SpaceX launched its mega rocket Starship but lost both the booster and the spacecraft in a pair of explosions minutes into Saturday's test flight.
Space Exploration
Nov 18, 2023
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China sent a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station on Thursday, in the latest mission for a growing space program that plans to send people to the Moon by 2030.
Space Exploration
Oct 26, 2023
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9
Launching things into space is hard. Aside from the engines and software, orbital calculations and the launch pad, the tanks that hold the fuel are a masterful example of engineering in their own right. And ESA will soon ...
Space Exploration
Oct 25, 2023
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Two giant rocket motors required to display the retired NASA space shuttle Endeavour as if it's about to blast off arrived Wednesday at a Los Angeles museum, completing their long journey from the Mojave Desert.
Space Exploration
Oct 11, 2023
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34
On Sunday morning, a capsule the size of a mini-fridge dropped from the skies over western Utah, carrying a first-of-its-kind package: about 250 grams of dirt and dust plucked from the surface of an asteroid. As a candy-striped ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 25, 2023
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The four astronauts headed to the moon next year on the Artemis II mission suited up and took a practice run to the launch pad in the new crew transport vehicles at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
Space Exploration
Sep 20, 2023
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On August 23 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's south pole, a location that has always been of particular interest to scientists due to the unique conditions created ...
Space Exploration
Sep 15, 2023
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Researchers have succeeded in nurturing a small snail called periwinkles in the laboratory for the very first time and are hoping that this French delicacy might be the launch pad for a new, Norwegian aquaculture business.
Agriculture
Sep 14, 2023
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16
Validation testing continues for ESA's all-new Ariane 6 launch vehicle, with firing of its two upper stage engines to simulate the way they will have to operate together during a flight.
Space Exploration
Sep 4, 2023
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34
Just off a tree-covered side road past businesses selling boats and fishing gear sits a fenced-off building that's home to a $700 million satellite nearly ready for launch. Its mission: To study the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, ...
Space Exploration
Aug 23, 2023
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A launch pad is the area and facilities where rockets or spacecrafts liftoff. A Spaceport (or rocket launch site) can contain one or many launch pads. A typical launch pad consists of the service and umbilical structures. The service structure provides an access platform to inspect the launch vehicle prior to launch. Most service structures can be moved or rotated to a safe distance. The umbilical structure has propellent loading, gas, power, and communication links to the launch vehicle. The launch vehicle sits atop of the launch platform, which has the flame deflection structure to withstand the intense heat and load generated by rocket engines during liftoff.
Most cryogenic launch vehicles need to be continuously topped off as scheduled liftoff approaches. This is particularly necessary as various holds are placed on the liftoff and then removed as support personnel correct problems or verify they are not serious. Without the ability to top off the launch vehicle, the launch would have to be scrubbed when problems slowed down the countdown. Gantries are commonly designed and constructed on launch pads to meet these types of servicing requirements both during launch and in the preparation period leading up to it.
Most rockets need stable support for a few seconds after ignition while the engines ramp up and stabilize at full thrust. This stability requirement is commonly met by the use of explosive bolts to connect the launch vehicle to the pad. When the vehicle is stable and ready to fly the bolts explode, severing the vehicle's ties to the launch pad and structures on the ground.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
