Curiosity makes a movie of Phobos eclipsing the Sun.
Curiosity makes a three frame movie of Phobos eclipsing the Sun.
Tag: engineering
An Iranian news release today says that researchers at a local university have “designed and built” a manned spacecraft.
The competition heats up? An Iranian news release today says that researchers at a local university have “designed and built” a manned spacecraft.
Sounds very dubious to me. I suspect what really happened is that these Iranian university researchers did some work outlining their proposed design, and this has now been translated into a “built” spacecraft.
More details are released about the launch abort of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket earlier this week.
More details are released about the launch abort of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket earlier this week.
For the first time since arriving on Mars engineers have allowed Curiosity to drive itself.
For the first time since arriving on Mars engineers have allowed Curiosity to drive itself.
The 1-ton Curiosity rover used autonomous navigation for the first time on Tuesday (Aug. 27), driving itself onto a patch of ground that its handlers had not vetted in advance. The robot will likely employ this “autonav” capability more and more as it continues the long trek toward the base of Mars’ huge Mount Sharp, NASA officials said.
In autonav mode, Curiosity analyzes photos it takes during a drive to map out a safe route forward. The car-size rover used this ability on Tuesday to find its way across a small depression whose fine-scale features were hidden from Curiosity’s previous location.
China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
The competition heats up: China’s first unmanned lunar lander is now scheduled for launch before the end of the year.
This mission is the second stage in their long term plans for unmanned lunar exploration. It began with an orbiter which mapped the surface in high detail, followed now by a lander, which will then be followed by a sample return mission.
It appears a programming error might have caused the scrub of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket launch yesterday.
It appears a programming error might have caused the scrub of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket launch yesterday.
The computer controlling the launch from the ground detected an abnormality in the rocket position but it was later found to be normal. “It may have been an elementary, but not serious, problem, ” said one of the experts, quoted by the Kyodo News agency. An inspection after the canceled launch found no abnormality with the attitude sensors mounted on the rocket or with the computer feeding the data to the ground, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
This is a preliminary report, but sounds credible. The report also suggests that the Japanese are in no immediate hurry to launch but instead want to very carefully investigate the issue first. And as I said yesterday, this is really all good news for this new rocket.
Astronauts on ISS have successfully recreated the water leak in the defective spacesuit that almost drowned an astronaut last month.
Astronauts on ISS have successfully recreated the water leak in the defective spacesuit that almost drowned an astronaut last month.
They now have a very good idea of the components that caused the failure, and will be able to replace these with new parts. The next step will be to test the suit under the same conditions with the new parts.
The Falcon 9 launch of Canada’s Cassiope space probe has been rescheduled from September 5 to September 10.
The Falcon 9 launch of Canada’s Cassiope space probe has been rescheduled from September 5 to September 10.
No details yet for why the reschedule.
A FAA waiver granted to SpaceX for its next launch outlines details on the company’s effort to recover the first stage for reuse.
The competition heats up: A FAA waiver granted to SpaceX for its next launch outlines the details of the company’s effort to recover the first stage for reuse.
The first stage will coast after stage separation, and then perform an experimental burn with three engines to reduce the entry velocity just prior to entry. Prior to landing in the water, it will perform a second experimental burn with one engine to impact the water with minimal velocity. The second stage will coast and then perform an experimental burn to depletion.
Elon Musk has said that they will be experimenting with bringing the first stage back safely with each launch of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. This waiver now gives us the plan for the first launch. It also shows that they are also considering recovery of the second stage as well.
Engineers in India have decided to completely replace the leaking second stage engine of the GSLV rocket whose launch was scrubbed last week.
Engineers in India have decided to completely replace the leaking second stage engine of the GSLV rocket whose launch was scrubbed last week.
The GSLV is a three-stage launch vehicle with four strap-on motors hugging the first stage. The first stage is powered by solid fuel while the four strap-on motors and the second stage are powered by liquid fuel. The third is the cryogenic engine powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
“At the rocket assembly building, the satellite, cryogenic engine and the second stage have been destacked. It has been decided to shift the second stage to Mahendragiri for detailed inspection and study,” the ISRO official told IANS. He said ISRO has also decided to start assembling another engine so that the GSLV could fly at the earliest. Queried about the time-frame for the GSLV’s flight, he said: “It is not possible to give a time-frame for the GSLV’s flight now.”
The first launch of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket was scrubbed today at T-19 seconds.
The first launch of Japan’s new Epsilon rocket was scrubbed today at T-19 seconds.
The press releases are very unclear, which is typical for the Japanese. From my perspective, this scrub is hardly a disaster for a new rocket, and is in fact a good sign. Better for the rocket systems to recognize a problem and abort than for it to launch anyway and fail.
The launch of the first demo mission of Orbital Sciences’s Cygnus capsule to ISS has now been officially scheduled for September 17.
The launch of the first demo mission of Orbital Sciences’s Cygnus capsule to ISS has now been officially scheduled for September 17.