Real Engineering – The Secret Invention That Changed World War 2
An evening pause: How old fashioned Yankee ingenuity helped win the war, in a way you would not expect.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
August 11, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Exolaunch gets new deal from smallsat company Muon to broker its launches
Exolaunch finds and manages launch services for satellite companies. With this deal Muon agrees to let it manage launches for at least another three satellites.
- Russia says by ’30 it will launch a nuclear-powered orbital tug to clean up space junk
This is simply another paper proposal by Roscosmos. The odds of it actually getting built are from slim to none.
- Firefly will donate any excess capacity on its rocket launches to student cubesat projects
The company is now accepting student or university proposals, contingent of course on when its Alpha rocket finally becomes operational. It has attempted two launches, the first a failure and the second reaching orbit but underperforming. Its next orbital launch attempt is presently scheduled for later this month.
- JPL touts its Mars sample return lander
As Jay notes, “The damn thing is not even assembled and it is still over budget.”
- New Horizons will look back at Uranus and Neptune in September, in conjunction with simultaneous Hubble observations
The science team is asking amateur astronomers to help by making their own observations of these two planets, at the same time.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Exolaunch gets new deal from smallsat company Muon to broker its launches
Exolaunch finds and manages launch services for satellite companies. With this deal Muon agrees to let it manage launches for at least another three satellites.
- Russia says by ’30 it will launch a nuclear-powered orbital tug to clean up space junk
This is simply another paper proposal by Roscosmos. The odds of it actually getting built are from slim to none.
- Firefly will donate any excess capacity on its rocket launches to student cubesat projects
The company is now accepting student or university proposals, contingent of course on when its Alpha rocket finally becomes operational. It has attempted two launches, the first a failure and the second reaching orbit but underperforming. Its next orbital launch attempt is presently scheduled for later this month.
- JPL touts its Mars sample return lander
As Jay notes, “The damn thing is not even assembled and it is still over budget.”
- New Horizons will look back at Uranus and Neptune in September, in conjunction with simultaneous Hubble observations
The science team is asking amateur astronomers to help by making their own observations of these two planets, at the same time.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon, any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The flat and mostly featureless flood lava plains of Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 3, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Dubbed a “terrain sample” by the camera team, it was likely taken not as part of any scientist’s specific research program but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule in order to maintain its proper temperature. When the camera team needs to do this they try to pick something of interest that is below during that gap.
In this case MRO was over the vast flood lava plains of Mars where for many hundreds of miles the only features are small variations produced from different overlapping lava flood events. The layers of lava in this region in fact appear so thick that there are relatively few places where the older topography still sticks up through the lava. In the case of this picture, the ridges might indicate such buried topography, but they also might simply be dikes of lava, pushed up through fissures from underground.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on July 3, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Dubbed a “terrain sample” by the camera team, it was likely taken not as part of any scientist’s specific research program but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule in order to maintain its proper temperature. When the camera team needs to do this they try to pick something of interest that is below during that gap.
In this case MRO was over the vast flood lava plains of Mars where for many hundreds of miles the only features are small variations produced from different overlapping lava flood events. The layers of lava in this region in fact appear so thick that there are relatively few places where the older topography still sticks up through the lava. In the case of this picture, the ridges might indicate such buried topography, but they also might simply be dikes of lava, pushed up through fissures from underground.
» Read more
On the radio on Sunday night
Just a heads up before the weekend starts: I will be appearing for forty minutes with Steve Thompson on WCCO-AM radio in Minnesota this Sunday, beginning at 9:10 pm (Central). We will be talking space, as well as how its future is predicted by my book Conscious Choice.
Just a heads up before the weekend starts: I will be appearing for forty minutes with Steve Thompson on WCCO-AM radio in Minnesota this Sunday, beginning at 9:10 pm (Central). We will be talking space, as well as how its future is predicted by my book Conscious Choice.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Today’s Blacklisted American: Best Buy joins the bigotry crowd
They’re coming for you next: An anonymous employee at Best Buy has released through James O’Keefe’s new journalism outlet photographs of Best Buy’s new segregated and discriminatory management training program, specifically designed for minorities only, whites need not apply.
The picture below is from one of those photographs, cropped to show the instructions for applying to the program. The sections highlighted in red illustrate the program’s illegal and discriminatory nature.
Click for original image.
If you have any doubt that Best Buy and its partner McKinsey & Company are doing this, you need only read Best Buy’s own press release announcing the program.
» Read more
They’re coming for you next: An anonymous employee at Best Buy has released through James O’Keefe’s new journalism outlet photographs of Best Buy’s new segregated and discriminatory management training program, specifically designed for minorities only, whites need not apply.
The picture below is from one of those photographs, cropped to show the instructions for applying to the program. The sections highlighted in red illustrate the program’s illegal and discriminatory nature.
Click for original image.
