Rocket | Common News Update

Jul12018 by adminNo Comments

Rocket developed by Japan startup in flames after liftoff

A rocket developed by a Japanese startup company burst into flames seconds after a failed liftoff Saturday in northern Japan. The MOMO-2 rocket, developed by Interstellar Technologies, was launched in Taiki town on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island. It was supposed to reach as high as 100 kilometers (62 miles) into space. Television footage showed that the 10-meter (33-foot) pencil rocket lifted only slightly from its launch pad before dropping to the ground, disappearing in a fireball. Footage on NHK public television showed a charred rocket lying on the ground. The incident caused no injuries. Interstellar Technologies president Takahiro Inagawa said he believes the rocket suffered a glitch in its main engine. He apologized for the failure, and said his team would collect the ...

Jun192018 by adminNo Comments

Rover test: What's it like to ride a rocket to Mars?

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device So, if you spend a billion euros on a space mission, you better be sure it can survive the rocket ride off Earth. This video shows a model of Europe's upcoming Mars rover being shaken to simulate the violent first few minutes of flight on leaving the launch pad. ExoMars, as it is known, is a joint project with Russia to put a mobile laboratory on the surface of the Red Planet in 2021. The hi-tech rover will look for signs of past or present life. Europe's Mars rover takes shape Curiosity sees Mars methane swing The vehicle pictured being put through a shake test at Airbus in Toulouse, France, is what is called a Structural Thermal Model, or STM. It is a near-exact copy of the rover that will eventu...

May112018 by adminNo Comments

SpaceX flies 'lessons learned' rocket

Science

The California rocket company SpaceX has conducted what is arguably its most important launch to date. Flying out of Florida, the firm’s Falcon-9 vehicle lifted a standard telecommunications satellite for Bangladesh into orbit. But the booster incorporated everything SpaceX has so far learnt about reusability. This "Block 5" version of the Falcon is designed to launch and land at least 10 times without any servicing. Earlier iterations of the rocket have not flown more than twice and required some level of refurbishment between missions."It's taken us 16 years of extreme effort, many iterations and thousands of small but important development changes to get to where we think this is even possible. Crazy hard," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in a pre-flig...

May62018 by adminNo Comments

ULA rocket launches NASA's Mars lander

Science

May 5 (UPI) -- NASA's newest Mars mission, the InSight lander, blasted off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:05 a.m. PT (7:05 a.m. ET).A two-stage Atlas V 401 rocket carried the lander and its instruments into space. Because InSight is slightly smaller than typical Mars-bound spacecraft, United Launch Alliance was able to deploy a smaller, lighter rocket.Saturday's blastoff marked the first time a planetary mission has launched from the West Coast. Putting a spacecraft into a Mars-bound trajectory from the Pacific side of the United States requires a bit more thrust, and thus, a bit more fuel.But the smaller, lighter rocket and payload can go farther and faster without expending too much fuel.In all, it will take about six months for InSight to reach Mars. InSight is a lande...

Apr152018 by adminNo Comments

ULA Atlas V rocket launched payloads for U.S. Air Force

Science

April 14 (UPI) -- The United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket successfully launched a pair of payloads for the U.S. Air Force on Saturday night.Blast-off was at 7:13 p.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.The Air Force Space Command mission, AFSPC-11, features two spacecraft. The primary payload is the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM, or CBAS, a geostationary communications satellite.The satellite will lend communications support to the Air Force, relaying messages between leaders back at base and commanders in combat."The mission of CBAS is to augment existing military satellite communications capabilities and broadcast military data continuously through space-based, satellite communications relay links," the U.S. Air Force said.Behind t...