Space News thread

[Luigi]

Yeah, been tracking it for a few years now.

Saw it over Bkk last week. The kid loves to see it and says she can see the astronauts waving at her.

[Wilsonandson]

Flat-Earther blasts off into California sky in homemade steam-powered rocket

• Mark Molloy

25 MARCH 2018 • 2:47 PMA self-taught rocket scientist has blasted himself high into the California sky using a steam-powered contraption he built in his garage, the first step in his long-term aim of proving the Earth is flat.

“Mad” Mike Hughes propelled himself 1,875 feet (571m) into the air above the vast Mojave desert in the homemade rocket before deploying his parachute and landing back to Earth with a bump.
The madcap 61-year-old limo-driver-turned-daredevil was visibly dazed as he was carefully lifted from his seat and was checked over by paramedics as he lay exhausted on the ground following a hard landing which damaged the front of his rocket.

“Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess,” he told the Associated Press. “I'll feel it in the morning. I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.”
The Flat-Earther, who has spent around $20,000 (£14,000) pursuing his rocket dream since 2016, admitted he was “relieved” to have finally achieved his goal following several aborted attempts and ridicule from some quarters when his plan captured the attention of the world’s media last year.



"Mad" Mike Hughes' home-made rocket launches near Amboy, California CREDIT: MATT HARTMAN VIA AP

“I'm tired of people saying I chickened out and didn't build a rocket. I'm tired of that stuff. I manned up and did it.”
Acknowledging how dangerous the mission was, he added: “This thing wants to kill you 10 different ways … This thing will kill you in a heartbeat.”



"Mad" Mike Hughes is carried on a stretcher after his home-made rocket launched and returned to the ground near CREDIT: MATT HARTMAN VIA AP

Last year, the California native was forced to postpone a take off attempt from an abandoned runway in the ghost town of Amboy, located about 200 miles (321.85km) east of Los Angeles, due to his motorhome-slash-rocket launcher breaking down and problems getting a permit.
Mr Hughes has the support of the flat-Earth community, who helped fund the mission, and eventually wants to build a "Rockoon," - a rocket that is carried into the atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon - to take him about 68 miles up so he can photograph the planet from space.



The self-taught rocket scientist believes the Earth is flat CREDIT: FACEBOOK

“Do I believe the earth is shaped like a frisbee - or flat? I believe it is,” he said last year. “I cannot disprove it after my months of research. Do I know for sure? No. That’s why I want to go up into space 62 miles up to settle this thing once and for all for people who want to know.”
“My story really is incredible,” Hughes reflected after his mission. “It's got a bunch of story lines - the garage-built thing. I'm an older guy. It's out in the middle of nowhere, plus the Flat Earth. The problem is it brings out all the nuts also, people questioning everything. It's the downside of all this.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018...owered-rocket/

[Wilsonandson]

[Takeovers]

The chinese Tiangong 1 Spacestaton is now rapidly nearing its demise. Most likely in the first days of April. Here a map of the area where it passes overhead. Still there is no way of knowing where in that area it will come down. The flight path is marked with green.



If you live in Russia or Canada you are probably safe.

[harrybarracuda]

It had better not fuck with the Cricket Sixes is all I can say.

[Simon43]

If you live in Russia or Canada you are probably safe

... and Tierra del Fuego, don't forget good ol T de F

[Simon43]

ISS SSTV active on 145.800 MHz FM in April The ISS will be transmitting images for a couple of days in April - more details at: ISS SSTV active on 145.800 MHz FM in April | Southgate Amateur Radio News

Although the ISS transmits data signals all the time, the sending of pictures usually only happens a couple of times a year.

On the dates in April (2nd and 3rd), I'll be in transit between Myanmar and Laos, but parked up for exactly those two nights at the salubrious Miami Hotel, on Sukhumvit Road.

The ISS will be 'visible' for about 10 minutes as it passes over Bangkok around midnight.

To receive and decode the picture data, all that is needed is a simple half-wave dipole antenna, a 'dongle' USB radio receiver and the free software to decode the data, all of which I have already.

Therefore, if you are staying at the Miami Hotel that night with your 'rent-for-the-night girlfriend or ladyboy(!), please don't worry if some weird, eccentric British guy erects his .. er .. antenna by the swimming pool around midnight, and proceeds to listen to a load of beeps coming from his laptop.....

