Category: Behind The Black
Russia launches earth resources satellite
Russia today successfully launched the last in a five-satellite constellation of satellites focused on mapping Earth resources, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
The rocket’s core stage and four side boosters fell into frequently-used drop zones in Kazakhstan and Russia.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
134 SpaceX
64 China
17 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 154 to 97, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 134 to 117.
Russia today successfully launched the last in a five-satellite constellation of satellites focused on mapping Earth resources, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
The rocket’s core stage and four side boosters fell into frequently-used drop zones in Kazakhstan and Russia.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
134 SpaceX
64 China
17 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 154 to 97, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 134 to 117.
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Eve pause: As I have done now for several years on Christmas day, I bring you the classic 1951 version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, starring Alastair Sim. In my opinion still by far the best adaption of the book and a truly wonderful movie.
And as I noted in a previous year:
Dickens did not demand the modern version of charity, where it is imposed by governmental force on everyone. Instead, he was advocating the older wiser concept of western civilization, that charity begins at home, that we as individuals are obliged as humans to exercise good will and generosity to others, by choice.
It is always a matter of choice. And when we take that choice away from people, we destroy the good will that makes true charity possible.
It is also most important that we all heed the words of Christmas Present: ‘This boy is ignorance, this girl is want. Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy.’”
Handel – For unto us a child is born
Repost: The real meaning of the Apollo 8 Earthrise image
I wrote this essay in 2018, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon. I have reposted previously, but I think it is worth reposting again and again, especially because stories about Apollo 8 still refuse to show the Earthrise image as Bill Anders took it. Even today, the Air and Space Museum did it wrong again, and it seems to me to be a slap in the face of Anders himself, who died this year while flying.
———————————————
Earthrise, as seen by a space-farer
Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the moment when the three astronauts on Apollo 8 witnessed their first Earthrise while in orbit around the Moon, and Bill Anders snapped the picture of that Earthrise that has been been called “the most influential environmental picture ever taken.”
The last few days have seen numerous articles celebrating this iconic image. While all have captured in varying degrees the significance and influence of that picture on human society on Earth, all have failed to depict this image as Bill Anders, the photographer, took it. He did not frame the shot, in his mind, with the horizon on the bottom of the frame, as it has been depicted repeatedly in practically every article about this image, since the day it was published back in 1968.
Instead, Anders saw himself as an spaceman in a capsule orbiting the waist of the Moon. He also saw the Earth as merely another space object, now appearing from behind the waist of that Moon. As a result, he framed the shot with the horizon to the right, with the Earth moving from right to left as it moved out from behind the Moon, as shown on the right.
His perspective was that of a spacefarer, an explorer of the universe that sees the planets around him as objects within that universe in which he floats.
When we here are on Earth frame the image with the horizon on the bottom, we immediately reveal our limited planet-bound perspective. We automatically see ourselves on a planet’s surface, watching another planet rise above the distant horizon line.
This difference in perspective is to me the real meaning of this picture. On one hand we see the perspective of the past. On the other we see the perspective the future, for as long humanity can remain alive.
I prefer the future perspective, which is why I framed this image on the cover of Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 the way Bill Anders took it. I prefer to align myself with that space-faring future.
And it was that space-faring future that spoke when they read from Genesis that evening. They had made the first human leap to another world, and they wished to describe and capture the majesty of that leap to the world. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Yet, they were also still mostly Earth-bound in mind, which is why Frank Borman’s concluding words during that Christmas eve telecast were so heartfelt. He was a spaceman in a delicate vehicle talking to his home of Earth, 240,000 miles away. “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you — all of you on the good Earth.” They longed deeply to return, a wish that at that moment, in that vehicle, was quite reasonable.
Someday that desire to return to Earth will be gone. People will live and work and grow up in space, and see the Earth as Bill Anders saw it in his photograph fifty years ago.
And it is for that time that I long. It will be a future of majesty we can only imagine.
Merry Christmas to all, all of us still pinned down here on “the good Earth.”
December 24, 2024 Quick space links
Today has been, not surprisingly, a very slow news day, so I’ve been spending it trolling the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) archive for more cool images from Mars.
BtB’s stringer Jay however found some quick links, so here they are. 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.
- Image from the Martian south pole taken by China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter on April 25, 2024
Lacking specific location information, my guess based on the formations as this is in or on the edge of the south pole’s dry ice cap.
- Chinese pseudo-company touts its space products
And it is doing so through Space News, which is now publishing press release advertising in exchange for money.
- “Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!”
The words of Frank Borman as he saw his first Earthrise while orbiting the Moon, Christmas Eve 1968. The Air and Space Museum tweet shows the picture that Bill Anders took of that Earthrise, but orientates it incorrectly, as almost everyone on Earth always does. with the horizon on the bottom. Anders however framed it with the horizon on the right, as he told me himself when I interviewed him for Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8.
Today has been, not surprisingly, a very slow news day, so I’ve been spending it trolling the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) archive for more cool images from Mars.
BtB’s stringer Jay however found some quick links, so here they are. 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.
