August 8, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage
These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.
- China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base
As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.
- Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars
For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.
- According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues
It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.
- SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023
Nothing very revealing however.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage
These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.
- China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base
As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.
- Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars
For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.
- According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues
It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.
- SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023
Nothing very revealing however.