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Blue Ghost completes first main mid-course correction engine burn

10:22 am

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander has not only successfully completed its first major engine burn, raising its Earth orbit as it slowly moves towards the Moon, but successfully used a joint NASA-Italian instrument to pinpoint its location using Earth-orbiting GPS-type satellites.

Jointly developed by NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) technology demonstration acquired Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, and calculated a navigation fix at nearly 52 Earth radii: more than 205,674 miles (331,000 kilometers) from Earth’s surface. This achievement suggests that Earth-based GNSS constellations can be used for navigation at nearly 90% of the distance to the Moon, an Earth-Moon signal distance record. It also demonstrates the power of using multiple GNSS constellations together, such as GPS and Galileo, to perform navigation.

These results suggest that if all lunar orbiters had this instrument on board, they could all pinpoint their positions precisely and thus eliminate the chance of collision. It also suggests that it might not be necessary, at least immediately, to build a separate GPS-type constellation around the Moon. Earth’s systems could do the job.

Blue Ghost will spend 25 days in Earth orbit, when it will transfer to lunar orbit for several more weeks before attempting a landing.

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Fast radio burst unexpectedly traced to dead and old elliptical galaxy

10:12 am

Location of Fast Radio Burst
Figure 4 from this paper [pdf].

The uncertainty of science: Using several radio telescopes working in tandem, astronomers have been able to identify the source galaxy of a fast radio burst (FRB) that repeatedly erupted throughout 2024, and discovered it came from a dead and old elliptical galaxy, not a younger galaxy as predicted.

[W]hile most FRBs originate well within their galaxies, the team traced FRB 20240209A to the outskirts of its home — 130,000 lightyears from the galaxy’s center where few other stars exist. “Among the FRB population, this FRB is located the furthest from the center of its host galaxy,” said Vishwangi Shah, a graduate student at McGill, who led the effort to pinpoint the FRB’s origins. “This is both surprising and exciting, as FRBs are expected to originate inside galaxies, often in star-forming regions. The location of this FRB so far outside its host galaxy raises questions as to how such energetic events can occur in regions where no new stars are forming.”

The small ellipse to the upper left of the giant elliptical galaxy (in yellow) marks the location of the FRB relative to its galaxy. Why it is so far outside remains a puzzle. The scientists consider two options: First, that the magnetar was once inside the galaxy but was kicked out at some point, and second, it simply could be inside a globular cluster that is too small to detect at this distance, two billion light years away.

Both explanations have problems and really don’t work.

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Genesis cover

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

Finland signs Artemis Accords

9:50 am

Finland today became the 53rd nation to sign the Artemis Accords. Based on the official statement from Wille Rydman, Finland’s minister of economic affairs, it appears Finland sees the accords as a way to encourage its own private space sector:

“Finland has been part of the space exploration community for decades with innovations and technology produced by Finnish companies and research institutions,” said Rydman. “The signing of the Artemis Accords is in line with Finland’s newly updated space strategy that highlights the importance of international cooperation and of strengthening partnerships with the Unites States and other allies. We aim for this cooperation to open great opportunities for the Finnish space sector in the new era of space exploration and in the Artemis program.”

The NASA press release still appears to focus on strengthening the Outer Space treaty, but I suspect that this Biden-imposed goal will change now that Trump is president. The original purpose of the accords as created during Trump’s first term was to work around the Outer Space treaty’s limitations on private ownership in space. Expect a return to that goal.

The full list of nations now part of this American space alliance: Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the Ukraine, the United States and Uruguay.

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Conscious Choice cover

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.

To my readers

1:49 pm

I feel obliged to explain, if vaguely, the reason my posting has been relatively light the past few weeks. I have been struggling with health issues that have sucked all the energy out of me. Things have been improving, but for the rest of this week and next Diane will be recovering from knee surgery, and this will require my time above that of the website.

I will continue to report the news stories, including launches, that I think important, but essays might have to wait until things get back to normal at the Zimmerman household.

My apologizes to my loyal readers. I am not making excuses, merely explaining what is going on.

