Atlas V’s rocket exhaust painted the morning sky of Cocoa Beach on Oct. 16. It was a beautiful send-off of the Lucy space probe, starting its 12-year mission to explore the ancient remains of our solar system. The name Lucy is derived from the fossilized hominid skeleton, which was discovered in 1974. This paleontological find gave scientists an unprecedented look into one of … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: Inspiration4
On the calm and clear evening of Sept. 15, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Inspiration4 mission into history. It represented the first all-civilian orbital mission, with the crew spending approximately three days in low Earth orbit (LEO).The mission served a dual purpose; blazing a trail for civilian space travel and raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: The CRS-23 Mission
On the peaceful early morning of Aug. 29, we gazed east to watch SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket illuminate the sky. Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage B1061-4 successfully landed on an autonomous barge out in the Atlantic Ocean. The next day, CRS-23’s Cargo Dragon capsule reached the International Space Station – delivering 4,800 pounds of science … [Read more...]
To Nona & Beyond: SpaceX’s New Drone Ship
On July 15, SpaceX’s long-awaited autonomous spaceport drone ship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas” (ASOG) arrived at Port Canaveral. A drone ship serves as an ocean-based landing platform for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster. However, unlike all previous drone ships, ASOG has the capability to autonomously navigate to the appropriate landing zone and make its way back to port! This is … [Read more...]