If you have any doubt that Best Buy and its partner McKinsey & Company are doing this, you need only read Best Buy’s own press release announcing the program.
» Read more
Scientists: Saturn has rainstorms of ammonia lasting hundreds of years
Using radio telescope data of Saturn scientists now believe that the big storm first detected in 2011 produced rainstorms of ammonia which are expected to last hundreds of years.
As reported in the new study, de Pater, Li and UC Berkeley graduate student Chris Moeckel found something surprising in the radio emissions from the planet: anomalies in the concentration of ammonia gas in the atmosphere, which they connected to the past occurrences of megastorms in the planet’s northern hemisphere.
According to the team, the concentration of ammonia is lower at midaltitudes, just below the uppermost ammonia-ice cloud layer, but has become enriched at lower altitudes, 100 to 200 kilometers deeper in the atmosphere. They believe that the ammonia is being transported from the upper to the lower atmosphere via the processes of precipitation and reevaporation. What’s more, that effect can last for hundreds of years. [emphasis mine]
In other words, Saturn has an ammonia cycle similar to the water cycle on Earth.
Need I add that this study carries great uncertainties, and that the amount of data about Saturn’s interior and atmosphere is sparse, at best?
Using radio telescope data of Saturn scientists now believe that the big storm first detected in 2011 produced rainstorms of ammonia which are expected to last hundreds of years.
As reported in the new study, de Pater, Li and UC Berkeley graduate student Chris Moeckel found something surprising in the radio emissions from the planet: anomalies in the concentration of ammonia gas in the atmosphere, which they connected to the past occurrences of megastorms in the planet’s northern hemisphere.
According to the team, the concentration of ammonia is lower at midaltitudes, just below the uppermost ammonia-ice cloud layer, but has become enriched at lower altitudes, 100 to 200 kilometers deeper in the atmosphere. They believe that the ammonia is being transported from the upper to the lower atmosphere via the processes of precipitation and reevaporation. What’s more, that effect can last for hundreds of years. [emphasis mine]
In other words, Saturn has an ammonia cycle similar to the water cycle on Earth.
Need I add that this study carries great uncertainties, and that the amount of data about Saturn’s interior and atmosphere is sparse, at best?
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Perseverance videotapes Ingenuity’s 54th flight, a short hop up and down
As I predicted last week, the Perseverance science team have successfully filmed the 54th flight of Ingenuity on August 3, 2023, using the high resolution cameras on masts on top of the Mars rover.
I have embedded that movie below. The image to the right is a screen capture from that movie, when the helicopter was hovering at sixteen feet elevation. Since Perseverance was about 200 feet away to the northeast, the horizon line in the background is the southwest rim of Jezero crater, about ten miles away, with the intervening hills about five miles closer.
The flight was a simple hop, up and down, to verify Ingenuity’s systems after its previous flight had ended prematurely.
The helicopter’s 55th flight was scheduled to occur yesterday, traveling 820 feet for 134 seconds, but so far there is no word on whether it happened as planned.
» Read more
As I predicted last week, the Perseverance science team have successfully filmed the 54th flight of Ingenuity on August 3, 2023, using the high resolution cameras on masts on top of the Mars rover.
I have embedded that movie below. The image to the right is a screen capture from that movie, when the helicopter was hovering at sixteen feet elevation. Since Perseverance was about 200 feet away to the northeast, the horizon line in the background is the southwest rim of Jezero crater, about ten miles away, with the intervening hills about five miles closer.
The flight was a simple hop, up and down, to verify Ingenuity’s systems after its previous flight had ended prematurely.
The helicopter’s 55th flight was scheduled to occur yesterday, traveling 820 feet for 134 seconds, but so far there is no word on whether it happened as planned.
» Read more
India approves new spaceport for private launches of SSLV rocket
India’s two spaceports
The Modi government in India has now approved the use of its new spaceport in Kulasekarapattinam by private operators, including the private operator who wins control of the SSLV rocket that was developed by ISRO, India’s space agency.
On the new launch pad that ISRO is building at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district along the coast in Tamil Nadu, SIRO Chairman S Somanath said that nearly 99 per cent of the 2,000 acres has been transferred to ISRO by the Tamil Nadu government. “It takes at least two years to become fully functional after the commencement of the construction work. However, we will be able to conduct some sub-orbital launches there,” he added.
In December about 80% of that land had been purchased, so the government is now close to owning everything it needs.
Though the government is accepting bids from private companies to operate SSLV, it is not clear if that will be an exclusive right, or whether ISRO will continue to do its own launches. Either way, this new spaceport is being designed to enable private operators to launch from it.
India’s two spaceports
The Modi government in India has now approved the use of its new spaceport in Kulasekarapattinam by private operators, including the private operator who wins control of the SSLV rocket that was developed by ISRO, India’s space agency.
