Space News thread

[Takeovers]

Happening right now. The tank and engine section of Starship on the move from the construction site to the launch site at Boca Chica, Texas. Probably for tank and pressure tests. The passenger or cargo section is still at the construction site and being worked on.



To the left the Starship hopper which did one 150m flight already. The starship prototype is planned to make a 20km flight. Then it will be replaced by a more flight ready second version. SpaceX is all about rapid prototyping, doing flight tests. While the rest of the industry produces stacks of papers as high as their vehicle to prove their flightworthiness.

SpaceX still hopes to do the 20km flight this year but depend on FAA approval.

[harrybarracuda]

Nasa's Voyager 2 sends back its first message from interstellar space

Nasa craft is second to travel beyond heliosphere but gives most detailed data yet



Twelve billion miles from Earth, there is an elusive boundary that marks the edge of the sun’s realm and the start of interstellar space. When Voyager 2, the longest-running space mission, crossed that frontier more than 40 years after its launch it sent a faint signal from the other side that scientists have now decoded.

The Nasa craft is the second ever to travel beyond the heliosphere, the bubble of supersonic charged particles streaming outwards from the sun. Despite setting off a month ahead of its twin, Voyager 1, it crossed the threshold into interstellar space more than six years behind, after taking the scenic route across the solar system and providing what remain the only close-up images of Uranus and Neptune.

Now Voyager 2 has sent back the most detailed look yet at the edge of our solar system – despite Nasa scientists having no idea at the outset that it would survive to see this landmark.

“We didn’t know how large the bubble was and we certainly didn’t know that the spacecraft could live long enough to reach the edge of the bubble and enter interstellar space,” said Prof Ed Stone, of the California Institute of Technology, who has been working on the mission since before its launch in 1977.

The heliosphere can be thought of as a cosmic weather front: a distinct boundary where charged particles rushing outwards from the sun at supersonic speed meet a cooler, interstellar wind blowing in from supernovae that exploded millions of years ago. It was once thought that the solar wind faded away gradually with distance, but Voyager 1 confirmed there was a boundary, defined by a sudden drop in temperature and an increase in the density of charged particles, known as plasma.


The second set of measurements, by Voyager 2, give new insights into the nature of the heliosphere’s limits because on Voyager 1 a crucial instrument designed to directly measure the properties of plasma had broken in 1980.

Measurements published in five separate papers in Nature Astronomy reveal that Voyager 2 encountered a much sharper, thinner heliosphere boundary than Voyager 1. This could be due to Voyager 1 crossing during a solar maximum (activity is currently at a low) or the craft itself might have crossed through on a less perpendicular trajectory that meant it ended up spending longer at the edge.

The second data point also gives some insight into the shape of the heliosphere, tracing out a leading edge something like a blunt bullet.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/04/nasa-voyager-2-sends-back-first-signal-from-interstellar-space

[Luigi]

enter interstellar space

A bit surprised and happy they didn't mention 'reaching the edge of the solar system' or some such comment.

As it won't do so for another 30,000 years or so.

Currently around 100 AU, it should reach the edge of the Oort Cloud at around 100,000 AU.

[OhOh]

You may enjoy this movie.

3 educated people search the stars, one night a reply arrives.

Cosmos (2019)



"Three astronomers accidentally intercept what they believe to be a signal from a distant alien civilisation, but the truth is even more incredible than any of them could have imagined. "

https://1337x.to/torrent/4107368/Cos...080p-YTS-YIFY/

[harrybarracuda]

HoHo has trouble telling fiction from reality.

[Takeovers]

Another successful launch of a Chinese rocket. First stage successfully coming down on a village house. Note the orange smoke that's the oxidizer I mentioned in the On to Mars thread.

It is weibo on twitter so I can not directly link the video of the burning house.

https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/stat...72138521448448

[OhOh]

A "space" originating problem?

Earth Enters Unknown as Magnetic North Pole Continues Push Toward Russia, Crosses Greenwich Meridian

"Earlier this year, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the British Geological Survey (BGS) were forced to update the World Magnetic Model a year ahead of schedule due to the speed with which the magnetic north pole is shifting out of the Canadian Arctic and toward Russia’s Siberia.
The BGS and the US National Centers for Environmental Information has released a new update to the World Magnetic Model this week, confirming that the magnetic north pole, whose coordinates are crucial for the navigation systems used by governments, militaries and a slew of civilian applications, is continuing its push toward Siberia."

Continues at;

https://sputniknews.com/science/2019...wich-meridian/

What results may this have on the Earth's climate?

Presuming the Earth rotates around the poles and the moving poles influences which parts of the Earth are warmed or cooled more.

[Takeovers]

Presuming the Earth rotates around the poles and the moving poles influences which parts of the Earth are warmed or cooled more.

The pole does not shift. Rotation of the Earth is unaffected. It is only the magnetic pole that is shifting. So magnetic compasses need adjustment but they are not that important any more because GPS is everywhere.

