Author: Robert Zimmerman
May 20, 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.
- Georgia governor signs law dissolving Camden spaceport plan
The spaceport had been dead due to a voter referendum, but this seals the deal.
- PLD team working with French Space Agency in French Guiana, planning future launches
The Spanish company plans to launch its orbital Miura-5 rocket from there. France, which owns and now runs the spaceport, apparently wants to open it to other independent European companies.
- Another instrument installed on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
The launch is presently targeting a launch this year.
- China’s Long March 2D launch today tested grid fins on first stage
This apparently was the third such test, aimed at simply narrowing the crash sites for these stages, not recovering the stages.
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.
- Georgia governor signs law dissolving Camden spaceport plan
The spaceport had been dead due to a voter referendum, but this seals the deal.
- PLD team working with French Space Agency in French Guiana, planning future launches
The Spanish company plans to launch its orbital Miura-5 rocket from there. France, which owns and now runs the spaceport, apparently wants to open it to other independent European companies.
- Another instrument installed on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
The launch is presently targeting a launch this year.
- China’s Long March 2D launch today tested grid fins on first stage
This apparently was the third such test, aimed at simply narrowing the crash sites for these stages, not recovering the stages.
Solar storms are simply no longer a threat
The sunspot cycle as of May 2024. Click
for full details.
Today’s Chicken Little Report: When NOAA predicted on May 9, 2024 that a powerful solar flare had erupted from the Sun and was aiming a major solar storm directly at the Earth, the scientists at the federal government’s Space Weather Prediction Center could not help underlining the disaster potential, and were ably aided by the mainstream press. This CNN report was typical:
“Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations,” according to the Space Weather Prediction Center. “(The center) has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.”
The center has notified operators in these areas to take action to mitigate the potential for any impacts, which include the possibility of increased and more frequent voltage control problems. Other aspects operators will monitor include a chance of anomalies or impacts to satellite operations and frequent or longer periods of GPS degradation.
And as always, the news report has to end with this warning of doom:
» Read more
Court rules COVID jab mandate unconstitutional
One more COVID story to start the week: Earlier this month the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unequivocally that the mandates requiring the jab and limiting who could be exempted that were imposed by the University of Colorado were unconstitutional.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021 required COVID-19 vaccination of all students and employees. It initially offered religious exemptions to anyone who checked a box, but it later stated that administrators would “only recognize religious exemptions based on religious beliefs whose teachings are opposed to all immunizations.”
Officials, for instance, said Christian Scientists would qualify for an exemption but Buddhists would not. They also said exemptions would be granted only to people who never received any vaccinations.
Medical exemptions, on the other hand, were available if a doctor said the prospective recipient’s health or life would be endangered.
College officials would also reject exemptions solely on their own opinion on whether the applicant’s religion was really against vaccinations or not.
The court’s ruling now allows the lawsuit of seventeen students and employees to go forward.
One more COVID story to start the week: Earlier this month the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unequivocally that the mandates requiring the jab and limiting who could be exempted that were imposed by the University of Colorado were unconstitutional.
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021 required COVID-19 vaccination of all students and employees. It initially offered religious exemptions to anyone who checked a box, but it later stated that administrators would “only recognize religious exemptions based on religious beliefs whose teachings are opposed to all immunizations.”
Officials, for instance, said Christian Scientists would qualify for an exemption but Buddhists would not. They also said exemptions would be granted only to people who never received any vaccinations.
Medical exemptions, on the other hand, were available if a doctor said the prospective recipient’s health or life would be endangered.
College officials would also reject exemptions solely on their own opinion on whether the applicant’s religion was really against vaccinations or not.
The court’s ruling now allows the lawsuit of seventeen students and employees to go forward.
Former head of NIH admits 6-foot social distancing rule had no scientific basis at all
It was all a lie: In the transcript of a closed-door interview of former NIH director Francis Collins that was released on May 16, 2024, Collins admitted under questioning that there was absolutely no science research or justification behind 6-foot social distancing rule that the government imposed during the Wuhan panic.
“We asked Dr. Fauci where the six feet came from and he said it kind of just appeared, is the quote,” the majority counsel on the committee told Dr. Collins, per the transcript. “Do you recall science or evidence that supported the six-feet distance?”
“I do not,” Collins replied.
Counsel then asked, “Is that I do not recall or I do not see any evidence supporting six feet?”
To which Collins replied “I did not see evidence, but I’m not sure I would have been shown evidence at that point.”
“Since then, it has been an awfully large topic. Have you seen any evidence since then supporting six feet?” Counsel replied.
“No,” said Collins.
None of this is a surprise to those who were paying attention. Back in August 2020 I reported how there was no scientific evidence backing up the six-foot social distancing rule, and that in fact it appears it came from a high school research project that was not based on actual data but on a computer simulation comparable to SIM City.
