The News Journal

After years of designing, testing and explosions, Elon Musk-led SpaceX is ready for another milestone mission. The company is one step closer to the first orbital launch of its behemoth Starship spacecraft that could one day take humans and their cargo to the Moon and then on to Mars. The fully stacked Starship. SpaceX loaded the Starship with 10 million pounds of propellant as part of the first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase in Boca Chica. This was the first time that the aerospace company has fully integrated the Starship and the booster and loaded the full-capacity fuel tank. "Starship completed its first full flight-like wet dress rehearsal at Starbase today. This was the first time an integrated Ship and Booster were fully loaded with more than 10 million pounds of propellant," SpaceX said in a tweet. The full wet dress rehearsal was conducted to verify a full launch countdown sequence, as well as the performance of Starship and the orbital pad for a f...

A total lunar eclipse graced the night sky on Sunday and Monday, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America. The Moon was seen bathed in the reflected red and orange colours of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 90 minutes. It was the first blood Moon in a year and with it falling on May's full moon, earned itself the "Super Flower Blood Moon" moniker among astronomers. Observers in the eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America had prime seats for the show. Partial stages of the eclipse were visible in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The UAE’s first two astronauts have graduated from Nasa’s basic training programme and are now eligible for space missions led by the US space agency. Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi were awarded their Nasa astronaut pins on Sunday, which signify that they are ready for missions to the International Space Station and beyond. Both of them will now begin training for the Nasa-SpaceX Crew-6 mission, a six-month science trip to the orbiting laboratory. Only one of them will fly to space, while the other will be the back-up astronaut for the mission. “It's an exceptional feeling when 20 months of assiduous training pays off,” said Dr Al Neyadi, a former IT professional who will likely be the astronaut to fly on the upcoming space mission. “A big thank you to MBRSC (Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and the Nasa team, my colleague Hazzaa and everyone who supported me in being awarded the Nasa astronaut pin. “Our training continues towards achieving bigger goals.” Maj Al Mansouri, a...