Space News thread

[DrWilly]

Water vapour in an eco planet NASA'''s James Webb Space Telescope captures images of galaxies thousands of light years away - ABC News

[malmomike77]

Some cracking pics now and i'll definitely be tuning in to the BBC Prog on Thurs 8pm

James Webb: Nasa space telescope delivers spectacular pictures

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62140044

Viewers in the UK can watch a special programme on Webb - Super Telescope: Mission to the Edge of the Universe - on BBC Two, on Thursday at 20:00 BST, or afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

[Ukan Kizmiaz]

Amazing, mind boggling stuff.

It truly is mind-boggling when you think about it -the numbers, the time the size. We are just nothing at all.

So why do I get nagged by the wife when I have one beer too many? In the scheme of these universal things it probably doesn't matter.

How am I gonna explain this and the JWST in thai-english?

[Edmond]

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying"



Though of course we're not. Not by a long shot. Any other thought is human egotism above the scale of We are the center of the universe and the sun orbits us.

[OhOh]

We are the center of the universe and the sun orbits us

Oh you Earthlings, so supercilious.

Elon has a surprise awaiting him when he lands his rocket on The Red Planet.

[Takeovers]

Elon has a surprise awaiting him when he lands his rocket on The Red Planet.

No surprise. We know that Elon does all of those things to go home to Mars.

[Takeovers]

DLR in[at]au[at]gu[at]rates the Jo[at]hannes Ke[at]pler Ob[at]ser[at]va[at]to[at]ry

Not a big telescope but designed for the purpose of finding and precisely mapping space debris. Important info to steer active satellites clear from hits.

https://www.dlr.de/content/en/articles/news/2022/03/20220720_dlr-inaugurates-the-johannes-kepler-observatory.html

With the Johannes Kepler Observatory, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has a unique research and development station. The observatory will use state-of-the-art laser technology to determine the trajectory and composition of space debris in near-Earth orbit as quickly, precisely and reliably as possible. This information helps, for example, to protect active satellites from collisions with space debris by enabling evasive manoeuvres to be planned more efficiently. After roughly two years of construction and commissioning, DLR officially inaugurated the observatory on 20 July 2022 together with guests from politics, administration, industry and science. The observatory is located on the Empfingen innovation campus, approximately 60 kilometres southwest of Stuttgart. The DLR Institute of Technical Physics, whose central research facilities include the observatory, is also located there.


Enabling satellite and space missions in the future – despite space debris
"Whether for information, communications or navigation, satellite technologies have become an indispensable part of modern business, science and society. But the space above Earth is becoming more and more crowded and space debris is an increasing problem. As such, DLR is already working on technological solutions for greater safety in space. DLR's Johannes Kepler Observatory will play a central role in this," explains Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the DLR Executive Board.


"Spaceflight is fascination. It is the urge to discover and the origin of knowledge, innovation and new technology that improves life on Earth. Preserving the possibilities of spaceflight for future generations is a mission that Germany is embarking on with partners in Europe and around the world. DLR's Johannes Kepler Observatory is an important part of this. As a unique research platform for observing and evaluating objects in Earth orbit, it will allow us to continue the safe operation of satellites in the future and the successful deployment of robotic and astronautical missions," says Anna Christmann, Federal Government Coordinator for German Aerospace Policy.

[malmomike77]

you can see there is going to be a need for more of this.

Space junk: UK wants to send a spacecraft to grab two dead satellites from space | New Scientist.

[misskit]

Thai astronomer in first group to discover the farthest galaxy from Earth

A Thai astronomer is among a team of international astronomers who recently found a galaxy which is believed to be the oldest and farthest from Earth, about 13.5 billion light years away, according to the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT).


Dr. Nicha Leethochawalit of NARIT joined the GLASS (Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space), a project which is a part of the Early Release Science program, using information released by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).


Dr. Nicha said that, before the launch of JWST last year, NASA offered opportunities for astronomers worldwide to propose what they would like the JWST to study either as Principle Investigator or Early Release Science, adding that she chose the latter.


She said that under the Early Release Science program, all the astronomers under involved will have access to information provided by JWST simultaneously.


She described the race, to be the first among astronomers to find the oldest and farthest galaxy and have their research work printed first, as intense, like the a treasure hunt, saying that there was another paper from a researcher at Harvard University which was published on the same day as hers.

Dr. Nicha disclosed that she was responsible for running the code to determine how far the oldest galaxy is away from Earth, using the technique called “redshift” (“z”).


What she found is a galaxy at redshift z=12.3, which is estimated to be about 13.5 billion light years from Earth.


About her decision to study astronomy, Dr. Nicha said she didn’t know whether the course she chose would be useful or not. After starting work, however, she said that she realised that she had made the right decision.


A native of Nakhon Pathom, while studying in senior high school at Mahidol Wittayanusorn in Nakhon Pathom, she received a scholarship from NARIT to study astronomical physics for her BA, MA and doctorate at the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology in the United States.