Even now, the CDC continues to recommend the 6-foot spacing rule, though those rules are based on nothing more than the opinion of some petty dictator in the bureaucracy.
During the entire COVID panic I complained repeatedly about the lack of scientific evidence. Every time the CDC or the government would change its rules, I’d ask, “What new research has appeared to justify this change?” Of course, there never was any new research. These petty goons simply made it up as they went along.
It was all a lie: In the transcript of a closed-door interview of former NIH director Francis Collins that was released on May 16, 2024, Collins admitted under questioning that there was absolutely no science research or justification behind 6-foot social distancing rule that the government imposed during the Wuhan panic.
“We asked Dr. Fauci where the six feet came from and he said it kind of just appeared, is the quote,” the majority counsel on the committee told Dr. Collins, per the transcript. “Do you recall science or evidence that supported the six-feet distance?”
“I do not,” Collins replied.
Counsel then asked, “Is that I do not recall or I do not see any evidence supporting six feet?”
To which Collins replied “I did not see evidence, but I’m not sure I would have been shown evidence at that point.”
“Since then, it has been an awfully large topic. Have you seen any evidence since then supporting six feet?” Counsel replied.
“No,” said Collins.
None of this is a surprise to those who were paying attention. Back in August 2020 I reported how there was no scientific evidence backing up the six-foot social distancing rule, and that in fact it appears it came from a high school research project that was not based on actual data but on a computer simulation comparable to SIM City.
Even now, the CDC continues to recommend the 6-foot spacing rule, though those rules are based on nothing more than the opinion of some petty dictator in the bureaucracy.
During the entire COVID panic I complained repeatedly about the lack of scientific evidence. Every time the CDC or the government would change its rules, I’d ask, “What new research has appeared to justify this change?” Of course, there never was any new research. These petty goons simply made it up as they went along.
Pushback: NJ gym wins total victory in court after refusing to obey illegal COVID mandates
Bring a gun to a knife fight: The owners of the New Jersey gymnasium announced on May 18, 2024 that they have now won a total victory in court against the numerous citations and penalties the state government attempted to impose upon them and their operation because they refused to obey any of the insane and illegal COVID mandates imposed by New Jersey governor Phil Murphy.
ALL OF THE 80+ municipal citations of violations of a governor’s order, public nuisance, disturbing the peace, and operating without a license against us have been dropped by the courts WITH prejudice. This means the State has NO ability to revisit or refile these charges.
This victory opens the battlefield again and gives us options to continue to push back and bring justice to the treasonous actions of Phil Murphy and his lackies.
The first paragraph above suggests the owners now have legal grounds to sue Murphy and the state for illegal harassment and false prosecution. The second paragraph says that they intend to.
The owners in 2022 had already gotten their business license reinstated. In the interim they had managed to keep the gym functioning by asking, and getting, donations from those who used it.
I pray they proceed in court with as many lawsuits as possible against all the government officials involved in this bad behavior, including the local police, who at one point changed the locks on their building and boarded up the gym, thus allowing the plumbing to back up.
Bring a gun to a knife fight: The owners of the New Jersey gymnasium announced on May 18, 2024 that they have now won a total victory in court against the numerous citations and penalties the state government attempted to impose upon them and their operation because they refused to obey any of the insane and illegal COVID mandates imposed by New Jersey governor Phil Murphy.
ALL OF THE 80+ municipal citations of violations of a governor’s order, public nuisance, disturbing the peace, and operating without a license against us have been dropped by the courts WITH prejudice. This means the State has NO ability to revisit or refile these charges.
This victory opens the battlefield again and gives us options to continue to push back and bring justice to the treasonous actions of Phil Murphy and his lackies.
The first paragraph above suggests the owners now have legal grounds to sue Murphy and the state for illegal harassment and false prosecution. The second paragraph says that they intend to.
The owners in 2022 had already gotten their business license reinstated. In the interim they had managed to keep the gym functioning by asking, and getting, donations from those who used it.
I pray they proceed in court with as many lawsuits as possible against all the government officials involved in this bad behavior, including the local police, who at one point changed the locks on their building and boarded up the gym, thus allowing the plumbing to back up.
Blue Origin resumes manned suborbital New Shepard flights
Blue Origin yesterday flew its first suborbital New Shepard flight since a failure during an unmanned flight in 2022, flying six passengers on a short ten-minute jump.
This suborbital flight got a lot of press yesterday and today, but I consider these suborbital tourist flights somewhat old news. Had they occurred two decades ago, in the 2000s as promised, they could have helped trigger the commercial space industry. Instead, both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic took another two decades to get started, and by that time orbital tourist flights were taking place.
There might be money to be made in suborbital hops like this, but the future of space exploration lies elsewhere.
As for Blue Origin, this flight confirms that the company has fixed the nozzle issues that caused the September 2022 launch failure. During ascent just after launch the spacecraft’s abort system activated, sending the New Shepard capsule free from the first stage booster, which subsequently crashed. The capsule landed safely with parachutes.
