Category: Behind The Black

SpaceX successfully launches four astronauts to ISS on Axiom private mission

3:03 pm

They’re coming for you next: SpaceX today successfully launched three European astronauts (plus the company capsule commander) to ISS on an Axiom private mission, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral at 4:49 pm (Eastern).

The capsule, Freedom, is flying humans into space for its third time. The first stage successfully completed its fourth flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral.

The mission itself is private, but the customer is the European Space Agency, which has paid the company Axiom to bring its astronauts to ISS for a fourteen day mission. Axiom in turn hired SpaceX to provide the rocket and capsule. This flight is confirmation that Europe has accepted the concept of capitalism in space, whereby it no longer depends on governments to accomplish what it wants, but instead is a customer buying those products from the private sector.

The astronauts are expected to dock with ISS early tomorrow morning.

The 2024 launch race:

6 SpaceX
5 China
1 India
1 ULA
1 Japan

2 comments

More academics demand that space activity be controlled and regulated, by them

1:13 pm

Modern academia: Marching with Lenin!
Modern academia, proudly marching with Lenin!

Yesterday I linked to a student newspaper article at the University of Alberta advocating more regulation over all space activity, focused on replacing private ownership with collective ownership while simultaneously imposing Marxist racial quotas to get rid “old white men”.

Today there was another story from academia demanding similar regulation. On January 12, 2024 there was a public panel discussion at Arizona State University (ASU), where four academics argued for the need for more government regulation of space. The description of the panel’s goals at the event’s website gives us a good hint of the goals of these academics:

Space exploration and utilization is a rapidly expanding sector, and there is growing consensus that the complex space governance system must evolve with it. Faced with this dynamic nature, in this fireside chat, with leading experts in space governance, policy law and space science, we present a clear framework for conceptualizing the space governance system as a tool for discussions on space law and policy, demystifying its structure and the actors, instruments and collaborations within it. We then consider key debates in the space policy field within this framework from a global and transdisciplinary perspective.

This is typically bad academic writing, designed to intentionally hide its meaning. One of the panelists however translated it most bluntly in this quote from article about the event:
» Read more

10 comments

Scientists: Evidence of large deposits of buried ice along Martian equator

10:24 am

Theorized buried ice deposits on Mars
Click for original figure from paper.

Using data obtained from Europe’s Mars Express orbiter, scientists believe they have detected evidence of a very large and extensive deposit of buried ice in the dry Martian equatorial regions, buried within the Medusae Fossae Formation, what is thought to be the largest volcanic ash deposit on Mars.

The blue-to-orange areas inside the Medusae on the map to the right, taken from figure 5 of the paper, shows where they have detected potential buried ice, at depths ranging from one to two thousand feet below the surface. The orange areas indicate the thickest ice deposits, as much as two miles thick. From the paper’s abstract:

The MARSIS radar sounder [on Mars Express] detects echoes in Medusae Fossae Formation deposits that occur between the surface and the base which are interpreted as layers within the deposit like those found in Polar Layered Deposits of the North and South Poles. The subsurface reflectors suggest transitions between mixtures of ice-rich and ice-poor dust analogous to the multi-layered, ice-rich polar deposits.

Assuming this detection is real, this would be the largest reservoir of potential water in the dry equatorial regions found yet, comparable to another similar buried detection deep below the giant canyon Valles Marineris but much larger.

Accessing this water however will not be simple, as it is deep underground. You couldn’t just drill a well, as it is ice, not a liquid water table. It would have to mined like minerals on Earth. There are uncertainties about this conclusion as well. It is possible the detection is not water but volcanic ash or dust compacted in a way that mimics an ice detection.

1 comment

SpaceX files for permits to build a shopping center and restaurant at Boca Chica

9:44 am

SpaceX has now filed for permits to build both a shopping center and restaurant at Boca Chica, with construction beginning in March and completed by the end of the year.

The location proposed is on the beach only a short distance to the west of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy facilities. It will be located looking north not at the Gulf of Mexico but at South Bay, one of the large inlets that surround the spit of land where those facilities are located. It is also located on roads that might not close during launches, which means it might be an excellent location to attract tourists during launches, about six miles from the launch site itself.

4 comments

SLIM lowers orbit in preparation for January 19, 2024 lunar landing

9:33 am

SLIM's landing zone
Map showing SLIM landing zone on the Moon.
Click for interactive map.

