Countdown to lift-off: Watch SpaceX launch its most powerful rocket in landmark mission

US President Joe Biden renominates Eric Garcetti as US ambassador to India | Oneindia News*News

US President Joe Biden renominates Eric Garcetti as envoy to India; SpaceX launches 114 satellites in first mission of 2023 marking its 200th successful launch; Israel's far-right minister Ben-Gvir visits Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, US voices concerns; Vladimir Putin orders screening of Ukraine assault documentary films in Russian theatres. #EricGarcetti #JoeBiden #USAmbassador

SpaceX launches 114 satellites in first mission of 2023 marking 200th success | Oneindia News*Space

Elon Musk's SpaceX is on a spree of launching satellites. After successfully launching one satellite every week in 2022, this year seems to be holding more for the tech-company. The Aerospace company has launched 114 satellites in the first mission of 2023 crossing the milestone of the 200th successful launch in its space exploration history. #SpaceX #ElonMusk #Falcon9

NASA Chief Says China Could Claim the Moon if It Beats the US to Its Surface

NASA Chief Says China Could Claim the Moon , if It Beats the US to Its Surface. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave an interview with Politico that was published on Jan. 1. He said that China's military aggression in the South China Sea could allude to the future of the moon. Specifically, if China makes it back to the moon's surface before the U.S., it may attempt to claim it as its own territory. . It is a fact: we're in a space race. And it is true that we better watch out that they don't get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. , Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Politico. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.' If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Politico. China's new space station, Tiangong, was recently completed. Beijing intends to conduct three moon missions over the next decade. The country also claims it discovered a new potential energy source on the moon. NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2025 with its Artemis 3 mission that it is working on with SpaceX. I ask the question every day: 'How is SpaceX's progress?' And all of our managers are telling me they are meeting all of their milestones, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Politico

Japan's ispace launches world's first commercial moon lander | Oneindia News *Space

A Japanese space startup, ispace, has launched its own private lander to the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket. This marks a historic and significant step towards what would be a historic first, both for the nation and a private company. #Japan #ISpace #CommercialMoonLander

Indian TV actor Dev Joshi to join Japanese billionaire for SpaceX moon trip | Oneindia News*News

Indian television actor Dev Joshi announced that he will be joining the ‘dearMoon CREW’. He said that he will take a week-long trip around the moon in a SpaceX rocket next year. The 'dearMoon' project was first announced in 2017 and is the first civilian mission to the Moon. As per the project website, yesterday, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who purchased all the seats aboard the rocket in 2018, revealed the name of the eight people who will be joining him for the all-private lunar endeavour. #dearMoon #DevJoshi #SpaceX

NASA Says Incoming Asteroid Is About to Have a Close Encounter With Earth

NASA Says Incoming Asteroid Is, About to Have a Close Encounter With Earth. According to NASA, an asteroid currently hurtling toward Earth is expected to make one of the closest passes humanity has ever experienced. However, 'The Independent' reports that the object is expected to pass by safely. On the evening of January 26 or early on January 27, the asteroid is expected to make its closest approach. It is believed to be about 3.5 meters by 8.5 meters. The asteroid was only spotted days before it's scheduled to pass by Earth. Amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov discovered the asteroid on January 21. Once the asteroid was detected, NASA examined it with its Scout system, which is designed to predict the potential threat of collisions. Scout quickly ruled out 2023 BU as an impactor, but despite the very few observations, it was nonetheless able to predict that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach with Earth, Davide Farnocchia, navigation engineer at JPL, via 'The Independent'. In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded, Davide Farnocchia, navigation engineer at JPL, via 'The Independent'. 'The Independent' reports that the near miss will cause the Earth's gravity to significantly alter the orbit of the asteroid.

