Copernical Team
SpaceX shuttles science, holiday treats to astronauts Space Coast launch
SpaceX launched another rocket from Florida's Space Coast on Thursday night sending thousands of pounds of cargo to the International Space Station while also bringing back a booster that sent a sonic boom across Central Florida.
A Falcon 9 with an uncrewed cargo Dragon on the CRS-29 mission blasted off at 8:28 p.m. Eastern time from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A.
It was the second flight for the rocket's first-stage booster having back in August launched Crew-7, the crew of which are still on the ISS. Its recovery landing came not at seas, but back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Landing Zone 1, bringing the signature double sonic boom across parts of the Space Coast and Central Florida.
Orbiting the ISS are seven crew from the U.S., Japan, Denmark and Russia, and they'll get a fresh food kit including oranges, apples, cherry tomatoes and carrots as well as two specialty cheese kits.
"And because we're in the holiday season we've got some fun holiday treats for the crew like chocolate, pumpkin spice cappuccino, rice cakes, turkey, duck, quail, seafood, cranberry sauce and mochi," said Dana Weigel, NASA's deputy program manager for the International Space Station Program on Wednesday during a press conference to discuss the mission's Launch Readiness Review.
Blue Origin's new crane at Port Canaveral: Another piece to future launch puzzle
Blue Origin has staked out its space at Port Canaveral, right next to SpaceX, with a tower crane for eventual rocket booster recovery operations. Now the company just needs to launch one to put it to work.
The crane arrived at the port as cargo from Germany in October adding another puzzle piece to Jeff Bezos' plans to send up its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 36.
"It's now the highest point in our Port Canaveral as a whole," said Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray at a port authority meeting last month. "It's a very, very tall crane and when you look across and you see our mobile harbor crane, it looks very small compared to this Blue Origin crane."
At 375 feet tall, it towers over the port's 302-foot-tall crane, both of which are installed at North Cargo Berth 6.
"That's our crane and a significant milestone as we make rapid progress in New Glenn's development," according to an emailed statement from Blue Origin. "The crane will be used to offload New Glenn's fully reusable first stage from our sea-based landing platform back onto shore in Port Canaveral.
Week in images: 06-10 November 2023
Week in images: 06-10 November 2023
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Autumn in Japan
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This image, from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on 1 November 2023, captures the colours of autumn over the Japanese archipelago. Nourishing commercial growth in Earth observation
Hot on the heels of the first Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum, now is a good time to take a look at the all-embracing support that ESA gives to the commercial sector in Europe. With funding programmes, business guidance for companies, and multiyear contracts, ESA provides a vital springboard for continued growth in commercial Earth observation.
Gateway Review And Virtual Interior Tools for Astronaut Systems
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Gateway Review And Virtual Interior Tools for Astronaut Systems (GRAVITAS) Human Inspirator
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Human Inspirator (HICE) 
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JIVE PANGAEA VR
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PANGAEA VR training tool Hera asteroid mission hears the noise
ESA’s Hera asteroid mission has completed acoustic testing, confirming the spacecraft can withstand the sound of its own lift-off into orbit. Testing took place within the Agency’s Large European Acoustic Facility at the ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands. This is Europe’s largest and most powerful sound system, fitted with a quartet of noise horns that can generate more than 154 decibels of extreme noise.