August 8, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage
These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.
- China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base
As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.
- Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars
For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.
- According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues
It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.
- SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023
Nothing very revealing however.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage
These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.
- China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base
As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.
- Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars
For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.
- According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues
It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.
- SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023
Nothing very revealing however.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
For Mars expedition training I recommend Antarctica. One mistake and you die. Can’t really breathe the winter air outside without warming.
Hail Ming! Sorry, I remember watching the movie as a kid.
You are correct, they should be training where it is cold. So the Mars Society has it’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada. I don’t know if it is still in use. I remember reading about it in Dr.Zubrin’s two books.
The deluge plate has a bit of a bald spot in the center.
Having water shoot from the East pointed West, North to South…that might give better protection.
All Raptors are built the same way, right?
In cars, the manifolds need to mirror one another.
Here, mechanical “ambigrams” may help things.
I don’t think SuperHeavy has an engine issue… perhaps more of a plumbing issue.
Jeff,
We all have bald spots. Sorry, you were talking about the plate. Actually the outer ring of twenty Raptor Engines do not have gimbals, the inner Raptors do, but they all have the same thrust.
Could be promising for the ocean moons of the solar system.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-find-a-whole-new-ecosystem-hiding-beneath-earths-seafloor