Tim Simek & Marl Edelman – Whiskey Before Breakfast
An evening pause: Classic American.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
SpaceX announces completion of investigation of July 11 Falcon 9 second stage failure
SpaceX today issued an update outlining completion of its investigation of July 11 Falcon 9 second stage failure, noting that it had located the problem and instituted fixes throughout its fleet.
It turns out the upper stage was not destroyed when it restarted its engine.
During the first burn of Falcon 9’s second stage engine, a liquid oxygen leak developed within the insulation around the upper stage engine. The cause of the leak was identified as a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system. This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line. Despite the leak, the second stage engine continued to operate through the duration of its first burn, and completed its engine shutdown, where it entered the coast phase of the mission in the intended elliptical parking orbit.
A second burn of the upper stage engine was planned to circularize the orbit ahead of satellite deployment. However, the liquid oxygen leak on the upper stage led to the excessive cooling of engine components, most importantly those associated with delivery of ignition fluid to the engine. As a result, the engine experienced a hard start rather than a controlled burn, which damaged the engine hardware and caused the upper stage to subsequently lose attitude control. Even so, the second stage continued to operate as designed, deploying the Starlink satellites and successfully completing stage passivation, a process of venting down stored energy on the stage, which occurs at the conclusion of every Falcon mission.
For near term upcoming flights, they have removed the sense line and the sensor, stating that neither is essential and can be covered by other sensors.
This SpaceX update implies that the rocket can now resume launches, but I have yet to see a confirmation from the FAA. Since July 19th SpaceX has scheduled launches to begin the next day, and with each day shifted that schedule back 24 hours. Right now it has a Starlink satellite launch scheduled for tomorrow at 9:21 pm from Florida. We will have to wait to see if it gets an official okay from the FAA before then.
UPDATE: The FAA has approved SpaceX to resume launches. Apparently it accepted SpaceX’s request that because no public safety issues remain, it can allow launches to resume even though the FAA has not yet retyped SpaceX’s report to make it sound as if the FAA has concluded its own investigation.
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 or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from 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
July 25, 2024 Quick space links
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.
- Ispace announces completion of a European mini-rover set to fly on its Hakuto-R Resilience lunar lander
The mission is targeting a launch late this year on a Falcon 9. The landing location remains unclear.
- Thales-Alenia completes design review of a proposed lunar mobile habitation module
The artist’s rendering suggests this would be like a mini-RV for use on the Moon.
- China proposes its own proposed lunar module habitation module
The Chinese graphic looks less well thought out compared to Thales-Alenia’s design.
- China university proposes building a intelligent spherical robot for use on its space station
This is essentially a copycat of similar robots already flying on ISS.
- New rocket startup New Frontier Aerospace touts first tests of a small-scale prototype of the engine for its proposed point-to-point orbital spaceplane
Though I wish them well, to say we should remain skeptical of this company at this point is an understatement.
Zebra layering in the Martian high southern latitudes
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on May 16, 2024 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The science team labeled it simple as a “terrain sample,” which usually indicates a picture not taken as part of any specific request or research project, but to fill a gap in the photography schedule in order to maintain the camera’s proper temperature.
When such pictures are necessary, the camera team tries to target the most interesting features that will be below MRO during the required time period. In this case they aimed for a north-facing slope, about 340 feet high, made up of a series of terraced layers, distinguished by the sharply contrasting bright flat benches and very dark cliff-faces.
While the cliffs are dark partly because of the sun is coming from the west, putting them in shadow, it is not entirely the cause. Note how the cliffs on the west side of the mound are also dark, suggesting that the darkness is a fundamental feature of the ground itself.
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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: Carbon monoxide detected on surface of Uranus’s moon Ariel suggests an underground ocean
Voyager-2’s best image of Ariel during the
January 24, 1986 fly-by. Click for original.
By doing infrared spectroscopy using the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected carbon monoxide (CO) and confirmed extensive carbon dioxide (CO2) deposits on the surface of Uranus’s moon Ariel, with the carbon monoxide suggesting the moon has an underground ocean.
