June 7, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
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Category: Behind The Black
Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, 90, killed in plane crash
Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, 90, who took the iconic Earthrise picture (to the right and oriented as he framed it when he snapped it), was killed today when the plane he was piloting went down in the waters near the San Juan Islands off the coast of the state of Washington.
A report came in around 11:40 a.m. that an older-model plane crashed into the water and sank near the north end of Jones Island, San Juan County Sheriff Eric Peter said. Greg Anders confirmed to KING-TV that his father’s body was recovered Friday afternoon.
Only the pilot was on board the Beech A45 airplane at the time, according to the Federal Aviation Association.
I will have more to write about Anders later, whom I had met and interviewed many times when I was writing Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8. Of all the astronauts, he was probably the most thoughtful about matters outside of engineering, space exploration, or aviation.
MetaBallStudios – Comparing explosive weapons used in war
An evening pause: I think every leader in the world needs to watch this, as I think our modern rulers don’t seem to know what these weapons can do.
Hat tip Alton Blevins.
June 7, 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 completes construction on first commercial launchpad at its Wenchang coastal spaceport
They dub this “Pad 2,” even though it will be where the first commercial launch will take place at Wenchang, presently scheduled for August 28, 2024.
- NASA inspector general issues report on agency’s commercial unmanned lunar lander program
The report can be downloaded here [pdf]. It is generally critical of the entire program, suggesting that NASA’s management has been inconsistent even as it also micromanaged the building of some commercial landers, thus causing delays and budget overruns despite the contracts being fixed price (If NASA demands a change, the company has an equal right to bill NASA for it).
Today’s blacklisted American: Biden’s Justice Dept prosecutes doctor who blew the whistle on child mutilation at hospital
Ethan Haim
They’re coming for you next: This story provides possibly the best illustratration of the barbarism of the Democratic Party and the Biden administration. Rather than celebrate the courage of Ethan Haim, the doctor who in 2023 blew the whistle on the continuing secret sex change operations being performed on children as young as 11 at Texas Children’s Hospital, the Biden Justice Department this week indicted that doctor on four felony charges.
On the morning in June 2023 that Haim was to graduate from Texas Children Hospital’s residency program, federal agents knocked on his door. They had identified him as a potential “leaker,” presumably through forensic examination of the hospital’s computer systems. Shortly thereafter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Ansari began threatening Haim with prosecution.
Now, Ansari has made good on those threats. Earlier this week, U.S. marshals appeared at Haim’s home and summoned him to court to face an indictment on four felony counts of violating HIPAA. His initial appearance is next Monday [June 10th], where he will learn more about the charges against him.
Haim should be proud. He has now joined Donald Trump as one of the many innocent Americans being persecuted by the weaponized lawfare of the Democrats and the Biden administration because they simply disagree with its policies.
The facts of the case prove the political nature of the charges.. First, Christopher Rufo, who broke Haim story at the City Journal, makes it very clear that Haim was very careful to violate no HIPPAA rules.
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A close-up of rocks on Mars
Click for original image.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on June 6, 2024 by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located at the end of the rover’s robot arm and designed to get close-up high resolution images of the ground that the arm is exploring.
The picture above, taken just after the one to the right and cropped, reduced, sharpened, and annotated to post here, shows the robot arm shortly after it has rotated upward after placing MAHLI right up against the ground. Note the tread marks. The science team apparently chose these target rocks because they were likely ground somewhat as the rover rolled over them, breaking the rocks to expose new faces.
According to the scientists, the camera was about two to three inches away from these rocks when it snapped the picture, with the scale about 16 to 25 microns per pixel. Since a micron is one millionth of a meter, this picture is showing us some very small details within a much larger rock.
I post this because I have rarely seen such colorful and crystal-like surface features from Curiosity.
Chinese pseudo-company raises $207 million
The Chinese pseudo-company Space Pioneer announced yesterday that it has raised an additional $207 million from Chinese investment sources during its most recent funding round, bringing the total amount it has raised to $552 million.
Space Pioneer—full name Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd—announced the funding worth more than 1.5 billion yuan ($207 million) June 6. At least 15 investors participated in the funding, including a mix of private equity and state-linked investment vehicles.