- Image from the Martian south pole taken by China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter on April 25, 2024
Lacking specific location information, my guess based on the formations as this is in or on the edge of the south pole’s dry ice cap.
- Chinese pseudo-company touts its space products
And it is doing so through Space News, which is now publishing press release advertising in exchange for money.
- “Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!”
The words of Frank Borman as he saw his first Earthrise while orbiting the Moon, Christmas Eve 1968. The Air and Space Museum tweet shows the picture that Bill Anders took of that Earthrise, but orientates it incorrectly, as almost everyone on Earth always does. with the horizon on the bottom. Anders however framed it with the horizon on the right, as he told me himself when I interviewed him for Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8.
Binbam – What is Hanukkah?
An evening pause: Most of this season I honor the Christmas holiday for my Christian readers with pauses of beautiful Christian music. Tonight however I thought it would be nice to take a break and present this short video describing the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. This year Hanukkah begins on Christmas, December 25, and runs through January 2, 2025, so I am a little early, but that’s all right.
Like almost all Jewish holidays, part of Hanukkah’s purpose is to celebrate a victory over oppression. In this case it celebrates the revolt of the Maccabees against the Greek effort to obliterate the Jews. Or as Jews like to joke about all Jewish holidays, “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat!”
December 23, 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.
- South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter detects the strongest gamma ray burst (GRB) so far this century
Their GRB detector supplements other orbiting GRB survey instruments.
- ESA Comet Interceptor mission to launch in ’29 will be parked in space to await the arrival of a new comet
Interestingly, the probe could also conceivably rendezvous with an interstellar object, should it be arriving in the right direction. Either way, the goal is to get a good look at a very pristine comet before it passes the Sun.
- Blue Origin releases another short propaganda video, touting how wonderful it is
I think everyone would much rather have the company announce an actual launch date for the first New Glenn rocket, now approaching five years behind schedule,
- Vast touts the “wet trash” disposal system it is building for its Haven-1 space station
The module toilets will apparently have eight disposable tanks. As each fills it is sealed and vented to a vacuum to keep the station’s atmosphere free of unpleasant odors.
- This week in 1968 Apollo 8 headed to the Moon, the first time humans ever traveled to another planet
Want to know more? I hear someone wrote a book about it.
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.
- South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter detects the strongest gamma ray burst (GRB) so far this century
Their GRB detector supplements other orbiting GRB survey instruments.
- ESA Comet Interceptor mission to launch in ’29 will be parked in space to await the arrival of a new comet
Interestingly, the probe could also conceivably rendezvous with an interstellar object, should it be arriving in the right direction. Either way, the goal is to get a good look at a very pristine comet before it passes the Sun.
- Blue Origin releases another short propaganda video, touting how wonderful it is
I think everyone would much rather have the company announce an actual launch date for the first New Glenn rocket, now approaching five years behind schedule,
- Vast touts the “wet trash” disposal system it is building for its Haven-1 space station
The module toilets will apparently have eight disposable tanks. As each fills it is sealed and vented to a vacuum to keep the station’s atmosphere free of unpleasant odors.
- This week in 1968 Apollo 8 headed to the Moon, the first time humans ever traveled to another planet
Want to know more? I hear someone wrote a book about it.
Post COVID data in the UK: Those who got the jab substantially increased their chances of death
How health officials and governments determined
policy against COVID during the epidemic.
Data assembled by the government of the United Kingdom now proves unequivocally that getting the jab during the COVID panic was a very bad idea. It did less than nothing to prevent you from getting the virus, and in fact significantly increased your chances of dying.
[T]he data show that 30 percent of the UK population remained completely unvaccinated as of July 2022. 34 percent were not double vaccinated, and 50 percent were not triple vaccinated.
However, the vaccinated population accounted for 95 percent of all COVID-19 deaths between January and May 2023.
The unvaccinated population, meanwhile, accounted for just five percent of Covid deaths.
Perhaps the most troubling information revealed in the data is the fact that deaths increased among the groups who received more “vaccine” doses. The vast majority of the deaths are among those vaccinated four times. This quad-vaxxed population accounts for 80 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, and 83 percent of all Covid deaths among the vaccinated.
The numbers for many other time periods following the introduction of the jab are comparable.
» Read more
A Martian river of sand
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 26, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The red dot in the overview map above marks the location, within the western reaches of the vast Martian canyon dubbed Valles Marineris.
The picture looks at the flow of dust and sand going down the canyon’s southern rim, with particular focus on the central canyon in the picture’s center. The photo was taken as part of a long-term project, begun in 2020 to monitor this river of sand to see if any changes occur over time. Clearly the sand is flowing downhill, almost like a river, with the dunes almost resembling waves. The geological issue is to determine how fast. Based on the resolution available to me, it is impossible to tell it there have been any changes in the past four years, but the full MRO dataset might reveal more information.
