SPACE - random thread about space stuff

[Isgrimnur]

every object in space was launched from just a handful of locations.

There's over 50 dots on that map.

[jztemple2]

every object in space was launched from just a handful of locations.

There's over 50 dots on that map.

A lot of sites are for sub-orbital launches.

Oh, handful!

[jztemple2]

This is kind of a cross post, but there are a lot of space related items in the upcoming Texas DLC for American Truck Simulator. This is from the article Texas - Space Industry. Hopefully if I'm still around and playing by the time the release the Florida DLC, they will include a drive through the Kennedy Space Center and the Canaveral Space Force Base

Space, the final frontier. Since 1957, humankind has been set on exploring what is beyond our earth and today, we are excited to share with you how virtual truckers can be a part of these historical and ground breaking missions.



Texas is home to state-of-the-art development and test sites for multiple commercial space firms, and research shows that the space industry is big work for the state, bringing in 11 billion dollars per year in revenue and providing hundred of thousands of jobs. So it wouldn't be right for us to miss this out-of-this-world opportunity to include it in our upcoming Texas DLC for American Truck Simulator.



Houston will also feature a famous space centre, which serves as the official visitor centre for a launch site. Here visitors can see previously used rockets and space shuttles from famous space missions. It really is worth passing by, so don't miss it on your travels!

[jztemple2]

SpaceX gearing up for 1st Falcon Heavy launch since 2019 (photo)

The most powerful rocket in the world is getting ready to take flight for the first time in more than three years. SpaceX has linked up the three boosters that comprise the first stage of its Falcon Heavy rocket, in preparation for an upcoming liftoff from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX posted a photo of that milestone on Twitter Sunday (Oct. 23), showing the three boosters laid out horizontally, their combined 27 Merlin engines all visible.

The current Falcon Heavy work at Pad 39A supports USSF-44, a coming mission that will launch two classified satellites to distant geostationary orbit for the U.S. Space Force. The launch date has not yet been officially announced, though various sources identify a "no earlier than" date of Oct. 31.

[Kraken]

This answered a question I had about whether NASA is really going to throw away Orion capsules. NASA orders 3 more Orion crew capsules.

The space agency has ordered three more Orion crew capsules from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, in a deal worth $1.99 billion. The spacecraft will be used for NASA's Artemis moon program — specifically, Artemis missions six through eight.

So it sounds like they're throwing them away.

"The Artemis 2 vehicle will reuse select avionics from the Artemis 1 crew module, and that reuse will continue to dramatically increase to where the Artemis 3 pressure vessel capsule will be entirely refurbished for the Artemis 6 mission," Ladwig added.

Well, that's better. Although with a year or more between launches you'd think they could refurb Artemis 3 in time for 4 or 5.

[jztemple2]

Well, that's better. Although with a year or more between launches you'd think they could refurb Artemis 3 in time for 4 or 5.

What, who do you think they are, SpaceX?

[Lassr]

Did a tour with some new hires yesterday to see some of the cool stuff done in the lab I support.

First up is the Life Sciences Glovebox: This is the back up for the one on the space station, a really cool experiment done was that they took cryogenic frozen heart tissue, and when it was revived in the glove box on the station, it started beating again. This was totally unexpected and very exciting.



Next is a future propulsion option: ESTD, it uses a force field to repel protons from the sun causing the craft to propel forward. Lots of tiny filament wires are deployed out from the craft, they are charged which causes a small force field to surround the wire. The further from the sun you get the larger the field grows, up to 2600 meters when you get near Neptune. Said that if they could launch a craft in the next 10 years using this, it would eventually catch up to Voyager.



Next is the Flat Floor. It is the World's Flattest Floor where they often simulate docking maneuvers in space. Think of it as a giant air hockey table except the air comes from air bearings in the items floating on the floor. It can float 3000lbs on a 1/16" bed of air. Right now though they are using it to simulate the southern pole of the moon. They have lights set up to simulate the low angle of the sun to test helmet filters, like welders use, and then they will simulate moving objects by adjusting the airflow in the air bearings to match the moon gravity (didn't quite catch how exactly that will work on this floor since their is friction on the moon). In the picture below the floor is covered by memory foam and a tarp to protect it while things are being set up.

