Kathleen Battle – Voices of Spring
An evening pause: By Strauss, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, performed live 1987.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
February 22, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO: BE-4 engines “have successfully completed pre-qual testing, which goes beyond formal qual, providing an understanding of margins and behavior under unusual conditions.”
He also says inexplicably that the engine’s “formal qual is underway now.” Shouldn’t this have been done before Blue Origin shipped the engines to ULA? Or is there something about rocket prep procedures I don’t understand.
- SpaceX: Starlink now available in Rwanda
Jay notes also that his Starlink bill has just gone up 20%, to $120.
- All three Rocket Lab launchpads preparing for launch
Two rockets are at Wallops and one in New Zealand.
- Japan now working for a new H3 rocket launch attempt before March 10th
Engineers have identified the launch failure on February 17th to “an issue with an engine electrical power supply” in the solid rocket boosters.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- ULA’s CEO: BE-4 engines “have successfully completed pre-qual testing, which goes beyond formal qual, providing an understanding of margins and behavior under unusual conditions.”
He also says inexplicably that the engine’s “formal qual is underway now.” Shouldn’t this have been done before Blue Origin shipped the engines to ULA? Or is there something about rocket prep procedures I don’t understand.
- SpaceX: Starlink now available in Rwanda
Jay notes also that his Starlink bill has just gone up 20%, to $120.
- All three Rocket Lab launchpads preparing for launch
Two rockets are at Wallops and one in New Zealand.
- Japan now working for a new H3 rocket launch attempt before March 10th
Engineers have identified the launch failure on February 17th to “an issue with an engine electrical power supply” in the solid rocket boosters.
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 new normal: persecuting an expert witness because he testified for the defense in a political-charged trial
David Fowler: persecuted by the government
for trying to do an honest job
They’re coming for you next: It appears it is now considered reasonable in today’s intolerant society to persecute any expert witness who dares testify honestly for the defense in any trial that the narrative demands a guilty plea, no matter what the facts might be.
The trial in this case was against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who in 2020 held George Floyd down by the neck during the arrest in which Floyd died. The expert witness is Dr. David Fowler, the former Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Maryland, who testified for Chauvin’s defense.
The persecution of Fowler was instigated by Dr. Roger Mitchell, former Chief Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia, Deputy Mayor of DC, and now Chief of the Department of Pathology at Howard University. Mitchell was outraged that Fowler had dared express an opinion challenging the political narrative that insisted Chauvin killed Floyd for racial reasons, refusing to get off his neck even as the man was dying of suffocation. Mitchell wrote a open letter, signed by 400 others, calling for a full review of all of Fowler’s past cases in Maryland, with the clear intent of punishing Fowler by having his medical license revoked.
Soon thereafter, in April 2021, Maryland authorities agreed to Mitchell’s demand, forming a panel to review Fowler’s work and his right to continue to practice medicine of any kind.
» Read more
David Fowler: persecuted by the government
for trying to do an honest job
They’re coming for you next: It appears it is now considered reasonable in today’s intolerant society to persecute any expert witness who dares testify honestly for the defense in any trial that the narrative demands a guilty plea, no matter what the facts might be.
The trial in this case was against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who in 2020 held George Floyd down by the neck during the arrest in which Floyd died. The expert witness is Dr. David Fowler, the former Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Maryland, who testified for Chauvin’s defense.
The persecution of Fowler was instigated by Dr. Roger Mitchell, former Chief Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia, Deputy Mayor of DC, and now Chief of the Department of Pathology at Howard University. Mitchell was outraged that Fowler had dared express an opinion challenging the political narrative that insisted Chauvin killed Floyd for racial reasons, refusing to get off his neck even as the man was dying of suffocation. Mitchell wrote a open letter, signed by 400 others, calling for a full review of all of Fowler’s past cases in Maryland, with the clear intent of punishing Fowler by having his medical license revoked.
Soon thereafter, in April 2021, Maryland authorities agreed to Mitchell’s demand, forming a panel to review Fowler’s work and his right to continue to practice medicine of any kind.
» Read more
Cliffs inside 285-mile-wide Schiaparelli Crater on Mars
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 2, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and was labeled by the science team as showing “dramatic cliffs and swirls in mound-skirting unit.”
I estimate the tallest point of this cliff butte to be somewhere between 500 and 800 feet high. And while the cliff is what first attracts the eye, one mustn’t ignore the vast amounts of dust and sand that cover everything here. The small teardrop-shaped buttes on the upper plateau suggest the prevailing wind direction there is from the north to the south. However, the north-south orientation of the ripple dunes on the floor below suggests that the prevailing wind direction below the cliff is east-west. Explaining how the topography could so quickly change the prevailing wind direction is beyond my skill.
The swirls mentioned by the scientists can be seen at the top of the cliff (on the left) and just below its base, in areas where there appears to be less dust. Those swirls reveal the many geological layers here.
» 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 December 2, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and was labeled by the science team as showing “dramatic cliffs and swirls in mound-skirting unit.”
I estimate the tallest point of this cliff butte to be somewhere between 500 and 800 feet high. And while the cliff is what first attracts the eye, one mustn’t ignore the vast amounts of dust and sand that cover everything here. The small teardrop-shaped buttes on the upper plateau suggest the prevailing wind direction there is from the north to the south. However, the north-south orientation of the ripple dunes on the floor below suggests that the prevailing wind direction below the cliff is east-west. Explaining how the topography could so quickly change the prevailing wind direction is beyond my skill.
The swirls mentioned by the scientists can be seen at the top of the cliff (on the left) and just below its base, in areas where there appears to be less dust. Those swirls reveal the many geological layers here.
» Read more
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 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.
SpaceX ready to launch Starship prototype #24 into orbit
According to a statement yesterday by one SpaceX official, the company is now ready to launch its Superheavy #7 booster, stacked with its Starship prototype #24, on an orbital test flight, with the only remaining obstacle to launch the launch license, not yet approved by the FAA.
