Do you think that you can land the Space X Falcon lander ? Go ahead !

Dear reader and followers,

it is super hard to land a rocket on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Elon Musk has had to learn that the hard way, and now, you too can experience the crushing disappointment of trying to land the SpaceX Falcon 9 lander, thanks to a new internet game (completely unaffiliated with SpaceX). The game is simple; choose a level with your space bar, and use the arrow keys to gently guide the rocket onto the tiny floating platform before you run out of fuel. Or hit the ocean. Or hit the platform and explode violently. You could also succeed, but only if you are a secret genius/wizard.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Lander is a fun twist on the classic Lunar Lander game that has you trying to perfectly balance thrust, rotation, descent, and your remaining fuel to safely land a rocket ship back on a floating platform.

Playing it is slightly less stressful than trying to land the real Falcon 9 since you’re not out millions of dollars every time you crash–but only just. If you’re looking for a way to relax and kill some time this afternoon, this isn’t it. But if you want to feel as frustrated as Elon Musk does, definitely give it a shot. 

Due to the hardness to land in the middle of the ocean, Space X change its approach, next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.

Play the game here. Good luck!

Space X plans to land these rockets at Cape Canaveral instead of on an ocean platform

Dear readers and followers,

Next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.

SpaceX has attempted to land a rocket gently before, but those attempts were made on giant floating platforms in the ocean (which just missed). Then, last week, competitor Blue Origin managed to land it's own reusable rocket safely on the ground, amping up the public pressure on SpaceX to successfully land their own rocket.

Since one of their rockets exploded in June, SpaceX has been grounded as they troubleshoot. The company is also upgrading their rockets with new engines that can carry heavier loads.

SpaceX's next launch could happen in the coming week, as early as December 15th 2016, but that remains unconfirmed.

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Stay tuned

Successful lift-off of the Antares rocket carrying equipments for ISS

Dear followers,

After a decrease of the radiation level which delayed the liftoff this week, the space launch  of the Antares rocket was performed. If you missed the Orb1 rocket launch to the ISS yesterday, enjoy this video 

Credit: +NASA 

Orb-1 mission of the Antares rocket delayed due to high space radiation environment

Dear followers,

yesterday, we announced that the Antares is already on the launch Pad-0A at +NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. This morning, the Antares launch team decided to delay the space launch due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment.

Image source : Orbital Science

The space rocket is in advance of a planned launch on January 8th at 1:32 p.m. EST on the Wallops Island, VA. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the international space station are science experiments, crew provisions, and other hardware. 

Stay tuned 

[Update] : if the level of radiations moves down, Orbital Sciences announces that the launch could be performed on Thursday, the launch targeted launch time would be 1:10 p.m. (EST), with Cygnus arriving at the ISS Sunday morning, January 12.

Antares ready on the launch pad for its lift-off on Wednesday 8th

Dear follower,

I wish you a happy new year 2014, and today, the Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the +International Space Station from Orbital Sciences Corporation is already on the launch Pad-0A at +NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The space rocket is in advance of a planned launch on January 8th at 1:32 p.m. EST on the Wallops Island, VA. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the international space station are science experiments, crew provisions, and other hardware. 

Below a picture of the rocket on the pad, it's a great picture for a 2014 wallpaper !

 Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Stay tuned for the live streaming of the space launch on Wednesday

First commercial satellite launched by the SpaceX rocket

  Credits: Spacevids.tv

Antares rocket with Cygnus capsule launch

Credits: +NASA 

Source

Successful NASA's launch of suborbital rocket dedicated for student experiments

Dear followers,

yesterday morning, a suborbital rocket, carrying experiments developed by university students from all USA, was successfully launched at 6:00 am from +NASA's launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  

Credits: +NASA / Chris Perry

The Rocksat-X program is conducted with the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. The goal of the program is to provide a hand-s on experience in developing experimental setup dedicated for space flight. This great experience leads the students to participate to a real life space project.

The rocket launched yesterday reached the approximated altitude of 94 miles above the Atlantic ocean before landing using parachute close to the Wallops Flight Facility. The recovery of the payload is still in process.

The students will get back their experimental equipment later to see how they performed and begin data analysis. Moreover, they will use data sent by other experiments during the flight via the telemetry system on board the rocket.

The next NASA's spacecraft to Mars arrived at Kennedy Space Center

Dear follower,

After Curiosity, the rover sent to the red planet by +NASA to explore the land of Mars, the American space agency, works on a new spacecraft : MAVEN. This spacecraft should be sent before the end of this year.

Credits: +NASA / Tim Jacobs

The new Mars spacecraft called MAVEN for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution arrived on August 3rd at the +NASA agency at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. MAVEN was flown to Florida for launch processing from Buckley Air Force base near the +Lockheed Martin facility in Littleton, Colorado, where the spacecraft was built.

The next Mars mission should lift off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November 2013. The travel of the spacecraft should be around 10 month. This mission will be the first one dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere and the scientists of +NASA and +NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory hope to find traces of the ancient environment of the red planet.