So much for SpaceX resuming rocket launches before 2016 is over. Elon Musk's spaceflight company now expects to launch a Falcon 9 rocket in early January, when it will carry Iridium-1 into orbit. Iridium had previously hinted that the rocket might...
I know I am not the only person who has spent time configuring cars on automaker’s websites with no intention of buying the car. I just want to see how much what I like would cost. United Launch Alliance or ULA has a new website called RocketBuilder that is basically the same thing, but for putting payloads into orbit.
You can use the configurator to choose when to launch, what type of orbit you want, the type of rocket you want and how much your payload weighs. The site also lets you choose your level of service with things like instruments and other services.
A basic launch is in the area of $109 million, with tens of millions of dollars in options available to choose from. I wonder how many bogus launch information requests the website will get. Probably a lot.
NASA is a little nervous about SpaceX's future crewed flights. The Wall Street Journal has obtained a letter from December 2015 showing that an agency International Space Station committee has been worried about the safety of SpaceX's planned fuelin...
SpaceX hasn't yet pinpointed the ultimate cause of its Falcon 9 explosion from September, but it's far enough into the investigation that it's ready to get back to business. The private spaceflight firm now says its inquiry is in an "advanced state,"...
If you like writing with fancy pens, MB&F and Switzerland-based pen maker Caran d’Ache have created a beautiful pen in the shape of a rocket ship. It is called the Astrograph and it was four years in the making. It may just be the coolest pen ever.
The cap has retractable landing gear and a tiny ladder for a miniature, magnetic astronaut figure, and the packaging doubles as a launch pad display stand.
The pen features an ink pump but can also work with cartridges. Its nib is made from rhodium-plated 18K gold, and its body can be had in rhodium-plate or ruthenium-anthracite plate. Both can be done in either matte or polished finishes.
Each version is limited to 99 pieces. Sadly, the price is astronomical at roughly $20,000 per pen. This is one pen that you don’t want to lose.
[A Blog to Watch via Gizmodo via Nerd Approved]