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SpaceX achieved new feats during the sixth major test launch of its Starship system but nixed an eagerly anticipated midair “catch” of the rocket’s booster as President-elect Donald Trump looked on in South Texas.

SpaceX’s launch system, comprised of the booster and Starship upper spacecraft, cleared the tower shortly after 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday. But minutes into the flight, SpaceX scrapped plans to attempt to catch the booster with giant mechanical arms — referred to as “chopsticks” — which the company completed during its previous flight. The booster, dubbed Super Heavy, was still able to perform a controlled landing in the ocean.

“It was pretty epic on attempt one, but the safety of the teams and the public and the pad itself are paramount,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said on a live broadcast. “So we are accepting compromises.”

After Super Heavy landed in the Gulf of Mexico, Starship continued its voyage through space. At one point, it successfully reignited one of its Raptor engines — the first time SpaceX was able to do so during these flight tests. Starship will need to reignite its engines in order to control its descent to Earth and maneuver through space.

Starship then circled most of the globe before plunging through the atmosphere about 45 minutes into the mission, its body engulfed in the reddish orange glow of plasma as its upgraded heat shield endured intense temperatures while hurtling back to Earth. 

Starship appeared to survive the reentry, moving its exterior flaps to help guide its descent, though some showed signs of burn and slight damage. Then, as Starship fell through clouds, it flipped itself and reignited its engines to turn upright and softly splash into the Indian Ocean shortly after 6 p.m. New York time. It then appeared to catch on fire.

“Turns out the vehicle had more capability than our calculations predicted, and that is why we test like we fly,” Tice said.

The largest and most powerful rocket ever developed, Starship is under contract to function as a lunar lander that NASA will use to put people back on the moon for the first time in half a century. It’s the centerpiece of Musk’s ambition to start a settlement on Mars. 

The vehicle is also meant to revolutionise SpaceX’s business plan. Designed to be fully reusable, Starship will be much cheaper to fly than any other rocket, according to SpaceX, and will eventually replace the company’s industry-leading Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. 

But to meet that promise of delivering a fully reusable rocket, SpaceX must refine its technique for recovering all of the pieces of Starship after launch.

Around the time SpaceX aborted the booster catch, Trump and Musk left to visit the Starfactory courtyard for a visual tour of the factory bays and rockets. 

Trump had arrived at a launch viewing location with Musk about an hour before liftoff. Trump, wearing a blue suit and red MAGA hat, stood flanked by allies, including Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr., as the group peppered Musk with questions on how the launch works.

It was Trump’s first visit to a Starship launch. It follows several appearances with Musk, who has spent a significant amount of time at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, joining in on transition meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders. The billionaire, who campaigned on behalf of Trump in crucial swing state Pennsylvania, will lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity that will recommend federal spending cuts, alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk, who has been a near-constant fixture of Trump’s inner circle since the Nov. 5 election, has maintained that overregulation, especially surrounding Starship, factored into his decision to support the Republican. 

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said on Friday that as many as 400 Starship flights were possible over the next four years. That frequency can only happen if SpaceX perfects its landing strategy, so the company can quickly turn around the rockets for their next flights. Shotwell described the process as similar to the way airlines drive down the cost of owning and operating commercial jetliners.

During the October test, the booster came very close to crashing near the tower, Musk said in a video on his X platform. SpaceX will need to address that issue as well as a laundry list of other things, such as refueling the vehicle in space, before Starship lives up to the full scope of Musk’s plans.

© 2024 Bloomberg LP

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Launching Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 to Explore Cosmic Evolution

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NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Launching Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 to Explore Cosmic Evolution

NASA’s latest infrared space telescope, SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), is set for launch on 28th February. The mission, valued at $488 million, will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Designed to scan the entire sky in infrared light, it will collect data from over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars in the Milky Way. The telescope’s observations will focus on regions of the universe that are typically too distant or faint for conventional telescopes.

Scientific Objectives

According to NASA, the primary aim of SPHEREx is to enhance understanding of cosmic inflation, the rapid expansion of the universe that occurred within the first second following the Big Bang. By mapping the large-scale structure of the cosmos, the telescope will provide insight into how galaxies formed and evolved. Scientists also anticipate that its data will help track the presence and distribution of icy molecules in interstellar space, shedding light on the origins of water and essential organic compounds required for life.

