Space News thread

[Takeovers]

Better internet service for many areas worldwide that have no good service right now is on the horizon.

https://twitter.com/brianweeden/stat...77031261933569

SpaceX has filed for their massive constellation of 4,400 satellites to provide Internet from orbit: http://bit.ly/2f004v5

4400 satellites in low orbit, just 1100km altitude for fast ping. Given they are granted the frequencies they will be able to start launching their constellation in 2020. 4400 is much more than all satellites in service today combined. Service to rural areas, to ships and airplanes with high bandwith.

[Takeovers]

The chinese one month mission was successfully completed. The taikonaus are safely back on earth.



The capsule looks very much like the russian Soyuz but it is somewhat altered and improved by the Chinese.

[jamescollister]

Looks like this EM drive is for real, NASA just released it report and it is to be tested in space soon.
Real came changer if it works and no one knows how it works, break the laws of physics as we know them.

[Topper]

Got a link?

[Takeovers]

Looks like this EM drive is for real, NASA just released it report and it is to be tested in space soon.
Real came changer if it works and no one knows how it works, break the laws of physics as we know them.

Thanks. I missed it. Most of the EM-drive discussion is either dogmatic, people who won't accept it if shown a working drive and people who claim it will make cars, planes and rockets redundant. Or it is purely mathematics beyond my understanding. So I look for it only occasionally. The release was expected for december.

The sceptics are already out and declare the NASA group has done poor science and their findings should be discarded. Some of the proponents are already again proposing faster than light interstellar drives.

I will watch and see how things develop. We are much closer to proof now and there are going to be more people and groups working on it.

[Takeovers]

Got a link?

An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

Seems I can't get the link right. It works for me but probably not for you? Will see to it later

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/11...paper.html?m=1

[jamescollister]

Got a link?

http://www.sciencealert.com/it-s-off...s-finally-been

[Takeovers]

For comparison.

The EM-drive tested by NASA eagleworks produces 1.2N/kW thrust. A conventional electric drive like the Hall thruster produces 60N/kW thrust, 50 times more per spent energy. But the Hall thruster consumes fuel and the EM-drive does not. It is also very likely that this first test device can be improved on by a lot.

[Topper]

It is also very likely that this first test device can be improved on by a lot.

Emdrive is 300 times better than light sails, laser propulsion and photon rockets on thrust to power level basis

I tried to read the article along with the headline, but it was gibberish to me...

[Takeovers]

I tried to read the article along with the headline, but it was gibberish to me...

I can relate. It mostly is to me too. I had to pass just after

the classic “double slit” experiment, in which particles (let’s say electrons) pass through a pair of narrow slits, eventually reaching a screen where each particle can be recorded.

And I don't even understand why the classic particle/wave duality is relevant.

Actually at this point in time I don't even care. What I want is positive proof it works. After that the theoretical physicists can spend the next few decades defining why.

I want to extend my previous comparison of thrust levels.

Photon drive 0.0067 mN∕kW max
EM-drive 1,2 mN/kW the thrust level proves it is not a photon drive
Hall thruster 60 mN/kW more power per kW but needs propellant.

It is likely, assuming the EM-drive really works, that there will be a lot of improvement over the 1,2mN/KW, reaching or surpassing the Hall thruster. This is only the very first generation of design.

[Topper]

And I don't even understand why the classic particle/wave duality is relevant.

While I grasped the locality bit, I didn't understand why it's important...

[Latindancer]

Quite an amazing article....just when you start to think you've understood some of it, your mind slides right off !

[misskit]

$1 Billion Satellite to Mean ‘Quantam Leap’ in Weather Forecasting


An Atlas V rocket with NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R), lifts off at 6:42 p.m. EST at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Nov. 19, 2016.


CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. —
The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, part of an $11 billion effort to revolutionize forecasting and save lives.

This new GOES-R spacecraft will track U.S. weather as never before: hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, volcanic ash clouds, wildfires, lightning storms, even solar flares. Indeed, about 50 TV meteorologists from around the country converged on the launch site — including NBC’s Al Roker — along with 8,000 space program workers and guests.

“What’s so exciting is that we’re going to be getting more data, more often, much more detailed, higher resolution,” Roker said. In the case of tornadoes, “if we can give people another 10, 15, 20 minutes, we’re talking about lives being saved.”

“Really a quantum leap above any satellite NOAA has ever flown,” said Stephen Volz, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s director of satellites.

“For the American public, that will mean faster, more accurate weather forecasts and warnings,” Volz said earlier in the week.


First of four satellites

Airline passengers also stand to benefit, as do rocket launch teams. Improved forecasting will help pilots avoid bad weather and help rocket scientists know when to call off a launch.

The first in a series of four high-tech satellites, GOES-R hitched a ride on an unmanned Atlas V rocket, delayed an hour by rocket and other problems. NOAA teamed up with NASA for the mission.

The satellite, valued by NOAA at $1 billion, is aiming for a 22,300-mile-high equatorial orbit. There, it will join three aging spacecraft with 40-year-old technology, and become known as GOES-16. After months of testing, this newest satellite will take over for one of the older ones. The second satellite in the series will follow in 2018. All told, the series should stretch to 2036.

GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. The first was launched in 1975.


Six instruments on board

GOES-R’s premier imager, one of six science instruments, will offer three times as many channels as the existing system, four times the resolution and five times the scan speed, said NOAA program director Greg Mandt. A similar imager is also flying on a Japanese weather satellite.

Typically, it will churn out full images of the Western Hemisphere every 15 minutes and the continental United States every five minutes. Specific storm regions will be updated every 30 seconds.

Forecasters will get pictures “like they’ve never seen before,” Mandt promised.

