Year: 2022

Hyundai signs deal with South Korean government research agencies to develop lunar rovers

9:34 am

Capitalism in space: Hyundai today signed an agreement with six different South Korean government research agencies to develop a lunar rover on which those agencies can place their science instruments.

The government-funded research institutes to take part in this joint research are Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Korea Automotive Technology Institute.

This deal is apparently part of South Korea’s effort to expand its space capabilities, with the government directing and funding the program. This deal also suggests that the government there is also emulating the U.S. approach and using the country’s industry to make it happen.

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NASA: Russia has not officially notified it of its exit from ISS partnership

9:25 am

According to the NASA official who runs its ISS operations, Russia has not officially notified the agency of its decision to end its participation in ISS as of 2024.

NASA’s Robyn Gatens, who leads the agency’s ISS operations, told Reuters she “just saw that” on Tuesday morning and that there was “nothing official yet” to confirm Roscosmos was pulling out. Gatens, speaking at a conference in Washington, D.C., told the news outlet that international agreements required Russia to notify them of any such decision.

This news might simply indicate sloppiness on the part of Russia and its new chief of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov. More likely it indicates that Russia’s announcement is a negotiating ploy, not an final decision.

As I noted yesterday, Russia doesn’t have many options in space if it leaves ISS in ’24. It won’t have a new station ready to launch by then, and it is unlikely China will agree to make it an equal partner on its station.

Meanwhile, it will be difficult (though not impossible) for the remaining ISS partners to keep the station functioning should Russia decide to detach its modules from the station.

Thus, it appears Russia is likely trying to extort cash from the U.S. by this announcement. “Nice station you got there. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.” Either it hopes to pressure the U.S. to pay Russia to continue the partnership, or to buy the modules outright. And even in the latter case, Russia will likely insist that it continue operating them, with the U.S. paying the bill.

If we had a competent president who thinks of American self-interest first, Russia’s game here would be laughed out of the room. This Russian decision should and could be used to stimulate American industry to replace the Russians.

Our present president however does not consider this country’s interests very important, and so I’d expect the Biden administration to push for the U.S. to buy off Russia. Whether Congress will go along is uncertain. A majority in both houses probably doesn’t care much for U.S. interests either, but that majority is less likely to agree to such a deal, especially considering its hostility to Russia because of its invasion of the Ukraine.

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China launches new rocket

9:06 am

The new colonial movement: The Chinese Academy of Science today successfully completed the first launch of Lijian-1, a new four stage solid fueled rocket, placing six satellites into orbit.

The Chinese state press announcement is here. I am using the name of the rocket from this source.

The rocket is an upgrade of a “road-mobile” ICBM, and can place two tons into orbit, making it the largest solid-fueled rocket in China’s arsenal of rockets. It launched from a pad built especially for it at China’s interior Jiuquan spaceport, which means it dumped its first, second, and maybe its third stages on Chinese territory.

The leaders in the 2022 launch race:

33 SpaceX
25 China
9 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
4 ULA

American private enterprise still leads China 46 to 25, and the entire globe combined 46 to 41.

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Mike Oldfield – The Source of Secrets

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Actually, this is three pieces, “The Source of the Secrets,” “Secrets,” and “Far above the Clouds.”

Hat tip “t-dub” Tom Wilson.

I’d like one piece of feedback about this video. When you watch it embedded on Behind the Black, is the music interrupted by commercials? That happens when you watch on YouTube. I am curious it this happens when a song is embedded on another webpage.

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The very end of an 800-mile-long Martian canyon

1:39 pm

The very end of an 800-mile-long Martian canyon
Click for full image.

Cool image time! While most geeks interested in Mars are familiar with Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, Mars has other large canyons that while not a big are impressive in their own right. The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, and reduced to post here, shows us the very very end of one such canyon. Taken on April 19, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), it shows the easternmost spot where Cerberus Fossae begins. From here, this narrow fracture-caused canyon extends another 800 miles to the west, sometimes splitting into two or three parallel cracks, but always oriented in the same direction, slightly north of due west.

