Space Stuff and Launch Info

In summary, the SpaceX Dragon launch is upcoming, and it appears to be successful. The article has a lot of good information about the upcoming mission, as well as some interesting observations about the Great Red Spot.
  • #526
DennisN said:
Gosh, this is a cool clip :kiss::
Very nice! :thumbup:
 
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  • #527
Nice video.InSight is currently 402,000 km away from Mars (about the Earth/Moon distance) and will arrive there in 1 day 12 hours.
Tracking information
Mission overview
Timeline
Livestream*

It will brake with a heat shield and a parachute and finally land propulsively. Two cubesats, launched together with it, will relay data about the entry maneuver to Earth. It is a lander, it cannot move around. Its main purpose is to explore the interior of Mars by looking for seismic activity and by drilling up to five meters into the surface. It will also take pictures of the landing site and monitor the weather.

* we have the light speed delay of course. By the time we get confirmation it entered the atmosphere it will be reaching the ground already, one way or another.
 
  • #528
It's happening soon, and it's happening live! InSight will (well, may) land on Mars in about 40 minutes.

Live coverage from NASA here:
NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV


Info: How Will NASA's InSight Spacecraft Land on Mars?
 
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  • #529
The spacecraft should now sit on the surface.
Meanwhile we got confirmation that it entered the atmosphere. All we can do is watch.

Edit: Touchdown confirmed!

Now the spacecraft has to open its solar panels and begin science operation.

First image, taken from livestream, dust cover still attached:

insightdustcover.png


The vehicle reports everything is fine so far. Deployment of solar panels and confirmation of it will take a lot longer.Edit: Deployment of solar panels has been confirmed in the meantime.
 

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  • #530
Congrats to NASA for another successful Mars landing and let's hear it for the cubesats which did a great job. Every mission should have its own cubesat!
 
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  • #532

At 4:00 things start to get a little strange.:nb)
Open the pod bay doors, Cimon!
 
  • #533
mfb said:
A Falcon 9 launch is planned for November 19 - this will be the first time a booster is used for a third flight, its previous launches were in May and in August. The mission will launch about 90 small satellites to low Earth orbit.
After some delays due to issues with the rocket and the weather the launch is now planned for the December 2nd, 10:32 am Pacific time (1:32 Eastern time, 6:32 UTC, 7:32 Central European time, 11 hours 30 minutes after this post) with a launch window that extends about half an hour beyond that.

Among the payloads:
Orbital Reflector, a balloon that should reach about magnitude 2, similar to some of the brightest stars in the night sky. It should be visible in the evening hours in most places, moving south->north. After about 3 months it will deorbit from drag.
EuCROPIS will grow tomatoes in Moon-like and Mars-like artificial gravity in its centrifuge. It also has some test systems to recycle human urine better than currently done.

Just 48 hours and 6 minutes later SpaceX will launch a resupply mission to the ISS.

There is also the next crewed Soyuz flight on December 3rd, the first crewed flight after the last launch failed.

December 7 China will launch the first lander to land on the far side of the Moon.

Three more commercial satellite missions happen in between these launches.

The next days will be busy in spaceflight, 7 launches in 6 days.Edit: Another day of delay for SSO-A.
Now SpaceX might launch two rockets within ~24 hours.
 
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  • #534
Success for the crewed Soyuz launch! The ISS gets a new crew and a new Soyuz, it will stay inhabited, continuing the streak started November 2000.

Success for Falcon 9, although deployment of all the satellites will take a few more hours. The first stage landed again (third time now). SpaceX plans to recover one fairing half as well - no update yet.

Edit: Fairing missed the ship but landed soft in the water. SpaceX is confident the fairing parts can fly again.
 
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  • #535


Rocket surgery!:DD
 
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  • #537
If you want to watch space launches live better have a wide monitor.

Edit: Delays ruin it!

14:30 UTC (in 35 minutes) Blue Origin will launch New Shepard in Texas (livestream) Edit: delayed, maybe a day later
14:34 UTC SpaceX will launch the first GPS III satellite in Florida (live coverage and stream) - just four minutes later (if the wind doesn't shift the launch by a day). Edit: Also delayed, now expected 14:07 UTC on the 19th.

Blue Origin's rocket booster and capsule will be somewhere close to apogee (~100 km) during the liftoff of Falcon 9.
The Falcon 9 booster will be expended. The Air Force wants as much performance margin as they can get for this flight. The satellite will be launched to a pretty high orbit - the second stage will perform a second burn after coasting for one hour (https://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/gps_iii_press_kit.pdf).

