Tag: quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, except for the first, which came from several readers. 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.

• FAA ends its grounding of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, allowing launches to proceed
  No word yet on whether the FAA will issue a launch license for a Starship/Superheavy launch on October 13th. There will be a lot of Falcon 9 launches however beginning that day to catch up.

• Amazon’s Kuiper constellation appears to be negatively impacting the company’s recent profit margins
  If only the company had moved with some speed and gotten these things launched quickly rather than dither for years while SpaceX grabbed the market.

• The consortium building Starlab space station completes a full scale mockup to test its design and usability
  It is bringing in astronauts from the U.S. and Europe to give advice and suggestions.

• China successfully recovers a reusable Shijian capsule
  Similar in concept to Varda’s commercial capsule, Shijian was used to test a variety of manufacturing technologies in weightlessness that could then be used on Earth.

• ISRO has booked all the remaining flights of its GSLV rocket
  To quote the tweet: “Within the next decade, both PSLV & GSLV are going to retire, after which India’s launch demands are to be met by SSLV, LVM3, NGLV & private launchers.” The best plan would be to replace all the government launchers with private ones, but that seems unlikely considering the political strength of India’s bureaucracy.

• Today in 1846, Neptune’s largest moon Triton was discovered.
  The tweet includes a photo of the moon taken by Voyager 2 in 1989.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also deserves thanks for cluing me on the Vast, EPA, and Chinese launch stories posted earlier. 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 and New Horizons look at Uranus from opposite directions
  By doing simultaneous observations like this, astronomers get data covering the planet’s entire globe.

• Impulse’s new Deneb rocket engine ready for testing
  The company wants to use it on its Helios orbital tug as a fast way to get payloads to different locations in Earth orbit and beyond.

• Sierra Space is now targeting a May 2025 launch for its Tenacity mini-shuttle on a ULA Vulcan rocket
  Only a year later than originally announced, and years behind schedule overall.

• Space Force: X-37B in orbit will next use aerobraking to change its orbit as well as “safely dispose … service module components.”
  At present the mini-shuttle is in a highly elliptical orbit. By using the atmosphere during its close fly-bys of Earth to lower that orbit’s high points it save fuel for other purposes, which can extend its mission considerably.

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.

• New computer models suggest Ceres has an icy crust and was once covered with muddy ocean
  Everyone say after me: “The uncertainty of science!”

• Graphic showing all rockets developed by India’s space agency ISRO, past, present, and future
  This will be more exciting when the list shows rockets from private Indian companies.

• ISRO building third launchpad at its Sriharikota spaceport
  This is in addition to a second completely different spaceport being developed further south.

• ULA’s CEO touts video of release of fairings during last week’s Vulcan launch
  All I kept thinking is ULA is throwing those away, while SpaceX has been recovering and reusing its fairings now for years.

• Former NASA flight director during Apollo shares insights to Firefly engineers

• China completes main antenna installation of new 40 meter radio telescope in Shigatse, Tibet
  It appears this antenna is to increase China’s ability to detect things in orbit, though this is not certain.

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.

Having visited an eye doctor today and had my eyes dilated, posting this afternoon is difficult. Sorry thus for the lack of additional posts.

• Dawn Aerospace flies world’s only rapidly reusable rocket-powered aircraft twice in one day
  This remains a small scale engineering prototype focused on testing the engineering.

• Brightness of first Chinese broadband constellation satellites alarms astronomers
  My heart bleeds. All this paper really proves is that any effort to squelch the American satellite constellations will accomplish nothing but squelching the American satellite industry. It will do nothing to save ground-based astronomy. Astronomers should stop whining and focus on building telescopes in space.

• Debris from break-up of Long March 6A upper stage has spread to many altitudes
  There is no indication China cares one iota. It certainly does not appear they have taken any action to fix the problems with the Long March 6A upper stage, which has broken up at least twice.

• ViaSat-3 F1 satellite enters commercial service
  It is designed to provide internet access to airline customers over North America, including Hawaii. Whether its addition can stave off the competition from SpaceX’s Starlink remains questionable.