The investigation then stretched out over more than two years. It remains unclear why it took so long, though the FAA’s regulatory burden appears to have been one factor, with Blue Origin’s own sluggish pace of operations another.
Blue Origin yesterday flew its first suborbital New Shepard flight since a failure during an unmanned flight in 2022, flying six passengers on a short ten-minute jump.
This suborbital flight got a lot of press yesterday and today, but I consider these suborbital tourist flights somewhat old news. Had they occurred two decades ago, in the 2000s as promised, they could have helped trigger the commercial space industry. Instead, both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic took another two decades to get started, and by that time orbital tourist flights were taking place.
There might be money to be made in suborbital hops like this, but the future of space exploration lies elsewhere.
As for Blue Origin, this flight confirms that the company has fixed the nozzle issues that caused the September 2022 launch failure. During ascent just after launch the spacecraft’s abort system activated, sending the New Shepard capsule free from the first stage booster, which subsequently crashed. The capsule landed safely with parachutes.
The investigation then stretched out over more than two years. It remains unclear why it took so long, though the FAA’s regulatory burden appears to have been one factor, with Blue Origin’s own sluggish pace of operations another.
China launches four satellites
China early this morning successfully launched four satellites, its Long March 2D rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in the northwest of China.
No further information about the satellites was released. Nor did China’s state-run press provide any information about where the rocket’s lower stages, using toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed within the country.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
52 SpaceX
22 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the world combined in successful launches, 59 to 35, while SpaceX by itself still leads the entire world, including other American companies, 52 to 42.
China early this morning successfully launched four satellites, its Long March 2D rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in the northwest of China.
No further information about the satellites was released. Nor did China’s state-run press provide any information about where the rocket’s lower stages, using toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed within the country.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
52 SpaceX
22 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the world combined in successful launches, 59 to 35, while SpaceX by itself still leads the entire world, including other American companies, 52 to 42.
Piece from SpaceX Dragon service module falls on Canadian farm
Though not yet confirmed a 90-pound piece of burned debris that crashed on a Canadian farm and found in late April appears to be a section from the trunk section of a SpaceX Dragon service module.
Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches and re-entries, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the trunk from the private Axiom Space Ax-3 mission fell over Saskatchewan on Feb. 26.
This incident, along with several others over the last few years, tells us that not everything engineers thought would burn up upon re-entry does so. A major rethinking of how objects are de-orbited could be necessary.
Though not yet confirmed a 90-pound piece of burned debris that crashed on a Canadian farm and found in late April appears to be a section from the trunk section of a SpaceX Dragon service module.
Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches and re-entries, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the trunk from the private Axiom Space Ax-3 mission fell over Saskatchewan on Feb. 26.
This incident, along with several others over the last few years, tells us that not everything engineers thought would burn up upon re-entry does so. A major rethinking of how objects are de-orbited could be necessary.
NLRB suspends case against SpaceX
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to suspend one of its cases against SpaceX while the company’s lawsuit challenging the board’s constitutional authority proceeds.
SpaceX alleged that the NLRB’s in-house enforcement proceedings violate its constitutional right to a jury trial. It also said limits on the removal of the NLRB’s board members and administrative judges violates the Constitution. Amazon, Starbucks, and Trader Joe’s have asserted similar claims in recent months.
A second NLRB case has already been suspended by the federal 5th Court of Appeals, for the same reasons.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to suspend one of its cases against SpaceX while the company’s lawsuit challenging the board’s constitutional authority proceeds.
SpaceX alleged that the NLRB’s in-house enforcement proceedings violate its constitutional right to a jury trial. It also said limits on the removal of the NLRB’s board members and administrative judges violates the Constitution. Amazon, Starbucks, and Trader Joe’s have asserted similar claims in recent months.
A second NLRB case has already been suspended by the federal 5th Court of Appeals, for the same reasons.
SpaceX launches another 23 Starlink satellites
This bunny never stops. SpaceX today successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage set a new record for reflights, completing its 21st flight after landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The company has said it is upgrading these stages to last for 40 launches instead of 20, and this launch clearly is the first step in that direction.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
52 SpaceX
21 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the world combined in successful launches, 59 to 34, while SpaceX by itself still leads the rest of the world, including other American companies, 52 to 41.
This bunny never stops. SpaceX today successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage set a new record for reflights, completing its 21st flight after landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The company has said it is upgrading these stages to last for 40 launches instead of 20, and this launch clearly is the first step in that direction.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
52 SpaceX
21 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the world combined in successful launches, 59 to 34, while SpaceX by itself still leads the rest of the world, including other American companies, 52 to 41.
