Astronomers believe the green laser beams spotted over the Hawaiian Islands last month came from a Chinese satellite.
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) said in a January 30 tweet that the space agency’s Subaru-Asahi Star Camera on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawai’i.
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On Jan 28, 2023, HST, Subaru-Asahi Star Camera captured green laser lights in the cloudy sky over Maunakea, Hawai`i. The lights are thought to be from a remote-sensing altimeter satellite ICESAT-2/43613. Watch the video:<a href="https://t.co/xqoJvSa24s">https://t.co/xqoJvSa24s</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SubaruTelescope?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SubaruTelescope</a> <a href="https://t.co/5hhIsewuNp">pic.twitter.com/5hhIsewuNp</a>
&mdash; Subaru Telescope Eng (@SubaruTel_Eng) <a href="https://twitter.com/SubaruTel_Eng/status/1620210575111327745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Although the agency initially believed the lights came from a NASA remote-sensing altimeter satellite known as an ICESAT-2/43613, which <a href="https://www.cnet.com/science/space/those-weird-green-space-lights-over-hawaii-didnt-come-from-nasa/">CNET</a> described as NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 that shoots lasers at Earth to measure the surface of the planet.
Officials corrected the original statement on February 6, saying NASA scientists “did a simulation of the trajectory of satellites that have a similar instrument and found a most likely candidate as the ACDL instrument by the Chinese Daqi-1/AEMS satellite.”
“We really appreciate their efforts in the identification of the light,” NAOJ wrote. “We are sorry about our confusion related to this event and its potential impact on the ICESat-2 team.”
The University of Hawaii, Institute of Astronomy’s Roy Gal told <a href="https://ktla.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/chinese-satellite-beams-green-lasers-over-hawaii/">KHON2</a> the beams came from a Chinese satellite that measures pollutants, “among other things.”
“It has many different instruments on it … Some kind of topographical mapping or they’re also used for measuring stuff in Earth’s atmosphere, and I think that’s what it is, environmental measurement satellite.”
Gal added the U.S. has satellites performing the same tasks.
Still, China’s spacecraft does not pose a risk to the islands or locals as tensions between the U.S. and China rise amid spy satellites and other devices owned by the Chinese regime entering U.S. air space, which has prompted the deployment of U.S. military fighter jets several times to strike down the objects.
“No, it’s not a risk to Hawaii or anyplace else, too,” Gal said. ”We have aircraft making these measurements all the time. If you’ve seen topographical maps with high precision, those are made using sometimes this kind of thing.”
Ray L’Heureux, a former chief of staff of Marine Forces Pacific, told the news outlet aired a different opinion surrounding the laser beams.
“I’m not sure, and this is my opinion, why the Chinese — who are probably some of the most prolific polluters on the planet — would be collecting data on pollutants on this side of the Pacific,” L’Heureux said.
L’Heureux noted that due to the tensions between the U.S. and China, “people are a little antsy, and I think we just need to be a little bit more aware, vigilant.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="A Rare View of the Green Laser Scan from the Space 2023-1-28 UT / 稀な宇宙からのレーザースキャンシーンを捉えた！マウナケアからの風景" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vn_PMiND4Yw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Stargazing

Astronomers Say Chinese Satellite Beamed Green Lasers Over Hawaii

China

Hawaii

NASA

U.S. Air Force

United States Space Force

For the first time in roughly 50,000 years, back in the Neanderthal Age, a rare green comet will be seen from Earth as it hurtles through space orbiting the sun on Wednesday night.
About 26.4 million miles from Earth, Comet C/2022 E3, which was discovered last March by astronomers at Caltech&#8217;s Palomar Observatory in San Diego, will leave a trail of dust behind it as appears near the constellation Camelopardalis toward the northeast. Since its discovery, the comet has grown brighter as it has crossed the northern constellation Corona Borealis.
“The comet is in the north of our skies, currently close to Polaris, the pole star directly due north,” Jake Foster of the Royal Observatory explained to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/31/what-is-the-green-comet-and-how-can-you-see-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a>. “The comet is best viewed after midnight, when it reaches its highest point in the sky. It will move a significant distance across the sky from night to night as it makes its way towards the constellation of Taurus over the coming weeks. With a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to spot the comet as a faint green blob. It you are lucky and your skies are particularly dark you may even be able to see one of its vast tails, too.”
“While it may yet become possible to see it with the unaided eye from an extremely dark site, you are much better off pointing a pair of binoculars or a small telescope at it,&#8221; Dr Greg Brown of the Royal Observatory Greenwich <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11700141/Look-tonight-generation-green-comet-zip-past-Earth.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cautioned</a>. “Easiest to see will be the brighter head of the comet, but, if you are lucky, you may spot one of its two tails sweeping out from it, each made of material being jettisoned from its rapidly warming icy surface.&#8221;
Planetary scientist Stefanie Milam of NASA, noting that NASA will study the comet with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), said, “We’re going to be looking for the fingerprints of given molecules that we can’t access from the ground. Because JWST’s so sensitive, we’re expecting new discoveries.&#8221;
The green color of the comet comes as a result of sunlight and carbon-based molecules in the ice and dust encircling the comet.
Comets typically come from the Oort cloud at the solar system’s edge, farther even than the Kuiper Belt, and is thought to consist of a icy space debris that forms a giant spherical shell that surrounds the solar system. Billions or trillions of objects can be contained within it.
But as comets approach the sun, they melt, triggering gas and dust to be released from their surface by solar radiation and plasma; that then creates the “tail.”
In the case of Comet C/2022 E3, some experts believe that an unusually strong solar wind emanating from the sun from a coronal mass ejection (CME) caused it to be released.