To get an idea of scale, the elevation loss from the top to the bottom in this picture is about 6,000 feet. While this seems like a substantial amount, it pales when placed in the context of Valles Marineris. For example, the elevation loss for the canyon’s northern wall is about 25,400 feet, making that wall exceed in height most of the mountains in the Himalayas. And that wall extends for more than 1,500 miles.
Valles Marineris’ southern wall is more complex. It rises about 18,000 feet from the floor of the canyon to the top of the peak on which this slope sits, but then drops 6,700 feet into a parallel side canyon. From there the rise to the southern rim is about 11,000 feet. All told the southern rim sits about 23,000 feet above the canyon floor, once again a drop that would exceed most mountains on Earth.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 26, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The red dot in the overview map above marks the location, within the western reaches of the vast Martian canyon dubbed Valles Marineris.
The picture looks at the flow of dust and sand going down the canyon’s southern rim, with particular focus on the central canyon in the picture’s center. The photo was taken as part of a long-term project, begun in 2020 to monitor this river of sand to see if any changes occur over time. Clearly the sand is flowing downhill, almost like a river, with the dunes almost resembling waves. The geological issue is to determine how fast. Based on the resolution available to me, it is impossible to tell it there have been any changes in the past four years, but the full MRO dataset might reveal more information.
To get an idea of scale, the elevation loss from the top to the bottom in this picture is about 6,000 feet. While this seems like a substantial amount, it pales when placed in the context of Valles Marineris. For example, the elevation loss for the canyon’s northern wall is about 25,400 feet, making that wall exceed in height most of the mountains in the Himalayas. And that wall extends for more than 1,500 miles.
Valles Marineris’ southern wall is more complex. It rises about 18,000 feet from the floor of the canyon to the top of the peak on which this slope sits, but then drops 6,700 feet into a parallel side canyon. From there the rise to the southern rim is about 11,000 feet. All told the southern rim sits about 23,000 feet above the canyon floor, once again a drop that would exceed most mountains on Earth.
Using Hubble to monitor a fading supernova
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a monitoring program of the fading supernova that occurred in this galaxy in 2014, 60 million light years away. I have added a white dot to indicate the approximate location [pdf] of that supernova, as it is now too dim to see clearly in the original image. From the caption:
Researchers have determined that SN 2014cx was a Type IIP supernova. The “Type II” classification means that the exploding star was a supergiant at least eight times as massive as the Sun. The “P” stands for plateau, meaning that after the light from the supernova began to fade, the level reached a plateau, remaining at the same brightness for several weeks or months before fading further. This type of supernova occurs when a massive star can no longer produce enough energy in its core to stave off the crushing pressure of gravity. SN 2014cx’s progenitor star is estimated to have been ten times more massive than the Sun and hundreds of times as wide. Though it has long since dimmed from its initial brilliance, researchers are still keeping tabs on this exploded star, not least through the Hubble observing programme which produced this image.
The blue regions in the galaxy’s periphery suggest younger stars, while the gold color in the interior suggests an older population.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a monitoring program of the fading supernova that occurred in this galaxy in 2014, 60 million light years away. I have added a white dot to indicate the approximate location [pdf] of that supernova, as it is now too dim to see clearly in the original image. From the caption:
Researchers have determined that SN 2014cx was a Type IIP supernova. The “Type II” classification means that the exploding star was a supergiant at least eight times as massive as the Sun. The “P” stands for plateau, meaning that after the light from the supernova began to fade, the level reached a plateau, remaining at the same brightness for several weeks or months before fading further. This type of supernova occurs when a massive star can no longer produce enough energy in its core to stave off the crushing pressure of gravity. SN 2014cx’s progenitor star is estimated to have been ten times more massive than the Sun and hundreds of times as wide. Though it has long since dimmed from its initial brilliance, researchers are still keeping tabs on this exploded star, not least through the Hubble observing programme which produced this image.
The blue regions in the galaxy’s periphery suggest younger stars, while the gold color in the interior suggests an older population.
Dubai-based AI/3D printing company successfully test fires an aerospike engine
Click for original image.
The Dubai-based startup LEAP71, focused on using AI software to quickly develop rocket engine designs it can then 3D print, has successfully test fired a prototype aerospike engine on December 18, 2024 during a static fire test campaign conducted in the United Kingdom.
Aerospikes are more compact and significantly more efficient across various atmospheric pressures, including the vacuum of space. They forego the conventional bell-shaped nozzle by placing a spike in the center of a toroidal combustion chamber [as shown in the photo to the right]. Since it is surrounded by 3,500ºC hot exhaust gas, cooling the spike is an enormous challenge.
Josefine Lissner, CEO and Co-Founder of LEAP 71, stated: “We were able to extend Noyron’s physics to deal with the unique complexity of this engine type. The spike is cooled by intricate cooling channels flooded by cryogenic oxygen, whereas the outside of the chamber is cooled by the kerosene fuel. I am very encouraged by the results of this test, as virtually everything on the engine was novel and untested. It’s a great validation of our physics-driven approach to computational AI.”