Speaking on a panel at the Space Mobility conference here about “rocket cargo” delivery, Gary Henry, senior advisor for national security space solutions at SpaceX, said both the Super Heavy booster and its launch pad were in good shape after the Feb. 9 test, clearing the way for an orbital launch that is still pending a Federal Aviation Administration launch license. “We had a successful hot fire, and that was really the last box to check,” he said. “The vehicle is in good shape. The pad is in good shape.”
…“Pretty much all of the prerequisites to supporting an orbital demonstration attempt here in the next month or so look good,” he said.
Henry also outlined SpaceX’s overall plans for Starship in the next year or two, beginning with a series of test/operational launches that will iron out the kinks of the rocket while simultaneously placing Starlink satellites into orbit. At the same time, development will shift to creating a Moon lander version of Starship for NASA’S Artemis program, including doing refueling tests of Starship in orbit. These test flights will also lead quickly to the three private manned flights that SpaceX already has contracts for, including two around the Moon and one in Earth orbit.
According to a statement yesterday by one SpaceX official, the company is now ready to launch its Superheavy #7 booster, stacked with its Starship prototype #24, on an orbital test flight, with the only remaining obstacle to launch the launch license, not yet approved by the FAA.
Speaking on a panel at the Space Mobility conference here about “rocket cargo” delivery, Gary Henry, senior advisor for national security space solutions at SpaceX, said both the Super Heavy booster and its launch pad were in good shape after the Feb. 9 test, clearing the way for an orbital launch that is still pending a Federal Aviation Administration launch license. “We had a successful hot fire, and that was really the last box to check,” he said. “The vehicle is in good shape. The pad is in good shape.”
…“Pretty much all of the prerequisites to supporting an orbital demonstration attempt here in the next month or so look good,” he said.
Henry also outlined SpaceX’s overall plans for Starship in the next year or two, beginning with a series of test/operational launches that will iron out the kinks of the rocket while simultaneously placing Starlink satellites into orbit. At the same time, development will shift to creating a Moon lander version of Starship for NASA’S Artemis program, including doing refueling tests of Starship in orbit. These test flights will also lead quickly to the three private manned flights that SpaceX already has contracts for, including two around the Moon and one in Earth orbit.
NASA signs deal to launch Israel’s first space telescope mission
NASA today announced that it has agreed to provide the launch opportunity for Israel’s first space telescope, dubbed the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT), designed to make wide-field ultraviolet observations from geosynchronous orbit.
Led by the Israel Space Agency and Weizmann Institute of Science, ULTRASAT is planned for launch into geostationary orbit around Earth in early 2026. In addition to providing the launch service, NASA will also participate in the mission’s science program.
The press release, both from NASA and from Weizmann, was remarkably vague about how NASA will provide that launch capability. The only orbital rocket NASA has is SLS. Will ULTRASAT launch as a secondary payload on a future Artemis launch? Or will NASA buy launch services from another rocket company? The press releases did not say.
Regardless, this deal means that American taxpayers have agreed to foot the launch cost of this Israeli space telescope, in exchange for obtaining telescope time for American astronomers. Interestingly, the press releases also provided no information about how much that launch cost would be.
There has long been a need for a dedicated new ultraviolet space telescope, so this deal could be a good one for American astronomers and a worthwhile use of some of NASA’s budget. It just seems inappropriate for NASA to keep the details so secret.
NASA today announced that it has agreed to provide the launch opportunity for Israel’s first space telescope, dubbed the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT), designed to make wide-field ultraviolet observations from geosynchronous orbit.
Led by the Israel Space Agency and Weizmann Institute of Science, ULTRASAT is planned for launch into geostationary orbit around Earth in early 2026. In addition to providing the launch service, NASA will also participate in the mission’s science program.
The press release, both from NASA and from Weizmann, was remarkably vague about how NASA will provide that launch capability. The only orbital rocket NASA has is SLS. Will ULTRASAT launch as a secondary payload on a future Artemis launch? Or will NASA buy launch services from another rocket company? The press releases did not say.
Regardless, this deal means that American taxpayers have agreed to foot the launch cost of this Israeli space telescope, in exchange for obtaining telescope time for American astronomers. Interestingly, the press releases also provided no information about how much that launch cost would be.
There has long been a need for a dedicated new ultraviolet space telescope, so this deal could be a good one for American astronomers and a worthwhile use of some of NASA’s budget. It just seems inappropriate for NASA to keep the details so secret.
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
Japanese startup enters the high altitude balloon space tourism business
A Japanese startup, Iwaya Giken, announced yesterday that it is building a two-person capsule that will carry two persons, a pilot and passenger, on high-altitude stratospheric tourist balloon flights for about $180K per ticket.
The company, Iwaya Giken, based in Sapporo in northern Japan, has been working on the project since 2012 and says it has developed an airtight two-seat cabin and a balloon capable of rising up to an altitude of 25 kilometers (15 miles), where the curve of the Earth can be clearly viewed. While passengers won’t be in outer space — the balloon only goes up to roughly the middle of the stratosphere — they’ll be higher than a jet plane flies and have an unobstructed view of outer space.
The company teamed up with major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp., which announced plans to collaborate on the project when the company is ready for a commercial trip. Initially, a flight would cost about 24 million yen ($180,000), but Iwaya said he aims to eventually bring it down to several million yen (tens of thousands of dollars).
No date for the first launch was mentioned. This company now joins two American balloon companies as well as a Spanish balloon company, all planning to offer rides to the edge of space.
A Japanese startup, Iwaya Giken, announced yesterday that it is building a two-person capsule that will carry two persons, a pilot and passenger, on high-altitude stratospheric tourist balloon flights for about $180K per ticket.
The company, Iwaya Giken, based in Sapporo in northern Japan, has been working on the project since 2012 and says it has developed an airtight two-seat cabin and a balloon capable of rising up to an altitude of 25 kilometers (15 miles), where the curve of the Earth can be clearly viewed. While passengers won’t be in outer space — the balloon only goes up to roughly the middle of the stratosphere — they’ll be higher than a jet plane flies and have an unobstructed view of outer space.
