This is really cool. If we don't kill ourselves, we'll get to witness a solar system form in real time.
The Space Thread
- Thread starter Gomez Adams
- Start date
Propellant Dump Gone Wrong Caused Recent Starship Explosion, Musk Says
The Starship upper stage exploded eight minutes into the second test flight of the revolutionary rocket, but the cause wasn't disclosed until now.
gizmodo.com
Good luck, Japan!
Japan is on the verge of a historic attempt to land its robotic “Moon Sniper” explorer on the moon, which could make it the third country this century — and the fifth ever — to put a spacecraft safely on the lunar surface.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s uncrewed Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission is expected to touch down on the moon at 10:20 a.m. ET Friday (12:20 a.m. Saturday Japan Standard Time). The spacecraft will start descending toward the lunar surface at 10 a.m. ET, and the event will be streamed live on YouTube in Japanese and English.
We're back!
Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 lander, also called Odysseus or “Odie,” is on the lunar surface after experiencing unexpected issues hours prior to landing.
“I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface, and we are transmitting,” Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus announced on a live webcast. “Welcome to the moon.”
The landing is a historic one, marking the first commercial spacecraft to soft-land on the moon, and the first US-made vehicle to touch down on the lunar surface since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago. This mission is of key interest to Intuitive Machines’ primary customer, NASA, which is seeking to scout the moon using robotic explorers developed by private contractors before sending astronauts there later this decade through its Artemis program.