Saturday, October 18, 2025

China's LandSpace Transports ZhuQue-3 Y1 Commercial Rocket to Launchpad

China's LandSpace Transports ZhuQue-3 Y1 Commercial Rocket to Launchpad


"Land to Infinity (极限征途)"
Launch preparations for Landspace's new ZhuQue-3 (ZQ-3) Y1 liquid-fueled reusable rocket are progressing steadily as planned. The launch vehicle has been successfully transported over 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Landspace's Jiaxing manufacturing facility in China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang to the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in northwestern China.

"Across the dusty land, with stars and dawns—the journey of a rocket that never stops . . ."
穿越风尘与黎明,往返星辰与大地

China's independently developed Zhuque-3 reusable commercial rocket has completed ground tests on its systems and will take its maiden flight in the fourth quarter of the year, aiming to become the country's first vertically reusable liquid-fueled rocket, according to the rocket's developer LandSpace.

With a diameter of 4.5 meters and a total length of around 66 meters, the Zhuque-3 rocket can carry up to 18 satellites per launch.

Equipped with landing legs and grid fins for controlled descent, the rocket is designed to vertically recover its most expensive component–the first stage. This accounts for 70 percent of the total rocket cost.

As its first stage is designed to be reused at least 20 times, the rocket has the potential to reduce launch costs by 80 to 90 percent compared with single-use rockets.

Powered by a parallel cluster of nine liquid oxygen-methane engines, the first-stage can achieve meter-level landing precision, since five of the engines are capable of gimballing.

In addition, these engines produce a combined thrust of more than 7,500 kilonewtons, setting a new record for Chinese commercial liquid-fueled rockets.

On, June 20, 2025, LandSpace conducted a crucial ground ignition test of the first-stage propulsion system at the Dongfeng commercial space innovation zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The 45-second test utilized a first-stage structure that is consistent with the technical status of the Zhuque-3's maiden flight mission and validated the compatibility among all major subsystems, according to LandSpace.

Beijing-based LandSpace is a leading Chinese private space company. With its Zhuque-2 rocket, LandSpace became the world's first company to launch a methane-liquid oxygen rocket to Earth orbit in July 2023, ahead of U.S. rivals, including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

The successful Zhuque-3 development marks a significant stride in the pursuit of low-cost, high-frequency, and large-capacity space launches for China's private space industry.

The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) was founded in 1958. It was the first of China's four spaceports. The launch center has been the focus of many of China's historic space ventures, including the country's first satellite Dong Fang Hong I in 1970 and their first crewed space mission, Shenzhou V, on October 15, 2003. JSLC is now a home for many new Chinese commercial space launch firms, like Landspace.


Credit: LandSpace
Duration: 2 minutes, 27 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 17, 2025

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #LEO #China #中国 #LandSpace #蓝箭 #Zhuque3Rocket #Zhuque3 #ReusableRockets #LaunchVehicles #MethaneLiquidOxygen #Methalox #Jiaxing #嘉兴市 #Zhejiang #浙江 #JiuquanSatelliteLaunchCenter #JSLC #酒泉卫星发射中心 #InnerMongolia #CommercialSpace #CommercialSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Shapley Supercluster in Centaurus | Hubble Space Telescope

The Shapley Supercluster in Centaurus | Hubble Space Telescope

The Shapley Supercluster or Shapley Concentration (SCl 124) is one of the largest concentration of galaxies in the Universe. It forms a gravitationally interacting unit, pulling itself together instead of expanding with the rest of the Universe. It appears as a striking overdensity in the distribution of galaxies in the constellation of Centaurus. It is 650 million light-years from Earth.


Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Image Processing: Judy Schmidt
Release Date: Feb. 5, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #ShapleySupercluster #SCl124  #ShapleyConcentration #Centaurus #Constellations #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #JudySchmidt #CitizenScience #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Friday, October 17, 2025

Journey to The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory

Journey to The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory


This zoom takes the viewer from a wide view of the central parts of the Milky Way deep into a detailed picture of the Messier 8 star formation region—the Lagoon Nebula—from the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. Commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, Messier 8 (M8) was discovered in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. He, like Charles Messier, sought to catalog nebulous objects in the night sky so they would not be mistaken for comets. This star-forming cloud of interstellar gas is located in the constellation Sagittarius, and its apparent magnitude of 6 makes it faintly visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, and easily seen with binoculars or small telescopes. The best time to observe M8 is during August.

Located 5,200 light-years from Earth, M8 is home to its own star cluster: NGC 6530 (not visible in the image above). The massive stars embedded within the nebula give off enormous amounts of ultraviolet radiation, ionizing the gas and causing it to shine.


Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team
Duration: 50 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #LagoonNebula #NGC6523 #Messier8 #M8 #HourglassNebula #Sagittarius #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VST #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Scenes of The Lagoon Nebula | European Southern Observatory

Scenes of The Lagoon Nebula | European Southern Observatory

These excerpts are small sections from a new VLT Survey Telescope (VST) image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. Commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, Messier 8 (M8) was discovered in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. He, like Charles Messier, sought to catalog nebulous objects in the night sky so they would not be mistaken for comets. This star-forming cloud of interstellar gas is located in the constellation Sagittarius, and its apparent magnitude of 6 makes it faintly visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, and easily seen with binoculars or small telescopes. The best time to observe M8 is during August.

Located 5,200 light-years from Earth, M8 is home to its own star cluster: NGC 6530 (not visible in the image above). The massive stars embedded within the nebula give off enormous amounts of ultraviolet radiation, ionizing the gas and causing it to shine.


Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #LagoonNebula #NGC6523 #Messier8 #M8 #HourglassNebula #Sagittarius #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VST #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Close-up: The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory

Close-up: The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile captured this richly detailed image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. Commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, Messier 8 (M8) was discovered in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. He, like Charles Messier, sought to catalog nebulous objects in the night sky so they would not be mistaken for comets. This star-forming cloud of interstellar gas is located in the constellation Sagittarius, and its apparent magnitude of 6 makes it faintly visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, and easily seen with binoculars or small telescopes. The best time to observe M8 is during August.

Located 5,200 light-years from Earth, M8 is home to its own star cluster: NGC 6530 (not visible in the image above). The massive stars embedded within the nebula give off enormous amounts of ultraviolet radiation, ionizing the gas and causing it to shine.


Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team
Duration: 1 minutes, 36 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #LagoonNebula #NGC6523 #Messier8 #M8 #HourglassNebula #Sagittarius #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VST #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory

The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius | European Southern Observatory


The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile captured this richly detailed image of the Lagoon Nebula. This giant cloud of gas and dust is creating intensely bright young stars, and is home to young stellar clusters. Commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, Messier 8 (M8) was discovered in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. He, like Charles Messier, sought to catalog nebulous objects in the night sky so they would not be mistaken for comets. This star-forming cloud of interstellar gas is located in the constellation Sagittarius, and its apparent magnitude of 6 makes it faintly visible to the unaided eye in dark skies, and easily seen with binoculars or small telescopes. The best time to observe M8 is during August.

Located 5,200 light-years from Earth, M8 is home to its own star cluster: NGC 6530 (not visible in the image above). The massive stars embedded within the nebula give off enormous amounts of ultraviolet radiation, ionizing the gas and causing it to shine.


Credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2014

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #LagoonNebula #NGC6523 #Messier8 #M8 #HourglassNebula #Sagittarius #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VST #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Zodiacal Light above The Pacific Ocean | Earth Science

Zodiacal Light above The Pacific Ocean | Earth Science

The Zodiacal light above the Pacific Ocean from the Atacama Desert in Chile.🤩 

What's that strange light? 

Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals into the Sun.


Image Credit: Yuri Beletsky
Yuri's Website: https://t.co/R7LL6StS9N
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Sun #Planets #Earth #PacificOcean #Chile #Sunlight #CosmicDust #ZodiacalLight #SolarSystem #DarkSkies #LightPollution #Astrophotographer #YuriBeletsky #Astrophotography #STEM #Education

The Milky Way Galaxy with Zodiacal Light & Aurora | International Space Station

The Milky Way Galaxy with Zodiacal Light & Aurora | International Space Station

Zodiacal light right after orbital sunset and The Milky Way galaxy.  
The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow. Green and yellow airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. Unlike episodic and fleeting auroras, airglow shines constantly throughout Earth’s atmosphere, and the result is a tenuous bubble of light that closely encases our entire planet.
The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow during orbital sunset.
The Milky Way Galaxy and Earth airglow.
Stars and Earth aurora

These images were captured by Expedition 73 flight engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui aboard the International Space Station. 

At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset—or just before sunrise—and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and that it slowly spirals into the Sun.

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity.


Expedition 73 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)
JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov
NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/Kimiya Yui
Release Dates: Oct. 13 & 16, 2025


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #MilkyWayGalaxy #SolarSystem #Earth #ZodiacalLight #Aurora #AstronautPhotography #Astronauts #KimiyaYui #油井亀美也 #Japan #日本 #JAXA #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): New View from Georgia, USA

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): New View from Georgia, USA

Astrophotographer Greg: "Even with the Moon in sight this comet is proving to be a wonderful gift to image! Taken around 6:30am EST."