Thai astronomer in first group to discover the farthest galaxy from Earth | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[Norton]

Dr. Nicha Leethochawalit

[DrWilly]

She said that under the Early Release Science program, all the astronomers under involved will have access to information provided by JWST simultaneously.


She described the race, to be the first among astronomers to find the oldest and farthest galaxy and have their research work printed first, as intense, like the a treasure hunt, saying that there was another paper from a researcher at Harvard University which was published on the same day as hers.

I wonder how much of the paper was prewritten? A bit like Royal or celeb obituaries and late night football match results?

[OhOh]

Wentian space lab goes into orbit

By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan/chinadaily.com.cn | China Daily | Updated: 2022-07-25 07:23

A Long March-5B carrier rocket carrying the Wentian lab module blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in South China's Hainan province on Sunday. LI GANG/XINHUA

The Shenzhou XIV mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong enters the Wentian lab module on Monday, July 25, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

More at:

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/2022...b29e6e125.html

[Topper]

^ what do you reckon he's holding?

[malmomike77]

Russia to pull out of International Space Station

Russia says it will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and build its own station instead.

The new head of Russia's space agency, Yuri Borisov, said Roskosmos would honour all its obligations until then.

The US and Russia, along with other partners, have successfully worked together on the ISS since 1998.

But relations have soured since Russia invaded Ukraine, and Russia previously threatened to quit the project because of Western sanctions against it.

The ISS - a joint project involving five space agencies - has been in orbit around Earth since 1998 and has been used to conduct thousands of scientific experiments.

It is approved to operate until 2024, but the US had wanted to extend that for six more years with the agreement of all partners.

At a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Mr Borisov said the decision had been taken to quit the project after 2024.

"I think that by this time we will start putting together a Russian orbital station," Mr Borisov said, adding that the new station was his agency's top priority.

"Good," replied Mr Putin.

It is not immediately clear what the decision means for the future of the ISS, with a senior Nasa official telling Reuters that the US agency had not been officially informed of Russia's plans.

The Russians have been making noises about withdrawal for some time but it's not clear how serious they are.

They've talked about building their own outpost - the Russian Orbital Service Station - but it would require a financial commitment the Russian government has not shown to the country's existing space exploits.

Certainly, Russian elements on the ISS are ageing but the view of engineers is that the modules can do a job through to 2030.

If Russia does leave, there's no question it would be problematic. The station is designed in a way that makes the partners dependent on each other.

The US side of the ISS provides the power; the Russian side provides the propulsion and keeps the platform from falling to Earth.

If that propulsive capability is withdrawn, the US and its other partners - Europe, Japan and Canada - will need to devise other means of periodically boosting the station higher in the sky. It's something American robotic freighters could do.

Cooperation on the ISS between Russia and the US had appeared relatively unharmed by the war in Ukraine, with the two countries signing an agreement earlier this month to allow Russian cosmonauts to travel to the station on US spacecraft and vice versa.

The agreement would "promote the development of cooperation within the framework of the ISS programme", a Roskosmos statement said.

However, the war has hit other areas of cooperation between Russia and the West. The European Space Agency (ESA) has ended its collaboration with Roskosmos to launch a rover to Mars, and Russia has stopped launches of its Soyuz spacecraft from an ESA launch site in French Guiana.

The Soviet Union and Russia have a long history of space exploration, and accomplishments such as putting the first man in space in 1961 remain a source of national pride.

In his meeting with Mr Putin, Roskosmos head Mr Borisov said the new Russian space station would provide Russia with space-based services needed for modern life, for example navigation and data transmission.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62308069

[Takeovers]

Russia to pull out of International Space Station

Russia says it will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and build its own station instead.

It is unclear yet, what it means. After 2024 can be 2028 or 2030. I am all in favor of making a clear cut and NASA terminating the cooperation contract for the end of 2024 or even end of 2023. The treaty requires 1 year notice to end cooperation.


I doubt that Russia will be able to operate their ISS section at that time. Especially now, that Kazakhstan makes moves away from Russia. Without the Baikonur kosmodrom Russia may not be able to do manned flights.

[Takeovers]

Informal contacts with Roskosmos people. They say Roskosmos won't be ready for having a working Russian space station before 2028 as the earliest. Which means, they likely won't leave the ISS before the expected end of life in 2030. Biggest question is, will they be able to have their own space station then? If not, they will lose their present modules. They won't be party of the coming private space stations.

That is, if the ISS lasts that long. The NASA ASAP panel is expressing doubt, the ISS can be maintained until 2030. They expect a likely gap between end of ISS and new commercial stations. But then, expressing concerns is the main function of ASAP.

It is not unlikely, that by 2030 the Chinese space station is the only permanent station. Unless SpaceX throws something up at that time.

Edit: At this time there is no formal comittment of Russia to continue ISS cooperation beyond 2024. But NASA Kathy Lueders expressed that they hear from Roskosmos, they intend to extend that cooperation.

