Space – Page 3 of 84

Video

Pass the NaCl: Scientists create new types of salt crystals that could exist on Europa

by Alan Boyle on February 20, 2023February 20, 2023 at 12:28 pm

A prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter that’s covered with a sheet of salty ice. But what kind of salt is there?… Read More

Solar cell made from simulated moon dirt

Blue Origin talks up technology that could eventually turn moon dirt into solar cells

by Alan Boyle on February 13, 2023February 14, 2023 at 9:32 am

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture isn’t just working on rockets and space stations: The Kent, Wash.-based company is also developing a technology that could someday transform the moon’s soil… Read More

Illustration: ESCAPADE probes orbiting Mars

Video

Blue Origin wins an order from NASA for launch of Mars magnetosphere mission

by Alan Boyle on February 9, 2023February 10, 2023 at 12:17 pm

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has won its first NASA order for a New Glenn rocket launch, with Mars as the mission’s ultimate destination. The task order calls on… Read More

Illustration: Vulcan-Centaur rocket with Kuiper satellites

Video

Amazon’s Kuiper satellites are good to go after FCC’s approval of orbital debris plan

by Alan Boyle on February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 at 11:29 am

The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon’s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris.… Read More

Tiphaine Louradour launches a new stage of her career as CEO of Spaceflight Inc.

by Alan Boyle on February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 at 6:11 am

Space industry veteran Tiphaine Louradour is taking the helm as CEO of Spaceflight Inc., a launch and in-space transportation services provider based in Bellevue, Wash. She succeeds Curt Blake, who… Read More

Science fiction focuses on the far future of terraforming, with a tie-in to today’s cities

by Alan Boyle on January 31, 2023February 16, 2023 at 10:48 am

Billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos dream of making Mars more like Earth, or seeing millions of people living and working in space — but could such dreams… Read More

Video

Lauren Sanchez plans to lead an all-female crew on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spaceship

by Alan Boyle on January 25, 2023January 26, 2023 at 10:00 am

Lauren Sanchez is planning to follow in the footsteps of her billionaire boyfriend, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, by taking a trip aboard the suborbital rocket ship built by Bezos’ Blue… Read More

Illustration: Nuclear thermal rocket in space

Video

NASA joins forces with DARPA on effort to demonstrate nuclear rocket for Mars trips

by Alan Boyle on January 24, 2023January 24, 2023 at 3:44 pm

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has taken on NASA as a partner for a project aimed at demonstrating a nuclear-powered rocket that could someday send astronauts to Mars. DARPA… Read More

Fireball lights up the skies over Seattle

by Alan Boyle on January 17, 2023January 17, 2023 at 6:26 pm

It’s cool to see a fireball — but even cooler to capture it on video. At least that’s the way Seattle engineer/photographer Corey Clarke sees it. Clarke’s webcam happened to… Read More

Video

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope scores big at America’s premier astronomy meeting

by Alan Boyle on January 11, 2023January 11, 2023 at 11:08 am

It’s not yet clear whether the Seahawks will be in the Super Bowl, but Seattle is in the spotlight this week for the “Super Bowl of Astronomy” — and there’s… Read More

Illustration: Flying boat in Titan's skies

Video

NASA provides funding for way-out space proposals, including a flying boat for Titan

by Alan Boyle on January 10, 2023January 10, 2023 at 2:31 pm

NASA says it’ll distribute up to $2.45 million to 14 teams in support of experimental projects that would be right at home in the pages of a science-fiction novel —… Read More

Video

From Artemis to Webb, take a look back — and a look ahead — at the year’s top trends in aerospace

by Alan Boyle on December 30, 2022December 30, 2022 at 8:05 am

A few years from now, we just might look back at 2022 as Year One for a new age in aerospace: It was the year when NASA’s next-generation space telescope… Read More

NASA calls an end to Mars InSight lander mission, with Aerojet getting in on tributes

by Alan Boyle on December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 at 6:05 pm

Four years after engineers cheered the landing of the robotic InSight spacecraft on Mars, NASA today declared an end to the $830 million quake-detecting mission. In a mission update, NASA… Read More

Orion's view of lunar surface with a crescent Earth in the distant background.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft zooms around the moon and sets a course for splashdown

by Alan Boyle on December 5, 2022December 6, 2022 at 9:09 am

NASA’s Orion capsule fired its main engine for three and a half minutes today during a close approach to the moon, executing a maneuver that’s meant to put the spacecraft… Read More

Video

The cloud in orbit: Amazon Web Services demonstrates data analysis on a satellite

by Alan Boyle on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 at 8:24 am

For the past 10 months, Amazon Web Services has been running data through its cloud-based software platform on what’s arguably the world’s edgiest edge: a satellite in low Earth orbit.… Read More