But there is a lot of speculation that there may be a pole switch coming. Which means magnetic south and north poles switch their locations. Which would put the magnetic field of Earth in chaos for a while. The magnetic field stops solar outbursts so they don't reach the atmosphere except near the poles. We may see polar lights everywhere. Some make a doomsday scenario out of a pole switch. But interesting science to come out if it for sure, if we survive.

We don't know how long such a switch would take. Guesses are between 1000 years and within the lifetime of a human.

[Takeovers]

A little more about the doomsday scenario. The myth that it is the magnetic field that protects us from radiation is still very strong and widespread. It is only a myth though. It is mainly the atmosphere that protects us from radiation. It does protect the ISS and low flying satellites from solar outbursts. Without magnetic field the ISS would need a solar storm shelter and the low earth orbit satellites would need to be built to the same radiation proof standards that are needed for satellites in geostationary orbit, the ones that bring us satellite TV.

The magnetic field does protect the atmosphere from being blown away like it happened on Mars. So without it Earth would become uninhabitable in a few hundred million years. Short time like 1000 years for a pole switch does nothing.

[OhOh]

Thanks for the clear reply, always address the expert.

If I have understood correctly, the positions of the poles is not the axis of rotation of the earth.

If true, what determines the Earths axis of rotations and does it/has it moved around?

In layman's terms.

[Takeovers]

The poles are at the axis of rotation. When Roald Amundson reached the South pole it was at the axis of rotation. But the magnetic poles are not identical with the poles of rotation. They are usually near enough that a compass roughly points to the North unless you are already near the pole. They do wander when the magnetic field of the Earth shifts as it does continuously. But not too far from the pole unless a switch of the magnetic poles happens.

The axis is extremely stable relative to the Earth because changing it requires action on the huge mass of the Earth. But the continents float on the liquid core so the position of the poles shifts relative to the continents. Also over a long period the axis moves relative to the sun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession

A video showing how the axis of the Earth precesses over a period of approximately 25,772 years.

[OhOh]

I did look at the Precession info.

Thanks for your video, which indicates the earth's axis of rotation does wobble a little. Do all the suns planets have a similar approx. 23.5 deg slant and do they all wobble in the same time frame as the Earths? What caused the 23.5 deg. slant and keeps it there.

As you say the earth surface plates float on the liquid interior and occasionally crashing into adjacent plates causing mountains to be formed. Suggesting the mass of the floating plates are miniscule compared to the interior molten core below.

Which suggests there must be other forces acting. Possibly the heating, from the sun, causes the interior, hotter material to "rise", as happens at the earths surface.

But which direction relative to the earths rotation is up? What does the Sun's gravitational pull influence?

Logic would suggest gravity is the force, but local gravity acts on an axis from the centre of the Earth to wherever the surface/object is, then you have the Sun's gravitational pull ..... and one suspects on a pretty long time scale.

Looking at this video;

A 3D atlas of the universe - Carter Emmart



As the video progresses all the planets of the Sun's universe appear to travel around the Sun pretty much in a flat disk. Further in the video as you start bringing in more Galaxies the disk of the the Sun's planets appear to rise from a flat plane to a sloping plane. Further on in the video scales back to show the Milky Way as a central glob of .... with collection of Octopus like of rounded arms .....

Is the tilt to match the Sun's axis of rotation is it the same 23.5 deg?

[Takeovers]

All planets are different. The 23.5 degree is specific to Earth. It happened during forming the planet out of the debris disk around the early sun. Probably it got its present value when some big piece hit the earth which led to the formation of our moon. Like with all spinning objects it is pretty stable. It will only change a miniscule amount now with very little debris (meteorites) hitting the Earth.

About the continental shift. It does not influence the Earth axis. But as the continents shift different parts of the solid surface will be where the axis is.

I won't try to pretend I understand the mechanics of precesssion but it is caused by gravitational interaction with the sun. Rotating mechanisms are supposed to be stable but they do precess. Do yu remember humming tops?



If you had one as a child you have observed precession.

[Luigi]

Probably it got its present value when some big piece hit the earth which led to the formation of our moon.

I'm sure that you know, but for those that don't, the early planet that collided with Earth that then went on to form the moon is called Theia.





Not sure if that Gif will change to, I don't know, a mushroom, of course.

[Dragonfly]

got to watch a super documentary on the Apollo mission, no comments, only the NASA voice of the flight commander running the operation, with rare footage never seen before, all mastered in FULL HD like you were there, lasting 1h30

some shots inside and outside the capsule, amazing, give you a new angle to the whole thing

the Eagle close up shot when docking etc... make you realize they were running the whole thing on some kids giant tin toys

everything looks so fragile,

[Dragonfly]

wanking materials for those who really love technology

old computer monitors, control dash boards etc... things back then had technology meaning and was for real men, not teenage girls for their selfies

[harrybarracuda]

We had another interstellar visitor last week and hardly anyone noticed.

