Space News thread

[misskit]

^ Beautiful. There’s lots of life out there.

[bobo746]

The Russian Soyuz MS-05 space capsule lands about 150 km (90 miles) south-east of the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on December 14, 2017. Three astronauts on Thursday landed back on Earth after nearly six months aboard the International Space Station

[David48atTD]

This 9-Gigapixel image?with 84 Million stars?of the Milky Way will give you Goosebumps

Great stuff LD

From the link ...

[misskit]

Space station gets 3 new astronauts, making full house again

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The International Space Station has three new residents, making it a full house again.





An American, Russian and Japanese arrived at the orbiting lab Tuesday, two days after launching from Kazakhstan. They received special greetings from the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, who gathered with the astronauts' families at Mission Control outside Moscow to watch the new crew's entrance.


Ambassador Jon Huntsman told newly arrived NASA astronaut Scott Tingle that he got a tear in his eye, as he watched Tingle's family when the hatches opened.


"It was the most special thing being here and feeling the emotion. Everyone is so proud of you," Huntsman told Tingle, a Navy captain and a space newcomer.


Tingle's three children radioed encouragement as well. "Hey, space suits you. Dig it," said daughter Amy.


Tingle flew up in a Soyuz capsule with Russia's Anton Shkaplerov, a space station resident for the third time, and Japan's Norishige Kanai, a surgeon making his first spaceflight. The three will remain on board until June. They joined two Americans and a Russian at the station, bringing the crew back to a full complement of six.


NASA's space station program manager, Kirk Shireman, told the crew that it was "quite a treat" hearing so many languages spoken in Russia's Mission Control and in orbit.


"We know you'll have a great time on board. Unfortunately, there's a little work to go along with your great time. But we're all here rooting for you and working for you as well," Shireman said.


Three astronauts aboard for five months returned to Earth last week.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0dm/002000c

[harrybarracuda]

It is a big bastard.





https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-...ape-canaveral/

[aging one]

SpaceX rocket launch creates weird cloud

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket in southern California Friday night leaving a trail behind.
Source: CNN

SpaceX rocket launch creates weird cloud - CNN Video

[Luigi]

'Surprise' bus-sized asteroid skims past Earth at 21,000mph



The near-miss asteroid was discovered on Christmas Day and came closer to Earth than the Moon is.

A "surprise" asteroid which NASA only spotted on Christmas Day has skimmed past the Earth.
The asteroid, named 2017 YZ4, came its nearest to Earth at 3:56pm GMT on Thursday, missing us by a mere 140,000 miles (224,000km).
In comparison the moon is 238,000 miles (384,000km) away.


It was travelling at approximately 21,000mph (34,000kph) - 16 times faster than a rifle bullet, covering the distance between London and New York in roughly 10 minutes.
It is the 52nd asteroid to skim past the Earth by a distance less than that of the Moon this year.



https://news.sky.com/story/surprise-...00mph-11187594

[Luigi]

It is the 52nd asteroid to skim past the Earth by a distance less than that of the Moon this year.

Damn, one a week. That we see.

[Latindancer]

Only a matter of time then. I wonder how big the tsunami will be if one goes into the ocean ?

[bobo746]

The contrail from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched at Vandenberg Air Force Base lights up the early evening sky on December 22, 2017, as viewed from Solvang, California. The spectacular event, seen by millions of people throughout parts of Arizona and central and southern California, was the result of setting sun light hitting the contrail left behind as 10 communication satellites were placed into orbit by the private space company

[Takeovers]

I am looking forward to the Falcon Heavy maiden launch.

Now there is a funny thing. The maiden launch of a new rocket type. Yet most of the hardware has already flown. The central booster is new and a dedicated design for the Falcon Heavy, a modified version of the Falcon 9. But the two side boosters are identical to the normal Falcon 9 and have flown already. It will be their second flight.

Then consider that reflying rocket boosters has never happened before this year. The first successful landing of a booster has happened in December 2016. Several relaunches have happened this year already. If you look at the engines of the side boosters they look different to the engines of the central core. The discoloration has happened during landing. Just test firing like the central core has also done does not cause the same discoloration.

[Topper]

TO, it's on the pad!!!!!!!!!!

Hear's a time lapse video of it's....errr....erection...

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/12/2...goes-vertical/

[Takeovers]

TO, it's on the pad!!!!!!!!!!

It was on the pad for fit checks. Right now it is back in the hangar, called the HIF, Horizontal Integration Facility. Next step for the pad crew is launching the ZUMA payload. Then they will be fully on getting FH ready for flight.

First they will do a wet dress rehearsal. Meaning they will tank the whole stack with propellant.

If that goes well, not a given for the first time of a new rocket, they will directly proceed to a static fire. Meaning they will fire the engines for a short duration, I think 8 seconds in this case. The rocket will be held down by massive clamps for that fire. Then the FH rocket will be transfered back into the HIF. They will then evaluate the data of that firing.

