- Ukraine got its hands on North Korean rockets that troops say are wildly unpredictable and ‘do crazy things,’ and they’re lobbing them at the Russians Yahoo News
- Ukraine uses North Korean rockets to blast Russian forces, Financial Times reports Reuters UK
- Is Ukraine using North Korean rockets to blast Russian forces? | Russia-Ukraine War LIVE | WION Live WION
- Ukraine fires North Korean rockets to blast Russian positions Financial Times
- Russia Blows Up Ukrainian Command Post; Missile Attack On Kyiv’s Forces | Zelensky Near Bakhmut Hindustan Times
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: Rockets
SPCE Stock Rockets Ahead Of Virgin Galactic Launch; How To Watch The Commercial Space Flight – Investor’s Business Daily
- SPCE Stock Rockets Ahead Of Virgin Galactic Launch; How To Watch The Commercial Space Flight Investor’s Business Daily
- Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is under fire for offering $450,000 commercial space flights just a week after the Titan submersible tragedy Yahoo! Voices
- Virgin Galactic set to launch crucial 1st commercial SpaceShipTwo mission on Thursday Space.com
- Virgin Galactic looks to the stars with first commercial flight as space wars heat up Fox Business
- Virgin Galactic set to launch its first commercial rocket plane spaceflight Yahoo Canada Finance
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Report: Rockets ‘out of the running’ for Sixers’ James Harden; Clippers named as ‘dark horse’ suitor – Liberty Ballers
- Report: Rockets ‘out of the running’ for Sixers’ James Harden; Clippers named as ‘dark horse’ suitor Liberty Ballers
- Cavaliers speculation, James Harden’s 76ers future & NBA free agency forecast | KJM ESPN
- What should a new Sixers contract for James Harden look like? PhillyVoice.com
- Will James Harden return to the 76ers? + Discussing Tobias Harris’ future | Get Up NBA on ESPN
- Report: Heat’s Gabe Vincent as James Harden replacement? Cavs looking at Georges Niang in free agency? Liberty Ballers
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Submits Bid to Buy Commanders, per Report – Sports Illustrated
- Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Submits Bid to Buy Commanders, per Report Sports Illustrated
- Dan Snyder’s Commanders reportedly ban Jeff Bezos from bidding on team Yahoo Sports
- Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta ‘puts in a $5.5bn offer to buy Washington Commanders’ Daily Mail
- Days After Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Rivalry Gets Exposed, Wealthy NBA Businessman Could Steal His $7 Billion Desire From Under His Nose EssentiallySports
- An Eagles ownership group to rival Washington’s proposed dream team Inside the Iggles
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets set for Starlink double-header
A pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets are on track to round out the first month of 2023 and kick off the second with a Starlink double-header.
“To complete pre-launch checkouts,” SpaceX delayed its last launch of the month by 24 hours. The first Falcon 9 rocket will launch Starlink 2-6 and a D-Orbit rideshare payload no earlier than 8:29 am PST (16:29 UTC) on Monday, January 30th. The mission will lift off from SpaceX’s Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) SLC-4E pad and head southeast, skirting the California and Mexico coast. In case of bad weather or a minor technical issue, a backup window is available at 12:31 pm PST.
As few as 35.5 or 39.5 hours later, a second Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from SpaceX’s Florida-based NASA Kennedy Space Center LC-39A pad around 3:02 am EST on Tuesday, February 1st.
Starlink 2-6
Kicking off the pair, Starlink 2-6 will be SpaceX’s ninth Starlink rideshare mission since the company began manifesting third-party payloads on its internet satellite launches in June 2020. Falcon 9 will launch the mission’s main payload – a batch of 49 Starlink V1.5 satellites – to a semi-polar orbit that will see them cross Earth’s equator at an angle of 70 degrees. Ordinarily, the mission would carry 51 Starlinks, but SpaceX has removed a pair of satellites to make room for Italian space logistics company D-Orbit’s ION SCV009 spacecraft.
ION weighs around 160 kilograms (350 lb) on its own and is roughly the size of a large oven. D-Orbit designed the spacecraft to host fixed payloads and deploy rideshare satellites in orbit. It also has a propulsion system that allows it to provide “last-mile delivery services,” offering rideshare customers the ability to tweak the orbit their satellite ends up in. Space tugs like ION aim to give satellite owners some of the benefits of a dedicated rocket launch (custom orbit selection in particular) while retaining most of the cost savings rideshare launches enable.
After reaching orbit, Falcon 9 will deploy ION first, use thrusters to spin itself end over end, and then release all 49 Starlink satellites simultaneously. The spinning stage’s centrifugal force causes the satellite stack to naturally spread out within several hours. The satellites then use reaction wheels to stabilize their orientation, deploy solar panels to begin charging their batteries, and eventually use ion thrusters to climb to operational orbits.
