Hothouse Flowers – I Can See Clearly Now
An evening pause: Performed live 1990.
Hat tip James Street.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
June 18, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Space Force awards contracts to Blue Origin, CACI International Inc., General Atomics, and Viasat to develop space laser terminals [pdf]
These are small contracts to begin design work on using lasers for satellite communications.
- ULA CEO touts photos of new Vulcan launchpad under construction at Vandenberg
The first launch at this pad is scheduled sometime next year.
- Local officials in Cameron County praise SpaceX for bring billions in economic growth to region
Who cares? Elon Musk is evil and all his efforts must be shut down! That’s the rule when someone famous won’t vote for Democrats!
- Russia hopes to revive its Molniya satellite constellation, this time using Chinese parts
The original Molniya communications satellites — first launched in the 1960s — used a clever very eccentric orbit to get the best coverage of Russia, which sits at a high latitude. Traditional geosynchronous communications satellites don’t see those high latitudes that well.
Massive Martian landslides
For original images go here and here.
Today’s two cool images above provide a nice sense of the massive nature of many Martian landslides. Scientists often call this kind of slide “mass wasting,” because rather than it occurring because a single rock propagates a larger flow of rocks as it starts rolling downhill, this slide occurs because a large section of the hillside suddenly breaks free and moves downward as a unit, carving a path as it goes.
Mars has a lot of these kinds of slides, likely caused partly by its lower gravity, 39% that of Earth’s.
The overview map to the right marks the location of both slides by their numbers. Number one took place on the eastern interior rim of a 56-mile-wide and 7,000-foot-deep unnamed crater the dry tropics of Mars. The slide dropped about 3,000 feet, beginning about halfway down from the top of the rim and not quite reaching the crater floor. The picture was taken by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on March 31, 2024.
Number two occurred on the western interior rim of a 32-mile-wide and 6,500-foot-deep unnamed crater in the mid-latitudes where near-surface ice and glacial features are often found. In this case the slide fell downward about 3,500 feet. The picture was taken by MRO’s high resolution camera on March 14, 2024.
Despite the different latitudes and thus different climates and geological settings, both landslides look similar. It is possible they occurred under similar conditions, but at very different times. Or it is also possible that the Mars gravity and general environment promotes these mass wasting events everywhere.
Kansas sues Pfizer for lying about the safety and effectiveness of its COVID jab
Apparently a company of liars
The state of Kansas yesterday filed a detailed suit against the pharmaceutical company Pfizer over the many lies and misrepresentations it pushed as it rolled out its COVID jab, such as hiding the actual documented “adverse events”, including many deaths, that occurred after people got jabbed.
You can read the complaint here [pdf]. It opens as follows;
Pfizer misled the public that it had a “safe and effective” COVID-19 vaccine.
- Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was safe even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine was connected to serious adverse events, including myocarditis and pericarditis, failed pregnancies, and deaths. Pfizer concealed this critical safety information from the public.
- Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine was effective even though it knew its COVID-19 vaccine waned over time and did not protect against COVID-19 variants. Pfizer concealed this critical effectiveness information from the public.
- Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine would prevent transmission of COVID-19 even though it knew it never studied the effect of its vaccine on transmission of COVID-19.
- To keep the public from learning the truth, Pfizer worked to censor speech on social media that questioned Pfizer’s claims about its COVID-19 vaccine.
The lawsuit has lots of juicy factoids. For example, Pfizer kept its own database of adverse events after people took its jab, and lied about that data to the public.
» Read more
Starliner return delayed again to June 26th
In a press briefing today, Boeing and NASA announced that they have decided to delay the return of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, carrying two astronauts, another four days to June 26, 2024. The landing would take place just before dawn, landing at White Sands in New Mexico.
The decision to delay is related to the results from the hot fire tests of the aft thrusters of Starliner on June 15, 2024. Engineers want to review the data, which included finding that one of the eight thrusters is producing unacceptable results and will not be used for the rest of the flight. The other seven thrusters however produced acceptable results, “good thrust” as noted by one official.
