Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

Venezuela agrees to join China’s lunar base project

9:31 am

During a visit to a new Chinese space facility in China, the head of Venezuela’s space agency announced that it has agreed to join China’s lunar base project.

Marglad Bencomo, executive director of the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE), visited China’s new, national Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) March 30 to discuss cooperation and exchanges. She was met by Wu Yanhua, former deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and now executive vice chairman of DSEL. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on international cooperation in the field of deep space exploration, according to a DSEL statement.

Bencomo said that Venezuela was willing to sign a China-Venezuela Memorandum of Understanding as soon as possible to jointly promote the construction of international lunar research stations, according to the DSEL statement.

If this partnership agreement is signed, Venezuela would be the first nation outside of Russia to join China’s project. China has offered a similar partnership deal to Brazil, which will likely not agree because it is a signatory to the Artemis Accords and working with China will threaten any work it does with the U.S. For example, the UAE recently ended a project to fly a rover on a Chinese rocket for these very reasons.

This deal with Venezuela is largely empty blather, since Venezuela is presently a bankrupt communist state, barely able to feed its own people.

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Axiom sets date for next commercial manned flight to ISS

9:19 am

Axiom and NASA yesterday announced May 8, 2023 as the launch date for the private company’s second commercial flight to ISS, this time carrying three passengers out of a crew of four, two from Saudi Arabia and the third, John Shoffner, completing his second paid flight with Axiom.

Two of its crewmates are Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni, members of the first Saudi Arabian astronaut class. Barnawi will become the first Saudi woman ever to reach space, and she and AlQarni will be the first people from the kingdom to travel to the ISS.

Retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the mission for Axiom. The Dragon capsule used will be Freedom, making its second flight, lifting off on a Falcon 9 rocket with a new first stage. The plan is to be docked to ISS for ten days, which means for that time period ISS will have three Arab astronauts on board, including the UAE’s astronaut, Sultan Al Neyadi, who is in the middle of a six month mission and is about to do his first spacewalk.

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Chinese pseudo-company succeeds in reaching orbit again after three straight failures

9:09 am

China's spaceports
China’s spaceports

The Chinese pseudo-company I-space has finally reached orbit again with a launch today of its Hyperbola-1 (SQX-1) solid-fueled rocket, lifting off from China’s Jiuquan inland spaceport in the Gobi Desert.

After an initial launch success in 2019, the company had failed three straight times until today. No word on whether the first stage landed near habitable areas in China. Nor did the pseudo-company reveal whether the rocket carried an actual satellite into orbit.

Jiuquan is presently the only spaceport where China permits these pseudo-companies to launch, and has been expanding its facilities for these commercial operations. This also means China will be experiencing more first stages dropping on their heads of its people, which is why it is also building a commercial launchpad at the Wenchang spaceport on the coast.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

23 SpaceX
15 China
6 Russia
3 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads China 26 to 15 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 26 to 25. SpaceX now trails the rest of the world combined, including American companies, 23 to 28.

UPDATE from BtB’s stringer Jay: Video of the launch can be found here. Jay also notes the lack of any mention of I-space in the official Chinese press, announcing this launch. Adds weight to the conclusion that these companies are not really real, but simply divisions of the Chinese government.

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SpaceX successfully launches Intelsat communications satellite

9:41 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully used its Falcon 9 rocket to launch an Intelsat communications satellite into orbit, lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

The first stage completed its fourth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings completed their second and eighth flights.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

23 SpaceX
14 China
6 Russia
3 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads China 26 to 14 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 26 to 24. SpaceX now trails the rest of the world combined, including American companies, 23 to 27.

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Tennessee House expels two of three representatives who aided rioters

5:56 pm

The Tennessee House today successfully voted to expel two of the three Democrat representatives who aided the gun control rioters attempting to take over the statehouse on March 30, 2023.