Green Comet Passes By Earth For First Time In 50,000 Years

First Time In 50,000 Years: Rare Green Comet Appearing To Earth Tonight

Air &amp; Space

Comet

Neanderthal

World

Walter Cunningham, the last surviving member of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/apollo-11-what-we-saw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apollo</a> 7 mission and a Korean War veteran, has died in a Houston hospital at 90. 
According to a family spokesman, Jeff Carr, Cunningham <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/apollo-7-astronaut-walter-cunningham-dead-at-90/2023/01/03/2bc1e9e8-8bb1-11ed-b86a-2e3a77336b8e_story.html">died</a> “from complications of a fall, after a full and complete life.” 
“We would like to express our immense pride in the life that he lived, and our deep gratitude for the man that he was – a patriot, an explorer, pilot, astronaut, husband, brother, and father. The world has lost another true hero, and we will miss him dearly,” Cunningham’s family <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/apollo-astronaut-walter-cunningham-dies-at-90" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. 
Cunningham, born on March 16, 1932, in Creston, Iowa, enlisted in the Navy in 1951, where he served on active duty with the Marines. In Korea, he completed 54-night missions as a fighter pilot. 
Following his military service, Cunningham worked for the Rand Corporation, where he researched Earth’s magnetosphere and worked on classified defense studies. 
In 1963, he joined <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a>’s third astronaut class and would eventually end up assigned to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apollo 7</a> mission, the first manned Apollo mission. The mission <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/science/space/walter-cunningham-dead.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came on</a> the heels of a tragic January 1967 accident at Cape Kennedy, Florida, that killed three astronauts, and is seen as a crucial precursor to the moon landing. 
Apollo 7 launched from Florida in October 1968 with astronauts Cunningham, Wally Schirra, and Donn Eisele on board. During the 11-day mission, they would complete 163 orbits around the Earth, eight technical tests, simulations for docking and rendezvous maneuvers, and broadcast live on television back to Earth. On the return, they landed in the ocean, about 325 miles south of Bermuda.
<div id="attachment_484068" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-484068" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-484068" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-517443744-300x230.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) 8/31/1968-: Frogmen (L) help astronauts during egress training. Walter Cunningham and Donn Eisele are shown pulling Walter Schirra out of a space capsule onto a rubber raft." width="300" height="230" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/GettyImages-517443744-300x230.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/GettyImages-517443744-750x576.jpg 750w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/GettyImages-517443744-768x590.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/GettyImages-517443744.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Credit: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images.</div>
“We carried the nation’s hope with us,” Cunningham wrote in his 1977 memoir. “Twenty-one months before, a fire on the very pad from which we launched had killed three of our teammates. One more setback now, and the prospects of landing a man on the moon before 1970 would be gone forever.”
Throughout his life, Cunningham flew 40 different aircraft, accumulating 4,500 hours of flight time.  
“Walt Cunningham was a fighter pilot, physicist, and an entrepreneur – but, above all, he was an explorer. On Apollo 7, the first launch of a crewed Apollo mission, Walt and his crewmates made history, paving the way for the Artemis Generation we see today,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. 
After his work with NASA, Cunningham finished a doctorate in physics without a thesis from Harvard Graduate School of Business. He would go on to become involved in real estate and business while maintaining an interest in science and space exploration. 
In his later years of life, he became known for his views on global warming, as he argued that humans had little impact on the environment. “After years of looking, I have not found one piece of empirical evidence that man-made CO2 has a significant impact on global climate,” he <a href="https://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Climate-change-alarmists-ignore-scientific-methods-1710002.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in a 2012 Houston Chronicle op-ed. 
Cunningham is a member of numerous hall-of-fame organizations, including the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame. He was also given the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

Apollo 7 – Nasa

Last Surviving Astronaut From First Manned Apollo Mission Dead At 90

Air and Space

Obituaries

Space

U.S.