Orion capsule watches the moon eclipse Earth at farthest point of Artemis odyssey

by Alan Boyle on November 28, 2022November 28, 2022 at 9:29 pm

Halfway into its 25.5-day uncrewed Artemis 1 mission, NASA’s Orion capsule today recorded a weird kind of Earth-moon eclipse, reached its farthest distance from our planet and began the complicated… Read More

Video

NASA’s Orion capsule goes into a far-out orbit around the moon, setting a record

by Alan Boyle on November 26, 2022November 26, 2022 at 9:39 am

NASA’s uncrewed Orion capsule successfully executed an engine burn to enter an unusual type of orbit around the moon on the 10th day of the weeks-long Artemis 1 mission, and… Read More

NASA’s Orion capsule circles the moon, capturing views that’ll make you feel giddy

by Alan Boyle on November 21, 2022November 22, 2022 at 7:56 am

NASA’s Orion capsule rounded the moon today, marking a crucial milestone in a weeks-long Artemis 1 mission that’s preparing the way for sending astronauts to the lunar surface. As the… Read More

DIU's Michael Madsen addressing a Seattle workshop

Video

Defense Innovation Unit explores Pacific Northwest’s national security tech frontier

by Alan Boyle on November 18, 2022November 18, 2022 at 9:43 am

If space is the next frontier for national security, then the Pacific Northwest may well be the new frontier for that next frontier. That’s the word from Steve “Bucky” Butow,… Read More

Gravitics raises $20M for plans to build space station modules north of Seattle

by Alan Boyle on November 17, 2022June 30, 2023 at 3:08 pm

A space venture called Gravitics has emerged from stealth with $20 million in seed funding and a plan to build space station modules at a 42,000-square-foot facility north of Seattle,… Read More

Video

Third time’s the charm: NASA launches SLS mega rocket on Artemis 1 moon trip

by Alan Boyle on November 16, 2022November 21, 2022 at 7:12 pm

NASA succeeded spectacularly in the third attempt to launch its Space Launch System rocket on an uncrewed round-the-moon mission that’s meant to blaze a trail for future Artemis lunar landings.… Read More

Illustration: Axiom Space modules attached to International Space Station

LEOcloud, Microsoft team up with Axiom Space to put cloud infrastructure in orbit

by Alan Boyle on November 15, 2022November 14, 2022 at 9:18 pm

When Houston-based Axiom Space starts putting together its commercial space station, some out-of-this-world infrastructure for cloud computing could be close behind — and Microsoft could help make it happen. That… Read More

Video

Boeing-built X-37B space plane lands after completing record 908-day orbital mission

by Alan Boyle on November 12, 2022November 12, 2022 at 12:44 pm

The U.S. Space Force’s Boeing-built X-37B space plane today completed yet another record-setting mission, landing like an airplane at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida 908 days after it was… Read More

Video

Starfish Space reveals ambitious plan to demonstrate satellite docking

by Alan Boyle on November 9, 2022November 10, 2022 at 2:04 pm

Just three years after it was founded, a Tukwila, Wash.-based startup called Starfish Space is putting the pieces in place to demonstrate how a low-cost satellite can hook up with… Read More

Video

Total lunar eclipse could be tricky to watch in the sky — but it’s sure to shine online

by Alan Boyle on November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 at 1:39 pm

If you’re on the West Coast, watching tonight’s total lunar eclipse will require a willingness to stay awake in the middle of the night — plus a lucky break on… Read More

Video

Microsoft and Amazon take on new roles in Pentagon’s space communication plans

by Alan Boyle on November 2, 2022November 4, 2022 at 1:29 pm

Microsoft Azure Space, Amazon Web Services and Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite network are now among the Pentagon’s partners in a campaign to upgrade space- and ground-based communications infrastructure for national… Read More

Blue Origin completes delivery of BE-4 rocket engines for first ULA Vulcan launch

by Alan Boyle on October 31, 2022October 31, 2022 at 6:04 pm

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says it has completed delivery of the two BE-4 rocket engines that will be used next year for the first launch of… Read More

Video

Stratolaunch flies mammoth airplane with separation test vehicle hooked onto it

by Alan Boyle on October 28, 2022October 28, 2022 at 4:11 pm

Stratolaunch — the air-launch company founded by the late Seattle software billionaire Paul Allen — put a test version of its hypersonic vehicle through its first in-the-air trial today. The… Read More

Video

Fireball lights up the skies over the Pacific Northwest, sparking oohs, ahhs and LOLs

by Alan Boyle on October 13, 2022October 13, 2022 at 10:10 am

What was that flash in Wednesday night’s skies? Westward-looking skywatchers in locales ranging from Oregon through Western Washington to British Columbia reported seeing a fireball light up the surroundings at… Read More

Video

Real estate report points to Blue Origin’s rapid expansion near HQ in Seattle area

by Alan Boyle on October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 at 5:05 pm

The workforce at Blue Origin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space venture, has been growing by leaps and bounds — and so has the need for office and lab space. A… Read More