Technical Capabilities

As per NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), SPHEREx weighs approximately 500 kilograms and operates on 270 to 300 watts of power. It is fitted with a spectrophotometer capable of detecting 102 different wavelengths of light, which allows it to identify unique chemical signatures of molecules across space. James Fanson, Project Manager at JPL, told NPR that unexpected discoveries are likely to emerge from the mission’s data.

Accompanying Mission

As reported, SPHEREx will not be the sole payload on this launch. It will share the Falcon 9 with PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), a NASA mission consisting of four satellites that will examine the sun’s outer atmosphere and solar wind dynamics. Together, these missions aim to deepen scientific knowledge of both the distant universe and the immediate solar environment.

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New Study Suggests Dogs May Have Domesticated Themselves for Food

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New Study Suggests Dogs May Have Domesticated Themselves for Food

The origins of dog domestication have been a topic of debate among scientists, with theories suggesting various evolutionary processes led to the transformation of wolves into the domestic dogs seen today. A new study has indicated that early wolves may have chosen to stay near humans due to the availability of food scraps, potentially leading to their domestication over thousands of years. The findings support the idea that self-domestication was possible through natural selection, as wolves that were more tolerant of human presence may have had better access to resources and, in turn, passed on these traits to their offspring.

Wolves and Their Path to Domestication

According to the study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the first phase of dog domestication is believed to have taken place between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago. This period is thought to have been influenced primarily by natural selection rather than human intervention. Researchers suggest that wolves with a less aggressive temperament may have been more likely to stay near human settlements, where food was more accessible. Over time, these wolves may have selectively bred with others that exhibited similar traits, gradually leading to the emergence of early domesticated dogs.

The Role of Natural Selection

In an effort to address concerns regarding the timeframe of domestication, researchers used statistical models to determine whether natural selection alone could have driven this process. As per the findings, domestication through self-selection was plausible if two conditions were met: wolves had to opt for a human-proximate lifestyle due to consistent food availability, and they had to choose mates with a comparable level of tameness. Alex Capaldi, a mathematician and statistician at James Madison University, explained to Live Science that if both conditions were fulfilled, the timeline for self-domestication became feasible despite previous skepticism regarding the speed of such evolutionary changes.

Similar Patterns Observed in Other Animals

The study draws parallels with cat domestication, where felines are believed to have settled near human farming communities around 10,000 years ago. In exchange for hunting rodents, they gained access to human food resources, leading to a mutually beneficial relationship. Scientists suggest that understanding how domestication occurred in dogs may provide further insights into human-animal interactions throughout history, as dogs played a significant role in early human societies by assisting in hunting and herding.

Unanswered Questions in Dog Evolution

While the model presents a plausible explanation, researchers acknowledge that it does not definitively prove how domestication occurred. The study highlights self-domestication as a possibility rather than a confirmed mechanism. The debate over whether human intervention or natural selection played a greater role continues, with further research needed to uncover definitive answers. However, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of early human-animal relationships and how evolutionary forces shaped them.

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NASA Partners With SpaceX To Launch NEO Surveyor

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NASA Partners With SpaceX To Launch NEO Surveyor

A contract has been awarded by NASA to SpaceX for the launch of its Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor spacecraft, which is intended to identify asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to Earth. The mission is set to launch no earlier than September 2027 from Florida’s Space Coast using a Falcon 9 rocket. The contract for the launch and related services has been valued at approximately $100 million. The spacecraft is expected to enhance planetary defense efforts by detecting and characterizing near-Earth objects that could potentially cause significant damage upon impact. The mission will be operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, with support from various scientific institutions.

Mission Objectives and Capabilities

As per reports, according to NASA, the NEO Surveyor will be positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From this vantage point, the spacecraft will use its 50-centimetre infrared telescope to scan space in two infrared wavelengths. This will allow the detection of both bright and dark asteroids, including those that are difficult to observe with existing Earth-based telescopes. The goal of the mission is to locate at least two-thirds of undiscovered NEOs measuring 140 meters or more in diameter, which are large enough to cause regional devastation if they collide with Earth.

Planetary Defense Efforts and Previous Missions

The NEO Surveyor mission follows previous planetary defense initiatives involving SpaceX. In 2021, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, successfully impacting the asteroid Dimorphos to test the feasibility of altering an asteroid’s trajectory. In 2024, the European Space Agency’s Hera mission was also launched using a Falcon 9 to study the aftermath of the DART impact on the Didymos system. These missions are part of ongoing efforts to develop technologies capable of mitigating potential asteroid threats in the future.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.


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