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South Korea’s space bureaucracy attempts to encourage private sector development

9:38 am

South Korea’s space agency, the Korea Aerospace Administration, has announced a new effort to encourage that country’s private sector in developing rockets and satellites.

[A] plan will be established to link the National Space Council, the highest policy decision-making body overseeing government space policy, with the Aerospace Development Policy Review Committee. Systems will also be established for workforce training in aerospace and the designation of a space development mission center.

To establish an aerospace economic ecosystem, the participation of the private sector in the development and utilization of launch vehicles and satellites will be expanded. In the aviation sector, future aircraft technologies, including urban air mobility (UAM), will be secured, and localization of aircraft materials and components will be supported. To encourage smooth research and development (R&D) investments in aerospace corporations, the aerospace fund will be revitalized with improvements to regulations and support for overseas expansion.

Overall, a lot of this sounds like meaningless bureaucratic gobbledygook. The goal might be to expand the private sector, but the program still has the space agency running everything, from its new government-built Nuri rocket to its other satellite development programs.

Nonetheless, the desire to encourage the private sector is good. It could simply be that South Korea’s private sector is not mature enough yet to take the lead, and the agency by this announcement is working to push it forward.

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Leaving Earth cover

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

General Atomics successfully tests fuels to be used in an in-space nuclear propulsion system

9:16 am

The company General Atomics announced yesterday that it has successfully tested the fuels it wants to use in an in-space nuclear propulsion system for transporting ships to the Moon and beyond much faster and more efficiently than is presently possible with chemical engines.

[General Atomics] executed several high-impact tests at NASA’s MSFC in Huntsville, AL. The nuclear fuel was tested with hot hydrogen flow through the samples and subjected to six thermal cycles that rapidly ramped-up to a peak temperature of 2600 K (Kelvin) or 4220° Fahrenheit. Each cycle included a 20-minute hold at peak performance to demonstrate the effectiveness of shielding the fuel material from erosion and degradation by the hot hydrogen. Additional tests were performed with varying protective features to provide further data on how different material enhancements improve performance under reactor-like conditions.

It has been known since the 1960s the nuclear propulsion is more efficient that chemical engines. It can burn for longer time periods at higher levels, thus making it possible to get to other planets more quickly, in some cases bypassing the need to depend on orbital mechanics.

The problem however has been political. Getting these nuclear engines into orbit has been too much of a political hot potato. The fear of such engines and radioactivity, largely irrational, has made it impossible to get them built. NASA is now trying again.

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Japan’s government wants its private sector to do all its future space station work, not its space agency JAXA

9:05 am

In a major shift of power away from its government, the Japanese science and technology ministry is presently drafting a policy that would have that country’s private sector lead all work that Japan does on any of the future commercial private space stations being built, not its space agency JAXA as has been done now for decades.

The draft policy specifies how Japan will be involved with the next space station. According to the draft, “the private sector will have such responsibilities as managing [the new space station], and JAXA will support its use.”

JAXA is currently responsible to the management and maintenance of the ISS and serves as the point of contact for its commercial use. However, the government will select a Japanese private-sector company to be the point of contact for the next space station. When JAXA, research institutes or other companies plan to use the ISS, they will have to contact the next station’s point of contact.

While Japan wants to have one of its own modules on one of the commercial stations, as it presently has on ISS, it appears the government does not want JAXA to lead this project. Instead, it wants Japan’s private sector to run the show by working out its own deals with the private commercial stations. At present the Japanese company Mitsui is partnering with Axiom on its station, so this is likely the first station where a deal could be worked out.

It seems that Japan is trying to poke its private sector out of its doldrums. Right now that sector seems unable to take any action on its own. It sits and waits for guidance from the government before acting, and even then acts timidly, waiting to see if the government approves of each step. What the Japanese government now wants instead is some independent action, not linked to government policy.

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Trump picks Janet Petro of Kennedy to be acting NASA administrator, not Jim Free of headquarters

8:41 am

In a surprise move, the Trump administration announced yesterday that the expected person to take over as acting administrator of NASA until Jared Isaacman is approved by the Senate would not be Jim Free. the present associate administrator at NASA headquarters, but Janet Petro, who is presently director of the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA had so much assumed Free had the job that it had already listed him as acting administrator today on the NASA webpage.