And another project coming soon, is simulating space junk and capturing it with a craft. Many private industries are looking at ways to help remove space junk in orbit since it is becoming a bigger issue each year. Issue is the junk was never meant to be "docked" with so how do you go about safely grabbing a rotating piece of junk.

[jztemple2]

Awesome stuff! Thanks for posting it.

I remember when they modified part of the VAB floor so they could move the SRB segments on compressed air dollies. The problem was that a segment, which I recalled weighed about as much as a tank, might get going too fast and the emergency stop was to cut the air and drop the dolly on the floor, which would probably damage it significantly. In the end they just used the various VAB cranes.

[Isgrimnur]

Momentum isn't a suggestion, it's the Law.

[jztemple2]

For those who might be interested, the Kindle version of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight is on sale today for $1.99. I have the hardcover from years ago and really enjoyed it.

[jztemple2]

SpaceX hasn't flown a Falcon Heavy rocket since 2019. Here's why.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is about to take flight for the first time in 40 months.

A Falcon Heavy is slated to launch the classified USSF-44 mission for the U.S. Space Force on Tuesday (Nov. 1). It will be just the fourth-ever liftoff for the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket currently flying, and its first since June 2019.

During that stretch of more than three years, SpaceX has launched more than 100 missions with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. So why has the Heavy stayed grounded?

[Isgrimnur]

For those who might be interested, the Kindle version of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight is on sale today for $1.99. I have the hardcover from years ago and really enjoyed it.

Sold

[jztemple2]

Watch SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch for 1st time since 2019 on Tuesday

SpaceX's triple-booster heavy lift vehicle is poised to take off for its fourth-ever launch on Tuesday (Nov. 1).

The mission, called USSF-44, was contracted by the U.S. Space Force and will launch two classified satellites into geostationary orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Liftoff is expected on Tuesday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company.

USSF-44 will be the first Falcon Heavy launch since June 2019, a flight that gained the rocket the proper Space Force certifications it needed for this upcoming mission. That most recent mission required the Heavy's second stage to perform four engine restarts, pushing the stage to its capability limits. USSF-44 will also push Falcon Heavy to its limits, but in different ways.

Past Falcon Heavy launches have seen the rocket's side boosters land safely back at SpaceX's landing zones at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while the core booster returns for a drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean, so far with variable success.

USSF-44 is skipping the center booster landing attempt to maximize fuel availability in order to meet the orbital requirements of the mission. So, rather than touching down softly on one of SpaceX's drone ships floating in the Atlantic, this Falcon Heavy core booster will plummet into the sea while its companion side boosters touch down vertically at the Cape.

Bummer for me, I'll be on the way to Orlando for an appointment. Well, I can always hope for a scrub

[jztemple2]

NASA plans its second human moon landing on Artemis 4 after all: report

NASA's second-ever moon landing in a half-century will take place on Artemis 4, agency officials confirmed in a report.

A schedule shuffle based on changes in a SpaceX Starship moon landing contract will see the Artemis program's fourth mission as the follow-up crewed landing as soon as 2027, according to an Oct. 28 presentation attended by SpaceNews. (The first moon landing since 1972 will be Artemis 3, scheduled to land in 2025, if all goes according to plan.)

All of these dates are tentative, though, as they depend upon systems like lunar landers and spacesuits being ready and upon the successful completion of other missions. Issues of note include the oft-delayed Artemis 1 now set to fly no earlier than Nov. 14 on an uncrewed venture around the moon, and the similarly grounded Starship that is awaiting regulatory approval for its first-ever orbital mission.

Artemis 4 will land on the moon instead of continuing to build out a supporting NASA-led lunar station called Gateway, Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for Artemis campaign development at NASA, said in the presentation. (He spoke at the American Astronautical Society's Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.)

