Roman Space Telescope's Focal Plane. 18 saltine sized detectors. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Countdown to Possible In just a few short weeks, on August 30th, NASA will launch its newest Flagship Mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A. The Roman Space Telescope is an exponential step into the future, building upon the legacy of the Hubble Telescope and its namesake, Dr. Edwin Hubble. In 1924, Dr. Hubble proved Andromeda, the nearest major galaxy to the...

Starship 13 launches on a Buck Moon. Credit: Fabian Ramirez Lucky, good fortune, yes, after years of preparation. Starship 13 represents a significant step forward from Starship Integrated Flight Test 1 (IFT-1). Those who witnessed IFT-1 remember holding their breath as she hesitated, three engines failing to ignite, then ever slowly climbing above a 400 foot cloud of dust and debris. When IFT-1 emerged, a noticeable sigh of relief followed immediately by awe rippled through the everyone...

The next step in a lifetime of work exploring the unknown. A Legacy to Build Upon On October 15th, 1997 a NASA Flagship mission launched aboard a Titan IV-B rocket from Cape Canaveral on a 7 year cruise to Saturn. That mission was Cassini-Huygens. When Cassini reached Saturn it was only the 4th spacecraft to travel as far as Saturn and the first to orbit the planet. The mission, was by all accounts a significant success in robotic planetary exploration. In fact, given the volume of data...