Cosmic Chicago

16/01/2025

Launch alert!

SpaceX is attempting the seventh Starship flight test today. The live broadcast is available now.

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.

16/01/2025

Blue Origin is going to make another launch attempt tonight despite iffy weather. The window for New Glenn-1 opens at 12 pm CST, and is a three hourlong window.

Mission details and the broadcast can be found at the link below.

New Glenn will launch for the first time from LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

16/01/2025

This month’s occulation of Mars captured from the Dearborn Observatory, just north of Chicago, in Evanston.

15/01/2025

Launch alert!

Switching gears from Blue Origin's New Glenn to SpaceX and Firefly. NASA is sending ten instruments to space onboard Firefly's lunar lander, Blue Ghost, as part of the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program.

NASA, Firefly Aerospace, and SpaceX are targeting 1:11am ET Jan. 15 for the launch of Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the lunar surface.

Weather is currently 90% “GO” for liftoff from Launch Complex 39A.

Tune in for the live launch broadcast, starting at 12:30am ET: https://go.nasa.gov/42fu5CG

13/01/2025

UPDATE: Following last night's launch scrub, the next launch attempt is no earlier than Tuesday, January 14. The three-hour launch window opens at 12 a.m. CST, so the broadcast should go live at around 11pm, tonight, Monday, Jan 13.

The livestream for the maiden launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket goes live on their website and Youtube channel 1 hour before the launch window opens, at 11pm CST. The launch window for New Glenn-1 is three hours long, beginning at midnight CST.

Live webcast of Blue Origin’s inaugural New Glenn mission, NG-1. The mission will carry a Blue Ring Pathfinder and mark the vehicle's first National Security...

13/01/2025

Launch alert!

The livestream for the launch of New Glenn-1 goes live around 11pm CT tonight, January 12th on Blue Origin's website and YouTube channel.

09/01/2025

🚀 Launch Alert | We’re targeting New Glenn’s first launch no earlier than January 10 from LC-36. Read more: https://bit.ly/40qToPF

01/01/2025

28/12/2024

A successful hotfire of our fully integrated New Glenn launch vehicle at LC-36! The seven-engine hotfire lasted 24 seconds and marked the first time we operated the entire flight vehicle as an integrated system. Read more: https://bit.ly/4iQaUF7

28/12/2024

25/12/2024

Sending wishes for a very merry Christmas to all our friends and readers. 🌲

"Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! There's the Earth coming up. Wow, that's pretty."

On Christmas Eve in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 caught sight of a view no human had laid their eyes on before. Astronaut Bill Anders captured it in the iconic photo “Earthrise.” Watch: https://go.nasa.gov/40gKqFP

17/12/2024

Two astronauts brought a little holiday cheer to space, when they played “Jingle Bells” aboard Gemini VI-A in 1965. 🔔🚀 After achieving the first crewed rendezvous with another spacecraft, astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra made history yet again by playing the first musical interlude in space.

Before reentering Earth's atmosphere, Stafford pranked Mission Control with a Santa sighting. Through radio transmission, he claimed:

"We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit...Very low, looks like he might be going to re-enter soon.... Standby one, you might just let me try to pick up that thing.... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit."

At that point, Schirra began playing a tiny harmonica while Stafford jingled these small sleigh bells to the tune of "Jingle Bells." In 1967, Stafford and Schirra donated the instruments to the Smithsonian, where they're on display in the “Destination Moon” gallery at our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

28/11/2024

DYK Astronauts living on the International Space Station celebrate Thanksgiving with a special feast too?

Have you ever wondered who produces food for astronauts on the International Space Station?

Scientists at the NASA Space Food Research Facility at Texas A&M University will ensure that astronauts celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with the same flavorful food that their earth-bound friends and family enjoy.

Learn more about space food: https://tx.ag/maGzV69

22/11/2024

It's a launch day!

The New Shepard NS-28 crew is certified ‘ready to fly to space’ by CrewMember 7 Sarah Knights. The launch window opens at 9:30 AM CST / 15:30 UTC.

Watch live tomorrow: BlueOrigin.com/live 🚀

19/11/2024

SpaceX is targeting today, Tuesday, November 19th at 4 pm CT for the sixth flight test of Starship. The live broadcast begins a half hour before launch.

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.

05/11/2024

NASA and SpaceX are attempting to launch the 31st commercial cargo resupply mission to the ISS tonight. Launch is targeted for 8:29 p.m. CST tonight, and the broadcast is already live.

Dragon is carrying nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies, equipment for the ISS, and science experiments and research.

Tune in now! 🚀

Watch the launch of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft delivering science investigations, supplies, and holiday food to the International Space Station. The 31st Spa...

01/11/2024

Learn more about the work Chicago area scientists are doing to generate ideas that might warm the surface of Mars, making it suitable for settlement.

28/10/2024

In case you missed it, this past week Blue Origin successfully launched NS-27, debuting the second human-rated vehicle for the New Shepard program. Congratulations to the entire Blue Origin team!