Previously, NASA nixed the idea of a landing on Artemis 4, arguing that the complex delivery of a habitation module to Gateway was a higher priority than landing on the surface, SpaceNews said. The pivot to putting humans on the surface so soon, Kirasich added in his speech, is due to an option change involving Starship's contract.

Anyone want to bet that Gateway gets canceled?

[jztemple2]

More on tomorrow's Falcon Heavy mission: Falcon Heavy rocket on the launch pad for one of SpaceX’s most complex missions

The first Falcon Heavy rocket flight since 2019 is scheduled Tuesday to kick off SpaceX’s longest-duration launch mission to date, a roughly six-hour climb into geosynchronous orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator with a bundle of payloads for the U.S. Space Force. The powerful rocket’s two reusable side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral for landing.

The mission’s high-altitude target orbit means the Falcon Heavy’s upper stage will need to coast for some six hours through the Van Allen radiation belts before reigniting its engine and deploying the Space Force’s satellites.

The long-duration mission required SpaceX to make some changes to the Falcon Heavy rocket. The most visible modification is the addition of gray paint on the outside of the upper stage’s kerosene fuel tank, which will help ensure the fuel does not freeze as the rocket spends hours in the cold environment of space.



The launch, which the Space Force has designated USSF-44, will mark the fourth flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket currently flying. But it is the first Falcon Heavy mission since June 25, 2019, following a series of delays encountered by SpaceX’s customers.

The USSF-44 mission has been delayed about two years from the original schedule of late 2020. The Space Force blamed the delay on satellite-related problems.

The launch will be the first fully operational national security mission to fly on SpaceX’s heavy-lifter. The Falcon Heavy’s most recent launch in June 2019 carried 24 experimental satellites for the military and NASA on the Space Test Program-2, or STP-2, mission. The STP-2 mission was billed as a demonstration flight of the rocket before future launches with more critical national security payloads.

There's a lot more about the mission in the article.

[Daehawk]

Wish they'd stop saying THE Space Force. Its like saying THE Starfleet ....just say Space Force.....its already silly enough.

[Max Peck]

It's no different than referring to the the Army, the Navy, the Air Force or the Marine Corps.

[Formix]

The mission’s high-altitude target orbit means the Falcon Heavy’s upper stage will need to coast for some six hours through the Van Allen radiation belts before reigniting its engine and deploying the Space Force’s satellites.

Well, at least now we know how they're getting the FF into the MCU.

[jztemple2]

We were on the road during the Falcon Heavy launch, but it wouldn't have mattered since there was significant fog this morning. Things did apparently go well for the launch and the landings of the side boosters.

[jztemple2]

[Zaxxon]

[jztemple2]

SpaceX now targeting December for 1st Starship orbital launch: report

SpaceX's massive Starship vehicle could launch on its first-ever orbital test flight next month, but that timeline is far from a sure thing.

A senior NASA official suggested that SpaceX wants to fly one of its Starship prototypes into space for the first time in December, according to Reuters.

The agency has a stake in Starship's progress; NASA picked the giant rocket as the first crewed lunar lander for its Artemis program of moon exploration. If all goes according to the current plan, a Starship will put boots down near the moon's south pole in 2025 or 2026, on the Artemis 3 mission.

"We track four major Starship flights. The first one here is coming up in December, part of early December," Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for Artemis campaign development, said during a livestreamed NASA Advisory Council meeting on Monday (Oct. 31).

[Isgrimnur]

Landing … lower to the ground…

Okay.

[Zaxxon]

Landing … lower to the ground…

Okay.

They meant the landing burn is lower to the ground than the single-engine landing burn. Bad wording.

[jztemple2]

Artemis 1 moon rocket 'ready to go' for Nov. 14 launch, NASA says

While NASA officials stressed in a media teleconference today (Nov. 3) that the agency's highly anticipated Artemis 1 moon mission will be challenging, they stated they are confident in the upcoming launch attempt on Nov. 14.