The extra time to review the data is also because these thrusters are on the service module, which will not return to Earth. They want to make sure they understand the issues entirely. The longer time docked to ISS is also giving them better data for future longer missions.
As for the helium leaks, the level of leaking appears to be dropping, and in fact dropped after the hot fire burns, and “appears to be somehow related to the thrusters.” Either way, the safety margins remain sufficient so that the return is not threatened in any way by these leaks.
The valve issue also seems under control, with all the valves now working as expected.
Overvall, engineers have decided they have a safe vehicle that can not only be used to return to Earth as scheduled, they are confident that they could also use Starliner as a lifeboat in a sudden emergency.
Surprise! Scientists discover that eating cheese makes you happier in old age!
Science discovers the obvious: A computer analysis of 2.3 million people in Europe has found that eating cheese helped make them healthier and happier as they aged.
A mediation analysis identified 33 factors that mediate “between the well-being spectrum and the aging-GIP” – essentially, statistically, the disease, behaviors and lifestyle choices that significantly reduce the healthy aging score. Key ones included TV watching, smoking, medication use, heart failure, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stroke, coronary atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease.
Cheese, on the other hand, swung the pendulum the other way in both its impact on the well-being spectrum and aging-GIP. One of five key lifestyle mediators the data testing identified, it had a 3.67% positive impact on those healthy aging factors (whereas, for example, higher fruit intake had a 1.96% positive result and too much TV time, an indication of a more sedentary lifestyle, had a 7.39% negative impact on the score for both indicators).
While interesting, this research is generally junk. The number of uncertainties and assumptions are so large that no one should take any of these positive and negative scores very seriously. Furthermore, the study basically discovers something that is patently obvious from the beginning: If you are active and eat well, you will be healthier in old age. If you are a couch potato who smokes, you will likely be sicker in old age.
Why cheese (and fruit) should improve these scores is intriguing, but simply suggests that the study is not very useful. The intriguing (and amusing) nature of these results guarantees however that it will blasted by every mainstream news source in the coming days, with little mention of the weakness of the research.
Once again, the first known binary of two supermassive black holes flares as predicted
Using a variety of space telescopes astronomers have successfully predicted and then observed a major flare that occurred on November 12, 2021 from OJ287, the first known binary of two supermassive black holes located 3.5 billion light years away at the center of a very active galaxy dubbed a blazar.
On Nov. 12, 2021, TESS detected OJ 287 brightening by about two magnitudes for about 12 hours, as it released as much energy in that short burst as 100 average galaxies would release in the same time. This flare was attributed to a jet from the second black hole; observations from the other telescopes supported that result as well, with Fermi in particular detecting a significant outburst of gamma rays.
The figure to the right comes from the published paper [pdf], and shows the orbit of the smaller supermassive black hole — weighing 150 million solar masses — as it circled the larger central supermassive black hole — weighing 18 billion solar masses — from 2000 to 2021.
This was not the first time such a flare from OJ287 had been predicted and observed. Astronomers also did it in 2019. These observations now strongly confirm the predicted orbit of the small black hole, as shown in the figure.
Rocket Lab gets a new 10-launch contract from Japanese satellite company
Rocket Lab yesterday signed a new 10-launch contract with the Japanese satellite company Synspective, with the launches scheduled for the 2025-2027 timeframe.
Rocket Lab has been Synspective’s sole launch provider since 2020, having already launched four of its satellites, with two other launches already under contract. Thus, the satellite company has bought sixteen total launches from Rocket Lab. Its constellation is designed to provide surface data in any weather condition, using radar.
On the radio
I will be doing a long appearance tomorrow (Tuesday) with David Livingston of The Space Show, beginning at 7 pm (Pacific). You can access the live broadcast here. This was the rescheduled show we had had to cancel in May due to technical problems.
I hope my readers will consider calling in. It is always more fun to have a give-and-take with someone live, rather than simpl answering emailed questions.
