Weekly Links
Down to Earth
VSS Unity, the latest spacecraft from Virgin Galactic, made its first powered flight test yesterday. Video below.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has a new executive director: Ellen Stofan, former NASA chief scientist.
Ars Technica interviewed Peggy Whitson. Check out the video below.
In Orbit
There were only two orbital launches in the past week:
- April 2 – SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon resupply capsule to the ISS.
- April 6 – ESA launched an Ariane 5 rocket carrying a pair of communications satellites.
The Dragon spacecraft arrived at the ISS two days later where the station astronauts grappled it with the robotic arm. A busy month of operations now begins as the astronauts unpack the Dragon and begin new science experiments.
Dragon Arrived! pic.twitter.com/oUzyQ6IhS3
— Scott D. Tingle (@Astro_Maker) April 8, 2018
The Indian space agency (ISRO) lost contact with a communications satellite they launched last week.
Around the Solar System
In case you forgot we have robotic rovers exploring other planets, here are some fresh photos from the surface of Mars.
Out There
Hubble has taken an image of the most distant star ever discovered. The star, which is billions of light years away, was found through gravitational lensing.