The spike in the center acts as one wall of the nozzle, and the changing pressure of the atmosphere acting as the other side of the nozzle, allowing the nozzle size to change as the rocket rises, thus making its thrust as efficient as possible.
This test was apparently with a small scale prototype, not a full scale engine. LEAP71 engineers are going to have to go though a lot more iterations using their AI software and 3D printing to get to a version usable on a rocket. The company claims that development will go far faster this way. That this company did its testing in the UK but is based in Dubai suggests its capital comes from that Middle Eastern country, which is trying to develop a space industry of its own, but it is mainly relying on British designers — at this point — to get things done.
It will have to do so quickly, since another startup, German-based Polaris Spaceplanes, in November 2024 actually completed the first test flight ever of a prototype using an aerospike engine.
After decades of speculation about the advantages of an aerospike engine but no successful flights, we now have a race between two companies to be the first to fly one, and the effort is going on in Europe.
Click for original image.
The Dubai-based startup LEAP71, focused on using AI software to quickly develop rocket engine designs it can then 3D print, has successfully test fired a prototype aerospike engine on December 18, 2024 during a static fire test campaign conducted in the United Kingdom.
Aerospikes are more compact and significantly more efficient across various atmospheric pressures, including the vacuum of space. They forego the conventional bell-shaped nozzle by placing a spike in the center of a toroidal combustion chamber [as shown in the photo to the right]. Since it is surrounded by 3,500ºC hot exhaust gas, cooling the spike is an enormous challenge.
Josefine Lissner, CEO and Co-Founder of LEAP 71, stated: “We were able to extend Noyron’s physics to deal with the unique complexity of this engine type. The spike is cooled by intricate cooling channels flooded by cryogenic oxygen, whereas the outside of the chamber is cooled by the kerosene fuel. I am very encouraged by the results of this test, as virtually everything on the engine was novel and untested. It’s a great validation of our physics-driven approach to computational AI.”
The spike in the center acts as one wall of the nozzle, and the changing pressure of the atmosphere acting as the other side of the nozzle, allowing the nozzle size to change as the rocket rises, thus making its thrust as efficient as possible.
This test was apparently with a small scale prototype, not a full scale engine. LEAP71 engineers are going to have to go though a lot more iterations using their AI software and 3D printing to get to a version usable on a rocket. The company claims that development will go far faster this way. That this company did its testing in the UK but is based in Dubai suggests its capital comes from that Middle Eastern country, which is trying to develop a space industry of its own, but it is mainly relying on British designers — at this point — to get things done.
It will have to do so quickly, since another startup, German-based Polaris Spaceplanes, in November 2024 actually completed the first test flight ever of a prototype using an aerospike engine.
After decades of speculation about the advantages of an aerospike engine but no successful flights, we now have a race between two companies to be the first to fly one, and the effort is going on in Europe.
SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites
SpaceX tonight successfully launched 21 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Kennedy in Florida. Thirteen of the satellites were configured for direct-to-cell capabilities.
The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
134 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 154 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 134 to 116.
Tonight’s launch was also the 250th worldwide in 2024, a record that approximately triples the average number of successful launches each year from 1957 to 2017, when SpaceX and China began to ramp up their launch counts.
SpaceX tonight successfully launched 21 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Kennedy in Florida. Thirteen of the satellites were configured for direct-to-cell capabilities.
The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
134 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 154 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 134 to 116.
Tonight’s launch was also the 250th worldwide in 2024, a record that approximately triples the average number of successful launches each year from 1957 to 2017, when SpaceX and China began to ramp up their launch counts.
NASA awards four companies contracts to provide communications for operations in Earth orbit
Capitalism in space: Rather than continue to build its own constellation of communications satellites, NASA yesterday awarded four companies contracts to provide that service to the agency’s many Earth orbit operations.
The work will be awarded under new Near Space Network services contracts that are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. Project timelines span from February 2025 to September 2029, with an additional five-year option period that could extend a contract through Sept. 30, 2034. The cumulative maximum value of all Near Space Network Services contracts is $4.82 billion.
The companies are Intuitive Machines, SSC Space, Viasat (based in Georgia), and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Satellite services.
Not only will these companies provide a better service faster and at less cost than the NASA TDRS satellite constellation, that there are four of them provides redundancy as well as fosters competition.
Capitalism in space: Rather than continue to build its own constellation of communications satellites, NASA yesterday awarded four companies contracts to provide that service to the agency’s many Earth orbit operations.
The work will be awarded under new Near Space Network services contracts that are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. Project timelines span from February 2025 to September 2029, with an additional five-year option period that could extend a contract through Sept. 30, 2034. The cumulative maximum value of all Near Space Network Services contracts is $4.82 billion.
The companies are Intuitive Machines, SSC Space, Viasat (based in Georgia), and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Satellite services.
Not only will these companies provide a better service faster and at less cost than the NASA TDRS satellite constellation, that there are four of them provides redundancy as well as fosters competition.
Defunct Pentagon weather satellite breaks up
According to the Space Force as well as two commercial space tracking companies, a defunct military weather satellite launched in 1997 has broken up into more than fifty pieces.