The Japanese unmanned lunar lander SLIM, in orbit around the Moon since December 25, 2023, has now lowered its orbit in preparation for its lunar landing attempt, now scheduled for tomorrow, January 19, 2024, with operations beginning at 10:00 am (Eastern).

The image to the right indicates the targeted landing area near Shioli Crater. The mission’s prime engineering goal is to demonstrate precise robotic landing technology, able to land a spacecraft softly on another planet within a target zone less than 300 feet across. If successful it is expected to survive for about two weeks, studying the surface below it with a multi-spectral camera but also releasing two test probes, one a hopping rover and the second a rolling spherical rover. Both carry their own science instruments.

I have embedded the live stream for tomorrow’s landing below.
» Read more

0 comments

Astronomical high-altitude balloon flight now exceeds two weeks

9:14 am

GUSTO's flight path as of January 18, 2024

A high-altitude stratospheric balloon, dubbed GUSTO and designed to study the interstellar medium, has now been circling the south pole over Antarctica for fifteen days.

The map to the right shows its full flight path since its launch on December 31, 2023. From the press release:

GUSTO is mapping a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud to help scientists study the interstellar medium. The observatory is transmitting the data it collects back to watchful teams on the ground as it steadily circumnavigates the South Pole around 120,000+ feet.

GUSTO is flying on a 39 million cubic-foot zero-pressure scientific balloon, which is so large it could easily fit 195 blimps inside of it. The balloon is used to fly missions for long periods of time during the Austral Summer over Antarctica. GUSTO is aiming for a NASA record of 55+ days in flight to achieve its science goals.

You can follow GUSTO’s flight in real time here.

1 comment

January 17, 2024 Quick space links

2:44 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

  • Impulse plans high-powered orbital tug

    • The company, whose CEO is Tom Mueller who at SpaceX designed the Merlin engine, intends the tug to function as an add-on upper stage to rockets like the Falcon 9, capable of making it almost as powerful as a Falcon Heavy.

 

 

1 comment

SpaceX requests 43 acres of nearby Boca Chica State Park, offering to expand another park by 477 acres

1:52 pm

In order to “expand its operational footprint” at Boca Chica, SpaceX is asking to buy 43 acres of nearby Boca Chica State Park, and will offer as part of the purchase 477 acres adjacent to the Laguna Atascoca National Wildlife Refuge several miles to the north.

The link above includes maps showing the relative location of the properties. According to the meeting agenda for the Texas Parks and Wildlife department (TPWD), scheduled to take up this exchange next week, the commission already favors the deal.

“This acquisition will provide increased public recreational opportunities including hiking, camping, water recreation, and wildlife viewing, and allow for greater conservation of sensitive habitats for wintering and migratory birds,” the TPWD agenda stated. The agenda concludes by stating that the Commission finds that the proposed exchange is in the best interest of TPWD.

The public has been invited to comment on the deal at the meeting. Do not be surprised if we have a riot at that meeting of leftist activists protesting this deal.

Hat tip Robert Pratt of Pratt on Texas.

7 comments

The lawless left

1:27 pm

Nazi brown shirts destroying Jewish businesses on Kristallnacht
Nazi brown shirts destroying Jewish businesses on Kristallnacht

While there remains a shrinking percentage of Democrats who strongly believe in the law and the Constitution, the leadership of that political party is largely now controlled by those who believe otherwise.

Two incidents the past week illustrated this fact most starkly.

First a pro-Hamas protest in front of the White House on January 13, 2024 became so violent that many staffers inside the building were evacuated for their safety.

“During the demonstration near the White House complex Jan. 13, a portion of the anti-scale fencing that was erected for the event sustained temporary damage,” the statement read. “The issues were promptly repaired on site by U.S. Secret Service support teams.”

The U.S. Secret Service told Fox News Digital that some fences were damaged outside the White House, and that staff members and journalists were “relocated” as a result. “As a precaution, some members of the media and staff in proximity to Pennsylvania Avenue were temporarily relocated while the issue was being addressed,” the statement continued. “The Secret Service made no arrests associated with the march and there was no property damage to the White House or adjacent buildings.”[emphasis mine]

You can see video of these attempts to break into the White House here. Though the White House grounds were never penetrated, the violent self-righteous attitude of the mob is quite clear: They have the right to break in, because their cause is just. The law does not apply to them.

The highlighted words in the quote above provide a further explanation as to why this violence happened. » Read more

33 comments
1 … 437 438 439 440 441 … 2,916