Space Flight

SpaceX’s ‘Flying Watertower’ Makes First Hop

Although it didn’t make for especially dramatic video, SpaceX made a big step toward its goal of visiting Mars with the first flight test of an early version of its Starhopper reusable spacecraft late Thursday. The odd-looking device, which even SpaceX CEO Elon Musk jokes looks like a water tower, hovered for about 20 seconds […]

Famed NASA Flight Director Chris Kraft Dead at 95

Legendary NASA flight director Christopher C. Kraft, who was an instrumental manager in the nation’s space program, died in Houston on Monday. He was 95. Kraft’s name is emblazoned on the side of the mission control center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the longtime base of ground support operations for space flights dating […]

CBS Live Streams Apollo 11

In commemoration of what many have called man’s greatest adventure, CBS news is live streaming its original coverage of the Apollo 11 launch on July 16, 1969. The coverage is running in real time and features Walter Cronkite in hours of continuous live coverage of the landing and eventual exploration of the lunar surface. Coverage […]

NASA Orion Launch Abort Test Successful

NASA completed a successful test of the launch abort system (LAS) on its Orion spacecraft at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday. The Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test involved launching a test version of the Orion crew module on a modified Peacekeeper missile to an altitude of approximately 31,000 feet, at which point the […]

NASA Restores Apollo Mission Control Center

NASA officially reopened the newly restored Apollo Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Friday. In time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, the historic center has been restored to appear as it did during that time period. In order to help […]

SpaceX Mission Launches 24 Satellites

SpaceX’s successful launch early Tuesday morning placed 24 satellites in three different orbits and marked the first time the Falcon Heavy side boosters had been reused. They had been part of the Arabsat-6A launch in April. According to SpaceX, “The Space and Missile Systems Center teamed with multiple commercial, national, and international mission partners for […]