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| − | [[File:D_EDITORS_PICKS_303.jpg|310px|left|link=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/new-blog-post-8/|D+ Editor's Pic]] | + | [[File:D_EDITORS_PICKS_304.png|310px|left|link=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/new-blog-post-8/|D+ Editor's Pic]] |
| − | <big>'''Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys 34 Satellites and Catches Rocket Booster Returning from Space with Helicopter'''</big> | + | <big>'''A first: Scientists grow plants in soil from the moon'''</big> |
| − | <br />Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully launched its 26th Electron mission, deploying 34 satellites to orbit. Rocket Lab has now deployed a total of 146 satellites to orbit with the Electron launch vehicle. | + | <br />Scientists have grown plants in soil from the moon, a first in human history and a milestone in lunar and space exploration. |
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| − | The “There And Back Again” mission also saw Rocket Lab complete a mid-air capture of the Electron booster with a helicopter for the first time. After launching to space, Electron’s first stage returned to Earth under a parachute. At 6,500 ft, Rocket Lab’s Sikorsky S-92 helicopter rendezvoused with the returning stage and used a hook on a long line to capture the parachute line. The mid-air capture is a major milestone in Rocket Lab’s pursuit to make Electron a reusable rocket to increase launch frequency and reduce launch costs for small satellites. After the catch, the helicopter pilot detected different load characteristics than previously experienced in testing and offloaded the stage for a successful splashdown. <small>([https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/new-blog-post-8/ More])</small>
| + | In a new paper published in the journal “Communications Biology,” University of Florida researchers showed that plants can successfully sprout and grow in lunar soil. Their study also investigated how plants respond biologically to the moon’s soil, also known as lunar regolith, which is radically different from soil found on Earth. |
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| | + | This work is a first step toward one day growing plants for food and oxygen on the moon or during space missions. More immediately, this research comes as the Artemis Program plans to return humans to the moon. <small>([https://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/new-blog-post-8/ More])</small> |
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