Category: Points of Information

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

Astra lays off 25% of workforce, mostly in its rocket departments

10:07 am

Astra revealed yesterday that it has laid off 25% of its workforce, with most of those jobs coming from those working of developing its rocket, in order to focus the company on its rocket engine business, the only area it at present has a chance of earning revenue.

The reallocation and layoffs are expected to delay testing of the under-development Rocket 4 and Launch System 2.0, Astra said. The affected employees worked in the company’s launch, sales and administration and “shared services” departments. Workforce reductions are expected to save the company more than $4 million per quarter beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

Astra, which is facing dwindling cash reserves, is no doubt looking for a way to further reduce operating expenses while also bolstering its spacecraft engine business, the only business unit that currently has a near-term chance of generating revenue. The spacecraft engine technology is sourced from Astra’s acquisition of propulsion developer Apollo Fusion, which closed the day Astra went public in July 2021.

Indeed, Astra said that it had closed 278 committed orders of the Astra Spacecraft Engine product through the end of March, which totals around $77 million in contracts once the engines are delivered. A “substantial majority” of these orders will be delivered through the end of 2024, the company said.

What these actions mean is that Astra is no longer a rocket company. It might return eventually, but for now there is little chance it will resume launches for years.

It is interesting that this action was revealed only one day after a class-action lawsuit was dismissed by investors against the company for claiming that it would soon be launching 300 times per year.

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Engineers regain full control over Voyager 2

3:29 pm

A longshot effort by engineers has succeeded in re-establishing full communications with Voyager 2, launched in 1977 and flying outward at the edge of the solar system.

“The Deep Space Network used the highest-power transmitter to send the command (the 100-kw S-band uplink from the Canberra site) and timed it to be sent during the best conditions during the antenna tracking pass in order to maximize possible receipt of the command by the spacecraft,” Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd told AFP. This so-called “interstellar shout” required 18.5 hours traveling at light speed to reach Voyager, and it took 37 hours for mission controllers to learn whether the command worked, JPL said in a statement.

The probe began returning science and telemetry data at 12:29 am Eastern Time on August 4, “indicating it is operating normally and that it remains on its expected trajectory,” added JPL.

Based on a weak signal received earlier, engineers were confident that the spacecraft was functioning in good order despite the loss in communications, and would automatically re-orient itself properly when it did an automatic reset in October. This attempt however fixed things now.

Regardless, the spacecraft probably only has a few more more years of operations before its nuclear powered source finally runs out sometime after 2025.

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August 4, 2023 Quick space links

3:10 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

 

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Today’s blacklisted American: Pediatrician fired for raising questions about COVID jab at public meeting

2:26 pm

Renata Moon, testifying on December 7, 2022
Renata Moon, testifying on December 7, 2022.
Click to hear her testimony.

They’re coming for you next: After pediatrician Renata Moon testified at a December 7, 2022 public Capitol Hill event organized by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), where she raised serious and very legitimate questions about the COVID jab and the risks it might carry, she was fired as a teacher by Washington State University for daring to express such thoughts out loud.

So, what horrible things did she say at that December 2022 event?

Dr. Moon testified that she had only seen two or three cases of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, while practicing for more than 20 years. But after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, she said, she has been seeing more cases, and heard about others from fellow doctors. “There’s clearly been a massive increase,” Dr. Moon said.

Dr. Moon also pulled out the package insert for the vaccines, or a piece of paper that typically outlines warnings, ingredients, and other information for a vaccine. The insert for the COVID-19 vaccines has no information and says, “intentionally blank,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged. “How am I to give informed consent to parents when this is what I have?” Dr. Moon said.

All she did was note the obvious increase in myocarditis after the rollout of the jab, something that has now been documented repeatedly by studies (see just a few examples here, here, here, and here), while adding that though by law she as a doctor is required to provide patients with all information about the risks of a treatment, the government had intentionally denied her that information.

For this, Washington State University officials immediately reported her to the Washington Medical Commission (WMC), which at that time (and maybe even now) considers any statement expressing any skepticism about the efficacy of the COVID jab by any doctor to be “misinformation” that justifies the revocation of his or her medical license. In the university’s letter [pdf] informing her of its actions as well as warning her that it was considering firing her, it clearly indicated that it considered her testimony as her fundamental crime.
» Read more

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A hiking paradise on Mars!

12:51 pm

A hiking paradise on Mars
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, sharpened, and annotated to post here, was taken on May 21, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows one of Mars’ more impressive mountains with the Sun somewhat low in the western sky, resulting in the long dark shadows on the eastern slopes.

The line is my quick attempt to mark the obvious route that would be taken along that ridge line to get from the bottom to the top. This could be a hiking trail, or a road. In either case, the elevation gain from the bottom of the ridge to the plateau on top would be about 3,900 feet in about a mile and a half, very steep for Earth — at approximately a 26 degree grade — but probably quite doable in the one-third Martian gravity.

