> When you compare SpaceX to the world's other space enterprises, it's probably easier to list the things SpaceX hasn't done instead of reciting all of the company's achievements. > > One of these is the launch of nuclear materials. SpaceX has launched a handful of planetary science missions for NASA, but these spacecraft have all used solar arrays to generate electricity. In this century, NASA's probes relying on nuclear power have all flown on rockets built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. > > This is about to change with a $256.6 million contract NASA awarded to SpaceX on Monday. The contract covers launch services and related costs for SpaceX to launch Dragonfly, a rotorcraft designed to explore the alien environment of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. > > Dragonfly's power source is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), which generates electricity from the heat put out by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. These plutonium-fueled generators have flown on many previous space missions, including NASA's Perseverance and Curiosity rovers on Mars, the New Horizons spacecraft that beamed back the first up-close views of Pluto, and the long-lived Voyager probes exploring interstellar space. > > All of these missions were launched on rockets that have either retired or are nearing retirement: the Atlas V, the Titan, and the space shuttle, to name a few.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22423380

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/28497993

Well folks, time for another suborbital human spaceflight.

| Scheduled for UTC | 2024-11-22 15:30 | | --- | --- | | Scheduled for (local) | 2024-11-22 09:30 (CDT) | | Launch site | Launch Site One, West Texas, Texas, USA | | Launch provider | Blue Origin | | Launch vehicle | New Shepard (NS5) | | Passengers | 🇺🇸 Emily Calandrelli, 🇺🇸 Sharon Hagle, 🇺🇸 Marc Hagle, 🇺🇸 Austin Litteral, 🇺🇸 James (J.D.) Russell, and 🇨🇦 Henry (Hank) Wolfond | | Mission success criteria | Successful launch and safe landing of booster and crew capsule |

Livestreams

| Stream | Link | | --- | --- | | Blue Origin | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEzVDtbYYKQ | | Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMMSiDf_sqw | | The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/@TheLaunchPad/streams |

Stats

• 4th launch for Blue Origin in 2024, 28th overall
• 3rd crewed flight for Blue Origin in 2024, 9th overall
• 14th crewed spaceflight of 2024 (Axiom Mission 3, Galactic 06, SpaceX Crew-8, Soyuz MS-25, Shenzhou-18, Blue Origin NS-25, Boeing CFT, Galactic 07, Blue Origin NS-26, Polaris Dawn, Soyuz MS-26, SpaceX Crew-9, Shenzhou-19)

https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7694

Target orbit: N/A

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