Any news on Juno, T?
I believe that tonight's the night, so to speak.
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Any news on Juno, T?
I believe that tonight's the night, so to speak.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luigi
Yes, and that's the news for the moment. We will have to wait until it happens. :)
The spacecraft is healthy. Radiation belts on Jupiter are enormous. The electronics are put into a radiation protection box made of titanium and still they will be fried pretty well even using an approach minimizing exposure over the poles. I do wonder though why they chose titanium. I would think polyethylene would be more efficient by mass.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ju...aft/index.htmlQuote:
Juno will avoid Jupiter's highest radiation regions by approaching over the north, dropping to an altitude below the planet's radiation belts – which are analogous to Earth’s Van Allen belts, but far more deadly – and then exiting over the south. To protect sensitive spacecraft electronics, Juno will carry the first radiation shielded electronics vault, a critical feature for enabling sustained exploration in such a heavy radiation environment. This feature of the mission is relevant to NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, which addresses the need for protection against harsh radiation in space environments beyond the safety of low-Earth orbit.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/121.jpg
A bit melodramatic, but impressive pictures. Watch it full screen. Note that they use solar panels to power the spacecraft even that far out instead of nuclear batteries like they used before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNirssyUWkA
I'm just reading about Hayabusa 2, the Japanese asteroid exploration mission.
Fok me it's a bit ambitious. :)
Fly to asteroid, arrive in 2018.
Survey and land on said asteroid.
Dig some samples.
plant a little bomb.
Scurry over to the other side of said asteroid.
Detonate the bomb.
return to collect materials from the explosion's crater.
leave asteroid.
Retun to Earth in 2020 with the asteroid samples.
Not bad seeing it's not much more than 100 years ago that we weren't able to fly 3 off the ground. :)
Arriving now.
Juno spacecraft: Nasa mission arriving at Jupiter – watch live
https://www.theguardian.com/science/...t-jupiter-live
Successful orbit insertion of Juno space probe confirmed. It is a polar orbit, because near the poles the Jupiter radiation belt is less strong and in this orbit the effects of radiaton are minimized. Still extremely strong and the Juno probe won't last very long under these conditions. But they have to go that near for their goal of observing Jupiter itself.
Pictures of the polar region will also be interesting. It's a new area to observe.
Indeed....my grandfather once slightly astonished me when he said it was good when electricity came along.Quote:
Originally Posted by Luigi
Was that your maternal or your paternal grandfather?
Just asking.
https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comme...ad_moons_each/Quote:
When Galileo discovered Jupiter had moons each was named for one of Jupiter's mistresses. In an hour the Juno spacecraft, named for his wife, will arrive.
And she will be grilled by their radiation.
A first photo of Jupiter and 3 of its moons. Better pictures will follow. Hopefully of Jupiters polar region. No good shots of that area yet as orbits of previous probes did not go there.
However photos are not what Juno is there for. Its scientific payload is mostly for the magnetic field of Jupiter and its radiation belts.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/432.jpg
Cheers, mate...Unfolding the mysteries daily...
A new add on to the ISS is coming. For the commercial crew vehicles SpaceX Dragon 2 and Boeing CST-100/Space Liner a new type of docking port, the IDA, will be used. Two of them will be installed. A cargo Dragon will bring the first one up this coming monday. Hopefully this time everything will go right. On the first attempt of launching an IDA port the Falcon 9 rocket failed and the payload was lost.
A very good article:
Next SpaceX launch will bring critical docking adapter to International Space Station | The Verge
IDA is the International Docking Adapter. A joint development of several space agencies to have a common system for the future. They are produced by Boeing but Russia not only participated in developing them, they have produced some components built into it. The system is intended to be open and everyone is invited to use it.
As long as they use Soyuz capsules the Russians will keep using their own ports. When they develop a new capsule they will very likely use the IDA.
It is not known what the Chinese are planning for their new capsule but from pictures it looks at least very similar. I would expect them to use the same system.
