space General Space Discussion (Thread 1)

[DocM]

On 2/10/2018 at 5:42 AM, DocM said:

Linkspace is a commercial space startup in China. At this point they're roughly where Masten and Armadillo were 8+ years ago, but with the dead-certain knowledge that orbital class VTOL rockets really do work.

 

LinkSpace may need it's own thread soon!!

 

 

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

On 9/5/2018 at 7:56 PM, DocM said:

DARPA Blackjack: DoD pivot to LEO satellite constellations

 

Interview ....

https://www.c4isrnet.com/thought-leadership/2018/07/30/the-calculus-of-cheaper-military-comms-satellites/

 

PowerPoint...

PowerPoint as PDF...

 

US Air Force involvement in BlackJack management increases. 

 

https://spacenews.com/air-force-could-assume-bigger-role-in-darpas-blackjack-program/

 

Quote

Air Force could assume bigger role in DARPA’s Blackjack program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Blackjack is small compared to traditional military space procurements but it is one of the most talked about space projects. Blackjack is a dramatic departure from the conventional ways of doing business in the Defense Department. It wants to buy small satellites from commercial vendors, equip them with military sensor payloads and deploy a small constellation in low-Earth orbit to see how they perform in real military operations.
>

 

[DocM]

Oops,

 

https://spacenews.com/china-could-be-facing-space-station-delay-tiangong-2-to-be-deorbited/

 

Quote

China could be facing space station delay, Tiangong-2 to be deorbited

 

HELSINKI — China’s plan to launch and construct a space station could be hit by a test flight delay of the launcher designed to send the modules into orbit.

An online report by People’s Liberation Army Daily, a military newspaper, reports Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), as saying at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the Long March 5B will not make its planned test launch in the first half of 2019.

“Due to the failure of the launch of the Long March 5 remote launch vehicle, the first flight of the Long March 5B carrier rocket will be postponed. The specific implementation time needs to be clarified after coordination with relevant departments,” Xiqiang said.

The CMSEO manages China’s human spaceflight efforts and had planned a test launch of the Long March 5B before launching the 20-metric-ton Chinese Space Station core module, Tianhe, into low Earth orbit sometime in 2020.
>
Neither the CMSEO nor the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), responsible for design and manufacture of the Long March 5 and 5B, had responded to a request for comment by time of publishing.
>

 

[BetaguyGZT]

Hmm.

[DocM]

There are many more of these around Michigan than are officially counted - people  have kept them as family heirlooms. 

 

 

Detroit News....

 

Doorstop turns out to be meteorite worth $100K

Grand Rapids  A Michigan man recently learned that a rock hes been using as a doorstop is a meteorite worth $100,000.

The nearly 23-pound hunk of iron and nickel is the sixth largest meteorite found in Michigan, according to the Smithsonian Museum and Central Michigan University.

David Mazurek said he took his doorstop to the university for examination after seeing reports in January of meteorite pieces selling for thousands of dollars.

"I said, 'Wait a minute. I wonder how much mine is worth,'" Mazurek said.

University Geology Professor Mona Sirbescu first identified the piece as more than just a rock, but she sent two small slices of the rock to the Smithsonian for confirmation.

"I could tell right away that this was something special," she said. "It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically."
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[BetaguyGZT]

I'm sure they're all over the place. The geological map of Michigan does present the appearance of a very large, ancient impact site.

 

 

[DocM]

It's not just ancient impacts! The meterorite in our safe fell on my parents farm in the 1970's; it came screaming out of the west and impacted at the edge of our soybean field. 

 

Then there was the booide last winter which came from the East and exploded over Detroit's western exurbs. Heard for 30+ miles.

[BetaguyGZT]

Yep .. they're coming down all over the place at survivable rates of speed, soft-landing more often than people would likely be aware of.  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Looks like Hubble is in trouble...

 

Quote

It’s true. Very stressful weekend. Right now HST is in safe mode while we figure out what to do. Another gyro failed. First step is try to bring back the last gyro, which had been off, and is being problematic.

 

 

gyro's....

[Jim K Global Moderator]

13 hours ago, Draggendrop said:

Looks like Hubble is in trouble...

 

https://twitter.com/rachelosten/status/1049092469000953857

 

gyro's....

Bummer.  Though I've read somewhere it can still do science with one gyro (though 3 is optimal).  

 

Wonder whatever happened to a proposal (last year) for another servicing mission ... using Dream Chaser (when/if it ever gets flying ... much less with a crew).  It would be nice to keep Hubble operating ... even when JWST eventually takes off.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

These are the guidance gyros, they had 6, of which 3 new ones were installed on service#4. One of the 3 new ones is in trouble.

