SpaceX Nails Dazzling Midnight Launch of Japanese Comsat and Droneship Landing

By ken-kremer - August 14, 2016 02:32 PM UTC | Space Exploration
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL — Shortly after midnight today, Sunday, Aug. 14, and under near pristine Florida Space Coast skies, SpaceX dazzled its commercial customers and space enthusiasts alike worldwide with the twin feats of nailing the nighttime launch of the firm's Falcon 9 carrying a huge Japanese telecommunications satellite to orbit and accomplishing the nailbiting precision touchdown of the first stage on a miniscule droneship at sea.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 Set for Post-Midnight Blastoff and Landing on Aug. 14 - Watch Live

By ken-kremer - August 13, 2016 06:43 AM UTC | Space Exploration
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - Scarcely three weeks after the mesmerizing midnight launch and landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that delivered over two tons of science and critical hardware to the space station for NASA, the innovative firm is set to repeat the back to back space feats - with a few big twists - during a post midnight launch this Sunday, Aug.14 of a Japanese telecom satellite.
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Why Haven't We Found Any Aliens Yet?

By andrew-fain - August 10, 2016 02:46 PM UTC | Astrobiology
A growing list of scientists believe life on Earth only came about because of a lucky series of evolutionary accidents, a long list of improbable events that just happened to come together at the right time and will never be repeated. Is it possible they are right and we are all there is? Highly unlikely.
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Boeing Starts Assembly of 1st Flightworthy Starliner Crew Taxi Vehicle at Kennedy Spaceport

By ken-kremer - August 07, 2016 12:00 AM UTC | Space Exploration
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - The next generation of America's human spaceships is rapidly taking shape and "making fantastic progress" at the Kennedy Space Center as Boeing and NASA showcased the start of assembly of the first flight worthy version of the aerospace giants Starliner crew taxi vehicle to the media last week. Starliner will ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by early 2018.
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Major Overhaul of VAB for NASA's SLS Mars Rocket Reaches Halfway Point With Platform Installation

By ken-kremer - August 04, 2016 10:31 PM UTC | Space Exploration
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL - A major overhaul of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) readying it for launches of NASA's SLS Mars rocket by 2018 has reached the halfway point with installation of massive new access platforms required to enable assembly of the mammoth booster at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) - as seen firsthand during an exclusive up close facility tour by Universe Today.
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SpaceX Adopts Lessons Learned From Multiple Booster Landings - Test Fires Recovered 1st Stage: Videos

By ken-kremer - July 30, 2016 11:59 PM UTC | Space Exploration
SpaceX founder Elon Musk's daring dream of rocket recycling and reusability is getting closer and closer to reality with each passing day. After a breathtaking series of experimental flight tests aimed at safely landing the firms spent Falcon 9 first stages on land and at sea over the past half year the bold effort achieved another major milestone by just completing the first full duration test firing of one of those landed boosters.
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