Blue Origin is inching ever closer to sending folks into space. With tickets slated to cost somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, it’s safe to say that folks are getting antsy for their opportunity to blast off. Earlier this week, Jeff Bezos’ space endeavor completed its most important test yet in the form of a live separation of its crew capsule from its rocket booster. Everything went according to plan and because the crew set off its escape motor at just the right time, the capsule was sent further into space than ever before. With this most recent trial green light, the rocket company is closer than ever to its goal of becoming fully operational by the end of 2018.
The launch marked the ninth such occasion for Blue Origin and the third for the New Shepard rocket. Like SpaceX’s spacecraft and boosters, both of Blue Origin’s major components are meant to be reused. In total, the launch lasted around 150 seconds, after which the engine was shut off. The capsule then coasted the rest of its way into space, while the booster plummeted back to Earth, engaging its landing gear and rocket-powered brakes in order to safely land on the ground. The capsule makes use of its parachutes to safely land. The capsule ultimately floated for about nine minutes (the whole thing lasted 11 minutes), and reached a top speed of 2,236 mph and a top height of 389,846 feet above Earth’s surface.
The launch has clearly captured the public’s imagination, as more than 20,000 folks watched Blue Origin’s YouTube livestream to see the test. Perhaps some of the interest was spurred by the likelihood that these watchers may one day become passengers. During the test, Blue Origin engineers placed a mannequin inside the capsule to represent a human passenger.
“[The mannequin] probably peaked at 10 Gs,” Blue Origin’s Ariane Cornell said during the livestream. “But you know what? That is well within what humans can take, especially within such a short spurt of time and in those reclined seats. It’s just important that we bring the astronauts home safely.”
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.