November 17, 2022 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so we don’t have to.
- South Africa signs deal with NASA to build a communications ground station for Artemis Moon missions
The plan is for the dish to become operative in ’25. It remains a puzzle. Shouldn’t the recently upgraded Deep Space Network provide this service?
- First test launch of Russia’s new manned Oryol capsule delayed until ’25
Wanna bet they won’t meet this date either?
- Spacewalk on Tiangong-3 to install handrails and other hardware to facilitate future EVAs
The work was done yesterday, and was the third for the Shenzhou-14 crew.
- China publishes new five-year-plan covering 2021 to 2025, with a chapter outlining its space plans
The link goes to the Chinese language version, with only a small excerpt translated into English.
- Rocket Lab about to roll its Electron rocket to Wallops launchpad
The launch, set for December 7th, will the the company’s first from Wallops.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so we don’t have to.
- South Africa signs deal with NASA to build a communications ground station for Artemis Moon missions
The plan is for the dish to become operative in ’25. It remains a puzzle. Shouldn’t the recently upgraded Deep Space Network provide this service?
- First test launch of Russia’s new manned Oryol capsule delayed until ’25
Wanna bet they won’t meet this date either?
- Spacewalk on Tiangong-3 to install handrails and other hardware to facilitate future EVAs
The work was done yesterday, and was the third for the Shenzhou-14 crew.
- China publishes new five-year-plan covering 2021 to 2025, with a chapter outlining its space plans
The link goes to the Chinese language version, with only a small excerpt translated into English.
- Rocket Lab about to roll its Electron rocket to Wallops launchpad
The launch, set for December 7th, will the the company’s first from Wallops.
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, 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
Today’s blacklisted American: Anti-Semitic attacks skyrocket on college campuses
What American universities are aggressively working towards
They’re coming for you next: According to a recent study, anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have increased drastically on American college campuses in 2021 and 2022, rising in lock-step with the introduction of critical race theory and its anti-white, anti-American, and pro-Marxist agenda.
There were 254 attacks on 63 different college campuses with large Jewish populations, with Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Tufts University, UCLA, and Rutgers University having the highest number of incidents, according to a report by the AMCHA Initiative, a Jewish advocacy group that says its findings expose an “insidious,” never-before-revealed campus trend.
» Read more
What American universities are aggressively working towards
They’re coming for you next: According to a recent study, anti-Semitic attacks against Jews have increased drastically on American college campuses in 2021 and 2022, rising in lock-step with the introduction of critical race theory and its anti-white, anti-American, and pro-Marxist agenda.
There were 254 attacks on 63 different college campuses with large Jewish populations, with Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Tufts University, UCLA, and Rutgers University having the highest number of incidents, according to a report by the AMCHA Initiative, a Jewish advocacy group that says its findings expose an “insidious,” never-before-revealed campus trend.
» Read more
Slowly the Ukrainians continue to regain their country
The Ukraine War as of September 11, 2022. Click for full map.
The Ukraine War as of November 16, 2022. Click for full map.
In the two months since my last update on the Ukraine Way in September, the steady and continuing retreat of the Russians has continued, with the Ukrainians last week finally retaking all the territory north of the Dnipro River, including the city of Kherson.
The two maps to the right, created by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and simplified, reduced, and annotated to post here, show these gains, with the top map from their September 11, 2022 analysis and the bottom from their November 16, 2022 update. Pink areas are regions controlled by the Russians. Blue areas are regions retaken by the Ukraine. Red-striped areas are regions captured by Russian in its 2014 invasion. Blue-striped areas are regions inside Russian-occupied territories that have seen strong partisan resistance. The green lines in the top map mark the locations of important rivers.
Overall, the military actions of the Russians have continued to be haphazard, poorly thought out, and inexplicable, as they have been from the start of this war. For example, even as the Ukrainians were continuing their steady gains in the north, the Russians seemed relatively uninterested. Instead, it continued its attempts to gain ground in the middle, near Donetsk, as indicated by the two green circles. The Russians have been attempting for months to make gains in this area. Though they have captured some territory, those captures have been tiny and very costly. Nor have these captures done anything to impact the Ukrainian gains elsewhere.
» 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.
Webb finding more galaxies in early universe than expected
The uncertainty of science: Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope are finding in very early universe many more galaxies that are also far more developed then had been predicted.
The Webb observations nudge astronomers toward a consensus that an unusual number of galaxies in the early universe were so much brighter than expected. This will make it easier for Webb to find even more early galaxies in subsequent deep sky surveys, say researchers.
“We’ve nailed something that is incredibly fascinating. These galaxies would have had to have started coming together maybe just 100 million years after the big bang. Nobody expected that the dark ages would have ended so early,” said Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz, a member of the Naidu/Oesch team. “The primal universe would have been just one hundredth its current age. It’s a sliver of time in the 13.8 billion-year-old evolving cosmos.”
Erica Nelson of the University of Colorado in Boulder, a member of the Naidu/Oesch team, noted that “our team was struck by being able to measure the shapes of these first galaxies; their calm, orderly disks question our understanding of how the first galaxies formed in the crowded, chaotic early universe.”
The galaxies are smaller, more compact than present day galaxies, and appear to be forming stars at a tremendous rate. Because their distances, presently estimated, still need to be confirmed by spectroscopy, these conclusions remain somewhat tentative though quite alluring.