The overview map below provides the context and wider view.
» Read more

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Today’s blacklisted American: Pro-abortion terrorists vandalize 77 churches and pregnancy centers in last ten weeks

11:18 am

The apparent goal of the pro-abortion left
Genocide: The apparent goal of the pro-abortion left

Persecution is now cool! Since the leak on May 8th of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Row v. Wade, pro-abortion terrorists have vandalized 77 churches and pregnancy centers without a single arrest, even as these thugs gleefully brag about their violence on social media and are provided aid and comfort by Democratic Party politicians.

From the first link:

KTTH in Seattle reported, “As churches and pregnancy centers come under assault, Democrat State Senator Emily Randall (D-WA26) is celebrating the vandalism of a pro-life billboard in Gorst. “In a pre-produced Instagram video, Randall giddily reports that a pro-life message was decorated by a pro-abortion extremist. She smiles as she tells her constituents that she ‘had to pull over when I saw the decorated/corrected billboard.'”

Democrats have refused to stop the illegal protests at the homes of justices, even after a Democrat tried to assassinate a justice. Life News reported, “House Democrats Block Resolution to Condemn Violence Against Churches and Pregnancy Centers.”

From the second link:
» Read more

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New boss of Roscosmos confirms decision to leave ISS in 2024.

10:36 am

Yuri Borisov, the new head of Roscosmos, today confirmed that Russia will leave its partnership at ISS in 2024.

The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Yuri Borisov, appointed this month to lead the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. He added: “I think that by that time we will start forming a Russian orbiting station.”

This announcement leaves several questions.

1. What will happen to the Russian modules on ISS? They cannot function on their own, so undocking them means they either must be de-orbited or attached to another station. Since it is more likely a snowman could exist on the Moon than the Russians launching a new station by 2024, the future of those modules must be negotiated.

2. What will the Russians do once out of this partnership? As I said, they will not be able to launch a new station by ’24. In fact, it is more likely they won’t be able to launch one at all, considering the pervasive corruption that permeates all levels of their technological society. It took them almost a quarter century to complete and launch the newest module to ISS, Nauka, with many many technical problems along the way.

3. Will Russia and China forge a closer alliance in space? I expect Russia will try to negotiate a partnership with China on its space station, but I doubt China will agree to any agreement that makes Russia an equal. It isn’t, and China has no interest in making believe Russia is.

4. Will this force an acceleration in the launch of the American private space stations now under construction? Hard to say. If we had a competent executive branch run by a clear-minded president, some action could be taken to help make this happen. The present Biden administration is neither competent nor clear-minded, so I do not expect much from it. Managers at NASA however might be able to push for increased funding to speed development, but even if successful that carries risk. It will make the private stations more beholden to the government, thus lessening their independence.

All in all, a most interesting situation.

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Childhood vaccinations in ’20 and ’21 declined the most in 30 years

9:36 am

Surprise! According to WHO data, the number of children receiving effective vaccines for serious known diseases declined in ’20 and ’21, dropping at a rate larger than seen in 30 years.

Data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations children’s charity UNICEF show that the percentage of children who received three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP3) decreased by 5 percentage points between 2019 and 2021, to 81% worldwide (see ‘Childhood immunizations decline’). DTP3 is considered to be a marker of vaccine coverage; if children miss these jabs, they’re probably also missing out on crucial vaccinations for many other diseases.

The report found that in 2021, 25 million children missed out on routine immunizations against diseases such as measles — leading to avoidable outbreaks. “If this downward trend continues, we can expect to see more cases, outbreaks and deaths from diseases which are completely preventable,” a WHO spokesperson told Nature.

