The Ariane 5 launch vehicle made its 100th flight yesterday, September 25th, carrying 2 communications satellites (Horizons-3e and Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38) successfully into their respective geosynchronous orbits high above the Earth. Ariane 5 is another one of those rocket systems that could be described as a workhorse – it’s an incredibly capable booster in the European …
Continue reading The 100th Flight Of The Ariane 5 – VA243
Japan’s HTV-7 Is Successfully Launched Towards The International Space Station
The 7th of Japan’s “Kounotori” cargo supply crafts launched towards its resupply mission to the International Space Station on Saturday, September 22nd after several delays. Among the supplies being carried are more replacement batteries for the Space Station’s electrical systems, multiple cubesats for independant deployment and research purposes, and the first test of a samples …
Continue reading Japan’s HTV-7 Is Successfully Launched Towards The International Space Station
45 Years Ago: The End Of The Skylab 3 Mission
On September 25th, 1973 the Skylab 3 Command Module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing an end to the record-setting mission. Clocking in at 59 days, 11 hours flight time, this mission doubled the record for time spent in space on a single flight, the previous record having been set by Skylab 2. This …
Continue reading 45 Years Ago: The End Of The Skylab 3 Mission
Making Life Hell For Refund Scammers
Here we have another wonderful anti-scammer video by our friend Jim Browning. This video demonstrates another refund scam in progress, with Jim all the while watching from behind the scenes. In this case, we have a situation where somehow a scammer has convinced the victim that he is entitled to some kind of refund and …
Continue reading Making Life Hell For Refund Scammers
About That Terrible Computer Build Video By “The Verge”
I know I’m well over a week late for this one, but this is one of those things that was just too hilarious to pass up – the single worst custom computer build video that I think most people have ever watched! At least, as far as serious videos go, anyway. The video, published on …
Continue reading About That Terrible Computer Build Video By “The Verge”
So The PlayStation Classic Doesn’t Come With A Power Supply, And That’s Absolutely Fine
This Entry Has Been Superseded By This Article: A Final Commentary On The Whole PlayStation Classic Power Supply Mess When the PlayStation Classic was announced earlier in the week the reception was mixed, with most of the commentary following the same lines as Nintendo’s retro-console entries. There was one complaint that was rather specific to …
Continue reading So The PlayStation Classic Doesn’t Come With A Power Supply, And That’s Absolutely Fine
ICESat-2 Deployment Video
Since tomorrow morning marks the 1-week anniversary of the final Delta II launch, I thought it would be neat to take a simple look back at the final primary payload deployed by the Delta II – ICESat-2. I already shared this video in my article on the successful launch of the payload, but hey, why …
Continue reading ICESat-2 Deployment Video
The PlayStation Classic? Well, This Is Interesting.
In a move straight out of the Nintendo playbook Sony announced a miniature retro console of it’s own called the “Playstation Classic,” a console which, just like the NES and SNES Classic Edition consoles, will contain an emulated set of PlayStation game software along with reproduction controllers, in a package that’s a miniature version of …
Continue reading The PlayStation Classic? Well, This Is Interesting.
So What’s With All The Late Articles?
I feel like I picked the worst month to devote to daily writing. I’ve stayed far busier than I expected to during the past few weeks, and I feel like this isn’t going to change as we move into the last 10 days of September. The good news is that so far I’m at 24 …
Continue reading So What’s With All The Late Articles?
Without Context: The Computer Man
Well, at least they tried… No, I don’t know offhand what this is about – it looks to be someone promoting Macintosh systems (against Windows 95 based PC’s) but beyond that, I don’t have a clue right now. I’ll look into it more in the future. Also, this may become a regular thing – …
Continue reading Without Context: The Computer Man
Delta II – ICESat-2 Launch Highlights
Here we have the launch highlights video for the final Delta II launch – ICESat-2. This early morning flight was a beautiful end to the nearly 30 year Delta II program and was, as expected, a complete success. This marked the 100th successful Delta II flight in a row, also setting a world record for …
Continue reading Delta II – ICESat-2 Launch Highlights
The Halfway Point
It’s the middle of the month, and I thought I would do a bit of a recap on the whole “one article per day no matter what” project. It’s quite a chore, honestly. Some days don’t permit me too much to be able to write anything substantial, while others, like yesterday, give me all the …
Continue reading The Halfway Point
1 Year Ago: The End Of The Cassini Mission
In an interesting coincidence, today marks the 1 year anniversary of Cassini’s Grand Finale – its final plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, the planet it spent its life studying. It was one hell of an event – after being in space for nearly 20 years (originally launched in 1997 on a Titan IV) and …
Continue reading 1 Year Ago: The End Of The Cassini Mission
ICESat-2 Successfully Launches On The Final Delta II Rocket
It’s mission complete for the Delta II rocket – today at 6:01 A.M. Pacific Time the final Delta II booster launched on the last mission of the program to deliver ICESat-2 into a polar orbit to begin its mission of studying the Earth’s cryosphere. This launch marks the 155th Delta II launch, the 100th successful …
Continue reading ICESat-2 Successfully Launches On The Final Delta II Rocket
The Final Liftoff Of Delta II
At 6:01 A.M. Pacific Time the final Delta II rocket launched from LC-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying ICESat-2 and a small compliment of CubeSats into orbit. This mission is still underway – as I write these words we’re only 30 minutes into the mission, in a coast phase between burns of the second …
Continue reading The Final Liftoff Of Delta II