freezing, and that means the Ulysses is soon to be heading…

Space & Spaceflight Haroon Malik Feb 23

Spacewreck (1979)

The 1979 book Spacewreck: Ghostships and Derelicts of Space by Stewart Cowley explores the “history” of spacecrafts and their demise from the perspective of the (paleo)future. Thanks to everyone who suggested finding this wonderful book. We’ll be looking at this book in more detail in the coming weeks. See also: Spacecraft of 2004 (1978)

Tech News Matt Novak Jun 4

Spacecraft of 2004 (1978)

The 1978 book Spacecraft 2000-2100 A.D. tells the story of futuristic spacecrafts in the past tense. That is to say, the book tells the “history” of the 21st century through different types of space vehicles. The image below is of the TTA Colonial III spacecraft from page 49. The Colonial was the first of the…

Tech News Matt Novak May 7

Uh-Oh: Satellite Launch Ends in Tremendous Explosion

Let’s start your day off with a bang: This is what happens when an unmanned launch vehicle with nearly a million pounds of fuel on board explodes. As the 209-foot Zenit-3SL rocket slumped to its Sea Launch platform, an enormous conflagration consumed its payload, a 96-transponder communications satellite belonging to SES New Skies. Oh, well.…

Gadgets Charlie White Feb 2

How the Weird Mars Science Laboratory Floating Sky Crane Works

Air Force to Launch Military Orbital Spaceplane

NASA’s First Solar-Sail Powered Craft Set to Ride on a Stream of Photons Next Week

First Look At New Russian-Euro Lunar Capsule

Mars Lander Can Move Arm Now, Probably Just Slept On It Wrong

Colonies in Space (1987)

DARPA Close To Awarding Contract For Spy Plane That Stays Aloft For 5 Years

Ulysses Spacecraft Dying Alone in Space

Spacewreck (1979)

Spacecraft of 2004 (1978)

Uh-Oh: Satellite Launch Ends in Tremendous Explosion

Southwest Is About to Limit Power Banks on Flights

Damn, the ‘Power Rangers’ Reboot Could’ve Had Four Movies

The Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Team Wants to Go the Distance

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