This is an update of my blacklist column yesterday. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled, while the vote to expel Gloria Johnson fell one vote short.

Both representatives could be reappointed to their seats, and can also run in the special election to fill the now-empty seats. Both made it clear before the vote that they do not consider anything they did was wrong, and intend to return.

All power to them. They just better realize that using a bullhorn to take over the statehouse, when they have not been given the floor to speak, is wrong, and if they do it again they will be expelled again.

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April 6, 2023 Quick space links

5:21 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

  • China invites Brazil to participate in its lunar base project

    • There is no indication Brazil accepted the offer. The offer took place during a meeting between officials of the Brazil Space Agency and one of China’s pseudo-companies, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (which according to Jay “is the international launch service subsidiary” for China). Thus, this could be an effort by that pseudo-company to gain launch access to Brazil’s recently reactivated Alcântara spaceport.

 

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Pushback: Missouri school libraries sue to keep porno on their shelves; Missouri lawmakers zero out library budget

4:57 pm

Cody Smith
Missouri House Republican Cody Smith

Bring a gun to a knife fight: In 2022 the Missouri legislature passed a law that made it illegal to provide any student with books containing images “‘showing human masturbation, deviate sexual intercourse,’ ‘sexual intercourse, direct physical stimulation of genitals, sadomasochistic abuse,’ or showing human genitals.” The aim of the law was to put reasonable limits on the kind of material available in school libraries, and was passed in response to the recent nationwide effort by teachers and librarians to include such smut in these places.

A normal person’s response should be, “Gee, why do we need a law? What sane adult would ever give this stuff to kids? Isn’t that why we have a movie rating system?” A normal person would also note that anyone who did want to distribute this kind of porno to kids is really nothing more than a pedophile.

Well, it looks like the Missouri Association of School Librarians, the Missouri Library Association, and the ACLU are all pedophiles, when you get right down to it. These organizations immediately banded together to sue to overturn the law. They want to give kids porno.

On March 28, 2023 the Missouri House responded in turn to these pedophiles by passing a budget that cuts the entire $4.5 million budget for all public libraries. The cut was put forth by the House budget chairman Cody Smith, who said this:
» Read more

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Exploring the cratered southern highlands of Mars, part 2

1:44 pm

Overview map

Dune-bedrock contact in Rabe Crater
Click for original image.

Our travels in the cratered southern highlands of Mars continues. Today we visit 67-mile-wide Rabe Crater, as indicated on the overview map above. The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on January 27, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

Rabe Crater is significant for several reasons. First, it was one of the first places on Mars where sand dunes were identified, by one of the Viking orbiters in the late 1970s [pdf]. Second, the pits and sand in its interior, are unusual and puzzling. The inset on the overview map provides a closeup look at the crater. The yellow mound in the central south of the crater floor is all dunes, which are surrounded by the pit with steep cliffs more than a 1,000 feet high.
» Read more

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University of Arizona opens major facility for building and launching satellites

12:27 pm

anechoic chamber at UA's Applied Research Building
ARB’s anechoic chamber

Yesterday I attended the grand opening of the University of Arizona’s (UA) new Applied Research Building (ARB), designed to provide satellite builders as well as its students an almost completely comprehensive facility for the assembly, testing, and launching of satellites. From this event announcement:

To keep the university at the forefront of space science and exploration, ARB will serve as a world-class test and integration center for satellites, probes, and spacecraft, including:

  • A 40-foot tall high-bay payload assembly area used for constructing high-altitude stratospheric balloons and nanosatellites also known as “CubeSats.”
  • A thermal vacuum chamber that simulates environmental conditions in space to test balloon and satellite performance that is the largest of its kind at any university in the world.
  • A non-reflective, echo-free room called an anechoic chamber to test antennae for command, control, and data relay purposes.
  • A large lab for testing the performance of a range of objects, from airplane wings to sensors.