Russia tells NASA space station pullout less imminent than indicated earlier | Reuters

[harrybarracuda]

Wentian space lab goes into orbit

More fucking space junk.

[harrybarracuda]

Russia to pull out of International Space Station

That's pretty good news considering the shitty state their bit is in.

[harrybarracuda]

Informal contacts with Roskosmos people. They say Roskosmos won't be ready for having a working Russian space station before 2028 as the earliest. Which means, they likely won't leave the ISS before the expected end of life in 2030. Biggest question is, will they be able to have their own space station then?

If they get rid of Putin and get their hands on the gazillions he's stolen, there is a good chance they can be an excellent space partner to the West.

[Takeovers]

More fucking space junk.

It is always a mistake to underestimate your enemy. China has deployed a Mars orbiter and operated a Mars rover for quite a while now. Something Russia has tried and failed to do repeatedly.

[Takeovers]

The Spaceforce range in Florida has upgraded its launch support capability a lot. They used to be able to support just some ULA launches plus some SpaceX launches, maybe 20 per year total. This year they are capable of supporting almost 50 launches of SpaceX alone, plus some ULA launches. SpaceX intends to fly at least 50 launches this year. They took over some flights that were scheduled on Russian Soyuz.

Today a first. Within a few hours the supported first a ULA launch then a SpaceX launch. They used to need several days to switch between launch providers. The SpaceX launch was for a South Korea mission to the Moon, a lunar orbiter.



Rocket Launch Manifest

nextspaceflight provide a good overview of launches done this year and upcoming launches. Worldwide, not just US launches. You can see that last month SpaceX did 6 launches and are on track to fly 6 launches again this months, provided the weather does not take a turn to the bad. Late summer there is an increased risk of typhoons.

[harrybarracuda]

It is always a mistake to underestimate your enemy. China has deployed a Mars orbiter and operated a Mars rover for quite a while now. Something Russia has tried and failed to do repeatedly.

Russia spends about 50 baht a year on its space program and it's falling to bits.

That has nothing to do with the amount of crap the chinkies are throwing into space to learn things by trial and error.

Not to mention the silly c u n t s blowing up satellites in orbit.

[Takeovers]

Russia spends about 50 baht a year on its space program and it's falling to bits.

Yes, Russia is spent as a space power, even without the effects of the Ukraine war.

That has nothing to do with the amount of crap the chinkies are throwing into space to learn things by trial and error.

Some of that works surprisingly well, they are learning fast, that's my point. Their recent Mars mission is proof of that. Their space station too, though it is smaller than the US part of the ISS. But that took decades to build up.

Not to mention the silly c u n t s blowing up satellites in orbit.

Yes, that was not bright. But then the US did the same, just a lot earlier, when it was not as big of a problem with fewer sats in orbit.

[misskit]

NASA’s moon rocket moved to launch pad for 1st test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its debut flight in less than two weeks.


The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when NASA sent astronauts to the moon a half-century ago. It took nearly 10 hours for the rocket to make the four-mile trip to the pad, pulling up at sunrise.


NASA is aiming for an Aug. 29 liftoff for the lunar test flight. No one will be inside the crew capsule atop the rocket, just three mannequins swarming with sensors to measure radiation and vibration.


The capsule will fly around the moon in a distant orbit for a couple weeks, before heading back for a splashdown in the Pacific. The entire flight should last six weeks.


The flight is the first moonshot in NASA’s Artemis program. The space agency is aiming for a lunar-orbiting flight with astronauts in two years and a lunar landing by a human crew as early as 2025. That’s much later than NASA anticipated when it established the program more than a decade ago, as the space shuttle fleet retired. The years of delays have added billions of dollars to the cost.

“Now for the first time since 1972, we’re going to be launching a rocket that’s designed for deep space,” NASA’s rocket program manager, John Honeycutt, said recently.


NASA’s new SLS moon rocket, short for Space Launch System, is 41 feet (12 meters) shorter than the Saturn V rockets used during Apollo a half-century ago. But it’s more powerful, using a core stage and twin strap-on boosters, similar to the ones used for the space shuttles.


“When you look at the rocket, it almost looks retro. It looks like we’re looking back toward the Saturn V,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters earlier this month. “But it’s a totally different, new, highly sophisticated, more sophisticated rocket and spacecraft.”


Twenty-four astronauts flew to the moon during Apollo, with 12 of them landing on it from 1969 through 1972. The space agency wants a more diverse team and more sustained effort under Artemis, named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister.

“I want to underscore that this is a test flight,” Nelson said. “It’s just the beginning.”


This was the rocket’s third trip to the pad. A countdown test in April was marred by fuel leaks and other equipment trouble, forcing NASA to return the rocket to the hangar for repairs. The dress rehearsal was repeated at the pad in June, with improved results.

NASA'''s moon rocket moved to launch pad for 1st test flight | AP News

[harrybarracuda]

First thing that strikes me about a contemporary moon landing is how much better the video will be.