The GPS III satellite is the first of its kind, over the next years this new generation of satellites will improve the precision of the system and add a few more features. It will be released 16:30 UTC in a medium Earth orbit.16:37 UTC, just minutes after the Falcon 9 mission ends, a Soyuz rocket will lift off in French Guiana.
Edit: Delayed by 24 hours

Not enough? Tomorrow 01:57 UTC a Delta IV Heavy will launch a reconnaissance satellite in California.
Tomorrow 10:40 UTC a GSLV Mk II will launch a communications satellite in India.

5 spaceflights, 4 of them orbital, potentially within a bit more than a day.

Edit: After three of five launches got delayed: We might have 5 launches in 24 hours, but now starting with the Delta IV Heavy launch (which was originally planned to launch earlier this month...) and ending with the Soyuz launch.
 
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  • #538
  • #539
Delta IV Heavy delayed by a day as well.

Now all five launches are planned within 24 hours again, but this time beginning with the Indian launch instead of ending with it.
 
  • #542
  • #544
mfb said:
ISS program has been extended until 2030. As usual funding might change from year to year and nothing is final, but it looks like the ISS won't be given up soon.
Oouff! (relief) ... I'm an ISS fan
 
  • #549
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/space/go-for-launch/os-bz-spacex-mass-layoff-20190111-story.html
Private space leader SpaceX plans to lay off about 10 percent of its more than 6,000 employees across the nation, the company said Friday.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company, which has a prominent presence on Central Florida’s Space Coast, said in a statement that the move would help the company reach its goals.

“To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company. Either of these developments, even when attempted separately, have bankrupted other organizations,” SpaceX said in a statement. “This means we must part ways with some talented and hardworking members of our team. We are grateful for everything they have accomplished and their commitment to SpaceX’s mission.”

“This action is taken only due to the extraordinarily difficult challenges ahead and would not otherwise be necessary.”
 
  • #550
The interesting question is "who". People building Falcon 9 boosters? That would mean reuse works nicely and saves money. Engineers working on future projects? That would be bad. Engineers working on Falcon 9/Dragon 2 development? Both are essentially done, if SpaceX doesn't need them for Starship or the satellite constellation this can happen.
 
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  • #552
Not surprising if you don't heat them.

Japan did https://digitalindiapreview.com/first-artificial-meteor-shower/. They launched a satellite designed to produce sets of artificial shooting stars. The first set is planned for Hiroshima early 2020 but they can produce many more.

The first flight of Dragon 2 is now planned for February 9, although the US government shutdown will add more delay if it goes on too long. The static fire tests could be as early as January 23.
Edit: Static fire done, but the launch is now not before February 23, assuming no more US government shutdown.

Probably mid February SpaceX will launch Beresheet (aka Sparrow), an Israeli Moon lander, as a secondary payload. It should land there in April to May. If successful it makes Israel the fourth country to land softly on the Moon, and it will be the first private lander.
Edit: Launch date is now February 19.
 
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  • #553
Stavros Kiri said:
And ... as if that wasn't enough, there are now animals and plants on the moon!: China just put them there! ...
"There Are Plants and Animals on the Moon Now (Because of China)"
Stavros Kiri said:
China's Moon Plants are dead
mfb said:
Not surprising if you don't heat them.
So much for the headlines! ...
mfb said:
Japan did https://digitalindiapreview.com/first-artificial-meteor-shower/. They launched a satellite designed to produce sets of artificial shooting stars. The first set is planned for Hiroshima early 2020 but they can produce many more.
Now that is strange!
 
  • #556
Few cars come with 750 million km warranty.

The first flight of Dragon 2 was shifted to March. Both Dragon 2 and Falcon Heavy need the same launch pad and hangar for preparation, we’ll see how SpaceX handles this conflict. Dragon 2 will probably get preference as it is on the critical path for NASA’s access to the ISS (Dragon 2 uncrewed -> in-flight launch abort -> Dragon 2 crewed -> sign-off by NASA before the Soyuz contract runs out).
 
  • #557
Crew Dragon demo flight scheduled at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday, March 2
link
 
  • #558
Time zone conversion: 7:49 UTC, 8:49 CET.
It is now 4:53 am EST. The launch is 2 days ~22 hours after this post.

Edit: More information:

Flight schedule
Docking with the ISS is planned 26 hours after launch. Dragon 2 will be close to the ISS for a few hours before that. From the northern hemisphere it can be visible in the very early morning, typically around 5 am local time. calsky, heavens-above and various other websites have the precise time for your position. From the southern hemisphere there is a chance to see it in the evening.
The ISS is visible frequently, but the ISS plus another spacecraft (flying ahead in this case) visible in the night sky is a rare event.
 
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  • #559
Crew Dragon launched successfully and is approaching the ISS. NASA coverage will begin in 1 hour 15 minutes (8:30 UTC), opening the hatch is planned for 13:45 UTC, or 6:30 after this post.

NASA TV - not sure if that is the right place, but it should be.
 

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