These include state-linked Wuxi Chuangfa, CCTV Fund, CITIC Securities Investment, Hefei Ruicheng and SDIC Taikang, and private equity and investment firms Bohua Capital Management, Guoyu Gaohua, Deyue Investment and more.
The company is developing its Tianlong-3 reusable rocket, essentially a copy of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. It already has completed one launch of its Tianlong-2 expendable rocket, using government engines.
Iran to build coastal spaceport
According to Issa Zarepour, Iran’s minister of communications and information technology, Iran is now planning a new spaceport on its southern coast near the city of Chabahar.
“[The process of construction of] the first phase of the port is being completed thanks to round-the-clock endeavor,” he said. He noted that the process had so far witnessed as much as “56-percent physical progress.”
“The facility would be inaugurated by the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies,” the minister said. He was referring to the 10-day-long annual celebrations that mark the historic run-up to the victory of the country’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. The celebrations will start in late January next year.
The spaceport is expected to host its first launch by next March, Zarepour added.
The map shows Chabahar’s location. It also shows Iran’s present spaceport in Semnan, where it has previously launched all its rockets.
Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
An evening pause: Performed live 1969 on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
June 6, 2024 Zimmerman/Pratt on Texas podcast
I did two nine segments today with Robert Pratt for his Pratt on Texas radio show, talking about SpaceX’s successful test launch of Starship/Superheavy.
I have embedded those segments below the fold.
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ESA signs deal with Vast to use its Haven-1 space station
Vast Haven-1 station inside Falcon-9 fairing
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the commercial space station startup Vast today signed an agreement that sets the initial terms for ESA to use Vast’s first space station, Haven-1, as well as any space stations to follow.
The agreement outlines the parties’ intention to foster human spaceflight, science, technology and commercialisation development and explore collaboration in low Earth orbit destinations other than the International Space Station. The collaboration will initially focus on exploring opportunities for access to space for Europe through the Vast Space Stations. These could include:
- Access to the Vast Space Stations for ESA and its Member States, for astronaut missions and research activities as well as commercial business development.
- Supporting European industry to supply subsystems and equipment for future Vast Space Stations.
- Vast making use of future qualified European LEO cargo and/or crew transportation services, at market rates and commercially viable terms and conditions, also as a means for offsetting future ESA Astronaut Missions.
- Vast and ESA jointly supporting European industry in getting certified for docking to future Vast Space Stations.
This deal is actually a very big deal, as Vast’s Haven-1 space station is the only one under construction that does not have a deal with NASA. It is being financed privately and will at first simply be a one module habitat set to launch as early as August 2025 on a Falcon 9 rocket, with the first 30-day 4-person manned mission to follow almost immediately on a Dragon capsule. Vast’s work is closely linked with SpaceX, as its station also has a deal to use Starlink for communications.
The plan is to add more modules in the coming years to build up to a full station.
This deal not only indicates that this independent station is going to give the NASA-supported stations some real competition, it indicates that Europe is committed to doing the same. Now that Europe has abandoned the government-owned and international cooperation model it has used for decades with decidedly mixed results and switched to the capitalism model, where it is merely a customer buying things from a competing private sector, it is doing so full speed ahead, without any hesitation.
The independence of this station also frees it and its customers from the heavy rules that NASA routinely imposes on anyone who deals with it. This aspect gives Vast a competitive advantage that many will clearly wish to take advantage of.
This deal is therefore a challenge that better be recognized by NASA and the other commercial stations. If they don’t react properly they could find themselves left in the dust completely.
Boeing’s Starliner successfully docks with ISS
Despite several minor helium leaks and the failure of 6 of its 28 small attitude thrusters (four of which were reactivated during an improvised hot fire test during rendezvous operations), Boeing’s Starliner has successfully docked with ISS today.
Though now safely arrived at ISS, the hatch has not yet opened. The spacecraft carries NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, and will now spend about a week at the space station checking out its systems before undocking and returning to Earth.
All told, this docking is a success, though the various thruster issues are a concern that must be addressed by Boeing, especially because there were thruster issues as well during the previous unmanned demo flight.