SpaceX launched 54 Starlink satellites into orbit early Wednesday in a record 60th launch for 2022.
The Falcon 9 rocket carried the upgraded Gen2 versions of the satellites during a 4:34 a.m. Eastern Time launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
&#8220;Under our new license, we are now able to deploy satellites to new orbits that will add even more capacity to the network,&#8221; Jesse Anderson, SpaceX production and engineering manager, <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-5-1-group-launch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during the live stream of the launch. &#8220;Ultimately, this enables us to add more customers and provide faster service, particularly in areas that are currently oversubscribed.&#8221;
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Watch Falcon 9 launch 54 Starlink satellites to orbit → <a href="https://t.co/wGq3KkoDyY">https://t.co/wGq3KkoDyY</a> <a href="https://t.co/sHdWRcsqZV">https://t.co/sHdWRcsqZV</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1608032463124860928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Falcon 9’s first stage rocket successfully landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission was the 60th of 2022, a new record for SpaceX. The company notes 197 total <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/">launches</a>.
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The mission marked the eleventh launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first-stage booster, which previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, and now six Starlink missions, <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl5-1-pl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the mission description.
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The launch marked the first of Starlink’s upgraded network, called the Gen2. The new devices can now deploy satellites to new orbits that will add even more capacity to the Starlink network.
&#8220;Ultimately, this enables us to add more customers and provide faster service – particularly in areas that are currently over-subscribed,&#8221; the description noted.
</div>
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Falcon 9 launches 54 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit; completes SpaceX’s 60th mission of 2022! <a href="https://t.co/MIstToPIyL">pic.twitter.com/MIstToPIyL</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1608050353131642880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On December 1, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-fcc-approval-7500-starlink-satellites" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> SpaceX to deploy up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites. SpaceX has also applied to eventually add a total of almost 30,000 satellites into orbit.
Starlink seeks to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet in remote and rural locations worldwide. The company made global headlines earlier this year when Musk provided Starlink services to Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia in February. The assistance has offered critical communications help to Ukrainians following attacks on the nation&#8217;s power grid.
Starlink also provided internet satellite kits in Florida following Hurricane Ian.
&#8220;They&#8217;ve donated the cost associated with all of the coverage, so we want to thank SpaceX and thank Elon Musk for that. A large device, you can put it different areas in the community that are having problems and they can get a 13-mile radius and they can support over 1,000 users at a given time,&#8221; Gov. DeSantis (R-FL) <a href="https://www.wptv.com/weather/hurricane/gov-ron-desantis-hurricane-ian-update-10-1-22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in October.
In addition to Starlink launches, SpaceX has been involved in a variety of other international projects, including the launch of Japan’s first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spacex-prepares-to-launch-first-private-japanese-mission-to-moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">privately-led mission</a> to the moon.
The ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 launched earlier this month from Florida. The Mission 1 lander is making its four-month journey ahead of Japan’s first unmanned lunar landing. Only the U.S., the former Soviet Union, and China have successfully conducted a soft landing on the moon’s surface.
The mission is expected to land on the moon’s surface near the end of April 2023.

SpaceX

SpaceX Launches Record 60th Flight Of The Year

Elon Musk

Starlink

In 2002, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nasa">NASA</a> announced that it was naming its upcoming deep-space telescope after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-webb-telescope">James Webb</a>, the former leader of the agency from 1961 to 1968 who set in motion the 1969 moon landing.
At the time, no one complained, as the telescope hadn’t been built, but more than a decade later, in 2015, when the telescope was nearly finished, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfrancis/2015/06/11/the-problem-with-naming-observatories-for-bigots/?sh=d8445fb695bf">an article</a> in Forbes (which is no longer available) kicked off an outrage machine that continues to this day. In the article, written by Matthew Francis, Webb is portrayed as a “bigot” who led an anti-gay purge when he was under secretary of state for then-President Harry Truman and testified about his dislike of gay people, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/james-webb-telescope-gay-rights.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare">according</a> to The New York Times.
Francis credited Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a cosmologist at the University of New Hampshire, with informing him about Webb. The information, however, was wrong, based on misidentification, and that section was deleted without any editor&#8217;s note, the Times reported.
Still, the attacks against Webb continued. Scientific journals jumped on the allegations that Webb was anti-gay, with Nature, New Scientist, and Scientific American publishing essays and editorials attacking him without any commentary defending him, the Times noted. The Royal Astronomical Society in Britain also told astronomers never to use his name, but to refer to the telescope by the abbreviation JWST (James Webb Space Telescope).
When Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, president of the National Society of Black Physicists, looked into the claims about Webb, he discovered they were unfounded. He wrote of his findings in <a href="https://hmoluseyi.medium.com/was-nasas-historic-leader-james-webb-a-bigot-131c821d5f12">a Medium post</a> in 2021, stating, “that there is zero evidence that Webb is guilty of the allegations against him.”
But the mob had already dug in and branded Webb a homophobe. The fact that Webb didn’t do the things he was accused of didn’t matter, so the argument against him shifted. Now, he was guilty of not doing enough to stop the gay purge, even though the gay rights movement didn’t exist at the time and modern scientists are applying current social justice morals to historic events, a view known as presentism.
Those crusading against Webb insisted he didn’t do enough to combat the Lavender Scare, when gay employees were purged from the federal government. However, Webb slow-walked the investigation and refused to turn over personnel files to investigators, according to an <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_historical_investigation_james_webb_0.pdf">89-page report</a> from NASA regarding Webb.
Webb supported the civil rights movement, threatening to pull scientists and executives from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, over the actions of then-Governor George Wallace, who supported segregation, the Times reported.
Prescod-Weinstein in particular has continued to campaign against Webb, according to the Times, writing on Twitter that he “knew exactly what was happening with security at his own agency during the height of the Cold War.”
“This is about who we canonize and who are our real saints,” she told the Times. “We can’t just exonerate a dead white guy who was in the thick of a repressive government.”
She also dismissed Webb’s support of the civil rights movement.
“The civil rights versus gay people schtick is marginalizing and pathetic,” she told the outlet. “It’s straight people arguing about the straight canon. As a Black queer Jewish person, I’m not interested.”
She also suggested the Kennedy Center be renamed for Harriet Tubman and repeated baseless accusations of impropriety against Oluseyi, the physicist who defended Webb, the Times reported.
After Oluseyi’s Medium article angered those who wanted Webb’s named removed from the telescope, opponents began raising unsubstantiated allegations against him from when he was a professor at Florida Institute of Technology. He denied the allegations, and an investigation from Florida Tech that involved looking through records and thousands of emails found nothing to substantiate any of the claims. The Times itself looked into the allegations and found that some were “demonstrably false,” while others “could not be substantiated.”
That didn’t deter his critics, like Prescod-Weinstein, who went after George Mason University when it announced it was hiring Oluseyi in August 2021, the Times reported. She directed her attack to astronomy professor Peter Plavchan, who had welcomed Oluseyi on Twitter. Prescod-Weinstein wrote that Plavchan’s tweet was “a reminder that senior men in astronomy can treat junior women” while still being “welcomed by colleagues with open arms.”
Prescod-Weinstein also tweeted that “It continues to be the case that academic institutions play pass the harasser,” and suggested journalists look into why Oluseyi left his previous job, but didn’t respond to three Times emails requesting additional information.
NASA has said it would not remove Webb’s name from the telescope.

