Space Stuff and Launch Info

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SpaceX launches like crazy this year. 9 launches in the first 3 months, or one every 10 days.

Globally there have been 25 successful launches so far in 2021 (and one failed attempt by the small Hyperbola-1), Falcon 9 made 36% of them. But that's ignoring that Falcon 9 is one of the largest operational rockets.

Globally 703 satellites have been launched this year, 564 of them (80%) by SpaceX, out of that 430 were Starlink.

The summed satellite mass launched is at most 178 tonnes, 118 tonnes (66%) launched by SpaceX (112 tonnes Starlink). 27 tonnes (max) by Russia, 24 tonnes (max) by China, 10 tonnes (max) by others. Various satellites don't have a public mass, I used the maximal capacity of the rocket in that case. All SpaceX payloads had a known mass.

Here is a funny February 2019 prediction: They estimated 600 small satellites will be launched in 2021. We exceeded that number in March.

 

[anorlunda]

Elon Musk in an interview said that Startlink will provide him with a Mars budget several times bigger than NASA's budget. I think that is a contest worth watching.

 

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Ingenuity centimeters above the Martian surface


A flight will happen no earlier than April 11.

 

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Ingenuity has seen a software issue in a rotor spin test. It will need software updates before the first flight.

Update from NASA
They expect to set a new flight date next week.

 

[anorlunda]

It would be interesting to learn what SW error could not be detected before leaving Earth, but detected on Mars before the first flight.

 

[hmmm27]

Keeps timing out trying to connect to M$'s Windows10 Update server, every few minutes.

 

[jackwhirl]

NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon

 

[berkeman]

NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon

Looks like they will need to take a ladder...

 

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SpaceX has developed and tested an elevator-like system.
The giant ladder was one of the downsides of the competing National Team proposal.

The tiny NASA funding for the Human Landing System didn't leave many options - even SpaceX, the cheapest proposal, was still too expensive. It only fit after SpaceX agreed to a modified payment schedule. That explains why they only picked a single proposal. SpaceX received the highest rating in non-financial categories, so NASA picked both the cheapest and the best proposal.

Starship is comically oversized for NASA's plan to send just two crew members to the surface in the first mission.

Washington Post article

Edit: Here is the source selection statement

Artemis increasingly becomes a SpaceX program.

* Launching the Gateway core modules: Done by SpaceX
* Resupply of the Gateway: Only SpaceX has a contract so far
* Landing people on the Moon: SpaceX
* Landing cargo on the Moon: No full-scale contracts yet, but Starship is so big that it can easily do that in combination with the crewed missions.

What's left? Getting astronauts to the gateway and from the gateway back to Earth. That's the last task of SLS/Orion, and SLS needs to stay around for political reasons.

 

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Launch of Crew-2 in 50 minutes

Third time SpaceX will launch astronauts, and first time they will do so in a reused capsule and on a reused booster. This will make Dragon the second reusable crewed spacecraft after the Shuttle.
- the capsule ("Endeavour") previously flew the first crewed flight, Demo-2
- the booster ("B1061.2") previously flew the second crewed flight, Crew-1
The Crew-1 astronauts are still on the space station, they will return a few days after Crew-2 arrives. Similarly, Crew-3 will fly to the ISS a few days before Crew-2 will leave, currently planned for October.

 

[hutchphd]

Michael Collins has died. A remarkable human.

 

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The core module of the Chinese modular space station is planned to launch in about 5-6 hours. 3:00 to 4:00 UTC, probably 3:18. No livestream expected.

At 22.5 tonnes it will become the heaviest spacecraft launched by China so far, and one of the largest single payloads in the history of spaceflight. Zvezda, the third ISS module, was a tiny bit heavier at 22.8 tonnes. Saturn V launched far more mass to orbit for the Apollo missions, but it's less clear what you call a spacecraft and what's part of the rocket there.
Skylab at 76 tonnes was the heaviest individual spacecraft that became operational.
Polyus at 80 tonnes was the heaviest spacecraft launched, but due to a malfunction it was in space for just one orbit.
The Space Shuttle launched itself to space, that's heavy as well if you want to count that. Its payloads were lighter.

 

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Success for the Chinese mission.

Crew-1 streaking through the atmosphere over Mexico in preparation for a landing near Florida, filmed by (Crew-2 astronaut) Thomas Pesquet on the ISS:

 

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China's rover has landed on Mars
I don't see pictures, but it's on the surface and has sent back signals.

 

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Another spaceflight seat for the general public - but again US only.

Discovery adventure TV show to launch winning contestant to the space station

They plan a TV show next year, the winner will be sent to the ISS for a week as part of the Axiom-2 mission (most likely Crew Dragon, although Starliner would be a theoretical option).

 

[anorlunda]

Another spaceflight seat for the general public - but again US only.

If I win it, I'll transfer my seat over to you.

 

[berkeman]

Another spaceflight seat for the general public

Are a few flights on the Vomit Comet a standard part of the training for civilian / amateur astronauts? If not, some of these upcoming flights could be pretty unpleasant for the other passengers...

