NASA and other global space programs (excluding Indian) news, Updates and Discussions

[skywatcher]

Composition comparison of lunar soils obtained by Apollo and Chang'e 5.

 

[skywatcher]

Chang'e 6 with 2kg of samples from far side of the Moon just landed in Inner Mongolia

 

[skywatcher]

Chang'e 6 with 2kg of samples from far side of the Moon just landed in Inner MongoliaView attachment 259174

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Severe burn

 

[skywatcher]

Mid year statistics: Global orbital launches from Jan to June 2024

Note: Orbital launches from the Moon are not included.

 

[skywatcher]

Huge explosion from a static fire of the nine engines of the first stage of the private Chinese rocket Tianlong-3 today

Space Pioneer announcement(machine translate):
During the test run, the first-stage rocket ignited normally, and the engine thrust reached 820 tons. Due to structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, the first-stage rocket detached from the launch pad. After liftoff, the computer on the rocket automatically shut down, and the rocket fell to the ground. In a deep mountain 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test platform, the rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated. The test site was far away from the urban area of Gongyi. Before the test, we worked with the local government to improve safety measures and organized the evacuation of surrounding people in advance. After investigation, there were no casualties.

Tianlong 3 is a large liquid launch vehicle customized by Space Pioneer for the construction of my country's satellite Internet constellation. Its product performance is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9. Its diameter is 3.8 meters, its take-off mass is 590 tons, and its low-Earth orbit (LEO) transport capacity is 17 tons, with a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 14 tons.

 

[skywatcher]

Huge explosion from a static fire of the nine engines of the first stage of the private Chinese rocket Tianlong-3 todayView attachment 259500
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Space Pioneer announcement(machine translate):
During the test run, the first-stage rocket ignited normally, and the engine thrust reached 820 tons. Due to structural failure at the connection between the rocket body and the test bench, the first-stage rocket detached from the launch pad. After liftoff, the computer on the rocket automatically shut down, and the rocket fell to the ground. In a deep mountain 1.5 kilometers southwest of the test platform, the rocket body fell into the mountain and disintegrated. The test site was far away from the urban area of Gongyi. Before the test, we worked with the local government to improve safety measures and organized the evacuation of surrounding people in advance. After investigation, there were no casualties.

Tianlong 3 is a large liquid launch vehicle customized by Space Pioneer for the construction of my country's satellite Internet constellation. Its product performance is comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9. Its diameter is 3.8 meters, its take-off mass is 590 tons, and its low-Earth orbit (LEO) transport capacity is 17 tons, with a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) capacity of 14 tons.

RARE UNEXPECTED TAKE OFF DURING A STATIC FIRE TEST