The company teamed up with major Japanese travel agency JTB Corp., which announced plans to collaborate on the project when the company is ready for a commercial trip. Initially, a flight would cost about 24 million yen ($180,000), but Iwaya said he aims to eventually bring it down to several million yen (tens of thousands of dollars).
No date for the first launch was mentioned. This company now joins two American balloon companies as well as a Spanish balloon company, all planning to offer rides to the edge of space.
Despite a complete lack of any customers, Spaceport America in New Mexico now plans to build a “reception center.”
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has decided it needs to build another building at Spaceport America, even though that spaceport has seen no significant business in its almost two decades of operation, and has little indication of any future business to come.
The Spaceport Technology and Reception Center’s mission “will be to become the welcoming face to staff, visitors, and prospective customers visiting or working at Spaceport America. The proposed 30,000 square foot STARC building will be a multi-use facility; it will house the Spaceport’s core IT server center, staff offices and conference rooms, an Auditorium, food preparation and dining area, virtual experience center, and 2nd and 3rd floor lounge and viewing areas,” according to a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA). “The new building will provide modern, comfortable work and meeting spaces for NMSA staff and a means to receive, entertain and educate groups of visitors and/or potential customers,” the document added.
The article goes on to detail how NMSA has spent millions of tax dollars for years, with the promise of billions of revenue from space launches and thousands of local jobs, all of which have turned out to be pie in the sky. Other than Virgin Galactic, which remains a very questionable customer, no major rocket companies have shown any interest in launching from this spaceport.
To propose spending more on another building that will likely sit empty most of the time is absurd. As the article notes, New Mexico has many much more compelling issues to spend its taxpayer money. This boondoggle should be shut down.
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has decided it needs to build another building at Spaceport America, even though that spaceport has seen no significant business in its almost two decades of operation, and has little indication of any future business to come.
The Spaceport Technology and Reception Center’s mission “will be to become the welcoming face to staff, visitors, and prospective customers visiting or working at Spaceport America. The proposed 30,000 square foot STARC building will be a multi-use facility; it will house the Spaceport’s core IT server center, staff offices and conference rooms, an Auditorium, food preparation and dining area, virtual experience center, and 2nd and 3rd floor lounge and viewing areas,” according to a request for proposals (RFP) issued by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA). “The new building will provide modern, comfortable work and meeting spaces for NMSA staff and a means to receive, entertain and educate groups of visitors and/or potential customers,” the document added.
The article goes on to detail how NMSA has spent millions of tax dollars for years, with the promise of billions of revenue from space launches and thousands of local jobs, all of which have turned out to be pie in the sky. Other than Virgin Galactic, which remains a very questionable customer, no major rocket companies have shown any interest in launching from this spaceport.
To propose spending more on another building that will likely sit empty most of the time is absurd. As the article notes, New Mexico has many much more compelling issues to spend its taxpayer money. This boondoggle should be shut down.
The Allman Brothers Band – Jessica
February 21, Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who I must also thank for sending me the Twitter links showing the Russian Progress freighter hole.
- Vast Space, which hopes to build a commercial space station, has purchased the orbital tug company Launcher
This acquisition occurred just days after Launcher revealed the complete failure of its first orbital tug in orbit shortly after deployment. Vast will continue Launcher’s tug and rocket engine operations, but abandon its plans to build its own rocket.
- Celestis announces that the DNA from the remains of four past presidents will fly on the first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket
On this same rocket Celestis is also flying ashes or DNA from many actors or creators from Star Trek.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who I must also thank for sending me the Twitter links showing the Russian Progress freighter hole.
- Vast Space, which hopes to build a commercial space station, has purchased the orbital tug company Launcher
This acquisition occurred just days after Launcher revealed the complete failure of its first orbital tug in orbit shortly after deployment. Vast will continue Launcher’s tug and rocket engine operations, but abandon its plans to build its own rocket.
- Celestis announces that the DNA from the remains of four past presidents will fly on the first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket
On this same rocket Celestis is also flying ashes or DNA from many actors or creators from Star Trek.
A lunar lava avalanche three miles wide and one mile long
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken October 16, 2016 and released today by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team. It shows a three-mile-wide unnamed crater that impacted on the rims of two other lunar impacts, one larger but the other monumental.
The trio of impact events that resulted in this spectacular corner of the Moon occurred over nearly four billion years of lunar history; first, the Orientale basin (>3.7 billion years), Lowell W (one to three billion years), and finally, this unnamed crater (likely <100 million years).
The Orientale Basin is about 500 miles wide, and is one of the most distinct large features on the lunar surface, a gigantic bowl with three concentric rings surrounding it. Because it is near the eastern limb of the near side, it wasn’t until the space age before a good overhead view of this major lunar geological impact basin was seen. Lowell W is about 11 miles wide.
The overview map below shows the context between Lowell W and this small crater, with the yellow lines indicating the area covered by the picture above.
» Read more
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken October 16, 2016 and released today by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team. It shows a three-mile-wide unnamed crater that impacted on the rims of two other lunar impacts, one larger but the other monumental.
The trio of impact events that resulted in this spectacular corner of the Moon occurred over nearly four billion years of lunar history; first, the Orientale basin (>3.7 billion years), Lowell W (one to three billion years), and finally, this unnamed crater (likely <100 million years).
The Orientale Basin is about 500 miles wide, and is one of the most distinct large features on the lunar surface, a gigantic bowl with three concentric rings surrounding it. Because it is near the eastern limb of the near side, it wasn’t until the space age before a good overhead view of this major lunar geological impact basin was seen. Lowell W is about 11 miles wide.
The overview map below shows the context between Lowell W and this small crater, with the yellow lines indicating the area covered by the picture above.
» Read more
Russians release image of coolant system hole in Progress
Roscosmos officials today released a close-up image taken on February 17, 2023 of what they think is the hole in the Progress freighter that caused a leak in its coolant system on February 11th.