The anechoic chamber is pictured above. For scale, if a person was standing in the middle of the chamber their height would reach about six rows up. The carbon-infused styrofoam pyramids are designed to dampen reflections of radio signals in order to simulate the space environment while testing the antennas on a satellite. This is apparently is of the largest such chambers in the United States.
» Read more

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Global warming scientists whine about India defunding climate research center

11:29 am

According to this Nature article, scientists worldwide are outraged by the decision of the Modi government in India to suspend all foreign funding to its Centre for Policy Research (CPR) for the next 180 days.

Why might the Modi government have done this? First, this is how Nature describes CPR’s work:

The CPR conducts research into public policy in India, including climate change, social and economic policy, governance and infrastructure. Last year it received about three-quarters of its grant funding from influential global organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank. Its domestic researchers have contributed to high-profile international studies such as the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

…The CPR “has played an enormously important role in informing public policy debate in India and internationally”, says Frank Jotzo, an environmental economist at the Australian National University in Canberra. Jotzo says that CPR, established in 1973, has a long and esteemed history in providing objective and honest analysis of government policy in India, and has at times criticized Indian government policy and plans. “That is invariably the case with any independent, impartial think tank or organization anywhere in the world,” he says. [emphasis mine]

In other words, CPR routinely advocates leftist policy positions. When a leftwing government is in power, its policy papers will glow with pride about the achievements of government. When a rightwing government is in power — such as the Modi administration — its policy papers will be suddenly “objective and honest” and hard-hitting, attacking the government for daring to challenge its assumptions about “climate change, social and economic policy, governance and infrastructure.”

This is typical political garbage from Nature and the leftist culture it routinely represents. CPR appears to have violated Indian law with its foreign funding, using the “funds for purposes other than those permitted under its licence.” Moreover, Modi is the elected head of India’s government. CPR works for him and the Indian public who elected him. If he decides this agency should be defunded, then so be it. For far too long leftists worldwide have claimed a permanent right to government funds. This needs to stop, and it is refreshing to see the Modi government is willing to take action in this regard.

If only Republicans in America has as much courage.

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Webb snaps infrared picture of Uranus

10:11 am

Uranus as seen in the infrared by Webb
Click for original Webb false-color image.

In a follow-up to a recent Hubble Space Telescope optical image of Uranus, scientists have now used the Webb Space Telescope to take a comparable picture in the infrared of the gas giant.

Both pictures are to the right, with the Webb picture at the top including the scientists’ annotations.

On the right side of the planet there’s an area of brightening at the pole facing the Sun, known as a polar cap. This polar cap is unique to Uranus – it seems to appear when the pole enters direct sunlight in the summer and vanish in the fall; these Webb data will help scientists understand the currently mysterious mechanism. Webb revealed a surprising aspect of the polar cap: a subtle enhanced brightening at the center of the cap. The sensitivity and longer wavelengths of Webb’s NIRCam may be why we can see this enhanced Uranus polar feature when it has not been seen as clearly with other powerful telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory.

At the edge of the polar cap lies a bright cloud as well as a few fainter extended features just beyond the cap’s edge, and a second very bright cloud is seen at the planet’s left limb. Such clouds are typical for Uranus in infrared wavelengths, and likely are connected to storm activity.

The Webb image also captures 11 of Uranus’s 13 rings, which appear much brighter in the infrared than in the optical.

Unlike all other planets in the solar system, Uranus’s rotation is tilted so much that it actually rolls as it orbits the Sun, a motion that is obvious by comparing these pictures with Hubble’s 2014 optical picture.

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China tests vertical landing of small rocket from barge at sea

9:51 am

China's own version of SpaceX's Grasshopper

A commercial division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has successfully test flown its own a very small version of SpaceX’s Grasshopper, doing a vertical lift off from a barge at sea and then landing vertically on that barge.

