Category: Points of Information

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

FAA and Fish & Wildlife approve further launches of Starship/Superheav at Boca Chica

12:35 pm

Starship/Superheavy flight plan for first orbital flight
The April Starship/Superheavy flight plan. Click for original image.
The slightly revised flight plan for flight two can be found here.

Starship stacked on Superheavy, September 5, 2023
Starship stacked on Superheavy, September 5, 2023,
when Elon Musk said it was ready for launch

UPDATE: The FAA has now issued the launch licence [pdf]. Note it adds that the FAA and Fish & Wildlife have imposed new requirements (as noted in the announcements below) on SpaceX on this and future launches, all of which will have to be reviewed after each launch.

Original post:
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Both the FAA and the Fish & Wildlife department of the Interior Departiment today released their completed investigations of the environmental impacts created by the first test launch of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy rocket in April 2023, and (not surprisingly) concluded that the launch did no harm, and that a second launch can be allowed.

The FAA report can be found here [pdf]. The Fish & Wildlife report can be found here [pdf]. Both essentially come to the same conclusion — though in minute detail — that Fish and Wildlife had determined in April 2023, only a week after that first test launch.

No debris was found on lands belonging to the refuge itself, but the agency said debris was spread out over 385 acres belonging to SpaceX and Boca Chica State Park. A fire covering 3.5 acres also started south of the pad on state park land, but the Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t state what caused the fire or how long it burned.

There was no evidence, though, that the launch and debris it created harmed wildlife. “At this time, no dead birds or wildlife have been found on refuge-owned or managed lands,” the agency said. [emphasis mine]

In other words, the investigation for the past seven months was merely to complete the paperwork, in detail, for these obvious conclusions then.

As part of the FAA action today, it also issued range restrictions for a November 17, 2023 test launch at Boca Chica. Though there is no word yet of the issuance of an actual launch license, it appears one will be issued, and SpaceX is prepared for launch that day, with a 2.5 hourlong launch window, opening at 7 am (Central). SpaceX has already announced that its live stream will begin about 30 minutes before launch, at this link as well as on X.

Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay and my reader Jestor Naybor for these links.

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Lava/ice eruptions on Mars

11:49 am

Lava/ice eruptions on Mars
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 1, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled by the science team as showing “possible lava-ice interaction,” the photo features some pimply-looking mounds that, though round like craters, sit above the surrounding landscape like small volcanoes.

That these are likely not ancient pedestal impact craters that now sit higher because their material is packed and can resist erosion is illustrated by the bridge-like mound in the lower right. This mound was likely once solid, but its north and south sections have disappeared, either by erosion or sublimation. If formed by an impact the mound would have had a depression in its top center, and would have only eroded outside the rim.
» Read more

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Gamma ray burst 1.9 billion light years away was powerful enough to affect Earth’s atmosphere

9:34 am

One of the most powerful gamma ray bursts (GRBs) ever detected was so powerful that despite occurring about 1.9 billion light years away it was powerful enough to affect Earth’s atmosphere.

On 9 October 2022, for 7 minutes, high energy photons from a gigantic explosion 1.9 billion light-years away toasted one side of Earth as never before observed. The event, called a gamma ray burst (GRB), was 70 times brighter than the previous record holder. But what astronomers dub the “BOAT”—the brightest of all time—did more than provide a light show spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. It also ionized atoms across the ionosphere, which spans from 50 to 1000 kilometers in altitude, researchers say. The findings highlight the faint but real risk of a closer burst destroying Earth’s protective ozone layer.

“It was such a massive event, it affected all levels of the atmosphere,” says solar physicist Laura Hayes of the European Space Agency (ESA).

None of these consequences were harmful or even noticeable to any life on Earth, but the data proved without question that a GRB close by within the Milky Way could have been the cause of one or more of the past extinction events. It also proved that a future such nearby explosion could do the same again.

At present astronomers think that GRBs are caused either by the collapse of a massive star into a black hole, during a supernovae event, or by the merger of two neutron stars. Neither conclusion is proved as yet, though the evidence has eliminated most other theories.

For astronomers this GRB was significant because its strength allowed many different telescopes and detectors to record it, in many different wavelengths. Having such a wealth of information helps them better figure out what happened when the burst occurred.