 

The general NASA statements are being vague for a reason. They need 3 for normal science. They can operate on 1....but...here it comes...science is affected. The close range observation, such as the solar system, is "toast" and the far field has the "sky capture" area reduced.

 

Hubble is old and best left to it's own for awhile.

Dream Chaser is a "mini shuttle" to some...but in fact, is a limited, dated design which will only be used for future cargo and a few ESA experimental programs.

 

A repair mission requires 1 to 2 weeks, an airlock and suits with a good supply of consumables.  This situation is best left for 5 years, where upon a BFS can place Hubble in it's cargo bay, seal and pressurize the bay and then do repairs.  The way things are going, it may be needed for JWST as well....I have no confidence in the complicated deployment of that project.

[DocM]

Shotwell confirmed in a Madrid event  that BFS could do shuttle-like operations, with the added plus of closing the door(s) and working in a pressurized environment. What we don't publicly know is how large the door(s) are in that version.

[BetaguyGZT]

I think we might be looking at another spec revision, then ... the door sizes.

 

And for my money, a pair of CanadaArms per BFS. I was always a little uncomfortable with a single one on the Shuttles, and redundancy is always a plus. And the CanadaArms should be standard on ALL large spacefaring vessels doing work of this kind.  I consider them "indispensable".

[DocM]

Mike Griffin keynote at the Goddard Symposium. A few misrememberings etc. but this part was spot on,

 

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=27239

 

>

I must also point out that there have been many instances where proponents of individual missions have downplayed the technical difficulty and risk of their individual mission, or grossly underestimated the cost and effort involved to solve the problems, in order to gain "new start" funds for particular project. Everyone knows that, once started, any given mission is nearly impossible to cancel, so the goal becomes that of getting started, no matter what has to be said or done to accomplish it. I am speaking here not only to industry and scientific investigators, but also to organizations within NASA. This is a matter of integrity for our community. NASA managers, the White House, and Congress have seen this behavior too many times, and the Agency has lost a great deal of credibility over the decades as a result. There was a time - I remember it, and many of you will also - when what "NASA"  said could be taken to the bank. Anyone here think it's like that today? Show of hands? ... I didn't think so.
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[Draggendrop Veteran]

Public service announcement...

 

Quote

Always bring your elephant to your Grandpa's wedding speech

https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/1052876783505338368

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Quote

Luna, a new facility planned for our European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, is set to recreate the Moon’s surface on Earth, providing a test-bed for tools and concepts, a location for research, and a training ground for astronauts.

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1052865714787237889

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

12 years after her trip to space, Anousheh Ansari takes over as the CEO of XPRIZE

 

 

Quote

In 2004, Iranian-American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari helped fund the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight. In 2006, she traveled to the International Space Station, becoming the first Muslim woman to go into orbit. Now she’s playing a leading role in the XPRIZE saga once again as the California-based foundation’s CEO.

 

Ansari’s ascension to executive leadership was announced today during the annual XPRIZE Visioneering Summit in Los Angeles, where 10 teams are vying for a chance to have their ideas turned into multimillion-dollar technological challenges.

 

“As I take on the helm at XPRIZE, I feel the same exhilaration as I did the day I was sitting in my capsule atop of my Russian Soyuz rocket – waiting impatiently to be launched into the infinity of the universe that I had dreamed about as a child, and in nervous anticipation of the enormous possibilities in front of me,” Ansari, 52, said in a news release.

 

Ansari takes over from XPRIZE co-founder Peter Diamandis, who’ll continue in his role as executive chairman.

 

“The XPRIZE model of crowdsourcing innovation is as important as ever, as increased access to exponential technologies is truly democratizing the ability for anyone to solve today’s most pressing issues,” Diamandis said. “I have tremendous confidence in Anousheh to help lead XPRIZE during its next stage of evolution.”

more at the link...

 

https://www.geekwire.com/2018/12-years-trip-space-anousheh-ansari-takes-ceo-xprize/

 

This is excellent news.

 

She will do a great job...can't wait to see what they have in store for the next Xprizes....

 

😀

[Jim K Global Moderator]

He's back ... almost.

 

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

It is good news....but...it's just buying time. It will fail again because an anomaly is still present, just "shifted" to a later date.

 

If this and other attempts can keep the platform running for a while longer...it may be in a position for a proper BFR/BFS repair mission in the "near future", if funding authorized at that time.