The rocket prototype flew at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, descended in a smooth hovering fashion and then decelerated thanks to the engine reverse thrust. The landing speed was reduced to less than two meters per second at the final stage before the rocket touched down steadily with a landing precision of under 10 meters.

The landing test took about 10 minutes, the CAS institute revealed.

The small scale of the rocket, as shown by the screen capture above, taken from the short video CAS produced of the flight, shows that CAS is a long way yet from using this technology in an orbital flight. Nonetheless, it demonstrates that at least two Chinese pseudo-companies are working hard to copy SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 first stage. With this test CAS has demonstrated it now has the software and fine engine control for vertical rocket landings. Based on the image of its proposed rockets at this tweet, this prototype will eventually lead to the development of larger orbital versions that look remarkably similar to what SpaceX produces.

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Spaceplane startup flies small-scale prototype for the 1st time using new rocket engine

9:31 am

The startup Dawn Aerospace, based in New Zealand, has now successfully flown a small-scale prototype of its proposed spaceplane using for the first time the company’s Aurora rocket engine.

Mk-II Aurora, a scaled down version of the spaceplane Dawn is developing for commercial operations, took to the skies March 29, 30 and 31 from New Zealand’s Gentanner Aerodrome. The initial test campaign validated key flight systems and demonstrated the benefit of rapid reusability, Dawn CEO Stefan Powell told SpaceNews.

During the first flight, the Mk-II Aurora consumed more fuel than anticipated due to a leak in the propellant system. The next day, Dawn engineers removed the Mk-II Aurora engine, took out the oxidizer tank and found the leak.

These rocket-powered test flights are a follow-up of an earlier test program in 2021 using jet engines. You can get a sense of the scale of the prototype from a picture at this article.

The company plans to fly this prototype to as high as twelve miles later this year before moving on to a larger test version. Eventually it hopes to develop a two-stage orbital system. The details however remain vague. The 2021 release suggested it was building a two-stage-to orbit version that will take off from a runway and then launch small satellites into orbit. These new stories suggest it are presently targeting the suborbital unmanned research market, with the eventual ability to do frequent flights to 70 miles altitude. Launching orbital satellites is presently only a distant goal.

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April 5, 2023 Quick space links

2:34 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

  • Tianzhou freighter will fly in formation with China’s Tiangong-3 space station

    • The plan is to periodically redock the freighter to the station “when inventories stored inside are needed.” Jay wonders whether this is a test of the similar formation flying that will be required when China’s space telescope arrives next year to orbit near the station for periodic maintenance and repair. I think he is correct.

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Pushback: Republicans move to expel Democrats who gave aid to rioters in Tennessee statehouse

12:59 pm

Riot in Tennessee Statehouse
L to R, Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson stand at
the podium, using a bullhorn to lead protester chants.

Bring a gun to a knife fight: Wasting no time following the riot by protesters that invaded the Tennessee statehouse on March 30, 2023, Republican state legislators have removed from all committees the Democratic Party legislators who gave aid to rioters and are now moving to have them expelled from office.

Resolutions have been filed against Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they led chants from the House floor with supporters in the gallery last Thursday. The resolution declared that the three had participated in “disorderly behavior” and “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

Republican Reps. Bud Hulsey, Gino Bulso, and Andrew Farmer filed the resolutions. They successfully requested Monday that the House expedite the process and vote on the resolutions Thursday.

Not surprisingly, the three legislators threatened with expulsion claimed they did nothing wrong, even though all three shared a bullhorn in the chamber (as shown in the picture above), leading chants for the demonstrators. Justin Pearson proudly touted what he did in a tweet:
» Read more

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Exploring the cratered southern highlands of Mars, part 1

12:06 pm

Overview map of southern cratered highlands of Mars

Glacial filled crater
Click for original image.

Today and for the next three days the cool images that I will post from Mars will explore a region that I have not covered very much in depth, the cratered southern highlands between the giant basins Argyre and Hellas. The map above is an overview of this 7,000-mile-long region, all of which is inside the 30 to 60 degree south latitude band where scientists have found much evidence of buried glaciers. In this region the bulk of that evidence is most obvious inside craters.