The picture was taken shortly after the freighter undocked from ISS to be de-orbited over the Pacific. To the right is a comparison of pictures taken of that Progress hole and the hole that occurred in December on the Soyuz spacecraft docked to ISS. The comparison was first created by this Twitter user but rearranged by me to post here. The red circle in the bottom image marks what the Russians identify as the Progress hole. The top image shows the hole that caused an almost identical leak in a Soyuz capsule in December. The Russians say the Progress hole is about 12 millimeters in diameter, and to their mind was caused “by an external influence,” same as the Soyuz hole.
This conclusion however is suspect. If you look at the best resolution version of the picture of the Progress hole (available here), there appears to be material surrounding the hole, as if the hole broke from the inside, not from an outside impact. (Because the resolution is poor, however, this conclusion is uncertain.)
More telling is that, as both pictures show, the two holes are almost in the exact same place on these two spacecraft. As noted by the Twitter user who first made this picture comparison, “I can’t even calculate the odds of 2 spacecraft being struck in almost the same place, within weeks of each other.”
That the Soyuz leak caused so much staining and the Progress leak has none is also puzzling.
Were these leaks both caused by the impact of a micrometeoriod or piece of space junk, as the Russians now claim? Or was one by sabotage or sloppy production work on the ground? Or were both? One impact might make sense, but two at almost the same spot? It defies logic or the percentages for two impacts so similar to occur so close together in time.
Sabotage however in the same area is very conceivable, especially considering that the Russians have never explained the cause of the hole that was drilled in a Soyuz capsule in 2018, a hole that was drilled and then patched, before launch.
Roscosmos officials today released a close-up image taken on February 17, 2023 of what they think is the hole in the Progress freighter that caused a leak in its coolant system on February 11th.
The picture was taken shortly after the freighter undocked from ISS to be de-orbited over the Pacific. To the right is a comparison of pictures taken of that Progress hole and the hole that occurred in December on the Soyuz spacecraft docked to ISS. The comparison was first created by this Twitter user but rearranged by me to post here. The red circle in the bottom image marks what the Russians identify as the Progress hole. The top image shows the hole that caused an almost identical leak in a Soyuz capsule in December. The Russians say the Progress hole is about 12 millimeters in diameter, and to their mind was caused “by an external influence,” same as the Soyuz hole.
This conclusion however is suspect. If you look at the best resolution version of the picture of the Progress hole (available here), there appears to be material surrounding the hole, as if the hole broke from the inside, not from an outside impact. (Because the resolution is poor, however, this conclusion is uncertain.)
More telling is that, as both pictures show, the two holes are almost in the exact same place on these two spacecraft. As noted by the Twitter user who first made this picture comparison, “I can’t even calculate the odds of 2 spacecraft being struck in almost the same place, within weeks of each other.”
That the Soyuz leak caused so much staining and the Progress leak has none is also puzzling.
Were these leaks both caused by the impact of a micrometeoriod or piece of space junk, as the Russians now claim? Or was one by sabotage or sloppy production work on the ground? Or were both? One impact might make sense, but two at almost the same spot? It defies logic or the percentages for two impacts so similar to occur so close together in time.
Sabotage however in the same area is very conceivable, especially considering that the Russians have never explained the cause of the hole that was drilled in a Soyuz capsule in 2018, a hole that was drilled and then patched, before launch.
Pushback: Home appraiser sues professors who called him racist without evidence
Mott (l) and Connolly, eager to use race to
defame an innocent white man
Bring a gun to a knife fight: A home appraiser, Shane Lanham, who was publicly accused by two Johns Hopkins professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, of being a bigot and racist by valuing their home less because they are black, has now filed a countersuit, noting that the accusation was based on data so faulty “a first-year undergraduate” would immediately reject it.
[T]heir claims would fail to pass basic academic muster if treated as scholarship, Lanham argued in his counterclaim, which includes a suit for defamation. The racism claims achieved national coverage such as in ABC News. The resulting allegations have harmed Lanham’s business and reputation, according to the lawsuit.
“Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott’s ill-conceived ‘experiment’ involving different appraisers, a seven-month gap, and intervening changes in market conditions would not withstand even basic scrutiny in the serious academic environment in which they work,” Lanham’s counterclaim stated. The lawsuit noted that the professors “failed to disclose the sale of the similar house next door to their home that sold only a month after Mr. Lanham and 20/20 Valuations’ appraisal for $7,000 less than the amount of the appraisal.”
You can read Lanham’s countersuit here [pdf]. He is requesting, at a minimum, $250K in compensatory damages and $250K in punitive damages.
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 home appraiser, Shane Lanham, who was publicly accused by two Johns Hopkins professors, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott, of being a bigot and racist by valuing their home less because they are black, has now filed a countersuit, noting that the accusation was based on data so faulty “a first-year undergraduate” would immediately reject it.
[T]heir claims would fail to pass basic academic muster if treated as scholarship, Lanham argued in his counterclaim, which includes a suit for defamation. The racism claims achieved national coverage such as in ABC News. The resulting allegations have harmed Lanham’s business and reputation, according to the lawsuit.
“Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott’s ill-conceived ‘experiment’ involving different appraisers, a seven-month gap, and intervening changes in market conditions would not withstand even basic scrutiny in the serious academic environment in which they work,” Lanham’s counterclaim stated. The lawsuit noted that the professors “failed to disclose the sale of the similar house next door to their home that sold only a month after Mr. Lanham and 20/20 Valuations’ appraisal for $7,000 less than the amount of the appraisal.”
You can read Lanham’s countersuit here [pdf]. He is requesting, at a minimum, $250K in compensatory damages and $250K in punitive damages.
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
Solar Orbiter captures Mercury crossing in front of the Sun
Click for full movie.
The European probe Solar Orbiter successfully filmed Mercury as it crossed in front of the Sun — from the spacecraft’s perspective — on January 3, 2023.
The transit was captured by several different instruments on Solar Orbiter, as shown at the link. The picture above is a screen capture from the short movie made by its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager. The black disk is Mercury, moving from the left to the right. In the background the limb of the Sun can be seen, with a distinct feature flaring out from that limb.
