#spacegeek — Public Fediverse posts

"NASA released thousands more photos from Artemis II" by @NBCNews / Denise Chow - A selection from many images including the lunar far side, craters and views of Earth from far away. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-thousands-photos-artemis-ii-moon-mission-rcna343733 #MoonJoy #Artemis #Moon🌖 #Orion #space #spacegeek

"Virgin Galactic reveals new ship, but it’s running out of time and cash" by @arstechnica / @sciguyspace - No revenue while not flying, having retired old spacecraft model. Lots of expenses building a new spacecraft at a new factory (moved from Mojave CA to Mesa/Phoenix AZ). Quarterly financials show cash reserves falling fast enough to question if flight testing can be done in time. https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/05/the-suborbital-space-tourism-industry-is-on-life-support/ #NewSpace #VirginGalactic #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek

Midland Int'l Airport #KMAF (between Midland and Odessa in Texas) was the first airline-served airport to apply for an FAA spaceport license. The industry watched closely, anticipating difficulties with proximity of airline & spaceflight operations. Interestingly, it was not more difficult. Actually, for FAA requirements on fire departments at spaceport facilities, MAF mostly already complied due to their airline emergency response capability. #aviation #avgeek #travel #spacegeek #NewSpace

XCOR deleted their YouTube videos upon going out of business. I think mgmt was shortsighted, and should have preserved their history. A few copies remain via a tourism company who worked with them. Mike Massee updated XCOR's animation of what a suborbital space flight on Lynx could have been like, previously with Mojave CA scenery, updated for Midland TX with airliners at #KMAF. (disclosure: I worked at XCOR on Lynx flight hardware.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4S51_Q_rfU #aviation #avgeek #spacegeek #NewSpace

"What time is the annular solar eclipse on Feb 17?" by @Spacecom - The #AnnularSolarEclipse Ring of Fire ⭕ will only be visible in Antarctica. Partial #SolarEclipse in SE Africa and southern tip of South America. Partial and annular solar eclipses require eye protection for direct viewing. Otherwise use projection, such as looking for little eclipse shapes in the shadow of a tree.🌳 https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/what-time-is-the-annular-solar-eclipse-on-feb-17 #eclipse #astronomy #space #spacegeek

There's an #AnnularSolarEclipse today, Feb 17, 2026 UTC. Annular eclipse is like a total #SolarEclipse, except the #Moon is too far out in its orbit to cover the Sun as seen from Earth's surface. So it makes a "ring of fire" effect.⭕ However, it's mostly inaccessible with annularity visible only in Antarctica. So the few people wealthy enough to travel to it probably won't bother for an annular eclipse. Oh well. Partial eclipse in SE Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_February_17,_2026 #astronomy #space #spacegeek

#GPS / #GNSS #trivia:

The least accurate data from a GPS or other GNSS receiver is altitude.

The most accurate is time, followed by speed.

#PNT #Positioning #Navigation #Timing #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek #TimeNav #tech

#GPS / #GNSS #trivia:

The least accurate data from a GPS or other GNSS receiver is altitude.

The most accurate is time, followed by speed.

#PNT #Positioning #Navigation #Timing #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek #TimeNav #tech

#GPS / #GNSS #trivia:

The least accurate data from a GPS or other GNSS receiver is altitude.

The most accurate is time, followed by speed.

#PNT #Positioning #Navigation #Timing #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek #TimeNav #tech

#GPS / #GNSS #trivia:

The least accurate data from a GPS or other GNSS receiver is altitude.

The most accurate is time, followed by speed.

#PNT #Positioning #Navigation #Timing #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek #TimeNav #tech

#GPS / #GNSS #trivia:

The least accurate data from a GPS or other GNSS receiver is altitude.

The most accurate is time, followed by speed.