The Artemis 1 mission stack, consisting of the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, is scheduled to once again roll out to Launch Pad 39B from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday (Nov. 4). The SLS stack has been to the pad on three previous occasions, once each in March and June for pre-launch fueling tests, and again in mid-August for two abortive launch attempts. The rocket was then rolled back into the VAB on Sept. 27 to ride out Hurricane Ian, where it has been ever since undergoing repairs and pre-flight checks.

Despite these setbacks, NASA officials stressed in today's media briefing that they stand behind the new mission timeline, which aims for a launch attempt at 12:07 a.m. EST (0507 GMT) on Nov. 14. "If we weren't confident, we wouldn't roll out. If we weren't confident, we wouldn't start the countdown when we do so. We're confident moving forward," said Jim Free, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

[jztemple2]

Subtropical Storm Nicole delays SpaceX launch; Artemis 1 rocket stays on pad

SpaceX decides not to push their luck...

SpaceX has pushed back the flight of its next Falcon 9 rocket from Tuesday to Saturday as Subtropical Storm Nicole threatens the east coast of Florida, officials said Monday. But NASA is keeping its Artemis 1 moon rocket on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for a launch attempt next week.

The next Falcon 9 rocket launch was scheduled for a two-hour window opening at 11:06 a.m. EST (1606 GMT) Tuesday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX is now targeting the launch for Saturday at about the same time with Intelsat’s Galaxy 31 and 32 commercial communications satellites.

Meanwhile, a few miles north of pad 40...

NASA said Monday that managers have decided to keep the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) Artemis 1 moon rocket on Launch Complex 39B as Subtropical Storm Nicole approaches Florida. NASA rolled the rocket back to the launch pad Friday after moving it back into the Vehicle Assembly Building in late September to take shelter from Hurricane Ian.

“Based on current forecast data, managers have determined the Space Launch System rocket and Orion will remain at Launch Pad 39B,” NASA said in a statement Monday. “Teams at Kennedy will continue to monitor the weather, make sure all personnel are safe, and will evaluate the status of the Monday, Nov. 14, launch attempt for the Artemis 1 mission as we proceed and receive updated predictions about the weather.”

Right now at the Cape (which is close to where I live, hence my interest) winds are forecast to exceed tropical storm strength (39mph) but not hurricane strength (75mph). But I'm betting there are some sweaty palms at the Cape right now

Pad 39B does not have a moveable gantry to protect the SLS moon rocket, but the giant vehicle is designed to withstand wind gusts up to 85 mph, or 74 knots, at the launch facility.

If the bad weather this week doesn’t delay launch preparations, NASA hopes to start a two-day countdown Saturday culminating in a launch opportunity for Artemis 1 during a 69-minute window opening Monday at 12:07 a.m. EST (0507 GMT). NASA has penciled in backup launch attempts Nov. 16 and 19, and the current launch period runs until Nov. 27.

[jztemple2]

More info on the Artemis I situation with regards to Nicole:

[Holman]

Maybe a hurricane wrecking a SpaceX rocket would make Elmo take climate change more seriously.

[jztemple2]

For those wondering about the hurricane condition stages at the Kennedy Space Center, here you go:

Hurricane Conditions
The hurricane condition (HURCON) is an alert scale that signifies when specific preparations should be made for an approaching hurricane. It’s important to understand that the onset of sustained winds occurs earlier than landfall, which is when the center of the storm reaches land. Kennedy’s HURCON actions are as follows:

HURCON IV: 72 hours prior to 50-knot sustained winds. This initial notification and preparation phase includes implementing organization-specific checklists, ensuring all government-owned vehicles and General Services Administration vehicles are fully fueled, and confirming Rideout Team (ROT) personnel.

HURCON III: 48 hours prior to 50-knot sustained winds. Primary actions include securing facilities, property and equipment, as well as briefing and deploying the ROT.