• Rocket Lab wins contract from NASA to study ways to bring the Perseverance’s core samples back to Earth
  Few details were released, but it appears the company with this study contrct has the inside post on getting the full contract to do this, replacing the complex NASA/ESA/Lockheed Martin proposal that is overbudget, behind schedule, and incoherent in design.

• How Did The Vulcan Rocket Survive This Booster Failure?
  Manley’s analysis is good, but he gets it very wrong when he says the FAA will likely ground Vulcan pending completion of its investigation. The FAA quickly announced no investigation was necessary, nor was Vulcan grounded.

• UAE announces a ‘Supreme Space Council’ that will oversee the country’s space activities
  It appears a lot of people with power in the UAE want a seat at the table, running the UAE space program. This council gives them this, and illustrates how this is definitely a top-down program with little independent outside competition by non-government entities.

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.

• ASTSpaceMobile’s 1st Bluebird cell-to-satellite satellite in orbit is about to go operational
  The satellites are the largest commercial arrays ever placed in orbit, 700 square feet in area.

• German startup Polaris Spaceplanes raises €7.1 million in private investment capital
  It will use the funds to develop its “Aurora multipurpose spaceplane and hypersonic transport system.”

• On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union opened the space age by launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik
  And as they say, the rest is history.

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.

• Axiom’s co-founder touts the nearly completed hull of its first space station module
  It is being built by Thales-Alenia in Italy, and will be shipped soon to Houston. The company has been posting pictures like this for the past year-plus, but for some reason that module never gets finished.

• Major solar flare in progress
  As Jay notes, “Regular news outlets are picking this up with the usual apocalypse chatter.” The big issue is how this might effect emergency communications using ham radio.

• Hera mission to Didymos/Dimorphos asteroid binary came in under budget by $20 million; still targeting October 7th launch, despite SpaceX grounding
  ESA used that $20 million to cobble together a mission to Apophis, using Hera architecture.

• Starlink free for 30 days for those impacted by Hurricane Helene or doing rescue work
  As always, private citizens and companies are acting faster and smarter than the government, which has actually moved to block such efforts, even threatening volunteers with arrest for providing aid.

• India approves joint India-Japan lunar project now dubbed Chandrayaan-5
  It will include a lander built by India and a rover built by Japan.

• Today in 1985 the space shuttle Atlantis launched on its first mission

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.

• Astrobotic successfully completes ground communications tests between its Griffin lunar lander and NASA’s Deep Space Network

The launch is presently scheduled for 2025 on a Falcon Heavy rocket.

 

• New Horizons is now 60 times as far from the Sun as Earth, and has almost doubled Pluto’s distance from the Sun since flying past it in 2015

It is flying 300 million miles farther out each year.

 

• ESA touts new antenna in its own deep space network

Now all Europe has to do is launch some deep space probes.

 

• ISRO is hopeful its first unmanned test orbital Gangayaan mission will happen before the end of this year

This isn’t really news, as the agency has been saying this for quite some time. If anything, the story hints that the mission will likely be delayed until early next year.

 

• Russian prime minister claims the first 300 satellites in its own “Starlink” constellation will be launched by 2027

And if you believe him I have bridge in Brooklyn I could sell you cheap!

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.

• Orbital tug startup Momentus faces delisting from Nasdaq stock exchange

The share value has generally been below a dollar, thus failing to meet Nasdaq’s requirements. The company has had both cash shortage and technical issues, hindering its success.

 

• NASA reissues its request for proposals for using its Janus planetary probes

The probes, built and ready for launch, lost their target when the launch to carry them got delayed. NASA had issued this request but then retracted it “for corrections.” The reissued request includes less technical details, likely to give bidders more flexibility.

 

• On this day in 1958 the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (N.A.C.A. and pronounced by saying each letter) officially became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, prounced like a word).

I have no idea why people changed how they spoke the acronyms.

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.