Rocket Models

Young Scientists Claimed NASA Telescope Namesake James Webb Led A Crusade Against Gay People. They’re Wrong, But Won’t Give Up.

Young Scientists Claimed NASA Telescope Namesake James Webb Led A Crusade Against Gay People. They're Wrong, But Won’t Give Up.

Cancel Culture

James Webb

James Webb Telescope

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA&#8217;s</a> InSight lander shared one final selfie posted on Monday before losing power, likely ending its mission that started in 2018.
The most recent image may be InSight&#8217;s last, which comes shortly after recording the most powerful quake recorded on the red planet.
&#8220;My power’s really low, so this may be the last image I can send. Don’t worry about me though: my time here has been both productive and serene,&#8221; NASA&#8217;s InSight account tweeted. &#8220;If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will – but I’ll be signing off here soon. Thanks for staying with me.&#8221;
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My power’s really low, so this may be the last image I can send. Don’t worry about me though: my time here has been both productive and serene. If I can keep talking to my mission team, I will – but I’ll be signing off here soon. Thanks for staying with me. <a href="https://t.co/wkYKww15kQ">pic.twitter.com/wkYKww15kQ</a>
&mdash; NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1604955574659035136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In an <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/insight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">update</a> from NASA on Monday, the Mars InSight blog revealed that the lander&#8217;s communications were no longer responding.
&#8220;The lander’s power has been declining for months, as expected, and it’s assumed InSight may have reached its end of operations. It’s unknown what prompted the change in its energy; the last time the mission contacted the spacecraft was on Dec. 15, 2022,&#8221; the update read. &#8220;The mission will continue to try and contact InSight.&#8221;
NASA previously reported on December 12 that InSight&#8217;s power had declined to &#8220;an average of ~285 watt-hours of energy per Martian day&#8221; as the mission headed toward an end.
In a post on November 23, the NASA InSight Twitter account first noted that its end could be near.
&#8220;Time may be short for me, but I’ll keep sending back science for as long as I can,&#8221; its account tweeted.
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Time may be short for me, but I’ll keep sending back science for as long as I can. Meanwhile, I’m not the only bot on Mars. Keep exploring the Red Planet by following the adventures of: <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAPersevere</a><a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarsCuriosity</a><a href="https://twitter.com/NASAMars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAMars</a>
And learn about the next team of explorers: <a href="https://t.co/bVnYofejlE">pic.twitter.com/bVnYofejlE</a>
&mdash; NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1595463281954594818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In May, the lander detected the largest quake ever recorded on Mars. The 4.7 magnitude quake included reverberations that lasted over an hour. The previous top quake recorded on the red planet was 4.2 magnitude.
“This was definitely the biggest Marsquake that we have seen,” <a href="https://scitechdaily.com/massive-marsquake-five-times-larger-than-previous-record-holder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Taichi Kawamura, lead author and planetary scientist at the Institut de physique du globe de Paris, France. Kawamura co-authored the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL101243" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scientific paper</a> regarding quakes on Mars with seismologist John Clinton at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.
“The energy released by this single marsquake is equivalent to the cumulative energy from all other Marsquakes we’ve seen so far, and although the event was over 2000 kilometers (1200 miles) distant, the waves recorded at InSight were so large they almost saturated our seismometer,” Clinton said in the research.
“For the first time we were able to identify surface waves, moving along the crust and upper mantle, that have traveled around the planet multiple times,” he added.
InSight was the first spacecraft to document a marsquake. It detected more than 1,300 marsquakes with its built-in seismometer, including several caused by meteoroid strikes, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-insight-lander-falls-silent-mars-final-selfie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> CBS News.
In addition to InSight, NASA has the <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Perseverance Mars Rover</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curiosity Rover</a> at work on the red planet.
The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/researchers-release-first-ever-audio-of-martian-dust-devil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the Perseverance rover recently recorded the audio of the first Martian dust devils, which traveled directly above the rover and sprayed the device with dust. The rover happened to have its microphone turned on when the dust phenomenon passed above it.

