Space Stuff and Launch Info

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A mostly successful launch of Ariane 6. It reached its nominal orbit and deployed various cubesats. A maneuver two hours after launch didn't work as expected, leaving two reentry test capsules in a wrong (non-reentering) orbit.

 

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Something unexpected happened on the most recent Falcon 9 launch. A lot of ice (?) built up on the second stage during flight. It still reached its nominal temporary orbit, but when trying to raise the orbit later the engine was destroyed. The rocket was able to deploy the Starlink satellites but they are now in an orbit with an unusually low perigee, it's not clear if they can raise their orbit quick enough to escape from there.

SpaceX has a very busy launch schedule - they'll need to understand this as quickly as possible to avoid shifting too many launches. Two crewed flights were expected for August, they might need to move.

Falcon 9 Block 5 has made 298 flights, this is the first that didn't reach the correct orbit.

 

[Flyboy]

Huh. That’s definitely a problem, as the upper stage engine has been relatively bulletproof for the entire life of the design. I hope it’s not indicative of an issue in manufacturing, since they’re cranking those engines and stages out at a phenomenal rate these days. If they’re going to have an issue with complacency, this would be the place for it, imo.

Then again, could be a one-off failure. After all, this is the first upper stage engine failure in how many launches? Could just be Murphy taking his due.

 

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It's the first upper stage problem in 345 flights.

* Flight 4 had one booster engine fail. The rocket deployed its primary payload to the correct orbit and still had enough propellant to change its orbit for a secondary payload, but the margins were smaller than required by NASA for ISS safety.
* Flight 19 had the second stage break up during launch. Still the only time Falcon 9 launched and didn't reach orbit.
* The rocket that would have made flight 29 with Amos-6 exploded in a static fire test.
* 334 flawless missions (including 10 flown by Falcon Heavy)
* And now this flight, the 354th of Falcon 9.

Update by SpaceX
A liquid oxygen leak. The failure was gentle enough to deploy the satellites, but with their extremely low orbit they are unlikely to win against drag.

The FAA requires an accident investigation. It's not clear how long that will take. SpaceX will push for a separate and faster conclusion that there is no risk for the public (to launch again) and a full accident investigation that can take more time.

 

[Borg]

Not launch info but definitely space stuff:
Caves on the moon

Scientists have for the first time discovered a cave on the Moon.

At least 100m deep, it could be an ideal place for humans to build a permanent base

The cave has a skylight on the Moon’s surface, leading down to vertical and overhanging walls, and a sloping floor that might extend further underground.

It was made millions or billions of years ago when lava flowed on the Moon, creating a tunnel through the rock.

 

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Looks like all the Starlink satellites from the most recent launch have reentered. The perigee was just too low.

SpaceX will push for a separate and faster conclusion that there is no risk for the public (to launch again) and a full accident investigation that can take more time.

As expected: SpaceX requests public safety determination for early return to flight for its Falcon 9 rocket
Filed on July 15, just four days after the accident. And SpaceX wants to move very fast:

If the FAA agrees with SpaceX’s determination, the Falcon 9 could resuming launching. The company has tentative plans to launch both the Starlink 10-4 and Starlink 10-9 missions from its two launchpads in Florida later this week. This would be pending the approval of the FAA, of course.

Edit: Source selection statement for the ISS deorbit vehicle. NASA received two offers, from Northrop Grumman and from SpaceX. SpaceX won easily, with a better proposal, a better past performance and a significantly lower price.

 

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NASA has awarded SpaceX $266,678 for a "Special Study for Emergency Response" (click on "view"). That is not money where actual hardware would be developed. It's likely some paperwork where SpaceX will determine how quickly it could launch a Crew Dragon if needed, or how expensive it would be to provide this as an ongoing service (e.g. launch within 1 week whenever needed) in the future.

It's not difficult to see what motivated NASA to request this study.

 

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NASA and SpaceX have revealed more details about the ISS deorbiting vehicle.
Press conference, rendering, news article

It's based on Dragon, but with a much larger and heavier trunk. ~30 tonnes overall, so it's too heavy for a Falcon 9. No launch vehicle selected yet - it will be operated by NASA so we might see it launch elsewhere. SpaceX will certainly propose FH (or maybe Starship) for it, although New Glenn could launch this as well.

The ISS will stop orbit raising maneuvers and lower its altitude passively to 220 km, where the last crew departs. From that point on the deorbit needs to be active to control the reentry area.