On the new launch pad that ISRO is building at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district along the coast in Tamil Nadu, SIRO Chairman S Somanath said that nearly 99 per cent of the 2,000 acres has been transferred to ISRO by the Tamil Nadu government. “It takes at least two years to become fully functional after the commencement of the construction work. However, we will be able to conduct some sub-orbital launches there,” he added.
In December about 80% of that land had been purchased, so the government is now close to owning everything it needs.
Though the government is accepting bids from private companies to operate SSLV, it is not clear if that will be an exclusive right, or whether ISRO will continue to do its own launches. Either way, this new spaceport is being designed to enable private operators to launch from it.
Retractions of peer-reviewed scientific papers has risen 13,750% in this century
Modern peer review in science
The present and growing dark age: According to the watchdogs who run the website Retraction Watch, the number of peer-reviewed scientific papers that have been retracted each year has risen from 40 in 2000 to 5,500 in 2022, an astonishing increase of 13,750%.
According to these watchdogs, there are two reasons for this increase in research failure:
Retractions have risen sharply in recent years for two main reasons: first, sleuthing, largely by volunteers who comb academic literature for anomalies, and, second, major publishers’ (belated) recognition that their business models have made them susceptible to paper mills – scientific chop shops that sell everything from authorships to entire manuscripts to researchers who need to publish lest they perish.
These researchers are required – sometimes in stark terms – to publish papers in order to earn and keep jobs or to be promoted. The governments of some countries have even offered cash bonuses for publishing in certain journals. Any surprise, then, that some scientists cheat?
I think the watchdogs are missing the major and much more basic source for this problem. » Read more
SpaceX launches another 22 Starlink satellites
In what is turning into routine clockwork, SpaceX tonight completed its fourth launch in only the first ten days of August, placing 22 Starlink satellites into orbit using its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its ninth flight, landing safely on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings completed their tenth and eleventh flights respectively. At the time of posting the satellites themselves had not yet been deployed.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
55 SpaceX
33 China
11 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 63 to 33, and the entire world combined 63 to 55. SpaceX by itself is now tied with the entire world (excluding American companies) 55 to 55.
In what is turning into routine clockwork, SpaceX tonight completed its fourth launch in only the first ten days of August, placing 22 Starlink satellites into orbit using its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its ninth flight, landing safely on a drone ship in the Atlantic. The two fairings completed their tenth and eleventh flights respectively. At the time of posting the satellites themselves had not yet been deployed.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
55 SpaceX
33 China
11 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 63 to 33, and the entire world combined 63 to 55. SpaceX by itself is now tied with the entire world (excluding American companies) 55 to 55.
Tower of Power – Me & Mrs Jones
Russia launches Luna-25 to the Moon
Click for interactive map.
After almost two decades of development, Russia today used its Soyuz-2 rocket to launch Luna-25, its first lander to the Moon since the 1970s.
The link is cued to the live stream, just prior to launch. It will take several days to get to the Moon and enter orbit, make some orbital adjustments, then land in Boguslawsky crater, as shown on the map to the right. It is likely its landing will occur before India’s Chandrayaan-3 lands on August 23rd but not certain, depending on the adjustments needed in lunar orbit. Both could even land on the same day.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
33 China
11 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 33, and the entire world combined 62 to 55, while SpaceX by itself now trails the entire world (excluding American companies) 54 to 55.
Click for interactive map.
After almost two decades of development, Russia today used its Soyuz-2 rocket to launch Luna-25, its first lander to the Moon since the 1970s.
The link is cued to the live stream, just prior to launch. It will take several days to get to the Moon and enter orbit, make some orbital adjustments, then land in Boguslawsky crater, as shown on the map to the right. It is likely its landing will occur before India’s Chandrayaan-3 lands on August 23rd but not certain, depending on the adjustments needed in lunar orbit. Both could even land on the same day.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
33 China
11 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 33, and the entire world combined 62 to 55, while SpaceX by itself now trails the entire world (excluding American companies) 54 to 55.
August 10, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Virgin Galactic completes its first commercial tourist flight
This suborbital hop no longer rates more than a mention here in quick links. Compared to the growing orbital manned tourism, who cares that Branson’s con job has finally begin flying passengers, two decades late?
- Japanese startup Interstellar aims for orbital launch in 2025
Japan desperately needs some new independent launch companies, as the big space launch systems provided by JAXA and Mitsubishi have certainly not served that country’s private aerospace industry well.
- Viasat not ready to declare Viasat-3 Americas a total loss
The antenna turned out to be defective. There were stories that the company made an insurance claim, but I suspect this story reflects some pushback from that insurance company.
- Ingenuity’s next flight, its 55th, has been scheduled for some time today
The plan is to fly 820 feet for 134 seconds.