The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 21, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and shows a typical example of the kind of glacial feature found. The white cross on the map marks its location, west of the Hellespontus Mountains that form the western rim of Hellas Basin.

Scientists have dubbed this feature concentric crater fill, a purposely vague term because — though it looks like glacial fill — until there is data to confirm it the scientists would quite properly rather not commit themselves. The concentric rings suggest multiple layers, each of which likely marks a different climate cycle in Mars’ geological history.

In this case the glacier features also appear to cover the entire plain surrounding the crater as well as its rim. The small crater to the west is similar, and both give the appearance that the ice sheet that covers them came after the impact, draping itself over everything, with the craters only visible because the ice sheet sags within their interiors.

More crazy features from the cratered highlands to come.

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First binary quasar found

9:48 am

Double quasar as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope
Double quasar as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope

Using a suite of telescopes on the ground and in orbit, astronomers have found the first galaxy made up of two quasars, supermassive black holes that are very active in eating material from around them.

ESA’s (European Space Agency) Gaia space observatory first detected the unresolved double quasar, capturing images that indicate two closely aligned beacons of light in the young universe. Chen and his team then used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to verify the points of light were in fact coming from a pair of supermassive black holes.

Multi-wavelength observations followed; using Keck Observatory’s second generation Near-Infrared Camera (NIRC2) paired with its adaptive optics system, as well as Gemini North, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Very Large Array network of radio telescopes in New Mexico, the researchers confirmed the double quasar was not two images of the same quasar created by gravitational lensing.

The two quasars are estimated to be only about 10,000 light years apart. Scientists estimate that this galaxy is about ten billion light years away, and exists in this state only about three billion years after the Big Bang.

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Shetland Spaceport now faces same regulatory hurdles that destroyed Virgin Orbit

9:37 am

The new Shetland spaceport, Saxavord, is right now attempting to get launch approvals from United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the same agency that dithered for six months approving a Virgin Orbit launch, thus causing the bankruptcy of that company.

According to Saxavord’s CEO, the spaceport has two launches aiming to launch before the end of this year, assuming the CAA can get its act together and give its approval. This quote however is worrisom:

The Saxavord spaceport says it is “still on track” to receive its necessary licences from the sector’s regulator before the summer. This relates to applications to the Civil Aviation Authority for range and spaceport licences.

Meanwhile SaxaVord CEO Frank Strang said the company is also on track for two rocket launches this year – “albeit they have moved slightly to the right”. [emphasis mine]

The delays could be coming from the rocket companies themselves. One of those companies is the German startup, Rocket Factory Augsburg, which has leased exclusive use of one launchsite. The other is the American startup ABL, which has had one launch attempt from the U.S. that failed.

Based on the CAA’s track record however the delays are just as likely coming from it. The CAA began this licensing process in November 2022, and is not done yet six months later.

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Scientists try to model what would happen if Ryugu hit Earth

9:19 am

Ryugu's northen hemisphere
Ryugu’s northen hemisphere. The arrow marks the spot Hayabusa-2
gathered samples

Scientists, using the data and rock samples gathered by the Japanese probe Hayabusa-2, have attempted to predict what what would happen if the rubble-pile asteroid Ryugu hit the Earth.

Without diversion intervention, Tanaka explained, if the Ryugu asteroid was heading to Earth and entered the planet’s atmosphere at an angle of 45 degrees and at a speed of around 38,000 miles per hour (17 kilometers per second), the rubble pile asteroid would break up at an altitude of around 25 to 21 miles (40 to 35 km) over the surface of the planet.

This would result in an “airburst” similar to that seen over Russia in February 2013 when the Chelyabinsk meteor erupted at an altitude of around 19 miles (30 kilometers) over Earth. The result of the Chelyabinsk blast was a bright flash of light and an atmospheric blast equivalent to the detonation of 400–500 kilotons of TNT. This is as much as 33 times the energy released by the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.