May 17, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
An Engineer’s Guide to Cats 2.0 – The Sequel
Starliner launch delayed again, to May 25, 2024
Boeing, ULA, and NASA have decided to delay the first manned flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule another four days to 3:09 pm (Eastern) on May 25, 2024.
The additional time allows teams to further assess a small helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster. Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight. The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight.
It appears they simply want to give themselves extra time to review their data thoroughly, with no rush, before lighting the rocket.
Boeing, ULA, and NASA have decided to delay the first manned flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule another four days to 3:09 pm (Eastern) on May 25, 2024.
The additional time allows teams to further assess a small helium leak in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster. Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight. The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight.
It appears they simply want to give themselves extra time to review their data thoroughly, with no rush, before lighting the rocket.
May 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.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg completes successful static fire test of first stage of its RFA-1 rocket
The test took place at the Saxaford spaceport on the Shetland Islands, which also suggests a launch licence from the UK bureaucracy is imminent.
- Eurepean company Aerospacelab breaks ground on new satellite factory in Belgium
The company says it will begin production by 2026, but it is unclear who it will be building the satellites for.
- China proposes mission to Jupiter and beyond by 2029
No real details, other than a single powerpoint graphic.
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.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg completes successful static fire test of first stage of its RFA-1 rocket
The test took place at the Saxaford spaceport on the Shetland Islands, which also suggests a launch licence from the UK bureaucracy is imminent.
- Eurepean company Aerospacelab breaks ground on new satellite factory in Belgium
The company says it will begin production by 2026, but it is unclear who it will be building the satellites for.
- China proposes mission to Jupiter and beyond by 2029
No real details, other than a single powerpoint graphic.
A Catholic threatened with blacklisting because he gave an unapologetic Catholic speech at a Catholic university to a class of Catholics: How dare he!
Harrison Butker committing leftist heresy
by simply stating his basic Christian beliefs
They’re coming for you next: This week’s blacklisting kerfuffle centers on a graduation speech given by football player and Super Bowl champ Harrison Butker at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas on May 11, 2024.
It appears a lot of leftists and advocates of the queer agenda didn’t like what he had to say, and are pushing to have the Kansas City Chiefs fire him. A petition at change.org has already collected nearly 200,000 signatures to have the “Kansas City Chiefs management … dismiss Harrison Butker immediately for his inappropriate conduct.” On social media and within the media the outrage was just as sharp. Several tweets on X attempted to dox both Butker and his family, with one (immediately deleted) coming from the office of the mayor of Kansas City.
It got so bad that the NFL disavowed Butker, stating publicly that “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
But what did Butker do that was so terrible? You can find out for yourself by reading the full text of his speech here. I can sum it up however quite simply: » Read more
A really really big landslide on Mars
Click for original image.
Sometimes the cool geological features I find in the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) image archive are so large they are difficult to present on this webpage. Today is an example. The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on March 13, 2024 by the high resolution camera on MRO. It shows the distinct run-out of debris from a landslide that flowed downhill to the north as a single unit of material. Along the way it carved its track in the ground, almost like a ramp.
The full picture however suggested something much more spectacular. In that full image this landslide is merely a small side avalanche to a landslide many times larger. And that high resolution picture only shows what appears to be a small section of that giant slide. Obviously, this required a look at the global mosaic produced by MRO’s context camera to find out how far that avalanche actually extended.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Sometimes the cool geological features I find in the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) image archive are so large they are difficult to present on this webpage. Today is an example. The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on March 13, 2024 by the high resolution camera on MRO. It shows the distinct run-out of debris from a landslide that flowed downhill to the north as a single unit of material. Along the way it carved its track in the ground, almost like a ramp.
The full picture however suggested something much more spectacular. In that full image this landslide is merely a small side avalanche to a landslide many times larger. And that high resolution picture only shows what appears to be a small section of that giant slide. Obviously, this required a look at the global mosaic produced by MRO’s context camera to find out how far that avalanche actually extended.
» Read more
NASA signs new agreement with ESA to partner on Franklin Mars rover
NASA yesterday signed a new agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) that confirmed its previous commitment to help land ESA’s Franklin rover on Mars.
With this memorandum of understanding, the NASA Launch Services Program will procure a U.S. commercial launch provider for the Rosalind Franklin rover. The agency will also provide heater units and elements of the propulsion system needed to land on Mars.
Previously NASA had committed $30 million to pay for that launch provider, as yet undetermined. It now wants $49 million for the Franklin mission, with the extra money likely to pay for the new additional equipment outlined in this agreement.
Whether NASA gets this money from Congress however remains unknown. It has not yet been appropriated.
This overall European project has been fraught with problems. It was first designed as a partnership with NASA. Then Obama pulled NASA out in 2012, and ESA switched to a partnership with Russia, which was to provide the rocket and lander. Then in 2022 Russia invaded the Ukraine and Europe broke off all its partnerships with Russia.