- JPL touts Curiosity images of mud polygons in Gale Crater
The full press release is here. Such features have been seen many times before on Mars, and this press release is merely rehashing a 2017 report.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Virgin Galactic completes its first commercial tourist flight
This suborbital hop no longer rates more than a mention here in quick links. Compared to the growing orbital manned tourism, who cares that Branson’s con job has finally begin flying passengers, two decades late?
- Japanese startup Interstellar aims for orbital launch in 2025
Japan desperately needs some new independent launch companies, as the big space launch systems provided by JAXA and Mitsubishi have certainly not served that country’s private aerospace industry well.
- Viasat not ready to declare Viasat-3 Americas a total loss
The antenna turned out to be defective. There were stories that the company made an insurance claim, but I suspect this story reflects some pushback from that insurance company.
- Ingenuity’s next flight, its 55th, has been scheduled for some time today
The plan is to fly 820 feet for 134 seconds.
- JPL touts Curiosity images of mud polygons in Gale Crater
The full press release is here. Such features have been seen many times before on Mars, and this press release is merely rehashing a 2017 report.
Today’s blacklisted American was fired for refusing to participate in company’s programs that purposely excluded whites
Cancelled unilatiterally by Compass’ management
They’re coming for you next: Courtney Rogers, who was fired as a human resources employee from the large food services company Compass Group because she refused to participate in any way with its “whites-need-not-apply” training and mentoring programs, has now filed suit against the company.
You can read her complaint here [pdf], filed by her attorneys working with the non-profit legal firm, the Thomas More Society. The introduction of that complaint outlines clearly the bigotry of Compass’s management and the policies it wished to install, as well as Rogers sincere and futile effort to not participate in this segregation and discrimination:
In early 2022, COMPASS—one of the largest companies in the world—devised a “diversity” program that it misnamed “Operation Equity.” The program offered only women and persons of color the opportunity to participate in training and receive mentorship, with a promise of guaranteed promotion.
The program’s accurate name would have been “White-Men-Need-Not-Apply.” The program was motivated by racial animus against white men held by certain members of COMPASS’s senior management. COMPASS executives like JOANN CANADAY, Vice President of Human Resources Operations (Canteen), and RALENA ROWE, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, stated that the program was intended to “right the wrongs of the last hundred years.” And they threatened would-be opponents of their program: “This is the direction the world is going, jump on the train or get run over.” And they proclaimed: “We are not here to appease the old white man.” Of course, RALENA ROWE and JOANN CANADY anticipated that “There would be a homogenous group of people against this program,” and they planned to draft a response to objections made by people in that “homogenous” group.
» Read more
Cancelled unilatiterally by Compass’ management
They’re coming for you next: Courtney Rogers, who was fired as a human resources employee from the large food services company Compass Group because she refused to participate in any way with its “whites-need-not-apply” training and mentoring programs, has now filed suit against the company.
You can read her complaint here [pdf], filed by her attorneys working with the non-profit legal firm, the Thomas More Society. The introduction of that complaint outlines clearly the bigotry of Compass’s management and the policies it wished to install, as well as Rogers sincere and futile effort to not participate in this segregation and discrimination:
In early 2022, COMPASS—one of the largest companies in the world—devised a “diversity” program that it misnamed “Operation Equity.” The program offered only women and persons of color the opportunity to participate in training and receive mentorship, with a promise of guaranteed promotion.
The program’s accurate name would have been “White-Men-Need-Not-Apply.” The program was motivated by racial animus against white men held by certain members of COMPASS’s senior management. COMPASS executives like JOANN CANADAY, Vice President of Human Resources Operations (Canteen), and RALENA ROWE, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, stated that the program was intended to “right the wrongs of the last hundred years.” And they threatened would-be opponents of their program: “This is the direction the world is going, jump on the train or get run over.” And they proclaimed: “We are not here to appease the old white man.” Of course, RALENA ROWE and JOANN CANADY anticipated that “There would be a homogenous group of people against this program,” and they planned to draft a response to objections made by people in that “homogenous” group.
» Read more
The icy mountains close to where SpaceX hopes to land Starship on Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on June 25, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled as showing “flow features” by the scientists, it gives us a nice example of many of the different types of glacial and near-surface ice features seen routinely in the Martian latitudes above 30 degrees, especially in the northern hemisphere.
First there is the apron around the mound. Its layering suggests the many cycles that Mars’ climate has undergone as its rotational tilt swung back and forth from as low as 11 to as much as 60 degrees (it is presently at 25 degrees).
The mound, with those two depressions at its peak, suggests the possibility that it is some form of ice/mud volcano, similar to the suspected ice/mud volcanoes routinely seen in the northern lowland plains of Utopia Basin.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The photo to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on June 25, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled as showing “flow features” by the scientists, it gives us a nice example of many of the different types of glacial and near-surface ice features seen routinely in the Martian latitudes above 30 degrees, especially in the northern hemisphere.
