Back to Boca Chica!  SpaceX is Ready To Try It Again

Back to Boca Chica! SpaceX is Ready To Try It Again

Starship streaks into the Texas sky on OFT-2. Photo: Chris Leymarie FMN
Starship streaks into the Texas sky on OFT-2. Photo: Chris Leymarie FMN

Elon Musk is ready to give it another go, with a SpaceX post surfacing on X yesterday, announcing a potential launch date for the third Starship test flight. The company’s Starship and super-heavy booster combo is now expected to launch at 7:30AM CDT on March 14th from SpaceX’s Starbase, in Boca Chica, Texas IF regulatory approval is obtained in time.

“Holes In The Clouds” Appear Over Florida’s Offshore Waters

“Holes In The Clouds” Appear Over Florida’s Offshore Waters

Famed Florida fine-arts photographer Clyde Butcher once said, “Out west, they have their mountains. We have our clouds.” Butcher’s observation was spot-on. The Sunshine State is home to some incredible sights in our skies—be it the setting sun illuminating a faraway thunderstorm, a wall cloud from an approaching tropical storm, or even just a regular day when the clouds take on shapes where they appear to be animals or something else familiar. There’s always something interesting to see here by simply looking upwards into the atmosphere.

Crew 8 Finally Launches To Orbit

Crew 8 lifts off from KSC pad 39A on Sunday, March 3, 2024  Photo: Richard Gallagher, FMN
Crew 8 lifts off from KSC pad 39A on Sunday, March 3, 2024 Photo: Richard Gallagher, FMN

After days of weather delays and last minute concerns about a cracked hatch seal, the SpaceX crew Dragon Endeavour carrying Crew 8 to the ISS launched from the Kennedy Space Center Sunday night. The successful liftoff came at 10:53 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A. The mission marked SpaceX’s eighth commercial crew rotation mission on behalf of NASA, and the launch of the 50th human into space by the company since 2020.

Space History: Corned Beef on High

Space History: Corned Beef on High

Gus Grissom

When I was a kid, Wolfie’s in Cocoa Beach was one of my Dad’s favorites to take me out to eat. It was kid-friendly, unlike a place like The Mousetrap or other infamous and legendary Cocoa Beach haunts. They’re all long gone now, as is the nature of restaurants in a resort town. One that is especially missed by many is Wolfie’s, a place that not only had a great lunch but also a side note in space history that is funny today but was not at all amusing in the mid-1960s.

While Crew 8 Waits, SpaceX Launches Starlink 6-40

While Crew 8 Waits, SpaceX Launches Starlink 6-40

With Crew-8’s Falcon 9 sitting on Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center this morning waiting for weather to improve along its launch corridor, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying 23 more Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites to low-Earth orbit from its other launch pad on the Eastern Range at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Weather Concerns Delay Crew 8 Launch

Weather Concerns Delay Crew 8 Launch

New Window May Not Be Much Better
Crew 8 Photo
Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 from left to right, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Michael Barratt, pilot; Matthew Dominick, commander; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; are photographed inside the crew access arm at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a dress rehearsal on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in preparation for the Crew-8 mission. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX announced today that they have decided to postpone the launch of the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Initially set for Friday, the mission is now rescheduled for 11:16 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 2.

Rendering of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner docked at ISS

NASA’s Steve Stich Gives Quick Starliner Update

Rendering of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner docked at ISS
Graphic: Boeing Corporation

During the NASA Administrator Briefing from the Kennedy Space Center mainly centered around Crew-8 readiness today, Steve Stich, the Manager of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program gave some insight about the status of the planned first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. That launch is currently planned for late April of this year.

Press Briefing: Weather A Concern For Crew 8 Launch

NASA’s Crew 8 Mission is scheduled to launch to the ISS at 12:04 AM Friday. Photo: Richard Gallagher/FMN

With only one day to go before the launch of Crew 8, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson led a press briefing on Wednesday morning February 28, 2024, at Kennedy Space Center.  The 8th Commercial Crew trip to the International Space Station (ISS) remains on schedule for a launch just after midnight (12:04 am EST) early Friday morning March 1. 

Spotlighting Astronaut Jeanette J. Epps, Ph.D.

Breaking Barriers and Soaring to New Heights
Jeanette Epps Portrait
Astronaut Jeanette Epps Photo: NASA

As we celebrate Black History Month, it is only fitting to shine a spotlight on individuals who have not only contributed significantly to their respective fields but have also shattered glass ceilings. Among these trailblazers is astronaut Jeanette J. Epps, a distinguished member of NASA’s Crew-8, scheduled to launch to the ISS this Friday at 12:04 AM.