 

[berkeman]

rendering

Why does it have solar panels in that rendering? Seems like it should be able to draw what little power it needs from its docking connection, no?

 

[Flyboy]

Couple reasons...

1. They may disable the solar panel sun tracking on the station when the last crew leaves to make the drag profile of the station more predictable. That would significantly impact generating capacity.
2. The deorbit vehicle may take some time to complete the rendezvous, docking, and deorbit process and they want to be sure of a reliable power supply.
3. They might outright disable most of the power grid on the station as they leave for safety. Preserve what power they have for orientation control and such.

 

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Falcon 9 might return to flight within a day. SpaceX has sent a drone ship to the planned landing area - they must expect at least some chance to get FAA approval in time. 12 days would be an exceptionally short turnaround after a launch failure, but it looks like the fix is simple.

 

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NASA cancels the $500 million VIPER lunar rover. Or should we say Congress cancels it?
The rover is built and on track for launch in September 2025. NASA spent the money for construction, NASA spent the money for a launch contract. All that's left to do is finishing the test program and keeping the rover fully functional until its launch. But the program cost hit some magical +30% budget overrun threshold which automatically triggered a review of the program - and that didn't recommend spending the remaining $84 million that would be needed to actually send the vehicle.

The launch will still happen, but Astrobotic now plans to carry a mass simulator while the rover will rot in some storage room.

 

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SpaceX has concluded the Falcon 9 accident investigation.
An oxygen leak in a line leading to a sensor. This sensor was not critical, so SpaceX removed the sensor and the line leading to it. They also reinforced some other lines.

The FAA has allowed Falcon 9 to resume launches - not concluding the investigation yet, but finding no public safety issue.
SpaceX now aims at a Saturday launch.

Two weeks between successful flights would be a great launch cadence for most companies. Doing that after a launch failure is unheard of.

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Boeing has made progress studying the Starliner issues.
Press conference
Still no return date, and it appears Boeing didn't properly test various aspects of the capsule before launching.
The backup option, launching Crew-9 with two astronauts and making the Starliner crew stay for another 6 months in its 8-day mission, is more feasible now that Falcon 9 can fly again. NASA will ask for a few missions with the new configuration before Crew-9, but SpaceX should reach these quickly.

 

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Successful return to flight of Falcon 9 after 15 days, launching a batch of Starlink satellites. Two more are planned within a day, using all three launch pads as soon as SpaceX could.

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NASA nears decision on what to do with Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft
A lot more detail about the thrusters. Boeing and NASA understand what went wrong now, what's still not fully clear is the extent of the damage in the Starliner in space.
A decision how to proceed could happen within a week.

Crew-9 will fly in August. NASA has now decided that the next crew will also fly on Dragon (Crew-10) in early 2025. The first operational Starliner mission could happen after that (so ~August 2025). Maybe later, but certainly not earlier.

 

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NASA says it is “evaluating all options” for the safe return of Starliner crew
A flight readiness review that was scheduled for August 1 was cancelled, NASA wants to give an update next week.

One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would. To be clear, NASA has not made a final decision. This probably will not happen until at least next week. It is likely that Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator, will make the call.

If NASA decides that it's not safe enough to return with Starliner then we are unlikely to see a 6 months crew mission as next flight. It seems unlikely that Boeing is willing to pay for another certification flight either. Maybe NASA will pay something extra for another shorter flight? Relying on Dragon alone is possible, but not ideal.

Trivia: If the Starliner crew returns on Dragon, they will be the first people to use four orbital spacecraft for launch or return in their career. Both flew on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz before.

 

[Rive]

This 'Starliner' more and more looks like a failed project.

 

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The ISS resupply spacecraft Cygnus usually launches on Antares, but that rocket used Russian engines so it's currently not available (a transition to US-built engines is planned). In the meantime, three of them will be launched by Falcon 9. After the second of these launches a few hours ago, apparently Cygnus didn't raise its orbit as planned. They seem to understand what went wrong and it's still planned to reach the ISS on Tuesday.

Even if it doesn't make it to the ISS: The station keeps supplies for months, so even with the two extra astronauts they won't run out. The next Crew Dragon can fly with more food and fewer science experiments, and another Cargo Dragon resupply mission is planned for September already.

A lot of accidents and incidents with important missions recently.