First there is the apron around the mound. Its layering suggests the many cycles that Mars’ climate has undergone as its rotational tilt swung back and forth from as low as 11 to as much as 60 degrees (it is presently at 25 degrees).
The mound, with those two depressions at its peak, suggests the possibility that it is some form of ice/mud volcano, similar to the suspected ice/mud volcanoes routinely seen in the northern lowland plains of Utopia Basin.
» Read more
Juno gets new close-up images of Jupiter’s moon Io
Click for original image.
During its July close fly-by of Jupiter the orbiter Juno also flew past the moon Io, getting within 14,000 miles. The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was one of the images taken during that fly-by and subsequently processed and color enhanced by citizen scientist Thomas Thomopoulos.
The picture was taken at about the spacecraft’s closest point. It shows the splotched and volcanic surface of Io, which because it orbits close to Jupiter tidal forces cause it to have an intensely active volcanic surface. All the black features are either volcanoes or lava flows. This set of all of Juno’s Io images taken during the fly-by, enhanced by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt, also shows a volcanic plume in the shadowed portion of the planet, just beyond the terminator, which Eichstädt believes is a mountain dubbed Tohil Mons.
Even closer flybys are scheduled for December ’23 and February ’24, both getting within 1,000 miles of the surface.
Click for original image.
During its July close fly-by of Jupiter the orbiter Juno also flew past the moon Io, getting within 14,000 miles. The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was one of the images taken during that fly-by and subsequently processed and color enhanced by citizen scientist Thomas Thomopoulos.
The picture was taken at about the spacecraft’s closest point. It shows the splotched and volcanic surface of Io, which because it orbits close to Jupiter tidal forces cause it to have an intensely active volcanic surface. All the black features are either volcanoes or lava flows. This set of all of Juno’s Io images taken during the fly-by, enhanced by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt, also shows a volcanic plume in the shadowed portion of the planet, just beyond the terminator, which Eichstädt believes is a mountain dubbed Tohil Mons.
Even closer flybys are scheduled for December ’23 and February ’24, both getting within 1,000 miles of the surface.
Astronomers: Binary system creates tidal waves on star’s surface 3x larger than our own Sun
Based on computer simulations, astronomers believe that the monthly light changes in a binary star system are partly caused by gigantic tidal waves on the surface of the system’s larger star, waves that are three times higher than the diameter of our own Sun.
The larger star in the system is nearly 35 times the mass of the Sun and, together with its smaller companion star, is officially designated MACHO 80.7443.1718 — not because of any stellar brawn, but because the system’s brightness changes were first recorded by the MACHO Project in the 1990s, which sought signs of dark matter in our galaxy.
Most heartbeat stars vary in brightness only by about 0.1%, but MACHO 80.7443.1718 jumped out to astronomers because of its unprecedentedly dramatic brightness swings, up and down by 20%. “We don’t know of any other heartbeat star that varies this wildly,” says MacLeod.
To unravel the mystery, MacLeod created a computer model of MACHO 80.7443.1718. His model captured how the interacting gravity of the two stars generates massive tides in the bigger star. The resulting tidal waves rise to about a fifth of the behemoth star’s radius, which equates to waves about as tall as three Suns stacked on top of each other, or roughly 2.7 million miles high.
The image on the right is a screen capture from the computer simulation. The bulges on the right side of the larger star are the hypothesized tidal waves.
Based on computer simulations, astronomers believe that the monthly light changes in a binary star system are partly caused by gigantic tidal waves on the surface of the system’s larger star, waves that are three times higher than the diameter of our own Sun.
The larger star in the system is nearly 35 times the mass of the Sun and, together with its smaller companion star, is officially designated MACHO 80.7443.1718 — not because of any stellar brawn, but because the system’s brightness changes were first recorded by the MACHO Project in the 1990s, which sought signs of dark matter in our galaxy.
Most heartbeat stars vary in brightness only by about 0.1%, but MACHO 80.7443.1718 jumped out to astronomers because of its unprecedentedly dramatic brightness swings, up and down by 20%. “We don’t know of any other heartbeat star that varies this wildly,” says MacLeod.
To unravel the mystery, MacLeod created a computer model of MACHO 80.7443.1718. His model captured how the interacting gravity of the two stars generates massive tides in the bigger star. The resulting tidal waves rise to about a fifth of the behemoth star’s radius, which equates to waves about as tall as three Suns stacked on top of each other, or roughly 2.7 million miles high.
The image on the right is a screen capture from the computer simulation. The bulges on the right side of the larger star are the hypothesized tidal waves.
Update on the development of a new first stage for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket
Link here. The first stage of the Antares rocket has previously relied on Russian engines in a Ukrainian-built body. The Ukraine War made getting both impossible, and thus Northrop Grumman hired Firefly to provide it a new first stage, presently targeting mid-2025 for its first flight. In the meantime in order to meet its contractual obligations with NASA, it has hired SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to fly the next three Cygnus freighters to ISS.