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Japan to spend $6.6 billion over ten years to develop its space industry

9:19 am

The Japanese government has created a new $6.6 billion fund that it will provide to its space agency JAXA, spread out over the next ten years, to help develop the country’s commercial space industry.

The very short article at the link provides little additional information. For example, will JAXA be required to act merely as a customer, buying services from competing private companies, or will it be allowed to use this money to create its own projects that it designs, builds, and owns?

The difference is fundamental. Presently JAXA functions like NASA had for decades, partnering with only a handful of big space companies (Mitsubishi for example) to build its own government rockets and spaceships. The results have been comparable to NASA prior to 2010: Little gets built and whatever is built is overbudget and far behind schedule.

Since NASA accepted the idea of capitalism in space, where it no longer builds or owns much but relies on private enterprise to get it done, things have moved fast. Similarly, India and China have followed suit, and both are getting similar good results.

The unanswered question from this story is whether Japan has finally taken the leap to do it as well. Making this transition can be politically difficult, because the space agencies and big space contractors fight to protect their turf. It is not clear if the Japanese government is willing to fight that battle.

If it doesn’t, however, Japan will continue to be a backwater in space, like Russia,as the rest of the world’s space-faring nations increasingly turn to private enterprise, competition, and (most of all) freedom to get results.

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Scientists: More evidence cosmic rays come from nearby supernova remnants

9:07 am

The uncertainty of science: According to high energy data from an instrument on ISS, astronomers found more evidence that the cosmic rays that enter our solar system likely come from nearby supernova remnants.

Current theory posits that the aftermath of supernovae (exploding stars), called supernova remnants, produce these high energy electrons, which are a specific type of cosmic ray. Electrons lose energy very quickly after leaving their source, so the rare electrons arriving at CALET with high energy are believed to originate in supernova remnants that are relatively nearby (on a cosmic scale), Cannady explains.

The study’s results are “a strong indicator that the paradigm that we have for understanding these high-energy electrons—that they come from supernova remnants and that they are accelerated the way that we think they are—is correct,” Cannady says. The findings “give insight into what’s going on in these supernova remnants, and offer a way to understand the galaxy and these sources in the galaxy better.”

The results however do not prove this. Nor do they eliminate the possibility that cosmic rays might also come from other sources outside our galaxy. At present the data is simply too uncertain.

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Intuitive Machines will attempt to launch 3 lunar landing missions in 2024

8:52 am

South Pole of Moon with landing sites

According to the company’s CEO, Intuitive Machines is pushing to fly two more Nova-C lunar landing missions next year after its first is launched by SpaceX on January 12th and hopefully lands successfully near the Moon’s south pole on January 19th.

Intuitive Machines is working on two more Nova-C landers for its IM-2 and IM-3 missions, also carrying NASA CLPS payloads. The company has not announced launch dates for those missions, but Altemus said he hoped both could take place by the end of 2024.

“We are planning three missions in 2024,” he said, which will depend in part on NASA’s requirements as well as orbital dynamics. Landings at the south polar region of the moon, the target for IM-2, are linked to “seasons” where lighting conditions are optimal for lander operations. IM-3, he said, would happen “a few months” after IM-2.

Though Nova-C will launch after Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander (launching on ULA’s Vulcan rocket), it will get to the Moon quickly, and will attempt its landing first. If successfully it will therefore be the first private payload to do so.

The company’s ambitions for 2024 are laudable, but depend so entirely on everything going perfectly it will not be surprising if they do not pan out. Nor will it reflect badly on the company if just one mission flies in 2024. Landing a robot on another world is hard. For private companies to do it is harder.

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ESA firms up space station partnership with Voyager Space

8:38 am

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the American company Voyager Space last week signed an agreement making Voyager’s Starlab space station Europe’s main space station destination, replacing ISS.

Starlab will fulfill that role, at least partially, in the future for the space agencies of individual ESA member states. It’s expected to launch as soon as 2028, with operations set to start in 2029. This will include access for astronaut missions and to conduct research as well as providing opportunities for commercial business development. Starlab is also set to provide a complete “end-to-end” system in low-Earth orbit to which European crews and cargo will journey.