We should not be surprised if in the next two years data from Webb will overturn almost all the theories that presently exist about the Big Bang and its immediate aftermath.
The uncertainty of science: Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope are finding in very early universe many more galaxies that are also far more developed then had been predicted.
The Webb observations nudge astronomers toward a consensus that an unusual number of galaxies in the early universe were so much brighter than expected. This will make it easier for Webb to find even more early galaxies in subsequent deep sky surveys, say researchers.
“We’ve nailed something that is incredibly fascinating. These galaxies would have had to have started coming together maybe just 100 million years after the big bang. Nobody expected that the dark ages would have ended so early,” said Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz, a member of the Naidu/Oesch team. “The primal universe would have been just one hundredth its current age. It’s a sliver of time in the 13.8 billion-year-old evolving cosmos.”
Erica Nelson of the University of Colorado in Boulder, a member of the Naidu/Oesch team, noted that “our team was struck by being able to measure the shapes of these first galaxies; their calm, orderly disks question our understanding of how the first galaxies formed in the crowded, chaotic early universe.”
The galaxies are smaller, more compact than present day galaxies, and appear to be forming stars at a tremendous rate. Because their distances, presently estimated, still need to be confirmed by spectroscopy, these conclusions remain somewhat tentative though quite alluring.
We should not be surprised if in the next two years data from Webb will overturn almost all the theories that presently exist about the Big Bang and its immediate aftermath.
Ispace announces new launch date and landing site on Moon for Hakuto-R lander
Ispace today announced that its commercial lunar lander, Hakuto-R, will now launch on a Falcon 9 rocket on November 28, 2022 and will arrive on the Moon in 54-mile-wide Atlas Crater in April 2023.
The white dot on the map to the right shows this landing spot, in the crater’s northern quadrant. Atlas is distinct in that its crater floor has many large fissures with the crater’s interior rim terraced, but this area is relatively smooth.
The spacecraft will carry seven commercial payloads, including the UAE rover Rashid, which is about the size of a small Radio Flyer wagon and will operate on the surface for about two weeks (one lunar day). It has cameras, whose primary research function will be to photograph the variety of different materials attached to the rover’s wheels to see how each interacts with the Moon’s very harsh and abrasive dust.
Ispace today announced that its commercial lunar lander, Hakuto-R, will now launch on a Falcon 9 rocket on November 28, 2022 and will arrive on the Moon in 54-mile-wide Atlas Crater in April 2023.
The white dot on the map to the right shows this landing spot, in the crater’s northern quadrant. Atlas is distinct in that its crater floor has many large fissures with the crater’s interior rim terraced, but this area is relatively smooth.
The spacecraft will carry seven commercial payloads, including the UAE rover Rashid, which is about the size of a small Radio Flyer wagon and will operate on the surface for about two weeks (one lunar day). It has cameras, whose primary research function will be to photograph the variety of different materials attached to the rover’s wheels to see how each interacts with the Moon’s very harsh and abrasive dust.
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
Rocket Factory Augsburg signs deal to use German engine test facility
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), one of three German rocket startups pushing to begin test launches next year, has signed a contract with Germany’s aerospace agency DLR to use of its engine test facility for static fire tests of its Helix engine.
RFA announced the deal at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, Nov. 16, which will allow RFA to use the P2.4 test site in Lampoldshausen. DLR provides the basic infrastructure while RFA brings its own test stand and supporting infrastructure.
Test stands in Lampoldshausen have so far only been used by DLR, the European Space Agency and ArianeGroup.
The new test stand will add to RFA engine testing capacity already established in Esrange in northern Sweden, where the company has been conducting testing on the Helix engine for the RFA One launcher. Testing will continue in Sweden but the new development simplifies logistics and bureaucracy related to import and export rules. [emphasis mine]
The highlighted sentence is the news. The German government has decided to break the monopoly held by government related operations of these facilities, and open up their use to private independent commercial companies.
RFA says it already has a dozen customers, and hopes to begin commercial launches by ’24.
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), one of three German rocket startups pushing to begin test launches next year, has signed a contract with Germany’s aerospace agency DLR to use of its engine test facility for static fire tests of its Helix engine.
RFA announced the deal at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, Nov. 16, which will allow RFA to use the P2.4 test site in Lampoldshausen. DLR provides the basic infrastructure while RFA brings its own test stand and supporting infrastructure.
Test stands in Lampoldshausen have so far only been used by DLR, the European Space Agency and ArianeGroup.
The new test stand will add to RFA engine testing capacity already established in Esrange in northern Sweden, where the company has been conducting testing on the Helix engine for the RFA One launcher. Testing will continue in Sweden but the new development simplifies logistics and bureaucracy related to import and export rules. [emphasis mine]
The highlighted sentence is the news. The German government has decided to break the monopoly held by government related operations of these facilities, and open up their use to private independent commercial companies.
RFA says it already has a dozen customers, and hopes to begin commercial launches by ’24.
Canadian rocket startup with balloon for 1st stage wins launch contract
SpaceRyde, a Canadian smallsat rocket startup company that intends to use a stratospheric balloon to act as its first stage before releasing its orbital rocket, has won a contract for four launches from ISILaunch, a Netherlands satellite company.