The report at the link gets some interesting details about Firefly’s engines and first stage. Both will raise the payload capabilities of Antares, which as yet has failed to garner any commercial payloads outside of Northrop’s own Cygnus capsule. That increase in capability might make it more appealing to commercial satellite companies.
Link here. The first stage of the Antares rocket has previously relied on Russian engines in a Ukrainian-built body. The Ukraine War made getting both impossible, and thus Northrop Grumman hired Firefly to provide it a new first stage, presently targeting mid-2025 for its first flight. In the meantime in order to meet its contractual obligations with NASA, it has hired SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to fly the next three Cygnus freighters to ISS.
The report at the link gets some interesting details about Firefly’s engines and first stage. Both will raise the payload capabilities of Antares, which as yet has failed to garner any commercial payloads outside of Northrop’s own Cygnus capsule. That increase in capability might make it more appealing to commercial satellite companies.
Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy launches seven satellites
China’s spaceports
One of China’s pseudo-companies, Galactic Energy, yesterday successfully placed seven small satellites into orbit, using its Ceres-1 solid-fueled rocket that lifted off from China’s Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert.
Considering that a launch two days ago from the Taiyuan spaceport apparently dropped sections of its first stage near habitable areas, I though it worthwhile to post again the map to the right, showing which Chinese spaceports expose China’s inhabitants to risk.
It also appears that even the state-run press of China knows Galactic Energy really isn’t a privately owned commercial company, as it doesn’t even mention the company’s name in its news report at the link. While it gets investment capital and functions kind of like a private company, everything it does is supervised by the Chinese government, which can take full control of the company whenever it wants. Moreover, the technology of its solid-fueled rocket was derived entirely from military technology, which means the Chinese government supervised its development every step of the way.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
33 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 33, and the entire world combined 62 to 54, while SpaceX by itself is now tied the world (excluding American companies) 54 to 54.
China’s spaceports
One of China’s pseudo-companies, Galactic Energy, yesterday successfully placed seven small satellites into orbit, using its Ceres-1 solid-fueled rocket that lifted off from China’s Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert.
Considering that a launch two days ago from the Taiyuan spaceport apparently dropped sections of its first stage near habitable areas, I though it worthwhile to post again the map to the right, showing which Chinese spaceports expose China’s inhabitants to risk.
It also appears that even the state-run press of China knows Galactic Energy really isn’t a privately owned commercial company, as it doesn’t even mention the company’s name in its news report at the link. While it gets investment capital and functions kind of like a private company, everything it does is supervised by the Chinese government, which can take full control of the company whenever it wants. Moreover, the technology of its solid-fueled rocket was derived entirely from military technology, which means the Chinese government supervised its development every step of the way.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
33 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 33, and the entire world combined 62 to 54, while SpaceX by itself is now tied the world (excluding American companies) 54 to 54.
August 9, 2023 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Smothers Brothers – Hippie Chick Clip
An evening pause: A wonderful moment from the 1960s, performed brilliantly by actress Leigh French and resulting in some wonderful and gentle satire of the hippie culture of the time. Context is also important, because the Smothers Brothers were constantly having problems with their television censors.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
August 9, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug
The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets
- Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch
Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.
- Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit
All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.
Pushback: Judge rules that libel suit against two black professors for slandering white real estate assessor can proceed
Mott (l) and Connolly, eager to use race to
defame an innocent white man
Bring a gun to a knife fight: A U.S. district judge on August 2, 2023 ruled [pdf] that the defamation lawsuit of real estate assessor Shane Lanham against two black Johns Hopkins professors can now proceed.
And boy, does Lanhan stand a good chance of winning. This is a followup of an earlier blacklist story from February. The two professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, had publicly accused Lanham on national television of being a bigot because they had not liked the value he placed on their house. As I wrote then:
This story began when Connolly and Mott asked Lanham (who is white) and his company, 20/20 Valuations, to appraise their house. When they were unhappy with his appraisal, they decided to get another appraisal, but this time do what they themselves called a ““whitewashing experiment.” For the second appraisal they removed all evidence that a black family owned the house, to the extent of having a white friend present himself as the owner instead. The second appraisal, done months later, came up with a higher price.
» Read more
Mott (l) and Connolly, eager to use race to
defame an innocent white man
Bring a gun to a knife fight: A U.S. district judge on August 2, 2023 ruled [pdf] that the defamation lawsuit of real estate assessor Shane Lanham against two black Johns Hopkins professors can now proceed.
And boy, does Lanhan stand a good chance of winning. This is a followup of an earlier blacklist story from February. The two professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, had publicly accused Lanham on national television of being a bigot because they had not liked the value he placed on their house. As I wrote then:
This story began when Connolly and Mott asked Lanham (who is white) and his company, 20/20 Valuations, to appraise their house. When they were unhappy with his appraisal, they decided to get another appraisal, but this time do what they themselves called a ““whitewashing experiment.” For the second appraisal they removed all evidence that a black family owned the house, to the extent of having a white friend present himself as the owner instead. The second appraisal, done months later, came up with a higher price.