This European deal became more likely when Airbus joined the partnership of Voyager and Lockheed Martin in January 2023. It is also probably why Northrop Grumman in October 2023 abandoned its own space station project and joined this one instead. ESA is a big customer, most likely to guarantee the most profits.

What makes this deal different than ISS is that the station will not be owned by this large government customer. The companies building Starlab — led by Voyager — will be free to sell its services to anyone who wishes to use it. This deal also means that NASA and ESA will be going separate ways after ISS, no longer partnering on a station.

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November 14, 2023 Quick space links

3:16 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

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The caldera wall of a Martian giant volcano

12:12 pm

The caldera wall of Pavonis Mons
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on June 8, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows the top half of the northwestern interior wall of the central caldera of Pavonis Mons, the center volcano in the string of three giant volcanos found in Mars’ equatorial regions.

The elevation change from the top to the bottom of this picture is about 7,000 feet, though this covers only half the distance down to the floor of the caldera. The picture was taken as part of a survey of this caldera wall.

Volcanic activity here is thought to have ended more than a billion years ago. Thus we are looking at relatively old terrain that has had many eons to be reshaped since the last eruption.
» Read more

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Real pushback? 1600 Harvard alumni demand the university take action against campus anti-Semitism

11:15 am

Is Harvard really willing to oppose bigotry?
Will Harvard really shut down to its racist programs?

Bring a gun to a knife fight: In what is certainly an encouraging sign that many Americans are finally waking up to the utter bankruptcy of modern academia, a group of 1,600 Harvard alumni on November 11, 2023 sent a letter to Harvard demanding it make some forceful response to the growing anti-Semitism on its campus.

Of the group’s six demands, these two stand out as most likely to accomplish some good:

  • An immediate plan and robust commitment by the College and University to curb the dissemination of hate speech and to limit the disruptiveness of rallies so that they do not interfere with students’ abilities to participate in their classes, to enter into their own dorms, and to move peacefully through the campus. In particular, we ask for the addition of religion as a targeted category for harassment in the College Handbook and for the University, and the codification of calls for violence targeting civilians as outside of acceptable behavior for University students or faculty.
  • The creation of a commission to study the roots of antisemitism on campus by investigating whether aspects of the university curriculum, the DEI framework, faculty training (or the lack thereof), and certain campus events perpetuate unreflective narratives about Jewish people and the state of Israel.

» Read more

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NASA “pauses” Mars Sample Return mission

9:11 am

Perseverance's first set of core samples, placed on the floor of Jezero Crater
Perseverance’s first set of core samples,
placed on the floor of Jezero Crater

Faced with a strong threat of major budget cuts from the Senate, NASA has decided to “pause” the Mars Sample Return mission (MSR) by ramping back some work to consider major changes to the project.

We brought Steve [Thibault] downtown to be the chief engineer in the Headquarters MSR program office … leading a team that consists of all the implementing centers and our European colleagues to stand back and take a look at the architecture with a fresh set of eyes and figure out not only just how to improve our technical margins and make the mission more robust, but also to see if there are ways to implement it in ways to potentially save costs. We’re also going off and listening to industry and seeing what ideas they have.

While the House had approved NASA’s budget request that exceeded $1 billion to complete the mission (more than double its original price tag), the Senate responded by only allocating one quarter of that, demanding NASA come up with a plan that would match its original budget number. This Senate pressure was enhanced by an independent review that harshly criticized the present design of the project, which involves three NASA centers, European participation, and multiple American companies, all building different components that must all interact perfectly.

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Musk: Government approval for 2nd Starship/Superheavy launch expected before Friday

8:35 am

According to a tweet today by Elon Musk, he has been informed that the federal government will give its blessing for SpaceX to conduct the second Starship/Superheavy test launch from Boca Chica in time for a Friday November 17, 2023 launch.

The launch window opens at 7 am (Central) and lasts until 11:20 am.

Let us all now bow our heads to our lords and saviors at the FAA and Fish and Wildlife for finally deciding to allow this once-free American to simply do something the government was once forbidden from blocking. The worst part is that the fundamental law that forbids such government interference (its called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) has not been officially repealed, merely morphed into nothing more than fish wrap while everyone decided to look the other way.