If all is well they can proceed to the launch, presently expected NET (not earlier than) January 15.

The payload



One of the very first Tesla Roadsters. It has been driven by Elon Musk for a few years and will now be sent into space. Here shown already integrated on the payload adapter - the black cone - that will attach it to the rocket.

[Luigi]

^

SpaceX prepares secret 'Zuma' satellite launch


SpaceX is preparing to send into space a satellite for the US government that is so secret the public cannot know even which branch of the administration commissioned the launch.
A weather report ahead of the launch released on Tuesday described the conditions as excellent.
Unlike the private aerospace company's previous classified launches for the military's National Reconnaissance Office and the super-secret space-plane it took into orbit for the Air Force, there is almost no information available about the "Zuma" payload.
Zuma is known to be a low Earth orbit satellite (orbiting within 2,000km) which is an orbit necessary both for spy and military communication satellites.

There is not much information about the secretive payload satellite other than defence contractor Northrup Grumman's involvement.



https://news.sky.com/story/spacex-pr...aunch-11193083

[Takeovers]

Zuma has successfully launched on sunday, Jan 7, 2018

That out of the way SpaceX is now preparing for the launch of their heavy lift rocket. This was seen and photographed from a Cape Kennedy tour bus.

https://twitter.com/SkeerRacing/stat...06990387433473




lNext step in preparation for launch will be a static fire. The rocket will be fueled and the engines will fire for a few seconds, while the rocket is held down by the big clamps seen on this photo. Data from the fire will be evaluated. If everything looks good they will set a launch date. Launch is expected later this month but with a completely new rocket they are very careful.

[misskit]

Rumors Swirl That Secret Zuma Spacecraft Launched By SpaceX Was Lost

Update 10:50 p.m.: Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are now reporting that the spacecraft is believed lost, citing government and industry sources. The reports also say that U.S. Strategic Command, which tracks all operational satellites as well as space debris above a certain size, has not registered or started tracking the Zuma satellite.



Original Post:

Last night at 8:00 p.m. EST, SpaceX conducted its first launch of the year, carrying a classified spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. government code-named "Zuma." Now reports are circulating that the Zuma spacecraft might have been lost following the launch.


Peter B. de Selding, a spaceflight reporter for Space Intel Report, first tweetedthat sources suggested to him that the satellite "may be dead in orbit after separation."


Rumors Swirl That Secret Zuma Spacecraft Launched By SpaceX Was Lost

[Takeovers]

Peter B. de Selding is a reliable, respected source. He does not claim it was SpaceX fault.

Wall Street Journal Author Andy Pasztor claiming SpaceX at fault. Any article by Andy Pasztor on SpaceX is certainly a hitpiece full of lies like every article before. Bloomberg has WSJ as source.

Unlike the article by WSJ claims, a new satellite was registered by the US. Without orbital parameters as it is a secret mission. Lots of wild speculation mostly without sound base in facts.

SpaceX declared their launch vehicle performed nominal. No indications of problems. Supported by the fact that they keep operating normally. With a failure they would stand down and work on finding the source of trouble.

Payload separation failed. The payload adapter responsible for release is from Northrup Grummon, so if true their fault. It is unusual, as usually SpaceX supplies the payload adapter.

The satellite is in orbit and operational. It is all a smoke screen to make Russia and China believe otherwise. It is a new type of stealth satellite, very hard to detect. Unlikely but not impossible.

It was some kind of system that would test reentry. In that case it would have reached orbit and then performed its function. Very unlikely.

Most likely IMO Northrup Grummon fouled up. Either the payloadapter or the satellite itself. As a new satellite was reported in orbit more likely a faulty satellite than adapter problem.

[OhOh]

Surely its a secret?

[Takeovers]

The second stage of the Zuma rocket deorbited after reaching the target orbit. This is routinely done to minimize debris in orbit, whenever possible. First there would be a deorbit burn by the stage main engine. Then the stage is set spinning and remaining propellant is vented. Seems this is done so as much of the rocket as possible burns up on reentry and little debris reaches the surface. Usually they target the South pacific for reentry because there is very little shipping in that area that could be endangered. A wide empty area.

For Zuma an airline pilot saw this and took a photo. The timing again suggests everything was nominal with the rocket stage. The swirling propellant looks exotic. Poor quality photo but still very impressive.




Edit: BTW SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell made a second very strongly worded statement rejecting any responsibility for the failure. Probably prompted by multiple press releases mostly putting the blame on SpaceX.

[Luigi]

Newly Discovered House-Sized Asteroid to Pass By Earth on Wednesday



A newly detected house-sized asteroid, designated 2018 AG4, is slated to give Earth a close shave on Wednesday, January 17. The object will fly by our planet at 10:41 UTC at a distance of approximately 1.4 lunar distances (LD), or 537,000 kilometers.


