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by Lucie AUBOURG Agence France Presse British billionaire Richard Branson flew into space Sunday aboard a Virgin Galactic vessel, a voyage he described as the “experience of a lifetime” — and one he hopes will usher in an era of lucrative space tourism. The mission’s success allowed the swashbuckling septuagenarian to one-up fellow tycoon Jeff Bezos — who owns space company Blue Origin and is set to launch on July 20 — in the […]
by Lucie AUBOURG WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Barrier-breaking woman aviator Wally Funk, 82, will join Jeff Bezos this month on the first crewed spaceflight for the billionaire’s company Blue Origin, the firm announced Thursday. The trip is 60 years overdue for Funk, who was one of the Mercury 13 — the first women trained to fly to space from 1960-1961, but excluded because of their gender. On July 20, she will become the oldest […]
by Ludovic EHRET JIUQUAN, China (AFP) — The first astronauts for China’s new space station blasted off Thursday for the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power. The trio launched on a Long March-2F rocket for the Tiangong station, where they will spend three months, in a much-anticipated blast-off broadcast live on state TV. Lift-off happened at 9:22 am (0122 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France and Shane Kimbrough of the United States spacewalked outside the International Space Station on Wednesday as they began the painstaking process of installing new solar panels to boost the orbital outpost’s deteriorating power systems. It was the first of several excursions to augment the ISS’s existing eight solar arrays, with the first pair operating continuously since December 2000. The spacewalking duo were installing the first […]
by Ludovic EHRET and Poornima WEERASEKARA BEIJING, China (AFP) — The first crew for China’s new space station prepared to blast off this week for the latest step in Beijing’s ambitious programme to establish itself as a space power. The mission is China’s first crewed spaceflight in nearly five years, and a matter of prestige for the government as it prepares to mark the 100th birthday of the ruling Communist Party on July 1 with […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Monday he will fly into space next month on the first human flight launched by his Blue Origin rocket firm. “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother,” Bezos said on his Instagram account. Blue Origin said Bezos and his brother Mark will travel on the first crewed flight […]
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Stargazers across the Pacific Rim can cast their eyes skyward on Wednesday night and behold a “Super Blood Moon”, as the heavens align to bring a rare celestial twin treat. The first total lunar eclipse in two years is happening at the same time as the moon is closest to Earth, in what astronomers say will be a once-in-a-decade show. If the skies are clear, anyone living between […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China’s Mars rover drove from its landing platform and began exploring the surface on Saturday, state-run Xinhua news agency said, making the country only the second nation to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet. The launch last July of the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, which carried the Zhurong rover, marked a major milestone in China’s space program. Tianwen-1 touched down on a vast northern lava plain known as the […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Solar panels against an alien landscape, ramps and rods pointing at the Martian horizon — China’s first probe on the Red Planet has beamed back its first “selfies” after its history-making landing last week. The Zhurong rover was carried into the Martian atmosphere in a lander on Saturday, in the first ever successful probe landing by any country on its first Mars mission. Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese fire god, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope unfolded its giant golden mirror for the last time on Earth on Tuesday, a key milestone before the $10 billion observatory is launched later this year. The James Webb Space Telescope’s 21 feet 4 inch (6.5 meter) mirror was commanded to fully expand and lock itself into place, NASA said — a final test to ensure it will survive its million-mile (1.6 […]
by Juliette COLLEN Agence France Presse China’s rogue rocket is in an uncontrolled free-fall towards Earth and no one knows where or exactly when it will burn through Earth’s atmosphere, but the risk of debris hitting an inhabited area remains very small, experts told AFP Friday. What happened? On April 29, China launched the first module of its “Heavenly Palace” space station, a milestone in Beijing’s ambitious plan to establish a permanent human presence […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A large segment of a Chinese rocket is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere on the weekend, but Beijing has downplayed fears and said there is a very low risk of any damage. A Long March-5B rocket launched the first module of China’s new space station into Earth’s orbit on April 29. Its 18-tonne main segment is now in freefall and experts have said it is difficult […]