618CBC3A-EFAD-4310-B5DA-ED2F90DB5868

Mars InSight Lander Sends Final Selfie Before Losing Power

Mars

Science

Scientists were able to hear an exciting sound from another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">planet</a> and release the audio for the public to experience on Tuesday. 
It is the first time earthlings have heard the swirling columns of wind and dust known as Martian dust devils, which coincidentally <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/mars-rover-captures-1st-sound-dust-devil-red-95163592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> directly above the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a> Perseverance rover and sprayed the device with dust. The rover happened to have its microphone turned on when the dust phenomenon passed above it. 
The noise sounds like wind hitting the microphone, and pieces of dust can also be heard striking the device. The audio is not particularly loud because of the thin atmosphere on Mars, although it sounds similar to dust devils that appear on planet Earth. 
The recording took place last year, according to Naomi Murdoch of the University of Toulouse, the lead author of the study in Nature Communications.
“As the dust devil passed over Perseverance we could actually hear individual impacts of grains on the rover,” Murdoch <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/13/mars-rover-dust-devil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We could actually count them.”
The recordings are captured just eight times each month, and the microphone on the rover records for less than three minutes. However, the scientists try to plan the video and audio recordings to coincide with times the dust devils are likely to happen.
Murdoch said it was “definitely luck” that the dust devil appeared at the same time the microphones were live on September 27, 2021.
“It was fully caught red-handed by Persy,” co-author German Martinez of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/mars-rover-captures-1st-sound-dust-devil-red-95163592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
The rover collected data on the dust devil in multiple ways. 
In the Nature <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35100-z#:~:text=Dust%20devils%20(convective%20vortices%20loaded,site%20of%20the%20Perseverance%20rover." target="_blank" rel="noopener">publication</a>, researchers describe the dust devils as “convective vortices loaded with dust” and are “common at the surface of Mars, particularly at Jezero crater, the landing site of the Perseverance rover.”
The scientists noted that increasing the knowledge about “dust lifting and atmospheric transport” is vital to simulate the dust pattern correctly and to be able to predict dust storms. It is also important &#8220;for future space exploration as grain impacts are implicated in the degradation of hardware on the surface of Mars.”
Images of Martian dust devils have been captured for many years, but the sounds they make had never been heard before this recording. The dust devil captured was almost 400 feet tall, around 80 feet wide, and moving at 16 feet per second, which is typical. 
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICyLnT7iPo&amp;t=13s&amp;ab_channel=AssociatedPress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH</a>:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Mars rover captures first ever sound of dust devil" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lICyLnT7iPo?start=13&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BE00A672-5F3B-4B8C-89A6-A104B3A7F1FA_1_201_a

Researchers Release First-Ever Audio Of Martian Dust Devil

Researchers Release First-Ever Audio Of Martian Dust Devil From NASA Perseverance Rover

NASA&#8217;s Orion capsule has successfully landed in a splashdown off the Mexican island of Guadalupe after nearly 26 days of travel to the Moon and back.
The voyage was part of Artemis I, a series of missions developing human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
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Splashdown! 🪂💦<a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_Orion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASA_Orion</a> has returned, concluding the nearly 26-day <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Artemis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Artemis</a> I mission that took Orion from <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAKennedy</a>&#39;s Launch Pad 39B to a record-breaking 268,563 miles from Earth, into lunar orbit then landing safely in the Pacific Ocean.
Congrats, Orion! Go Artemis! <a href="https://t.co/b4gY3pgwyl">pic.twitter.com/b4gY3pgwyl</a>
&mdash; Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) <a href="https://twitter.com/BoeingSpace/status/1602002581043441664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The Orion spacecraft separated from its service module at 11:00 a.m. CT in preparation for return to the Earth. The service module burned up in the atmosphere upon re-entry, while Orion descended over the Pacific Ocean in a parachute-guided splashdown.
&#8220;Parachute deployment begins at an altitude of about five miles with three small parachutes pulling the forward bay covers away,&#8221; NASA explained in a <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2022/12/11/artemis-i-flight-day-26-orion-crew-module-separation-from-service-module-complete/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;Once the forward bay cover separates, two drogue parachutes will slow and stabilize the crew module for main parachute deployment. At an altitude of 9,500 feet and a spacecraft speed of 130 mph, three pilot parachutes will lift and deploy the main parachutes to slow Orion to a landing speed that ensures astronaut safety for crewed missions.&#8221;
After landing in the ocean, the module was expected to undergo testing and be transported to the U.S. Naval Base San Diego for inspection. A post-mission news conference is scheduled for later on Sunday.
On December 5, Orion completed its final moon fly-by before beginning its return to Earth. Before the final passing of the lunar surface, Orion traveled around the Moon on a trip longer than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has flown. The full trip surpassed more than 1.3 million miles.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-nasa-moon-rocket-lifts-off-50-years-after-last-apollo-mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, NASA’s Orion spacecraft headed toward the Moon in the first lunar rocket launch since the last Apollo mission 50 years ago.
The Artemis I mission launched the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, in an uncrewed flight at 1:47 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 16, from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/liftoff-nasa-s-artemis-i-mega-rocket-launches-orion-to-moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> following the successful liftoff.
The Artemis project has been in preparation for more than a decade as NASA seeks to return humans to the Moon.
Artemis II, scheduled for 2024, is the next step in NASA&#8217;s plan to send humans in a spaceflight around the Moon in 2024. Artemis III, slated for 2025, is expected to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon&#8217;s surface.
WATCH:
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Orion