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to collect chemical spectra of the moon and then comparing them with spectra of simulated chemical mixtures in the lab, a research team led by Richard Cartwright from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, found that Ariel has some of the most carbon dioxide-rich deposits in the solar system, adding up to an estimated 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) or more thickness on the moon’s trailing hemisphere. Among those deposits was another puzzling finding: the first clear signals of carbon monoxide.
“It just shouldn’t be there. You’ve got to get down to 30 kelvins [minus 405 degrees Fahrenheit] before carbon monoxide’s stable,” Cartwright said. Ariel’s surface temperature, meanwhile, averages around 65 F warmer. “The carbon monoxide would have to be actively replenished, no question.”
You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. Though there are a number of ways in which the carbon monoxide can be replenished, the scientists think it is coming from an underground ocean. From the paper’s abstract:
The evidence for thick CO 2 ice deposits and the possible presence of carbonates on both hemispheres suggests that some carbon oxides could be sourced from Ariel’s interior, with their surface distributions modified by charged particle bombardment, sublimation, and seasonal migration of CO and CO 2 from high to low latitudes.
This theory however has not been confirmed, and the scientists admit it will take a probe making close observations of Ariel to find out for sure.
Hat tip to stringer Jay for this story.
Sierra Space successfully completes 2nd test-to-failure of a full scale LIFE inflatable module
Sierra Space’s family of planned LIFE modules. Click for original
Sierra Space today announced it has completed a second successful test-to-failure of a full scale version of its LIFE inflatable module, intended for use not only on Blue Origin’s proposed Orbital Reef space station, but also available for purchase by other space station.
The latest test by the numbers:
- Company’s second Ultimate Burst Pressure test of a full-size, inflatable space station structure occurred on June 18
- Test unit stood over 20’ tall and was comparable in size to an average family home
- The article was 300 m³ in volume, or 1/3rd the volume of the International Space Station
- Test results exceeded NASA’s recommended x4 safety levels by 22%
- Two 4-ft x 4-ft steel blanking plates were integrated into the highest loaded cylinder section of the article; both were 50 lbs. lighter than the ones used in the first full-scale test and accommodate larger windows
The test article in the company’s historic first full-scale burst test last December peaked at 77 psi, which well exceeded (+27%) NASA’s recommended level of 60.8 psi (maximum operating pressure of 15.2 psi multiplied by a safety factor of four). This most recent test in June showed similar results – within five percent of the pressure loading of December’s test article – with this one reaching 74 psi, exceeding NASA’s 4x safety factor by 22 percent. These back-to-back test results accelerate Sierra Space’s path to flight certification, verifying scalability for 10 cubic-meter and up to 1,400 cubic-meter structures based on the company’s current softgoods inflatable architecture. Sierra Space is currently gearing up for a first test of its 500 cubic-meter space station technology next year.
Video of this test, dramatically edited with its own music soundtrack, can be seen at the link.
It is intriguing that the only developments related to Orbital Reef appear to come from Sierra Space. From Blue Origin — supposedly the lead company in that project — we hear almost nothing. Though Sierra Space has said the partnership is still solid, it has also made it clear it is building the LIFE module not just for Orbital Reef. I think it is hedging its bets, anticipating that Orbital Reef will be another Blue Origin dud, and wants to market itself to others.
Hat tip to stringer Jay for this story.
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
NASA/Boeing: Cause of Starliner thruster failure identified
According to NASA and Boeing officials, ground static fire engine tests have now identified the likely cause of the thruster failures on the Starliner capsule during its docking to ISS in early June, and puts them in a position next week to determine a return date for the capsule and its two astronauts.
It appears the problem is related to teflon seals in the thrusters, detected while engineers did a series of tests on the ground with another Starliner capsule. Based on this information, Boeing thinks it can fix the problem on future capsules, while also insuring there will be no problems returning the astronauts from ISS.
The thrusters in question are all attitude thrusters, where there is a lot of redundancy and the issue has been seen to be well controlled from the start. The larger thrusters used for the undocking and de-orbit burn have been tested as well, and have not shown any similar issues at all.
The ground tests have also identified the cause of the helium leaks within the capsule engine system. Boeing will use this data to fix later capsules as well. These leaks are not a concern for the return to Earth.