[david44]

Good Luck Simon

In case you have nver been pleasured in the charms of the Miami the entrance is up soi 13 a few steps I used to stay 300m further up, where there are nicer quieter digs for little more, tho of course some will endure the rough trade for easy access to BTS and rear entry of Ambassador, Sportsmen and Bengali sloppers

[Simon43]

Hi David, I always stay at the Miami when I'm in Bangkok (usually two times every year). I like the old place, and so convenient for jogging in the park round the lake

[David48atTD]

NASA readies Parker Solar Probe for 'mission to touch the Sun'


Credit The spacecraft, dubbed the Parker Solar Probe, will see a spacecraft launched from Earth in the summer of 2018,
to reach an orbit within four million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun's surface. This will be seven times closer than
any spacecraft that has ventured before it.


Scientists are putting the finishing touches on the Parker Solar Probe ahead of its mission to fly directly into the Sun's atmosphere.
The spacecraft will have to survive temperatures as high as 1,371 degrees Celsius, impacts by supersonic particles and powerful radiation
as it circles as close as 7 million kilometres to the Sun.

Data sent back to Earth 140 million km away will help scientists figure out why the Sun's atmosphere, its corona, is hotter than its surface.
But Parker Solar Probe's deputy project scientist believes it could also lead to unanticipated discoveries.

"I'm almost certain that we will learn about new phenomenon that we know nothing about now," Nour Raouafi said.

"That is really super, super exciting for us."

The spacecraft will be shipped to Cape Canaveral in Florida ahead of take-off in July.




THE PARKER SOLAR PROBE MISSION

- The mission launch in the summer of 2018
- It study the outer atmosphere of the sun, known as the corona
- To measure the corona, the probe will reach an orbit within four million miles (6.5 million km) of the sun
- The craft will collect vital information about the life of stars and their weather events

- It will focus on how solar flares are formed, which can disrupt communications on Earth





What to be part of the mission?



More here

[Takeovers]

A YouTube video on how different rocket engines are ignited. Quite interesting. Fascinating especially how Soyuz first stage engines are ignited. Basically they use large wooden matchsticks. No early april fools joke, it is real. If you want to see only this part, skip forward to 6:00. But worth seeing it all.

[Luigi]

Tiangong 1 due to come down at just after 7:30am on Monday, just in case anyone gets an unexpected bump on the head while having a morning coffee


SATVIEW - TIANGONG 1 - Norad 37820U - Tracking satellites and Spacejunk in Real time

[misskit]

Nearly time to head for the bunker.

[Luigi]

Burned up entering the South Pacific. No reports of it scaring the bejaysus out of any fishermen.

[Topper]

Burned up entering the South Pacific. No reports of it scaring the bejaysus out of any fishermen.

Luck was with the Chinks...statistical odds were too, I reckon.

[Topper]

A YouTube video on how different rocket engines are ignited. Quite interesting. Fascinating especially how Soyuz first stage engines are ignited. Basically they use large wooden matchsticks. No early april fools joke, it is real. If you want to see only this part, skip forward to 6:00. But worth seeing it all.

That's a really cool video, TO! Thanks!

[Takeovers]

The impact area as given by chinese authorities. It is pretty much the area where they would have brought it down if they still had control. Wide empty ocean.



At the same time they work on a new space station. One that will be more permanent and will be permanently manned once finished, or before that.

The Tianhe 1, Heavenly Harmony, core module will be launched this year, if things go to plan. They don't always go to plan with space programs. Presently their largest launch vehicle the Long March 5 is grounded after a failure. Evaluation is ongoing. The station may be manned first in 2020 if things go well.

Tianhe-1 not to be confused with Tianhe-1A which is their presently biggest Super Computer.



https://chinaspacereport.com/spacecr...ngong/tianhe1/

Tianhe (TH, “Heavenly Harmony”) is the core module and backbone of the Chinese space station, designed to provide the main living quarters and control centre for the station crew. The module resembles the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station in appearance and arrangement. An experimental core module, named Tianhe 1, is scheduled for launch atop a CZ-5B launcher from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre, Hainan in 2018.

