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Happy Wednesday, space fans!
SpaceX is all over the news today. First, Indigenous groups and conservationists have filed an emergency injunction to stop a land swap between SpaceX and the federal government. In short, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made a deal to give SpaceX 727 acres of public land that are currently part of a National Wildlife Refuge. Last month, a coalition including conservation and tribal groups sued the USFWS, citing multiple federal laws broken in giving SpaceX this land. It's now up to the courts to weigh in. What do you think? Should the government be able to just give public, protected land to a company?
In other SpaceX news, the company is leading up to the critical Flight 13 test launch of its Starship V3 rocket tomorrow (July 23). This is the second attempt for the second test flight of this vehicle. We're also taking a closer look at those strange, metal orbs that washed up on the beaches in Australia, exploring the possibility of finding moons around planets in other solar systems and wondering where all of the space is in the new "Avengers Doomsday" trailer. And don't forget, it's Perseids season, so look up!
Check out what's big in space below:
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SpaceX plans to launch Starship Flight 13 on Monday (July 20), a test mission that will send "V3" Starlink satellites to space for the first time ever. Here's how to watch it live.
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The latest space debris incident in Australia shows just how much we still don't know about what happens to rockets and other debris when it falls from space.
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Did you hear that? Most hearing aids have one processor. These bad boys have two, making speech clearer and crisper by processing speech and noise separately. No wonder 540,000+ customers love them. Join them and start your 45-day no-risk trial today.
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Exile, an interplanetary odyssey and a fateful encounter, this is the journey taken by each Perseid meteor.
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Have astronomers observed the first exomoon, or have they spotted a weird object that could challenge the very concept of planets and moons?
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What might seem like a simple black-and-white picture of some rocks is actually the first photograph ever taken on the surface of Mars.
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SpaceX launched Northrop Grumman's trailblazing MRV-MEP satellite-servicing mission to Earth orbit today (July 21).
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That's it for our space update today!
We are (once again) officially on countdown watch for SpaceX's Starship test flight tomorrow (July 23). After last week's last-minute abort, we are hoping that this time the rocket launches when it's supposed to. But I don't think the company is taking any chances, as there is a lot riding on the success of this test flight and this vehicle. Starship is one of two spacecraft (in addition to Blue Origin's Blue Moon) that NASA plans to use to carry humans to the moon on future Artemis missions. It will also be used in the next Artemis mission, Artemis III. Astronauts will test out docking with the two different vehicles. And when there are humans involved, the stakes get infinitely higher and there is no room for error. So fingers crossed on this launch.
And we are also eagerly awaiting the court proceedings regarding the public land that SpaceX somehow got the USFWS to hand over. The concerns of the Indigenous and environmental groups that are forcing the courts to get involved likely reflect the feelings of many people who might take issue with a multi-billion dollar company being given public land that had previously been dedicated wildlife space. In lighter news, we are also thrilled that it is once again Perseids meteor shower season. Find yourself a comfy chair and some friends with patience and enjoy looking up, it's one of the best times of year to appreciate our night skies. And to stay as in the loop as possible, you can now get Space.com right in the palm of your hand with our new app available now on iOS and Android.
Ad astra, per aspera
Chelsea Gohd
Content Manager, Space.com
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