Space News thread

[Luigi]

It would still be sad if James Webb does not fly, a loss for science. Failure after failure, delay after delay, cost increase after cost increase. Cost for James webb stands now at $8.8billion. The initial estimate of less than $1billion was low, but this is absurd.

Damn, as the follow up to Hubble, I've been waiting for the JWST to get going.


As from what I've read, it would pretty much be able to photograph exoplanets, detect the telltale signs of life in their atmospheres, photograph blackholes and see to the edge of the observable universe.

[Takeovers]

Damn, as the follow up to Hubble, I've been waiting for the JWST to get going.

They expressed quite clearly, one more increase of cost and the program would be cut. Not sure they will actually follow through if it comes to that.

James Webb is an infrared telescope and will operate at extremely low temperatures to be maximum sensitive. That's part of what makes it so challenging to build. Cutting it would be a crying shame. However NASA and Northrup Grumman seem to bank on Congress not having the nerve to cut the program after so much money spent. Those programs have to learn the hard way maybe that this is not how they can act.

[Luigi]

Cutting it would be a crying shame.

For sure.


Not news, but saw a pic of this poster/wall hanging and think it's the best one ever.





Full size here to see the finer details/info.

http://geoawesomeness.com/wp-content...wesomeness.jpg


Got to learn about 5535 Anne Frank. I wasn't aware that there was an asteroid (edit: officially it's classed as a Minor Planet) named after her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5535_Annefrank

[harrybarracuda]

I hope they don't fuck up....

NASA will attempt to knock an asteroid out of orbit for the first time in 2022


If an asteroid were to head toward Earth, we would be quite defenseless, as we have not successfully developed a method that could reduce — or entirely avert — the impact of a devastating collision.


However, that may be about to change. NASA has approved a project called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the aim of which is to throw a "small" asteroid off course in October 2022.

The asteroid in question, informally known as Didymoon, is a moon asteroid about 150 meters tall. It's part of a double asteroid system — named after the Greek word for twins, Didymos — in which it orbits another 800-meter asteroid about a kilometer away.


When DART is launched, it will be powered by a solar-electric-propulsion system and will eventually collide with Didymoon.

The spacecraft will also be accompanied by a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft called Hera, which will be largely responsible for collating data about the asteroid — however, according to Space, it won't be on-site during the impact, but it will be present afterward.


According to the ESA, when Hera launches, it will be accompanied by two small CubeSats — nanosatellites no larger than a cereal package — that will record additional data, such as the gravitational field and the internal structure of the asteroid.

The two satellites will be released around the asteroids and will land on the two space rocks.


"DART would be NASA's first mission to demonstrate what's known as the kinetic impactor technique — striking the asteroid to shift its orbit — to defend against a potential future asteroid impact," Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.

The idea is that the DART spacecraft, which weighs in at about 500 kilograms, will hit the asteroid at 6 kilometers per second, changing its orbital velocity around Didymos by approximately 0.4 millimeters per second. This may sound like a negligible figure, but the reorientation will be substantial enough to be measured from Earth with telescopes.


"DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact," said Andy Cheng, who works at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and coleads the DART investigation. "Since we don't know that much about their internal structure or composition, we need to perform this experiment on a real asteroid. With DART, we can show how to protect Earth from an asteroid strike with a kinetic impactor by knocking the hazardous object into a different flight path that would not threaten the planet."

Here's an animation of what the probe's impact may look like.



The launch of the mission is scheduled to take place between December 2020 and May 2021.

[Luigi]

Bugger.


SpaceX’s new test rocket topples over thanks to strong Texas winds



A prototype of SpaceX’s next big rocket fell over and sustained damage in south Texas, thanks to high winds in the area. Images from SpaceX’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas show part of the vehicle sideways on the ground and slightly crumpled. The damage from the mishap will take a few weeks to repair, according to CEO Elon Musk


https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/23/1...ca-chica-texas

[Takeovers]

It is unfortunate, maybe should not have happened. But it is really only a small setback. All the important parts are in the lower part that was not damaged.

[harrybarracuda]

While Spacex was falling on its arse, Jeff Bezos' New Shephard was going up...

(Takeoff at about 41:30)



https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/0...rigins_spacex/

[Takeovers]

SpaceX is getting ready for a static fire, a test firing of the rocket, at the launch pad, likely today. First flight of the new Crew Dragon vehicle probably next month. This is DM-1, the unmanned test flight. It will go to the ISS and test docking at the new docking port. It will bring some cargo. Nothing of high value as it is a test flight. But all supplies become valuabe when they reach the ISS. Even if it is only the famous 3T, Tang, T-Shirts, Toilet paper.









Officially the Boeing CST-100 will do its unmanned test flight in march. But inofficialy it will not be earlier than may.

[OhOh]

^^impressive, up and down.

[BaitongBoy]

^^ I like the amusement park sign at the entrance...

[Takeovers]

Hot fire has happened and is confirmed successful. Duration is about 3 seconds. Now the vehicle is ready to go to the ISS, pending the stamp of approval by NASA. Estimated time of launch is end of February.