Customers will pay $250,000 to launch 25-kilogram payloads on SpaceRyde’s Ryder rocket and Flying Spider balloon. The flights are scheduled to begin in 2024. For the SpaceRyde flights, ISILaunch will offer customization including scheduling weeks prior to launch, access to custom orbits and various fairing configurations.
…Stratospheric balloons will serve as the first stage, lifting Ryder rockets through Earth’s atmosphere before rocket engines fire. Ryder’s upper stage, called Black Bay, is designed to remain in orbit, maneuvering and refueling as needed to provide in-orbit servicing and in-space transportation.
The first test flights are scheduled in ’23, with commercial flights starting in ’24. The company apparently is targeting the smallest smallsat market, aiming to win customers with very very low launch prices.
SpaceRyde, a Canadian smallsat rocket startup company that intends to use a stratospheric balloon to act as its first stage before releasing its orbital rocket, has won a contract for four launches from ISILaunch, a Netherlands satellite company.
Customers will pay $250,000 to launch 25-kilogram payloads on SpaceRyde’s Ryder rocket and Flying Spider balloon. The flights are scheduled to begin in 2024. For the SpaceRyde flights, ISILaunch will offer customization including scheduling weeks prior to launch, access to custom orbits and various fairing configurations.
…Stratospheric balloons will serve as the first stage, lifting Ryder rockets through Earth’s atmosphere before rocket engines fire. Ryder’s upper stage, called Black Bay, is designed to remain in orbit, maneuvering and refueling as needed to provide in-orbit servicing and in-space transportation.
The first test flights are scheduled in ’23, with commercial flights starting in ’24. The company apparently is targeting the smallest smallsat market, aiming to win customers with very very low launch prices.
Ten cubesats released by SLS on way to Moon; one has problems
Shortly after SLS’s upper stage completed its engine burn to send Orion to the Moon, it separated and then successfully released ten cubesats on their own deep space missions.
These CubeSats will fly to various destinations including the Moon, asteroids, and interplanetary space. They will study various facets of the Moon and interplanetary travel, ranging from navigation techniques to radiation and biology. One of them is even planned to conduct a soft landing on the lunar surface.
Because of SLS’s numerous delays, there was a chance that many of these cubesats would lose the charges on their batteries and not function after launch. According to the article at the link, communications with six of these cubesats has been established.
The last cubesat above, from Japan and dubbed Omotenashi, was designed as a demonstration test. According to Japan’s space agency, JAXA, however, communications with the spacecraft are “unstable.”
Japan’s space agency said Thursday it has been unable to establish stable communication with the country’s mini moon lander launched on a U.S. rocket the previous day along with a mini satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it is now trying to control the position of the Omotenashi lander, adding its system of automatically turning to the Sun to gain solar power appears to be not functioning.
Before launch JAXA had rated the mission’s chances of success at 60%, but that mostly referred to the lunar landing. Though intended as a demo mission, it will be unfortunate if it fails for these reasons this early in the mission.
Shortly after SLS’s upper stage completed its engine burn to send Orion to the Moon, it separated and then successfully released ten cubesats on their own deep space missions.
These CubeSats will fly to various destinations including the Moon, asteroids, and interplanetary space. They will study various facets of the Moon and interplanetary travel, ranging from navigation techniques to radiation and biology. One of them is even planned to conduct a soft landing on the lunar surface.
Because of SLS’s numerous delays, there was a chance that many of these cubesats would lose the charges on their batteries and not function after launch. According to the article at the link, communications with six of these cubesats has been established.
The last cubesat above, from Japan and dubbed Omotenashi, was designed as a demonstration test. According to Japan’s space agency, JAXA, however, communications with the spacecraft are “unstable.”
Japan’s space agency said Thursday it has been unable to establish stable communication with the country’s mini moon lander launched on a U.S. rocket the previous day along with a mini satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it is now trying to control the position of the Omotenashi lander, adding its system of automatically turning to the Sun to gain solar power appears to be not functioning.
Before launch JAXA had rated the mission’s chances of success at 60%, but that mostly referred to the lunar landing. Though intended as a demo mission, it will be unfortunate if it fails for these reasons this early in the mission.
Heart – Crazy On You
November 16, 2022 Quick space links
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.
- A picture of Astrobotic’s almost completed Peregrine lunar lander
The tweet implies the company is about to ship this to ULA for launch on the first Vulcan launch, in the spring.
- Pictures comparing Cygnus on two different flights suggests debris caused the recent solar array deployment failure
It looks almost like an insulation blanket or tarp got caught there.
- Rocket Lab touts the solar cells it provide for Orion, now on the way to the Moon
Apparently Rocket Lab was a subcontractor for Europe’s service module.
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.
- A picture of Astrobotic’s almost completed Peregrine lunar lander
The tweet implies the company is about to ship this to ULA for launch on the first Vulcan launch, in the spring.
- Pictures comparing Cygnus on two different flights suggests debris caused the recent solar array deployment failure
It looks almost like an insulation blanket or tarp got caught there.
- Rocket Lab touts the solar cells it provide for Orion, now on the way to the Moon
Apparently Rocket Lab was a subcontractor for Europe’s service module.
Glaciers everywhere in Mars’ glacier country
Click for full image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and annotated to post here, was taken on August 24, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows glaciers apparently flowing down from two different mesas to the north and south.