 

[berkeman]

Oh sure, you laugh @Tom.G but about half of the prospective flight candidates get nauseous on their first flight on the VC. At least those were the statistics back about 20 years ago when my ex wife took her NASA squirrel monkeys on their first training flight... (and yes, half of them got sick too)

 

[Tom.G]

Oh sure, you laugh @Tom.G but about half of the prospective flight candidates get nauseous on their first flight on the VC. At least those were the statistics back about 20 years ago when my ex wife took her NASA squirrel monkeys on their first training flight... (and yes, half of them got sick too)

OK, it was an ambiguous response on my part.

Rather than responding to the necessity of the VC "break-in" flights, I was aiming at the understatement of the "unpleasantness" comment.

 

[hutchphd]

I guess the Frank Borman incident on Apollo 8 should be err...brought up? no...maybe mentioned in passing? ...no...um ..definitely not rehashed...

I guess that was not pretty...por guy. Poor guys

 

[Astronuc]

https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-curiosity-rover-mars-spotted-climbing-mont-mercou-2021-5

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) snapped a dramatic image of the Curiosity rover climbing Mont Mercou, a terrene near the centre of the Gale Crater, according to the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at The University of Arizona.

MRO captured the image on April 18 using its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment tool (HiRISE), which can spot features as small as a kitchen table. So, even at an altitude of 167.5 miles, the car-sized Curiosity rover was in plain sight, according to the HiRISE team's image description.

Since 2014, Curiosity has been climbing the 3-mile-high Mount Sharp, the central peak of the Gale Crater.

 

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SpaceX pad teams are currently spraying the companies newest Falcon 9 with artificial soot ahead of its maiden flight on Thursday.

SpaceX has said: "Some customers have become wary of flying on un-flight tested boosters, we hope this new paint scheme will help to reassure them!"

It's a satire tweet, but it's true that customers start preferring boosters that have flown already.

In that aspect the launch in one hour is a rare event. The last 20 flights all reused boosters.

 

[Astronuc]

(Fox News) - Bill Nelson spoke to Fox News and also detailed plans at 'State of NASA' address. The NASA administrator detailed missions to moon, Mars, Venus and the agency's efforts on Earth.
https://www.foxnews.com/science/nasa-administrator-moon-mars-venus-missions-earth

The big news of the day surrounded dual missions to Earth's "twin" Venus, named VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy) and DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging).

NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study ‘Lost Habitable’ World of Venus
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus

DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging)

DAVINCI+ will measure the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to understand how it formed and evolved, as well as determine whether the planet ever had an ocean. The mission consists of a descent sphere that will plunge through the planet’s thick atmosphere, making precise measurements of noble gases and other elements to understand why Venus’ atmosphere is a runaway hothouse compared the Earth’s.

In addition, DAVINCI+ will return the first high resolution pictures of the unique geological features on Venus known as “tesserae,” which may be comparable to Earth’s continents, suggesting that Venus has plate tectonics. This would be the first U.S.-led mission to Venus’ atmosphere since 1978, and the results from DAVINCI+ could reshape our understanding of terrestrial planet formation in our solar system and beyond. James Garvin of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the principal investigator. Goddard provides project management.

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy)

VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to determine the planet’s geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth. Orbiting Venus with a synthetic aperture radar, VERITAS will chart surface elevations over nearly the entire planet to create 3D reconstructions of topography and confirm whether processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active on Venus.

VERITAS also will map infrared emissions from Venus’ surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. Suzanne Smrekar of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, is the principal investigator. JPL provides project management. The German Aerospace Center will provide the infrared mapper with the Italian Space Agency and France’s Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales contributing to the radar and other parts of the mission.

 

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Jeff Bezos and his brother will fly on the first crewed New Shepard flight (July 20).
One seat goes to an auction winner, the other three seats are expected to go to yet unnamed Blue Origin employees.

That's a remarkable move. All 15 flights so far were successful (for the capsules - one booster crashed), two of them with the capsule they will use for that crewed flight, but it still comes with a significant risk.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA's Juno - June 3 - NASA stated

The first of the gas-giant orbiter’s back-to-back flybys will provide a close encounter with the massive moon after over 20 years.

On Monday, June 7, at 1:35 p.m. EDT (10:35 a.m. PDT), NASA’s Juno spacecraft will come within 645 miles (1,038 kilometers) of the surface of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. The flyby will be the closest a spacecraft has come to the solar system’s largest natural satellite since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made its penultimate close approach back on May 20, 2000. Along with striking imagery, the solar-powered spacecraft ’s flyby will yield insights into the moon’s composition, ionosphere, magnetosphere, and ice shell. Juno’s measurements of the radiation environment near the moon will also benefit future missions to the Jovian system.

June 3 - https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-to-get-a-close-look-at-jupiter-s-moon-ganymede

And apparently, Juno did a flyby today.

 

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The New Shepard seat was sold for $28 million.
That's $400,000 per second in space.
The winner will be made public in a few weeks.

In addition to a minute in space to forget about how much they paid the winner can claim to be one of the first 10 space tourists, and they get to meet Jeff Bezos.

Dragon seats sell for ~$50 million, but you get a few days in space for that price.