NASA’s Artemis I Successfully Returns From Moon Mission

Moon

SpaceX is preparing to launch Japan&#8217;s first privately-led mission to the moon.
The ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 1 is set to blast off on Sunday at 2:38 a.m. ET from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the same day that NASA&#8217;s Orion capsule is expected to return from its Artemis 1 moon mission.
The Falcon 9 used in the launch is the world&#8217;s first orbital-class reusable rocket. It generates more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust at sea level. Sunday&#8217;s planned launch would be the fourth flight for the powerful rocket.
Following liftoff, the Mission 1 lander will make its four-month journey ahead of Japan&#8217;s first unmanned lunar landing. Only the U.S., the former Soviet Union, and China have successfully conducted a soft landing on the moon&#8217;s surface.
The mission is expected to land on the moon&#8217;s surface near the end of April 2023.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ispace HAKUTO-R Lunar Lander Introduction" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q49UdKvoj8I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Japanese space company ispace, established in 2010, seeks to &#8220;lay the groundwork for unleashing the moon&#8217;s potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system,&#8221; according to its founder.
“We look forward to contributing to NASA’s Artemis program as a commercial lunar transportation service and pioneering the development of future industries and connecting the Earth to the Moon and beyond,” <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/news-en/?p=3939" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace.
The United Arab Emirates will also be part of the mission. The moon rover aboard the lander is a 22-pound robot named Rashid, the Middle East&#8217;s first such rover to reach the moon.
A new mission control located at the <a href="https://www.mbrsc.ae/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre</a> in Dubai will monitor the Rashid rover during its operations on the lunar surface. Rashid is expected to investigate an unexplored moon region for about two weeks while gathering data on soil, dust, and electrically charged particles, including taking thousands of images.
The Rashid Space Centre&#8217;s objective is to become the first Arab nation to reach another planet, setting its sights on a manned Mars landing by 2117. <a href="https://www.emiratesmarsmission.ae/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hope probe</a> reached the martian surface in 2021, making UAE the first Middle Eastern nation to do so.
The Falcon 9 will also transport a tiny NASA cubesat called Lunar Flashlight. The device will hunt for icy water inside craters near the moon&#8217;s south pole.
&#8220;We are bringing a literal flashlight to the moon — shining lasers into these dark craters to look for definitive signs of water ice covering the upper layer of lunar regolith,&#8221; Barbara Cohen, Lunar Flashlight principal investigator at NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a <a class="hawk-link-parsed" href="https://phys.org/news/2022-11-nasa-lunar-flashlight-smallsat-readies.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-url="https://phys.org/news/2022-11-nasa-lunar-flashlight-smallsat-readies.html" data-component-tracked="1">statement</a>.
&#8220;I&#8217;m excited to see our mission contribute to our scientific understanding of where water ice is on the moon and how it got to be there,&#8221; Cohen added.
The SpaceX launch was initially scheduled for November 30. The mission has experienced multiple setbacks related to updates to Falcon 9.
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After further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, we&#39;re standing down from tomorrow&#39;s launch of <a href="https://twitter.com/ispace_inc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ispace_inc</a>&#39;s HAKUTO-R Mission 1; a new target launch date will be shared once confirmed
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1598106762850500609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The live stream of the launch will be available at <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=ispace-m1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SpaceX.com</a>, with coverage starting 15 minutes before liftoff.
Monday, December 12 at 2:31 a.m. ET is the scheduled backup date in the case of a delay.
The launch is not the only moon mission in recent months. NASA&#8217;s Artemis 1 mission conducted a near-moon operation to test ahead of its next planned human landing on the lunar surface scheduled for 2024 or 2025.
Several additional countries have announced new or expanded plans for major space projects. Last month, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol <a href="https://spacenews.com/134853-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that his government would establish a space agency similar to NASA by the end of the year. Plans include a robotic moon landing in 2032 and on Mars in 2045.
Three Chinese astronauts <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/12/04/1140637573/china-astronauts-tiangong-space-station" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned</a> to Earth on Sunday after six months aboard China&#8217;s new Tiangong station. The nation began work on its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station over concerns about connections between China&#8217;s space agency and the People&#8217;s Liberation Army.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-launches-first-of-two-remaining-modules-needed-to-complete-permanent-orbiting-space-station" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, another long-term goal of the Tiangong Space Station is to serve as the refueling station for an upcoming Hubble-like telescope that China hopes to launch in 2024. China plans to put its first astronauts on the moon and send a Mars sample return rover to the red planet by 2030.
India&#8217;s space agency also has a program in development to launch a space station into orbit by 2030. It will be designed to hold a small crew for up to 20 days at a time and be entirely led by Indian astronauts, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/could-the-quad-help-with-indias-space-station-dreams/#:~:text=Kailasavadivoo%20Sivan%2C%20then%20the%20chairman,station%20would%20be%20fully%20indigenous." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Diplomat.
The <a href="https://www.esa.int/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Space Agency</a> includes 22 member nations and has often partnered with many of NASA&#8217;s missions in recent years, including its Artemis program.