Who knows, perhaps it signals the return of the Baby Jeebus or some new Nazca lines or something.

[Takeovers]

@Luigi



I did not know it came out of ESL4. But now seeing this it makes total sense. Where else than L4 or L5 would it come from?

[Luigi]

I did not know it came out of ESL4. But now seeing this it makes total sense. Where else than L4 or L5 would it come from?

That's the theory, eventually perturbed by the gravity of Jupiter or Venus.

There's actually an asteroid located in L4 now that was discovered around 10 years ago.

[Takeovers]

SpaceX is beginning to deploy Starlink sats at a high launch rate.

Next launch is planned for Dec. 30 this month. Then another launch mid January. Plus they just opened media accreditation for another launch late January. They are aiming for a launch cadence of one every 2 weeks. The goal is to have full coverage of the USA except possibly the far north of Alaska by the beginning of the Hurricane season 2020.


Starlink is aiming to provide high speed low latency internet to rural areas worldwide but beginning with the USA.

[OhOh]

Boeing capsule won't reach space station in NASA setback


"Boeing Co.'s unmanned CST-100 Starliner spacecraft failed to reach the International Space Station on its debut flight, dealing a new blow to the crisis-ridden aerospace giant and adding uncertainty to NASA's plan to ferry U.S. astronauts on American spacecraft.

About 50 minutes after liftoff Friday, the Starliner was out of position to begin its orbital insertion burn, the last boost into an orbit so it could dock at the space station.

Because of that anomaly, "the spacecraft burned more fuel than anticipated to maintain precise control. This precluded @Space_Station rendezvous," Jim Bridenstine, head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said in a tweet.

The mishap jeopardizes U.S. plans for human flights as soon as next year by Boeing, which was hired to ferry astronauts to the ISS as part of NASA's commercial crew program along with Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Boeing's failure also deepened a sense of crisis around the company, which is already reeling from a nine-month grounding of the 737 Max after two deadly crashes.

Boeing's stock fell less than 1% to $331.43 at 9:57 a.m. in New York. The stock rose 3.4% this year through Thursday while the S&P 500 advanced 28%.

The Starliner is expected to return to Earth for a landing at White Sands, New Mexico, on Sunday morning, NASA and Boeing officials said at a news conference. The anomaly was the result of an incorrect timer prompting the capsule to make adjustments as though it was on the correct course, burning too much fuel. Had astronauts been on board, they would have been able to correct the problem, authorities said.

The capsule took off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 6:36 a.m. Friday near Cape Canaveral, Florida, Boeing said. The capsule, with no crew on board, separated and began flight on its own about 15 minutes later.

Starliner had been scheduled to rendezvous with the ISS early Saturday.

The Starliner test flight is the second mission to the space station for NASA's commercial crew program, which is designed to end U.S. reliance on purchasing seats aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, which have been the sole crew transport since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011.

SpaceX conducted a demonstration flight of its Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS in March, also with no one aboard. Musk's company and Boeing expect to fly astronauts for the first time next year.

NASA in 2014 awarded SpaceX and Boeing combined contracts valued at as much as $6.8 billion to fly U.S. astronauts to the ISS. The agency chose two companies to assure safe, reliable and cost-effective access to space while avoiding the risks giving one provider a monopoly.

The space agency has declined to set dates on manned missions, pending the outcome of the Boeing test flight. The agency and SpaceX plan to perform an in-flight abort test of SpaceX's Crew Dragon on Jan. 11 from Florida."

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Boeing-capsule-won-t-reach-space-station-in-NASA-14921629.php


Boeing's PR on the capsule.

http://www.boeing.com/features/2019/...out-11-19.page

[Takeovers]

China will launch a CZ-5 rocket in a few minuntes. Live broadcast on YouTube.

[Takeovers]

The CZ-5 is one of their new generation launch vehicles that are going to replace the older ones. Unlike the old rockets they are launching from a coastal site, not over inhabited land.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_5

It is the third launch. The first was successful, the second failed. They had an extended launch stop after the failure. Live showing the third launch indicates they are confident to have solved the problems.

Funny IMO they follow the design principles of NASA and ESA. Using a hydrogen first stage supported by (see edit) because hydrolox engines don't have sufficient thrust. In the US this system was used because the military uses solid boosters for their strategic nuclear weapons.

Edit: I was wrong. The central core of the first stage is indeed hydrogen. But the boosters are not solid propellant. They are RP-1 (kerosene) and LOX. A unique combination.

[Takeovers]

The beginning of the launch window has already passed. But the launch window is 4 hours long.

Edit: Launch successful. The satellite has been deployed.

[OhOh]

The video presentation was very difficult to follow. There seemed to be long delays between the stages falling away and the next stage rocket engines firing. Lots of shots of presumably the problem fuel pumps. Much noodles being cooked though.

People being interviewed all over the place, some appeared a little startled at being chosen.

So what's the satellite going to do?