Today, EXOS Aerospace successfully launched the SARGE reusable sounding rocket on a suborbital flight from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Haven’t seen any word on the altitude reached. The rocket returned via a paraglider return for a soft landing and will be used again for future flights.
EXOS Aerospace SARGE rocket lifts off from Spaceport America.
Here is the full webcast video. (Liftoff takes place at 1:21:50):
The rocket returned for a landing within a couple of hundred meters of the launch pad.
SARGE comes back to earth with a paraglider.
An inspection of the rocket following the landing:
A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:
** The Space Show – Sun, 02/24/2019 – Linda Plush talked about “Human spaceflight medical concerns, challenges, solutions, mitigations, R&D, budget issues, progress, engineering differences and more”.
** The Space Show – Tue, 02/26/2019 – Bernie Taylor discussed “Lunar time life, lunar cycles and life, extraterrestrial life, Drake equation modification to reflect the Moon, intelligent animals w/o lunar cycles and more”.
** Weekly Space Hangout: Feb 27, 2019: Dr. Ellen Stofan, Director of the National Air and Space Museum
Below are videos and images of the launch early this morning of the SpaceX Falcon 9 with the Crew Dragon for the Demonstration 1 mission (DM-1). (Will add more videos as they become available). The first stage landed successfully on a platform in the Atlantic. The Dragon is scheduled to dock with the ISS at around 6 am EST Sunday, Feb.3rd. Watch the rendezvous and docking live starting at 3:30 am EST (0830 UTC) on the SpaceX Webcast page.
[ Update: Post-launch briefing:
A second passenger aboard the Crew Dragon enjoys weightlessness:
Falcon 9 booster has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship—SpaceX’s 35th successful landing of a rocket booster pic.twitter.com/cDvKpoOwrq
Crew Dragon will deliver about 400 pounds of supplies and equipment to the @Space_Station. Also on board is an anthropomorphic test device, which we call Ripley. pic.twitter.com/FuHewNb4UM
SpaceX and @NASA have completed thousands of hours of tests, analyses, and reviews in preparation for Crew Dragon’s first test flight to the @space_stationpic.twitter.com/JvJqeoLKVy
Some screen captures during the countdown and launch:
LiftoffJust after the first stage (left) and second stage (right) separated and the second stage engine began firing.Test dummy Riley in the Dragon interior.The Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon on the pad before the launch.View of pad about 5 minutes before scheduled liftoff.
The latest Space to Ground weekly report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:
A profile of astronaut Christina Kcoh
It may not look like mountain climbing has much to do with being an astronaut, even though both involve great heights and special equipment. But NASA’s Christina Koch says the concentration and control she learned in climbing helped her prepare to be an astronaut and to make the climb to space for her first mission to the International Space Station.