• Kennedy spaceport preparing new launchpad for “small-lift launch vehicles”

The launchpad is being designed to have common use infrastructure for multiple companies.

 

• Australian rocket startup Gilmour Space completes dress rehearsal countdown of its Eris rocket

The countdown stopped at T-10 seconds. They are getting ready for the first test orbital launch off the eastern coast of Australia.

 

• Honeybee Robotics completes thermal testing of its vertical solar panel system

The concept is to deploy on the lunar surface to provide a power grid for all operations.

 

• NASA inspector general to conduct an investigation into the agency’s commercial crew program

In a sane world you would assume this investigation is prompted by the problems with Starliner, but we don’t live in a sane world. It is just as likely that the knives are also out for SpaceX.

 

• China holds a conference to discuss lunar rover “off-road technologies”

Consider it a workshop for the people designing the manned rovers China will deploy on the lunar surface when it begins landing people there in the 2030s.

 

• Rocket Lab touts the completion of more hardware for its new Neutron rocket

• SpaceX test fires a Raptor enginer for nearly 15 minutes

• This week in 2022 Juno did the closest fly-by of the Jupiter moon Europa in two decades

See this 2022 post for details of the fly-by. See this 2023 post and this 2024 post for what the scientists learned, and this second 2024 post for a contrary conclusion.

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.

• Direct evidence from China that all its so-called “private” companies are government-controlled

Apparently they jointly created a single entity to share data on developing reusable rockets. Nothing is proprietary.

 

• American Astronomical Society demands transparency and government supervision for lunar and interplanetary spaceflight activities

The link upholds a pdf. While some of the suggestions make sense, the overall tone is a cry of desperation against the possibility that private entities might operate in space out of the control of the government and this scientific organization.

 

• NASA approves use of SuperDraco launch abort system should all parachutes fail during landing

Up until now NASA limited use of the SuperDracos to situations where a failure occurred during launch.

 

• On this day in 1997 Mars Pathfinder and its mini rover Sojourner sent its final data transmission

This lander laid the groundwork for the entire American Mars unmanned exploration program of the past quarter century.

 

• During this week in 1970 the Soviets’ Luna-16 unmanned lunar probe successfully returned a 1/4 pound of lunar soil to Earth

It was the first time an unmanned mission accomplished this task, though it came after two American manned landings brought back a much greater haul of lunar samples.

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.

• Stoke Space touts the water deluge system for its new engine test stand

If I were them, I wouldn’t broadcast this as it increases the chances that the thugs at the EPA will move in to shut it down.

 

• Rocket startup Maiaspace wins lease to take over old Soyuz launchpad in French Guiana

The startup is owned entirely by ArianeGroup, builder of the Ariane-6 rocket, and is attempting to build a smaller reusuable rocket.

 

• Total debris from breakup of Chinese upper stage Long March 6 rocket in August now totals 538 objects

Tracking detected an additional 149.

 

• On this date in 2022 the probe Dart impacted Dimorphos

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.

• Radian Aerospace begins tests of spaceplane prototype

To avoid State Department ITAR restrictions, these runway tests are using a prototype that uses jet engines and no space-specific technology, because the flights are taking place in an unnamed airport the United Arab Emirates.

 

• Reflect Orbital is developing space mirrors to direct sunlight to ground-based solar panels

The video bluntly questions the practicality of the project.

 

• China to expand its 500-meter-diameter FAST radio telescope by encircling it with 24 smaller radio dishes

The additional dishes will each be 40 meters in diameter.

 

• On this day in 2023 the sample capsule from OSIRIS-REx landed on Earth with its Bennu samples

The spacecraft is now on its way to a rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis in 2029.

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.

As this is an open thread, I must add that the lack of any political or cultural posts recently is entirely because I am presently sick of reporting about this stuff. When you have a big long term player in the Democratic Party, Leon Pannetta, make the utterly stupid comment that Israel’s very targeted attacks on Hezbollah is “a form of terrorism” — essentially endorsing this murderous Islamic terrorist organization — and yet approximately half of Americans apparently still consider the Democratic Party to be a viable option, it seems somewhat pointless to attempt to change these people’s minds. Too many leftists no longer have the ability to think. They are wedded to their party, and will support it no matter how infantile or childless or dangerous or violent it gets.