The satellite, dubbed DMSP-5D2 F14, was in a sun-synchronous orbit over the poles. What makes the break-up significant is that it is not the first of this design of weather satellites to do so.
DMSP-5D2 F14 is part of a family of spacecraft that have suffered breakups in orbit. The F12 satellite broke up in October 2016, following the breakup of F13 in February 2015. In 2004, the F11 spacecraft broke up, creating 56 pieces of tracked debris. All the satellites had a battery assembly with a design flaw that made them vulnerable to explosion.
A similar spacecraft design was used for a line of civilian polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NOAA-16 satellite broke up in November 2015, followed by NOAA-17 in March 2021.
Overall the military launched nine satellites of this design, while NOAA launched three. Of these twelve satellites six have now broken apart. We should expect a large percentage of the remaining six to also break up.
This story explains why in the last ten years a number of companies have appeared attempting to develop the technology to remove space junk. There is a desperate need in the satellite industry for this capability, and those space junk companies are aiming to make profit from this need.
Note I do not expect or want the government to take the lead in this. This issue is mostly a need of the satellite industry, of which the world’s governments are merely just one more participant. This industry should band together to set up a fund to pay for this work, with those governments joining as just one more partner.
According to the Space Force as well as two commercial space tracking companies, a defunct military weather satellite launched in 1997 has broken up into more than fifty pieces.
The satellite, dubbed DMSP-5D2 F14, was in a sun-synchronous orbit over the poles. What makes the break-up significant is that it is not the first of this design of weather satellites to do so.
DMSP-5D2 F14 is part of a family of spacecraft that have suffered breakups in orbit. The F12 satellite broke up in October 2016, following the breakup of F13 in February 2015. In 2004, the F11 spacecraft broke up, creating 56 pieces of tracked debris. All the satellites had a battery assembly with a design flaw that made them vulnerable to explosion.
A similar spacecraft design was used for a line of civilian polar-orbiting weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NOAA-16 satellite broke up in November 2015, followed by NOAA-17 in March 2021.
Overall the military launched nine satellites of this design, while NOAA launched three. Of these twelve satellites six have now broken apart. We should expect a large percentage of the remaining six to also break up.
This story explains why in the last ten years a number of companies have appeared attempting to develop the technology to remove space junk. There is a desperate need in the satellite industry for this capability, and those space junk companies are aiming to make profit from this need.
Note I do not expect or want the government to take the lead in this. This issue is mostly a need of the satellite industry, of which the world’s governments are merely just one more participant. This industry should band together to set up a fund to pay for this work, with those governments joining as just one more partner.
Liechtenstein signs the Artemis Accords
The tiny nation of Liechtenstein in Europe yesterday became the 52nd nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
The full list of nations now part of this American space alliance: Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the Ukraine, the United States and Uruguay.
There has been a flurry of new nations signing the accords since the November election of Trump. I suspect his coming encouraged these nations to sign, knowing the moribund leadership of Biden will soon be replaced with something more robust. It is also likely that these nations see a renewal of Trump’s original goals for the Artemis Accords, to create an international alliance, led by the United States, with the goal of overcoming the Outer Space Treaty’s limitations on private property.
I hope this turns out to be true. This alliance gives Trump a powerful lobby he can wield to force change.
The tiny nation of Liechtenstein in Europe yesterday became the 52nd nation to sign the Artemis Accords.
The full list of nations now part of this American space alliance: Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the Ukraine, the United States and Uruguay.
There has been a flurry of new nations signing the accords since the November election of Trump. I suspect his coming encouraged these nations to sign, knowing the moribund leadership of Biden will soon be replaced with something more robust. It is also likely that these nations see a renewal of Trump’s original goals for the Artemis Accords, to create an international alliance, led by the United States, with the goal of overcoming the Outer Space Treaty’s limitations on private property.
I hope this turns out to be true. This alliance gives Trump a powerful lobby he can wield to force change.
SpaceX and Rocket Lab complete two launches overnight
Though one SpaceX launch early last night had a launch abort, both SpaceX and Rocket Lab completed additional launches later in the evening.
First, SpaceX completed its second Bandwagon in which 30 payloads were sent to mid-inclination orbits, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage flew its twenty-first flight, landing successfully back its landing site at Vandenberg. The two fairings completed their 14th and 18th flights.
Next, Rocket Lab completed its sixth launch of sixteen for the commercial satellite company Synspective, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand. This was the 14th successful launch for Rocket Lab in 2024, a significant increase from the nine and eight launches it flew in 2022 and 2023.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
133 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 153 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 133 to 116.
Though one SpaceX launch early last night had a launch abort, both SpaceX and Rocket Lab completed additional launches later in the evening.
First, SpaceX completed its second Bandwagon in which 30 payloads were sent to mid-inclination orbits, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage flew its twenty-first flight, landing successfully back its landing site at Vandenberg. The two fairings completed their 14th and 18th flights.