For Solar Orbiter, this particular transit offered a valuable chance to calibrate the instruments. “It is a certified black object travelling through your field of view,” says Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist at ESA. Thus, any brightness recorded by the instrument within Mercury’s disc must be caused by the way the instrument transmits its light, called the point spread function. The better this is known, the better it can be removed. So be studying this event, the quality of the Solar Orbiter data can be ever further improved.
If the transit also produced some spectacular images, so much the better.
Click for full movie.
The European probe Solar Orbiter successfully filmed Mercury as it crossed in front of the Sun — from the spacecraft’s perspective — on January 3, 2023.
The transit was captured by several different instruments on Solar Orbiter, as shown at the link. The picture above is a screen capture from the short movie made by its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager. The black disk is Mercury, moving from the left to the right. In the background the limb of the Sun can be seen, with a distinct feature flaring out from that limb.
For Solar Orbiter, this particular transit offered a valuable chance to calibrate the instruments. “It is a certified black object travelling through your field of view,” says Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist at ESA. Thus, any brightness recorded by the instrument within Mercury’s disc must be caused by the way the instrument transmits its light, called the point spread function. The better this is known, the better it can be removed. So be studying this event, the quality of the Solar Orbiter data can be ever further improved.
If the transit also produced some spectacular images, so much the better.
VLT takes picture of exoplanet
Click for original image.
The ground-based Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has successfully taken a picture of an exoplanet four to six times larger than Jupiter that is circling its star at about the same distance as Saturn.
That picture, cropped to post here, is to the right. Other data from other observatories had suggested the star AF Leporis, 87.5 light years away, might have an exoplanet, so astronomers decided to focus VLT on it to see if it could spot it.
AF Leporis is about as massive and as hot as the sun, ESO wrote in the statement, and in addition to its one known planet the star also has a disk of debris similar to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt. AF Leporis is, however, much younger than the sun. At 24 million years old, it is about 200 times younger than our star. This young age makes AF Leporis and its planetary system especially intriguing for astronomers as it can provide important insights into the evolution of our own solar system.
To snap this picture, the VLT had to use adaptive optics to smooth out the fuzziness produced by the Earth’s atmosphere, while also blocking out the star’s own light (as shown by the black disk in the image).
Click for original image.
The ground-based Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has successfully taken a picture of an exoplanet four to six times larger than Jupiter that is circling its star at about the same distance as Saturn.
That picture, cropped to post here, is to the right. Other data from other observatories had suggested the star AF Leporis, 87.5 light years away, might have an exoplanet, so astronomers decided to focus VLT on it to see if it could spot it.
AF Leporis is about as massive and as hot as the sun, ESO wrote in the statement, and in addition to its one known planet the star also has a disk of debris similar to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt. AF Leporis is, however, much younger than the sun. At 24 million years old, it is about 200 times younger than our star. This young age makes AF Leporis and its planetary system especially intriguing for astronomers as it can provide important insights into the evolution of our own solar system.
To snap this picture, the VLT had to use adaptive optics to smooth out the fuzziness produced by the Earth’s atmosphere, while also blocking out the star’s own light (as shown by the black disk in the image).
China’s continued silence about Zhurong suggests Mars rover is dead
The data from Zhurong’s ground-penetrating radar instrument.
Zhurong’s final location is somewhere in the blue circle.
China’s continued silence about Zhurong — which should have come out of hibernation sometime in late December-early January — suggests the Mars rover did not survive the Martian winter, which this year was also lengthened near the end by some additional dust storms.
Zhurong went into hibernation in May 2022, at the start of winter, with plans to awaken in December. Like the helicopter Ingenuity and the lander InSight, it depends on solar power, and had to contend with a very relatively severe winter dust season this Martian year.
Even though the Chinese press has loudly touted Tianwen-1’s first two years in Mars orbit, it has made little or no mention of Zhurong, a silence that is deafening.
The silence is also foolish, because China has nothing to be ashamed of concerning Zhurong. The mission was only supposed to operate for 90 days. Instead it lasted more than a year, traveling much farther than planned. Most important, the data from its radar instrument (shown above) showed that, at this location at 25 degrees north latitude, there is no underground ice to a depth of 260 feet. That data confirmed that the Martian equatorial regions below 30 degrees latitude are very dry, with any underground ice existing rarely if at all. The icy regions above 30 degrees latitude do not appear to extend much farther south than that latitude.
The data from Zhurong’s ground-penetrating radar instrument.
Zhurong’s final location is somewhere in the blue circle.
China’s continued silence about Zhurong — which should have come out of hibernation sometime in late December-early January — suggests the Mars rover did not survive the Martian winter, which this year was also lengthened near the end by some additional dust storms.
Zhurong went into hibernation in May 2022, at the start of winter, with plans to awaken in December. Like the helicopter Ingenuity and the lander InSight, it depends on solar power, and had to contend with a very relatively severe winter dust season this Martian year.
Even though the Chinese press has loudly touted Tianwen-1’s first two years in Mars orbit, it has made little or no mention of Zhurong, a silence that is deafening.
The silence is also foolish, because China has nothing to be ashamed of concerning Zhurong. The mission was only supposed to operate for 90 days. Instead it lasted more than a year, traveling much farther than planned. Most important, the data from its radar instrument (shown above) showed that, at this location at 25 degrees north latitude, there is no underground ice to a depth of 260 feet. That data confirmed that the Martian equatorial regions below 30 degrees latitude are very dry, with any underground ice existing rarely if at all. The icy regions above 30 degrees latitude do not appear to extend much farther south than that latitude.
Los Lobos – Don’t Worry Baby
February 20, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly touts its growing presence in Texas
The tweet links to an article describing the general growth of Texas’s space industry, much of it coming from companies fleeing California’s Stalinist government regulations.
- At press conference about the next Chinese manned mission, a government official reminded reporters that everything “must be censored before release.”
It is kind of funny that this official felt he needed to do this, since every one of those “journalists” knows he or she is really employed by the government and knows everything they write must serve that government. Why underline China’s authoritarian rule?
- Russian officials confirm that the launch of an unmanned Soyuz to ISS will take place on February 23rd
There had been some conflicting reports about the exact launch date. This announcement ends that confusion.