This article, from the very leftist science journal Nature, notes only that WHO attributes the decline to “supply-chain disruption, diversion of resources and lockdowns.” If fails to mention the loss of faith worldwide in vaccines in general, due to the hard push by WHO and other government health agencies to force the relatively ineffective and possibly harmful COVID shots on everyone.

The vaccines for measles, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough do work, but by lying about the effectiveness of the COVID shots, health agencies worldwide have lost their credibility. They have successfully convinced millions of parents to fear getting any vaccines, even those that really work and can prevent their children from dying.

Congratulations to WHO, the CDC, and all government agents worldwide! You have helped bring out the death of millions of children. Great work if you can get it.

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OneWeb and Eutelsat sign merger deal

9:21 am

Capitalism in space: OneWeb and Eutelsat today confirmed stories during the past few days to announce today that the two companies have signed a merger agreement.

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and key OneWeb shareholders have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the objective of creating a leading global player in Connectivity through the combination of both companies in an all-share transaction. Eutelsat will combine its 36-strong fleet of GEO satellites with OneWeb’s constellation of 648 Low Earth Orbit satellites, of which 428 are currently in orbit.

The deal still needs regulatory approval, but if this is granted it should be finalized by the first half of ’23.

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UAE names astronaut to fly on six month commercial ISS mission, purchased from Axiom

9:15 am

Sultan Al Neyadi in training
Sultan Al Neyadi in training

Capitalism in space: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday announced that 41-year-old Sultan Al Neyadi will fly on six month ISS mission, launching in the spring of 2023. purchased from Axiom.

The UAE purchased a seat on the Falcon 9 rocket from Axiom Space, a space infrastructure development company in Houston. This is the Falcon 9 seat that Axiom Space was given by Nasa after the company gave up its Russian Soyuz rocket seat for American astronaut Mark Vande Hei in 2021.

MBRSC did not disclose how much they paid Axiom for the seat, but the agreement includes transport to and from the space station; comprehensive mission support; all necessary training and preparation for launch; flight operations, landing and crew rescue services.

The deal behind this seat is very complex. Essentially, Axiom paid for the seat of Mark Vande Hei’s flight on a Soyuz capsule from 2021 to 2022 (because NASA had no authorized funds to purchase that seat), and got a later seat on a Dragon for an Axiom commercial customer. It then signed a deal with the UAE for Al Neyedi’s flight in late April.

The result is the first long term commercial mission to space.

Al Neyadi has been in training for four years, and acted as the back up astronaut to the first UAE manned flight to ISS, purchased from the Russians in 2019.

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Tentative crash date for Long March 5B core stage: July 31st

8:56 am

Predicted crash path of Long March 5B core stage
Click for full image.

Engineers from the Aerospace Corporation have now made the first preliminary calculations and determined that the core stage of China’s Long March 5B rocket that launched July 24th will crash to Earth uncontrolled on July 31, 2022, give or take one day.

The map to the right, reduced to post here, shows all the orbits during that 48 hour period. Note that, except for most of Europe, almost all the high population regions of the globe are in the crash zone.

This prediction is very tentative, and will change as the core stage’s orbit evolves in the next few weeks. It also could change entirely if China has updated the rocket’s engines so they can be restarted at least once to de-orbit the stage properly, as it has hinted it could do. If however the orbit begins to decay without any action by China, then we will know those hints were lies, and that China is once again violating the Outer Space Treaty by acting with willful negligence to threaten harm to others with one of its launches.

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Dean Martin & Rick Nelson – Rio Bravo

6:01 pm

An evening pause: This medley of songs were performed as part of the Howard Hawks’ 1959 western Rio Bravo. The first song, “My rifle, pony, and me,” was actually adapted from the main theme by Dimitri Tiomkin from Hawks’ earlier classic, Red River (1948). When Diane and I were watching this recently, I recognized the music, but it took a while to figure out where I’d heard it before.

Both movies are examples of the kind of entertaining and rich films Hollywood used to produce, routinely.

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