Be warned: Even if by some miracle this second test launch goes perfectly, these government agencies are still not going to allow a quick turn-around for a third launch. No, they will put SpaceX through the same investigatory grind, eating up months. And if the more likely scenario occurs, and the launch does not go perfectly, I guarantee the grind will go on longer.

Sovereign power now resides within Washington, not the people of the United States. The proof is how so many of those people now consider this situation normal and expected.

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November 13, 2023 Quick space links

3:44 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

  • ESA is apparently rigging things to favor one space cargo company

    • After announcing the program allowing private European companies to build their own cargo freighters to bring supplies to space stations and compete for contracts, it appears the European Space Agency (ESA) revised the rules so that the only capsule that meets the specs is being built by The Exploration Company in France. In other words, Europe still doesn’t understand capitalism and competition, and is fixing the game. The result will once again be more failure from ESA.

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Real Pushback: Conservative family sues Biden Justice Department for “‘Malicious and Retaliatory Prosecution”

12:27 pm

The Houck Family: Targets of FBI harassment and arrest
The Houck Family: Targets of FBI harassment and arrest.
It is surprisng the Gestapo FBI didn’t frog march the mother
and her children to prison as well. Can’t have anyone raising
children to be Christian and upstanding, can we?

Bring a gun to a knife fight: Mark Houck, who was arrested by a Justice Department SWAT team aiming guns and rifles at him and his family and was quickly found innocent of all charges, has now sued the Biden Justice Department and Merrick Garland for committing a “malicious and retaliatory prosecution.”

Actually, two lawsuits were filed. While Houck has sued for $1.1 million, his wife Ryan-Marie Houck is seeking $3.25 million in damages for the mental harm the arrest caused herself and her children.

Ryan-Marie Houck’s complaint describes how profoundly her husband’s arrest has impacted their children, Mark Jr., Ava Marie, Kathryn, Therese, Joshua, Augustine, and Imelda.

“Her children have also suffered immense emotional trauma and physical manifestations of stress that Mrs. Houck has carried alone while her husband was away during his imprisonment and prosecution,” the complaint says. Most tragically of all, her complaint says, Ryan-Marie and Mark Houck have lost three babies through miscarriages “due to the stress of the FBI’s conduct and resulting prosecution.”

“The stress of these events was so difficult that the Houcks have been diagnosed with infertility,” the complaint says.

This story is an update of two previous blacklist columns, in September 2022, just after the arrest, and January 2023, after Houck was found innocent of all charges. From the beginning the charges by the Biden Justice Department could clearly be seen as trumped up and malicious. The original minor pushing incident between Houck and pro-abortion activist — in order to stop that activist from harassing his young son — was so minor that a local court had immediately dismissed it. When Justice renewed those charges Houck told them he would be glad to surrender himself peaceable.

Instead, Justice sent a well-armed large SWAT team to invade his home at 6:30 in the morning, pointing weapons at everyone, including the screaming children. » Read more

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Curiosity looks back at Gale Crater one last time before month-long communications break

11:11 am

Looking back at Gale Crater
Click for image.

Overview map
Click for interactive map

Though the view has not changed much since early October, when I last posted a Curiosity navigation image looking out across Gale Crater from the present heights of Mount Sharp, today’s image above, taken on November 8, 2023, sol 4001 since the rover landed on Mars, signals the beginning of the monthlong solar conjunction, when all communications with Mars is blocked because the Sun has moved between the Earth and the Red Planet.

Solar conjunction occurs every two years, with this being the sixth conjunction experienced by Curiosity. It officially began on November 6th and is expected to end around November 29th. The picture above however was obtained two days into that conjuction, and is unusual in that it does not have the large drop-outs now seen in many other images taken then, both from Curiosity and Perseverance. We should expect there to be very few additional images before the end of November.

The blue dot in the overview map to the right shows Curiosity’s present position, with the yellow lines indicating roughly the area covered by the picture above. The crater rim is about 20 to 25 miles away, with the peak of Mount Sharp about the same distance away in the opposite direction. The rover has climbed about 2,500 feet, but it still sits about 13,000 feet below the mountain’s peak. Though the photo encompasses Curiosity’s entire route since landing, most of it is out of sight, the lower flanks of Mount Sharp blocking our view.