- All the Starlink satellites presently in orbit
The tweet shows a short video quickly illustrating the present state of the constellation. It almost literally covers the Earth.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.
- Firefly touts its growing presence in Texas
The tweet links to an article describing the general growth of Texas’s space industry, much of it coming from companies fleeing California’s Stalinist government regulations.
- At press conference about the next Chinese manned mission, a government official reminded reporters that everything “must be censored before release.”
It is kind of funny that this official felt he needed to do this, since every one of those “journalists” knows he or she is really employed by the government and knows everything they write must serve that government. Why underline China’s authoritarian rule?
- Russian officials confirm that the launch of an unmanned Soyuz to ISS will take place on February 23rd
There had been some conflicting reports about the exact launch date. This announcement ends that confusion.
- All the Starlink satellites presently in orbit
The tweet shows a short video quickly illustrating the present state of the constellation. It almost literally covers the Earth.
Today’s blacklisted American: Georgetown Law School tried to destroy a student simply because he asked questions about its COVID jab and mask policies
Dean Bill Treanor: He uses 1984 as
his instruction manual
They’re coming for you next: When student William Spruance gave a speech challenging the COVID jab and mask policies at Georgetown Law School, which required for example masks on students but not on teachers, university officials attempted to not only cancel him from the college, they tried to destroy him entirely.
They not only suspended him from the campus (thus preventing him from attending classes), they demanded he undergo a psychiatric evaluation while also waiving his right to medical confidentiality. On top of this, they threatened to report him to state bar associations if he did not cooperate fully.
The story at the link, written by Spruance, has a lot more horrifying nuance. Rather rehash it completely, I strongly advise my readers to go there and read it all. This quote though justifies fully Spruance’s reasonable skepticism of Georgetown’s irrational Wuhan flu policies:
» Read more
Dean Bill Treanor: He uses 1984 as
his instruction manual
They’re coming for you next: When student William Spruance gave a speech challenging the COVID jab and mask policies at Georgetown Law School, which required for example masks on students but not on teachers, university officials attempted to not only cancel him from the college, they tried to destroy him entirely.
They not only suspended him from the campus (thus preventing him from attending classes), they demanded he undergo a psychiatric evaluation while also waiving his right to medical confidentiality. On top of this, they threatened to report him to state bar associations if he did not cooperate fully.
The story at the link, written by Spruance, has a lot more horrifying nuance. Rather rehash it completely, I strongly advise my readers to go there and read it all. This quote though justifies fully Spruance’s reasonable skepticism of Georgetown’s irrational Wuhan flu policies:
» Read more
Splashed lava from a Martian impact
Click for original image.
Almost always it is impossible to understand a high resolution image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) unless you also take a wider view. Today’s cool image to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, is a perfect example.
Taken on January 6, 2023, it shows what the science team labeled as a “rocky deposit on crater floor.” To my eye however none of this appeared tremendously rocky. Instead, what I saw was a curved and layered flow feature whose ancient age was suggested by the many later craters scattered across its surface.
Still, its origin was unclear. It isn’t ice, not only because of its apparent resistance from disturbance from those later crater impacts but because it is located at about 20 degrees north latitude, in the dry equatorial regions of Mars. If lava, what is its source? As I noted, a wider look was necessary to answer that question.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Almost always it is impossible to understand a high resolution image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) unless you also take a wider view. Today’s cool image to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, is a perfect example.
Taken on January 6, 2023, it shows what the science team labeled as a “rocky deposit on crater floor.” To my eye however none of this appeared tremendously rocky. Instead, what I saw was a curved and layered flow feature whose ancient age was suggested by the many later craters scattered across its surface.
Still, its origin was unclear. It isn’t ice, not only because of its apparent resistance from disturbance from those later crater impacts but because it is located at about 20 degrees north latitude, in the dry equatorial regions of Mars. If lava, what is its source? As I noted, a wider look was necessary to answer that question.
» Read more
For the 4th time Curiosity’s drill fails to penetrate marker layer
Click for original image.
For the fourth time this past weekend Curiosity’s drill was unable to penetrate the hard rock of what scientists have labeled “the marker layer”, a distinct feature seen at approximately the same elevation at many places on the flanks of Mount Sharp on Mars.
The image to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, shows that the drill was once again only able to drill a eighth to a quarter inch, not enough to gather samples for testing.
This was our fourth attempt to drill this marker band, and we gave it our best shot from both a geology and engineering perspective. Unfortunately these rocks do not want to cooperate – they’re hard and they weather into resistant and recessive beds which make them very challenging to drill. So the team made the difficult decision to get back on the road, without a drill sample from this location
Click for original image.
For the fourth time this past weekend Curiosity’s drill was unable to penetrate the hard rock of what scientists have labeled “the marker layer”, a distinct feature seen at approximately the same elevation at many places on the flanks of Mount Sharp on Mars.
The image to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, shows that the drill was once again only able to drill a eighth to a quarter inch, not enough to gather samples for testing.
This was our fourth attempt to drill this marker band, and we gave it our best shot from both a geology and engineering perspective. Unfortunately these rocks do not want to cooperate – they’re hard and they weather into resistant and recessive beds which make them very challenging to drill. So the team made the difficult decision to get back on the road, without a drill sample from this location
India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander/rover passes radiation testing
Click for interactive map.
According to India’s space agency ISRO, its next lunar lander/rover, Chandrayaan-3, has successfully passed testing to make sure it can function without issues in the harsh electromagnetic environment of space.
Magnetic Interference/ Electro – Magnetic Compatibility) test is conducted for satellite missions to ensure the functionality of the satellite subsystems in the space environment and their compatibility with the expected electromagnetic levels.
The spacecraft, which will carry a rover to the Moon’s south pole regions (the red dot on the map to the right), is tentatively scheduled for launch anywhere from June to the end of ’23, depending on the news story you read.
Click for interactive map.
According to India’s space agency ISRO, its next lunar lander/rover, Chandrayaan-3, has successfully passed testing to make sure it can function without issues in the harsh electromagnetic environment of space.
