When Einstein developed general relativity the closest thing to a practical application that could even be imagined at the time was a slightly more precise description of where to look for the planet Mercury in the sky, and yet now we’d all be literally lost without it.
Anyway: fund basic research.
This is a welcome change.
A rendering of a white-and-turquoise rocket with white and yellow fins.
A possible project for next year would be the "Zephyr-TTV" rocket. This would turn my Zephyr rocket into a 2-stage vehicle. The Zephyr would serve as the booster, with the TTV rocket as the second stage. I'm not yet sure if this is something I'd actually try, but it looks cool. 🚀
Great photos of the booster!
Wow, I didn't realize this was still being worked on. Way cool!
This full-size test model, roughly the size of a mini-van, will be dropped from a helicopter at 3 km altitude and glide to a landing to reenact the final approach from orbit.
@thalesaleniaspace.bsky.social Italy is the industrial lead for the tests and Co-Prime together with Avio.
Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
- Carl Sagan
April 22
#EarthDay
#EarthDay2026
contactlight.de
forallmankind.de
Image of Earth bisected by the terminator line. The terminator divides Earth\u2019s surface diagonally, shrouding the top left half in darkness. Earth\u2019s illuminated surface is mostly blue and covered in swirling white clouds. Credit: NASA
Image of crescent Earth. Against the blackness of space, the shining blue and white of Earth appears like a smile. Credit: NASA
Image of Earth from the Artemis II mission. Earth fills the bottom half of the image, its surface covered in blue water and swirling white clouds. Earth\u2019s limb is a blue glow against the curvature of Earth. Credit: NASA
Image of Earth from the Artemis II mission. Earth fills the top half of the image. Through the gaps in white cloud cover, green and brown land masses are visible, as is blue water. Credit: NASA
WE HAVE NEW IMAGES OF EARTH FROM ARTEMIS II!!!
LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL OUR PLANET IS!! HAPPY EARTH DAY!
A rocket plane flies past the Mün, with the crescent planet Kerbin in the background.
A view from inside the cockpit of the rocket plane, with the Mün and Kerbin visible, along with a lot of stars. The plane's control panels glow an eerie green color.
Another view inside the cockpit of the rocket plane. Now the yellowish sun can be seen, as well as the Mün and Kerbin. The plane's controls glow green.
I was going through some of my old KSP screenshots, and I came across these three. This was my first flyby of the Mün way back in October of 2019. The view is surprisingly similar to what the crew of Artemis II saw during their lunar flyby!
Yay!
Great photos!
A US Navy Diver photo of the Artemis II Heat Shield underwater showing a near perfectly even wear pattern across the spacecraft.
After much debate from certain people over whether or not the people working on Artemis II knew what they were doing when they said they understood why the heat shield on Artemis I wore unevenly, I think it's safe to say that the scientists and engineers got this one right.
NASA posted some neat photos showing the Artemis-3 SLS core stage being rolled out today, prior to shipment to KSC. 🚀
Links to original images: images.nasa.gov/details/MAF_...
images.nasa.gov/details/MAF_...
images.nasa.gov/details/MAF_...
Spectacular!
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨 Blue Origin confirms engine issue during second New Glenn second stage burn
Pathetic. My homemade paper air-powered rockets are faster than this, and cost practically nothing.
Jim Bridenstine proposed launching Orion on Falcon Heavy back when he was NASA administrator (a configuration I've seen called the "Bridenstack").
As I understand it, Falcon Heavy isn't powerful enough to send Orion out to the Moon.
These are all so beautifully-done! It's so hard to choose a favorite.
Artemis II told through 10 mini paintings 💚
originals & prints will be available in May. Which one is your favorite?
stellerarts.myflodesk.com/subscribe
TFW you look out the window and see the Earth disappear
🎥 Astronaut Reid Wiseman
📍 Artemis II from the far side of the Moon
Awesome shots!
Oof
The curse of the second stage haunts every launch vehicle. Hopefully Blue can quickly fix this issue for future flights.
The BlueOrigin/AST_SpaceMobile
launch has been tracked by Space Force as catalog 68765, 2026-85A, in a 154 x 494 km x 36.1 deg orbit. Epoch is 1138 UTC which is the time of SECO-1, so this may not be the final orbit. (If it is, then they are indeed toast).
Yeah, that's not great.
Best estimate for the SECO-1 orbit given the slow observed decrease in altitude in the webcast is somewhere in the range of 164 x 380 km to 116 x 420km, depending on flight path angle at cutoff which was somewhere in the 0 to -1 degree range.
Still waiting for SECO-2 data.
LAUNCH at 1125 UTC Apr 19 of New Glenn flight 3 with AST SpaceMobile-007 from Canaveral. Second stage underperformance and lower than planned final orbit, but still waiting for Space Force tracking data for details
The waxing crescent Moon and Venus, with a silhouetted tree branch between them. Earth-glow lights up the shadowed side of the Moon.
The Moon and Venus tonight! There was quite a lot of Earth-glow visible on the shadowed side of the Moon. 🌒
Ooh! I love this one! Seeing that view during the actual launch was mind-blowing!
How dare you
🤣
