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SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites as the company reaches 3 million customers globally – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites as the company reaches 3 million customers globally – Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes flight supporting the Starlink 6-62 mission on Wednesday, May 23, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX continued the expansion of its Starlink internet satellite mega-constellation with the first of two planned Falcon 9 launches from Florida this week as the company boasts hitting more than three million users. First up to bat was the Starlink 6-62 launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:35 p.m. EDT (0235 UTC). It added 23 additional satellites to the thousands currently in low Earth orbit. The Wednesday night launch comes later in the day after the company successfully launched a classified number of satellites supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s so-called “proliferated architecture” constellation. It was th...

NASA — What We Learned from Flying a Helicopter on Mars

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NASA

NASA — What We Learned from Flying a Helicopter on Mars

ALTALTThe Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history – not only as the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another world – but also for exceeding expectations, pushing the limits, and setting the stage for future NASA aerial exploration of other worlds.Built as a technology demonstration designed to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity performed flight operations from the Martian surface for almost three years. The helicopter ended its mission on Jan. 25, 2024, after sustaining damage to its rotor blades during its 72nd flight.So, what did we learn from this small but mighty helicopter?We can fly rotorcraft in the thin atmosphere of other planets.Ingenuity proved that powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds when it took to the ...

A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal

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Astronomy

A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal

It’s been a momentous May for skywatchers around the world. First the big auroral event of May 10-11, next a flaming space rock entering over Spain and Portugal. The inbound object was captured by ground-based cameras and the MeteoSat Third Generation Imager in geostationary orbit. The incoming meteor dazzled viewers across both countries as it sped across the skies at 160,000 km/hour. Of course, social media came alive with speculation about what was burning up in the atmosphere. Most people thought it was a piece of space rock from an asteroid. European Space Agency members of the Planetary Defence Office immediately began analyzing images and data to figure out the composition of the impactor. Now it seems more likely the chunk of space debris came from a comet. They used other data a...

Unexplained UFO Sightings Near Nuclear Weapons Sites, Facilities

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UFOs

Unexplained UFO Sightings Near Nuclear Weapons Sites, Facilities

An article at The Hill explores "interactions between UFOs and ultra-sensitive U.S. nuclear assets [that] date back nearly eight decades." The author, Marik von Rennenkampff, highlights several instances throughout history, here is a sampling below: By The UFO Chronicles4-27-24 • The Green Fireballs Phenomenon: Beginning in 1948 airline pilots began reporting sightings of "green fireballs." The subject of aerial phenomenon was classified secret, and the 4th Army approached Dr. Lincoln LaPaz, an American astronomer from the University of New Mexico and a pioneer in the study of meteors for assistance. In a secret meeting at Los Alamos in February of 1949, LaPaz stated for the record that, "Nothing like this to my knowledge, has ever been observed in the case of meteorite ...

George Lucas Drops the Mic, ‘The Acolyte’ First Reactions, and More

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Star Wars

George Lucas Drops the Mic, ‘The Acolyte’ First Reactions, and More

Welcome to a new edition of “This Week, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away“, where I’m here siding with all Star Wars authors and members of the publishing team who didn’t get the invite to the Acolyte premiere on Thursday night! It’s been an intense weekend over at Star Wars News Net, as we try to parse through everything George Lucas said in Cannes, as well as gather the latest to stem from the Leslye Headland show, which is now just 9 days away from launching on Disney Plus. This week was also a big one for Ray Stevenson. On Tuesday, we marked the one-year anniversary of his passing. On Saturday, May 25, he would have turned 60 years old. On a happier note, Saturday also marked the 47th anniversary of Star Wars, 41st of Return of the Jedi, and six years since Solo: A Star Wars Story came out....