December 4, 2022 Quick space links
These links are courtesy of myself, as it is Sunday and want to provide them quickly so I can do other things.
- Shenzhou-14 return capsule lands safely
During this crew’s six month mission they installed the station’s last big modules.
- Astronauts install new solar array outside International Space Station
This was the second set of new roll-out panels that essentially replace the station’s older panels.
- SpaceX creates division expressly designed to sell space products to the military
Rocket Lab did a similar thing earlier this week. Both appear to recognize that the American military bureaucracy is very unimaginative. It needs to be catered to like children or it will fail to perceive the value to itself of some products.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
These links are courtesy of myself, as it is Sunday and want to provide them quickly so I can do other things.
- Shenzhou-14 return capsule lands safely
During this crew’s six month mission they installed the station’s last big modules.
- Astronauts install new solar array outside International Space Station
This was the second set of new roll-out panels that essentially replace the station’s older panels.
- SpaceX creates division expressly designed to sell space products to the military
Rocket Lab did a similar thing earlier this week. Both appear to recognize that the American military bureaucracy is very unimaginative. It needs to be catered to like children or it will fail to perceive the value to itself of some products.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Check out this article decrying this “Huge” new satellites that is now one of the brightest objects in the sky, destroying astronomy.
It is 693 square feet, a fraction of the size of the ISS’s solar array.
Talk about hyperbolic headlines!
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ake8m4/a-huge-satellite-is-officially-one-of-the-brightest-objects-in-the-sky-astronomers-warn
That’s Blue Walker…think a Lower orbit version of the Orbital Antenna Farm.
It (they) will allow your cell phone to be a satellite phone. No 500$ Starlink terminal. Big terminal means smaller sats…smaller means you have bigger sats.
I track satellites regularly using the Heavens-above.com site. I’ve found it quite reliable regarding locations, tracks, times and magnitudes. Blue Walker’s magnitude is never listed as brighter than 3.0 and frequently in the 4s and 5s. The reports in the above link are not in line with observations from the satellite site. Another issue is that satellites are not stationary. They move quickly – depending on time and position above horizon, anywhere from seconds to 5 minutes of visibility. I find it hard to believe they are that disruptive of astrophotography.
https://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=53807&lat=33.9562&lng=-83.988&loc=Lawrenceville&alt=0&tz=EST
And finally, as Bob has said numerous times, get rid of the issue entirely with space based telescopes.
@Gary… I think it’s wrong to disregard the threat to ground based astronomy from huge satellite constellations, even if this particular one has been over hyperboled. Once they are up, they are up.
Ground based telescopes, especially given adaptive optics, will be the “go to” in astronomy for many years to come. Have you had a look at the bills for Hubble and the James Webb? For most purposes, big mirrors on the ground are here stay for now.
Lee, you have a good point IF we base our costs for space based telescopes on the economics of being put up by government space programs. If we use SpaceX and other suppliers as the basis for costs, that should make the economics much more favorable.
For reference, this:
https://behindtheblack.com/?s=celestron