The Chelyabinsk meteor caused about 1,500 injuries, mostly from people injured by glass thrown out by breaking windows when it suddenly and unexpectedly exploded during re-entry. With Ryugu this would not be a surprise, so these injuries could be reduced, though not eliminated. The damage and injuries from pieces that survived the breakup and hit the ground remains unknown because scientists don’t know how much of the asteroid would survive the break up.

Ryugu of course poses no threat, because it is not on a collision course with Earth. Whether an asteroid like Ryugu could be diverted however remains unknown, since any such diversion must not cause the asteroid to break apart as well.

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Judges expand hiring boycott of elite law colleges that allow violent protests and censorship

12:24 pm

Judge James Ho
Judge James Ho

Two federal judges have now expanded their hiring boycott to include Stanford Law School along with Yale Law School because the administrators at both schools have refused to punish violent student protesters who acted to silence others.

The judges, James C. Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Elizabeth Branch, a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, will hire no graduates from these schools, thus reducing the whole reason for going there. Law students graduate hoping this diploma will get them jobs working for important judges, an early step to becoming a judge themselves.

The question that Ho and Branch raise, however, is whether any judge would want to hire any students from these particular schools. As Judge Ho noted in a speech on April 1st at the annual meeting of the Texas Review of Law & Politics.
» Read more

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The outermost edge of Mars’ north polar icecap

11:28 am

The outermost edge of Mars' north polar icecap
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on February 4, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows the terminating cliffs of the north pole ice cap of Mars, dubbed Rupes Tenius on this side of the icecap.

At this point the elevation difference of the icecap’s edge from top to bottom is not significant, only about 1,500 feet or so, though this is a very rough estimate. As with all other images of the ice cape’s edge, there are many many layers visible, all indicating a different cycle in the climate history of Mars as its rotational tilt swings from about 11 degrees to 60 degrees over eons.

Moreover, at this point there is likely not that much difference between the terrain on top and the terrain below. Both will be mixed ice and dust and coarse rocks, though the percentages will be shifting towards less ice as we go down.
» Read more

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FAA issues travel advisory for Boca Chica for April 10, 2023 Starship launch

10:30 am

Though the FAA has not yet issued the launch license to SpaceX, allowing it to do the first orbital launch test of its Superheavy/Starship rocket, the agency today did issue a travel advisory for the Boca Chica area for April 10-11, 2023, in connection with this launch.

The FAA advisory is here. Scroll down to see the space activities section, which includes this information:

SPACEX STARSHIP SUPERHEAVY BOCA CHICA, TX
PRIMARY: 04/10/23 1310-1745Z
BACKUP(S): 04/11-12/23 1310-1745Z

Based on this information, we should expect the FAA launch license to be publicly announced any moment.

Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so I don’t have to.

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English company buys land in Ohio for astronaut training facility

9:04 am

Blue Abyss, an English company focused on establishing “extreme environment research, test, and training centres,” has purchased twelve acres in Ohio where it plans to build an astronaut training facility.

The property, which is near Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center, will include a 164-foot deep pool, microgravity center, astronaut training center, and a hotel. Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt described the facility as a “boot camp for astronauts.”

It appears the company is expecting there to be a lot of commercial astronauts in the coming years who will need training, and anticipates that NASA will not be capable of or interested in providing the service.

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Lockheed Martin picked by Australia to build two military communications satellites

8:54 am

Australia’s military announced yesterday that it has chosen Lockheed Martin as the “preferred bidder” to build two military communications satellites.

According to Australian media reports, the ADF [Australian Defense Force] is interested in buying at least two geostationary communications satellites and wants a sovereign military satcom capability. Currently Australia’s defense forces rely on commercial satellite services and on the U.S. Wideband Global Satcom constellation. Air Vice-Marshal David Scheul, head of Australia’s Air Defence and Space Systems Division, said the project will deliver the country’s “first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system over the Indo-Pacific ocean regions.”