Enough. Back to Jay’s links about space:

• Stoke Space touts its growing inventory of built hardware

The image shows four engines, two partly assembled, and what looks like a tank dome. The company is clearly making some progress, but as Jay notes, it is not yet “hardware rich. That distinction is given when you have multiple assembled test articles.”

 

• Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for accelerating China’s space endeavors

He is essentially touting this major success under his leadership, in order to strengthen his hold on the government. It’s what power-hungry politicians always do, whether they run a communist or a democratically-elected government.

 

• Haiyang spaceport plans to build a new semi-submerged ship to provide a more compatible sea-launch platform

It hopes to have it launched by the end of ’25.

 

• Viasat wins U.S. Air Force contract to make aircraft antennas for communicating with satellites

Contract is for $33 million.

 

• On this day in 1930 astronaut John Young was born

He “flew in space six times (twice each during the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs), and served as an astronaut longer than anyone to date: 42 years.”

 

• Today marks the 10th anniversary of the day India’s Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter entered orbit around Mars

Its planned mission was for six months. It operated for eight years.

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.

• Chinese pseudo-company building lunar low-gravity simulation test platform

China developed something similar to test its Zhurong Mars lander. This appears to be an upgraded version.

 

• Russia’s geosynchronous surveillance satellite moves close to Intelsat satellite

The Russians appear to use this geosynchronous Luch satellite to do reconnaissance of the electronic signals coming from these satellites.

 

• On this day in 1967 the DODGE engineering test satellite captured the first global color image of Earth

• On this day in 1956 the Jupiter-C rocket was test fired for the first time

This was the rocket used to launch the U.S.’s first orbital satellite, Explorer-1, in 1958.

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.

• Blacksky wins contract from Australian company to use its satellite constellation to gather images of orbiting objects

The company is HEO, and it wants the data for “defense, intelligence, and commcial use.”

 

• Blue Origin’s New Glenn landing barge, Jacklyn, departed Port Canaveral this morning for sea trials

The company says it will attempt a first stage landing on the first launch of New Glenn, but if so there isn’t much time for these trials before the launch, now targeting sometime before the end of the year.

 

• China touts the success of Yutu-2, which it says is still working on the Moon’s far side nearly 5 years and 9 months after launch

The tweet says it has now traveled a total distance of 1,613 meters, which is just over one mile.

 

• On this day in 1962 the weather satellite TIROS 6 was launched

It was the sixth in a series of increasingly sophisticated satellites, following the first in April 1960.

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.

• Google backs a private satellite constellation to track wildfires

The first demo smalsat is targeting a launch next year, with the first launches of the fifty satellite constellation beginning in 2026.

 

• Rivada and Peraton partner to launch communications satellite constellation for military

The 600 satellite constellation will begin launching in 2025 with full deployment planned by 2028.

 

• Science paper claims new Starlink satellites emit “bright unintended electromagnetic radiation”

The paper claims this unrelated emission will impact radio astronomy, and calls for new regulations to restrict SpaceX.

 

• Firefly touts its new Miranda rocket engine

• NASA touts the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter

The launch is scheduled for October 10, 2024, with arrival in Jupiter orbit in 2030.

 

• Earth will have a temporary mini-moon for two months

The orbit is unstable, with the asteroid leaving by November.

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.

• Space Perspective completes first test flight of its Neptune balloon capsule

This test flight proved out the capsule’s engineering, and will eventually be followed by tourist balloon flights to about 20 miles altitude.

 

• Using Hubble, astronomers identify more supermassive black holes in the early universe that previously reported

The result comes from repeated observations of the very distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra-Deep field, and spotting the changes.