There has of course been speculation as to why Trump made this unexpected choice. My guess is that Trump wants to reduce significantly the size of NASA headquarters, and thus wants someone from outside to run it for the present. Petro has been at Kennedy since 2007. Before that she was in the private sector.

Free has been a working out of DC for several years, and thus has stronger ties to the workforce there.

The decision also makes it clear to the NASA bureaucracy who is in charge. Decisions will no longer be made by that bureaucracy without strong input from Trump.

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Meandering channel inside a larger glacial-filled valley

12:39 pm

A meandering channel
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken on October 9, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

The scientists label this “Channel in North Warrego Valles,” referring to the meandering channel on the left side of the picture. Note the stippled look of the surrounding terrain. This surface appears to be brain terrain, an as-yet unexplained feature on Mars that is always associated with near-surface ice features.

This location is at 40 degrees south latitude, placing it in the mid-latitudes where lots of glacial features are often found on Mars. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising to find at this location brain terrain, or a meandering channel. The location however is a bit unusual, and reinforces once again that there is a lot of near-surface on Mars, readily available, as long as you are above 30 degrees latitude north or south.
» Read more

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Did a high altitude Grasshopper rocket test last week by China fail?

9:18 am

According to this report from Space News, a high altitude grasshopper-type vertical ascent-descent rocket test that China attempted on January 18, 2025 appears to possibly have been a failure.

Longxing-2 is thought to be a test article for the Long March 12A reusable launcher being developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). The rocket was designed to replicate the first stage of a reusable flight, reaching around 75 kilometers before performing a reentry burn and making a powered descent and splashdown into the Yellow Sea.

Amateur footage captured from near the launch area showed the rocket rise very slowly from the tower and perform an ascent phase with no apparent anomalies. The test was intended to build on a successful 12-kilometer-altitude vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) test performed in June 2024.

SAST published results and footage from the June test, but has so far remained silent on the 75-km attempt, being yet to publish any results or details of the flight more than 24 hours after liftoff. The lack of official updates raises questions about the success of the test, which could indicate challenges during reentry or landing phases.

It is also possible that the soft splashdown landing was a success and China is simply being its normal secretive self and refusing to release any information.

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Chinese pseudo-company completes launch

9:09 am

The Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy today completed its first launch in 2025, its solid-fueled Ceres-1 rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. It place five satellites in orbit, four for weather and one for Earth observation.

Meanwhile SpaceX yesterday had to scrub a Starlink launch from Vandenberg yesterday at T-11 seconds because an airplane had entered the launch range by mistake. It will try again in a few hours [UPDATE: Now scrubbed till tomorrow], and then follow up with another Starlink launch just after midnight tonight from Kennedy.

The 2025 launch race:

8 SpaceX
4 China
1 Blue Origin

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A 360 degree view from Perseverance

9:38 am

Overview map
Click for interactive map.

Andrew Bodrov from Mars360 has created another 360 degree mosaic using 854 high resolution images taken by the rover Perseverance when it stood at Lookout Hill, at the top of the rim of Jezero Crater. I have embedded it below. From his announcement:

The panorama provides a complete view of Perseverance, allowing you to examine its intricate design in incredible detail. Every component is visible, showcasing the engineering brilliance that powers this groundbreaking mission.

The Martian terrain stretches out around the rover, with its tracks cutting a path into the distance. The Jezero Crater rim, visible on the horizon, features rugged rock formations and textured sands that add depth to this remarkable scene.

The overview map to the right provides the context. The view begins by looking south, at the crater rim. If you rotate to the left you will see the tracks of Perseverance, indicating its previous travels, and then the rim to the north. Next the view looks outside the crater to the west.
» Read more

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January 17, 2025 Quick space links

2:52 pm

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

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Has the tourist balloon company Space Perspective gone belly-up?

1:28 pm

Space Perspective's Neptune Capsule
Space Perspective’s Neptune balloon capsule

According to the local paper Florida Today, the high altitude tourist balloon company Space Perspective owes more than $90K rent on its facility at Florida’s Space Coast Regional Airport, and has apparently ceased activity in mid-December.

