space

SpaceX still determining cause of Falcon 9 engine failure

SpaceX engineers are reviewing telemetry to figure out what caused a dramatic first stage engine failure Sunday night during launch of a commercially developed cargo ship on the company's first operational flight to the International Space Station, officials said today.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket's flight computer fired the remaining eight first-stage engines longer than planned to compensate for the failure of engine No. 1 and the Dragon cargo capsule was successfully boosted into the required orbit, setting up a rendezvous with the space station Wednesday morning as planned.

The SpaceX launch generated widespread interest because it was … Read more

SpaceX rocket engine shut down at launch

Monday's CNET Update finds a few problems:

Although it appeared to be a flawless launch, there was a problem with one of the engines of the SpaceX Falcon 9. About a minute after takeoff, one of the engines detected a drop in pressure and shut down. Video posted on YouTube shows debris falling off in what some have called an explosion. SpaceX said the engine did not explode, but rather the protective fairing for the engine ruptured due to the pressure change. The other engines compensated for the failed engine, as was designed to happen if there was a … Read more

SpaceX cargo ship takes off on commercial flight to station

An unmanned cargo ship loaded with spare parts, science equipment, and crew supplies -- including ice cream treats -- rocketed into orbit Sunday and set off after the International Space Station, kicking off a new era of commercial resupply flights intended to restore a U.S. supply chain that was crippled by the shuttle's retirement.

The Dragon capsule and its Falcon 9 rocket, both built by Space Exploration Technologies, took off with a rush of fiery exhaust at 8:35:07 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), quickly climbing away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.… Read more

'Star Trek' fusion impulse engine in the works

There's a hierarchy of "Star Trek" inventions we would like to see become reality. We already have voice-controlled computers and communicators in the form of smartphones. A working Holodeck is under development. Now, how about we get some impulse engines for our starships?

The University of Alabama in Huntsville's Aerophysics Research Center, NASA, Boeing, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating on a project to produce nuclear fusion impulse rocket engines. It's no warp drive, but it would get us around the galaxy a lot quicker than current technologies.… Read more

Scientists want to float a boat on Saturn moon Titan

While the Mars rover explores the Red Planet, a group of engineers submitted plans for a new out-of-this-world space mission: landing a boat on the Saturn moon Titan, which NASA, the European Space Agency, and Italian space agency ASI explored in depth over the last decade as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission.

Building on the successful 2005 landing of the Huygens probe on Titan, the new mission would aim to explore and collect data from the weird liquid methane makeup of the lakes found on the Saturn moon's surface. To explore these uncharted methane flows, engineers at the aerospace company Sener -- working in collaboration with Spain's Centro de Astrobiologia -- submitted a proposal last week to the European Planetary Science Congress for a Talise (Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer) boat probe. … Read more

Popular Mechanics honors breakthrough innovations

What do Elon Musk, Leap Motion, Microsoft Surface and Windows 8, Autodesk 123D, and Dow Solar's PowerHouse Solar Shingles have in common?

They are all among the winners of Popular Mechanics magazine's eighth Breakthrough Awards. Awarded each year by a panel of the magazine's editors, the honors go to people and products that are seen to be leading the world of science and commerce forward.

This year's product winners are: The North Face Powder Guide ABS Vest and Backpack; the Lytro camera; Autodesk 123D; Microsoft Surface and Windows 8; Ford's 1-liter EcoBoost engine; Dow PowerHouse … Read more

Backstage at Endeavour's welcome home party

If you were just about anywhere in California last Friday, you probably had your head tilted up, scanning the skies for a very rare chance to see a Space Shuttle fly overhead.

This was the final flight of Endeavour, the last Space Shuttle built, as it made its way across and around the Golden State atop a specially outfitted Boeing 747 before landing in Los Angeles, where it will reside permanently at the California Science Center.

As it flew over landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and NASA's Ames Research Center, thousands of people came out to celebrate the … Read more

Hubble looks back 13.2 billion years in deepest view yet

A stunning new composite photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope, made up of more than 2,000 images shot by multiple cameras over the past 10 years and combined in what amounts to a 23-day time exposure, shows some 5,500 galaxies in tiny field of view, including some dating back to just 450 million years after the big bang birth of the universe, astronomers said Tuesday.

Dubbed the eXtreme Deep Field, or XDF, the photograph represents the deepest view of the universe yet achieved, giving astronomers a "time tunnel"-like glimpse back across 13.2 billion years … Read more

The 404 1,137: Where we're changing the rules (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Facebook shares drop after Barron's snub

- A revamped Myspace will stay 'true to roots'

- Check out the latest episode of Aunt Jill's own podcast, Jill on Money!

- Follow Jill on Twitter.

Video voice mail: Lance from Salt Lake can't climb mountains, drives instead.… Read more

Divorced woman sends wedding ring into orbit

When relationships end, there isn't just one guilty party. Unless there is.

It might well be that your ex was a lovable person whom you treated like an errant musketeer. Or it might be that, one fine day, you discovered your ex's words were merely the arbitrary squeakings of a pygmy.

Rebecca Gibbs clearly became disenamored of her husband, Stephen Page. Where once their wedding proudly adorned YouTube, more recently the site reverberated with the whooshing sound of their marriage going up in smoke.

Or into space, to be more precise.

For Gibbs decided to take their wedding … Read more