Science Summary: Milky Way a warped and twisted galaxy; Musk's SpaceX eyes launch site

'Moving fast:' Musk's SpaceX eyes Florida for launch site for Mars rocket

Elon Musk's SpaceX is expanding its facilities in Florida to make room for the space company's forthcoming super heavy-lift launch vehicle dubbed Starship, according to a draft of the plans seen by Reuters on Friday. Starship, a 384-foot reusable two-stage rocket taller than the Statue of Liberty, is a central piece of Musk's interplanetary space travel ambitions as well as U.S. space agency NASA's goal to send humans to the moon again by 2024.

Chinese state agency to launch a rocket for commercial use in August

A Chinese government space agency is expected to launch its first rocket meant for commercial use in August, putting pressure on other domestic rocket firms to develop their own launch vehicles ahead of an expected commercial satellite boom. A unit of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation's main space contractor, is working on the final assembly of its Smart Dragon-1 rocket, with a maiden flight expected in August, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said on Thursday.

Astronomers find that Milky Way is a warped and twisted galaxy

Astronomers have created the most precise map to date of the Milky Way by tracking thousands of big pulsating stars spread throughout the galaxy, demonstrating that its disk of myriad stars is not flat but dramatically warped and twisted in shape. The researchers on Thursday unveiled a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way - home to more than 100 billion stars including our sun - providing a comprehensive chart of its structure: a stellar disk comprised of four major spiral arms and a bar-shaped core region.