Neutron Stars – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch X-ray telescope on reused rocket

July 8, 2019

NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2021, bypassing Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus rocket for the task.

Neutron star collision an astronomical gold mine

October 17, 2017

On Aug. 17, gravity waves rippled through the solar system, slightly squeezing and stretching the space Earth occupies, the result of a catastrophic collision of two compact-but-massive neutron stars, producing a so-called “kilonova” explosion that seeded the local environment with a flood of heavy elements ranging from gold and platinum to uranium and beyond, scientists said Monday.

Chinese astronomy satellite placed into orbit by Long March rocket

June 15, 2017

China’s first X-ray astronomy satellite launched Thursday on a mission to survey the Milky Way galaxy for black holes and pulsars, the remnants left behind after a star burns up its nuclear fuel.

Dragon supply ship delivers to space station for second time

June 5, 2017

A commercial Dragon cargo craft wrapped up a two-day trip to the International Space Station on Monday with a glacial laser-guided final approach before astronauts grasped the supply ship with a robotic arm, completing the refurbished capsule’s second journey to the orbiting research complex.

Reused Dragon cargo capsule launched on journey to space station

June 3, 2017

A refurbished robotic Dragon spaceship rocketed into orbit from Florida on Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, hauling nearly 6,000 pounds of crew provisions and biological, astrophysics and space technology experiments on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 launch with Dragon

June 3, 2017

Watch the launch of a commercial Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo ship bound for the International Space Station, as seen live on NASA Television.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule arrives at space station

June 1, 2017

Two days after blasting off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX’s refurbished Dragon supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday with nearly 6,000 pounds of experiments and equipment. Grapple of Dragon by the station’s robot arm occurred at 9:52 a.m. EDT (1352 GMT).