IDA is a very advanced system compared to the older ones. Unlike them it is androgynous or bisexual. Old systems had two different components and only the two different types can dock, not two identical ones. Meaning two spacecraft that can dock to the ISS cannot dock with each other. With the new system spacecraft that can dock with the ISS can also dock with each other, a major advantage for possible future collaboration.
The IDA adapter
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/530.jpg
This is where the two ports will be attached to the ISS.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/531.jpg
A Boeing Space Liner in the process of docking.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/532.jpg
This is an old one. Pictures taken by the Mars rover Spirit which has failed a while back. It's twin the rover Opportunity is still active.
A martian dust devil.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/561.jpg
Incredible stuff...A Space Odyssey...
With the powerful dust storms up there TO, is anyone considering 3D Printed Windfarms as a means of sourcing power for future colonists?
People have thougt of it. The martian atmosphere is very thin. The value given is just 0,6% of earth atmosphere. At the site of the rovers it is more because they land at the deepest available locations, so that parachutes can help with landing. It is too thin to build effective wind power.Quote:
Originally Posted by Luigi
These dust devils are possible because the martian dust is very fine and can be moved up by a small waft of moving air. They are quite common and can be seen on many photos. But full sequences of fotos like this are rare.
The thin atmosphere still can be good for something maybe. See this video by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A helicopter powered by solar energy can fly on Mars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpBsFzjyRO8
Take the new Meerkat telescope.
Peer into less than 0.01 percent of the entire celestial sphere, where there are 70 galaxies.
Discover another 1,300 galaxies in that one tiny region of Space.
1,300 Galaxies In First Super Telescope Image
A dwarf planet discovered?...
In this Saturday, July 16, 2016, photo provided by SpaceX, the SpaceX Falcon rocket stands at its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The unmanned rocket is scheduled to blast off at 12:45 a.m. EDT Monday with 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/844.jpg
SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from Cape Canaveral, as seen from Woodside park in Viera, Fla., Monday, July 18, 2016. The streak on the right is the booster landing back at the Air Force Station. The Falcon 9 is headed to the International Space Station with 5,000 pounds of supplies
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/845.jpg
In the next few hours the CRS-9 Dragon mission will approach the ISS. For everybody interested it will be on NASA TV. But the process is long drawn out, probably not worth spending hours unless you are a fan like me.
I have found the most complete long exposure picture of the flight path I have seen so far.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/857.jpg
It shows all burns of the rocket. The big arc is the ascending vehicle. From right to left the first stage burn. Then a gap after the first stage has completed its task. Then the second stage ignites and continues the arc. It keeps going up of course but as it goes farther away it disappears below the horizon, so the arc goes down.
Near the top of the arc there is a second streak. Thats the burn of the first stage after separation. It makes the stage fly back to the launch site. then a coast phase and the reentry burn, to the right top a nearly straight line down. That burn is necessary as the stage is too fast and would burn up in the atmosphere if it did not brake. Finally at the right bottom a short streak. That's the beginning of the landing burn with the stage landing back at the cape in Florida.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/858.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/859.jpg
Thanks TO!
Approach of Dragon now live on NASA TV. Now less than 100m away from the ISS.
NASA Television | NASA
Certainly more exciting and faster action than watching paint dry.
Edit: Berthing confirmed. Dragon is now attached to the ISS. A very important delivery. The IDA port is essential for the planned new generation of US manned vehicles.
At typical NASA speed, actually opening the door and accessing the pressurized cargo is scheduled to happen tomorrow. But sometimes the Astronauts act faster than that. They want to access fresh food, goodies they don't usually have.
Thanks so much for the link. Its been so long for me since real live space coverage. I really can remember the first Gemini spacewalks. I have been fascinated since then.:)
News update. Elon Musk may be Sauron.
Look at this picture from the CRS-9 launch. It is clearly Saurons eye.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2016/07/870.jpg