Since then ESA has signed a deal with the company Thales Alenia to build the lander.
As these political foibles were going on, the rover also had parachute issues that forced ESA to cancel its original launch date in 2022, using the Russian rocket.
It is likely Congress will approve this additional funding, though it seems to me that Europe should be able to afford paying for its own launch, especially if it is buying that service from the much cheaper U.S. market.
NASA yesterday signed a new agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) that confirmed its previous commitment to help land ESA’s Franklin rover on Mars.
With this memorandum of understanding, the NASA Launch Services Program will procure a U.S. commercial launch provider for the Rosalind Franklin rover. The agency will also provide heater units and elements of the propulsion system needed to land on Mars.
Previously NASA had committed $30 million to pay for that launch provider, as yet undetermined. It now wants $49 million for the Franklin mission, with the extra money likely to pay for the new additional equipment outlined in this agreement.
Whether NASA gets this money from Congress however remains unknown. It has not yet been appropriated.
This overall European project has been fraught with problems. It was first designed as a partnership with NASA. Then Obama pulled NASA out in 2012, and ESA switched to a partnership with Russia, which was to provide the rocket and lander. Then in 2022 Russia invaded the Ukraine and Europe broke off all its partnerships with Russia.
Since then ESA has signed a deal with the company Thales Alenia to build the lander.
As these political foibles were going on, the rover also had parachute issues that forced ESA to cancel its original launch date in 2022, using the Russian rocket.
It is likely Congress will approve this additional funding, though it seems to me that Europe should be able to afford paying for its own launch, especially if it is buying that service from the much cheaper U.S. market.
Russia’s Soyuz-2 rocket launches classified payloads
Russia yesterday placed an unnamed number of classified satellites into orbit, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from its Plesetsk spaceport in the northern part of Russia.
The flight path went north, so the rocket’s four strap-on boosters and lower stages all fell in remote regions or in the Arctic Ocean.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
51 SpaceX
21 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the world combined in successful launches, 58 to 34. SpaceX by itself still leads the rest of the world, including other American companies, 51 to 41.
Russia yesterday placed an unnamed number of classified satellites into orbit, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from its Plesetsk spaceport in the northern part of Russia.
The flight path went north, so the rocket’s four strap-on boosters and lower stages all fell in remote regions or in the Arctic Ocean.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
51 SpaceX
21 China
7 Russia
5 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the world combined in successful launches, 58 to 34. SpaceX by itself still leads the rest of the world, including other American companies, 51 to 41.
Emmy Russell & Lukas Nelson – Lay Me Down
An evening pause: Performed at an October 2022 concert celebrating the life of Loretta Lynn.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
May 15, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
May 16, 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.
- China touts a proposed New Shepard suborbital copycat
Tourist flights to begin in 2028.
- NASA touts the future assembly of its Lunar Gateway space station
Lots of details and promises here, last updated June 2023.
- ISRO finalizes design of its Shukrayaan Venus orbiter
They are targeting the 2026 launch window.
- On this day in 2011 the space shuttle Endeavour launched on its 25th and last flight
The final shuttle flight followed two months later.
- On this day in 1987 the Soviet Union’s Energia heavy lift rocket launched for the first time
The launch was supposed to put a large module into orbit, but failed to do so when that module’s engines got the wrong software command.
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.
- China touts a proposed New Shepard suborbital copycat
Tourist flights to begin in 2028.
- NASA touts the future assembly of its Lunar Gateway space station
Lots of details and promises here, last updated June 2023.
- ISRO finalizes design of its Shukrayaan Venus orbiter
They are targeting the 2026 launch window.
- On this day in 2011 the space shuttle Endeavour launched on its 25th and last flight
The final shuttle flight followed two months later.
- On this day in 1987 the Soviet Union’s Energia heavy lift rocket launched for the first time
The launch was supposed to put a large module into orbit, but failed to do so when that module’s engines got the wrong software command.
Another “rightwing COVID conspiracy theory” proves to be true
Burning witches: The debate technique used by
those in charge during the Wuhan panic
Since the very beginning of the COVID panic in 2020 many perfectly reasonable people, both inside and outside the medical community, suggested that COVID was artifically created and that the evidence strongly suggested its source was from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Worse, the evidence suggested that this work was partly funded by the United States itself — approved by federal bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci — that funnelled government contracts to China to do dangerous infectious disease research which that hostile nation could then use against us.
Unfortunately, those individuals found themselves routinely mocked as pushing a “rightwing COVID conspiracy theory,” with many finding their careers destroyed by blacklisting. During those dark times it was forbidden to ask any questions that went against the leftist government narrative that pushed the myths that COVID was a deadly perfectly natural disease, that lockdowns, masks, and social distancing were the only ways to stop it, and that in the end only the COVID jab could cure it.