The arrows indicate a major glacial stream coming from two directions. The many layered flow on the image’s upper right illustrates the many past climate cycles of Mars, with each subsequent period of snowfall and glacial growth producing progressively less ice. The chaotic region in the lower right marks what I think is the lowest point between the two mesas. Here the flows form eddies as the glaciers collide.
The overview map below shows us why there are so many glaciers at this spot on Mars.
» Read more
Click for full image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and annotated to post here, was taken on August 24, 2022 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). It shows glaciers apparently flowing down from two different mesas to the north and south.
The arrows indicate a major glacial stream coming from two directions. The many layered flow on the image’s upper right illustrates the many past climate cycles of Mars, with each subsequent period of snowfall and glacial growth producing progressively less ice. The chaotic region in the lower right marks what I think is the lowest point between the two mesas. Here the flows form eddies as the glaciers collide.
The overview map below shows us why there are so many glaciers at this spot on Mars.
» Read more
Today’s blacklisted American: Half of today’s students support the death penalty for some speech
The poll numbers, across all demographics
This is no longer a land of the free: According to a new poll, half of today’s college students now believe that the death penalty is justified for some people should they dare express an opinion that offends.
Specifically, the students were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement:
Violence in response to offensive speech is not a new phenomenon. In some cultures, some types of offensive speech even merit the death penalty. Some speech can be so offensive in certain cases that it merits such harsh punishment.
As shown in the graph to the right, across the board, 43% to 55% of students from private and public schools, from all types of majors, from all levels of income, and from across the political spectrum, all agreed with this statement. The results were remarkably consistent. Tolerance was not their watchword, but oppression and dictatorship. If you say something that offends, half of today’s students feel justified in calling for your death.
» Read more
A hidden baby star, seen in infrared
Click for original image.
Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have obtained a new high resolution infrared false color view of the bi-polar jets of a new solar system and star, hidden within its dark cloud of dust.
That image is the photo to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here. From the press release:
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the once-hidden features of the protostar within the dark cloud L1527, providing insight into the beginnings of a new star. These blazing clouds within the Taurus star-forming region are only visible in infrared light, making it an ideal target for Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).
The protostar itself is hidden from view within the “neck” of this hourglass shape. An edge-on protoplanetary disk is seen as a dark line across the middle of the neck. Light from the protostar leaks above and below this disk, illuminating cavities within the surrounding gas and dust.
The region’s most prevalent features, the clouds colored blue and orange in this representative-color infrared image, outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with surrounding matter. The colors themselves are due to layers of dust between Webb and the clouds. The blue areas are where the dust is thinnest. The thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.
Scientists estimate this star is only about 100,000 years old, and is in its earliest stage of formation. That protoplanetary disk is estimated to be about the size of our solar system.
Click for original image.
Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have obtained a new high resolution infrared false color view of the bi-polar jets of a new solar system and star, hidden within its dark cloud of dust.
That image is the photo to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here. From the press release:
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the once-hidden features of the protostar within the dark cloud L1527, providing insight into the beginnings of a new star. These blazing clouds within the Taurus star-forming region are only visible in infrared light, making it an ideal target for Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).
The protostar itself is hidden from view within the “neck” of this hourglass shape. An edge-on protoplanetary disk is seen as a dark line across the middle of the neck. Light from the protostar leaks above and below this disk, illuminating cavities within the surrounding gas and dust.
The region’s most prevalent features, the clouds colored blue and orange in this representative-color infrared image, outline cavities created as material shoots away from the protostar and collides with surrounding matter. The colors themselves are due to layers of dust between Webb and the clouds. The blue areas are where the dust is thinnest. The thicker the layer of dust, the less blue light is able to escape, creating pockets of orange.
Scientists estimate this star is only about 100,000 years old, and is in its earliest stage of formation. That protoplanetary disk is estimated to be about the size of our solar system.
UK awards launch license to Cornwall airport
After several months delay, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the United Kingdom yesterday issued a license to a Cornwall airport, dubbed Spaceport Cornwall, allowing Virgin Orbit to begin final preparations for the first orbital launch from within the British Isles.
The red tape however is not done.
The licence means that Virgin Orbit, which is behind the launch (named Start Me Up after the Rolling Stones song), is clear to begin to carry out mission-readiness tasks. But further licences are needed relating to this specific mission before blast-off can happen.
Melissa Thorpe, the head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: “To be the first spaceport in the UK with a licence to operate is a historic moment. Cornwall is now ready to open up the use of space for good.” She added: “The CAA continues to work on several licence applications, including being in very advanced stages with Virgin Orbit on its applications for launch and range licences, as well as the satellite operators, ahead of a proposed first UK launch.
I am reminded of the meme showing a crowd of officials surrounding one ditch digger, with the only one doing any real work that digger. It appears right now that the bureaucrats in the CAA might outnumber the staffing at both Virgin Orbit and Cornwall, and all they have to do is issue a piece of paper.
After several months delay, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the United Kingdom yesterday issued a license to a Cornwall airport, dubbed Spaceport Cornwall, allowing Virgin Orbit to begin final preparations for the first orbital launch from within the British Isles.
The red tape however is not done.
The licence means that Virgin Orbit, which is behind the launch (named Start Me Up after the Rolling Stones song), is clear to begin to carry out mission-readiness tasks. But further licences are needed relating to this specific mission before blast-off can happen.