» Read more
Martian craters or volcanoes?
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on June 30, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The scientists label these features “cones” because many of the depressions sit on top of a mound or hill, suggesting some form of volcanic feature, either from erupting lava, ice, or mud.
Yet, are they volcanoes? Some or even many could instead be impact craters, created when a asteroid broke up during infall, creating a spray of bolides. Erosion of surrounding terrain can create what scientists call pedestal craters, but if all these craters were from an impact than all would either be pedestal craters, or not. Instead, we have a mix of some craters above and others level with the terrain.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken on June 30, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The scientists label these features “cones” because many of the depressions sit on top of a mound or hill, suggesting some form of volcanic feature, either from erupting lava, ice, or mud.
Yet, are they volcanoes? Some or even many could instead be impact craters, created when a asteroid broke up during infall, creating a spray of bolides. Erosion of surrounding terrain can create what scientists call pedestal craters, but if all these craters were from an impact than all would either be pedestal craters, or not. Instead, we have a mix of some craters above and others level with the terrain.
» Read more
Ingenuity snaps picture of Perseverance during 54th flight
Click for original image.
During Ingenuity’s 54th flight, a short vertical hop sixteen feet up and down that lasted only 25 seconds, the helicopter’s color camera managed to get a picture of the rover Perseverance, only about 200 feet away to the north.
That picture, cropped and enhanced to post here, is to the right. It shows Perseverance just inside the picture’s upper edge. Its graininess illustrates in a sense the engineering test nature of Ingenuity. It was never expected to last this long and to take actual scouting or science imagery. It was supposed to complete a 30 day program of a handful of test flights, proving it was possible to fly in Mars’ very thin atmosphere (1/1000th that of Earth). Instead, it has lasted years, and completed 54 flights, keeping ahead of Perseverance and providing the rover team scouting images of the ground they wish to travel.
Click for original image.
During Ingenuity’s 54th flight, a short vertical hop sixteen feet up and down that lasted only 25 seconds, the helicopter’s color camera managed to get a picture of the rover Perseverance, only about 200 feet away to the north.
That picture, cropped and enhanced to post here, is to the right. It shows Perseverance just inside the picture’s upper edge. Its graininess illustrates in a sense the engineering test nature of Ingenuity. It was never expected to last this long and to take actual scouting or science imagery. It was supposed to complete a 30 day program of a handful of test flights, proving it was possible to fly in Mars’ very thin atmosphere (1/1000th that of Earth). Instead, it has lasted years, and completed 54 flights, keeping ahead of Perseverance and providing the rover team scouting images of the ground they wish to travel.
South Korea’s KARI space agency releases new images taken by its Danuri lunar orbiter
To celebrate the anniversary of its launch, South Korea’s KARI space agency today released new images taken by its Danuri lunar orbiter.
Images include views of Reiner Gamma, a so-called swirl, which features a localized magnetic field and marks a bright spot within the Oceanus Procellarum region. Another shows shadows inside Amundsen Crater, close to the lunar south pole and a potential landing site for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which is slated to put astronauts on the moon in late 2025.
Another southern feature captured by Danuri is Drygalski Crater, showing the central peak inside the impact crater.
To celebrate the anniversary of its launch, South Korea’s KARI space agency today released new images taken by its Danuri lunar orbiter.
Images include views of Reiner Gamma, a so-called swirl, which features a localized magnetic field and marks a bright spot within the Oceanus Procellarum region. Another shows shadows inside Amundsen Crater, close to the lunar south pole and a potential landing site for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which is slated to put astronauts on the moon in late 2025.
Another southern feature captured by Danuri is Drygalski Crater, showing the central peak inside the impact crater.
ESA official confirms first Ariane-6 launch will not occur until 2024
The head of ESA yesterday confirmed what had been known since May, that the first test flight of its Ariane-6 rocket will not take place this year but will be delayed until 2024.
In an update on the Ariane 6 program also posted Tuesday, the ESA said that it could not complete a short hot firing test — which mimics the environment in space to provide data to operators — of Ariane’s Vulcain 2.1 engine system in a July attempt, with plans to try again on August 29.
Aschbacher said the tentative plan is to carry out a long hot fire test of the assembled core stage and engine on September 26 at the agency’s spaceport in French Guiana. If those tests are successful, it should then be possible to set a more precise timeline for getting the rocket system ready for launch next year.
It seems the inability of engineers to complete that July engine test — which ESA officials claimed was because they simply ran out of time — added at least a six-week delay to the entire program.
There delays leave Europe without any large rocket to launch payloads, and has forced its various governments to hire SpaceX to get those payloads into space.
