The present night time view is very SF.
The present night time view is very SF.
I was reading yesterday that astronauts are paid between $64k and $98k per year.
I hope their travel expenses are covered.
On it's approach to docking it looks like a tardigrade.
What happens if I fart in space?
farts are typically no big deal — smelly, harmless, and they quickly dissipate. But if you're an astronaut, every fart is a ticking time bomb. The gases in farts are flammable, which can quickly become a problem in a tiny pressurized capsule in the middle of space where your fart gases have no where to go.
Lang may yer lum reek...
Think how much data this is chucking at earth compared to, say, one of the Voyagers.
Voyager 2 is currently transmitting scientific data at about 160 bits per second.
So they're over Mongolia.
About to enter Chinese airspace. I bet they whinge.
That spacecraft looks a little banged up.
Docking:
We did a live video call watching with family in various parts of the World.
Just wait until they're landing on the moon.
And bloody Mars.
I hope it's not bloody.
Is that the Lulu code writing bloke that lives inside your head 24/7?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The man and his team celebrate.
Delivered, delivered, delivered ....
The fawning over the odious Ted Cruz was sickening.
No way I want to defend him. But he is one of the few politicians who is genuinely interested in space.
The news this moment is the landed Falcon booster is back in Port Canaveral. Julia Bergeron reporting for NSF
I wish that mask was for sale. I would buy it even with the insane shipping they charge for shipping to Europe.
"don't attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence"
NASA Perseverance rover ready to explore the wilds of Mars
NASA's newest rover will carry a helicopter in its belly when it leaves for Mars in July.
Mars will soon be welcoming another visitor from Earth. NASA is sending its Perseverance rover to collect samples, search for signs of past microbial life and even unleash an experimental helicopter.
Perseverance is scheduled to launch on July 17, 2020, kicking off a months-long journey through space before arriving at the red planet in February 2021. Landing is a tense process, but if all goes well, Perseverance will join NASA's Curiosity as the only functioning rovers on Mars.
NASA Perseverance rover ready to explore the wilds of Mars - CNET
Some amazing short video of fairing separation on the latest Starlink launch. Taken from one of the separating fairings with the second stage and payload under thrust powering away.
As a bonus an older fairing video. My favorite. Worth a repeat.
One thing is the quality of the images now being available to us all. A real "giant leap" for us all the enjoy.
Plus of course your bringing them here to us on TD.
NASA is doing a very exciting mission to the Moon. Looking at water and other volatiles deposits is overdue. It is called VIPER.
NASA has awarded Astrobotic of Pittsburgh $199.5 million to deliver NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the Moon’s South Pole in late 2023.
The water-seeking mobile VIPER robot will help pave the way for astronaut missions to the lunar surface beginning in 2024 and will bring NASA a step closer to developing a sustainable, long-term presence on the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
“The VIPER rover and the commercial partnership that will deliver it to the Moon are a prime example of how the scientific community and U.S. industry are making NASA’s lunar exploration vision a reality,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Commercial partners are changing the landscape of space exploration, and VIPER is going to be a big boost to our efforts to send the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024 through the Artemis program.”
VIPER’s flight to the Moon is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which leverages the capabilities of industry partners to quickly deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon. As part of its award, Astrobotic is responsible for end-to-end services for delivery of VIPER, including integration with its Griffin lander, launch from Earth, and landing on the Moon.
During its 100-Earth-day mission, the approximately 1,000-pound VIPER rover will roam several miles and use its four science instruments to sample various soil environments. Versions of its three water-hunting instruments are flying to the Moon on earlier CLPS lander deliveries in 2021 and 2022 to help test their performance on the lunar surface prior to VIPER’s mission. The rover also will have a drill to bore approximately 3 feet into the lunar surface.
“CLPS is a totally creative way to advance lunar exploration,” said NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen. “We’re doing something that’s never been done before – testing the instruments on the Moon as the rover is being developed. VIPER and the many payloads we will send to the lunar surface in the next few years are going to help us realize the Moon’s vast scientific potential.”
VIPER will collect data – including the location and concentration of ice – that will be used to inform the first global water resource maps of the Moon. Scientific data gathered by VIPER also will inform the selection of future landing sites for astronaut Artemis missions by helping to determine locations where water and other resources can be harvested to sustain humans during extended expeditions. Its science investigations will provide insights into the evolution of the Moon and the Earth-Moon system.
NASA has previously contracted with three companies to make CLPS deliveries to the Moon beginning in 2021. Astrobotic is scheduled to make its first delivery of other instruments to the lunar surface next year. In April, the agency released a call for potential future lunar surface investigations and received more than 200 responses. CLPS is planned to provide a steady cadence of two delivery opportunities to the lunar surface each year.
“It is an enormous honor and responsibility to be chosen by NASA to deliver this mission of national importance,” said Astrobotic CEO John Thornton. “Astrobotic’s lunar logistics services were created to open a new era on the Moon. Delivering VIPER to look for water, and setting the stage for the first human crew since Apollo, embodies our mission as a company.”
VIPER is a collaboration between various NASA entities and agency partners. The spacecraft, lander and launch vehicle that will deliver VIPER to the surface of the Moon will be provided through NASA’s CLPS initiative as a partnership with industry for delivering science and technology payloads to and near the lunar surface. CLPS is part of the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program managed by the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The VIPER mission is part of SMDs Planetary Science Division. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley is managing the VIPER mission, as well as leading the mission’s science, systems engineering, real-time rover surface operations and flight software. The rover hardware is being designed and built by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the instruments are provided by Ames, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and commercial partner Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California.
For more information about VIPER, visit:
VIPER | NASA
-end-
Not only the mission is interesting. NASA is changing the way of doing things. They used to design complete missions and only book the flight on some rocket. This time they chose a small company, Astrobotics, to deliver a NASA rover to the surface of the Moon as a service. Only the rover itself is NASA. Astrobotics is paid a fee of $199.5 million. That includes the launch from Earth and the lunar lander, designed and built by Astrobotics. Astrobotics also choses the launch provider which will be announced later this year.
If anybody likes big bangs, this test is planned to go to destruction. Will happen soon, I expect.
No big fire, just a big bang. The tank is filled with liquid nitrogen.
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