Next, Rocket Lab completed its sixth launch of sixteen for the commercial satellite company Synspective, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand. This was the 14th successful launch for Rocket Lab in 2024, a significant increase from the nine and eight launches it flew in 2022 and 2023.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
133 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
14 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 153 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 133 to 116.
SpaceX experiences a launch abort at T-0
During a launch attempt tonight from Cape Canaveral in Florida, SpaceX experienced a launch abort at T-0 seconds for reasons that have not yet been determined but apparently were complex enough that mission control decided to scrub for the evening. No new launch has been scheduled as yet.
The launch was to have placed four smallsats into geosynchronous orbit. The satellites were built by the satellite company Astranis, which appears to be the first to launch smallsats to geosynchronous orbit. It had already placed one in orbit, and these four satellites expand its constellation.
During a launch attempt tonight from Cape Canaveral in Florida, SpaceX experienced a launch abort at T-0 seconds for reasons that have not yet been determined but apparently were complex enough that mission control decided to scrub for the evening. No new launch has been scheduled as yet.
The launch was to have placed four smallsats into geosynchronous orbit. The satellites were built by the satellite company Astranis, which appears to be the first to launch smallsats to geosynchronous orbit. It had already placed one in orbit, and these four satellites expand its constellation.
December 20, 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
Sydney Philharmonia Choir & Orchestra – Handel’s Hallelujah
An evening pause: If this doesn’t wake you up for the weekend, nothing will.
Hat tip to both Judd Clark and James Street.
Enrollment in colleges nationwide dropped 5% in 2024
Modern college education: “But Brawndo’s got
what plants crave. It’s got electrolytes!”
According to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment in 2023 dropped by 5% from the previous year, suggesting that high school students are beginning to question the value of attending colleges where anti-Semitism and bigotry is promoted and white and Asian students are treated like dirt.
It could also be because they are beginning to realize that — at least in the soft sciences like history, sociology, literature, etc — all they will get is leftist/Marxist indoctrination, not a true education.
The statistics point in this direction:
Enrollment declined across racial groups for 18-year-old freshmen, though white students saw the steepest decline, the analysis found. White 18-year-old enrollment dropped 10 percent between fall 2023 and 2024, compared to 8.4 percent for multiracial students, 8.2 percent for Black students, 5.7 percent for Asian students and 2.1 percent for Hispanic students.
» Read more
Modern college education: “But Brawndo’s got
what plants crave. It’s got electrolytes!”
According to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment in 2023 dropped by 5% from the previous year, suggesting that high school students are beginning to question the value of attending colleges where anti-Semitism and bigotry is promoted and white and Asian students are treated like dirt.
It could also be because they are beginning to realize that — at least in the soft sciences like history, sociology, literature, etc — all they will get is leftist/Marxist indoctrination, not a true education.
The statistics point in this direction:
Enrollment declined across racial groups for 18-year-old freshmen, though white students saw the steepest decline, the analysis found. White 18-year-old enrollment dropped 10 percent between fall 2023 and 2024, compared to 8.4 percent for multiracial students, 8.2 percent for Black students, 5.7 percent for Asian students and 2.1 percent for Hispanic students.
» Read more
December 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.
- Samples from the Chang’e-6 mission to the Moon’s far side have provided scientists added detail about its magnetic history
The tweet provides little information. Go here for more information.
- Stratolaunch’s giant Roc airplane completes another flight test
No hypersonic Talon craft was seen attached below it, suggesting either none was flown or it had been dropped for a test prior to anyone spotting the plane.
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.
- Samples from the Chang’e-6 mission to the Moon’s far side have provided scientists added detail about its magnetic history
The tweet provides little information. Go here for more information.
- Stratolaunch’s giant Roc airplane completes another flight test
No hypersonic Talon craft was seen attached below it, suggesting either none was flown or it had been dropped for a test prior to anyone spotting the plane.
China launches a communications test satellite
According to China’s uninformative state-run press, it today launched “a test satellite for communication technology,” its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China.
No other details about the satellite were released. Nor did the state-run press provide any information about where the rocket’s lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuel, crashed inside China.
As is usual for China, it is doing a lot of launches at the end of the year. Though weather might be a factor, I also suspect it is the ordinary “use-it-or-lose-it” symptom of a government-run communist society. Budgets are set for the year. Government agencies find that they better launch or they will lose that budgeted amount in the next year’s budget.
This might not apply to China but if so it would explain its strange end-of-year launch pattern.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
132 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 151 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 132 to 115.
According to China’s uninformative state-run press, it today launched “a test satellite for communication technology,” its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China.
No other details about the satellite were released. Nor did the state-run press provide any information about where the rocket’s lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuel, crashed inside China.
As is usual for China, it is doing a lot of launches at the end of the year. Though weather might be a factor, I also suspect it is the ordinary “use-it-or-lose-it” symptom of a government-run communist society. Budgets are set for the year. Government agencies find that they better launch or they will lose that budgeted amount in the next year’s budget.
This might not apply to China but if so it would explain its strange end-of-year launch pattern.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
132 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 151 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 132 to 115.