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Spanish court indicts two high-altitude balloon companies for stealing from third

9:16 am

In a legal battle between the three Spanish high-altitude balloon tourist companies (Zero-2, Halo, and Eos-X), a court in Spain has indicted the latter two for stealing trade secrets from the first.

The case stems from Zero 2 Infinity’s allegations that the people hired to raise money for its space tourism business established two competing firms based on Zero 2 Infinity’s intellectual property.

After asking for extensive documentation to share with potential investors, some of the individuals indicted “changed the logo in the presentations and managed to raise 1 million euros for a company that was just a website with some” computer generated imagery, Jose Mariano Lopez-Urdiales, Zero 2 Infinity founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. “They thought they could do that because Zero 2 Infinity was in financial distress, in part because we were expecting that 1 million euros to arrive.”

…The law in question carries potential penalties “of imprisonment from three to five years” if the secrets in question were “disseminated, revealed, or transferred to third parties” in addition to fines, Spanish attorney Leonardo López Marcos, co-founder of the International Legal Center for Space Sustainability, said by email.

One of the companies, Halo, apparently used the fund-raisers as a go-between so that it never had any direct links to the original company, Zero-2. Of the three companies, Halo has now done the most test flights. Whether this ruling will force it to shut down remains unclear.

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SpaceX successfully launches two communications satellites

2:53 pm

SpaceX today successfully launched its third pair of communications satellites for the Luxembourg satellite company SES, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

The first stage completed its ninth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

83 SpaceX
51 China
14 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India

American private enterprise now leads China 95 to 51 in successful launches, and the entire world combined 95 to 80. SpaceX by itself is now leads the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 83 to 80.

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SpaceX launches 90 payloads on its ninth smallsat Transporter mission

4:57 pm

SpaceX today successfully launched 90 payloads on its ninth smallsat Transporter mission, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.

From the link: “There will be 90 payloads on this flight deployed by Falcon 9, including CubeSats, MicroSats, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying an additional 23 spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.”

The first stage completed its twelth flight, landing back at Vandenberg.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

82 SpaceX
51 China
14 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India

American private enterprise now leads China 94 to 51 in successful launches, and the entire world combined 94 to 80. SpaceX by itself is now leads the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 82 to 80.

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November 10, 2023 Quick space links

3:28 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

 

 

 

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Samson’s flying car completes its first test flight

8:37 am

Samson’s Switchblade flying car, designed to convert from a car to a small airplane with the touch of a button, has successfully completed its first test flight.

At the Grant Country International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, the Switchblade lifted off for an exhilarating first flight, reaching an altitude of 500 ft (150 m) and circling around to touch down some six minutes later.

In September the company had the plane perform a number of runway hop tests, but this was the first actual flight. At present the company says it has more than two thousand preorders for the flying car.

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November 9, 2023 Quick space links

8:06 pm

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who sent them on time but I am late posting them.

 

 

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FCC extends SpaceX’s communications license for Starship/Superheavy launch

6:46 pm

The FCC tonight extended SpaceX’s communications license for Starship/Superheavy launch from December 1, 2023 to February 23, 2024.

Though there are a lot of rumors that Fish and Wildlife is about to approve the launch, which will allow the FAA to issue the actual launch license, this extension suggests SpaceX is covering its bets in case the approvals are further delayed, or if they are approved in November weather issues force a delay into December.

I remain pessimistic about a November launch, not because I don’t want it to happen (I do), but because I have no faith in the federal government’s desire to allow it to happen. The bureaucracy has now delayed this launch more than two months (SpaceX was ready to launch in September) and the politics continue to sugges the delays will continue.

Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay for the link.

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SpaceX successfully launches a cargo Dragon to ISS

6:40 pm

Using a Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX tonight successfully launched a cargo Dragon carrying supplies to ISS.

This Dragon capsule is making its second flight. The first stage also completed its second flight, landing back at Cape Canaveral. The capsule itself will dock with ISS early Saturday morning.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

81 SpaceX
51 China
14 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India

American private enterprise now leads China 93 to 51 in successful launches, and the entire world combined 93 to 80. SpaceX by itself is once again leading the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 81 to 80.