 

• Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin leaves Rocket Lab’s board of directors after completing a four year term

• First paper published outlining preliminary data obtained from Chang’e-6 lunar samples from the far side of the Moon

You can read the paper here [pdf].

 

• On this day in 1976 the cast of the original Star Trek welcomed the roll-out of the shuttle engineering test vehicle Enterprise, named by popular demand after the spacehip in the TV series.

Enterprise never flew in space, but was used to test the shuttle’s design for gliding unpowered to a runway landing.

 

• On this day in 1996 the shuttle Atlantis lifted off for the fourth shuttle mission to dock with Russia’s Mir space station

The shuttle brought Shannon Lucid back from space, completing her then 188-day mission that was then a record for an American and a woman.

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.

• French smallsat company signs deal to launch satellites on Impulse’s Helios orbital tug

The smallsats will form a communications satellite constellation called Kaon for the French startup Space Network Services.

 

• ULA official says 2nd launch of Vulcan will occur within the next month

ULA desperately needs this launch to go off without a hitch so that it can begin launching satellites for the military.

 

• Blue Origin plans to have a fleet of at least four New Glenn first stages flying by the end of 2025, each designed for 25 flights

The company is going to try to land its first stage and reuse it from the very first flight.

 

• Rocket Lab is now targeting September 19, 2024 for its eleventh launch in 2024

More details about this launch here.

 

• Astronomers detect a black hole that is “starving” its galaxy to death

The black hole has essentially driven all the gas from the galaxy, ending all star formation.

 

• A review of what little China has told us about its future planetary program

I did not see much in this article that was new, though the summary was worthwhile.

 

• On this day in 2017 Cassini ended its mission by plunging into Saturn

Details about its final orbits here.

Like yesterday, reader Gary has stepped in to cover for BtB’s stringer Jay, who is off on a work trip this week. 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.

• Roscosmos had offered help to NASA in connection with the Starliner situation

I am sure this is so, but I am also sure there was little Russia could do, without requiring a lot of cash from NASA as part of the deal.

 

• We’re all gonna die! SpaceX blew a hole in the atmosphere when it test launched Starship/Superheavy!

For a more sane discussion of this research, which was really only about the increased sensitivity of modern instruments, go here. That some are using it for political purposes to whack SpaceX is disgraceful.

 

• ArianeSpace CEO Stéphane Israël criticizes billionaires in space

But then, Israel has generally been a head-in-the-sand fool for more than a decade when it comes to reusability and commercial space. His insistence ten years ago that it made no financial sense to make Ariane-6 reusable resulted in that rocket being overpriced in today’s market, which is why Europe is right now pushing Arianespace and Stephen Israel out and replacing both with private commercial rocket companies competing for business. All he does here is provide proof that getting him out of the way is the best thing the European Space Agency has done in years.

As BtB’s stringer Jay is on a work trip this week, reader Gary volunteered to send me some links. 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.

• SpaceX now controls two-thirds of all active satellites in orbit

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace completes 10-kilometer vertical take-off and landing of a first stage prototype

The test rocket is a single engine smaller version of its Zhuque-3 orbital rocket’s first stage, and like SpaceX’s Grasshopper test vehicle, provides the engineers the test data needed to build the full scale reusable rocket. This video indicates the pseudo-company is getting close to success.

 

• Stennis makes deal with Sidus Space to continue operations of its test payload in orbit

Sidus has a smallsat in orbit, and Stennis’s payload is part of it.

 

• Video of on-going tests of SpaceX’s tower chopsticks intended to catch Superheavy at landing

The tweet notes that this test was “the fastest the chopsticks have closed in the catch position on the tower so far.”

 

• Blue Origin official says it will do a static fire test of New Glenn’s upper stage this week

The official also said the first static fire test of New Glenn’s first stage, with all seven BE-4 engines, will happen “in the near future.”

 

• On this day in 2001 Frank Culberton on ISS photographed from orbit the World Trade Center burning after both buildings were hit by commercial planes flown by suicide Islamic hijackers

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.