----

On June 17, China will launch the first crew to its new modular space station (a single module at the moment). The seventh crewed flight of China in total, and by far its longest (planned to be 3 months, current record is 1 month).

 

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Virgin Galactic plans to fly the first full crew on a suborbital flight July 11 - beating Blue Origin by 9 days. Probably not coincidence. Here is the announcement.
6 people, including founder Richard Branson, all from within the company.

There will be a livestream somewhere, of course. Branson announced that they'll have something exciting "to give more people the chance to become astronauts" after the flight. Unclear if this is simply a $300,000 ticket option, a lottery, a seat given away for free or whatever.

This year is the beginning of regular space tourism. Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Russia (Soyuz) - all with dedicated tourism missions or test flights towards these missions.

 

[Borg]

Operations Underway to Restore Payload Computer on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope​

June 30, 2021 - NASA Preparing for Procedures to Turn On Backup Hardware on the Hubble Space Telescope​

NASA is taking additional steps to investigate the Hubble Space Telescope’s payload computer issue that began on June 13, suspending science observations. In parallel with the investigation, NASA is preparing and testing procedures to turn on backup hardware onboard the spacecraft . The telescope itself and science instruments remain healthy and in a safe configuration.

 

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Blue Origin tries to downplay the upcoming Virgin Galactic flight (Sunday morning 9 am ET, 13:00 UTC, 31 hours after this post) and produces some strange infographics, while at the same time misorganizing press coverage of their upcoming flight.

One key point is the definition of "space", as Virgin Galactic crosses 80 km but not 100 km. More discussion here

 

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Some weather delays but the livestream is running.
The aircraft is flying upwards at the moment. Not sure when the release is planned but I would expect it in less than an hour.

Edit: Release in ~20 min I think, or [hour]:23.

 

[berkeman]

Leveling off at 46,000 feet before launch...

 

[hutchphd]

six minutes now

 

[berkeman]

Safe landing. Great.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Did anyone notice that the spaceplane doesn't seem to have a front wheel? They appear to use something more like a skid plate. My first thought was it reduces weight.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, I guess they have to use the rear wheel brakes to control the low-speed steering?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yeah, I guess they have to use the rear wheel brakes to control the low-speed steering?

Apparently so. But if you don't really need it, why build it? They only need steering for 30 seconds or so. I think beyond that it could all be done with air surfaces.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Heh, they might also be using the skid pad as an additional brake.

 

[dlgoff]

Are there any replay videos of this flight? I some how missed it.

 

[Motore]

Are there any replay videos of this flight? I some how missed it.

Post #780

 

[dlgoff]

Post #780

Yes, I watched that, but that's not a replay video.

 

[dlgoff]

Post #780

Okay, I guess that does show what happened.

 

[hutchphd]

Yes, I watched that, but that's not a replay video.

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

 

[berkeman]

Well, thankfully this mission was more successful than that failed "jump" by Evel.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

Haha, I know what you mean. But this isn't Evel Knievel. These guys are doing it right. I think the biggest notable differences between this and a NASA operation are the reduced scale, and they are only providing what amounts to a thrill ride.

 

[berkeman]

Does anybody know what the contingencies are for failed mission landings? Are there other airstrips in the area that can be used as alternates for glided landings? How long of an airstrip does the lander need? Does the craft have the capability to dump its rocket fuel if needed to lighten before an emergency landing?

 

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What would be the scenario where they need to go to a different landing site farther away? Release is just ~15 min before landing, so they can make sure the weather conditions will be fine.

I liked the coverage, just the constant comparisons to Apollo 11 were annoying. This was not another Moon landing event. Not even close.

 

[dlgoff]

Does anybody know what the contingencies are for failed mission landings? Are there other airstrips in the area that can be used as alternates for glided landings? How long of an airstrip does the lander need? Does the craft have the capability to dump its rocket fuel if needed to lighten before an emergency landing?

In October 2010, the 3,000 m (10,000 ft) runway at Spaceport America was opened, with SpaceShipTwo "VSS Enterprise" shipped to the site carried underneath the fuselage of Virgin Galactic's Mother Ship Eve.

compliments of this google search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=vir...AEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz

I guess this came from this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic

 

[Office_Shredder]

Did anone else feel this was closer to Evel Knievel at the Snake River than Yuri or Alan?? Maybe that's the point, but it all seemed just a little "off" to me...I guess I,m showing my age.

The only point of this stunt was to sell space tickets. It's just a show. People already go to space on a regular basis.

 

[Baluncore]

FlightAware tracking.

The mother ship.
RUTAN 348 White Knight Two (quad-jet) (WHK2)
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VGX3/history/20210711/1430Z/9NM9/9NM9

The spaceship. Aircraft tracking speed and altitude fail above 900 mph or 60,000 ft.
RUTAN 339 Space Ship Two (single-Rocket) (SS2)
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VGX1/history/20210711/1441Z

Spaceport America; Arrivals and Departures.
https://flightaware.com/live/airport/9NM9

 

[berkeman]

The only point of this stunt was to sell space tickets. It's just a show. People already go to space on a regular basis.

True, but I think we have to give the guy credit for risking his own life to help make that happen.