A first-of-its-kind lightning mapper, meanwhile, will take 500 snapshots a second.

This next-generation GOES program — $11 billion in all — includes four satellites, an extensive land system of satellite dishes and other equipment, and new methods for crunching the massive, nonstop stream of expected data.

Hurricane Matthew, interestingly enough, delayed the launch by a couple weeks. As the hurricane bore down on Florida in early October, launch preps were put on hold. Matthew stayed far enough offshore to cause minimal damage to Cape Canaveral, despite some early forecasts that suggested a direct strike.

$1 Billion Satellite to Mean ?Quantam Leap? in Weather Forecasting

[BaitongBoy]

Matthew stayed far enough offshore to cause minimal damage to Cape Canaveral, despite some early forecasts that suggested a direct strike.

Next time they may have a more accurate "forecast"...The irony...

[BaitongBoy]

This EM Drive business is quite the news...Do you remember the old "images" of the "flying saucers," or UFO's?...They would flit across the sky at incredible speeds with no "visible means" of propulsion...These guys were way ahead of us, even back then...

It's something as simple as the imagination, which is the fastest "thing" in the world...

The speed of light is very, very fast...about 186,000 miles per second...but the imagination is faster still...I can imagine being on the moon instantly, while the speed of light is a second or so behind...


“If you want to find the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

― Nikola Tesla

[Takeovers]

This EM Drive business is quite the news

As much as I hope for it to be true, we are not there yet. Sceptics remain sceptic and not totally without reason. More and better proof will be needed. We can only hope that this research will clear the way to more and better funded research. The NASA eagleworks group was so resource starved in this project that they resorted to bringing stuff from home to go forward.

I saw one interesting comment from a sceptic. He said, he used to be 99.9% sure EM-drive is bogus. Now he is just 90% sure it is bogus, which means a hundredfold increase of probability for him.

[misskit]

Veteran US Astronaut Sets Another Record in Orbit



The International Space Station has gained three new residents, including the oldest and most experienced female astronaut ever to orbit the world.

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying the fresh crew docked Saturday at the space station, 400 kilometers above Earth. The new arrivals at the orbital research laboratory — American astronaut Peggy Whitson, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy — joined the three men already on board, one American and two Russians.

Whitson, who will be the mission commander once her team settles in orbit, already holds the record for time spent in space by a woman — over 400 days during her various missions. Over the course of the next six months, she will celebrate her 57th birthday in the weightless conditions of Earth orbit, as she extends her time-in-space record every day.

more Veteran US Astronaut Sets Another Record in Orbit

[Cujo]

Good for her. I suddenly don't feel as old as I seem to be expected to.

[BaitongBoy]

It's "dawg years," luckily, not light years...

[Takeovers]

The chinese expedition to Tiangong 2 is finished. The taikonauts have safely landed.

A video of them preparing for leaving. Note the setup at Tiangong 2. In space there is no up and down. It is reflected in the ISS design, everything is placed wherever convenient, regardless of orientation. In contrast the Chinese have designed Tiangong 2 to give some semblance of up and down. It looks much like a lab on earth could look like.



A video of descent and landing. Part animation, part real coverage.




You can see on many parts they are in the early development. They have much to learn before they reach the level at ISS but they can learn these things only by doing.

[Takeovers]

Today a russian Progress transport ship on the way to deliver cargo to the ISS was lost. Among other cargo it had a new Orlan spacesuit which is a big loss.

Progress MS-04 to resupply the ISS

No final confirmation of the loss yet but if they had reestablished contact we would know it by now.

The last progress that was lost after a long string of successful flights was in april 2015.

Edit: loss was confirmed by Roskosmos, only in russian yet.

[Takeovers]

Some news about the EM-drive, from China.

I had already mentioned that there are rumours the Chinese are still working on it though officially the only scientist who had been on it is retired after funding was stopped.

Now this news:

EmDrive: Chinese space agency to put controversial microwave thruster onto satellites 'as soon as possible'

A few hours ago International Business Times had a report that they have a satellite in orbit with an EM-Drive. It has now been updated. They are planning to launch a satellite with an EM-drive.

China's space agency has officially confirmed that it has been funding research into the controversial space propulsion technology EmDrive, and that it plans to add the technology to Chinese satellites imminently.

The news was announced in a press conference by the chinese space agency and the satellite manufacturer today.

[jamescollister]

EmDrive: Chinese space agency to put controversial microwave thruster onto satellites 'as soon as possible'

Reading this, China has already tested the drive in orbit, so using it on satellites is not experimental testing, but a proven propulsion system.

Got to wonder how far advanced the drive is for military use, as the military is always secretive about new tech.

[Takeovers]

EM-drive is not, at least not yet, at a development level where it would provide significant advantages over conventional ion thrusters in earth orbit. So not a big advantage for military use.

The real importance at the moment is that it will require a major revision of our understanding of physics if it works. That is the reason why it meets such a fundamental resistance by many. Strangely especially those people who claim they have very capable EM-drives without ever showing the proof are the same who make the claim EM-drive does not require new physics.

Also very interesting to note that China has maintained for years that they have stopped working on it. Now they come forward with the info they have continued and are near operational state. I agree that the announcement sounds like they are close to proof of concept and moving forward to technical use which is very exciting. It should be a wakeup call for NASA to move decisively forward on it. Not just have a few geeks on it and starve them on resources like they did with the eagleworks group.

[jamescollister]

EM-drive is not, at least not yet, at a development level where it would provide significant advantages over conventional ion thrusters in earth orbit. So not a big advantage for military use.

Think outside the square, a propulsion, undetectable from earth, could deliver a small explosive devise, near an enemy satellite.
Something the size of a lunch box, slowly moved into a kill position would go unnoticed in all that space junk in orbit.