ION SCV009 will attempt to test a new satellite separation system built by EBAD and demonstrate its ability to operate in very low Earth orbit (VLEO). The spacecraft will potentially lower itself to an altitude of 270 kilometers (170 mi).
Starlink 5-3
Starlink 5-3 will carry no rideshare payloads and will likely be nearly identical to Starlink 5-2, which SpaceX successfully launched on January 26th. The latest mission’s stack of 56 Starlink V1.5 satellites weighed 17.4 tons and was the heaviest payload SpaceX has ever launched. Starlink 5-3 is targeting the same orbit and will likely also carry 56 satellites.
Pad 39A last supported SpaceX’s fifth Falcon Heavy launch on January 15th and has been quickly converted back to its single-core Falcon 9 configuration for Starlink 5-3. After the Starlink mission, Pad 39A has at least two Dragon spacecraft launches scheduled before SpaceX will need to convert it back to a triple-booster configuration for Falcon Heavy’s sixth launch.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch Crew Dragon’s Crew-6 astronaut transport mission no earlier than February 26th, and Cargo Dragon’s Spx-27 cargo delivery mission on March 11th. Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch the giant ViaSat-3 communications satellite no earlier than March 24th.
Tune in below around 8:25 am PST (16:25 UTC) to watch SpaceX Starlink 2-6 launch live.
Nasa to test nuclear rockets that could fly astronauts to Mars in record time | Mars
Nasa has unveiled plans to test nuclear-powered rockets that would fly astronauts to Mars in ultra-fast time.
The agency has partnered with the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) to demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space as soon as 2027, it announced on Tuesday.
The project is intended to develop a pioneering propulsion system for space travel far different from the chemical systems prevalent since the modern era of rocketry dawned almost a century ago.
“Using a nuclear thermal rocket allows for faster transit time, reducing risk for astronauts,” Nasa said in a press release.
“Reducing transit time is a key component for human missions to Mars, as longer trips require more supplies and more robust systems.”
An additional benefit would be increased science payload capacity, and higher power for instrumentation and communication, according to the agency.
Nasa, which successfully tested its new-era Artemis spacecraft last year as a springboard back to the moon and on to Mars, has hopes of landing humans on the red planet some time in the 2030s as part of its Moon to Mars program.
Using current technology, Nasa says, the 300m-mile journey to Mars would take about seven months. Engineers do not yet know how much time could be shaved off using nuclear technology, but Bill Nelson, the Nasa administrator, said it would allow spacecraft, and humans, to travel in deep space at record speed.
“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,” Nelson said.
Nuclear electric propulsion systems use propellants much more efficiently than chemical rockets but provide a low amount of thrust, the agency says.
A reactor generates electricity that positively charges gas propellants like xenon or krypton, pushing the ions out through a thruster, which drives the spacecraft forward.
Using low thrust efficiently, nuclear electric propulsion systems accelerate spacecraft for extended periods and can propel a Mars mission for a fraction of the propellant of high-thrust systems.
In a statement, Darpa’s director, Dr Stefanie Tompkins, said the agreement was an extension of existing collaboration between the agencies.
“Darpa and Nasa have a long history of fruitful collaboration in advancing technologies for our respective goals, from the Saturn V rocket that took humans to the moon for the first time to robotic servicing and refueling of satellites,” she said.
“The space domain is critical to modern commerce, scientific discovery and national security. The ability to accomplish leap-ahead advances in space technology… will be essential for more efficiently and quickly transporting material to the moon and, eventually, people to Mars.”
Nasa’s Artemis 2 mission, which will send humans around the moon for the first time in more than half a century, is scheduled for 2024. The subsequent Artemis 3 mission, which could come the following year, will land astronauts, including the first woman, on the moon’s surface for the first time since 1972.
Launch footage shows how SpaceX recovers its rockets
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket put on a dazzling display of pyrotechnics Sunday evening as the heavy lifter ferried two government payloads to space. Roughly eight minutes later, spectators were treated to a double landing of the rocket’s two side boosters back at Cape Canaveral.
Sonic booms crackled overhead as the landings marked the 163rd and 164th successful booster recoveries for SpaceX. The rocket’s center core was discarded in the ocean due to fuel requirements necessary to deliver the payload to orbit.
One spectator in particular captured incredibly detailed footage of Falcon Heavy’s carefully choreographed orbital ballet that helps each rocket nail its landings.