 

Hubble Moving Closer to Normal Science Operations

 

Quote

snip

 

In an attempt to correct the erroneously high rates produced by the backup gyro, the Hubble operations team executed a running restart of the gyro on Oct. 16. This procedure turned the gyro off for one second, and then restarted it before the wheel spun down. The intention was to clear any faults that may have occurred during startup on Oct. 6, after the gyro had been off for more than 7.5 years. However, the resulting data showed no improvement in the gyro’s performance. 

 

On Oct. 18, the Hubble operations team commanded a series of spacecraft maneuvers, or turns, in opposite directions to attempt to clear any blockage that may have caused the float to be off-center and produce the exceedingly high rates. During each maneuver, the gyro was switched from high mode to low mode to dislodge any blockage that may have accumulated around the float. 

 

Following the Oct. 18 maneuvers, the team noticed a significant reduction in the high rates, allowing rates to be measured in low mode for brief periods of time.

 

On Oct. 19, the operations team commanded Hubble to perform additional maneuvers and gyro mode switches, which appear to have cleared the issue. Gyro rates now look normal in both high and low mode.  

 

Hubble then executed additional maneuvers to make sure that the gyro remained stable within operational limits as the spacecraft moved. The team saw no problems and continued to observe the gyro through the weekend to ensure that it remained stable. 

 

The Hubble operations team plans to execute a series of tests to evaluate the performance of the gyro under conditions similar to those encountered during routine science observations, including moving to targets, locking on to a target, and performing precision pointing.  After these engineering tests have been completed, Hubble is expected to soon return to normal science operations.

 

Hubble is managed and operated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

 

snip

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/update-on-the-hubble-space-telescope-safe-mode

 

In English...

 

They turned it off and on, banged it around a bit..until it worked.

 

//   reference to first sentence of this post.

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Quote

At the #DPS18 agency night, NASA’s Lori Glaze says there’s a 95-99% probability that Dawn will run out of fuel, thus ending its mission around Ceres, in the next few weeks.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1054524874692145152

 

Kepler is in the "same boat".

 

We need more toys launched...asap...😐

[BetaguyGZT]

Sadly, they can't last forever ...

 

But the science that all three have provided cannot be understated.

 

And it won't be the last time that science missions are sent to Ceres and Vesta, I think.  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Kepler Spacecraft Updates

 

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Oct. 23 - Following a successful return of data from the last observation campaign, the Kepler team commanded the spacecraft into position to begin collecting data for its next campaign. On Friday October 19, during a regularly scheduled spacecraft contact using NASA’s Deep Space Network, the team learned that the spacecraft had transitioned to its no-fuel-use sleep mode. The Kepler team is currently assessing the cause and evaluating possible next steps.

 

Oct. 15 - The Kepler spacecraft has successfully downloaded Campaign 19 data to Earth. We are monitoring the spacecraft and will provide more information when its status has been fully assessed.

 

Oct. 12 - On October 11, NASA woke up the Kepler spacecraft and maneuvered it into a stable configuration that will allow NASA to download the latest data with the least amount of fuel consumption. We are still monitoring the health of the spacecraft while working towards downloading data from Campaign 19.

 

Oct. 1 - NASA’s Kepler team has received data showing that the spacecraft’s ability to point precisely has degraded. In order to preserve high-value science data collected during its latest observation campaign, the Kepler team has placed the spacecraft in a stable, no-fuel-use sleep mode. Read more.

 

Sept. 5 - The Kepler spacecraft began collecting science data on Aug. 29 for its 19th observation campaign. After being roused from sleep mode the spacecraft's configuration has been modified due to unusual behavior exhibited by one of the thrusters. Preliminary indications are that the telescope's pointing performance may be somewhat degraded. It remains unclear how much fuel remains; NASA continues to monitor the health and performance of the spacecraft.

 

Aug. 24 - The Kepler spacecraft went into sleep mode after successfully downloading Campaign 18 data. It is unclear how much fuel is still on board; NASA is looking into the health of the spacecraft and determining a full range of options and next steps. 

 

snip 

https://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/kepler-spacecraft-updates

 

She's running on fumes....😟

 

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"On Friday October 19, during a regularly scheduled spacecraft contact using NASA’s Deep Space Network, the team learned that the spacecraft had transitioned to its no-fuel-use sleep mode."

https://twitter.com/astroengine/status/1054889824295907329

 

 

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Check out our new update on the status of the @NASAKepler spacecraft: https://go.nasa.gov/2D1tSbe

https://twitter.com/NASAKepler/status/1054889348141891585

[BetaguyGZT]

I think she's done.  Bummer. Just enough fuel for one uplink session and that's it.

[DocM]