Perseverance takes its first good look west at its future journey
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, reduced and enhanced to post here, was taken today by the left navigation camera on the Mars rover Perseverance. Though I am not 100% certain, I think this picture looks almost due west, and is aimed not only at the rover’s near term target, Witch Hazel Hill, but the rover’s long term and very important goal, the Nils Fossae ridge and canyon that appears to be crack formed during the impact that created giant 745-mile-wide Isidis Basin. Jezero Crater sits on the western rim of that impact basin.
The rover team expects to reach Witch Hazel Hill within days. To get there quickly the team has moved the rover more than a thousand feet west and dropped down from the rim about 170 feet in just the past ten days.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, reduced and enhanced to post here, was taken today by the left navigation camera on the Mars rover Perseverance. Though I am not 100% certain, I think this picture looks almost due west, and is aimed not only at the rover’s near term target, Witch Hazel Hill, but the rover’s long term and very important goal, the Nils Fossae ridge and canyon that appears to be crack formed during the impact that created giant 745-mile-wide Isidis Basin. Jezero Crater sits on the western rim of that impact basin.
The rover team expects to reach Witch Hazel Hill within days. To get there quickly the team has moved the rover more than a thousand feet west and dropped down from the rim about 170 feet in just the past ten days.
» Read more
Oh no! The sonic booms of SpaceX are coming!
Superheavy after its flight, safely captured at Boca Chica
on October 13, 2024.
When the current (but soon to step down) administrator of the FAA Mike Whitaker testified before Congress in September 2024 and attempted to explain his agency’s red tape that have significantly slowed development of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy rocket, he claimed that the sonic booms produced when Superheavy returned to land at the launchpad posed a “safety issue” that needed a detailed review.
“I think the sonic boom analysis [related to returning Superheavy back to Boca Chica] is a safety related incident.”
The sudden introduction of this issue was somewhat out of the blue. While loud, the sonic boom of a rocket launch is hardly a concern. The space shuttle produced the same for decades when it landed, and that was always considered a fun plus to watching the landing. And even if SpaceX begins launching its rockets once a day from any spaceport, that added noise does nothing to hurt anyone. In fact, it is a local signal of a thriving economy.
Since then it appears the leftist “intellectual elitists” that don’t like it when they don’t run everything — which is one reason they now hate Elon Musk — have run a full court press trying to make these rocket sonic booms a cause celebre that can be used to block SpaceX launches.
» Read more
Xaver Varnus – Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor
An evening pause: Played on the great Sauer Organ of the Berliner Dom.
At the time of its dedication in 1905, the great Sauer Organ of the Berliner Dom was the largest in Germany, with its 7269 pipes and 113 registers, distributed across four manuals and pedals.
While not directly related to Christmas or the holidays, I think this piece is still appropriate for the season.
Hat tip Judd Clark, who adds, “Though I had reservations because of its length and because it has been subject to innumerable transcriptions and performances on different organs by different organists it has become cliché. But, it is an exceptional performance on an exceptional organ in an exceptional hall.”
December 19, 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.
- Astroscale begins work on next space junk removal mission
The next mission will do further proximity and rendezvous testing in orbit, but do it approaching “large satellite debris” rather than an intact upper stage, as done in the first mission.
- Taiwan studying locations for a possible spaceport, even as it discusses a collaboration with Amazon on space matters
Not much real information to go on.
- ISRO to attempt a “tethered satellite capture via robotic arm experiment” on next launch
The launch, using a PSLV rocket, is presently scheduled for December 30, 2024, will launch a payload designed to test autonomous docking. This specific test will involve using a robot arm to capture a tethered cubesat, and is aimed at developing technology for orbital servicing and space junk removal.
- On this day in 1972 Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, completing the last mission to land humans on the Moon
That was 52 years ago. I wonder when Americans will ever do it again.
- On this day in 1999, the shuttle Discovery launched on the third Hubble repair mission
The launch had been moved up six months because of gyroscope failures on Hubble that had put it in safe mode. During three space walks astronauts replaced all six gyroscopes on the telescope, putting it back in operation.
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.
- Astroscale begins work on next space junk removal mission
The next mission will do further proximity and rendezvous testing in orbit, but do it approaching “large satellite debris” rather than an intact upper stage, as done in the first mission.
- Taiwan studying locations for a possible spaceport, even as it discusses a collaboration with Amazon on space matters
Not much real information to go on.
- ISRO to attempt a “tethered satellite capture via robotic arm experiment” on next launch
The launch, using a PSLV rocket, is presently scheduled for December 30, 2024, will launch a payload designed to test autonomous docking. This specific test will involve using a robot arm to capture a tethered cubesat, and is aimed at developing technology for orbital servicing and space junk removal.
- On this day in 1972 Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, completing the last mission to land humans on the Moon
That was 52 years ago. I wonder when Americans will ever do it again.
