Search Results for: new shepard

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Chinese pseudo-company Interstellor touts on-going assembly of test article for its New Shepard copycat suborbital capsule
  The test article will be used for an upcoming drop test.

• China’s Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) last week appointed what it called “quality supervision representatives” for its manned program
  From the google translation of the press announcement, these appointees appear to be systems engineers independent of the projects’ themselves, assigned the task of maintaining proper quality control over the work being done.

• On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 launched, the last Apollo Moon mission
  The astronauts were Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, and Harrison Schmitt. They landed in a 4.5-mile-wide valley between 2-mile-high mountains in the Taurus-Littrow region.

• On this day in 1985, NASA transferred title of the engineering test space shuttle Enterprise to the Air & Space Museum
  It was on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center from 2003 until 2012, then moved to the Intrepid Museum in New York when the shuttle Discovery replaced it.

• On this day in 1995 Galileo arrived at Jupiter, the first spacecraft to orbit the planet
  Because its high gain antenna never unfolded, the data stream from the spacecraft was severely limited. Despite this, Galileo did provide us a good first look at Jupiter’s main moons and their strange unexpected surfaces.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Intuitive Machines touts its Moon Racer manned lunar rover proposal

• Vast touts the construction of the flight hull for its Haven-1 demo space station, set to launch next year
  It is the first American-made station flight module built in 20 years.

• Space.com posts a short video showing Blue Origin’s next New Glenn rocket as it is moved to the launch pad
  Space.com also calls this “New Shepard” in the video, a gross error.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

This is also late today because my IP, Centurylink, went down in the Tucson area for about three hours. As is usual for this crap company, their customer service line was down also, stupidly telling me to go to their webpage to get service, even though I was calling because I had no service. Idiots.

• Astronomers detect activity in C/2014 UN271 Bernardinelli-Bernstein, the largest comet known

• Chinese government pseudo-company CAS-Space touts successful static fire test of engine to be used in its copy of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft

• On this day in 1976 Viking-1 arrived in Mars orbit
  The orbiter would release the lander a month later, soft landing on July 20, 1976 (the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing).

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• China releases some payload mass data on its pseudo-commercial SpaceSail satellite constellation, aiming to compete with SpaceX
  As Jay notes, the images suggest China’s engineers have somehow stolen SpaceX designs, or are copying them superficially.

• A video “tour” of Vast’s space station facility
  I put quotes around “tour” because I was very disappointed with this video. It provided very little real or new information, and instead acted more like a promotional for the company. Largely a waste of time.

• On this day in 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space
  It was a short 15 minute suborbital flight.

• An analysis of Amazon’s Kuiper satellite design, based on the limited public information so far released
  Hat tip to reader Gary.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft completes suborbital all-female tourist flight
  The press is giving this flight lots of coverage because of the nature of the crew, but in terms of the future of space, this suborbital flight is less than trivial in importance.

• Space Force awards Outpost contract to develop deployable heat shield for payloads returning from orbit

• Australian rocket startup Gilmour touts its satellite platform for satellite companies
  Meanwhile, the company’s first launch on March 15, 2025 never happened, and the company remains very tight-lipped about the situation.

• On this day in 1970 the Apollo 13 crew improvised a system for using the carbon dioxide filters from its crippled command module in its lunar module lifeboat
  The fix involved “bags, a flight plan card, some hoses, and a lot of duct tape.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• NASA’s Deep Space Network breaks ground on new antenna dish in Australia
  The event (on March 19th) also celebrated sixty years operating out of Australia.

• Mission profile for a Chinese mission to target a 30 meter asteroid
  Launch is scheduled for 2027. I like Jay’s comment: “The asteroid will be deflected by a power-point presentation.”

• On this day in 1959 NASA introduced its first class of seven astronauts for its Mercury program
  Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter. All but Slayton flew Mercury missions. Slayton eventually flew on the Apollo-Soyus docking mission in 1975.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Blue Origin’s New Shepard flies another suborbital hop

• Two of NASA’s Deep Space Network antennas look up at Jupiter and Mars
  The Mars antenna is in contact with the orbiter Maven, and the Jupiter antenna is talking to Juno.