Melissa Thorpe, the head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: “To be the first spaceport in the UK with a licence to operate is a historic moment. Cornwall is now ready to open up the use of space for good.” She added: “The CAA continues to work on several licence applications, including being in very advanced stages with Virgin Orbit on its applications for launch and range licences, as well as the satellite operators, ahead of a proposed first UK launch.
I am reminded of the meme showing a crowd of officials surrounding one ditch digger, with the only one doing any real work that digger. It appears right now that the bureaucrats in the CAA might outnumber the staffing at both Virgin Orbit and Cornwall, and all they have to do is issue a piece of paper.
NASA awards Starship a second manned lunar landing contract
Capitalism in space: NASA yesterday modified its manned lunar lander contract with SpaceX to award Starship a second manned lunar landing for $1.15 billion.
Known as Option B, the modification follows an award to SpaceX in July 2021 under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Option A contract. NASA previously announced plans to pursue this Option B with SpaceX. The contract modification has a value of about $1.15 billion.
…The aim of this new work under Option B is to develop and demonstrate a Starship lunar lander that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, including docking with Gateway, accommodating four crew members, and delivering more mass to the surface.
NASA is also accepting bids for a competitive second manned lunar lander, but has awarded nothing as yet.
Combined with earlier investments and contracts, SpaceX now had garnered about $13 billion for developing Starship and Starlink, about $9 billion from private investment capital and about $4 billion from NASA, with most of the cash used for Starship. In addition, the company plans another investment funding round that will raise its valuation to $150 billion.
SLS might have flown once, but it appears both NASA and the investment community is increasingly putting its eggs in the Starship basket.
Capitalism in space: NASA yesterday modified its manned lunar lander contract with SpaceX to award Starship a second manned lunar landing for $1.15 billion.
Known as Option B, the modification follows an award to SpaceX in July 2021 under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Option A contract. NASA previously announced plans to pursue this Option B with SpaceX. The contract modification has a value of about $1.15 billion.
…The aim of this new work under Option B is to develop and demonstrate a Starship lunar lander that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, including docking with Gateway, accommodating four crew members, and delivering more mass to the surface.
NASA is also accepting bids for a competitive second manned lunar lander, but has awarded nothing as yet.
Combined with earlier investments and contracts, SpaceX now had garnered about $13 billion for developing Starship and Starlink, about $9 billion from private investment capital and about $4 billion from NASA, with most of the cash used for Starship. In addition, the company plans another investment funding round that will raise its valuation to $150 billion.
SLS might have flown once, but it appears both NASA and the investment community is increasingly putting its eggs in the Starship basket.
Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy launches five satellites into orbit
The Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy today used its Ceres-1 rocket to put five Earth observations satellites into orbit.
According to China’s state run press, Ceres-1 is a “small-scale solid-propellant carrier rocket capable of sending micro-satellites into low-Earth orbit.” In other words, it was developed initially by the military for missile use, and the government has allowed it to be upgraded for civilian use.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
52 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
The U.S. still leads China 76 to 52 in the national rankings, but trails the rest of the world combined 80 to 76.
The 52 launches by China ties its yearly record, set last year, for the most successful launches in a single year. Like the U.S. China appears set to smash its launch record in 2022.
The Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy today used its Ceres-1 rocket to put five Earth observations satellites into orbit.
According to China’s state run press, Ceres-1 is a “small-scale solid-propellant carrier rocket capable of sending micro-satellites into low-Earth orbit.” In other words, it was developed initially by the military for missile use, and the government has allowed it to be upgraded for civilian use.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
52 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
The U.S. still leads China 76 to 52 in the national rankings, but trails the rest of the world combined 80 to 76.
The 52 launches by China ties its yearly record, set last year, for the most successful launches in a single year. Like the U.S. China appears set to smash its launch record in 2022.
The lunar surface is arid
The uncertainty of science: According to a paper published at the end of October, scientists have used data from the LADEE lunar orbiter (that circled the Moon in 2013-2014) and found that the surface of the Moon is extremely arid, and if there is any ice trapped in the permanently shadowed craters at the poles it did not come from meteorite impacts elsewhere on the Moon. From the abstract:
The upper bound for exospheric water derived here from data collected in 2013–2014 by the neutral mass spectrometer on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft [LADEE], about three molecules/cc, pales in comparison to the concentration of ∼15,000 molecules/cc needed to sequester the meteoritic water influx. The only pragmatic conclusion is that the hypothesis for water ice accumulation at the poles due to exospheric transport is false.
The theory had been that any water from these meteorites could have been transported by various processes to the polar cold traps. This data says that did not happen, and if there is water ice in the polar cold traps, its origin remains unknown, though comet impacts at the poles might have been a source.
This result also appears to contradict other orbital data that has suggested there is some water in the lunar regolith at mid and low latitudes.
The uncertainty of science: According to a paper published at the end of October, scientists have used data from the LADEE lunar orbiter (that circled the Moon in 2013-2014) and found that the surface of the Moon is extremely arid, and if there is any ice trapped in the permanently shadowed craters at the poles it did not come from meteorite impacts elsewhere on the Moon. From the abstract:
The upper bound for exospheric water derived here from data collected in 2013–2014 by the neutral mass spectrometer on the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft [LADEE], about three molecules/cc, pales in comparison to the concentration of ∼15,000 molecules/cc needed to sequester the meteoritic water influx. The only pragmatic conclusion is that the hypothesis for water ice accumulation at the poles due to exospheric transport is false.