Comet Lemmon is brightening and moving into morning northern skies. Besides Comet SWAN25B and Comet ATLAS, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is now the third comet currently visible with binoculars and on long camera exposures. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year and is still headed into the inner Solar System. The comet will round the Sun on November 8, but first it will pass its nearest to the Earth—at about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21. 

Although the brightnesses of comets are notoriously hard to predict, optimistic estimates have Comet Lemmon then becoming visible to the unaided eye. The comet should be best seen in predawn skies until mid-October, when it also becomes visible in evening skies.

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It borders Tennessee to the northwest, North Carolina and South Carolina to the northeast, Atlantic Ocean to the east, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west.


Image Credit: Greg 
Capture Location: Georgia, United States
Photographer's website: https://Ournightsky.us
Image Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #Greg #OurNighSkyUS #Astrophotographers #Georgia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Thursday, October 16, 2025

The Moon's Aristarchus Crater: Central Peak | NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The Moon's Aristarchus Crater: Central Peak | NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Central peak of Aristarchus Crater on Moon's near side
Aristarchus Crater on Moon's near side (wide view)

Deeper than the Earth's Grand Canyon, Aristarchus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northwest part of the Moon's near side. It is considered the brightest of the large formations on the lunar surface with an albedo nearly double that of most lunar features. The feature is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, and displays unusually bright features when viewed through a large telescope. It is also readily identified when most of the lunar surface is illuminated by earthshine.

The dark rim of Aristarchus crater (23.7°N, 312.5°E) dramatically highlights its bright interior and central peak. There are more than 2700 meters of relief from the rim to the crater floor, and the central peak is 3,000 meters wide (left-to-right) and 400 meters tall. Image acquired from an altitude of 96 kilometers looking east-to-west, 12 kilometers wide in the center, 

Albedo (brightness) differences on the Moon are predominantly due to varying abundances of iron and titanium, and space weathering processes. Other physical properties of the rock also have important effects on albedo, such as whether it is crystalline or glass. Glass forms when molten rock cools so rapidly (quenches) that it does not have time to crystallize into minerals. Such rapid cooling is common in explosive volcanic eruptions and impact events. Around and in Aristarchus crater, both of these processes are important.

Adjacent to Aristarchus crater is the Aristarchus plateau, one of the largest volcanic centers on the Moon. Here we find one of the largest rilles, a massive pyroclastic deposit, and the source of extensive flood basalts. These volcanic materials are considered relatively young (for the Moon)—1.5 to 2.5 billion years. The pyroclastic deposit formed when magma was explosively ejected from the vent and broke into small droplets quenched as glass in the cold vacuum of space as they fell back to the surface. Due to their high glass content, the pyroclastic deposits are distinctly low in albedo (relatively dark), providing a dark background for the bright Aristarchus crater. Within the crater, a portion of these pyroclastic deposits may be visible as the darkest areas on the far wall, and glassy impact melt is moderately lower in reflectance than the bright, rocky materials exposed on areas of the crater floor and walls. 

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).


Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/LROC/School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University
Image ID: NAC M1259171271LR
Text Credit: Mark Robinson
Release Date: Dec. 1, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #Geology #Geoscience #Aristarchus #AristarchusCrater #LunarNearSide #LRO #LunarOrbiter #LunarSpacecraft #LROC #SpaceRobotics #SpaceTechnology #GSFC #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education

Eta Carinae: 2D Images to 3D Models of Massive Star Eruption | STScI

Eta Carinae: 2D Images to 3D Models of Massive Star Eruption | STScI

This visualization showcases the multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Carinae, one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy.

Two of NASA’s Great Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have observed Eta Carinae using visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light, as well as in the Hydrogen Alpha emission line. These 2D portraits have been modeled by astronomers and artists to create a 3D visualization that brings the telescope images to life.

The sequence presents the layered model one wavelength region at a time, and builds up the complex nested structure. The viewer gets a full 360-degree view and can assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations.


Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Visualization: J. Olmsted, D. Player, L. Hustak, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, F. Summers (STScI), NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)
Images: J. Morse (BoldlyGo Inst), N. Smith (U Arizona), NASA, ESA, STScI, CXC
Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2025


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #AGCarinae #Carina #Constellations #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #HST #GSFC #STScI #NASAChandra #CXC #SpaceTelescopes #XrayAstronomy #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualizations #2D #3D #HD #Video

Close-up: SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster Liftoff | 11th Flight Test

Close-up: SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster Liftoff 11th Flight Test


Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 
Watch the full flight here:

"This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy."

"The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space."

"Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down."

"Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:
Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Duration: 14 seconds
Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster: Liftoff & Landing | 11th Flight Test

SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster: Liftoff & Landing 11th Flight Test





Starship lifted off at 6:23 p.m. Central Time (CT) October 13, 2025, on its eleventh flight test. 
Watch the full flight here:

"This was the final flight of the second-generation Starship and first generation Super Heavy booster, as well as the final launch from the current configuration of Pad 1. Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy."

"The flight test began with Super Heavy igniting all 33 Raptor engines and ascending over the Gulf. The successful first-stage ascent was followed by a hot-staging maneuver with Starship’s upper stage igniting its six Raptor engines to continue its flight to space."

"Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster completed its boostback burn to put it on a course to a pre-planned splashdown zone off the coast of Texas using 12 of the 13 planned engines. Under the same angle of attack tested on the previous flight, the booster descended until successfully igniting all 13 planned engines (including one that did not relight during the boostback burn) for the high-thrust portion of the landing burn. The booster successfully executed a unique landing burn planned for use on the next generation booster. Super Heavy hovered above the water before shutting down its engines and splashing down."

"Focus now turns to the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy with multiple vehicles currently in active build and preparing for tests. This next iteration will be used for the first Starship orbital flights, operational payload missions, propellant transfer, and more as we iterate to a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle with service to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is currently the "world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed", capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:
Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Date: Oct. 13, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipSpacecraft #Starship11 #StarshipTestFlight11 #SuperHeavyBooster #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #StarbaseTexas #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Georgia, USA

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon): View from Georgia, USA

Astrophotographer Greg: "Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is turning out to be a beautiful sight! This as around 6am EST."

Comet Lemmon is brightening and moving into morning northern skies. Besides Comet SWAN25B and Comet ATLAS, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is now the third comet currently visible with binoculars and on long camera exposures. Comet Lemmon was discovered early this year and is still headed into the inner Solar System. The comet will round the Sun on November 8, but first it will pass its nearest to the Earth—at about half the Earth-Sun distance—on October 21. 

Although the brightnesses of comets are notoriously hard to predict, optimistic estimates have Comet Lemmon then becoming visible to the unaided eye. The comet should be best seen in predawn skies until mid-October, when it also becomes visible in evening skies.

Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States. It borders Tennessee to the northwest, North Carolina and South Carolina to the northeast, Atlantic Ocean to the east, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west.


Image Credit: Greg 
Capture Location: Georgia, United States
Photographer's website: https://Ournightsky.us
Image Date: Oct. 15, 2025


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Comets #CometC2025A6Lemmon #Coma #CometaryTails #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #Greg #OurNighSkyUS #Astrophotographers #Georgia #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Martian Dunes Frozen in Time | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Sand dunes are found in many places on Mars. At most of these places the dunes are slowly moving, blown by the wind, just like on Earth. However, in this location in south Melas Chasma they appear to have turned to stone.

The large dunes are slowly being eroded and disappearing, replaced by smaller structures of scalloped sand. This enhanced color image is less than 1 km.

This HiRISE camera image was captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) at an altitude of 262 kilometers (163 miles).

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). It was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Washington.

For more information on MRO, visit:

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Capture Date: Dec. 1, 2019
Release Date: May 19, 2025


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Geology #Geoscience #Landscape #Terrain #MelasChasma #SandDunes #MRO #MarsOrbiter #MarsSpacecraft #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

How Do Gravity Assists for Spacecraft Work? | European Space Agency

How Do Gravity Assists for Spacecraft Work? | European Space Agency

 

Is there life on Terran V? Join the adventure to this fictional planet and find out what it takes to reach the farthest frontiers of deep space.

This video uses a fictional spacecraft and star system to illustrate a gravity assist maneuver—also known as a planetary flyby or swingby. The gravity assist is one of the most important techniques in deep-space navigation. By carefully passing close to a planet, a spacecraft can exchange orbital momentum with the much larger body. From the spacecraft’s perspective, this results in a change in trajectory and a significant boost (or reduction) in speed relative to the star at the center of the system, without needing to use much fuel.

While the Terran system may be fictional, the physics behind gravity assists is very real. European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft, such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), BepiColombo, Rosetta, Solar Orbiter and Hera carry out gravity assists during their journeys at planets within our Solar System.

Teams at the European Space Agency's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, carefully plan and execute these maneuvers to enable ESA missions to reach distant destinations that would otherwise require far more fuel than the spacecraft or its launcher could realistically carry.

By using the gravity of the planets as a slingshot, we can explore space farther, faster and attempt to answer some of the greatest scientific questions of our time.


Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Oct. 15, 2025


#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #DeepSpace #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video