The Tianhe module is about 19 m in length and 4.2 m in diameter. The space frame is constructed of 5A06 aluminium-alloy, with a gross mass of 22,000 kg. The entire module is divided into three sections: a front docking hub, a pressurised living compartment in the middle, and an aft service compartment. The module has a total of five passive APAS-type docking ports—four located on the front docking hub and one on the rear end of the service compartment. Externally the module mounts a robotic arm, two pairs of solar panel wings, and docking radar/optical sensors.
The spherical docking hub located at the front end of the Tianhe core module provides four docking ports: two lateral ports used as permanent attachment points for the two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, and an Earth-facing port as the backup docking for Shenzhou spacecraft. The remaining port on the side of the hub facing away from the Earth is permanently attached to a small airlock module, which allows egress and ingress for spacewalks by astronauts and also provides a storage space to accommodate EVA spacesuits.
The cylindrical living compartment provides habitable living quarters and main working space for a crew of three astronauts, including sleeping quarters, kitchen, space toilet, etc. It is also where the main control station is located, allowing the crew to manage guidance, navigation and control for the entire space station. A secondary control station which performs similar functions is located in the Wentian laboratory module.
The transition section behind the living compartment flares outward from 3.35 m diameter of the living compartment to 4.2 m diameter of the service compartment. The aft cylindrical transfer chamber, also habitable, connects the the forward living compartment with the aft docking port to allow transfer of cargo and crew. The chamber is surrounded by the unpressurised service compartment, which accommodates the main engines, propellant tanks, power system, and communications system. The aft docking port is used for docking of Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, but can also be used as a backup docking port for Shenzhou spacecraft.
The Tianhe module is powered by two pairs of solar panel wings, with a total span of 60 m. Each solar wing has 3 panels and is one-axis steerable in order to obtain maximum solar insolation. The silicon solar cells of the arrays have an efficiency of over 30%. Sun sensors between the panels measure the sunlight incidence angle which allows the panels to be automatically commanded to an optimum angle. Silver-zinc batteries in the service compartment provide emergency power in case of failure of the solar arrays. The spacecraft’s power bus operates at 100 V.
The CAST-designed large robotic arm is designed to assist the assembly and maintenance of the space station, move equipment and supplies around the station, and support astronauts in EVA.

[BaitongBoy]

Is this now the cream of the crop, as far as space stations are concerned?...

[Latindancer]

Maybe.
I am predicting (and hoping) that karmically, it'll run into some of the large cloud of space debris they created when they purposely sent a missile into their defunct satellite.

[Takeovers]

Is this now the cream of the crop, as far as space stations are concerned?...

It is based on an older russian design. But that does not mean it is outdated. They have a good robot arm which is important for many kinds of work. They will certainly avoid one major problem of the ISS. The ISS is built from modules provided by the Soviet Union, USA, Japan and Europe. Each of those felt compelled to build their own aluminium can with little regard to compatibility. The docking adapters for connecting the modules are compatible. Electric supplies, lighting, fans and lots of other things are not, making maintenance on the ISS a nightmare and incredibly expensive. The Chinese will make sure that such items are common over all modules, making operations much easier.

The ISS solar arrays are old and extremely inefficient compared to modern arrays. But that's due to their age, not a technical flaw. The chinese station will have the edge in that area.

Mainly it will be a learning exercise. They are still catching up. Meanwhile in the US Congress and NASA are wasting multi billions of $ for pork projects every year. Their main aim is keeping multiple NASA centers distributed over many congressional districts alive and feeding billions of $ to always the same contractors with all their experience building Saturn V and Apollo 50 years ago. It keeps getting worse. Latest example is the 2020 Mars rover. The $2 billion cost of Curiosity was justified by developing a lot of new technology. The 2020 rover is using all the same technology, even to a large extent using spares built for Curiosity. Yet the cost has expanded from initial $1.5 billion to now $2.5 billion, more than Curiosity. As it is China will surpass NASA before 2030.

[Takeovers]

Maybe.
I am predicting (and hoping) that karmically, it'll run into some of the large cloud of space debris they created when they purposely sent a missile into their defunct satellite.

Yeah. But unlike the US they learned from their mistake and won't repeat it. At the same time old US spy sats are frequently not properly passivated at the end of their life time and sometimes explode due to bad batteries years later.

Edit: To be fair. The Airforce learned too and are trying to avoid that kind of mistake for the future.