The theory had been that any water from these meteorites could have been transported by various processes to the polar cold traps. This data says that did not happen, and if there is water ice in the polar cold traps, its origin remains unknown, though comet impacts at the poles might have been a source.
This result also appears to contradict other orbital data that has suggested there is some water in the lunar regolith at mid and low latitudes.
NASA’s SLS rocket successfully launches Orion toward the Moon
After almost eighteen years of development and almost sixty billion dollars, NASA tonight finally completed the first unmanned test launch of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, lifting off at 1:41 am (Eastern).
The two solid rocket boosters functioned as planned, separating from the core stage with no problem. Then core stage and its four former shuttle engines completed its burn, putting the capsule and its upper stage into Earth orbit, and then separated cleanly. At about 30 minutes after launch the service module’s solar arrays completed their deployment. At 53 minutes after launch a 30 second burn circularized the orbit in preparation for the trans-lunar-injection (TLI) burn that will send Orion to the Moon. TLI occurred about 90 minutes after launch, after a period of check-out in orbit.
Orion will spend 26 days in space, about a week of which will be in a wide lunar orbit, testing its systems. If all goes right it will splashdown on around December 11th.
As this was the first U.S. government launch in more than a decade, since 2011 when the space shuttle was retired, the leader board for the 2022 launch race remains unchanged:
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
51 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
The U.S. now leads China 76 to 51 in the national rankings, and trails the rest of the world combined 79 to 76.
After almost eighteen years of development and almost sixty billion dollars, NASA tonight finally completed the first unmanned test launch of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, lifting off at 1:41 am (Eastern).
The two solid rocket boosters functioned as planned, separating from the core stage with no problem. Then core stage and its four former shuttle engines completed its burn, putting the capsule and its upper stage into Earth orbit, and then separated cleanly. At about 30 minutes after launch the service module’s solar arrays completed their deployment. At 53 minutes after launch a 30 second burn circularized the orbit in preparation for the trans-lunar-injection (TLI) burn that will send Orion to the Moon. TLI occurred about 90 minutes after launch, after a period of check-out in orbit.
Orion will spend 26 days in space, about a week of which will be in a wide lunar orbit, testing its systems. If all goes right it will splashdown on around December 11th.
As this was the first U.S. government launch in more than a decade, since 2011 when the space shuttle was retired, the leader board for the 2022 launch race remains unchanged:
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
51 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
The U.S. now leads China 76 to 51 in the national rankings, and trails the rest of the world combined 79 to 76.
November 15, 2022 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
Joe Bonamassa – Boogie Woogie Woman
November 15, 2022 Quick space links
Note that I have embedded NASA’s live stream of the SLS countdown to a 1:04 am (Eastern) launch tonight here:
Watching the first SLS launch tonight
As I also noted before, I advise waiting until after midnight before watching. Before that everything will be either NASA blather or watching paint dry.
The following quick links are courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.
- Sierra Space touts a ’23 inaugaral launch of Dream Chaser
The picture of Tenacity, the first Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft, is certainly encouraging.
- Europe to begin drop tests in ’23 of small scale prototypes of its own reusable unmanned mini-shuttle, dubbed Space Rider
This spacecraft is comparable in concept to Dream Chaser. It takes off on a rocket and lands on a runway. Its development however is far behind, with the first orbital flight not until the end of ’24, but probably much later. It is also intended for two month orbital missions only, not as a freighter for anyone’s space station.
- Space Perspective buys ship to use as an ocean launch platform for its high altitude balloons
The company claims the ship will give them greater flexibility on where and when to launch their stratospheric balloon flights.
- Today is the anniversary of the only flight of Buran, the Soviet Union’s version of a space shuttle
It completed only two orbits, landed safely, and never flew again. There is a short video at the link showing the liftoff.
Note that I have embedded NASA’s live stream of the SLS countdown to a 1:04 am (Eastern) launch tonight here:
Watching the first SLS launch tonight
As I also noted before, I advise waiting until after midnight before watching. Before that everything will be either NASA blather or watching paint dry.
The following quick links are courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.
- Sierra Space touts a ’23 inaugaral launch of Dream Chaser
The picture of Tenacity, the first Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft, is certainly encouraging.
- Europe to begin drop tests in ’23 of small scale prototypes of its own reusable unmanned mini-shuttle, dubbed Space Rider
This spacecraft is comparable in concept to Dream Chaser. It takes off on a rocket and lands on a runway. Its development however is far behind, with the first orbital flight not until the end of ’24, but probably much later. It is also intended for two month orbital missions only, not as a freighter for anyone’s space station.
- Space Perspective buys ship to use as an ocean launch platform for its high altitude balloons
The company claims the ship will give them greater flexibility on where and when to launch their stratospheric balloon flights.
- Today is the anniversary of the only flight of Buran, the Soviet Union’s version of a space shuttle
It completed only two orbits, landed safely, and never flew again. There is a short video at the link showing the liftoff.
Martian helicopters of the future
Today Bob Balaram, the chief engineer for the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, wrote up a short essay summarizing the helicopter’s successes on Mars.
