Tag: Coronavirus
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SpaceX plans another Starlink launch next week
A view of 60 Starlink satellites stacked before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of satellites for the Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as April 16, a sign that launch operations at Cape Canaveral could continue at a reduced pace amid the global coronavirus pandemic.…
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Blue Origin uses 3-D printers to make visors for medical face shields as well as rocket parts
A worker at Blue Origin’s production facility in Kent, Wash., gets 3-D printed face shield visors ready for shipping. (Blue Origin via Twitter) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture isn’t just turning out parts for rocket ships nowadays: It’s also using 25 of its additive manufacturing machines to turn out 3-D printed visors…
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Space companies rally to supply medical equipment amid pandemic
A “bridge ventilator” designed by Virgin Orbit. Credit: Virgin Orbit While production of rockets and satellites continues across much of the space industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, engineers at several space companies — including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and Blue Origin — have started working on medical devices and protective equipment in response to shortages in…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says three workers in Kent have tested positive for coronavirus
Engineers work on the New Shepard suborbital spaceship’s crew capsule at Blue Origin’s production facility in Kent, Wash. (Credit: Blue Origin) Three employees at Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture have tested positive for coronavirus and are now in quarantine, a spokeswoman for the company says. One case came to light on Friday,…
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Video: Astronauts participate in Crew Dragon launch day dress rehearsal
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, assigned to fly SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on its first piloted mission into orbit, participated in a dress rehearsal of their suit-up procedures and a trip to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17, 2020. NASA and SpaceX officials organized the practice…
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Photos: Astronauts train to ride a Dragon into space
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, two veteran space shuttle fliers, are gearing up to fly a privately-developed SpaceX Dragon capsule into orbit this year. The two astronauts participated in several major training events in March, including long-duration simulations to rehearse procedures they will execute during launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, their docking…
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Crew training continues for SpaceX’s first launch with astronauts
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley inside the Crew Dragon spaceship they will ride into orbit as soon as mid-to-late May. Credit: SpaceX During a visit to Cape Canaveral this week, NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken strapped in to the SpaceX crew capsule they will ride into orbit as soon as mid-to-late…
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ESA science missions back in action after coronavirus-related shutdown
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab Four of the European Space Agency’s robotic missions, including the agency’s two Mars orbiters, are resuming science operations after a stand-down triggered by the positive diagnosis of an employee at ESA’s control center in Germany with the coronavirus. ESA said Thursday that the four…
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Amid ‘rapidly evolving’ COVID-19 outbreak, Blue Origin’s launch plans spark debate
Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spaceship sits on its launch pad in advance of a test flight in 2018. (Blue Origin Photo) Discussions about future launch plans for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture have reportedly generated internal acrimony due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak — and that, in turn, has generated…
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Pandemic prompts few changes to busy month on space station
The International Space Station’s robotic arm and Dextre, a two-handed robotic aide, extract the European Bartolomeo platform from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft in this March 25 photo. Credit: NASA U.S. and Russian vehicles ferrying crews and cargo will continue traveling to and from the International Space Station this month, sustaining the orbiting…