We now know without question that those accepted wisdoms, enforced by brutal intolerance, were all wrong, and that the blackballed individuals who advocated otherwise were 100% correct.
Or to put it more bluntly, the only difference between a “rightwing conspiracy theory” and the truth is a few months.
This week we got another proof of this apt saying.
» Read more
Burning witches: The debate technique used by
those in charge during the Wuhan panic
Since the very beginning of the COVID panic in 2020 many perfectly reasonable people, both inside and outside the medical community, suggested that COVID was artifically created and that the evidence strongly suggested its source was from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Worse, the evidence suggested that this work was partly funded by the United States itself — approved by federal bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci — that funnelled government contracts to China to do dangerous infectious disease research which that hostile nation could then use against us.
Unfortunately, those individuals found themselves routinely mocked as pushing a “rightwing COVID conspiracy theory,” with many finding their careers destroyed by blacklisting. During those dark times it was forbidden to ask any questions that went against the leftist government narrative that pushed the myths that COVID was a deadly perfectly natural disease, that lockdowns, masks, and social distancing were the only ways to stop it, and that in the end only the COVID jab could cure it.
We now know without question that those accepted wisdoms, enforced by brutal intolerance, were all wrong, and that the blackballed individuals who advocated otherwise were 100% correct.
Or to put it more bluntly, the only difference between a “rightwing conspiracy theory” and the truth is a few months.
This week we got another proof of this apt saying.
» Read more
NASA versus Isaacman/SpaceX on upgrading Hubble
Link here. The NPR article is a long detailed look at NASA on-going review of the proposal by billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman and SpaceX to to do a maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The NPR spin is subtly hostile to the mission, because it would be funded privately and run entirely by private citizens, not the government. Like all modern leftist news outlets, it can only imagine the government capable of doing such things properly.
Reading between the lines, however, what I instead sense is that NASA and the scientific community is generally quite enthusiastic about this proposal, but wants to make sure it not only is done safely but does nothing to harm Hubble in any way, both completely reasonable concerns. While there appear to be some individuals who are opposed for purely political and egotistically reasons — a desire to keep control of this turf no matter what — I don’t see that faction having much influence long term.
Whether this project can go forward I think will be largely determined by the success or failure of Isaacman’s next manned flight, dubbed Polaris Dawn and scheduled for this summer. On it he will attempt the first spacewalk by a private citizen, using SpaceX’s Resilience capsule and EVA spacesuit. If that spacewalk is a success, and he can demonstrate the ability to accomplish some complex tasks during the EVA, it will certainly ease the concerns of many about a follow-up repair mission to Hubble.
If it does proceed, the goal appears to be to attach new gyroscope hardware to the outside of Hubble, rather than replace the failed gyroscopes already in place. Such an approach will be simpler and more in line with the capabilities of a Dragon capsule, compared to the repair work the astronauts did on the space shuttle.
Link here. The NPR article is a long detailed look at NASA on-going review of the proposal by billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman and SpaceX to to do a maintenance mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The NPR spin is subtly hostile to the mission, because it would be funded privately and run entirely by private citizens, not the government. Like all modern leftist news outlets, it can only imagine the government capable of doing such things properly.
Reading between the lines, however, what I instead sense is that NASA and the scientific community is generally quite enthusiastic about this proposal, but wants to make sure it not only is done safely but does nothing to harm Hubble in any way, both completely reasonable concerns. While there appear to be some individuals who are opposed for purely political and egotistically reasons — a desire to keep control of this turf no matter what — I don’t see that faction having much influence long term.
Whether this project can go forward I think will be largely determined by the success or failure of Isaacman’s next manned flight, dubbed Polaris Dawn and scheduled for this summer. On it he will attempt the first spacewalk by a private citizen, using SpaceX’s Resilience capsule and EVA spacesuit. If that spacewalk is a success, and he can demonstrate the ability to accomplish some complex tasks during the EVA, it will certainly ease the concerns of many about a follow-up repair mission to Hubble.
If it does proceed, the goal appears to be to attach new gyroscope hardware to the outside of Hubble, rather than replace the failed gyroscopes already in place. Such an approach will be simpler and more in line with the capabilities of a Dragon capsule, compared to the repair work the astronauts did on the space shuttle.
AST SpaceMobile makes deal with ATT to use its cell-to-satellite constellation
AST SpaceMobile, which launched in 2022 its first satellite for direct cellphone-to-satellite communications and has been successfully testing it since, has now signed a deal with ATT, which wants to use the company’s planned constellation of five such satellites, scheduled for launch this summer.
Nor is this the only satellite company launching such satellites. SpaceX has already launched several dozen Starlink satellites adapted for direct cell-to-satellite service. In addition, it appears that all the companies making smart phones are adding features to their phones that would allow this capability in the future.
Once operational, these satellites will act as orbiting cell towers, and will thus eliminate most of the dead zones in all the populated regions on Earth.
