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Neuralink began to look for additional candidates for its neural interface, and on this occasion, a new video about the first implantation was released. In it, Noland Arbaugh, the first user of the N1 interface, talks about his injury and the difficult life afterwards. Engineers who worked closely with him are also shown, capturing many amazing moments of this historic event.
SpaceX is gearing up for the fourth test flight of its Starship rocket, scheduled for as early as June 6th, pending regulatory approval. This mission aims to validate and refine key technologies crucial for Starship’s operational deployment and its long-term goals. The primary objective of this test flight is to demonstrate the controlled reentry and landing of both the Starship upper stage and its Super Heavy booster.
A new SpaceX spacesuit designed for extravehicular activities (EVA) was unveiled and will be tested for the first time on the Polaris Dawn mission. Among other things, the Jared Isaacman-led mission aims to conduct the first ever EVA by a private astronaut and test connecting to the Starlink satellite network using a laser link. SpaceX has announced many details about the extent of the changes made to the spacesuit and the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
It has long been known that SpaceX’s Falcon rockets use more than one type of upper stage depending on the needs of a given mission, but only now have we learned some more details. Falcon rockets actually use three different upper stages, which differ in how long they can last in orbit.
SpaceX used to perform a so-called static fire test before every launch of its Falcon 9 rocket. However, since 2020 SpaceX has in some cases not performed this pre-launch test at all. Let’s take a look at the purpose of a static fire, the types of missions where SpaceX skips this test, and try to figure out why. We will also explain why some static fires are performed with the payload attached and others without.
In less than two weeks, the ground-breaking Inspiration4 mission is scheduled to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft into orbit with four crew members, none of whom are professional astronauts. Crew Dragon for this mission is equipped with a glass cupola to give the crew the best possible view during their three-day stay in Earth orbit. What have we learned so far about the largest window to ever be flown to space?
Just one month after the Starship SN9 test flight, its successor SN10 launched. This time, SpaceX got much closer to a complete success. SN10 was the first prototype to land in one piece, although it exploded a few minutes later. Elon Musk later explained why the landing was not successful.
SpaceX is preparing for the first Starhopper flight and two Falcon 9 launches, Musk’s secretive company Neuralink will make its first public announcement, and Tesla will announce its financial results for the record-breaking second quarter. All of this will be followed by Musk’s presentation about the Starship rocket, which has undergone many design changes in recent months.
SpaceX’s fairing recovery efforts are gearing up again after a 3-month-long slow period caused by Mr. Steven suffering damage in late February. Luckily, Mr. Steven has now been fixed and should be ready in time to try to catch a fairing in about a month. In the meantime, SpaceX has been recovering fairing halves by landing them in the ocean. I have a theory that until Mr. Steven manages to catch a fairing, we’ll only see reused fairings on Starlink missions.
Over the past few months, SpaceX has been quietly preparing to launch the first batch of satellites for Starlink project, its global internet constellation. The launch is planned for May 16 on a Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral. More missions like this one could take place this year.
