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Isar Aerospace prepares for second Spectrum launch

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NASA

Isar Aerospace prepares for second Spectrum launch

PARIS — A loss of attitude control and an open valve contributed to the loss of Isar Aerospace’s first Spectrum rocket in March as the company gears up for a second flight. In a Sept. 15 briefing held in conjunction with World Space Business Week, company executives discussed the outcome of the investigation into the March 30 launch of Spectrum from the Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway. The vehicle activated its flight termination system about half a minute after liftoff, shutting down its engines and plummeting into waters just offshore of the pad. The primary issue with the rocket was a loss of attitude control. Alexandre Dalloneau, vice president of mission and launch operations at Isar, said that the company had not properly characterized bending modes of the vehicle at li...

Northrop Grumman’s 1st Cygnus XL spacecraft launches on cargo run to the space station – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

Northrop Grumman’s 1st Cygnus XL spacecraft launches on cargo run to the space station – Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sept. 14, 2025, to begin the NG-23 mission. This was the first launch of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL spacecraft. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight Now Northrop Grumman’s first Cygnus XL vehicle was jettisoned on its way to the International Space Station following a pre-sunset launch from Cape Canaveral Sunday evening. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket thundered off the pad at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at 6:11 a.m. EDT (2211). About 8 minutes after taking off, the booster shook the Space Coast with a sonic boom as it touched down at Landing Zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This was just the fourth flight for this booster with the tail number B1094. It previously lau...

Why simple tasks like charging your phone rely on quantum measurements

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Science

Why simple tasks like charging your phone rely on quantum measurements

Your phone charger needs precise quantum measurementsShutterstock/Zoomik If you are anything like me, you are almost always charging your smartphone. What you might not realise is that the ability to do so safely depends on a delicate quantum measurement at the cutting edge of physics. To understand why, we need to look at what happens when you plug your charger into a standard outlet. The electricity that flows from the outlet carries more than hundred volts, but the charger is designed so that by the time electricity reaches your phone, it has been converted to carry around a dozen. Were it not for this reduction in voltage, the phone would catch on fire. In other words, the exact number of volts matters in a very concrete way. But how do we know what a single v...

SpaceX to launch new, improved Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL resupply ship to the space station – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

SpaceX to launch new, improved Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL resupply ship to the space station – Spaceflight Now

Technicians use a crane to lift Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft’s pressurized cargo module out of the shipping container on Thursday, July 10, 2025, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new extended Cygnus capsule, scheduled to launch no earlier than Sept. 14, 2025, will carry supplies, food, and scientific experiments for crew members at the International Space Station as part of the company’s 23rd cargo resupply mission. Image: NASA / Cory S. Huston The next cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station is launching Sunday and will feature a new iteration of the Cygnus spacecraft from Northrop Grumman. The mission, NASA’s NG-23, is the latest flight fulfilling NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract with Northro...

Interstellar overhype: Nasa debunks claim about alien-made comet | Comets

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Astronomy

Interstellar overhype: Nasa debunks claim about alien-made comet | Comets

Skywatchers at Nasa have discounted a Harvard astronomer’s hypothesis that a rare interstellar object hurtling through our solar system is a relic from a civilization in another celestial neighborhood, and “could potentially be dire for humanity”.Avi Loeb, head of Harvard University’s Galileo Project, which searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, raised eyebrows by suggesting in a scientific paper in July that Comet 3I/Atlas, set for a close pass with Mars next month, could be artificially made.It is only the third known object originating outside the solar system to pass through and was named for the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (Atlas) survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, that discovered it on 1 July.Loeb says observations of the object so far have not...