• Watch the unmanned landing of Starliner at White Sands

The landing is scheduled for 12:03 am (Eastern) tonight.

 

• Astra confirms that two of its new satellite engines have test fired successfully in orbit

The company has had serious financial troubles, and has thus pulled back from building and launching rockets to simply making small engines and thrusters for satellites.

 

• Webb spectroscopic data suggests a nearby exoplanet with a mass 2.31 times greater than Earth’s has a sulfur-rich atmosphere

The star it orbits is M-dwarf about 35 light years away, and has a solar system of four known exoplanets, so far.

 

• Computer modeling suggests some debris from DART impact of asteroid Dimorphos could reach Earth

The models suggest some debris could reach both Earth and Mars in about thirteen years, producing the first man-made meteor shower. The debris poses no threat however.

 

• Slingshot Aerospace data suggests an Atlas-5 upper stage launched in 2018 has broken up in orbit

The orbit is highly elliptical, and it is unclear at this moment if the debris cloud poses a threat to any other satellites

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.

• Astrobotic touts a tiny cubesat-sized rover it developing for future Moon missions

It can be assembled from anywhere from 2 to 24 cubesat units.

 

• NASA ground worker describes final Starliner preparations before it undocks from ISS tomorrow

He coordinated the cargo work with the two Starliner astronauts.

 

• Part 2 of Tim Dodd’s tour of Blue Origin with Jeff Bezos

I haven’t watched it yet, but the website says Bezos gives a tour of the New Glenn launchpad.

 

• Rocket Lab touts the carbon composite nature of its new Neutron rocket

The picture at the tweet shows the fairing that will be an integral part of Neutron’s first stage, flying multiple times with it.

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.

• Blue Origin says it is about to conduct a static fire test of New Glenn’s upper stage

Good news in that the company is getting done what needs to be done to fly that first launch. The picture at the tweet however makes me really doubtful it can meet the October 13-21 launch window of its payload of two Mars orbiters.

 

• Tonight BepiColumbo does its fourth flyby of Mercury

It will dip down to within 103 miles of the surface. Images will be released within the next day.

 

• China touts an image taken by its Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter

The location is in the high latitudes of the southern cratered highlands, and not surprisingly shows a scattering of craters. It was spring when the picture was snapped, so the mantle of CO2 dry ice that covers these high latitudes in the winter is beginning to sublimate away. The terrain itself looks like it is heavily impregnated with ice as well.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, with the last two links today from readers Mike Nelson and Robert Pratt respectively. 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.

• Blue Origin releases an image of its New Glenn first stage landing ship, dubbed Jacklyn

The tweet says it is “arriving very soon.” Why is it that everything from Blue Origin is “arriving very soon?” Isn’t it time for something to get here already?

 

• Rocket Lab’s CEO shows off factory filled with Electron and Haste rockets, ready to launch

I wonder if they will attempt to recover and reuse any. They had been pushing hard to reuse the first stage last year, but recently that effort seems to have faded.

 

• China touts prototype moon soil bricks to be sent to its Tiangong-3 space station to see how they handle the harsh environment of space

They claim the bricks are stronger than concrete.

 

• India’s space agency is still targeting a December ’24 to February ’25 window for first unmanned Gaganyaan test flight

They still hope to fly the manned mission is 2025.

 

• Scientist obtain first detection of a weak electrical field around the Earth first predicted more than 60 years ago

That early data had found a stream of particles escaping at the poles, and the most likely explanation was this weak field, now confirmed.

 

• Keynote speech by Kathryn Lueders, SpaceX’s general manager at Boca Chica, at an August 27th event run by the Brownsville Chamber of Congress

She outlines the company’s strong commitment to the Brownsville area, and how it will facilitate the fast production and reflight of Starship spacecraft. This commitment also includes the hiring of 300 more engineers.

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.

• Axiom touts the near completion of its space station’s Habitat One pressure vessel

The module is being built by Thales-Alenia in Europe and is targeting a 2026 launch date.

