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Official Account of NSF. News, videos, and community for spaceflight enthusiasts since 2005. NSF is not affiliated with NASA, initials used with permission.

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Joined February 2009
Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)Photo by NSF - NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight)
NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
And then there was one. The third of four tower cranes building the Starbase Gigabay had its boom removed today, by what is now the last crane standing. At least the exterior is just about done now! 🎥: nsf.live/starbase | @NASASpaceflight
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The arrivals for Max Power have begun. @AFThunderbirds No. 8 was the first to park up at Patrick Space Force Base this afternoon, flown by Major Samuel "RaZZ" Larson, formerly of the F-22 Demo Team. Quite the CV. 📸 - @NASASpaceflight nsf.live/spacecoast
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Otter 24C spacecraft update:
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Solar panel deployment testing underway!🛰️ For this DoD mission, our Elytra orbiter will perform a series of responsive maneuvers and space domain awareness in low Earth orbit as part of the Defense Innovation Unit Sinequone Project. fireflyspace.com/missions/el…
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
Join us 🔴LIVE🔴 Today, November 3rd, from 2:00 p.m. CDT / 20:00 UTC on @NASASpaceflight Starbase Live stream for another Raptorside Chat. We’ll discuss all the latest developments at Starbase and beyond and try to answer any questions you may have! nsf.live/starbase
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
Seeing shock waves from sound pressure on ascent has to be one of the coolest things ever… right???
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Memories of an amazing spacewalk. 19 years ago today, Scott Parazynski carried out one of the most daring spacewalks in history. During STS-120, he rode the ISS's Canadarm2 (SSRMS) and the Shuttle's inspection boom (OBSS) out to the torn P6 4B solar array. With Douglas Wheelock watching his clearances from the truss, Parazynski cut a snagged guide wire and fitted five homemade "cufflink" braces put together by the crew on board. Seven hours and 19 minutes later, the array was fully deployed, and station assembly was back on track. 🫡
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Covering NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's comments to NSF about the RFI seeking commercial options for a Hubble reboost, servicing, or controlled deorbit. nasaspaceflight.com/2026/11/… And I threw in an Elon reply saying "sure" to us about an option to return it home via Starship. 🫡 #SaveHubble
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STS-66, Atlantis, launched 32 years ago (3 Nov 1994) from 39B. Donald R. McMonagle commanded her, with Curtis L. Brown Jr. as pilot. Also flying: Ellen Ochoa, payload commander. Joseph R. Tanner, mission specialist. Jean-François Clervoy (ESA), mission specialist. Scott E. Parazynski, mission specialist. The ATLAS-3 "Mission to Planet Earth" flight studied the Sun's energy output and ozone-layer chemistry. The crew also deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS satellite. It was also Atlantis's last flight without a "safe haven" ISS or Mir docking until STS-125 in 2009. Watch for the two relevant synergies with today's posts!
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
It may seem rather quiet at Starbase tonight, but looks can be deceiving! Booster 22 is getting ready in MB1 and the BQD’s are getting some attention on Pad 2. #wenhop 🎥: nsf.live/starbase | @NASASpaceflight
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If you’re under 26, you have never lived a day without someone orbiting above you. 26 years ago today, the first resident crew arrived at the ISS. Humanity has had a home in space ever since. The research and advances made possible by our crews, teams on the ground and international partners have helped prepare us to live and work on the Moon and Mars. As we transition to the next era of our presence in low Earth orbit, we build on everything they have made possible.
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LAUNCH! Rocket Lab Electron launches QPS-SAR-20 (WADATSUMI-II) from LC-1A, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. One more to the 100 launch milestone!
🚀 Join us LIVE to watch Electron launch for the 99th time: "The Sea God Surveys" for @QPS_Inc teapawt.org/i/broadcasts/2onApoMWP…
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
Writing this in my personal capacity, but I have been flying these types of aircraft for more than 20 years, with over 8,000 hours, and have reasonable familiarity with how the charter world operates. I feel compelled to post after seeing commentary about the Lear 60 crash, from missile strikes to DEI to critiquing this poor woman’s final radio calls. That last part is what I find most troubling. She was the second-in-command (SIC), and while she was empowered to point out mistakes as part of good crew resource management, she was doing her job, communicating with ATC right to the end in a terrifying situation. She likely knew before many of those calls that she was going to die. I have heard final calls from friends, from military pilots with thousands of hours in fighter aircraft, and they are just as heartbreaking because they know the end is approaching. I understand the public interest given the footage and audio. But you do not know the aircraft’s maintenance history, whether there was a structural failure, if any failure was induced by turbulence, overspeed, or overcontrol, or everything happening in that cockpit. I am sure weather will be part of the investigation, but beyond that, it is speculation. The charter industry routinely hires commercial pilots very early in their careers to gain experience alongside an ATP-qualified captain before they move up to the airlines. She would still have the appropriate training, qualifications, and checkouts by an FAA examiner or designee. Let people investigate, learn, and share the facts. Be respectful to those who perished and the families who carry their memories. God bless them and their loved ones.
