Tag: engineering

SpaceX Astronauts Splash Down in Pacific for First Time

The New York Times reports that four private astronauts ended a mission in a SpaceX vehicle on Friday by splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, marking a first for the company. “The Fram2 mission had circled the Earth for four days in a north-south orbit. The journey was the first time people have been able to look down directly at the North and South Poles from orbit.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)



Video

Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission (Splashdown occurs at 08:12)
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)

EVA Air Orders Six A350-1000s and Three A321neo Aircraft

Aerotime reports, “Taiwanese carrier EVA Air has finalized an order for six long-range A350-1000s and three single-aisle A321neo aircraft, completing a deal first revealed by the airline in March 2025. With these new orders, EVA Air’s total aircraft backlog will now include 24 A350-1000s and 18 A321neo aircraft, Airbus announced in a statement on April 7, 2025.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

NASA Demonstrates Its Electric Moon Dust Shield Works on Lunar Surface

SPACE reports, “New shielding technology from NASA that protects against damaging lunar dust just passed a trial run on the moon’s surface, marking an important milestone in the agency’s lunar aspirations. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) flew aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, the first privately funded lunar lander to make a fully successful touchdown on the moon.”
Full Story (SPACE)

US Space Force Selects Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to Compete for Future National Security Launches

SPACE reports, “Private launch companies Rocket Lab and Stoke Space have been selected to compete for future U.S. national security space launches. The two launch companies were awarded ‘National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contracts’ by the U.S. Space Force on March 27, broadening the military branch’s launch options and strengthening access to space.”
Full Story (SPACE)

NASA’s SPHEREx Space Telescope Captures Its First Cosmic Images

SPACE reports, “On April 1, NASA announced its brand new infrared space telescope, SPHEREx, has officially opened its eyes to the cosmos as well. This first light, as it’s called, shows that all of the spacecraft’s systems are working just as expected. ‘Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the instrument team nailed it,’ Jamie Bock, SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a statement.”
Full Story (SPACE)

NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Jet Passes Key ‘Cruise Control’ Test Ahead of First Flight

SPACE reports, “NASA’s new X-59 supersonic jet is a step closer to flight after passing an important ground test in March. Known as “engine speed hold,” the test ensured that the X-59 can maintain a specific speed when it flies for the first time later this year. “Engine speed hold is essentially the aircraft’s version of cruise control,” Paul Dees, NASA’s X-59 deputy propulsion lead at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, said in a statement. “The pilot engages speed hold at their current speed, then can adjust it incrementally up or down as needed.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission

Spaceflight Now reports, “A historic mission took flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday night. Against the backdrop of an off-shore band of thunderstorms, four first-time astronauts soared off the pad at Launch Complex 39A onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and headed into a polar orbit. Malta resident Chun Wang funded the orbital polar expedition and flew alongside Norwegian cinematographer, Jannicke Mikkelsen; German arctic robotics researcher, Rabea Rogge; and Australian polar guide, Eric Philips.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)



Video

Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission (Launch occurs at 2:00:17)
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Belgium’s First MQ-9B SkyGuardian Performs Maiden Flight

Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the Belgian Ministry of Defence have marked a significant milestone with the successful first flight of Belgium’s new MQ-9B SkyGuardian® Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). This aircraft is the first of four MQ-9Bs ordered by Belgium and took to the skies on February 20, 2025, from GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in El Mirage, California.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)