Nasa

Boeing's Starliner won't carry crew on next flight amid safety concerns

Boeing and NASA have agreed to keep astronauts off the company's next Starliner flight and instead perform a trial run with cargo to prove its safety. Monday's announcement comes eight months after the first and only Starliner crew returned to Earth aboard SpaceX after a prolonged mission. Although NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to dock Starliner to the International Space Station in 2024, the capsule had so many problems that NASA ordered it to come back empty, leaving the astronauts stuck there for more than nine months. Engineers have since been poring over the thruster and other issues that plagued the Starliner capsule. Its next cargo run to the space station will occur no earlier than April, pending additional tests and certification. Boeing said in a statement that it remains committed to the Starliner program with safety the highest priority. NASA is also slashing the planned number of Starliner flights, from six to four. If the cargo mission goes

ISRO to launch US communication satellite on commercial LVM3 flight in Dec

ISRO would launch a US communication satellite using LVM3 on a commercial basis next month, the space agency's Chairman V Narayanan said on Monday. Delivering the keynote address on the occasion of 68th Annual Day celebrations of Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) here, he also said the country's space programme would be on par with any other advanced nation in terms of launches, satellites and others by 2040. "Launch date is not yet decided. It will be next month. It is a communication satellite, we are planning to launch. A commercial basis communication satellite we are going to launch in our LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark - III), vehicle," he told reporters. It is not a collaboration with the US, but an American satellite which would be launched on a commercial basis, he said. According to him, the ISRO, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm of affairs, is working on a lot of programmes. Right now, 57 satellites are in orbit, an

Nasa planning to divest, demolish buildings at Maryland's Goddard Centre

One of Nasa's premier science Centres, Goddard operates the agency's Hubble Space Telescope and works on science missions including ones that explore the solar system

Blue Origin launches huge rocket carrying twin Nasa spacecraft to Mars

Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket Thursday with a pair of NASA spacecraft destined for Mars. It was only the second flight of the rocket that Jeff Bezos' company and NASA are counting on to get people and supplies to the moon. The 321-foot (98-meter) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA's twin Mars orbiters on a drawn-out journey to the red planet. Liftoff was stalled four days by lousy local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida. In a remarkable first, Blue Origin recovered the booster following its separation from the upper stage and the Mars orbiters, an essential step to recycle and slash costs similar to SpaceX. Company employees cheered wildly as the booster landed upright on a barge 375 miles (600 kilometers) offshore. An ecstatic Bezos watched the action from Launch Control. Next stop, moon! company employees chanted following the successful

Nasa nominee Isaacman's meeting manifesto: 1 hour cap, no multitasking

Tucked inside of a 62-page manifesto written by President Trump's pick to run space agency is a plan to crack down on the agency's bureaucracy by imposing stringent restrictions on employee meetings

NISAR satellite to be declared operational on November 7: ISRO chief

NASA and ISRO are all set to declare their first-ever jointly developed NISAR satellite operational on Friday, ISRO chairman V Narayanan said here on Wednesday. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), said to be the most expensive Earth observation satellite ever built, has the ability to monitor most of the planet's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days. The 2,400 kg NISAR satellite was launched on July 30 from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre using the GSLV rocket. "Entire data calibration has been completed, and we will have a conclave on November 7 to declare the satellite operational," Narayanan said at the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) here. The NISAR mission is the first to carry two SAR systems the L-Band and S-Band sensors. The L-band radar can penetrate forest canopies and measure soil moisture, forest biomass, and the motion of land and ice surfaces. The S-band radar is more sensitive to small vegetation, and can observe cer

Nasa tests quiet supersonic jet, taking one step closer to faster travel

A supersonic jet plane designed to make very little noise took flight for the first time this week, cruising over the southern California desert just after sunrise in what could be the first step toward much faster commercial travel, according to NASA. NASA and the US weapons and aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin successfully tested a jet Tuesday that is capable of travelling faster than the speed of sound. Aircraft have been capable of flying at supersonic speeds since the 1940s. The problem is that ultra fast planes are banned for commercial travel over land because they make an explosive and frightening sonic boom that disturbs the public. The supersonic aircraft Concorde, operated through British Airways and Air France, made transatlantic flights starting in the 1970s. But those were halted in 2003 after a fatal crash three years earlier tanked demand for the expensive service. If NASA and Lockheed Martin can successfully lower the volume, the new jets could slash travel