 

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The Starliner saga continues. NASA likely to significantly delay the launch of Crew 9 due to Starliner issues

Three separate, well-placed sources have confirmed to Ars that the current flight software on board Starliner cannot perform an automated undocking from the space station and entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
[...]
sources described the process to update the software on Starliner as "non-trivial" and "significant," and that it could take up to four weeks.

Yes, this is the same Starliner program that undocked autonomously before. It's the same capsule that flew the first uncrewed flight test - didn't reach the ISS, but it certainly had the software to undock from it!

What made Boeing remove that functionality? And why does it sound like they only start working on that now? Certainly this has been a high priority item since Starliner showed more issues in space?

The ISS only has two docking ports shared between Dragon and Starliner. Currently both are used for Crew-8 and Starliner's crewed flight test. NASA strongly prefers launching the next crew (i.e. Crew-9) before returning the previous one, but that only works if Starliner leaves.

NASA will ask for a few missions with the new configuration before Crew-9, but SpaceX should reach these quickly.

Since July 27, Falcon 9 has flown 6 missions already.


Edit: Cygnus has now made the first two orbit raising maneuvers and is on the way to the ISS.

 

[berkeman]

What made Boeing remove that functionality? And why does it sound like they only start working on that now? Certainly this has been a high priority item since Starliner showed more issues in space?

Yikes. Sounds like we need a cowboy space plan, with an EVA after one of the astronauts undocks the craft from inside, points it down and boogies out the hatch...

 

[Flyboy]

The Starliner saga continues. NASA likely to significantly delay the launch of Crew 9 due to Starliner issues
Yes, this is the same Starliner program that undocked autonomously before. It's the same capsule that flew the first uncrewed flight test - didn't reach the ISS, but it certainly had the software to undock from it!

What made Boeing remove that functionality? And why does it sound like they only start working on that now? Certainly this has been a high priority item since Starliner showed more issues in space?

The ISS only has two docking ports shared between Dragon and Starliner. Currently both are used for Crew-8 and Starliner's crewed flight test. NASA strongly prefers launching the next crew (i.e. Crew-9) before returning the previous one, but that only works if Starliner leaves.

Since July 27, Falcon 9 has flown 6 missions already.

You have got to be kidding.

At this point I think the folks at Boeing are actively going out of their way to make this even more of a fiasco.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA says chances are growing that astronauts may switch from Boeing to a SpaceX ride back to Earth
https://apnews.com/article/boeing-astronauts-starliner-nasa-spacex-e2912c86bcb19dbcecee407fd146e3df

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — What should have been a quick trip to the International Space Station may turn into an eight-month stay for two NASA astronauts if they have to switch from Boeing to SpaceX for a ride home.

There’s lingering uncertainty over the safety of Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, NASA officials said Wednesday, and the space agency is split over the risk. As a result, chances are increasing that test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams may have to watch from the space station as their Starliner is cut loose to return to Earth empty.

If that happens, NASA would leave behind two of four astronauts from the next SpaceX taxi flight in late September, with the vacant seats set aside for Wilmore and Williams on the return trip next February. The pair expected to be gone just a week or two when they launched June 5 as Starliner’s first crew.

Not stranded, just delayed for a while . . . .

 

[Filip Larsen]

More clarifying details from NASA on the latest development (or lack thereof) regarding Starliner docked at ISS:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/...l-disagreement-on-safety-of-starliner-return/

Since the issue with the thruster oxidizer valve now seem to have been reproduced on ground it is puzzling to me why this issue was not discovered in all the testing that went before a crewed launch. Clearly, something should have been done differently during testing.

 

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No earlier than August 26 for Polaris Dawn
That means it's now planned to fly before Crew-9.

It will be the first privately funded mission focused on advancing crewed spaceflight.

 

[Flyboy]

More clarifying details from NASA on the latest development (or lack thereof) regarding Starliner docked at ISS:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/...l-disagreement-on-safety-of-starliner-return/

Since the issue with the thruster oxidizer valve now seem to have been reproduced on ground it is puzzling to me why this issue was not discovered in all the testing that went before a crewed launch. Clearly, something should have been done differently during testing.

Boeing? Ignoring proper testing and safety procedures? Noooo, perish the thought.

 

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Boeing? Ignoring proper testing and safety procedures? Noooo, perish the thought.

Impossible! A new report finds Boeing’s rockets are built with an unqualified work force.
No, this article is not about Starliner, this is SLS.