#PNT #Positioning #Navigation #Timing #aviation #avgeek #space #spacegeek #TimeNav #tech

"NORAD continues decades-long tradition of tracking Santa’s trip around the world" by @AssociatedPress - North American Aerospace Defense Command NORAD🇺🇸🇨🇦 posted annual info on public tracking data for Santa Claus' Christmas Eve flight. Plus history of how this tradition started 70 years ago with children wanting to call Santa mistakenly directed to NORAD - they went along with it as a public service. https://apnews.com/article/norad-santa-christmas-reindeer-48eab629fb348f38455d14de61031db6 #USSF #military #aviation #space #avgeek #spacegeek #xmas #holidays

"Hans Koenigsmann, who investigated all of SpaceX’s rocket failures, is going to space" by @arstechnica / @sciguyspace - No longer working for SpaceX, Koenigsmann will fly on a #BlueOrigin #NewShepard suborbital rocket from their launch site in Van Horn TX. Though most in the industry seem to have no problem with that as long as he gets his turn to fly to space. https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/one-of-spacexs-earliest-employees-is-going-to-space-via-blue-origin/ #NewSpace #spacegeek

"Firefly Aerospace sets IPO range that would value rocket maker at $5.5 billion" by CNBC (Fediverse presence not found #FPNF: if you know them, invite them) - Stock fundraising for Texas-based rocket company with one partial success in orbital launch, one successful lunar probe landing, some high-profile rocket engine contracts and currently increasing revenue but $60M loss last year. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/28/firefly-aerospace-ipo-space.html #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

"USSF-106: Vulcan ready for its first U.S. national security launch" by United Launch Alliance ULA (Fediverse presence not found #FPNF: if you know them, invite them) - 3rd flight of ULA Vulcan-Centaur rocket is first to qualify to fly a national security payload for US Space Force #USSF. The payload could be anything from a spy satellite to military communications, the stuff they won't talk about in public. Launch TBD in August. https://blog.ulalaunch.com/blog/ussf-106-vulcan-ready-for-its-first-u.s.-national-security-launch #USSF106 #ULA #military #space #spacegeek

A year ago on the return trip from #SolarEclipse2024, I stopped at Arizona's Meteor Crater. It's officially Barringer Crater, after the man who first proposed it might be an impact crater, tried to understand its geology, but died before he could prove it. Later it became the first proven impact site after geologist Eugene Shoemaker noticed its geology was like Nevada's nuclear test blast craters, but vastly bigger. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/112265956358306922 #astronomy #geology #space #spacegeek #travel

A year ago on the return trip from #SolarEclipse2024, I stopped by the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radiotelescope, near Socorro NM. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/112261585762946997 #astronomy #space #spacegeek #travel

A year ago on the return trip from #SolarEclipse2024, I posted a picture (which I took the previous day) of the Sierra Madera impact crater near Fort Stockton, Texas. The crater is 8mi/13km wide and US Hwy 385 goes through the middle of it. But the highway is the only spot you can see it since the rest of the crater is private property. So it was easy to keep the stop quick, take a few pictures and continue the drive. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/112258742599256023 #astronomy #geology #space #spacegeek #travel

A year ago I was on the drive back home on the #SolarEclipse2024 road trip. From the far point of the trip in Houston, I made some more #space related stops on the way home: Sierra Madera impact crater near Fort Stockton TX, NSF's Very Large Array radiotelescope near Socorro NM and Meteor Crater near Flagstaff AZ. Overnight stops were at Austin TX, Las Cruces NM, Flagstaff AZ and Brigham City UT. #astronomy #space #spacegeek #travel

More of my pictures from a year ago today at Johnson Space Center in Houston, 2 days after seeing #SolarEclipse2024. #astronomy #NASA #space #spacegeek #travel

One year ago, April 10, 2024... 2 days after #SolarEclipse2024, I visited NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. That part of my itinerary was intended to be an easy success in case the weather turned the eclipse viewing into a failure. Fortunately, that succeeded too. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/112252673054720555 #astronomy #NASA #space #spacegeek #travel

One year ago, the day after the April 8, 2024 total #SolarEclipse2024, I continued south from Dallas to Houston to see NASA Johnson Space Center, with a quick peek before the visitor center closed for the day. I returned for more there the next day. That day was the road trip's farthest point with dinner at the coast in Galveston. After that everything was on the journey back home. #spacegeek #travel

One year ago was the day before the April 8, 2024 Total #SolarEclipse2024. I got to Mesquite, Texas (eastern Dallas metro) around mid-day to try to arrive ahead of the crush of traffic as everyone came from everywhere to the path of totality. Even before I found a place to get lunch, I met a news crew preparing to cover the next day's festivities in downtown. I was interviewed by AP aerospace reporter Marcia Dunn. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/112231193378607141 #astronomy #spacegeek #eclipse #travel

