Items tagged with SpaceX
Falcon Heavy has passed another critical milestone on the way to its maiden flight. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter this afternoon that Falcon Heavy the static fire "was good" and that it generated "quite a thunderhead of steam" in the process. Falcon Heavy hold-down firing this morning was good. Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching in a week or so. pic.twitter.com/npaqatbNir— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2018 The Falcon Heavy is a towering presence, sitting in all its monstrous glory on the LC-39A launchpad -- the very same launchpad that was used to send astronauts to the moon courtesy of Saturn V rockets. Falcon Heavy consists of three primary Falcon 9 cores, each...
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SpaceX was sent into defense mode last week after the Zuma spy satellite, which blasted off from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, failed to achieve orbit. The satellite reportedly tumbled back to earth, breaking apart during re-entry. However, the U.S. Air Force this week is giving a vote of confidence to SpaceX, seemingly backing up the company's claims of not being at fault. Lieutenant General John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, providing the following statement to Bloomberg. “Based on the data available, our team did not identify any information that would change SpaceX’s Falcon 9 certification status” following a “preliminary review...
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Space enthusiasts have been waiting for SpaceX to "light up" its Falcon Heavy rocket. Once operational, the Falcon Heavy will be the world's most powerful rocket, capable of putting 120,000 pounds of cargo into low earth orbit. However, the ongoing government shutdown has put on the brakes with regards to SpaceX's race to the blast the rocket off into space. In order for SpaceX to accomplish static engines tests -- in which the Falcon Heavy fires its engines at full throttle while it is restrained on the launch pad -- the company needs support services from the US Air Force at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). However, the government shutdown means that a large number of the people responsible...
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There's a brewing controversy surrounding SpaceX's recent launch from Cape Canaveral late Sunday night. The flight seemed to go off without a hitch, although we weren’t given full access to video throughout the entirety of the flight or detailed telemetry data considering that this was a classified mission for the U.S. Military. The Falcon 9 rocket was able to make a successful powered landing back on the ground after separating from the upper stage. However, SpaceX censored critical portions of the launch, including the separation of the nose cone surrounding the top-secret Zuma satellite, and the satellite’s actual deployment into earth's orbit. However, these censored bits are...
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It's happening! Some pessimists thought that Falcon Heavy would never see the light of day, but here we are in early January 2018 and the launch vehicle is looking in tip-top shape for its planned launch later this month. SpaceX today delivered pictures and video of Falcon Heavy standing upright on its LC-39A launchpad (the same pad that was used to launch the Saturn V rockets that help put men on the moon). While the Falcon Heavy looks like its primed for its maiden flight, it is actually being physically restrained on the pad for static fire tests. During these tests, the Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines will be fired to monitor their performance (hopefully there will be no Space Camp-esque...
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A few weeks ago, Elon Musk announced his plans to launch a Tesla Roadster into space on the maiden flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. Musk stated in a tweet, "Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent." It seemed like an absurd thing for Musk to announce, and many took it to be a joke. After all, why would he want to send an electric car into orbit around Mars? But, given that Musk doesn't expect that Falcon Heavy's first launch to be a resounding success, it's within reason that Musk wouldn't mind parting with what was Tesla's first ever production...
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SpaceX has had considerable success in 2017 with numerous launches of its Falcon 9 rocket. The company has managed to survive through [most of] 2017 without any mishaps, and has successfully recovered every Falcon 9 rocket [for missions where this parameter was stipulated] either by land or by sea. However, one thing that SpaceX hasn’t done so far this year, which it originally promised, was to launch its Falcon Heavy rocket. Elon Musk said earlier this year that Falcon Heavy would make its maiden flight in November. However, November has come and gone and we haven’t heard much from SpaceX with regards to how Falcon Heavy is progressing. Well, Musk decided to break the silence this...
