NASA

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration will allow SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 flights after an upper stage anomaly nearly two weeks ago as the company awaits approval for its next Starship launch. In a statement late Oct. 11, the FAA said it cleared launches of the Falcon 9 that, with one exception, had been on hold after a Falcon 9 upper stage suffered a problem with a final deorbit burn on the Sept. 28 launch of the Crew-9 mission for NASA. “The FAA notified SpaceX on Oct. 11 that the Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to regular flight operations,” the agency stated. “The FAA reviewed and accepted the SpaceX-led investigation findings and corrective actions for the mishap that occurred with the Crew-9 mission.” Neither the FAA nor SpaceX elaborated on the finding...

Our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is coming together at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this summer. Our mighty SLS rocket is set to power the Artemis I mission to send our Orion spacecraft around the Moon. But, before it heads to the Moon, NASA puts it together right here on Earth.Read on for more on how our Moon rocket for Artemis I will come together this summer:How do crews assemble a rocket and spacecraft as tall as a skyscraper? The process all starts inside the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy with the mobile launcher. Recognized as a Florida Space Coast landmark, the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, houses special cranes, lifts, and equipment to move and connect the spaceflight hardware together. Orion and all five of the major parts of the Artemis I ro...

WASHINGTON — The first satellites of a Chinese broadband constellation are significantly brighter than those of Western systems, posing a new challenge for astronomers. In a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server Sept. 30, a group of observational astronomers reported on observations of a set of 18 Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails,” satellites launched in August. The satellites are the first of a constellation that may ultimately consist of more than 14,000 satellites. The study found that the brightness of the satellites ranges from magnitude 8 when low in the sky to magnitude 4 when nearly overhead. That makes the satellites, at those higher elevations, bright enough to be seen by the naked eye — which can see objects down to magnitude 6 in dark skies — and well above the threshol...

ALTThis photo contains both flight (flat in the foreground) and qualification assembly (upright in the background) versions of the Solar Array Sun Shield for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. These panels will both shade the mission’s instruments and power the observatory.Seeing double? You’re looking at our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Solar Array Sun Shield laying flat in pieces in the foreground, and its test version connected and standing upright in the back. The Sun shield will do exactly what it sounds like –– shade the observatory –– and also collect sunlight for energy to power Roman.These solar panels are twins, just like several of Roman’s other major components. Only one set will actually fly in space as part of the Roman spacecraft…so why do we need two?Sometimes...

HELSINKI — China’s human spaceflight agency has revealed the exterior design of the spacesuit for the country’s future crewed lunar landing missions. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) unveiled the extravehicular lunar suit Sept. 28 in Chongqing, southwest China. CMSA is also soliciting suggestions for a name for the suit. The suit is being developed as one element of China’s goal of landing astronauts on the moon before 2030. China is also currently working on a new human-rated launcher, the Long March 10, a deep space crew spacecraft and a crew lander for the mission. A crew rover is also being designed. As part of the reveal, a promotional video showcased both the outer appearance and the suit’s key capabilities. Astronauts Wang Yaping, China’s second woman in space, and Zha...