SpaceX rockets are made up of four key components: the first stage, the second (or upper) stage, an interstage that connects the two together, as well as a payload fairing, which houses whatever cargo or satellites the rocket is carrying.
Two of those components, the first stage and the payload fairings, are designed to be reusable and together account for nearly 70 percent of the rocket’s cost, according to SpaceX.
After a SpaceX rocket launches, it goes through a series of steps that are designed to ensure the payload gets to its intended orbit. But after the first and second stages separate, the second stage continues on with the payload, while the first stage prepares to return to Earth where it will land either on land or on a floating platform in the ocean.
Once the first stage separates, the booster begins a sort of orbital ballet where it will flip around in mid air, and fires three of its engines as part of a boostback burn, which will orient itself for landing. This flip maneuver can be seen in detail in the launch footage from Astronomy Live.
The boostback burn is the first of three landing burns needed to slow the rocket down so that it can avoid a crash landing. Next, the booster will deploy a set of titanium grid fins which are used to help steer the rocket. Then the craft will light its engines again briefly for an entry burn, when it reenters the Earth’s atmosphere.
The booster is then guided to its landing spot with the help of the grid fins before its engines light one final time, as it ideally gently comes in for a landing.
SpaceX has been recovering rockets this way since 2015, when it recovered its first booster at Cape Canaveral.
James Harden mulling free agent return to Rockets
All-Star guard James Harden is seriously considering a return to the Houston Rockets in free agency this July — if he decides against a new deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN.
Harden and his inner circle have been openly weighing Houston in recent months, sources said, a remarkable possibility given that he requested and received a trade out of the franchise less than two years ago.
His future with the 76ers remains a fluid proposition, one that has been buoyed with seven straight victories on the way into a Christmas Day meeting with the New York Knicks (noon ET on ABC and ESPN). Harden is on a productive roll with All-NBA center Joel Embiid, and the state of that partnership and the Sixers’ postseason success could well be telltale factors in how Harden proceeds past this season. Experiencing a deep playoff run in a rabid, hungry Philadelphia marketplace could positively impact his thinking — just as the fallout of an early exit could, too.
Harden signed a two-year, $68.6 million contract with the Sixers, including a player option for 2023-24 that allows him to reenter free agency this summer. The Sixers are 19-12, fifth in the East and expect to return burgeoning star Tyrese Maxey in the coming week.
Despite forcing his way out of the Rockets in January 2021, Harden has maintained something of a magnetic pull to Houston, drawn to the community, lifestyle and family there, sources said. After what would become relatively brief stops in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, a move back to a rebuilding Rockets franchise would effectively represent comfort and familiarity over an immediate championship pursuit.
For next summer, the Rockets are flush with salary cap space and an appetite to make significant improvement in the standings. Rockets officials will have to evaluate how they believe Harden’s arrival would benefit the development of its young core of talent, including Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Kevin Porter Jr., but his stature and talent still make him an attractive proposition.
In his post-Houston stops with Embiid and Kevin Durant, Harden has continued to evolve as a pass-first guard. He’s leading the NBA with 10.9 assists per game — including a career-high 21 in a victory over the LA Clippers on Friday.
Harden spent eight-plus All-Star seasons with the Rockets, a stretch that included a 2018 MVP award and a trip to the Western Conference finals. Harden won three straight scoring titles with the Rockets and ranks second to Hakeem Olajuwon in all-time franchise scoring — and first in assists.
After cycling through hand-picked co-stars including Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, Harden became disenchanted with the Rockets — and eventually the Nets, too. The Sixers traded Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two future first-round picks to the Nets as part of a package to acquire Harden in February.
For all of Harden’s history and connection with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and CEO Tad Brown, his working relationships with Embiid and coach Doc Rivers resemble something closer to a work in progress. The Sixers gave up significant assets to acquire Harden, and he’s expected to remain a priority to re-sign on a new deal for a second consecutive summer.
Israel strikes ‘rocket factory’ in Gaza after rockets launched at south
The Israeli military struck the Gaza Strip early Friday morning, hours after four rockets were launched at Israel from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces said it launched airstrikes at a “unique” underground rocket manufacturing facility used by the Hamas terror group.
It published a satellite photo of what it said was the site, showing an area near several buildings and agricultural plots on the northwest edge of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. It said it was the third such facility hit since April.
“The strike was carried out in response to launches from Gazan territory to Israeli territory earlier this evening,” the IDF said in a statement just before 4 a.m.
The commander of the IDF Southern Command’s so-called “fire center,” which coordinates the unit’s offensive operations, said the site was bombed with 19 tons of munitions.
“It will result in harming the Hamas terror group’s attempts to build up and arm itself,” said Col. Yud, who can only be identified by the initial of his first name in Hebrew.
