Hacker News with Generative AI: Spacecraft

Starliner's flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought (arstechnica.com)
As it flew up toward the International Space Station last summer, the Starliner spacecraft lost four thrusters. A NASA astronaut, Butch Wilmore, had to take manual control of the vehicle. But as its thrusters failed, Wilmore lost the ability to move Starliner in the direction he wanted to go.

Spaceflight, NASA, Spacecraft

51 points by ranger207 1 day ago | 3 comments

The disappearance of Gaia, ESA spacecraft will be turned off on 27 March 2025 (cosmos.esa.int)
On 4 March, astronomer Zhuo-Xiao Wang captured this view of the sudden disappearance of ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. After more than 11 years in space mapping the motions and properties of billions of stars, the spacecraft’s operations are coming to an end. Gaia will be switched off on 27 March 2025. During a series of final test operations, flight controllers at ESA’s ESOC mission control centre rotated Gaia, causing its sunshield to reflect more light towards Earth.

Space Exploration, Astronomy, Science, Spacecraft

126 points by croes 7 days ago | 45 comments

Radioisotope generators − the 'nuclear batteries' that power faraway spacecraft (theconversation.com)
Powering spacecraft with solar energy may not seem like a challenge, given how intense the Sun’s light can feel on Earth. Spacecraft near the Earth use large solar panels to harness the Sun for the electricity needed to run their communications systems and science instruments.

Spacecraft, Energy, Nuclear Energy, Science

8 points by rntn 18 days ago | 0 comments

Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket successfully puts French spy satellite into orbit (france24.com)
Europe's new heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 carried out its first commercial mission on Thursday, launching without a hitch and deploying a French military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Military, France

15 points by inopinatus 27 days ago | 0 comments

Breakup of SpaceX's Starship Rocket Disrupts Florida Airports (nytimes.com)
Starship, — the huge spacecraft that Elon Musk says will one day take people to Mars — failed during its latest test flight on Thursday when its upper stage exploded in space, raining debris and disrupting air traffic at airports from Florida to Pennsylvania.

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Accidents, Florida

19 points by FireBeyond 27 days ago | 3 comments

SpaceX launches Starship Flight 8 - Loses attitude control (spacex.com)
On its flight to the International Space Station, Dragon executes a series of burns that position the vehicle progressively closer to the station before it performs final docking maneuvers, followed by pressurization of the vestibule, hatch opening, and crew ingress.

SpaceX, Spaceflight, Spacecraft

67 points by s1artibartfast 27 days ago | 59 comments

Mach25 hypersonic reentry of my spacecraft (imgur.com)

Spacecraft, Hypersonic, Engineering

7 points by enderfusion 33 days ago | 2 comments

Days before landing, Blue Ghost spacecraft shares close-ups of the moon (cnn.com)

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Moon

3 points by MilnerRoute 37 days ago | 0 comments

US Space Force reveals first look at secretive X-37B space plane in orbit (space.com)

Space Exploration, Military, Technology, Spacecraft

118 points by aleyan 39 days ago | 101 comments

42 - Spacecraft Simulation (github.com/ericstoneking)
42 is a comprehensive general-purpose simulation of spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics. Its primary purpose is to support design and validation of attitude control systems, from concept studies through integration and test.

Spacecraft, Simulation, Software, Aerospace Engineering

81 points by Stevvo 89 days ago | 10 comments

2.01 (Buran-Class Spacecraft) (wikipedia.org)
2.01 (GRAU index serial number 11F35 3K) is the designation of the third Buran-class orbiter to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran programme.

Spacecraft, Soviet Union, Russia

7 points by doener 91 days ago | 0 comments

Saving Voyager 1 [video] (youtube.com)

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Voyager 1

88 points by thijsr 113 days ago | 13 comments

NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown (gizmodo.com)
A press conference held earlier today was an opportunity for NASA to explain why four Crew-8 astronauts were sent to a hospital after splashing down on Earth on October 25, but the agency and its astronauts quickly shut down any attempt by journalists to glean more information.

Space Exploration, NASA, Crew-8, Spacecraft, Health

79 points by bookofjoe 145 days ago | 154 comments

The International Space Station Has Been Leaking for Five Years (scientificamerican.com)
In the hostile conditions beyond Earth, a spacecraft is all that stands between an astronaut and certain death. So having yearslong seemingly unfixable leaks on the International Space Station (ISS) sounds like a nightmare scenario.

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Leaks

18 points by timbilt 152 days ago | 9 comments

Voyager 1 phones home with transmitter that hasn't been used since 1981 (space.com)

Voyager 1, Space Exploration, Technology, NASA, Spacecraft

89 points by el_duderino 154 days ago | 2 comments

Shenzhou-18 crew records video showcasing life, work in space [video] (youtube.com)

Space Exploration, China, Spacecraft, Video, Science

83 points by hunglee2 156 days ago | 22 comments

ESA astronaut on the difference between flying in Soyuz and piloting Crew Dragon (theregister.com)
The first Dane to fly in space, Andreas Mogensen, thinks there's every chance the International Space Station (ISS) might last for a few more years and harbors hopes of visiting the Moon.

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Astronauts

5 points by LorenDB 170 days ago | 1 comments

Brightness of the Qianfan Satellites (arxiv.org)
Observed magnitudes of Qianfan spacecraft range from 4 when they are near zenith to 8 when low in the sky.

Spacecraft, Astronomy, Satellites

9 points by gnabgib 170 days ago | 0 comments

X-37B begins novel space maneuver (spaceforce.mil)
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-7) will begin executing a series of novel maneuvers, called aerobraking, to change its orbit around Earth and safely dispose of its service module components in accordance with recognized standards for space debris mitigation.

Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Aerospace, Military, Science

3 points by marban 173 days ago | 0 comments

How to avoid a BSOD on your 2B dollar spacecraft (clarkwakeland.com)
Short answer: turn it off and turn it back on

Spacecraft, Software, Troubleshooting, Hardware

190 points by linebeck 189 days ago | 152 comments

Caught on camera: Satellite tracker photographs secret spacecraft (space.com)

Space, Satellites, UFOs, Spacecraft

125 points by alex_young 195 days ago | 50 comments

Starliner departs space station and returns to Earth (arstechnica.com)

Space Travel, NASA, Spacecraft

5 points by ChumpGPT 207 days ago | 1 comments

NASA provides explanation for 'strange noises' coming from Starliner spacecraft (foxnews.com)