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Space travel is not easy, folks. Nobody knows this better than Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). During his time overseeing the development and manufacturing of advanced rockets and spacecraft for missions to and beyond Earth's orbit, he has witnessed several fiery crashes. That is what testing is for. To Musk's credit, he maintains a good sense of humor about it all and has even compiled a two-minute YouTube video filled with glorious rocket fails and explosions. Michael Bay would be proud. This is essentially a blooper reel, though probably unlike any blooper reel you have seen before. Rather than a montage of athletes getting stuffed by the rim while attempting...
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SpaceX has been on a roll lately with its Falcon 9 launches. The company has stuck to a rapid pace, launching payloads into Earth's orbit every few weeks (or more often in some cases) during 2017. Today, SpaceX successfully launched one of its most important (and classified) payloads to date: the U.S. Air Force's Boeing X-37B spy plane. This marks the first time that SpaceX was granted the opportunity to use its Falcon 9 to launch the X-37B, and it shows that the Air Force has confidence in the rocket's reliability rating. The X-37B's four previous missions began with it being thrust into orbit atop an Atlas V booster. Given the top-secret nature of the X-37B's [spying] mission, there's little...
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When Elon Musk isn’t forecasting the downfall of humanity due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) or moving in the mainstream market with Tesla’s Model 3 electric vehicle (EV), he has his mind on SpaceX. SpaceX has been at the forefront of space vehicle reusability with its Falcon 9 boosters, but now it is stepping up its game with the Falcon Heavy. Falcon Heavy in essence straps together three Falcon 9 boosters (with a total of 27 engines) as a single, first-stage unit. The company revealed over the weekend that it has successfully completed a critical test in the development of Falcon Heavy, which it calls the “world’s most powerful rocket”. Falcon Heavy’s 3 first stage cores have all...
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Do you want World War III? Because artificial intelligence (AI) is how you get World War III — well, at least according to SpaceX/Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk has long been an incredibly outspoken tech figure against the rise of AI, and the threat that it poses to humanity. Now the tech wizard says that AI could end up sparking another global conflict that could ensnare the world’s superpowers. Musk often uses Twitter as a means to let his myriad of thoughts flow out to the general populous, and those thoughts were on clear display this morning. “China, Russia, soon all countries w strong computer science,” Musk warned. “Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo.”...
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Elon Musk is determined to make recreational space travel a thing. He is also involved in resupply missions, with plans of expanding those efforts. If you are wondering what an astronaut would look like when all geared up for travel above the earth's atmosphere on a SpaceX flight, Musk answered that question by posting a picture to Instagram of a fully functioning suit. Or put another way, what you see is not a mockup, it is the real thing and it really works for space travel. According to Musk, the suit is capable of withstanding twice the pressure of the vacuum of space, based on testing that has been done. He also notes in his Instagram post that getting the right balance of form and function...
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Many computer hardware vendors have tossed around the expression "a supercomputer in your home!", and every time it's used, it's really incorrect - unless we're talking about comparing current tech to the supercomputers of olde. Well, if anyone ever said, "a supercomputer in space!", they can soon congratulate themselves, thanks to a joint partnership between HP Enterprise and SpaceX. On Monday, August 14th, at 12:31 EST, a SpaceX CRS-12 mission will take off from Cape Canaveral and send a Dragon resupply capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) to drop off some usual supplies - laptops, freeze-dried ice cream, and oh, a supercomputer. In fact, it's one of HP's aptly-named Apollo 40 supercomputers....
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SpaceX has had a lot of success during the past year with its Falcon 9 rocket launches, and things are starting to seem a bit routine. The company regularly launches payloads into space, returning the Falcon 9 boosters either back on dry land or at sea on autonomous drone ships. The company has even launched previously used rockets and landed them again with success. SpaceX is looking for a new, more formidable challenge, and that will come with Falcon Heavy. Thanks to CEO Elon Musk, we now have a general timeframe for the first launch of its hulking Falcon Heavy. Musk took to Twitter to confirm that the first launch will take place sometime in November:Falcon Heavy maiden launch this...
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