تخيل معي كمية الاصابات النفسية عند اهل غزة نتيجة قصف الاحتلال هذه الليلة! pic.twitter.com/Jtm1MG8tXr
— أحمد حجازي ???????????? (@ahmedhijazee) November 4, 2022
The Palestinian Shehab news agency said a “resistance site” in al-Maghazi had been hit.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Photos shared on social media showed fireballs and smoke in Gaza from the airstrikes. Successive strikes could be seen hitting the same area repeatedly in unverified video footage as jets were heard screaming overhead.
صور للغارات الجوية التي شنتها طائرات الاحتلال على موقع الكتيبة 13 التابع للمقاومة الفلسطينية في مخيم المغازي وسط قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/NsdYOXFaHh
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 4, 2022
Amid the strikes, Palestinians apparently fired heavy machine-gun fire at Israeli aircraft over the coastal enclave. At least one home in the southern city of Sderot was struck by a large bullet as they fell back down to earth.
Heavy machine-gun fire from Gaza amid the IDF strikes apparently hit a home in Sderot. pic.twitter.com/ihovAa5Ugu
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 4, 2022
The retaliatory attack came after four rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel Thursday.
One rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system over a border town, and the other three fell short in the Strip, according to the Israeli military.
There were no reports of injuries or damage following the rocket attacks.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the launches, but the IDF said it held Hamas responsible.
The rocket fire came hours after a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad was killed during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. The Gaza-based PIJ identified Farouk Salameh as a “commander” in the terror group.
In a joint statement, the IDF and Border Police said Salameh was involved in the killing of a veteran police commando earlier this year, and had been planning further attacks.
In this undated photo, Farouk Salameh is seen wearing a Palestinian Islamic Jihad uniform in the West Bank city of Jenin. (Social media)
Israel generally responds with airstrikes against Hamas sites regardless of the group launching the attack, noting that it is responsible for any attacks emanating from the territory. More rarely, it has directed its response at Islamic Jihad, if the terror group claimed responsibility.
The last time rockets were fired from the coastal enclave toward Israel was during a three-day battle against Islamic Jihad in August, during which it launched some 1,175 rockets.
Tensions have soared in the West Bank recently as the IDF has pressed on with an anti-terror offensive mostly focused on the northern West Bank, though the violence has not generally spread to Gaza.
The campaign has netted more than 2,000 arrests in near-nightly raids, but has also left over 125 Palestinians dead, many of them — but not all — while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces.
Earlier Thursday, Israel said it was removing checkpoints in and out of the city of Nablus. Israel had imposed the restrictions weeks ago, clamping down on the city in response to a new terror group known as the Lions’ Den. The military has conducted repeated operations in the city in recent weeks, killing or arresting the group’s top commanders.
The IDF’s anti-terror offensive in the West Bank was launched following a series of Palestinian attacks that killed 19 people earlier this year.
An Israeli man was killed in an attack in Hebron on Saturday, another woman was killed in a suspected attack in September, and four soldiers have been killed in the West Bank in attacks and during the arrest operations.
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The close-up view of two Falcon rockets landing is as majestic as you think
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Two Falcon rockets returning to the roost on Tuesday morning after launching a military mission into space.
Trevor Mahlmann -
A close-up on the nearest booster burning a single Merlin engine to slow down.
Trevor Mahlmann -
Two Falcons almost down on the ground.
Trevor Mahlmann -
Kicking up some dust.
Trevor Mahlmann
On Tuesday morning, a Falcon Heavy rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center, carrying a pair of satellites for the US Space Force to geostationary orbit.
This was the fourth overall launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, but it marked the first time that SpaceX invited a handful of photographers to set up remote cameras next to Landing Zone 2, which is located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is one of two concrete pads where Falcon 9 rockets launched from Florida occasionally land.
Each of the circular landing pads, which measure 86 meters in diameter, was busy on Tuesday morning with the return of a pair of side-boosters from the Falcon Heavy launch. After separating from the core stage of the heavy rocket, these boosters then made a propulsive descent. The first touched down 8 minutes and 15 seconds after launch. The second followed five seconds later.
Trevor Mahlmann, shooting for Ars, was among those invited to capture the moment of touchdown. The official video of the launch and landing is impressive, but Mahlmann’s shots (and video) do a great job of capturing the fire and fury of the rockets as a single engine burns to bring the rocket’s velocity to near zero.
SpaceX will now refurbish these side boosters for reuse on the military’s next Falcon Heavy mission, USSF-67, as early as next January. The center core was not recovered and landed far down range in the Atlantic Ocean.
Listing image by Trevor Mahlmann