HURCON II: 24 hours prior to 50-knot sustained winds. All securing actions are completed or terminated; non-ROT personnel are released, and ROT personnel are sheltered.

HURCON I: 12 hours prior to 50-knot sustained winds. Kennedy remains closed, all perimeter gates closed, ROT is sheltered at designated locations.

[jztemple2]

If you are following over in our thread on hurricane 2022, you can see that they probably are wishing they rolled the Artemis I stack back instead of leaving it out at the pad. Projected hurricane force winds coming tomorrow night into thursday.

[Zaxxon]

If you are following over in our thread on hurricane 2022, you can see that they probably are wishing they rolled the Artemis I stack back instead of leaving it out at the pad. Projected hurricane force winds coming tomorrow night into thursday.

The last I saw was a 10% chance of winds exceeding design limits, which is still high enough that they're probably regretting the choice to leave it out there, given there is no plan B should this hardware be damaged significantly.

[jztemple2]

NASA Prepares Rocket, Spacecraft Ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole, Re-targets Launch

NASA is continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Nicole and has decided to re-target a launch for the Artemis I mission for Wednesday, Nov. 16, pending safe conditions for employees to return to work, as well as inspections after the storm has passed. Adjusting the target launch date will allow the workforce to tend to the needs of their families and homes, and provide sufficient logistical time to get back into launch status following the storm.

Kennedy currently is in a HURCON (Hurricane Condition) III status, which includes securing facilities, property and equipment at the center, as well as briefing and deploying the “ride-out” team. As part of NASA’s hurricane preparedness protocol, a “ride-out” team includes a set of personnel who will remain in a safe location at Kennedy throughout the storm to monitor centerwide conditions, including the flight hardware for the Artemis I mission. Kennedy will release non-essential personnel at the HURCON II status as the agency continues to prioritize its employees in the Kennedy area.

Based on expected weather conditions and options to roll back ahead of the storm, the agency determined Sunday evening the safest option for the launch hardware was to keep the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft secured at the pad.

The SLS rocket is designed to withstand 85 mph (74.4 knot) winds at the 60-foot level with structural margin. Current forecasts predict the greatest risks at the pad are high winds that are not expected to exceed the SLS design. The rocket is designed to withstand heavy rains at the launch pad and the spacecraft hatches have been secured to prevent water intrusion.

Well, I'll be 200 miles away over on the west coast of Florida on November 16th, so if they launch on time I'll miss it... if they launch on time

[jztemple2]

Perhaps my favorite space story of the day: Canadian town residents ask startup SpaceRyde to stop loud rocket engine tests

A Canadian town of 13,000 people wants a rocket startup to stop testing its engines there.

Residents of Trent Hills, an Ontario town about two hours east of Toronto, are asking the privately funded SpaceRyde rocket company to stop engine testing in the region, and the municipality has sought legal advice to help bring about that outcome, according to local reports.

"The sound can be heard for many miles and startles anyone in the nearby vicinity. Horses may bolt, and pets are distressed. Wildlife is disrupted," alleges a petition that had been signed by more than 700 people as of Tuesday (Nov. 8).

My favorite part:

"People's safety is at risk as the startling noise may cause anyone horseback riding, bicycling, motorcycling, working on a ladder or rooftop to momentarily lose concentration as they process the alarming sound," adds the petition.

Apparently in that part of Canada they have no thunder, backfires, fireworks or car horns

The company responds:

In a comment to Trent Hills Now in September, SpaceRyde co-founder Sohrab Haghighat noted that the engine-testing noise of 100 decibels is brief, infrequent and equivalent to a large truck briefly revving its engine on a road.

SpaceRyde always notifies local residents before tests occur, Haghighat said, and added that one local man told him the noise "is the sound of progress. It's the sound of Canada one day going to space (with) its own rocket."

[Zaxxon]

Whelp, design specs were officially exceeded. Now we shall see what we shall see.

[jztemple2]

Yup, as I said, not a very smart decision to leave the rocket outside... the local news outlet has picked up on this story.

