SpaceX

SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor starting its Ax-1 mission blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in the Axiom Mission 1 or simply Ax-1 mission. After about twelve minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage. It will spend approximately 10 days in orbit which includes 8 days on the International Space Station. Unlike the private space missions conducted last year, the Ax-1 also has commercial purposes in a collaboration between SpaceX, Axiom Space, and NASA to access the Station for the purpose of conducting work useful for the development of new technologies and scientific research.

The Dragon cargo spacecraft departing the International Space Station to end its CRS-24 mission (Image NASA)

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Yesterday, in the American afternoon, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-24 (Cargo Resupply Service 24) mission for NASA splashing down smoothly in the Gulf of Mexico, near Panama City. The Dragon left the International Space Station last Sunday. For SpaceX, this was the 4th mission of the 2nd contract with NASA to transport supplies to the Station with the new version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft, which splashes down near the East coast of the USA instead of the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly after the splashdown, SpaceX’s “Go Searcher” recovery ship went to retrieve the Dragon to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA within a few hours. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on December 22, 2021.

The IXPE space telescope blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Photo NASA/Joel Kowsky)

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A few hours ago, the NASA and Italian Space Agency IXPE space telescope was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral base. After just over 33 minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and made the necessary maneuvers to enter an equatorial orbit at an altitude of about 600 kilometers. There, after having extended its structure and after the test phase, it will begin its scientific mission to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays, the first instrument of this type.

The DART spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA)

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A few hours ago, NASA’s DART mission was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg base. After about 56 minutes, the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and set off on its way to reaching the binary asteroid Didymos to attempt to change the orbit of its satellite Dimorphos. The impact should take place in September 2022 and be monitored from Earth and the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube nanosatellite launched together with the space probe.