April 2019 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

World’s largest airplane completes first flight

April 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

Built for hauling rockets aloft to launch satellites, the world’s biggest airplane landed Saturday after a widely-anticipated test flight over California’s Mojave Desert, six months after the death of billionaire benefactor Paul Allen clouded the future of the project.

SpaceX retrieves Falcon Heavy fairings from sea for reuse on future launch

April 12, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Thursday that the company’s recovery fleet in the Atlantic Ocean recovered the two halves of the Falcon Heavy’s payload shroud after the heavy-lifter’s second launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Musk said the company plans to reuse the fairing for the first time later this year.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy successful in commercial debut

April 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

On its second flight, SpaceX’s mammoth Falcon Heavy rocket hurled an Arabsat communications satellite the size of a school bus nearly one-quarter the way to the moon Thursday, days after NASA’s administrator identified the privately-developed rocket as a backup to the agency’s behind-schedule Space Launch System for sending astronauts back to the lunar surface.

Photos: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy fires into a clear evening sky

April 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

Soaring into a clear early evening sky, SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from a seaside launch complex Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida before a crowd of thousands of space enthusiasts.

Israeli probe crashes in attempt to become first privately-funded moon lander

April 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli-built spacecraft seeking to become the first privately-developed probe to land on the moon crashed on descent Thursday, but the mission was widely lauded as a breakthrough for the commercial space industry, and Israeli prime minster Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would try again.

Live coverage: Israel’s Beresheet lander lost during descent to the moon

April 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

The privately-funded, Israeli-built Beresheet spacecraft failed Thursday during its historic attempt to land on the moon, seeking to become the first mission to reach the lunar surface without significant government backing. The landing was expected to occur at 1925 GMT (3:25 p.m. EDT).

Watch the Falcon Heavy go upright at launch pad 39A

April 11, 2019 Spaceflight Now

The Falcon Heavy is lifted upright at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on April 10, 2019, in this time-lapse video.

Privately-funded Israeli probe set for daring moon landing attempt

April 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli-built spacecraft financed through donations from billionaire philanthropists is set to make history Thursday when it tries to become the first privately-funded probe to land on the moon.

Astronomers capture first image of black hole’s event horizon

April 10, 2019 William Harwood

A century after Einstein’s equations predicted the existence of black holes, a virtual telescope the size of planet Earth has captured the first direct image of a black hole, or rather the mysterious region defined by the hole’s event horizon, the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape, astronomers announced Wednesday.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy ready for first commercial launch

April 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

A little more than a year after the Falcon Heavy rocket’s first test flight, SpaceX teams on Florida’s Space Coast are readying the world’s most powerful operational launcher for its second mission Thursday with a commercial communications satellite.