Image (Credit): An image showing SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster being grabbed midair after the fifth flight test from Boca Chica, Texas. (Taken from a SpaceX video)
Earlier today, SpaceX conducted its fifth Starship test earlier today. It appears it was an overall success, with a new twist. This time the rocket’s Super Heavy booster returned to the launch pad to be captured midair by two metal arms. It seemed like an unnecessary risk to the landing site, but the stunt was successful.
The rocket itself “landed” without incident off Australia’s coast before falling into the sea and exploding.
All in all it went according to plan, which is a good sign for NASA and its future plans for the rocket.
While all the attention today related to the booster bravado, I just want to see a Starship that is ready for the upcoming Artemis mission. After all, all the fancy tricks related to the Starship will look pretty useless should the Chinese be the first to return to the Moon.
As if things could not get more troublesome, the Heritage Foundation appears to be doing a lot of dirty work on behalf of the Trump campaign to obtain internal conversations by NASA employees. According to Reuters, the focus of the campaign against NASA appears to be looking for comments involving Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The requests are likely to bog down the NASA’s employees while the Heritage Foundation pursues its agenda to eliminate any “disloyal” federal employees, all part of its earlier, now toxic, Project 2025 mission. You might think we were talking about the Soviet Union, but these are the tactics today of the far right.
SpaceX has done very well under the NASA program, but some may want to continue to tip the scales in his favor now that he has come out and supported Trump for president.
NASA is not alone. The Heritage Foundation has been sending tens of thousands of requests to federal agencies in the past two years building up a case against federal employees, most likely in the hope of putting its own selected staff into these same positions.
This is not the way to run a government or win a campaign. Whoever wins the presidential election will have amply opportunity to place its own managers in all of the federal agencies, including NASA. That in itself is tough enough, with a new president needing to fill more than 4,000 positions under normal circumstances, something the last Trump administration struggled to do.
Image (Credit): The Starship rocket launching on its fourth flight test in Boca Chica, TX. (SpaceX)
The other week, Elon Musk said he was planning to send five uncrewed Starship rockets to Mars in two years, followed by manned flights after that. Why the sudden announcement? It was not clear, but he does have money to burn and also a desire for attention.
SpaceX plans to launch about five uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years.
If those all land safely, then crewed missions are possible in four years. If we encounter challenges, then the crewed missions will be postponed another two years.
Of course, he has yet to prove that the Starship is ready for assist NASA with the Artemis mission to place astronauts on the Moon. The rocket is getting better with every test, but the Starship problems are likely to delay the entire lunar mission. Yet he is already eyeing Mars?
If you read the full post, it appears he is using the Starship announcement to poke at California and Kamala Harris. He also seems to be ready to blame everyone but himself if he cannot meet his self-imposed Mars timetable.
One might ask if Mr. Musk has any idea where his Starship astronauts will be staying under this timetable. I have not heard of any great plans to build the necessary infrastructure to host a colony on the surface of Mars. Does he have a plan?
Mr. Musk had enormous problems meeting his proposed deadline for a Tesla pickup truck here on Earth, and the truck he eventually rolled out has has been less than a stellar vehicle given the hype. So any timetable on a Mars mission seems like mere fantasy at this point.
By the way, if Mr. Musk is so interested in protecting Earthlings from a dangerous future, he already has the ability to tamp down the rage and hate on Twitter/X and cease his calls for civil wars.
It is already in his power to make the Earth a better place to live while we plan for Mars. He just doesn’t seem to be all that interested.
Image (Credit): The launch earlier today of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying tNASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the ISS. (NASA/Keegan Barber)
Earlier today, NASA contractor SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-9 mission towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The two crew members should be aboard the station tomorrow to join the rest of the Expedition 72 crew, who arrived at the station as part of two earlier launches.
While some are calling this a “rescue mission,” it is really a planned mission with a truncated crew roster to accommodate the two Boeing Starliner astronauts on the return back to Earth. Nothing to see here folks.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said it best:
This mission required a lot of operational and planning flexibility. I congratulate the entire team on a successful launch today, and godspeed to Nick and Aleksandr as they make their way to the space station…Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together and adapting to changing circumstances without sacrificing the safe and professional operations of the International Space Station.
NASA has become quite flexible this year as it works with its commercial partners.
Image (Credit): Tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 24, 2024 as captured by the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. (NASA Worldview)
SpaceX was scheduled to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow, but the approaching Hurricane Helene has delayed the launch until Saturday, September 28.
The Crew-9 mission is down to two crew members – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov – as a result of the two Boeing astronauts stuck on the ISS being added to the Crew-9 mission. The new combined crew will stay on the station until February 2025 and then return to Earth together.
NASA is in the process of locking down its Florida launch sites until the hurricane passes.
Patience is always needed with launches this time of year, and NASA seems to need a lot of patience these days for reasons beyond the weather.
Image (Credit): Crew-9 mission patch designed by SpaceX. (SpaceX)
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