Activity appears to have largely ceased at Space Perspective’s “Mission Control” office building at the Titusville airport, where the facility has appeared largely unoccupied the past two weeks. Nobody answered the doorbell during a trio of FLORIDA TODAY visits since Jan. 6, and no vehicles were in the parking lot just before 1 p.m. Wednesday.

FLORIDA TODAY has left messages unsuccessfully attempting to contact Space Perspective executives. One vehicle was parked in the Mission Control lot Tuesday afternoon, and an employee answered the doorbell. A FLORIDA TODAY reporter passed along a written message seeking comment from company officials.

Another source notes that numerous former employees in recent weeks have been looking for new jobs in the Florida region.

The Florida Today article also documents several other cases where the company had had problems paying its bills.

It is possible the company is dead. There is also the possibility that it remains alive, but has decided to skip town because it is now setting up operations in the Middle East. In one of its last major announcements in November 2024 it revealed it is in negotiations with a number of Middle Eastern nations for flying balloon flights there.

All in all this story is very puzzling. The company had already built its Florida factory for making its balloons, and had done one test flight of a prototype manned capsule for tourist flights. It seemed poised to begin commercial operations. To shut down so suddenly now suggests a lot of things, some of which could indicate some very dishonest motives indeed.

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FAA demands SpaceX do “mishap investigation” into the loss of Starship yesterday

1:04 pm

The FAA today announced that it is going to require SpaceX “to perform a mishap investigation into the loss of the Starship vehicle during launch operations on Jan. 16.”

Will this demand involve the same delays seen during the Biden years? I strongly believe they will not, for several reasons.

First, the FAA’s announcement seemed to me to have a decidedly different tone than in the past. It didn’t say “The FAA needed to complete a mishap investigation,” it said SpaceX had to do it. During the Biden administration the FAA made believe it was qualified to investigate any issues on a Starship/Superheavy launch, when in reality it had no such qualifications at all. It simply waited for SpaceX to complete its investigation, then would spend one to three months as it retyped SpaceX’s report.

Before Biden, the FAA let the company do the investigation, and quickly accepted its conclusions. That appears to be what it is doing now.

Second, Musk’s own response in announcing the preliminary results of the SpaceX investigation yesterday suggests he already expects the FAA to change its approach in this manner. “Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month.” Right away he is signaling us that when SpaceX completes its work it expects the FAA to quickly okay the next flight. No long waits for paper work.

Third, there is Trump. If any FAA bureaucrats still try to play power games against SpaceX they will quickly discover they have no allies in the chain of command. Musk will make these games public, and Trump will come down hard against them.

That’s my hopeful prediction. We shall shortly see if my optimism has merit.

Hat tip to BtB’s stringer Jay.

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Hubble’s biggest image yet, of Andromeda

12:14 pm

Andromedia as seen by Hubble
Click for original image.

The image above, cropped and reduced to post here, was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and shows the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way’s nearest spiral galaxy neighbor. The picture however is not one photo, but hundreds taken over the past decade.

This is largest photomosaic ever assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is a panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. It took over 10 years to make this vast and colorful portrait of the galaxy, requiring over 600 Hubble overlapping snapshots that were challenging to stitch together. The galaxy is so close to us, that in angular size it is six times the apparent diameter of the full Moon, and can be seen with the unaided eye.

Andromeda is not just visible to the naked eye, it is one of the largest objects seen in the sky. If you ever can get to a really dark sky location when it is above and have someone point it out to you (it remains faint), you will be astonished to find that it stretches across the sky the length of about six to eight full moons.

Thus, Hubble literally can’t take a picture of it. Its field of view is much too small. It must take many pictures to assemble a mosaic.

The picture above also hides the data contained in all those images. At the full resolution of each individual picture, Hubble has literally mapped the entire galaxy. Combined with other spectroscopic survey data taken by Hubble, astronomers over time will be able to decipher the galaxy’s makeup to better understand its formation history.

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U.S and Norway sign deal to allow U.S. companies to launch from Andøya

10:18 am

Proposed spaceports surrounding Norwegian Sea
Proposed spaceports surrounding Norwegian Sea

The U.S. and Norway have now signed an agreement that will make it possible for American rocket and satellite companies to launch from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport, easing State Department rules that up until now made such launches difficult if not impossible.