• Data from China’s Zhurong rover suggests an ocean once existed in the northern Martian lowlands
  As always, the assumption of liquid water is very uncertain. It could have been ice.

• Scott Pace, NASA swamp creature who pushed SLS for years, suddenly questions its practicality
  Pace was a completely useless advisor to Trump’s National Space Council in the first administration, as he routinely pushed for big NASA projects built by NASA in league with the old space companies. He had no use for private space, and actually worked to hinder it. To suddenly change his tune now is nice, but it simply illustrates why he is not someone Trump or any NASA official should go to for worthwhile advice.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who’s real work has made it difficult to send links this week. I thank him for persevering anyway.

This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Sierra Space shares innovation award with Japanese partners for research studying if Dream Chasers can launch and land at Japanese airport
  Sounds interesting, but Dream Chaser needs a rocket to launch, and the airport, Oita airport, has no such capability. Nor does the press release mention what rocket company would do the launches.

• Geost sues Sierra Space for breach of contract
  The suit claims Sierra used Geost to get a satellite contract from the military, then broke the deal to replace it once the contract was won. It wants more than $17 million to recover its costs, plus punitive damages.

• NASASpaceflight.com releases a video touting what it expects to be a big 2025 at the Kennedy Space Center
  Nothing really new.

• On this day in 1971 Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 took his first steps on the Moon
  Shepard was the only Mercury astronaut to get to the Moon.

• On this day in 1995 the space shuttle completed the first shuttle docking to the Russian space station Mir
  The picture at the link is of Mir with cosmonaut Valery Polyakov watching from a window. At that time Polyakov was more than a year into his 14.5 month stay on Mir, which still stands as the longest continuous mission yet for any human being.

• On this day in 2018 Falcon Heavy successfully completed its first launch, placing a Tesla in solar orbit
  The most spectacular part of the launch was the simultaneous landing of both side boosters back at Kennedy.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Boeing’s VP Mark Nappi has left his Starliner position for an advisory role before retiring later in February
  This is only one of many management changes that have been going on in Boeing’s space division. Expect more to come.

• Rocket Lab ships its newest Archimedes engine for testing at Stennis
  The new engine is for its new Neutron rocket, which the company hopes to launch for the first time this year.

• SpaceX installs the chopsticks on its second launch tower at Boca Chica
  It appears they want this second tower available soon to support Starship/Superheavy test flights.

• Another new Chinese pseudo-company, Astronston, that is going to use chopsticks to catch its rockets
  It also apparently stole SpaceX artwork created by Alex Svan

• ISRO completes preliminary design of new methane-fuel engine
  It plans to use it on its new larger NGLV rocket, necessary for its planned manned space station program.

• UK space agency touts a £3.5 million grant program to bring internet access to remote places in the country
  It might give you cash, but whether you’ll ever be able to launch anything in the UK is questionable. The paperwork is endless.

• On this day in 1971 Apollo 14 lifted off, carrying Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell

• Modified to fix the issues that caused the Apollo 13 failure, the mission initially had its own problems
  They had difficulty docking the Apollo capsule to the lunar module, requiring six attempts and firing the thrusters to force the docking latches to catch.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Another Chinese pseudo-company proposes another copycat New Shepard suborbital tourist spacecraft
  There are a lot of these pseudo-companies popping up in China. Who knows how many are real.

• Cargo Dragon just launched will test using Draco thrusters to reboost ISS
  This test will change the station’s telemetry almost not at all, but its goal is to eventually find multiple options for replacing this task presently done by Russian Progresses.

• Twin ESA satellites arrive in India for intergration into PSLV rocket
  Launch is presentlhy scheduled for November 29, 2024.

• On this day in 2013 India launches its first interplanetary probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan
  It operated in Mars orbit for about eight years.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Blue Origin rolls the first stage of the first New Glenn rocket to launchpad
  The upper stage still needs to be stacked. Also, a dress rehearsal countdown with static fire test needs to be done. Still no word on launch date, though it finally appears within sight.

• Chinese pseudo-company AZSpace plans first launch of its cargo capsule to Tiangong-3 in November
  It also has unveiled its own New Shepard copycat suborbital capsule. I will consider both real, when they fly.