 

• NASA time-lapse video of the assembly of Europa Clipper, focusing on the installation of its solar panels

How nice. Meanwhile the agency is considering launching this multi-billion spacecraft with transistors that will likely fail quickly in the high radiation environment of Jupiter.

 

• Space Force: China is not as transparent as it should be about its creation of space junk

The story is focused on the debris left by the break-up of several Long March 6A upper stages. Jay succinctly sums it up: “China does not listen to anyone.”

 

• Video of the launch of China’s Ceres-1 rocket from an offshore barge

You can view another angle, with heroic background music, here. The rocket was built by the Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy, doing its third sea launch.

 

• Firefly touts the successful ongoing testing of the second stage engine of its Alpha rocket

The engine is dubbed Lightning. This testing will hopefully help overcome the issues the rocket has had with its upper stage on two previous launches.

 

• The first launch in Russia’s own Starlink constellation likely delayed from 2025 to 2026

As Anthony Zak notes in the tweet, Russian officials are certain of this new date because they have promised “passenger rail/air Internet via sat by 2028. …Good news — Russia still intends to have rail, air service in 2028!”

 

• On this day forty years ago the space shuttle Discovery was launched on its maiden flight

Discovery right now holds the record as the most reused spacecraft ever, with 39 flights total. Expect that record to be broken within the next five years by a Falcon 9 first stage, and later smashed by Starship.

BtB’s stringer Jay had no quick link stories today, but I thought for completion’s sake I should include this one from yesterday:

• Blue Origin’s New Shepard yesterday completed its 8th manned suborbital flight

Not much else to say. These suborbital flights are nice, but they no longer represent the future, only the past. The future will be illustrated by Polaris Dawn, SpaceX’s next manned commercial orbital flight, scheduled to take off sometime in the next week or so, depending on weather and the FAA’s intransigence.

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.

• Blue Origin touts the assembly of New Glenn’s first flight first stage

The tweet does not say when this was accomplished, but considering the scheduled launch date is only a little more than six weeks away, it seems they are cutting things close indeed. It is clear they are getting close to that first launch, but it is also unclear they can meet the launch window required for their payload, two Mars orbiters.

 

• Rocket Lab’s CEO shows off two completed engines intended for its new Neutron rocket

The company hopes to do the rocket’s first test launch next year, and as it seems they are now producing engines quickly, that target seems realistic.

 

• New data precludes the existence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPS), one of many proposed explanations for dark matter

The experiment is not yet complete, but the data after 280 days (out of a thousand) says WIMPs don’t exist.

 

• NASA touts the status of its Lunar Gateway space station with a few pictures

With decidedly mixed feelings I look forward to the day that Starship docks with this boondoggle, as it will make the station look puny in comparison, despite the fact that Gateway’s cost will be far higher.

 

• On this day in 1962 Mariner 2 was launched to fly past Venus

This was the first planetary probe to reach another planet and send back data. Its data proved that Venus is a hellish place, with a surface temperature exceeding 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

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.

• Astrobotic releases final report on fuel leak during its Peregrine lunar lander mission [pdf]

The newest and most important take-away is that engineers were able to precisely duplicate the valve failure on the ground that caused the leak in space, making it possible to prevent the problem with great confidence on future landers.

 

• German company Mynaric fires its CEO because of production problems making optical terminals to be used on American military satellites

This is a follow-up on a quick links story from August 23rd.

 

• ULA’s CEO touts a short video showing two Vulcan first stages being placed in storage in Florida, ready for launch

For ULA this is great news, because it means it will almost certainly be able to do more launches of Vulcan this year.

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.

• Astronomer spots a ribbon of gas extending more than 20 kiloparsecs (65,000 light years) from Seyfert galaxy

That filament is almost as big as the galaxy itself, which is also an AGN galaxy like the galaxy image I posted earlier today. You can read the paper here.

 

• On this day 25 years ago Chandra released its “first light image,” an X-ray false-color image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

The gas cloud shown in X-rays is estimated to be about 10 light years across, formed when the star went boom 300 years ago.