Luca Stricagnoli – For A Few Dollars More
An evening pause: A magnificent cover of this classic Ennio Morricone film score. If you want to hear a compliation of all of Morricone’s western scores, go here.
For me however Morricone’s score for Cinema Paradiso remains my favorite.
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
June 17, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Redwire wins DARPA contract for testing its proposed very low orbit satellite design
The key technology to be tested will be an “air-breathing” propulsion system that will take advantage of the thicker atmosphere at altitudes of 50 to 100 miles to provide the power to keep the satellite in orbit.
- Webb observes the most distant Type 1a supernova yet discovered
Type 1a supernovae were used to discover dark energy, based on the assumption that their brightness is always the same. Thus, the dimmer they are, the farther away they are. The data from this supernovae doesn’t break that assumption, according to the abstract, but it uncovered some pecularities that need explaining.
The insane mountain slopes of Mars’ deep canyons
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on April 25, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The scientists label this layered deposits, but that hardly describes what we are looking at. This slope, as shown in the overview map above, is the north flank of the central ridgeline inside the giant enclosed canyon depression dubbed Hebes Chasma, located just north of the main canyon of Valles Marineris, the largest known canyon in the solar system.
From floor to peak the ridge is around 16,000 feet high. Yet, its peak sits more than 6,000 feet below the plateau that surrounds Hebes. In this one picture the drop from high to low is only 5,700 feet, with thousands of feet of cliff unseen below and above.
Yet every single foot of these gigantic cliffs is layered. Based on close-up data obtained by Curiosity on the slopes of Mount Sharp in Gale Crater on the other side of the planet, the layers we can see here only represent the most coarse sedimentary boundaries. Within these layers are likely thousands upon thousands of thin additional layers, each likely representing some cyclical climate proces on Mars, even down to individual years.
Note too that the lower slopes in this picture (near the top) suggest some form of erosion flowing downhill. What caused that erosion process however remains unknown. It could have been liquid water, or glaciers, or some other process unique to Mars that we still haven’t uncovered.
Just remember: These obnoxious disturbers of the peace are all Democrats
They’re coming for you next: In what is actually a relatively mild example of the obnoxious and almost always illegal protests by pro-Hamas supporters — such as taking over and trashing buildings, attacking Jews and blind children, and blocking traffic — for the past six months protesters have been disturbing the peace at late evening and early morning hours in the residential neighborhood where senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) lives with his family in Houston.
For the past 6 months, anti-Israel protestors have come to my home just about every Sat morning at 7 am and most Fri nights until 10 or 11 pm. They scream, disturb the peace & wake the neighbors.
I have embedded below the video of these protesters that Cruz included with his tweet:
» Read more
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps picture of Chang’e-6 on far side of the Moon
Click for original image of Chang’e-6 on the Moon
The science team running Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have now released an image of China’s Chang’e-6 lander on far side of the Moon, taken on June 7, 2024 one week after the spacecraft touched down.
Chang’e 6 landed on 1 June, 2024, and when LRO passed over the landing site almost a week later, it acquired an image showing the Chang’e 6 lander on the rim of an eroded ~50 meter diameter crater.
The LROC team computed the landing site coordinates as 41.6385°S, 206.0148°E, at -5256 meters elevation relative to the average lunar surface, with an estimated horizontal accuracy of plus-or-minus 30 meters.
The overview map to the right, showing the entire far side of the Moon, shows that picture as the inset in the lower left, cropped to post here. The black and white dot in the center is Chang’e-6’s lander, with the surrounding brightened ground showing the blast area produced by the engines during touchdown.
According to the LRO press release, the large dark area that surrounds the lander — as seen in the wider inset in the upper right — is a “basaltic mare deposit” — similar to the vast dark frozen lava seas evident to our own eyes on the near side of the Moon.
Webb produces false color infrared image of the Crab Nebula
Click for original image.