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26 years ago, today, Expedition 1 began our continuous habitation of space with NASA astronaut Bill Shepard and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. Earth is just as stunning and station is still a platform that opens the doors to our future on the moon and, eventually, Mars. In this orbit, on this day, we passed by the blue fishing boats and, in the end, even a little aurora. See if you can spot the landmarks from the map. You’re looking out of the port window of the cupola, so to the left of the line.
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
Got to see Space Shuttle Endeavour a little early thanks to being a @casciencecenter member. The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is an absolutely phenomenal experience. 10/10
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NSF - NASASpaceflight.com retweeted
Starbase This Week (2026-11-01) | Written by @Bastiaan_2 A productive week at Starbase, vehicle construction continues, and a Starship Cabin mockup for HLS is currently being constructed inside of the Starfactory?!?! This and more in Starbase This Week. Production Site Starting this week off at Megabay 2, the new occupant Ship 45 has received both the last liquid methane section and the common dome section, completing the methane tank and starting the liquid oxygen tank. With 3 more barrel sections and the transfer tubes you have yet another completed ship. While Flight 15 is (hopefully) around the corner. If S45 is completed before another Ship leaves the Megabay, SpaceX does not have the room to start the stacking process of S46 as S40, S42 through S45 are occupying all of the workstands and turntable. Moving to Megabay 2, Booster 24 completed its stacking process this week, with the booster liquid oxygen landing tank stand rolling out, we knew that it was time for the methane tank of B24 to be placed on top of the already completed liquid oxygen tank, sitting on the front left turn table. Using the landing tank stand as a stand to switch bridge cranes to reach the LOx tank. Massey's S42 and S43 both left MB2 this week to complete testing, where S42 conducted both a single engine static fire, this test the de orbit capability and rather than using the main LCH4 and LOX tanks it uses the header tanks, and S42 conducted a six engine static fire test to test all of the engines like we see during the assent phase. S43 left before S42 and conducted its cryo testing campaign at Massey's, the test before it receives its engines for its static fire testing campaign, or is it? After the cryo tests, S43 rolled back to the Production Site to be placed onto a ship transport stand and was rolled to the Launch Site for what seems like catch testing, similar from what we have seen from S42 after it completed its cryo test campaign a few months ago, how time flies. B23 went to Massey's again this week. After it conducted its cryo test two weeks ago, the booster cryo stand was moved inside MB2 to pick up B23 yet again. During its stay at Massey's, no visible activity occurred surrounding B23, it could have been that B23 only conducted an ambient pressure test and from B18 we have learned that even those events can end up energetic if something is wrong. So if SpaceX found something wrong or something was damaged after the cryo test, it is better to be safe than sorry and perform a pressure test at Massey' s rather than finding out at the Pad with a fueled booster. Launch Site B22, the booster that will be used for Flight 15, completed its static fire testing campaign last week. With no time to waste, SpaceX lifted the booster from the OLM onto the booster transport stand and was rolled back to MB2 for pre-flight checks. Launch and HLS Mockup With both vehicles undergoing pre-flight checks, according to CADENA Flight 15 has a no earlier than (NET) date of 12 November. This of course could change as SpaceX has yet to receive a modified launch license that would allow for a Ship catch at Pad 2. While we already had our suspicions of a possible Cabin mockup already being produced inside the Starfactory, this week we have learned that indeed, SpaceX is building this mockup for testing, including human-in-the-loop testing. This will be a major milestone for SpaceX as this will bring them yet a step closer to bring human boots onto the Lunar service yet again during Artemis 4. We will keep an eye out for further details on both Cabin mockup and the date of Flight 15. And if you want to join us in humanities space journey come back next week for another Starbase This Week. For real-time updates, join us in the Discord: discord.gg/ZbrSYPzDAq To explore our maps yourself and track every movement, check out our Figma, now at both Starbase and Cape Canaveral: Starbase: figma.com/design/2AvC161FuB1… Cape Canaveral: figma.com/design/lHRSgzUwyjD… #SpaceX #Starbase #Starship
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"We're just cleaning it man" Amid speculation that it could be returning to flight, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman teases to NSF that NASA is "just cleaning" their SR-71 Blackbird...
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