Remarkable day with engineering test flights of 2 giant American commercial #NewSpace rockets, #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 & #SpaceX #Starship🚀 flight test 7, about 16 hours apart. Rocket science once again proved to be hard. Interesting opposite results: New Glenn's 2nd stage got to orbit, but 1st stage was lost on the landing attempt. Starship 33 (new Block 2 model) failed to reach orbit, while Booster 14 was successfully caught by the tower arms. https://spacey.space/@AstroHawk/113829189563034434 #business #spacegeek

"Blue Origin reaches orbit on first flight of its titanic New Glenn rocket" by @arstechnica / @sciguyspace - Excellent first flight of the new heavy-lift rocket achieved it's primary goal of reaching orbit. The booster landing attempt should be viewed as good that they tried and got data from the attempt. https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/blue-origin-reaches-orbit-on-first-flight-of-its-titanic-new-glenn-rocket/ #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #space #business #spacegeek

"Getting to orbit is hard. And we did it on our first go." True. They've earned the celebration we're seeing now. New Glenn is about 90% the size of a Saturn V, to point out how big this is. I noticed the shape of the shock diamonds in the rocket thrust looked like consistent stable combustion. Well done! #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

Webcast says 1st stage booster was lost during landing burn near the landing ship. They promise more details. But expect the mood to be of celebration with success of 2nd stage reaching orbit. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

"GS2 is now orbital". Second stage engine cutoff. Primary objective successful! #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

2nd stage continues climbing toward orbit, which is the primary goal of this mission. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

Booster data feed frozen on descent for attempted landing. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

2nd stage climbing toward orbit. 1st stage re-entering for attempted landing. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

MECO. Stage separation. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

Liftoff! #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

T-5 minutes. Go for launch. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

T-10 minutes. #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 #NewSpace #spacegeek

Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning could be exciting with #SpaceX #Starship🚀 flight test 7 and #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 currently scheduled 8 hours apart. However, engineering flight tests are not conducted for spectators. It's realistic to set expectations for possible delays. https://go4liftoff.com/launches?item_count=20&upcoming=true&tbd=true #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

"Blue Origin reschedules orbital debut of New Glenn rocket, then re-reschedules it" by GeekWire / @alanboyle - #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 now planned for Thu Jan 16 at 0100 ET (Wed Jan 15 2200 PT). Still no technical details offered in public statements. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/blue-origin-turnaround-new-glenn-rocket/ #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

"An icy vent line may have caused Blue Origin to scrub debut launch of New Glenn" by @arstechnica / @sciguyspace - #BlueOrigin #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 launch webcast offered no technical details for the postponement. Reporter Eric Berger's sources say it was ice blocking a vent line, a common problem with cryogenic (super cold) rocket propellants. Winter weather at sea for booster landing attempt may prolong delays in the next launch attempt. https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/an-icy-vent-line-may-have-caused-blue-origin-to-scrub-debut-launch-of-new-glenn/ #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

After multiple rolling delays, #BlueOrigin's #NewGlenn🚀 #NG1 launch is scrubbed. New launch attempt date TBD. #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

"#SpaceX launches giant #Starship rocket into space on epic 3rd test flight (video)" by @SpaceDotCom / @tariqjmalik - Downlink video during re-entry is something never seen before. 👀 https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-third-test-flight-launch #IFT3 #NewSpace #spacegeek

"#SpaceX launches giant #Starship rocket into space on epic 3rd test flight (video)" by @SpaceDotCom / @tariqjmalik - Downlink video during re-entry is something never seen before. 👀 https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-third-test-flight-launch #IFT3 #NewSpace #spacegeek

If you're a #SpaceGeek like I am, see if you're in the path of the #total #eclipses coming up October 2023 and April 2024 so you can plan ahead 😁 and really get a great view https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/where-to-see-the-two-great-north-american-eclipses/

#SolarEclipse2023 #SolarEclipse2024 #SpaceStuff

"#RelativitySpace launches 3D-printed #Terran1 rocket but falls short of orbit" by GeekWire / @alanboyle - Maiden test flight got flight data/experience on Max-Q conditions and stage separation. 2nd stage failed. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/relativity-space-terran-1-rocket-first-launch/ #NewSpace #business #spacegeek

Schedule conflict: #avgeek #spacegeek #eek - Boeing 747 final delivery and Congressional Space Medal of Honor award ceremony webcasts are happening at about the same time this afternoon. Pick one.