[The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA)] will ensure the protection of U.S. technology, enabling the transfer of commercial launchers to Norway. Similar agreements have been established between the U.S. and other allied nations, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Right now Andoya has only two rocket customers, the German startup Isar Aerospace and a Polish suborbital startup, SpaceForest. Both hope to do launches sometime this year. Unlike the red tape that the United Kingdom has imposed on its new spaceports, Norway appears to be doing everything it can to grease the wheels so that launches can occur quickly and on schedule.

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January 16, 2025 Quick space links

5:34 pm

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

  • Hubble faces budget cuts
    To translate: Give us more money! I’d be more sympathetic if NASA was more willing to consider a rescue mission. If not, then there is every reason in the world to begin winding down operations.
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Starship lost near end of its orbital burn; Superheavy successfully captured by chopsticks

4:06 pm

Superheavy captured for the second time
Superheavy captured for the second time

In today’s seventh test flight of SpaceX’s Starship/Superheavy large rocket, the results were decidedly mixed.

First the success: Superheavy once again performed perfectly, getting Starship up to speed and releasing it for its orbital flight. It then successfully returned to the tower at Boca Chica, where the chopsticks arms caught it. This was the second catch in three attempts. While we should all expect SpaceX to continue to refine Superheavy, right now it appears to be largely ready to go.

Next the failure: Shortly after stage separation Starship fired its own engines and proceeded upward towards orbit. At one point close to when it was suppose to shut off its engines to begin its orbital coast phase, something went wrong. Some engines cut off, but one did not, at least according to data projected on the screen. At that point all telemetry from the ship ended.

After another ten minutes of analysis flight controlers declared the ship lost. What happened remains unclear, but it is certain SpaceX engineers are digging hard to find out.

One unfortunate question remains that must be asked: Where is the ship, and is there a chance it will come down somewhere unexpected? Its orbit is such that it will naturally fall in the Indian Ocean, but the engine issues might have changed that orbit somewhat.

UPDATE: Locals in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean post videos on X (here and here) of Starship breaking up overhead. It appears that if any debris reaches the ground it will land in the Atlantic.

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Live stream of the 7th test orbital flight of Starship/Superheavy

1:50 pm

I have embedded below the live stream of today’s attempt by SpaceX to complete the 7th orbital flight of its giant rocket Starship/Superheavy. The stream goes live at around 3:15 pm (Central), 45 minutes before the start of the one hour launch window beginning at 4 pm (Central).

For embed purposes I am using the youtube version provided by Space Affairs. Once SpaceX’s feed goes live on X you can then switch to it, found here.

The flight’s goals:

Superheavy: Complete the second catch of the booster at the launch tower using the chopsticks. The booster will also be reusing an engine from the fifth test flight to confirm its viability for reuse.

Starship: Test new avionics, a new fuel feed system, and new heat shield tiles as well as the ablative material used underneath the tiles. Test a different placement and configuration of the flaps. The ship will also test engineering that will eventually lead to it being captured by the chopstick tower on return.

There will be an engine restart during Starship’s orbital cruise phase to further confirm the Raptor-2 engines can work reliably when needed during a full orbit de-orbit burn.

Finally, the ship will test its Starlink deployment system, releasing 10 dummy Starlink satellites.
» Read more

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One Martian ridge among many

1:34 pm

One Martian ridge among many
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on August 30, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It is labeled as a “terrain sample,” so it was likely taken not as part of any specific research project but to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule.

The subject this time was a series of parallel ridges. I have cropped the image to focus on the most distinct, which stands at its highest about 600 feet below the dune-filled hollows to the north and south. The streaks on its flanks are likely slope streaks, a phenomenon unique to Mars that is presently not entirely understood. Streaks appear like avalanches, but they do not change the topography at all, and in fact in some cases go up and over rises. It is believed they are related to dust events, but this is not yet confirmed.

Why focus on this ridge however? It isn’t as if this is the most stunning geology on Mars.
» Read more

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