Lockheed Martin edged out competing teams led by Airbus, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Australia’s largest satellite operator Optus.

To get the contract, Lockheed Martin partnered with almost a dozen Australian companies. The specifics of the deal however still have to be worked out.

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Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy

8:46 am

Less than a week after it laid off 85% of its workforce, Virgin Orbit’s management has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Under Chapter 11, it appears the company can still be purchased and re-established, much like Firefly Aerospace was when it filed for bankruptcy. Since Richard Branson’s Virgin Group pumped a lot of cash into the company in the past six months, exceeding $70 million, it would get first crack at ownership rights. We should therefore not be surprised if Virgin Orbit comes back to life, owned by Branson and bought for pennies on the dollar, with the little stockholders and investors left in the lurch.

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April 3, 2023 Quick space links

5:28 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, now back from a well-deserved vacation.

 

 

  • Several images from Rocket Lab of the most recently recovered Electron 1st stage

    • From the tweet: “Once again the stage took reentry in its stride and the Rutherford engines are in great shape. Next step is to analyze and requalify components to inform our future recovery efforts.”

    Rocket Lab officials has indicated that they are beginning to think they can simply reuse stages after splashdown in the ocean, rather than capture them by helicopter in the air. The data from this stage will help them make this decision.

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A journey into Martian chaos

5:12 pm

Overview map of Aram Chaos

With today’s cool image, we shall begin with the overview map, and drill our way down until we get a close look at another example of truly alien Martian terrain, with only a hint of similarity to comparable geology on Earth.

The overview map to the right shows us Aram Chaos, an ancient 170-mile-wide impact crater that has gone through such complex geology that it is difficult, maybe impossible, to unravel it based on data obtained from orbit. As I wrote in a detailed December 2020 post describing the confusing geology of this crater,

The floor of Aram Chaos is a place of great puzzlement to planetary geologists. The geology there is incredibly complex, and includes chaos terrain overlain by several sedimentary layers of sulfate minerals. The chaos terrain is most obvious in the southern part of the crater’s floor. The flat areas near the eastern center are those overlaying sedimentary layers.

When we zoom into the white box we can see a good example of this complexity.
» Read more

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Ingenuity completes 49th flight on Mars

1:37 pm

Overview map
Click for interactive map.

The Ingenuity team today posted the official flight totals for the Mars helicopter’s 49th flight, which took place yesterday.

The helicopter flew 925 feet for 143 seconds, or two minutes and twenty-three seconds. The plan had been to fly 894 feet for 135 seconds, but has been happening consistently for the past dozen or so flights, the helicopter spent a little more time in the air and traveled a little farther.

As for altitude, it apparently did exactly as planned, averaging about 40 feet in height until the end of the mission, when Ingenuity went straight up another twelve feet to get a wider view of its landing area.

The map to the right shows the context. The green dot marks Ingenuity’s location at the start of the flight. The green line indicates my approximate estimate of its flight path and landing area, which the engineering team has not yet posted. The white dots and line mark Perseverance’s path, with its present location at the area dubbed Tenby where it has obtained its first core sample from the top of the delta.

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Sunspot update: Activity remained high in March

12:35 pm

It is time for my monthly sunspot update. NOAA this week updated its graph that tracks the number of sunspots on the Sun’s Earth-facing hemisphere. This graph is posted below, with some additional details included to provide some context.

Last month the number of sunspots dipped slightly after a gigantic leap of activity in January. This month showed a small rise in activity, but not enough to bring levels back to the January’s levels. Nonetheless, activity remains the highest seen since 2014. when the last solar maximum was approaching its end, and continues to exceed significantly the 2020 prediction by NOAA’s panel of solar scientists.
» Read more

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