Short Takes – 5-15-25 – Space Geek Edition

Axiom Mission 4 delayed due to Dragon capsule readiness. SpaceFlightNow.com article. Pull quote: “The fourth private astronaut mission was most recently scheduled to launch no earlier than May 29 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, in an update from the space agency, those plans shifted to a launch targeting June 8 at the earliest.”

That's a hat trick! Varda successfully returns 3rd space capsule from orbit. Space.com article. Pull quote: “Varda's W-3 reentry capsule landed in South Australia on Tuesday night (May 13), delivering a payload and data from an advanced hypersonic navigation systems test for the U.S. Air Force and Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated. W-3 launched on a Falcon 9 rocket March 14, as part of SpaceX's Transporter 13 mission.”

SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft again ahead of 9th test flight. Space.com article. Pull quote: “It was the third static fire for this particular vehicle, which "is undergoing final preparations for the ninth flight test," according to a Tuesday (May 13) SpaceX post on X that shared a video and photos of the trial.”

SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Gets A New Launch Date As Firm Ships Rocket To Launch Site! WCCFTech.com article. Pull quote: “Lending further credence to a potential upcoming Starship Flight 9 launch is the fact that SpaceX has also shipped the Super Heavy booster for the test to the launch pad. The 232-feet-tall rocket started its journey from the production facilities late at night yesterday and made it to the launch pad soon after midnight. This rocket first flew on Starship Flight 7, and the upcoming Flight 9 will mark the first time that SpaceX attempts to reuse a rocket booster in the Starship test program.”

After the Arecibo collapse in 2020, a lone NASA radar dish in the Mojave desert stepped up as a leading asteroid hunter. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The greater [approval] flexibility has led to an increase in asteroid observations from the Mojave. The 55 NEAs detected at Goldstone in 2024 represents a 1.5x increase relative to the average from 2012 to 2018, and a five-fold increase compared to 15 years ago.”