2018 AG4 is an Apollo-type near-Earth object (NEO) discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) on January 14. CSS is a project to discover comets and asteroids, and to search for NEOs, based at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab in Tucson, Arizona.


2018 AG4 has an estimated diameter between 12 and 38 meters. It orbits the sun every 514 days at a distance of approximately 1.25 AU. On Wednesday this object, with an absolute magnitude of 26, will fly past our planet with a relative velocity of about 9.2 km/s.


Besides the close approach of 2018 AG4 to Earth on Wednesday, this asteroid will also miss the Moon at 19:55 UTC on the same day at a distance of about 2 LD (768,000 kilometers). 2018 AG4’s next fly-by of Earth is expected on July 4, 2018, when it will pass at a distance of approximately 150 LD (57.6 million kilometers).


On January 16, there were 1,872 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) detected and none of them is on a collision course with our planet. PHAs are asteroids larger than 100 meters that can come closer to Earth than 19.5 LD.


To date, astronomers have discovered nearly 17,600 NEOs. Only this month 37 such objects were detected.

Astronomy and Space News - Astro Watch: Newly Discovered House-Sized Asteroid to Pass By Earth on Wednesday

[Takeovers]

The small company Rocket Labs has successfully launched their Electron rocket. Success on second try is very good. On first try their electronic guidance failed. It is a company of New Zealand and launches in New Zealand but their development team is in the USA where many of the worlds rocket scientists and engineers are. Much of the money for developing that rocket comes from the US as well.

"December 2010 - Rocket Lab was awarded a US contract from the Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) to study low cost international alternatives. Included in this study is a 640,000Ns booster, a miniature avionics system and a launch vehicle to place small mass satellites into polar and low Earth orbits."

It is a small rocket that can deliver 150kg to orbit. There are a number of small payloads that don't have an appropriate launch vehicle presently. For a while Russia launched such payloads at rock bottom prices using their stock of obsolete ICBMs. At that time no company could successfully compete. So there was a gap that Rocket Labs with their electron rocket wants to fill.

It has unique engines. The pumps that pump the propellant into the combustion chamber are electric. They use the same approach as SpaceX did with 9 small engines at the first stage and one engine of the same type for the second stage. You can see that in the rocket exhaust plume.

Quotes from Wikipedia.

Electron uses two stages with the same diameter (1.2 m, 3 ft 11 in) filled with RP-1/LOX propellant. It uses the electrically pump-fed Rutherford rocket engine, the first of this cycle, on both stages. It has nine on the first and one vacuum-optimized engine on the second.

The launch video with extensive pre launch coverage. Jump to 14:30 in the video for the launch.

[Takeovers]

SpaceX are still preparing for their first Falcon Heavy launch.

Yesterday they did their first static fire of the whole stack with 27 engines. Worthy of the pad LC-39A which saw Saturn V rockets launch to the moon including Apollo 11, the first moon landing. It also saw many SpaceShuttle flights.

Watch in HD if you can and pull up sound.





The fire was declared a succes and launch would be early February. They may still decide to do a second static fire after complete analysis of the data.

[Takeovers]

A video about the company Planetary Resources.

They are developing technology for future exploitation of asteroids for materials. Presently they are working on the first step, prospecting asteroids for materials.Honestly I don't see that happen in this century but may be wrong. They do have a very methodical approach to the problem, developing satellites for the purpose step by step. With the aim to reduce cost by a lot. The mentality that "Space is expensive" and nobody questioning outrageously high prices is what kept space so expensive and elusive for many decades. That paradigm is now being challenged by a number of entrepreneurs. One nugget in this video is a piece that was 3D printed using powder derived from a nickel iron meteorite with no other processing than making it into powder for printing.

Billionaire Steve Jurvetson was on their board and provided financing. An engineer by education, very successful tech financer and board member of venture capital investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He retired from all positions after allegations of sexual harrassment, which of course he denies. Deep technical knowledge and a feeling for promising tech trends is part of what made him a successful businessman along with a passion for all things space. He also was board member and financer to SpaceX.

Edit: I don't know about the allegations against Steve Jurvetson. But I am sure he can pull a hot chick every day with his looks and personality alone, without invoking his money.

The video is ~15 minutes and well worth watching if you are even remotely interested.

[bobo746]

The International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, is seen in silhouette (just right of center) as it transits the moon at roughly five miles per second on January 30, 2018, viewed from Alexandria, Virginia. Onboard are NASA astronauts Joe Acaba, Mark Vande Hei, and Scott Tingle, Russian Cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov, and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai

[Luigi]

^ very nice.

Was able to see it transit the moon last year. Amazing how fast it is.


Will see it pass on Valentine's Day this year at 7:58pm for a 1 minute 28 second flyby.

A much longer 5 minute flyby on Feb 15th at 7:06pm.

ISS observation