Magnetic Interference/ Electro – Magnetic Compatibility) test is conducted for satellite missions to ensure the functionality of the satellite subsystems in the space environment and their compatibility with the expected electromagnetic levels.
The spacecraft, which will carry a rover to the Moon’s south pole regions (the red dot on the map to the right), is tentatively scheduled for launch anywhere from June to the end of ’23, depending on the news story you read.
First orbital tug from the startup Launcher fails shortly after deployment
The first orbital tug, dubbed Orbiter SN1, of the startup company Launcher failed shortly after deployment from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 3, 2023.
The vehicle communicated with a ground station on its first scheduled pass after deployment while on battery power. “We also communicated with the vehicle for the duration of expected battery life,” the company said.
However, the Hawthorne, California-based company said the spacecraft could not get into the proper attitude so that its solar cells could generate power, which it blamed on “an orientation control issue caused by a fault in our GPS antenna system.” That, in turn, kept Orbiter from deploying its satellite payloads.
The tug was carrying payloads from eight customers, four of which were satellites to be deployed while the others would remain on the tug, using it as the base of operations.
The company presently has plans to launch upgraded tugs on two different Falcon 9 launches, in June and October respectively.
The first orbital tug, dubbed Orbiter SN1, of the startup company Launcher failed shortly after deployment from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 3, 2023.
The vehicle communicated with a ground station on its first scheduled pass after deployment while on battery power. “We also communicated with the vehicle for the duration of expected battery life,” the company said.
However, the Hawthorne, California-based company said the spacecraft could not get into the proper attitude so that its solar cells could generate power, which it blamed on “an orientation control issue caused by a fault in our GPS antenna system.” That, in turn, kept Orbiter from deploying its satellite payloads.
The tug was carrying payloads from eight customers, four of which were satellites to be deployed while the others would remain on the tug, using it as the base of operations.
The company presently has plans to launch upgraded tugs on two different Falcon 9 launches, in June and October respectively.
Inspection of leaking Progress after undocking detects no obvious damage
After undocking the Progress freighter from ISS yesterday, Russian astronauts on the station rolled it so that all sides of its service module could be photographed and inspected in the hope of spotting the leak in its coolant system that sprung on February 11th.
No visual damage has been detected at the Progress MS-21 spacecraft after it undocked from the International Space Station. “After the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station’s Poisk mini-research module, footage was made of its exterior surface and no visual damage was detected,” the statement [from Roscosmos] reads.
Initially the Russians postponed its de-orbit as they considered the idea of redocking the freighter to another port on the Russian half of ISS in order to inspect it more closely, but eventually they decided to fore-go that plan and de-orbit it on February 19th, one day later.
In watching the live stream of the undocking and the roll maneuver, I thought I saw a partial reddish-orange stain, similar to the stain around the hole that occurred in the Soyuz capsule in December, but it was mostly hidden behind other equipment and the Russians seemed to not consider this significant.
After undocking the Progress freighter from ISS yesterday, Russian astronauts on the station rolled it so that all sides of its service module could be photographed and inspected in the hope of spotting the leak in its coolant system that sprung on February 11th.
No visual damage has been detected at the Progress MS-21 spacecraft after it undocked from the International Space Station. “After the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station’s Poisk mini-research module, footage was made of its exterior surface and no visual damage was detected,” the statement [from Roscosmos] reads.
Initially the Russians postponed its de-orbit as they considered the idea of redocking the freighter to another port on the Russian half of ISS in order to inspect it more closely, but eventually they decided to fore-go that plan and de-orbit it on February 19th, one day later.
In watching the live stream of the undocking and the roll maneuver, I thought I saw a partial reddish-orange stain, similar to the stain around the hole that occurred in the Soyuz capsule in December, but it was mostly hidden behind other equipment and the Russians seemed to not consider this significant.
SpaceX launches an Inmarsat communications satellite
SpaceX tonight used its Falcon 9 rocket to launch an Inmarsat communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
This was SpaceX’s second launch today. The first stage successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic, completing its third flight. Both fairings were also previously flown.
The 2023 launch race:
12 SpaceX
5 China
2 Russia
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
1 India
American private enterprise now leads China 13 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 13 to 9. By itself SpaceX leads the world combined 12 to 9.
SpaceX tonight used its Falcon 9 rocket to launch an Inmarsat communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
This was SpaceX’s second launch today. The first stage successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic, completing its third flight. Both fairings were also previously flown.
The 2023 launch race:
12 SpaceX
5 China
2 Russia
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
1 India
American private enterprise now leads China 13 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 13 to 9. By itself SpaceX leads the world combined 12 to 9.
February 17, 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
Bruce Hornsby & The Range – The Way It Is
An evening pause: Performed live 1990. He really tickles those ivories with joy.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
February 17, 2023 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, except for the last two.
- Soyuz capsule placed inside its payload fairing for a likely February 21th launch
That date, reported by Roscosmos two days ago, is three days earlier than the date listed at the link. Unless something has changed and not been reported, I would favor the earlier reported date.
- Images of the new Angara rocket assembly stand at Vostochny
Looks very clean and sleek, but also has taken decades to build.
- Damaged Progress to undock from ISS shortly
Live stream is here, scheduled to go live around 6:15 pm Pacific. Following undocking the freighter will be maneuvered so that the leak in its coolant system on its service module can be photographed.
- U.S. military is loosening its rules for bidding on its launches
The language in the screen capture at the link is typical bureaucratic blather, but the bottom line is that the military is no longer limiting bidding on launch contracts to just SpaceX and ULA, a foolish program I have begging the military to abandon for years. At this point they will let others bid on missions that are less risk tolerant. Expect with time this policy to loosen even more, as more competition can only save the military money, while providing it more redundancy and capability.
- China’s Xuntian Space Telescope, a Hubble-class optical space telescope, is still targeting a ’24 launch
The telescope will orbit close to Tiangong-3, and according to images at the link, will dock with the station for maintenance.
- NASA’s corrupt safety panel worries about NASA’s “safety culture” in its Artemis program
Though in this case the panel is likely right, I don’t take anything it says seriously. It has been so wrong so many times in the past, clearly biased against private space while favoring NASA, its analysis is simply worthless. I only include the link to its report now for completeness.
- FAA proposes fining SpaceX $175K for not providing “launch collision analysis trajectory data” prior to a August 19, 2022 Starlink launch
SpaceX has 30 days to respond. Considering the increased hostility by the bureaucracy to SpaceX since Biden took office, I think it is understandable to think this is simply another bureaucratic attack for political reasons.
- One instrument on the Parker Solar Probe is temporarily down
It appears the problem simply requires a software upload of that instrument, which cannot be done for another few weeks because the spacecraft is in a blackout period due to orbital mechanics.
- Boeing and NASA still aiming for mid-April launch of first manned Starliner mission to ISS
That timeline remains in flux, and will be finalized in early March when they decide on when to begin fueling the service module. Once that happens, they need to launch with 60 days. Expect an actual launch date to announced around then.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, except for the last two.
- Soyuz capsule placed inside its payload fairing for a likely February 21th launch
That date, reported by Roscosmos two days ago, is three days earlier than the date listed at the link. Unless something has changed and not been reported, I would favor the earlier reported date.
- Images of the new Angara rocket assembly stand at Vostochny
Looks very clean and sleek, but also has taken decades to build.
- Damaged Progress to undock from ISS shortly
Live stream is here, scheduled to go live around 6:15 pm Pacific. Following undocking the freighter will be maneuvered so that the leak in its coolant system on its service module can be photographed.
- U.S. military is loosening its rules for bidding on its launches
The language in the screen capture at the link is typical bureaucratic blather, but the bottom line is that the military is no longer limiting bidding on launch contracts to just SpaceX and ULA, a foolish program I have begging the military to abandon for years. At this point they will let others bid on missions that are less risk tolerant. Expect with time this policy to loosen even more, as more competition can only save the military money, while providing it more redundancy and capability.
- China’s Xuntian Space Telescope, a Hubble-class optical space telescope, is still targeting a ’24 launch
The telescope will orbit close to Tiangong-3, and according to images at the link, will dock with the station for maintenance.
- NASA’s corrupt safety panel worries about NASA’s “safety culture” in its Artemis program
Though in this case the panel is likely right, I don’t take anything it says seriously. It has been so wrong so many times in the past, clearly biased against private space while favoring NASA, its analysis is simply worthless. I only include the link to its report now for completeness.
- FAA proposes fining SpaceX $175K for not providing “launch collision analysis trajectory data” prior to a August 19, 2022 Starlink launch
SpaceX has 30 days to respond. Considering the increased hostility by the bureaucracy to SpaceX since Biden took office, I think it is understandable to think this is simply another bureaucratic attack for political reasons.
- One instrument on the Parker Solar Probe is temporarily down
It appears the problem simply requires a software upload of that instrument, which cannot be done for another few weeks because the spacecraft is in a blackout period due to orbital mechanics.
- Boeing and NASA still aiming for mid-April launch of first manned Starliner mission to ISS
That timeline remains in flux, and will be finalized in early March when they decide on when to begin fueling the service module. Once that happens, they need to launch with 60 days. Expect an actual launch date to announced around then.
SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg
At 11:12 (Pacific) SpaceX today successfully launched another 51 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, using its Falcon 9 rocket with a first stage making its ninth flight.
The first stage successfully landed on its drone ship in the Pacific. The fairing halves completed their fifth and sixth flights.
The 2023 launch race:
11 SpaceX
5 China
2 Russia
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
1 India
American private enterprise now leads China 12 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 12 to 9. By itself SpaceX leads the world combined 11 to 9, and that lead will grow later today should the next Falcon 9 launch at 10:59 pm (Eastern) tonight from Cape Canaveral succeed.
At 11:12 (Pacific) SpaceX today successfully launched another 51 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, using its Falcon 9 rocket with a first stage making its ninth flight.
The first stage successfully landed on its drone ship in the Pacific. The fairing halves completed their fifth and sixth flights.
The 2023 launch race:
11 SpaceX
5 China
2 Russia
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
1 India
American private enterprise now leads China 12 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 12 to 9. By itself SpaceX leads the world combined 11 to 9, and that lead will grow later today should the next Falcon 9 launch at 10:59 pm (Eastern) tonight from Cape Canaveral succeed.
Today’s blacklisted American: Professor sues University of Texas for threatening his job because he criticized it publicly
University of Texas at Austin to Professor Richard Lowery:
“Nice job you got here. Shame if something happened to it.”
They’re coming for you next: Professor Richard Lowery is now suing the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) for its attempts to silence him, including threatening his job, cutting his pay, and monitoring his speech, actions instigated against Lowery because he was publicly critical of the university’s racist “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies as well as the university’s efforts, led by its president Jay Hartzell, to insert political propaganda into its courses.
Lowery is being represented by the Institute for Free Speech, which filed his lawsuit [pdf] on February 8, 2023.
The campaign [against Lowery and his allies at the university] started by pressuring Carlos Carvalho, another professor of business at the UT McCombs School who is also the Executive Director of the Salem Center for Public Policy, an academic institute that is part of the McCombs School. Lowery is an Associate Director and a Senior Scholar at the Salem Center and reports to Carvalho.
» Read more
University of Texas at Austin to Professor Richard Lowery:
“Nice job you got here. Shame if something happened to it.”
They’re coming for you next: Professor Richard Lowery is now suing the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) for its attempts to silence him, including threatening his job, cutting his pay, and monitoring his speech, actions instigated against Lowery because he was publicly critical of the university’s racist “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies as well as the university’s efforts, led by its president Jay Hartzell, to insert political propaganda into its courses.
Lowery is being represented by the Institute for Free Speech, which filed his lawsuit [pdf] on February 8, 2023.
The campaign [against Lowery and his allies at the university] started by pressuring Carlos Carvalho, another professor of business at the UT McCombs School who is also the Executive Director of the Salem Center for Public Policy, an academic institute that is part of the McCombs School. Lowery is an Associate Director and a Senior Scholar at the Salem Center and reports to Carvalho.
» Read more