HAKUTO-R

SpaceX Prepares To Launch First Private Japanese Mission To Moon

Japan

NASA&#8217;s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon in the first lunar rocket launch since the last Apollo mission 50 years ago.
The Artemis I mission launched the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, in an uncrewed flight at 1:47 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/liftoff-nasa-s-artemis-i-mega-rocket-launches-orion-to-moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> following the successful liftoff.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Artemis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Artemis</a> I, you are going to the Moon! 
At 1:47 am EST the <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_SLS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASA_SLS</a> rocket and <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_Orion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASA_Orion</a> spacecraft launched from Florida to make its 280,000-mile journey to the Moon. Still to come we have coverage of major milestones, an inside look of Mission Control, and more. <a href="https://t.co/2SLQSrOSXc">pic.twitter.com/2SLQSrOSXc</a>
&mdash; NASA&#39;s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA_Johnson/status/1592781241958662151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The lunar mission will take more than 25 days to visit the Moon and return to Earth in a key test ahead of the next planned mission to send American astronauts to the Moon within the next three years.
Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, celebrated the liftoff of Orion.
“It’s taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon,” Free said in the statement from NASA. “This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.”
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct the mission over the next several days, with Orion expected to near the surface of the Moon on November 21.
The launch was highly celebrated after multiple delays since August. The initial attempt was stopped following a faulty temperature sensor. A launch one week later was also scrapped after discovering a liquid hydrogen leak.
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nasa-scrubs-2nd-attempt-at-moon-rocket-launch-after-another-fuel-leak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, the launch team had just begun filling Artemis I with nearly one million gallons of fuel early in the morning when they noticed the leak at the bottom of the rocket in the engine section, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-space-launches-exploration-science-9a89bb77af17be3e3b5891a0b224ac69">reported</a>. Ground crews did their best to stop the leak and save the launch, attempting to stop and restart the flow of liquid hydrogen and flushing helium through the fuel line, but ultimately were forced to reschedule the mission.
Weather threats due to Hurricane Ian further delayed the Artemis I project that has involved the work of several thousand people worldwide.
The Artemis missions seek to eventually land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon with efforts to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface in preparation for a future Mars mission.
NASA’s ambitious goals are not the only plans for reaching the Moon. Russia and China have also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russia-and-china-partner-up-to-build-research-station-on-moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that they would collaborate on a future moon mission, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX is <a href="https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2021-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developing</a> a project for a future lunar landing.