Back in my early Shuttle days NASA left a mobile launcher outside the VAB with boosters and an external tank stacked on it. It was summertime and of course we got a thunderstorm, but this one had hail and damaged the foam on the tank.

[jztemple2]

And if there wasn't enough going on for Artemis I, there's this: NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket boosters could expire in December, launch or not

Now that the Artemis 1 moon mission has been delayed once again, there are concerns that some of its hardware may expire prior to launch. For example, several key deadlines concerning the mission's two solid rocket boosters, built by Northrop Grumman, are approaching. If Artemis 1 has not launched by mid-December, NASA will have to analyze the boosters to see if they are still launch-worthy past their current expiration dates.

Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager of the Exploration Ground Systems Program at KSC, told reporters that a countdown begins as soon as a rocket is stacked. That countdown is currently ticking down for the Artemis 1 vehicle.

"When you stack your first segment on the aft segment, you start a clock that was originally 12 months," Lanhan said. "It's currently been analyzed up to 23 months, and that expires. One piece expires on the ninth of December of this year, and the other one is the 14th of December of this year."

Another environmental exposure rating expires on Dec. 15, he added.

If Artemis 1has not launched by those dates, the mission team would have to conduct further analyses to determine if the expiration dates on the rocket's various components could be extended, said Jim Free, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"Each of them has a different revisit date — that's my term — when we have to go back and redo the analysis and look at the assumptions in the analysis. And it's really more a function of when do we feel like those assumptions are no longer good and the boosters fall into that category," Free said during the Nov. 3 media briefing. "I think I would be doing our team and you a disservice by saying we can just go forever, because I don't think that's the case. I think we look at the analysis every time with a different set of lenses thinking about what else could have changed."

[Zaxxon]

I've also seen scuttlebutt that they have one more rollback in the tank, and after that then even rolling back becomes something that requires additional component life evaluation/approvals.

Certainly is starting to look like go fever from multiple angles.

[Unagi]

Just thought I would share this here... (I apologize in advance, it's juvenile... But I recon it's right up Kraken's alley)

So, I have this iPhone app called "Star Walk 2" (successor to Star Walk). It's a great app, highly recommend it. Its best feature is that you can look around with the app open, and it labels the sky (fills in constellations, etc) - so you can find anything really easily (also tracks man-made satellites, etc).

However, it also can give you a notification when certain astrological events are taking place: like meteor showers, comets, or good times to view a planet, etc.

I had to laugh last night when my iPhone told me: "Uranus is in opposition. Today is the best time to observe it."

So, if anyone has a colonoscopy planned... the heavens are with you.

[jztemple2]

Oh my... 100 mph wind gust recorded at Kennedy Space Center launch tower during Nicole: report

A 100 mph wind gust was recorded at Kennedy Space Center early Thursday morning, where NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft were left on the launchpad to ride out Hurricane Nicole.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that the 600-foot high weather sensors at LC 39-B recorded the gust at 4:15 a.m.

The tallest sensors picked up gusts reaching 90-100 mph multiple times between 3 and 5 a.m., according to the Sentinel. Sustained winds closer to the ground averaged 50-60 mph.

Although wind speeds were lower closer to the ground, they still pushed the safety limits outlined by NASA ahead of Nicole’s landfall. The agency said their $4.1 billion rocket and spacecraft could withstand sustained winds of 85 mph at 60 feet high. That exact measurement was recorded at the time of the 100 mph gust.

[jztemple2]

History Channel team finds large piece of space shuttle Challenger on ocean floor

One the largest pieces of NASA's fallen space shuttle Challenger has been discovered on the ocean floor by a TV documentary team searching for a downed World War II aircraft.

The artifact, which today remains where it was found by the crew filming The History Channel's new series "The Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters," was positively identified by NASA based upon the item's modern construction and presence of 8-inch (20 centimeters) square thermal protection (heat shield) tiles. The segment of Challenger was found in waters off Florida's Space Coast, well northwest of the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle.