Category: Thoughts and Rants

Cygnus OA-8 Successfully Launches To The International Space Station

On Sunday morning an Orbital ATK  Antares booster launched from pad 0 at Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying the SS Gene Cernan, a Cygnus cargo vehicle carrying 3 tons of supplies, to orbit for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. This mission marks the 8th resupply mission by Orbital ATK under NASA’s Commercial Resupply […]

A SpaceX Falcon 9 Engine Fails On The Test Stand (And Commentary On Fan Reactions)

In doing my usual space news perusing yesterday I came across news that a SpaceX Merlin engine had “exploded” on the test stand. As it would turn out, the engine didn’t explode, but what did happen is still interesting enough to discuss here. The article also shared a bit of new information with me that […]

A Vega Rocket Successfully Launches The Mohammed VI-A Satellite For Morocco

Coming a week after the launch  of a Minotaur-C, we have the launch of a very similar looking booster – the European Space Agencies Vega rocket, this time carrying the Mohammed VI-A satellite for the Kingdom of Morocco. This booster, of course, launched from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. At first glance, one […]

Why I’m Not Buying An Xbox One X – For Now, Anyway

Today, November 7th, marks the release day for the Xbox One X, a console I’ve been waiting years for. Specification wise, the machine is a powerhouse, to be sure – currently, it’s the “most powerful” game console available, and honestly I want it. That simple. I want to go out and buy one today. Well, […]

The Taurus Rocket Returns To Flight, Now Known As The Minotaur-C

Yesterday, October 31st, marked the return to flight of the Taurus booster after having been upgraded and renamed the Minotaur-C. Minotaur-C is one of those rather unique boosters that a vast majority of people know nothing about. In the original Taurus designation, it made 9 flights between 1994 and 2011, 3 of those resulting in […]