A sampling of recent items related to traveling to and through space:
** SpaceX:
**** The Crew Dragon splashes down in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida: Crew Dragon Splashes Down in Atlantic Ending First Commercial Crew Mission – Space Station
**** The DM-1 mission was a great success. Everything from beginning to end seemed to go smoothly and according to plan. A video of highlights of DM-1:
**** The closing of the hatch of the Crew Dragon 2 last night in preparation for its departure:
**** The Crew Dragon departs from the ISS in this video:
**** Some recent articles about the mission:
- SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has survived its greatest test—returning to Earth | Ars Technica
- SpaceX Crew Dragon splashes down at end of space station trip – GeekWire
- End Of Mission: SpaceX, NASA to wrap Crew Dragon’s inaugural flight to Station – NASASpaceFlight.com
- Russia’s passive-aggressive reaction to SpaceX may mask a deeper truth | Ars Technica
- SpaceX snags second Falcon 9 booster in two weeks after Crew Dragon launch – Teslarati
**** The first stage booster of the DM-1 Falcon 9 is shown in this SpaceX photo as it came in for a landing on the ocean platform:
**** The booster returns to Port Canaveral in this video (via www.USLaunchReport.com):
**** An overview of SpaceX launch plans for the next few months: Falcon Heavy and Starlink headline SpaceX’s upcoming manifest – NASASpaceFlight.com
**** StarHopper moves to launch pad. Meanwhile, work continues at SpaceX’s facilities at Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas on the company’s next-generation launch system. While the Crew Dragon recovery was underway in the Atlantic, the booster section of the StarHopper low altitude test vehicle was slowly transported from the construction yard to the site of the launch pad:
[ Update: This move was reportedly due to plans for a pressure test of the propellant tanks. Once that is safely finished, it will be moved back to the construction yard.] The propulsion system with the Raptor engines have not yet been installed. A new nosecone is also under construction to replace the one damaged when it was overturned by high winds.
** The launch of the reusable SARGE rocket last Saturday by EXOS Aerospace went well overall, though it failed to reach the planned altitude. Strong winds at liftoff caused the rocket to move outside its allowed range and the guidance system turned off the engine before it completed its burn. The rocket was recovered via paraglider return and will launch again.
- SARGE Mission 1 Success: | EXOS Aerospace Systems & Technologies, inc.
- Exos Aerospace reflies suborbital rocket – SpaceNews.com
** Linkspace tests vertical takeoff and landing rocket in China:
Reusable Launch Vehicle Prototype RLV-T5 (NewLine Baby) had a new milestone. We had accomplished the rocket takes off, hovers and recovers under tethered protection. At the end of March, we plan to accomplish the recovery test of RLV-T5 in free state. pic.twitter.com/BOg7C9RqPp
— Linkspace (@Linkspace_China) March 8, 2019
** Generation Orbit X-60A hypersonic text vehicle project makes a step forward with the completion of the critical design reveiw: X-60A hypersonic flight research vehicle program completes critical design review – Generation Orbit
The X-60A vehicle is an air-dropped liquid rocket specifically designed for #hypersonic flight research. The program has completed its Critical Design Review, a major milestone in the program. It will now move into the fabrication phase. @generationorbit https://t.co/80kAPFgsLt pic.twitter.com/CGJi54tHPF
— Air Force Research Lab – AFRL (@AFResearchLab) March 6, 2019
** Ariane 6 gets a OneWeb launch contract: OneWeb announced as customer for inaugural Ariane 6 launch – Spaceflight Now
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