NASA

The Crew Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module by completing the first leg of its SpX-DM1 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1) or SpaceX Demo-1 mission that started yesterday with its launch. The opening of the hatch is scheduled for 13.45 UTC and all the tasks concerning the Crew Dragon will be completed rather quickly, since its departure is scheduled for March 8.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket in its SpX-DM1 test (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft blated off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral base in its SpX-DM1 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 1) or SpaceX Demo-1 mission. After about eleven minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went on its way to carry out its mission. This is the first test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with a journey to the International Space Station and back. In this case there’s no one on board but if all goes well in the next launch there will be the first transport of astronauts.

Circular features and pits on Ultima Thule

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NASA and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have published some photos of the Kuiper belt object cataloged as 2014 MU69 and nicknamed Ultima Thule taken by the New Horizons space probe’s LORRI camera only six minutes before its maximum approach. At only 6,628 kilometers (4,109 miles) from it and at its very high speed there was the risk of not being able to perfectly aim at a such a small object but the operation was successful.

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's shadow (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA announced the end of the existing possibilities to re-establish contacts with its Mars Rover Opportunity and consequently declared the end of its mission. Oppy, as it’s affectionately called, interrupted communications after June 10, 2018 following the global storm that covered the planet Mars with a blanket of dust that prevented it from obtaining energy from its solar panels. This extraordinary mission ends in this sad way because caused by an extrnal cause after over 15 Earth’s years in which it collected a wealth of information on Mars.

Ultima Thule has a shape even stranger than expected

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NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have published new images of the Kuiper belt Object cataloged as 2014 MU69 and nicknamed Ultima Thule along with animations that show new details of its shape. A sequence of 14 images captured by the New Horizons space probe during its January 1, 2019 flyby shows that the this object’s two lobes are not vaguely spherical as it seemed but in particular the larger one is definitely flat, to the point that it was compared to a pancake, and it’s not clear why it has that shape.