Starliner astronauts won't return to Earth until March 2025 | SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 test flight gets FAA license | SpaceX launches 6th batch of next-gen US spy satellites
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Wayward though their journey has been, the astronaut duo first flown to space aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule will have to wait just a little longer before rejoining us on Earth. NASA's next crew rotation scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS), Crew-10, has been delayed to no earlier than late March 2025. The mission was originally slated for February, but was pushed back to allow time for SpaceX to complete work on a brand new Crew Dragon spacecraft for the mission, NASA said in a statement yesterday. The shift means at least an extra month aboard the ISS for Crew-9 astronauts, who are only scheduled to depart the orbital laboratory after Crew-10's arrival.
SpaceX's next Starship megarocket now has a license to fly. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday (Dec. 17) issued a launch license for SpaceX's upcoming Starship Flight 7 test flight, clearing the way for the company's next launch of the world's largest rocket from South Texas. The launch license comes on the heels of several Starship engine tests by SpaceX to check the flight readiness of its seventh Ship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket booster.
SpaceX launched another batch of U.S. spy satellites yesterday morning (Dec. 17) from California's central coast. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:19 a.m. EST (1319 GMT; 5:19 a.m. local California time), carrying a set of spacecraft for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Astronomers have discovered the first binary stars orbiting a supermassive black hole. The stellar pairing in question orbits the cosmic titan at the heart of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*.
SpaceX is hoping to officially make its Starbase facility a new city in South Texas. The private spaceflight company submitted a petition to local authorities on Dec. 12, requesting an election on incorporating the Starbase launch site as its own city. The Starbase facility located near Boca Chica, Texas, has seen some of SpaceX's most ambitious launches, including the recent Starship rocket catch, and will become the company's new headquarters in a move from California to Texas.
An Astrobee robotic free-flyer with tentacle-like arms was tested in a demonstration experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS). NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who is currently serving as Expedition 72 Commander on the ISS, poses with the robotic flyer in the Kibo laboratory module in a new photo shared by NASA. Williams can be seen imitating the robot's curved arms, which are designed to wrap around objects to aid in satellite maintenance and space debris management.
Getting noticed in Hollywood is a Herculean task for up-and-coming young filmmakers. If you wanted to put a holiday spin on it, you could say they're often given a snowball's chance in Hell. Dreams of being recognized are often disappointingly dim, unless you've got a hot screenplay or, in the case of writer/director Jean de Meuron, a professional pulse-pounding short film centered around a brave USAF test pilot recruited by NASA for a suborbital mission aboard the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft.