• Thailand’s government approves signing Artemis Accords
  If this happens (it remains unconfirmed from NASA), Thailand would be the first nation to sign on to both Artemis and China’s lunar base project. I wonder if that will fly with the next president.

• Lockheed Martin completes acquisition of smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital
  The final acquisition price was $450 million. Lockheed has been a major investor of Terran since 2017, so the deal made sense in many ways.

• According to Russian officials, Europe has returned its ExoMars lander, minus European components
  ESA kicked Russia off the mission to land the Franklin rover on Mars when it invaded the Ukraine. That decision however delayed the rover’s launch now until 2028.

• Short video panning across what the tweet claims is the sharpest image yet taken of the Andromeda galaxy
  I think this is a Hubble image, but the tweet provides no information.

• Watch Comet ATLAS (C/2024 S1) evaporate in its close approach to the Sun
  This is not Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which has provided a nice show for viewers, but a different comet that astronomers hoped would be even brighter. Instead, the Sun destroyed it.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• Chinese pseudo-company is accepting reservations for suborbital flights on its New Shepard copycat spacecraft
  They are targeting commercial tourist flights by 2027, with test flights beginning next year.

• Astra gets Defense Department contract worth $44 million to develop its Rocket-4 launch system
  It appears the Pentagon wants Astra to survive, and has given it this contract for that purpose.

• NASA unveils prototype of its proposed LISA orbiting gravitational-wave telescope
  LISA has been under development for almost two decades, has been delayed numerous times and now is not expected to launch until the 2030s. Great work if you can get it.

• NASA negotiating with China about research access to Chang’e-5 lunar samples
  The law requires NASA to bring in the FBI in such negotiations to make sure the talks will not release American technology to the Chinese. According to NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson, NASA has not yet done this, but intends to before any samples are delivered to the U.S. In other words, he is violating not only the letter but the spirit of the law, designed to keep China away from American space assets.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also let me know about today’s Chinese launch. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• China’s long term space science plan also calls for a “Venus atmospheric sample return mission”
  The link is in Chinese. Jay provided a translation which mentioned the Venus mission with few details.

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace hopes to attempt landing and recovery of first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket in 2025
  Landspace has been using a Grasshopper-type engineering test vehicle to do vertical landing tests.

• Blue Origin donates New Shepard capsule and booster to Air & Space Museum
  Yawn.

• NASA touts the advantages of the halo lunar orbit of Lunar Gateway
  Ah, but will it ever get launched, and at what cost?

• More video of Superheavy’s tower catch, plus a graph illustrating how much SpaceX has lowered the cost to orbit
  The video is incredibly fun to watch, but the graph is far more important. While everyone else has done only a little to lower the cost, SpaceX has smashed the floor.

BtB’s stringer Jay had no quick link stories today, but I thought for completion’s sake I should include this one from yesterday:

• Blue Origin’s New Shepard yesterday completed its 8th manned suborbital flight

Not much else to say. These suborbital flights are nice, but they no longer represent the future, only the past. The future will be illustrated by Polaris Dawn, SpaceX’s next manned commercial orbital flight, scheduled to take off sometime in the next week or so, depending on weather and the FAA’s intransigence.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

• China touts a proposed New Shepard suborbital copycat

Tourist flights to begin in 2028.

• NASA touts the future assembly of its Lunar Gateway space station

Lots of details and promises here, last updated June 2023.

• ISRO finalizes design of its Shukrayaan Venus orbiter

They are targeting the 2026 launch window.

• On this day in 2011 the space shuttle Endeavour launched on its 25th and last flight

The final shuttle flight followed two months later.

• On this day in 1987 the Soviet Union’s Energia heavy lift rocket launched for the first time

The launch was supposed to put a large module into orbit, but failed to do so when that module’s engines got the wrong software command.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard returns to flight after more than a year

The mission was unmanned. The link is cued to just before launch. More information about this flight here.

• Prototype antenna launched on rocket of Chinese pseudo-company successfully deployed

The antenna can also be retracted.

• Update on New Horizons as it travels outward beyond Pluto

Though it appears there are no objects close enough for it to fly past, it is still gathering a lot of detailed information of the outer parts of the solar system.

• Live stream for tomorrow’s Firefly launch