This aircraft, very much also a spacecraft, has been on its own on the surface of Mars, detached from its traveling companion Perseverance, for over 500 Martian days or sols. It has operated way beyond its original planned mission of 30 sols, including surviving a brutal winter that it was not designed for. With 33 flights, almost an hour of flight time, over 7 km of travel in Jezero crater, takeoffs and landings from 25 airfields, almost 4000 navigation camera images, and 200 high-resolution color images, it has proven its worth as a scout for both scientists and rover planners. Currently, it is getting ready to use its fourth software update – this one with advanced navigation capabilities that will allow it to safely fly up the steep terrain of the Jezero river delta, scouting ahead of the rover Perseverance as it searches for signs of past life on Mars. [emphasis mine]
I have highlighted the number of flights above because Ingenuity was supposed to do a very short 34th flight on November 10th that would only have the helicopter go straight up 16 feet, hover, and then come straight back down. Yet, I have seen no postflight reports, and Ingenuity’s flight log still does not include it as of today. One image from Ingenuity that was taken on November 9th has been released, and shows the ground directly below it. No other recent images of this 34th flight however have been released.
The flight could still have happened, or was scrubbed for a later time. What is important however is all those other 33 flights, and what Ingenuity’s overall success has meant for future Martian exploration. As Balaram writes,
» Read more
Watching the first SLS launch tonight
At this moment, with weather 90% favorable and the countdown underway, the first launch of NASA’s SLS rocket appears go for a 1:04 AM (Eastern) launch tonight.
You can watch the live stream on NASA TV here, which will begin at 3:30 pm today and mostly be NASA propaganda intermixed with descriptions of the rocket, its payloads, its full mission, and updates on the launch countdown.
NASA’s live stream is now embedded below, beginning at 10:30 PM (Eastern) when actual coverage of the final countdown begins. I would still suggest that you wait until at least 12:30 AM (Eastern) before watching, as those first two hours will still be filled with a lot of NASA propaganda blather.
» Read more
At this moment, with weather 90% favorable and the countdown underway, the first launch of NASA’s SLS rocket appears go for a 1:04 AM (Eastern) launch tonight.
You can watch the live stream on NASA TV here, which will begin at 3:30 pm today and mostly be NASA propaganda intermixed with descriptions of the rocket, its payloads, its full mission, and updates on the launch countdown.
NASA’s live stream is now embedded below, beginning at 10:30 PM (Eastern) when actual coverage of the final countdown begins. I would still suggest that you wait until at least 12:30 AM (Eastern) before watching, as those first two hours will still be filled with a lot of NASA propaganda blather.
» Read more
Superheavy prototype #7 undergoes 14 engine static fire test
SpaceX’s seventh prototype of its Superheavy first stage booster — intended to launch its Starship orbital craft on the first orbital flight — successfully completed a 10-second static fire test of 14 of its 33 engines yesterday.
I have embedded video of the test below the fold. It shows the burn repeatedly from different angles. It appears the engine test went exactly as planned, with no subsequent fires near the launch pad.
According to the article at the link, this test fire, even with only 14 engines, made this Superheavy booster the most powerful rocket on Earth, at least until tonight when NASA’s SLS launches. Once this booster fires all of its 33 Raptor-2 engines however it will then exceed SLS in power. That it hasn’t launched however makes this claim a little overstated.
Regardless, SpaceX continues to move quite smoothly towards that first orbital launch of Starship, which the company hopes to do before the end of the year.
» Read more
SpaceX’s seventh prototype of its Superheavy first stage booster — intended to launch its Starship orbital craft on the first orbital flight — successfully completed a 10-second static fire test of 14 of its 33 engines yesterday.
I have embedded video of the test below the fold. It shows the burn repeatedly from different angles. It appears the engine test went exactly as planned, with no subsequent fires near the launch pad.
According to the article at the link, this test fire, even with only 14 engines, made this Superheavy booster the most powerful rocket on Earth, at least until tonight when NASA’s SLS launches. Once this booster fires all of its 33 Raptor-2 engines however it will then exceed SLS in power. That it hasn’t launched however makes this claim a little overstated.
Regardless, SpaceX continues to move quite smoothly towards that first orbital launch of Starship, which the company hopes to do before the end of the year.
» Read more
ABL scrubs first launch attempt
The rocket startup ABL yesterday scrubbed its first attempt to launch its new RS1 smallsat rocket from Alaska, due to “off-nominal data on the first stage during propellant loading.”
This test launch carries two cubesats for a customer, but its prime mission is to demonstrate the rocket’s ability to put those smallsats into orbit.
The company is trying again today, but is providing no live stream of the countdown or launch. We can only wait for updates.
The rocket startup ABL yesterday scrubbed its first attempt to launch its new RS1 smallsat rocket from Alaska, due to “off-nominal data on the first stage during propellant loading.”
This test launch carries two cubesats for a customer, but its prime mission is to demonstrate the rocket’s ability to put those smallsats into orbit.
The company is trying again today, but is providing no live stream of the countdown or launch. We can only wait for updates.
China launches remote sensing satellite
China today used its Long March 4C rocket to launch a classified remote sensing satellite that will likely be used for reconnaissance.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
51 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
American private enterprise now leads China 75 to 51 in the national rankings, and trails the rest of the world combined 79 to 75.
