Tag: New Record

SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn Astronauts Splash Down Ending Historic Mission

SPACE reports, “Polaris Dawn, the historic SpaceX astronaut mission — which conducted the first-ever private spacewalk, among other achievements — returned to Earth today (Sept. 15), splashing down safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida at 3:36 a.m. EDT (0736 GMT). ‘Polaris Dawn we are mission complete. Thanks for all the big help pulling this mission together,’ said mission commander Jared Isaacman after the crew splashed down in the ocean.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico (Splash down at 08:43)
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)

SpaceX Sets New Launch Record at Vandenberg with Thursday’s Falcon 9 Launch

Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California. The Falcon 9 rocket launch set a new record for Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking the first time that 31 orbital missions have taken off in a calendar year. Thirty of those launches were from SpaceX and one was from Firefly Aerospace.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Video

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA (Launch at 27:21)
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Zephyr UAV Sets New Record for Longest Uncrewed Flight

SPACE reports that Airbus’ Zephyr S “took off from the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground on June 15, 2022 and has since been flying patterns over the Yuma Test Range and Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.” Since June 15, the UAV has “been in the air above the Sonoran Desert for 42 days, breaking its own record for longest uncrewed flight.” The flight “has now broken Zephyr’s previous record of 25 days, 23 hours that it set in August 2018.”
Full Story (SPACE)