AST SpaceMobile, which launched in 2022 its first satellite for direct cellphone-to-satellite communications and has been successfully testing it since, has now signed a deal with ATT, which wants to use the company’s planned constellation of five such satellites, scheduled for launch this summer.
Nor is this the only satellite company launching such satellites. SpaceX has already launched several dozen Starlink satellites adapted for direct cell-to-satellite service. In addition, it appears that all the companies making smart phones are adding features to their phones that would allow this capability in the future.
Once operational, these satellites will act as orbiting cell towers, and will thus eliminate most of the dead zones in all the populated regions on Earth.
Scientists: No evidence of obvious changes on Europa
Europa in true color, taken by Juno September 2022.
Click for full image.
Having carefully reviewed the images produced by Juno of Europa during its close fly-by in September 2022, scientists have been unable to detect any obvious changes to its surface compared to the previous high resolution images taken by the Galileo orbiter 22 years previously.
You can read the just published paper here [pdf]. From the abstract:
Surface change detection shows no changes in 22 yr, although this is a difficult task considering differences between the JunoCam and Galileo imagers and very different viewing geometries. No active eruptions were detected.
At the same time, because of the significant differences in resolution and viewing angles from the Juno and Galileo pictures, this conclusion remains uncertain. Moreover, this new analysis confirmed earlier work using these same images that suggested many surface features are very young.
The analysis of the images also found evidence of the larger tectonic structure of the planet, as indicated by a new “bright band” found in the southern hemisphere. These bands are thought to indicate the fracture pattern caused by the crust floating and wandering over the theorized underground ocean.
All of this work is very preliminary. Neither Galileo nor Juno has provided us a detailed global survey of Europa. That will come when Europa Clipper arrives in a Jupiter orbit in 2030 that is specifically designed to make 44 close fly-bys of the moon.
Europa in true color, taken by Juno September 2022.
Click for full image.
Having carefully reviewed the images produced by Juno of Europa during its close fly-by in September 2022, scientists have been unable to detect any obvious changes to its surface compared to the previous high resolution images taken by the Galileo orbiter 22 years previously.
You can read the just published paper here [pdf]. From the abstract:
Surface change detection shows no changes in 22 yr, although this is a difficult task considering differences between the JunoCam and Galileo imagers and very different viewing geometries. No active eruptions were detected.
At the same time, because of the significant differences in resolution and viewing angles from the Juno and Galileo pictures, this conclusion remains uncertain. Moreover, this new analysis confirmed earlier work using these same images that suggested many surface features are very young.
The analysis of the images also found evidence of the larger tectonic structure of the planet, as indicated by a new “bright band” found in the southern hemisphere. These bands are thought to indicate the fracture pattern caused by the crust floating and wandering over the theorized underground ocean.
All of this work is very preliminary. Neither Galileo nor Juno has provided us a detailed global survey of Europa. That will come when Europa Clipper arrives in a Jupiter orbit in 2030 that is specifically designed to make 44 close fly-bys of the moon.
Earth-sized exoplanet discovered orbiting dwarf star 55 light years away
Using a number of ground-based telescopes worldwide, astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting what the scientists label an “ultra-cool” dwarf star only about 55 light years away.
You can read the paper here.
Though Earth-sized, this exoplanet is not habitable. It orbits the star every 17 hours and is believed to be tidally locked, with one side always facing the star. More important, though this red dwarf star has likely existed for many tens of billions of years and will continue for many tens of billions of years into the future, the star is too dim and lacking in the kind of resources needed for life. It also drenches the planet with bursts of radiation, which is also believed to have stripped the planet of an atmosphere.
Using a number of ground-based telescopes worldwide, astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting what the scientists label an “ultra-cool” dwarf star only about 55 light years away.
You can read the paper here.
Though Earth-sized, this exoplanet is not habitable. It orbits the star every 17 hours and is believed to be tidally locked, with one side always facing the star. More important, though this red dwarf star has likely existed for many tens of billions of years and will continue for many tens of billions of years into the future, the star is too dim and lacking in the kind of resources needed for life. It also drenches the planet with bursts of radiation, which is also believed to have stripped the planet of an atmosphere.
Private satellite snaps picture of ISS in orbit
Click for original image.
One of the satellites in the commercial satellite constellation run by the Australian company HEO Robotics to monitor objects in space successfully took a picture of ISS this week as it zipped by only 43 miles away.
That picture is to the right, reduced to post here. The relative speeds between the satellite and ISS was about 3.7 miles a second. The station’s main truss, which holds up its solar panels and heat radiators, is the vertical structure going from upper left to lower right. The habitable modules cross this at right angles, with what appears to be the Russian section on the right with a Soyuz or Progress docked to the port at the end. A Dragon capsule can be seen at the opposite end, docked to the American section on the left.