China today used its Long March 4C rocket to launch a classified remote sensing satellite that will likely be used for reconnaissance.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
52 SpaceX
51 China
19 Russia
9 Rocket Lab
8 ULA
American private enterprise now leads China 75 to 51 in the national rankings, and trails the rest of the world combined 79 to 75.
NASA managers okay SLS launch attempt November 16th
NASA managers have given the go-ahead to the scheduled launch of the agency’s SLS rocket for 1:04 am (Eastern) on November 16, 2022, despite the existence of some detached caulking that Hurricane Nicole had pulled free.
Engineers examined detailed analysis of caulk on a seam between an ogive on Orion’s launch abort system and the crew module adapter and potential risks if it were to detach during launch. The mission management team determined there is a low likelihood that if additional material tears off it would pose a critical risk to the flight.
Technicians also completed replacing a component of an electrical connector on the hydrogen tail service mast umbilical. While swapping the component did not fully fix the issue, engineers have redundant sources of information supplied through the connector.
The launch window is two hours long. As this is a night launch, it will be quite spectacular, no matter what happens. I will embed the live stream tomorrow in the early evening, for those who wish to watch NASA’s multi-hour propaganda stream. My suggestion would be to find a better use of your time until around 12:50 am (Eastern). Then would be a good time to tune in.
NASA managers have given the go-ahead to the scheduled launch of the agency’s SLS rocket for 1:04 am (Eastern) on November 16, 2022, despite the existence of some detached caulking that Hurricane Nicole had pulled free.
Engineers examined detailed analysis of caulk on a seam between an ogive on Orion’s launch abort system and the crew module adapter and potential risks if it were to detach during launch. The mission management team determined there is a low likelihood that if additional material tears off it would pose a critical risk to the flight.
Technicians also completed replacing a component of an electrical connector on the hydrogen tail service mast umbilical. While swapping the component did not fully fix the issue, engineers have redundant sources of information supplied through the connector.
The launch window is two hours long. As this is a night launch, it will be quite spectacular, no matter what happens. I will embed the live stream tomorrow in the early evening, for those who wish to watch NASA’s multi-hour propaganda stream. My suggestion would be to find a better use of your time until around 12:50 am (Eastern). Then would be a good time to tune in.
The Allman Brothers – One Way Out
An evening pause: Performed live at the Fillmore East in NYC in 1971. Fuzzy and rough, but also a bit of rock ‘n roll history.
Hat tip Dan Steele.
November 14, 2022 Quick space links
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s on-the-ball stringer.
- Starlink now has a website allowing anyone to donate a terminal to charity
While you can pick some categories for where you’d like your donation to go, you cannot pick a specific charity. The final donation destination remains Starlink’s decision.
- Apple to soon provide emergency SOS service to phone customers
Initially it will only be available in the U.S. and Canada.
- A picture of a New Glenn fairing
The photographer says its a new fairing. Maybe. Either way, my heart be still.
- SpaceX Superheavy booster test apparently planned for tomorrow in Boca Chica
The company sent residents a warning notice.
- A six-second video of three exterior experimental payloads on the Tianzhou freighter docked to Tiangong-3
One of the payloads is a hydrogen-oxygen fuel-cell being developed for lunar manned missions.
- VERITAS managers lobby for reprieve from NASA decision to delay mission
There is a lot of political lobbying going on at NASA and at JPL right now for more cash from Congress (including a report that practically demands the taxpayers give JPL more, and give a lot), and this delay appears to be one of NASA’s bargaining chips. “Give us more and VERITAS won’t be delayed!”
- A new Chinese sea launch platform is experiencing a “significant delay.”
It was supposed to begin operations this year. Now construction is not expected to begin until next year.
- AST SpaceMobile has successfully deployed the largest orbital communications array ever
This deployment is a test satellite, dubbed BlueWalker-3, designed to demonstrate technology enabling standard cell phones to use satellites for broadband access in remote areas.
Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s on-the-ball stringer.
- Starlink now has a website allowing anyone to donate a terminal to charity
While you can pick some categories for where you’d like your donation to go, you cannot pick a specific charity. The final donation destination remains Starlink’s decision.
- Apple to soon provide emergency SOS service to phone customers
Initially it will only be available in the U.S. and Canada.
- A picture of a New Glenn fairing
The photographer says its a new fairing. Maybe. Either way, my heart be still.
- SpaceX Superheavy booster test apparently planned for tomorrow in Boca Chica
The company sent residents a warning notice.
- A six-second video of three exterior experimental payloads on the Tianzhou freighter docked to Tiangong-3
One of the payloads is a hydrogen-oxygen fuel-cell being developed for lunar manned missions.
- VERITAS managers lobby for reprieve from NASA decision to delay mission
There is a lot of political lobbying going on at NASA and at JPL right now for more cash from Congress (including a report that practically demands the taxpayers give JPL more, and give a lot), and this delay appears to be one of NASA’s bargaining chips. “Give us more and VERITAS won’t be delayed!”
- A new Chinese sea launch platform is experiencing a “significant delay.”
It was supposed to begin operations this year. Now construction is not expected to begin until next year.
- AST SpaceMobile has successfully deployed the largest orbital communications array ever
This deployment is a test satellite, dubbed BlueWalker-3, designed to demonstrate technology enabling standard cell phones to use satellites for broadband access in remote areas.