The lower end of my proposed route however is hardly the bottom of the mountain. The slope, now alluvial fill made up of dust and debris from above, continues downhill for another 5,400 feet. All told, from top to bottom the elevation gain is about 9,300 feet over 8.5 miles.
» Read more

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Proposed exclusion zone restrictions revealed for new Sutherland spaceport in Scotland

10:35 am

A map of the proposed 50-square-kilometer exclusion zone that will be required for launches at the new Sutherland spaceport in Scotland has now been obtained by the Northern Times, which appears to be a local newspaper.

The zone would cover much of Melness Crofters’ Estate, and ironically it would also include a significant part of the neighbouring Eriboll Estate, owned by Danish entrepreneur Anders Holch Polvsen, who launched a failed legal challenge against the spaceport. Highland Council is in the process of finalising the details of the proposed restrictions which will then be put out for a 12-week public consultation and go before Highland councillors for final approval.

Ramblers Scotland, which promotes access to the outdoors, has said it will “carefully study” the final proposals.

Only during the launches does it appear the zone would be this large. Between launches the zone would be limited to a radius of 1.8 kilometers around the launchpads.

With twelve launches planned per year, this zone could seriously impact local activities, though how much is not clear. Not many people live in the area, and the land inside the zone is mostly used as grazing land or for recreational activities, many apparently organized by Ramblers Scotland. We should therefore expect some opposition to this plan when this zone is discussed during that 12-week public consultation time period.

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Scientists release infrared image of the Ring nebula, taken by Webb

10:23 am

The Ring Nebula, in false color by Webb
Click for original image.

Scientists yesterday released the first false-color infrared image of the Ring nebula taken by the Webb Telescope. That image, cropped to post here, is to the right. From the press release, which is heavy with platitudes but little information:

Approximately 2,600 lightyears away from Earth, the nebula was born from a dying star that expelled its outer layers into space. What makes these nebulae truly breath-taking is their variety of shapes and patterns, that often include delicate, glowing rings, expanding bubbles or intricate, wispy clouds. These patterns are the consequence of the complex interplay of different physical processes that are not well understood yet. Light from the hot central star now illuminates these layers.

Just like fireworks, different chemical elements in the nebula emit light of specific colours. This then results in exquisite and colourful objects, and furthermore allows astronomers to study the chemical evolution of these objects in detail.

It appears this image was produced using Webb’s near infrared instrument. Further data from its mid-infrared instrument has not yet been released. For a Hubble image of the Ring Nebula, in optical light that the human eye sees, go here.

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NASA agrees to let Axiom fly a fourth private manned mission to ISS

10:10 am

NASA and Axiom have now signed a new agreement allowing Axiom to fly a fourth private manned mission to ISS, tentatively scheduled for no earlier than August 2024.

Through the mission-specific order, Axiom Space is obtaining from NASA crew supplies, cargo delivery to space, storage, and in-orbit resources for daily use. The order also accommodates up to seven contingency days aboard the space station. This mission is subject to NASA’s pricing policy for the services that are above space station baseline capabilities.

The order also identifies capabilities NASA may obtain from Axiom Space, including the return of scientific samples that must be kept cold and other cargo, and the capability to use the private astronaut mission commander’s time to complete NASA science or perform tasks for the agency.

The company has already hired SpaceX to provide the transportation to and from ISS, using its Falcon 9 rocket and one of its fleet of four manned Dragon capsules.

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Despite good first images from Euclid, the orbiting telescope has a problem

10:05 am

Even though the first light images from Euclid have been sharp and exactly what astronomers want, the orbiting telescope designed to make a 3D map of billions of galaxies has an issue that will likely put some limits to that map.

When the telescope started booting up, ESA observers were concerned by the appearance of light markings on the first images relayed to Earth. This, it confirmed, was due to sunlight filtering into the telescope, “probably through a tiny gap”.

A correction to Euclid’s position was able to offset this issue. It means that while the ESA is confident Euclid will be fine to proceed with its mapping mission, particular orientations for the telescope may not be possible.

A limitation like this means that the telescope will not being able to look in some directions and get mapping images. Thus, the overall map will have gaps, though it appears at this moment that the scientists think those gaps will not seriously impact the telescope’s overall work. We shall see.

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Update on the technical progress at Boca Chica, preparing for the next Starship/Superheavy orbital test

9:59 am

Link here. Lots of progress had been made in getting the pad and the rocket ready for that next orbital test flight, with the first static fires tests of Superheavy using the launchpad’s new water deluge system are now expected in the coming week.

The company is also preparing additional prototypes of Superheavy and Starship for later orbital tests. even as it upgrades the assembly facilities, replacing temporary tents with actual buildings. More details, including videos, at the link.

Meanwhile, the only word from the FAA about SpaceX’s application for a launch permit has been a warning that it will not issue that permit until it is good and ready, suggesting the company should not expect to launch in August, as I have been predicting for months.

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August 3, 2023 Quick space links

3:47 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

  • Northrop Grumman to upgrade Cygnus freighter

    • The changes will increase its payload capacity, allow it to dock directly to a port rather than being berthed by a robot arm, and — most importantly — refine is ability to raise ISS’s orbit using its engines. This last capability replaces the Russians, and will be a need that future commercial stations will require.

 

 

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