Musk criticises Nasa's Sean Duffy as Isaacman praises agency leader

The comments by Musk, the space industry's most prominent CEO, come a day after Duffy expressed frustration over the development by Musk's company of a lunar lander

SpaceX launches 11th test flight of Starship, aims to cover half the globe

SpaceX launched another of its mammoth Starship rockets on a test flight Monday, striving to make it halfway around the world while releasing mock satellites like last time. Starship the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built thundered into the evening sky from the southern tip of Texas. The booster was programmed to peel away and drop into the Gulf of Mexico, with the spacecraft skimming space before descending into the Indian Ocean. Nothing was being recovered. It was the 11th test flight for a full-scale Starship, which SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk intends to use to send people to Mars. NASA's need is more immediate. The space agency cannot land astronauts on the moon by decade's end without the 403-foot (123-meter) Starship, the reusable vehicle meant to get them from lunar orbit down to the surface and back up. Instead of remaining inside Launch Control as usual, Musk said that for the first time, he was going outside to watch much more visceral. The previous test

Nasa introduces new astronauts: 10 chosen from more than 8,000 applicants

NASA introduced its newest astronauts Monday, 10 scientists, engineers and test pilots chosen from more than 8,000 applicants to help explore the moon and possibly Mars. For the first time, there were more women than men in a NASA astronaut class. They included a geologist who worked on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, a SpaceX engineer who flew on a billionaire-sponsored spaceflight that featured the world's first private spacewalk and a former SpaceX launch director. The group will undergo two years of training before becoming eligible for spaceflight. Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said one of them could become the first person to step on Mars. It is the 24th astronaut class for NASA since the original Mercury Seven made their debut in 1959. The previous class was in 2021. Only 370 people have been selected by NASA as astronauts, making it an extraordinarily small and elite group composed mostly of men. The latest additions revealed during a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Centre

Northrop Grumman cargo ship reaches ISS a day late after engine glitch

A supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday after a day's delay due to a premature engine shutdown. Astronauts used the space station's robot arm to pluck Northrop Grumman's Cygnus capsule from orbit as they soared over Africa. The 5,000-kilogram shipment should have reached the space station Wednesday, three days after blasting off from Florida. But when the capsule tried to climb higher, its main engine shut down too soon. Engineers traced the problem to an overly conservative software setting. This is the first flight of the extra-large version of the Cygnus, which is packed with food, science experiments and equipment for the space station's toilet and other systems. NASA holds contracts with Northrop Grumman as well as SpaceX to keep the orbiting lab well stocked. Russia also sends supplies, and Japan is about to resume deliveries as well. Northrop Grumman named its latest capsule the S S Willie McCool after the pilot of the doomed 2003 flight of space

Best of BS Opinion: Ethanol blend welcome, but water security a key concern

Today's wrap of the Opinion Page considers the E20 mandate and its potential impacts, what a US court's ruling on Google means, India's spice trade, and the regulatory aspects of options trading

Nasa shuts access for Chinese nationals as US eyes upper hand in moon race

Nasa has barred Chinese nationals from its facilities and networks, reviving a Cold War-style rivalry with Beijing as both nations race to put more astronauts on the moon within the decade

Nasa Rover finds Mars rocks that may be signs of ancient microbial life

In a new paper published in Nature, researchers offer up different explanations for a group of Martian rocks that Perseverance uncovered and sampled in July 2024

Duffy vows Nasa will beat China to moon, says 'I'll be damned' if not

During the meeting, Duffy addressed testimony from Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing that highlighted concerns over Nasa's ability to return humans to the surface of the moon before China