- On this day in 1999, the shuttle Discovery launched on the third Hubble repair mission
The launch had been moved up six months because of gyroscope failures on Hubble that had put it in safe mode. During three space walks astronauts replaced all six gyroscopes on the telescope, putting it back in operation.
Land of dust devils
Click for original image.
Today’s cool image to the right demonstrates that the atmosphere and climate of Mars is truly different in different places. The picture, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 22, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled simply as a “terrain sample”, it was likely taken not as part of any specific research project but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule in order to maintain its proper temperature.
I post it today almost to illustrate the difference between this location and the spot where the lander Insight landed on Mars. Earlier this week the MRO camera team released a short movie created by images of the lander taken over six years, showing how the dust around it had changed over time. I noted further how those images showed a very small number of dust devil tracks, which explained why no dust devil every crossed over the lander’s solar panels to clean them of dust.
For the picture on the right, however, there are a lot of dust devil tracks, so many near the bottom that they almost completely darken the ground.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Today’s cool image to the right demonstrates that the atmosphere and climate of Mars is truly different in different places. The picture, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 22, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled simply as a “terrain sample”, it was likely taken not as part of any specific research project but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule in order to maintain its proper temperature.
I post it today almost to illustrate the difference between this location and the spot where the lander Insight landed on Mars. Earlier this week the MRO camera team released a short movie created by images of the lander taken over six years, showing how the dust around it had changed over time. I noted further how those images showed a very small number of dust devil tracks, which explained why no dust devil every crossed over the lander’s solar panels to clean them of dust.
For the picture on the right, however, there are a lot of dust devil tracks, so many near the bottom that they almost completely darken the ground.
» Read more
Pushback: Blacklisted doctor gets lawsuit reinstated by higher court
The kind of policies advocated by Hennepin Healthcare system
that Gustilo criticized
Fight! Fight! Fight! Back in August 2021, I reported the horrible blacklisting of Tara Gustilo, a biracial physician from the Philippines, who had been demoted and experienced a $150K cut in salary at the Hennepin Healthcare system in Minnesota simply because she had posted criticisms of the racist Black Lives Matter movement as well as the critical race theory policies, now known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), that Hennepin was pushing.
In addition to filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government, Gustilo sued, represented by the Minnesota-based Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC). You can read her lawsuit here [pdf].
That lawsuit however had been dismissed by a lower court. Last week however the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that decision, reinstating the lawsuit.
The court’s decision can be read here. The court specifically noted that Gustilo’s right to free speech appeared to have been violated, and that fact must be considered by a jury.
» Read more
The kind of policies advocated by Hennepin Healthcare system
that Gustilo criticized
Fight! Fight! Fight! Back in August 2021, I reported the horrible blacklisting of Tara Gustilo, a biracial physician from the Philippines, who had been demoted and experienced a $150K cut in salary at the Hennepin Healthcare system in Minnesota simply because she had posted criticisms of the racist Black Lives Matter movement as well as the critical race theory policies, now known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), that Hennepin was pushing.
In addition to filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government, Gustilo sued, represented by the Minnesota-based Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC). You can read her lawsuit here [pdf].
That lawsuit however had been dismissed by a lower court. Last week however the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that decision, reinstating the lawsuit.
The court’s decision can be read here. The court specifically noted that Gustilo’s right to free speech appeared to have been violated, and that fact must be considered by a jury.
» Read more
Vast signs deal with SpaceX for two ISS tourist missions
Depending on whether it gets NASA contractual approval, the space station startup Vast has now signed a deal with SpaceX for flying two tourist missions to ISS.
These two missions expand Vast’s launch manifest with SpaceX, which includes the company’s Falcon 9 rocket delivering Haven-1 to low-Earth orbit and a subsequent Dragon mission to fly crew to the commercial space station. Haven-1 will also be supported by Starlink laser-based high-speed internet.
Axiom, which has flown three tourist missions to ISS and has a fourth planned, is also bidding for the next two tourist slots NASA has made available for ISS in the coming years. It is not clear who will get those slots. Axiom has the advantage it has done it before, but the rumors that it lost money on those flights and now has a cash shortage work against it. Vast hasn’t yet flown, but it is moving fast to fly and occupy Haven-1 next year. NASA might want to give it at least one of those slots to balance the scales.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
Depending on whether it gets NASA contractual approval, the space station startup Vast has now signed a deal with SpaceX for flying two tourist missions to ISS.
These two missions expand Vast’s launch manifest with SpaceX, which includes the company’s Falcon 9 rocket delivering Haven-1 to low-Earth orbit and a subsequent Dragon mission to fly crew to the commercial space station. Haven-1 will also be supported by Starlink laser-based high-speed internet.
Axiom, which has flown three tourist missions to ISS and has a fourth planned, is also bidding for the next two tourist slots NASA has made available for ISS in the coming years. It is not clear who will get those slots. Axiom has the advantage it has done it before, but the rumors that it lost money on those flights and now has a cash shortage work against it. Vast hasn’t yet flown, but it is moving fast to fly and occupy Haven-1 next year. NASA might want to give it at least one of those slots to balance the scales.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.