Video of the hot fire is available only on twitter. Very short.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1088633393149968384

This Dragon capsule will be recovered after water landing under parachutes like the presently used Dragon 1 and then reused for an in flight abort test. Meaning that it will be launched and the SuperDraco escape engines will fire to separate the capsule from the launch vehicle at the time of maximum aerodynamic pressure. This capability will supply escape for the crew in case of a launch failure. It would touch down on water using parachutes.

Assuming all goes well and NASA is willing to put their stamp under a few thousand documents a manned test flight can happen later this year. Actually not a few but many thousands of documents. NASA capability of processing all the documents they demand getting is the biggest hold up in developing crew capability.

[OhOh]

NASA capability of processing all the documents

Isn't there a "man across the street", able to assist?

[Takeovers]

Isn't there a "man across the street", able to assist?

That's a reference I don't get.

[Luigi]

He's on about visa agents that some people use when getting Thai visas at embassies/consulates.

[OhOh]

^^My apologies for fouling the pavement.
^ What he said.

[harrybarracuda]

Amazing.

Margaret Hamilton, NASA's lead software engineer for the Apollo Program, stands next to the code she wrote by hand that took Humanity to the moon in 1969.

[harrybarracuda]

[Takeovers]

The starship is a hopper testbed and was built by a company specialized on water towers. It is supposed to do its first flight in February/March. The real starship is being built and is supposed to be ready by June. More info in the On to Mars thread.

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...ml#post3880081

Fresh info on the engines and the heat shield coming up there.

Elon Musk simplifies a lot of things in the design presently to get if flying soon and at limited cost. Chages come at a price in reduced capabilities. Still good enough for sending ~10 people on a cruise around the moon, hopefully in2023. Commercial launches earlier than that to prove reliability.

Edit: Link to my new posts in On to Mars.

https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...ml#post3894167

[Looper]

Pretty cool story about flying a 747 to intersect with the very fast-moving shadow of titan momentarily occulting a distant star in order to use lensing and spectroscopy of the starlight to reveal the atmospheric contents of Titan.



https://www.abc. net.au/news/2019-02-01/sofia-flying-telescope-occultation-chasing-shadow-titan/10635802

[David48atTD]

^ Nice one


NASA's Parker Solar Probe enters second orbit as it circles closer to the Sun



It has been dubbed NASA's "mission to touch the Sun", but the Parker Solar Probe is actually orbiting the centre of our planetary system, rather than propelling into its fiery demise.

Key points:

• The solar probe has begun its second orbit of the Sun
• It is expected to get within about 24 million kilometres of the Sun on this orbit
• Scientists are hoping it will help them predict space weather effects that "cause havoc" on Earth

The probe last month completed its first orbit around the Sun just 161 days after its launch into space, and is now into its second lap.
So far it has delivered more than 17 gigabits of data, which will take until April to be fully downloaded.

But already the team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, who manage the mission, are excited by what they have seen.

"The data we have received hints at many new things that we've not seen before and at potential new discoveries," project scientist Nour Raouafi said.

"Parker Solar Probe is delivering on the mission's promise of revealing the mysteries of our Sun."

Now it is on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4.
This will see the spacecraft located about 24 million kilometres from the Sun.




While being that close to the Sun will not destroy the probe, scientists are now preparing it for the close encounter.
The spacecraft's solid state recorder is being emptied to make room for new data and it will be loaded with a new automated command sequence, containing about one month's worth of instructions.

This will be the second of 24 circuits around the Sun for the Parker Solar Probe, which can be tracked online.
If everything goes according to plan, the probe will continue orbiting the Sun until 2025.

[BaitongBoy]

What distance away was the first orbit?...Unless I missed something...

It speaks of the 2nd orbit distance of 24 million kms...

If I remember correctly, Mercury averages about 58 million klicks from the sun, but maybe comes as close as 47 million klicks...

Interesting stuff...

[David48atTD]

^
Parker Solar Probe: The Mission

[Takeovers]

Update on Mars insight.

The lander has deployed the seismometer and put the protective cover over it. It is now ready to start operating soon. Next activity will be the insight experiment that plans to hammer a probe several meters into the ground. Insight will measure heat flow through the upper soil, giving data how much energy flows from the core to the surface. As a byproduct the seismometer will monitor the reflections of single hammer blows to the probe to gather data on the underground surrounding the lander. That's why the seismometer was deployed first though the probe is the main experiment.




They hope the seismometer can dectect several impacts of meteorites over its life span and gain knowledge of the planetary structure by detecting reflections of the impact on layers of the planetary crust.

[jabir]

This is not news but didn't know where to put it; more educational, explains what most probably already know in easier to understand terms, and interesting new stuff.

[Luigi]

NASA to send humans to the moon once again - 'but this time we'll stay'




The space agency says it wants astronauts to spend more time on the lunar surface as it looks to send them within the next decade.



NASA is planning to take the "next giant leap in deep space exploration" as it looks to send astronauts to the moon who are able to stay there.


The space agency's administrator, Jim Bridenstine, called for American firms to help develop human lunar landers - "reusable systems for astronauts to land on the moon" - as he said scientists had been given a mandate by President Donald Trump and Congress to return to the moon for the first time since 1972.

https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-to-s...-stay-11632145