Space Features of the Week (13 April)

This week has been particularly rich in terms of space news, but three of them stole the headlines around the world. Here you have a roundup.

Space X continues to achieve new heights. Just this week it recovered Falcon Heavy nose cone and it will re-fly it later this year. “The company, which routinely lands and re-flies first-stage boosters, recovered the payload fairing during yesterday’s Falcon Heavy megarocket launch and plans to employ it on another mission in 2019, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said.”Both fairing halves recovered. Will be flown on Starlink mission later this year,” Musk said via Twitter yesterday (April 11), where he posted photos of the space hardware.”

The first photo of a black hole has finally been taken. And it has even been given a name Powehi — in Hawaiian, an ’embellished dark source of unending creation.’ “The groundbreaking, first-ever photograph of a black hole was published around the world when it was unveiled on Wednesday, captivating viewers and providing the only direct visual evidence that these regions of spacetime exist. The responsibility of finding it a name fell to Larry Kimura, a Hawaiian language professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, who was approached by astronomers involved with the project. Two of the eight telescopes used to capture the photograph are located in Hawaii.

And, as a reminder of how space is a fascinating but unfriendly place, Bereeshet, the Israeli Moon-bound spacecraft, just crashed on the lunar soil. “The spacecraft, launched by the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL, was scheduled to touch down on the lunar surface on April 11. But in the final few minutes of its descent, the spacecraft’s engine stalled. Mission control reset Beresheet to bring its engine back online, but then communication with the lander cut out. “#Beresheet’s main engine fail! Spacecraft failed landing. Appeared to have crashed on the moon’s surface!” the Israel Space Agency tweeted at 3:30 p.m. EDT.“We didn’t make it, but we definitely tried,” said SpaceIL Chairman Morris Kahn in an online livestream of the landing. “I think we can be proud.” Had Beresheet arrived safely, Israel would have become the fourth country — following the United States, the former Soviet Union and China — to stick a lunar landing (SN: 11/24/18, p. 14). Still, Israel has now claimed seventh place in sending a spacecraft into orbit around the moon.”

4 Comments

  1. maddalena@spaceandsorcery

    I just love the meaning of the name given to the black hole… 🙂

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Amazing, isn’t it?

      Reply
  2. ccyager

    The black hole photo is awesome. I read a description of the bright edge of it as energy being squished out of it. I thought that was kind of funny and scary at the same time.

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      I remained stunned when seeing it the first time. Incredible what science achieved…!

      Reply

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