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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
All about China's new rocket and spaceport, which may see action this Saturday
Sometime between Saturday and Wednesday, China plans to launch a brand new rocket from a brand new launch site, and conduct a small-scale test of its next-generation crew capsule.
Multimedia roundup: Blue Origin completes two-parachute test flight
Yesterday in West Texas, Blue Origin launched its New Shepard spacecraft on its sixth suborbital test flight. The capsule normally descends using three parachutes, but on Sunday, just two were used to show the spacecraft could still land safely in the event of a parachute mishap.
Picture-perfect landing for Soyuz crew on sunny Kazakh steppe
Tim Kopra, Tim Peake and Yuri Malenchenko are back on Earth this morning following a picture-perfect landing on the sunny Kazakhstan steppe.
Night owl? Early bird? Watch a Soyuz crew plunge back to Earth Saturday morning
Tomorrow morning, Tim Kopra, Tim Peake and Yuri Malenchenko are coming home from the International Space Station. But if you live in the United States or Europe, you're going to have to get up pretty early—or stay up late—to see it happen.
Multimedia roundup: Falcon 9 makes dual-satellite delivery run
SpaceX placed two communications satellites into orbit today, but the company's attempt to go four-in-a-row on first stage drone ship recoveries fell short.
Scientists play with fire aboard trash-filled cargo spacecraft
This afternoon, NASA started a fire aboard a trash-filled cargo spacecraft, but it was all in the name of science. Engineers at the agency's Glenn Research Center are studying how large-scale fires spread in space.
LightSail 2 will transmit Morse code from space, and you can make the sound your ringtone
The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft will identify itself from orbit using Morse code, and you can make the sound your ringtone.
Take a look inside the station's new expandable module with astronaut Jeff Williams
BEAM, the International Space Station's new expandable habitat module, is open for business. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka entered the module at 4:47 a.m. EDT (9:47 UTC) this morning.
Follow a space shuttle tank through LA with this timelapse video
This timelapse video follows some of the space shuttle external tank's 19-hour journey from Marina del Rey to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
BEAM expanded and pressurized: Your news, commentary and tweet roundup
BEAM is expanded and pressurized! The International Space Station's newest module, which will serve as a technology demonstrator for in-space expandable habitats, was fully filled with air this afternoon.
With retry scheduled tomorrow, NASA and Bigelow say BEAM will work—it's just a question of when
NASA will try again tomorrow to expand BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. During a press teleconference this afternoon, officials said they were confident the module was going to expand—it's just a question of when.
Three-peat! SpaceX sticks another drone ship landing
SpaceX continued its impressive string of first stage recoveries today, sticking a Falcon 9 drone ship landing during the successful launch of THAICOM 8, a communications satellite.
Space station module expansion called off after BEAM doesn't budge
NASA and Bigelow Aerospace weren't able to get the space station's newest module up and running this morning. Another attempt could come as early as Friday.
Tomorrow morning, watch a new space module inflate—er, expand
NASA is set to fill a new space station module called BEAM with air Thursday morning. But does BEAM inflate, or expand?
Mostly smooth sailing in San Luis Obispo: LightSail 2 completes day-in-the-life test
The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft breezed through a major systems test today, demonstrating the CubeSat can successfully deploy its antenna and solar panels, communicate with the ground, and unfurl its 32-square-meter solar sails in space.
Shuttle tank caps 41-day journey with trip through streets of Los Angeles
After a 41-day journey marked by stormy seas, a trip through the Panama Canal and a rescue off the Baja California coast, the last unflown space shuttle external fuel tank has arrived at its new home here in Los Angeles.
On LightSail 1 launch anniversary, team prepares successor craft for day-in-the-life test
One year ago today, LightSail 1 rode an Atlas V rocket into space. Now, the program stands on the brink of another major milestone, as engineers prepare for a full systems test of LightSail 2, a successor CubeSat that will attempt the first controlled solar sail flight in low-Earth orbit.
Pictures and video: After dramatic sea rescue, shuttle tank berths safely in San Diego
Two-and-a-half days after a dramatic sea rescue, the tugboat crew hauling a space shuttle fuel tank to California bid farewell to some unexpected passengers last night in San Diego.
Tugboat hauling shuttle tank to California rescues passengers of sunk fishing vessel
The crew of the tugboat hauling the last unflown space shuttle external fuel tank to California reports they have rescued four passengers from a fishing boat that sunk off the coast of Mexico.
All the way to orbit: After 35 years, is the RS-25 still the Ferrari of rocket engines?
The RS-25 powered the space shuttle for three decades, and will soon be used on the Space Launch System. Is it still the Ferrari of rocket engines? A deep dive on performance, reliability and the politics of rocket science.