The company’s satellites have previously provided imagery of other objects in orbit, including the ERS-2 satellite just before it was de-orbited as well as China’s Tiangong-3 space station during its assembly.
Click for original image.
One of the satellites in the commercial satellite constellation run by the Australian company HEO Robotics to monitor objects in space successfully took a picture of ISS this week as it zipped by only 43 miles away.
That picture is to the right, reduced to post here. The relative speeds between the satellite and ISS was about 3.7 miles a second. The station’s main truss, which holds up its solar panels and heat radiators, is the vertical structure going from upper left to lower right. The habitable modules cross this at right angles, with what appears to be the Russian section on the right with a Soyuz or Progress docked to the port at the end. A Dragon capsule can be seen at the opposite end, docked to the American section on the left.
The company’s satellites have previously provided imagery of other objects in orbit, including the ERS-2 satellite just before it was de-orbited as well as China’s Tiangong-3 space station during its assembly.
Potentially serious problem on BepiColombo Mercury mission
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), engineers have discovered what could be a potentially serious problem on BepiColombo mission that is presently on its way to Mercury.
The solar arrays and electric propulsion system on the Mercury Transfer Module are used to generate thrust during the spacecraft’s complex journey from Earth to Mercury.
However, on 26 April, as BepiColombo was scheduled to begin its next manoeuvre, the Transfer Module failed to deliver enough electrical power to the spacecraft’s thrusters.
A combined team from ESA and the mission’s industrial partners set to work the moment the issue was identified. By 7 May, they had restored BepiColombo’s thrust to approximately 90% of its previous level. However, the Transfer Module’s available power is still lower than it should be, and so full thrust cannot yet be restored.
The press release implies that this issue won’t prevent the spacecraft from entering orbit around Mercury as scheduled in December 2025, but one wonders how that could be if it doesn’t have sufficient power to do the proper course correction during its last major flyby of Mercury in September 2024. If it misses its precise route in ’24 it could miss Mercury entirely in ’25.
Engineers are analyzing the situation to see what can be done to get it to Mercury, while also trying to figure out what caused this power problem in the first place in order to fix it.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), engineers have discovered what could be a potentially serious problem on BepiColombo mission that is presently on its way to Mercury.
The solar arrays and electric propulsion system on the Mercury Transfer Module are used to generate thrust during the spacecraft’s complex journey from Earth to Mercury.
However, on 26 April, as BepiColombo was scheduled to begin its next manoeuvre, the Transfer Module failed to deliver enough electrical power to the spacecraft’s thrusters.
A combined team from ESA and the mission’s industrial partners set to work the moment the issue was identified. By 7 May, they had restored BepiColombo’s thrust to approximately 90% of its previous level. However, the Transfer Module’s available power is still lower than it should be, and so full thrust cannot yet be restored.
The press release implies that this issue won’t prevent the spacecraft from entering orbit around Mercury as scheduled in December 2025, but one wonders how that could be if it doesn’t have sufficient power to do the proper course correction during its last major flyby of Mercury in September 2024. If it misses its precise route in ’24 it could miss Mercury entirely in ’25.
Engineers are analyzing the situation to see what can be done to get it to Mercury, while also trying to figure out what caused this power problem in the first place in order to fix it.
Congress passes new authorization bill for FAA that includes short extension of “learning period”
The new FAA authorization bill that that House approved yesterday and was passed previously by the Senate includes a short extension to the end of the year of the so-called “learning period” that is supposed to restrict the agency’s ability to regulate the new commercial space industry.
That limitation was first established in 2004 with a time period of eight years. It has been extended numerous times since then. The most recent extensions however have been very short, suggesting Congress (mostly from the Democrat side of the aile) wants to soon eliminate it. Whether that happens when it comes up for extension again at the end of 2024 will depend greatly on which party is in control after the election.
It really doesn’t matter. Everything the FAA has been doing in the past three years suggests this learning period no longer exists anyway. The agency has been demanding every new American company or rocket or spacecraft meet much higher regulatory requirements, which appears to have slowed significantly the development of those new companies, rockets, or spacecraft in the past two years.
The new FAA authorization bill that that House approved yesterday and was passed previously by the Senate includes a short extension to the end of the year of the so-called “learning period” that is supposed to restrict the agency’s ability to regulate the new commercial space industry.
That limitation was first established in 2004 with a time period of eight years. It has been extended numerous times since then. The most recent extensions however have been very short, suggesting Congress (mostly from the Democrat side of the aile) wants to soon eliminate it. Whether that happens when it comes up for extension again at the end of 2024 will depend greatly on which party is in control after the election.
It really doesn’t matter. Everything the FAA has been doing in the past three years suggests this learning period no longer exists anyway. The agency has been demanding every new American company or rocket or spacecraft meet much higher regulatory requirements, which appears to have slowed significantly the development of those new companies, rockets, or spacecraft in the past two years.