The plan now is to do in the next few days one more set of static fire tests with the capsule docked on ISS, doing short bursts with all the attitude thrusters to further confirm what has been learned on the ground. If that goes as expected, a final meeting next week will determine the return date for the capsule and crew.
Hungary/Axiom finalize deal to fly a passenger on its AX-4 commercial manned mission to ISS
Hungary and Axiom have finalized their agreement to fly 32-year-old mechanical engineer Tibor Kapu on Axiom’s AX-4 commercial manned mission to ISS, presently targeting an October 2024 launch date.
That flight will use a Dragon capsule and last 14 days. Kapu would be the second Hungarian to ever fly in space, following Bertalan Farkas’s eight day mission in 1980 in a Soyuz capsule during the Soviet era.
Hungary and Axiom had worked out an initial agreement in 2022, with the country to pay the company $100 million for the flight. At that time the flight was to last 30 days, not two weeks. It was also unclear if the mission would be free-flying or dock with ISS, or even whether it would fly on a Dragon or Starliner capsule. There is no word on how these changes have impacted the price.
Saxavord: We will get our last required spaceport license by September
Proposed spaceports surrounding Norwegian Sea.
My heart be still: According to one official of the Saxavord spaceport in the Shetland Islands, it expects to get its last required spaceport license from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the United Kingdom sometime in September of this year.
In a presentation at the Farnborough International Airshow here July 23, Scott Hammond, deputy chief executive and operations director of SaxaVord Spaceport, said he expected the spaceport to receive the last of the licenses from U.K. regulators in September needed to host the inaugural launch of Rocket Factory Augsburg’s RFA ONE rocket there.
The red tape getting the first launch off at Saxavord has been odious and disheartening, to say the least. After almost two years of deliberations, the CAA awarded the spaceport its spaceport license in December 2023. This finally allowed it to be a spaceport, but apparently that was insufficient for it to be allowed to do any launches. The CAA then took three more months to issue what it called the range license.
Saxavord was still not allowed to do any launches. The CAA demanded one more license for what it calls “airspace access for launches.” I have no idea how this is different than the range license, unless the CAA has separated control of the surface from the air space, and thus requires two separate licenses for each. Either way, getting that approved has now dragged on for months. No one should be confident Saxavord’s September prediction for approval will turn out to be true.
All these licenses however will still not permit any launches to proceed. The CAA also requires each particular rocket company to get its own launch license. Though Saxavord as well as Rocket Factory are targeting a launch before the end of the year, soon after getting that last airspace license, they might be counting their chickens before they hatch, based on the CAA’s track record with Virgin Orbit.
After Cornwall got all its CAA licenses to allow Virgin Orbit to launch from that airport, Virgin thought it would be able to get is launch license quickly and launch within only a few months. Instead, the CAA took about a year to issue Virgin its launch license, with that long delay eventually becoming the main reason the company went bankrupt.
Rocket Factory unfortunately appears to have locked itself into Saxavord. It has already done a static fire test of its first stage there, and has delivered the rocket’s upper stage. If the CAA takes its time again giving its approval, the startup might find itself bleeding cash, as Virgin Orbit did.
July 24, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
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Merle Haggard – If I Could Only Fly
An evening pause: Performed live 1986.
Hat tip James Street.
The anti-Semitic Pro-Hamas Democratic Party shows its colors again
Democrats burn American flags in support of Hamas
Today the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, came to Washington to meet with American government officials and give a speech before both houses of Congress.
Not surprisingly, numerous Democrats both inside and outside Congress showed their hatred of Israel and love of the Hamas terrorists, enthusiastically slandering Netanyahu, Israel, and its struggle to survive while elevating terrorists into “freedom fighters”, even though on October 7 last year those Hamas fighters weren’t fighting for freedom, they were out to kill Jews, eagerly raping, torturing, and murdering more than a thousand men, women, children, and babies simply because they were present inside Israel.
Inside Congress more than forty Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech, including Vice President Kamala Harris (now running for president against Trump). Apparently Harris is courting the American Hamas voting block. Democrats who did attend made it clear in numerous ways that they oppose the right of Israel and Jews to exist and that they support Hamas’ murder of women, children and babies, though of course they couched their statements in cute ways filled with lies in order to give themselves plausible deniability. For example, Nancy Pelosi said this:
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