NASA's Future Crewed Mission to Mars Depends on Developing Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

NASA's Future Crewed , Mission to Mars Depends on , Developing Nuclear Thermal Propulsion. Ars Technica reports that the United States announced its intention to develop a flyable nuclear thermal propulsion system nearly three years ago. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) aim was to develop more responsive controls of spacecraft in Earth orbit, lunar orbit and in between. . The project is part of an effort to give the U.S. military greater operational freedom in space. . The operation has been dubbed the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO project for short. Ars Technica reports that the program includes building both a nuclear fission reactor and a spacecraft to fly it. In 2021, General Atomics was awarded $22 million by DARPA to work on developing the reactor. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin were awarded an additional $5.4 million to develop the project's spacecraft system. . Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin were awarded an additional $5.4 million to develop the project's spacecraft system. . According to a 2019 report, NASA's only hope for putting humans on Mars in the near future is by developing nuclear propulsion. Ars Technica reports that nuclear thermal propulsion requires significantly less fuel than other means of chemical propulsion. NASA will work with our long-term partner, DARPA, to develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear thermal propulsion technology as soon as 2027, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Ars Technica. With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever, a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Ars Technica. With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever, a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars, Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, via Ars Technica

Webb Telescope Spots Frozen Water and Molecules in Distant Molecular Cloud

Webb Telescope Spots , Frozen Water and Molecules, in Distant Molecular Cloud . Gizmodo reports that NASA's Webb telescope has detected water ice and frozen complex molecules about 630 light-years from Earth in a molecular cloud. According to the team, the freezing observations are the deepest, coldest yet seen in such a cloud. A molecular cloud is a huge, dusty region of space that typically serve as stellar nurseries as they contain all of the ingredients necessary for stars to form. . These clouds are also home to organic molecules. . In 2022, scientists analyzing a molecular cloud at the center of our galaxy found evidence of the building blocks of RNA, a molecule shared by all living cells. The most recent frozen molecular cloud contained water, methane, ammonia and complex molecules such as methanol. The team's findings were published on January 23 in the journal 'Nature Astronomy.'. Gizmodo reports that the observation of molecular clouds comes as part of Webb's Ice Age project. . Our results provide insights into the initial, dark chemistry stage of the formation of ice on the interstellar dust grains that will grow into the centimeter-sized pebbles from which planets form in disks, Melissa McClure, Astronomer at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, via 'Gizmodo'. We simply couldn’t have observed these ices without Webb. Webb’s exquisite sensitivity was necessary to detect the starlight and therefore identify the ices in the molecular cloud, Klaus Pontodippan, Webb project scientist and a co-author of the research, via 'Gizmodo'

NASA Is Funding the Projects of the Future

NASA Is Funding , the Projects of the Future. Last week, NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program announced grants for 14 teams exploring high-risk, high-reward projects. 'Wired' reports that some of the projects, like a lunar oxygen pipeline or new building material for use on Mars, could be technological game changers. These are things looking 20 to 30 years down the road to see how we could drastically improve or enable new types of NASA missions, Mike LaPoint, NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), via 'Wired'. The $175,000 grants will be used to lay out detailed plans, run tests and design new prototypes based off of Phase 1 projects. The select few chosen to go on to Phase 2 will receive $600,000 for an additional two-year study. A single exceptional project will then receive an award of $2 million to enter into another two-year long Phase 3 study. According to 'Wired,' one of the most interesting projects is a proposal to build a habitat out of fungi and bacteria grown on the surface of Mars. A University of Nebraska team is exploring the idea of self-growing building blocks using minerals formed within a bioreactor. Another NIAC winner has proposed building a massive pipeline on the surface of the moon to deliver much-needed oxygen to astronauts on a future lunar base. 'Wired' reports that the new tech will create oxygen as a byproduct of mining for water ice utilizing a process called electrolysis

NASA-Boeing to develop aircraft as part of Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project | Oneindia News

According to reports, the US space agency NASA is collaborating with aviation giant Boeing to develop a next-generation commercial aircraft that emits less carbon. NASA will invest $425 million over seven years in the ‘Sustainable Flight Demonstrator’ (SFD) project while Boeing and its partners will spend an estimated $725 million. #NASA #Boeing #SustainableFlightDemonstrator