Artemis

New NASA Moon Rocket Lifts Off 50 Years After Last Apollo Mission

Florida

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nasa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a> officials said Thursday that a TV documentary diving crew discovered a large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger partially buried on the Atlantic seafloor off the east coast of Florida, nearly 40 years after the explosion killed seven explorers.
Millions of people worldwide watched seven astronauts — including the schoolteacher bound for space — lose their lives aboard the space shuttle after a major malfunction caused by ice from unexpected cold temperatures broke apart the shuttle 73 seconds into its flight on January 28, 1986.
As documentarians scoured the bottom of the ocean searching for World War II-era aircraft wreckage, they came across one of the biggest pieces of Challenger found in the decades since the accident, Michael Ciannilli, a NASA manager who saw the underwater video footage from the TV crew, told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/challenger-space-shuttle-found-in-ocean-064e47171452894d6494f142fea26126" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>.
“My heart skipped a beat, I must say, and it brought me right back to 1986 &#8230; and what we all went through as a nation,” Ciannilli said.
Ciannilli said the shuttle piece was more than 15 feet by 15 feet, but was likely longer because of the portion covered by sand. And because of the square thermal tiles on the piece, the NASA official believes it was part of the shuttle’s belly.
Video footage provided “pretty clear and convincing evidence,” said Ciannilli.
The latest Challenger remnants were found almost two decades after two fragments from the left wing drifted to the shores in 1996, according to The Associated Press. About 47% of the Challenger, including two solid-fuel boosters and an external fuel tank, has been recovered since the accident.
The last Challenger mission was commanded by Francis R. “Dick” Scobee and piloted by Michael J. Smith with crew members mission specialists Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik, payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, and teacher S. Christa McAuliffe. The launch was scheduled as the agency’s 25th shuttle mission.
“While it has been nearly 37 years since seven daring and brave explorers lost their lives aboard Challenger, this tragedy will forever be seared in the collective memory of our country. For millions around the globe, myself included, Jan. 28, 1986, still feels like yesterday,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-views-images-confirms-discovery-of-shuttle-challenger-artifact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “This discovery gives us an opportunity to pause once again, to uplift the legacies of the seven pioneers we lost, and to reflect on how this tragedy changed us. At NASA, the core value of safety is – and must forever remain – our top priority, especially as our missions explore more of the cosmos than ever before.”
NASA created an Office of Safety and Mission Assurance following the Challenger accident and the Columbia accident, which killed all seven astronauts aboard when the shuttle broke up on reentry in February 2003 over the western United States.
The safety team has since developed new risk assessment procedures while addressing safety concerns.
According to NASA, the agency also created the Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program to share these lessons within the agency and with other government, public, commercial, and international audiences.
Although NASA officials did not come upon the shuttle artifacts, the remnants still belong to the U.S. government.
The space agency said it&#8217;s currently exploring what actions it may take with the artifact to “properly honor the legacy of Challenger’s fallen astronauts and the families who loved them.”
“Challenger and her crew live on in the hearts and memories of both NASA and the nation,” said Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro. “Today, as we turn our sights again toward the Moon and Mars, we see that the same love of exploration that drove the Challenger crew is still inspiring the astronauts of today’s Artemis Generation, calling them to build on the legacy of knowledge and discovery for the benefit of all humanity.”

Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery

TV Documentary Crew Discovers Large Portion Of Destroyed Challenger Space Shuttle Near Florida Coast

International Space Station (ISS)

SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2019, carrying two classified satellites into orbit.
The mission, called USSF-44, was operated on behalf of the U.S. Space Force, launching Tuesday morning from Florida&#8217;s Launch Complex 39A at NASA&#8217;s Kennedy Space Center at 9:41 a.m.
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Liftoff! <a href="https://t.co/gcLtIWizoF">pic.twitter.com/gcLtIWizoF</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1587440095665082368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, <a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/ussf-44/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> SpaceX. The booster landings marked the 150th and 151st recovery of the orbital class rockets.
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Falcon Heavy’s side boosters have landed – marking the 150th and 151st recovery of orbital class rockets <a href="https://t.co/vK4ZdfDQtX">pic.twitter.com/vK4ZdfDQtX</a>
&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1587442127214034944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Officials issued an advisory notice on Monday, warning locals about sonic booms.
&#8220;Please be advised, tomorrow morning&#8217;s launch will be followed by a double sonic boom. This will occur shortly after launch, as the boosters land on landing zone 1 and landing zone 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,&#8221; Space Launch Delta 45, the official account of Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station <a class="hawk-link-parsed" href="https://twitter.com/SLDelta45/status/1587168804265947137" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-url="https://twitter.com/SLDelta45/status/1587168804265947137" data-component-tracked="1">tweeted</a>.
The Falcon Heavy&#8217;s cargo offered little detail due to the classified nature of the mission. It included a spacecraft called USSF-44, as well as a small satellite called Tetra-1.
The Tetra-1 was <a href="http://www.parabolicarc.com/2020/04/25/us-space-force-tetra-1-satellite-prepared-for-launch-after-15-month-integration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built</a> for the Space Force by Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems. The Falcon Heavy rocket&#8217;s mission may also include some smaller cubesats.
The USSF-44 mission is just the fourth launch for the Falcon Heavy and its first since June 2019. The delay between its missions is largely blamed on hold-ups with mission cargo.
For example, the Tetra-1 was designed for delivery in 2020, but the Space Force delayed the completion of the project for two years until its current mission.
The Falcon Heavy is noted as the most powerful operational rocket in the world. It has the capability of carrying up to 64 metric tons (141,000 pounds) per mission, more than twice the payload of the next largest rocket.
&#8220;Falcon Heavy is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft,&#8221; <a href="https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-heavy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> SpaceX.
The Falcon Heavy&#8217;s status as the world&#8217;s most powerful may soon be surpassed. The NASA Space Launch System (SLS) designed to launch the Artemis 1 moon mission includes four RS-25 engines that will surpass the top power of the SpaceX rocket.
&#8220;The potential use of SLS for science will further enhance the synergy between scientific exploration and human exploration,&#8221; John Grunsfeld, astronaut and former associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a <a class="hawk-link-parsed" href="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/sls-science-missions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-url="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/sls-science-missions.html" data-component-tracked="1">statement</a>. &#8220;SLS has the promise of enabling transformational science in our exploration of the solar system and cosmos.&#8221;
SpaceX is also developing a new rocket called <a href="https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starship</a> that is expected to be the world&#8217;s most powerful upon successful launch. The Elon Musk-led company anticipates its first test flight in orbit could occur before the end of the year.
View the full video of the liftoff&#8217;s broadcast below:
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Falcon Heavy

Watch: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launches For First Time Since 2019

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