Weekly - SpaceX conducts first crewed mission around poles and more
🟡 Weekly Space News - Quick and Easy.
Our Engagement Palette!
Check out our colour-coded system for our weekly space news:
🟤 Brown: For weeks that are mundane and bland.
🟡 Yellow: For fairly interesting weeks.
🟢 Green: For the most exciting weeks.
This Palette will help you decide if this week’s news is worth your time!
This week ranks yellow 🟡 on the Engagement Palette.
SPHEREx telescope takes its first images
NASA’s SPHEREx telescope was launched on March 11. Its goal is to map as much of the sky as possible using multiple high-detail infrared images. Last week, it successfully began operations and captured its first images. All sensors and systems are working as expected. The telescope will map the sky for the next 2 years.
SpaceX conducts first crewed mission around poles
Last week, SpaceX conducted a crewed mission in space with 4 space tourists who became the first humans in history to fly in a polar orbit: an orbit that passes the north and south pole. The crew also splashed down in the Pacific ocean, something which has not been done in the past 50 years.
Russian scientists reveal engine to reach Mars in 30 days
Last week, Russian Scientists at the Troitsk Institute unveiled a prototype for a revolutionary new engine that could help humans reach Mars in just 30 days. For comparison, current rockets like the Starship are estimated to take 6 months. Unlike chemical engines that burn fuel to propel themselves, the new engines use plasma to fire hydrogen ions backward to move. Plasma engines are not new technology, though. It has been developed and even used before on NASA missions like the Dawn spacecraft, however, the new design is more than twice as powerful, just enough to reach Mars.