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The strange craters in the high northern latitudes of Mars

11:59 am

The strange craters in the Martian northern lowlands
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on August 22, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). I have also inserted data from a July 28, 2008 context camera image into the blank strip that now exists in the center of high resolution camera images due to the failure of one sensor.

This photo is what the camera team calls a terrain sample, and was probably taken not as part of any specific request but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule in order to maintain its proper temperature. When the camera team does this they try to find locations that either have not been observed in much detail previously or have interesting features. In this case the team accomplished both. The interesting features are the two pedestal craters, both surrounded by splash aprons. Neither has been observed in high resolution previously, and the context camera has only taken two pictures of this location in total.
» Read more

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China’s Long March 3B rocket launches communications satellite

10:53 am

China last night successfully put a geosynchronous communications satellite into orbit, its Long March 3B rocket lifting off from its Xichang spaceport in southern China.

No word on where the rocket’s core stage, second stage, and four side boosters crashed inside China. All use extremely toxic hypergolic fuels, so anyone approaching any wreckage risks serious health issues.

The leaders in the 2023 launch race:

80 SpaceX
51 China
14 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India

American private enterprise still leads China 92 to 51 in successful launches, and the entire world combined 92 to 80. SpaceX by itself is once again tied with the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 80 to 80, but this will probably change later today, when the company launches a cargo Dragon to ISS. NASA’s live stream is here.

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NASA awards company contract to develop new advanced solar panels

9:43 am

NASA has awarded the solar panel company Solestial its second development contract, with both contracts worth more than one million dollars, to develop new advanced solar panels for use on future commercial space stations.

The 18-month SBIR Phase II contract will provide funds to support development of next generation, 50-kilowatt (kW) class solar array wings. Solestial’s silicon solar blanket technology will allow for arrays larger than any ever built, while also maintaining lower mass and competitive efficiency. The array will be developed in collaboration with Opterus Research & Development, who will develop a low-cost, novel deployment system for Solestial’s ultrathin, flexible, silicon solar blankets.

These blankets will be an upgrade from the new panels presently being deployed on ISS, that unroll like a blanket rather than unfold like hard panels. The design is lighter weight, easier to deploy, and cheaper. It will thus become a valuable product that every private space station will want to buy.

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Federal judge throws out Justice’s discrimination lawsuit against SpaceX

9:36 am

A federal judge in Texas yesterday dismissed the Biden Justice Department lawsuit against SpaceX that accused the company of discrimination for not hiring illegal immigrants.

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday halted the Justice Department’s case, after the company called it “factually and legally insupportable.” Musk has argued that SpaceX was barred from hiring foreign nationals because of restrictions placed on sharing of information related to rocket technology.

The Justice Department had been investigating SpaceX’s hiring practices since 2020 after receiving a complaint from a person who claimed he was turned down for a job after revealing during an interview that he wasn’t a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

At the present Biden’s Justice department has not responded to this decision. The lawsuit might have been idiotic on its face, but its deeper intention was simply to harass SpaceX and Elon Musk — now considered an enemy to Democratic Party rule — and in that it has so far succeeded. Appealing this decision will continue that harassment, even if it is patently obvious that the suit has no merits at all.

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Firefly wins Australian payload for its second Blue Ghost lunar lander mission

9:29 am

Firefly yesterday announced that the Australian commercial company, Fleet Space Technologies, will fly its seismometer on Firefly’s second Blue Ghost lunar lander mission, planned to land on the far side of the Moon in 2026.

Fleet Space’s SPIDER payload is part of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars initiative that’s aligned with NASA’s Artemis program to support future habitation on the Moon. Upon deployment of the payload, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander will provide ongoing power and communications, enabling SPIDER to capture seismic data from the lunar surface for up to 14 days. This data will offer insights into the geological properties of the lunar subsurface and its mineral profile, such as water ice, that can support lunar infrastructure and further regolith exploration.

The mission also has payloads from NASA and the European Space Agency. Note that all three governments are buying the lunar landing services from this private company, rather than build the lander themselves.

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