Indian-American Amit Kshatriya named Nasa's associate administrator

A decorated Indian-American Amit Kshatriya has been named as NASA's new 'exploration-focussed' associate administrator, the US space agency announced here. Kshatriya, a 20-year NASA veteran, was most recently the deputy in charge of the Moon to Mars Programme in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters in Washington. Acting NASA Administrator Sean P Duffy Wednesday named exploration-focussed Amit Kshatriya as the new associate administrator of NASA, the agency's top civil service role, a NASA statement said. Born in Wisconsin to Indian immigrant parents, educated at California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and the University of Texas at Austin, Kshatriya is one of only about 100 people in history to serve as a mission control flight director. He joined NASA in 2003. Kshatriya was decorated with the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for actions as the lead flight director for the 50t

Trump announces that Space Command is moving from Colorado to Alabama

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US Space Command will be located in Alabama, reversing a Biden-era decision to keep it at its temporary headquarters in Colorado. The long-expected decision from Trump caps a four-year tug of war between two states and opposing administrations about where to locate US Space Command, an intense fight because the headquarters would be a significant boon to the local economy. Alabama and Colorado have long battled to claim Space Command, with elected officials from both states asserting their state is the better location. The US Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known from this point forward as Rocket City, said Trump, flanked by Republican members of Alabama's congressional delegation, from the Oval Office on Tuesday. We had a lot of competition for this and Alabama's getting it." Trump said Huntsville won the race for the Space Command headquarters, in par

Shubhanshu Shukla gets hero's welcome in Lucknow after historic space feat

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla returned to his hometown Lucknow on Monday to a rousing reception after becoming the first Indian to visit the International Space Station. Although he arrived in India from the US on August 17, he is visiting the Uttar Pradesh capital now after participating in multiple outreach events, including a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 18. Family members, including his parents Shambhu and Asha Shukla, wife Kamna, and son Kiash, were present at the airport to greet him. They were joined by cheering crowds waving the tricolour and chanting "Vande Mataram". Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, a troupe played drums and trumpets, while students from Shukla's alma mater, City Montessori School (CMS), came dressed in vibrant costumes representing space missions and celestial objects. CMS manager Geeta Gandhi Kingdon was among those personally welcoming the school's celebrated alumnus. From the airport, Shukla embarked on a

From shy to living India's space dream: Shubhanshu Shukla's journey

IAF's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla grew as a "shy and reserved" person, hearing stories of the 1984 spaceflight of Rakesh Sharma in his childhood days. On Sunday, Shukla, India's second astronaut to travel to space after Sharma, was signing autographs for school students and obliging fellow air warriors queuing up to get clicked with him. Life, like his recent space sojourn in a spacecraft orbit, has indeed come full circle for Shukla. The occasion was the felicitation of Shukla and three other chosen Gaganyaan astronauts by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Air Force Auditorium in Subroto Park here. During the event, Shukla, who goes by the callsign 'Shux', shared his journey of joining the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the experiences and challenges he faced while being part of the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). "I grew up as a shy and reserved person. We used to hear stories of the spaceflight of Rakesh Sharma in our childhood days," he said. Shu

Co-astronaut Nair likens Shubhanshu Shukla's return from space to Diwali

Astronaut Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair on Thursday likened Shubhanshu Shukla's return to India after a successful space mission to the festival of Diwali, which is celebrated to mark Lord Ram's return to Ayodhya. Group Captain Nair, who was the backup astronaut for Shukla for the Axiom-4 mission, also likened himself to Laxman, the younger brother of Lord Ram. "A few months from now, we will celebrate Diwali. That's the time when Shri Ram entered Ayodhya. We are here right now with Ram that is Shux, and I can call myself Laxman. It feels like Diwali today, and all our countrymen are here to receive us," Nair said at a press conference here. Shukla, who had the callsign 'Shux' during the Axiom-4 mission, and Nair returned to India earlier this week after nearly a year-long stay in the US, during which they trained for the mission to the International Space Station (ISS). "Remember, I am elder to Shux. But I would love to be Laxman to this Ram every day. Ram and Laxman got a lot of he