The false-color infrared picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Webb Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, located 6,500 light years away and created when a star went supernova in 1054 AD, in order to better understand its make-up and origins. From the caption:
The supernova remnant is comprised of several different components, including doubly ionized sulfur (represented in green), warm dust (magenta), and synchrotron emission (blue). Yellow-white mottled filaments within the Crab’s interior represent areas where dust and doubly ionized sulfur coincide.
The spectroscopic data from this infrared observation has in fact increased the puzzle of the Crab’s origin. Previously the data suggested the supernova that caused it was one type of supernova. This data now suggests it could have been a different type, without precluding the possibility of the first.
“Now the Webb data widen the possible interpretations,” said Tea Temim, lead author of the study at Princeton University in New Jersey. “The composition of the gas no longer requires an electron-capture explosion, but could also be explained by a weak iron core-collapse supernova.”
You can read the published science paper here [pdf].
German rocket startup looking for alternatives to Saxavord spaceport
Australia’s commercial spaceports. Click for original map.
Because of regulatory delays at the Saxaford spaceport in Great Britain, the German rocket startup Hyimpulse has signed a launch deal with the Australian commercial spaceport Southern Launch.
In May, HyImpulse launched the inaugural flight of its suborbital SR75 rocket from the Southern Launch Koonibba Test Range. The flight had initially been expected to be launched from SaxaVord in Scotland, but delays in the construction of the facility forced the company to look elsewhere for a host.
On 6 June, Southern Launch announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with HyImpulse for the launch of additional SR75 missions from Koonibba. The agreement also included provisions for the pair to explore the possibility of launching orbital flights aboard the HyImpulse SL1 rocket from Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex on the south coast of Australia.
According to Hyimpulse’s November 2023 deal with Saxaford, it was to have flown two suborbital flights of the SR75 in 2024 and one orbital flight of SL1 in 2025.
It could very well be that SL1’s first orbital test launch will still take place from Saxavord, but the several years of delays caused by the red tape from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority in approving Saxavord has forced its customers to seek alternatives. Hyimpulse for example now has agreements not only with Southern Launch in Australia. The French space agency CNES has approved it to launch from French Guiana as well.
In addition, the German rocket startup Isar Aerospace in November 2023 signed a deal with the new Andoya commercial spaceport in Norway. Andoya had come into this spaceport competition very late, but it apparently won this deal because Isar saw the regulatory problems in the UK and decided to look elsewhere.
June 14, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Sylcom Light – Venetian glass artistry
An evening pause: The hand of man, creating wonders.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
June 14, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Chang’e-6’s orbit was raised to an altitude of 246km sometime between June 11th and 12th
It will likely send its sample return capsule back to Earth in about a week.
- China’s new Long March 10 rocket successfully completed a three-engine static fire test on June 14, 2024
The rocket is to be used for China’s planned manned lunar missions.
- On this day in 1967, Mariner 5 launched to do the second fly-by of Venus
NASA had built it as a backup for its Mariner 4 Mars fly-by mission, and repurposed it for Venus, adding a sunshield. It zipped past Venus on October 19, 1967, one day after the Soviet Venera lander made the first attempt to soft land there. Both confirmed that Venus was a hot hellhole with an atmospheric temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Today’s blacklisted American: Entire family kicked out of Catholic school because their 13-year-old son supported patriotism to America
Jimmy Heyward, blacklisted for extolling
American patriotism
They’re coming for you next: When 13-year-old Jimmy Heyward decided to run for the position of “commissioner of spirit and patriotism” at St. Bonaventure Catholic middle school in Huntington Beach, California, he wrote a campaign speech that not only extolled the idea of patriotism, but wittily mimicked Donald Trump’s own campaign slogans. His conclusion:
So accordingly, I Jimmy Heyward, am running for Commissioner of Patriotism and School Spirit. I want to clarify that my ideas are not promises, but I can promise to make pep rallies great again! … I will make the school spirit great again! I will make patriotism within SBS great again! And most importantly I will MAKE SBS GREAT AGAIN!
The school principal, Mary Flock, didn’t like that. How dare he!
» Read more