Eric Berger | |
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| Born | April 19, 1973 |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (BA) University of Missouri (MA) |
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Eric Berger (born April 19, 1973) [1] [2] is an American journalist and meteorologist who is the senior space editor at Ars Technica and the editor of Space City Weather, a website covering weather in Houston.
Berger, who was raised in Michigan, [3] graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in astronomy. [4] Berger then attended graduate school at the University of Missouri where he received a master's degree in journalism. [5] In 2014, Berger completed a distance learning program at Mississippi State University to become a certified meteorologist. [6] [3] Berger lives in League City, Texas, with his wife, Amanda, and two daughters. [3]
Berger began working at the Houston Chronicle in 1998. He started his career at the Chronicle as a general assignments reporter before transitioning to the science desk in late 2001. [7] In 2005, he launched a science and technology blog on the Houston Chronicle website called SciGuy, which focused primarily on chemistry, physics, and astronomy. [6] Berger also began writing about weather during his time at the Chronicle. [3] Berger's coverage of Hurricane Ike contributed to the staff of the Houston Chronicle becoming a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2009. [8]
After leaving the Houston Chronicle and joining Ars Technica, Berger also started the Space City Weather blog in October 2015. [3] The blog, which is operated jointly by Berger and forecast meteorologist Matt Lanza, provides weather forecasts for the Greater Houston area. [9] The blog's readership increased drastically during Hurricane Harvey, with over one million visits to the site on August 27, 2017. [3] In recognition of Berger and Lanza's service to Houston as weather forecasters, the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, declared June 8, 2021, as "Space City Weather Day". [9]
In October 2015, Berger left the Houston Chronicle to write for Ars Technica . As the senior space editor at Ars, Berger's primary focus is on NASA and private aerospace companies. [3] [6] Berger authored Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX, which was published by William Morrow and Company and released in March 2021. [10] [11] The book chronicles the early history of SpaceX and the protracted development program of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle. [12]
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider, and satellite communications company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas. The company was founded by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs by designing for reusability and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. SpaceX currently produces and operates the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets along with the Dragon spacecraft.
Falcon 1 was a two-stage small-lift launch vehicle that was operated from 2006 to 2009 by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. On 28 September 2008, Falcon 1 became the first privately developed fully liquid-fueled launch vehicle to successfully reach orbit.
Elon Reeve Musk is a businessman and investor known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc. Other involvements include ownership of X Corp., the company that operates the social media platform X, and his role in the founding of the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI. He is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world; as of August 2024 Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$247 billion.
Omelek Island is part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is controlled by the United States military under a long-term lease and is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.
The Global Forecast System (GFS) is a global numerical weather prediction system containing a global computer model and variational analysis run by the United States' National Weather Service (NWS).
RatSat or DemoSat is an aluminum mass simulator on the fourth flight of the Falcon 1 rocket, launched on 28 September 2008. Ratsat remained bolted to the second stage of the carrier rocket after reaching low Earth orbit. It is an aluminium alloy chamber in hexagonal prism shape with 1.5 m (5 ft) length.
Gwynne Shotwell is an American businesswoman and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible for day-to-day operations and company growth.
Falcon Heavy is a heavy-lift launch vehicle with partial reusability that can carry cargo into Earth orbit, and beyond. It is designed, manufactured and launched by American aerospace company SpaceX.
SpaceX has privately funded the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has developed technologies over the last decade to facilitate full and rapid reuse of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site within minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad, following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal would have been reusability of both stages of their orbital launch vehicle, and the first stage would be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return. Development of reusable second stages for Falcon 9 was later abandoned in favor of developing Starship, however, SpaceX developed reusable payload fairings for the Falcon 9.
SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The capsule carried over 3,100 kilograms (6,800 lb) of cargo to the ISS including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a prototype inflatable space habitat delivered in the vehicle's trunk, which was attached to the station and, as of May 2022, is expected to remain so for five more full years of in-orbit viability tests.
Starbase is an industrial complex and rocket launch facility that serves as the main testing and production location for Starship launch vehicles, as well as the headquarters of the American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX. Located at Boca Chica, near Brownsville, Texas, United States, Starbase has been under near-continuous development since the late 2010s, and comprises a spaceport near the Gulf of Mexico, a production facility at Boca Chica village, and a test site along Texas State Highway 4.
SpaceX Mars colonization program is a planned objective of the company SpaceX and particularly of its founder Elon Musk to colonize Mars. The main element of this ambition is the plan to establish a self-sustained large scale settlement and colony on Mars, claiming self-determination under direct democracy. The main motivation behind this is the belief that the colonization of Mars allows humanity to become multiplanetary and therefore secures the long-term survival of the human species in case of Earth being rid of human life.
Boca Chica Village or Kopernik Shores, formerly Kennedy Shores, is a small unincorporated community in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It was formed in the late 1960s, and is still extant as of 2021, although the village proper has changed greatly since 2018 as SpaceX came to purchase much of the land of the village. It lies 20 miles (32 km) east of the City of Brownsville on the Boca Chica peninsula, and forms part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas. It is situated on Texas State Highway 4, immediately south of the South Bay lagoon, and is located about 2 mi (3.2 km) northwest of the mouth of the Rio Grande. Although the name Kopernik Shores is no longer in popular use, it remains its official name per the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, and is still occasionally used in official contexts.
The Mars race, race to Mars or race for Mars is the competitive environment between various national space agencies, "New Space" and aerospace manufacturers involving crewed missions to Mars, land on Mars, or set a crewed base there. Some of these efforts are part of a greater Mars colonization vision, while others are for glory, or scientific endeavours. Some of this competitiveness is part of the New Space race.
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun. A mannequin in a spacesuit, dubbed "Starman", occupies the driver's seat. The car and rocket are products of Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, both companies headed by Elon Musk. The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work. It is the first production car launched into space.
Starship is a two-stage fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by American aerospace company SpaceX. On April 20, 2023, with the first Integrated Flight Test, Starship became the largest and most powerful vehicle ever to fly. SpaceX has developed Starship with the intention of lowering launch costs using economies of scale. SpaceX aims to achieve this by reusing both rocket stages by "catching" them with the launch tower's systems, increasing payload mass to orbit, increasing launch frequency, mass-manufacturing the rockets and adapting it to a wide range of space missions. Starship is the latest project in SpaceX's reusable launch system development program and plan to colonize Mars.
On 13 August 2021, Blue Origin filed a complaint to the United States Court of Federal Claims about NASA's award of $2.9 billion to SpaceX. The award was used by the company to further develop Starship HLS, a lunar lander that NASA selected for the Artemis program. On 4 November 2021, the Court of Federal Claims dismissed the complaint, and the accompanying memorandum opinion was titled Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Blue Origin's complaint and prior actions have received attention from the news media and spaceflight industries.
Starship flight test 1 was the maiden flight of the integrated SpaceX Starship launch vehicle. SpaceX performed the flight test on April 20, 2023. The prototype vehicle was destroyed less than four minutes after lifting off from the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The vehicle became the most powerful rocket ever flown, breaking the half-century-old record held by the Soviet Union's N1 rocket. The launch was the first "integrated flight test," meaning it was the first time that both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft flew together as a fully integrated Starship launch vehicle.
Before settling on the 2018 Starship design, SpaceX successively presented a number of reusable super-heavy lift vehicle proposals. These preliminary spacecraft designs were known under various names.
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