The head of ESA yesterday confirmed what had been known since May, that the first test flight of its Ariane-6 rocket will not take place this year but will be delayed until 2024.
In an update on the Ariane 6 program also posted Tuesday, the ESA said that it could not complete a short hot firing test — which mimics the environment in space to provide data to operators — of Ariane’s Vulcain 2.1 engine system in a July attempt, with plans to try again on August 29.
Aschbacher said the tentative plan is to carry out a long hot fire test of the assembled core stage and engine on September 26 at the agency’s spaceport in French Guiana. If those tests are successful, it should then be possible to set a more precise timeline for getting the rocket system ready for launch next year.
It seems the inability of engineers to complete that July engine test — which ESA officials claimed was because they simply ran out of time — added at least a six-week delay to the entire program.
There delays leave Europe without any large rocket to launch payloads, and has forced its various governments to hire SpaceX to get those payloads into space.
First stage of Chinese rocket crashes in Chinese city
Locals in the city of Shangluo, population over two million located in central China, today released video images of the remains of the first stage of a Long March 2C rocket that launched yesterday and apparently crashed in the city.
The image to the right is a screen capture. Since this two-stage rocket uses extremely toxic hypergolic fuels in both of its stages, those citizens wandering around the rocket’s remains are in great health danger.
China has in recent years has appeared taken actions to block the release of such videos by its citizens, but apparently failed in this case.
The irony is that this rocket supposedly launched what China called “a disaster reduction” satellite. That maybe so, but in the process it also dumped toxic materials on its own citizens.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
Locals in the city of Shangluo, population over two million located in central China, today released video images of the remains of the first stage of a Long March 2C rocket that launched yesterday and apparently crashed in the city.
The image to the right is a screen capture. Since this two-stage rocket uses extremely toxic hypergolic fuels in both of its stages, those citizens wandering around the rocket’s remains are in great health danger.
China has in recent years has appeared taken actions to block the release of such videos by its citizens, but apparently failed in this case.
The irony is that this rocket supposedly launched what China called “a disaster reduction” satellite. That maybe so, but in the process it also dumped toxic materials on its own citizens.
Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.
NASA engineers still struggling to understand why Orion’s heat shield ablated so much
NASA engineers still do not understand why the heat shield on its Orion capsule ablated as it did during its return to Earth on the first unmanned Artemis-1 mission.
The agency is still running tests. It also expressed confidence that the issue will not delay the Artemis-2 mission, the first intended to carry humans on SLS and in Orion and still scheduled for late 2024.
At the same time, agency officials hinted that the third Artemis mission, which has always been planned as putting humans on the Moon for the first time since Apollo, might not achieve that goal. It is still not clear whether the mission’s lunar spacesuits as well as SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander will be ready on time. The latter is facing serious regulatory problems imposed by the Biden administration that is generally preventing it from flight testing the spacecraft.
That second Artemis mission, the first planned to carry humans, is one that actually at present carries the most risk. It will not only use a heat shield that at present engineers do not entirely understand, it will be the first Orion capsule to have the environmental systems necessary for its human cargo. NASA is putting humans on the first test flight of those systems.
NASA engineers still do not understand why the heat shield on its Orion capsule ablated as it did during its return to Earth on the first unmanned Artemis-1 mission.
The agency is still running tests. It also expressed confidence that the issue will not delay the Artemis-2 mission, the first intended to carry humans on SLS and in Orion and still scheduled for late 2024.
At the same time, agency officials hinted that the third Artemis mission, which has always been planned as putting humans on the Moon for the first time since Apollo, might not achieve that goal. It is still not clear whether the mission’s lunar spacesuits as well as SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander will be ready on time. The latter is facing serious regulatory problems imposed by the Biden administration that is generally preventing it from flight testing the spacecraft.
That second Artemis mission, the first planned to carry humans, is one that actually at present carries the most risk. It will not only use a heat shield that at present engineers do not entirely understand, it will be the first Orion capsule to have the environmental systems necessary for its human cargo. NASA is putting humans on the first test flight of those systems.
China’s Long March 2C rocket launches “disaster reduction” satellite
China today used its Long March 2C rocket to place what it called a “disaster reduction” satellite into orbit, launching from its Taiyuan spaceport in the interior of China.
No other information was released, including whether the rocket’s lower stages landed near habitable areas.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
32 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 32, and the entire world combined 62 to 53, while SpaceX by itself still leads the world (excluding American companies) 54 to 53.
China today used its Long March 2C rocket to place what it called a “disaster reduction” satellite into orbit, launching from its Taiyuan spaceport in the interior of China.
No other information was released, including whether the rocket’s lower stages landed near habitable areas.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
54 SpaceX
32 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
6 India
American private enterprise still leads China in successful launches 62 to 32, and the entire world combined 62 to 53, while SpaceX by itself still leads the world (excluding American companies) 54 to 53.