[Simon43]

I never got a chance to receive the slow scan TV images from the ISS last week.

1 - It was pissing down with rain when the ISS flew over Bangkok
2 - More importantly, it's virtually impossible to get a decent line of sight to receive the VHF radio signal, due to all the high-rise buildings. I could have taken my laptop, antenna and 'dongle' onto Sukhumvit Road, but decided that at 1am in the morning, I might encounter some ladyboys who might play with said dongle.....

There's a second chance to receive these signals around 11-14th April. I'm back in Naypyitaw late on the 12th, so will have another go.

On a second topic, I have now collected most of the components to build my PocketQube micro-satellite 'Myansat PQ-1'. I was able to buy everything COTS (commercial off the shelf), which was my intention. Now to hotfoot it back to Myanmar and start to build the satellite on a table in my hotel room

[Latindancer]

You've spoken to someone in the government about this, haven't you Simon ? I seem to recall you have..

I'd hate you to be arrested for espionage like that guy with the drone in Cambodia.....possibly only because some jerk in minor office sees an opportunity to make money out of you paying your way out of "trouble".

[Simon43]

... some jerk in minor office sees an opportunity to make money out of you paying your way out of "trouble".

LoL, make money out of me? My ex's cleaned me out, ain't no money left....

Yes, I've had a couple of meetings with some very senior people - lot of interest in this little project - it does really need their 'OK' before it flies - literally...

[Wilsonandson]

A planned space hotel hopes to welcome guests by 2022 — for a cost of almost $800,000 a night

By Marwa Eltagouri
April 6, 2018 at 9:55 PM

Rendering of Aurora Station. (Courtesy of Orion Span/)

Looking for a getaway that offers unmatched views of sunrises and sunsets? Specifically, 384 of them in 12 days?

Try outer space.

Houston-based Orion Span hopes to launch the “first luxury hotel in space” — the 35-by-14-foot Aurora Station — by late 2021 and bring guests on board the following year. The hotel will accommodate up to four travelers and two crew members at a time, racing them around the planet at high speeds for 12 days, the company said in anews release.

Adventurers pay $9.5 million per person — or about $791,666 a night — and their $80,000 deposit can already be reserved online, company officials said. But don't fear: The deposit is fully refundable.
“We want to get people into space because it’s the final frontier for our civilization,” Orion Span’s founder and chief executive, Frank Bunger,told Bloomberg.

Bunger said that one reason Orion Span can aim for a price of less than $10 million per person is because of the declining price of launches.

“Everybody’s forecasting that [launch prices are] going to fall,” he told Bloomberg. “Almost every week, there’s another rocket-launch company that’s starting up with a new way to get to orbit cheaper, faster, better.”

Orion Span's announcement of a luxury hotel in space comes amid a revival of the commercial space industry. The launch of Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy from the Kennedy Space Center in February, for example, was the latest in a series of milestones that have renewed companies' interest in space.
The launch raised the question of whether SpaceX and other private enterprises could maintain their momentum and fulfill the promise of returning humans to space. That likelihood could increase as the Trump administration looks to restructure the role of NASA, allowing private enterprise and international partners to work closely with the space agency.

Orion Span's proposed hotel offers plenty of attractions: zero-gravity flying throughout the station, views of patrons' home towns from space, the ability to take part in research experiments such as growing food while in orbit, and live-streams with friends and family at home through high-speed Internet.

Since commercial spaceflight has yet to launch humans into space, Aurora Station visitors will have three months of training, which would begin with online courses to better understand “basic spaceflight, orbital mechanics, and pressurized environments in space,” officials told Bloomberg. The guests will also have contingency training at the company's headquarters in Houston.

“Orion Span has ... taken what was historically a 24-month training regimen to prepare travelers to visit a space station and streamlined it to three months, at a fraction of the cost,” company officials said. “Our goal is to make space accessible to all, by continuing to drive greater value at lower cost.”

Bunger, a former software engineer, told Bloomberg that the experience won't be for everyone. The Aurora Station will mainly cater to those who are passionate about space and astronomical study.
“We're not selling a hey-let’s-go-to-the-beach equivalent in space,” Bunger said. “We’re selling the experience of being an astronaut. You reckon that there are people who are willing to pay to have that experience.”

Christian Davenport contributed to this report.

Read more :- http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/s...00000-a-night/