November 23, 2022 Quick space links
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer, trolling Tweeter so you don’t have to.
- Another update on the space junk remaining in orbit from Russia’s destruction of Cosmos 1408 in 2021
There is uncertainty here. An earlier update said only 18 pieces of debris would still be in orbit in three years. This update predicts 44 pieces in three years.
- Some unusual visitors tour SpaceX’s Starship facility
I think, but cannot prove it, that those are retired early Starship/Superheavy prototypes, not active ships.
- Chinese pseudo-company Landspace sets December 3rd for first launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket
This is a liquid fueled methane-oxygen smallsat orbital rocket.
- Ground-based images of ISS and Tiangong-3, side-by-side
Jay correctly notes, “The scale is off, the picture shows Tiangong-3 as larger than what it is.” Comparing the Russian modules on ISS with Tiangong-3’s modules, I estimate that Tiangong-3 is about 30% smaller than shown.
- China plans a DART-copycat mission in ’25, impacting an asteroid
The tweet provides no information in English on the asteroid being targeted.
- SpaceX has begun attaching OneWeb satellites in preparation for Falcon 9 launch
This will be the first SpaceX launch of satellites for its competitor OneWeb, picking up the business the Russians intentionally abandoned.
- UK to build the new lander for ESA’s Franklin Mars rover
The launch of this long delayed rover is now targeting ’28. It was originally supposed to launch in ’20, was first delayed until ’22 because of parachute issues, then was delayed again when Europe and Russia ended their space partnership due to the Ukraine War.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer, trolling Tweeter so you don’t have to.
- Another update on the space junk remaining in orbit from Russia’s destruction of Cosmos 1408 in 2021
There is uncertainty here. An earlier update said only 18 pieces of debris would still be in orbit in three years. This update predicts 44 pieces in three years.
- Some unusual visitors tour SpaceX’s Starship facility
I think, but cannot prove it, that those are retired early Starship/Superheavy prototypes, not active ships.
- Chinese pseudo-company Landspace sets December 3rd for first launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket
This is a liquid fueled methane-oxygen smallsat orbital rocket.
- Ground-based images of ISS and Tiangong-3, side-by-side
Jay correctly notes, “The scale is off, the picture shows Tiangong-3 as larger than what it is.” Comparing the Russian modules on ISS with Tiangong-3’s modules, I estimate that Tiangong-3 is about 30% smaller than shown.
- China plans a DART-copycat mission in ’25, impacting an asteroid
The tweet provides no information in English on the asteroid being targeted.
- SpaceX has begun attaching OneWeb satellites in preparation for Falcon 9 launch
This will be the first SpaceX launch of satellites for its competitor OneWeb, picking up the business the Russians intentionally abandoned.
- UK to build the new lander for ESA’s Franklin Mars rover
The launch of this long delayed rover is now targeting ’28. It was originally supposed to launch in ’20, was first delayed until ’22 because of parachute issues, then was delayed again when Europe and Russia ended their space partnership due to the Ukraine War.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
“Donkey-hote'” is clearly GSE Hound with squire who used the Boring Co. to burrow through the Burough for their borrowed burro…
signed-Victor Borga:-)
Considering that every Starship and booster that SpaceX has built has been a prototype, yes, they are all prototypes. I believe that the Starship on the left is number 15, the one that landed. The others are numbers 20 (static fired, but not flown) and 21 (never tested, may have parts from 22). The booster is Booster 5, never tested and never fitted with engines. Booster 8 will probably be there soon (also untested). I’m not sure where booster 4 is now, unless 5 got scrapped and that’s 4 on the rocket garden.
They will probably get scrapped at some point, but SpaceX doesn’t seem to put a priority on scrapping old prototypes, until they run out of places to park them.