People found this old Boeing article:

Just because the Starliner can fly to and from the International Space Station without human intervention does not mean humans can’t take charge.

Guess they didn't expect people to actually ask for that capability?

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Starship is ready for flight 5

 

[Astronuc]

Chinese rocket breaks apart in low-Earth orbit, creating a cloud of space debris, US Space Command says​

https://news.yahoo.com/news/chinese-rocket-breaks-apart-low-163416688.html

One of China’s Long March 6A rockets has broken apart in low-Earth orbit and created a debris cloud consisting of hundreds of pieces, according to multiple space debris-tracking entities.

The rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on Tuesday to deliver 18 G60 satellites into orbit, which marks just the first deployment for the Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology group’s Thousand Sails constellation.

Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. US Space Command, a branch of the US Department of Defense, confirmed the breakup of the rocket on Thursday.

 

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That is the fourth breakup in seven launches of Long March 6A. It happened at 800 km altitude, so the debris will stay in space for decades to centuries. The planned constellation will need 100+ launches. Producing 300 large debris objects (and who knows how many smaller ones) every other launch isn't going to work, they have to fix that problem.

 

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After a scrub yesterday, SpaceX plans to fly two Falcon 9 from Florida with just 13 minutes in between. 12:50 UTC and 13:03 UTC today, that is in two hours and a few minutes.

Looks like SpaceX will have separate livestreams, the second one starting while the first mission is still in flight:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-8-3
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-10-7

It wasn't planned that way, but we might will see this more often in the future. It reduces the effort for range safety.

Edit: One launch happened, the other was delayed by a day.

 

[Astronuc]

NASA’s Management of Space Launch System Block 1B Development
Aug 8, 2024 - https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ig-24-015.pdf

While NASA requires its aerospace contractors to have quality assurance programs that comply with SAE International’s AS9100D standards on quality management systems, we found Boeing’s quality management system at Michoud does not adhere to these standards or NASA requirements. NASA engages DCMA to conduct surveillance of Boeing’s core and upper stage manufacturing efforts at Michoud, and when deficiencies in quality are found, DCMA issues Corrective Action Requests (CAR) to the contractor. CARs are labeled Level I through IV, with Level I the least serious deficiency.

From September 2021 to September 2023, DCMA issued Boeing 71 Level I and II CARs, as well as a draft Level III CAR.According to DCMA officials, this is a high number of CARs for a space flight system at this stage in development and reflects a recurring and degraded state of product quality control. Boeing’s process to address deficiencies to date has been ineffective, and the company has generally been nonresponsive in taking corrective actions when the same quality control issues reoccur.

NASA inspector general gives damning assessment of Boeing's quality control
https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ig-24-015.pdf

Ongoing issues with Boeing’s Starliner spaceship have been front and center this summer, but a new government report highlights other shortcomings of the company's aerospace work.

The report, released Thursday by NASA’s Office of Inspector General, calls into question Boeing’s standards and quality control for its part in NASA’s efforts to return astronauts to the moon.

In NASA's development of its next-generation megarocket, known as the Space Launch System, it gave Boeing the contract to build the rocket system’s powerful upper stage.

But according to the report, Boeing’s quality control systems fall short of NASA’s requirements, and some known deficiencies have gone unaddressed. What's more, the workers on the project are not, as a whole, sufficiently experienced or well trained, according to the inspector general.

From 2019 - https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IG-20-005.pdf
From 2016 - https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IG-16-028.pdf

NASA OIG - 2023 Report on NASA’s TOP MANAGEMENT and PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES
https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mc-2023.pdf

NASA report calls for 'financial penalties' over Boeing's Starliner
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...penalties-over-boeing-s-starliner/ar-AA1ozbQJ

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/spa...-astronauts-space-station-february-rcna165587
NASA might keep Boeing astronauts on the space station until February — and tap SpaceX to bring them home
The two astronauts were meant to stay in space for about a week, but problems with the Starliner capsule have left them waiting for more than two months.

Boeing Has Created the Flight Delay to End All Flight Delays​

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/08/boeing-starliner-delay-return-spacex/679401/
Boeing sent two NASA astronauts to space for eight days. They could be there for eight months.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/09/science/boeing-starliner-nasa-astronauts-life-in-space/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/08/07/starliner-nasa-boeing-spacex/

 

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NASA wants to decide what to do with Starliner within a week or so.


Another commercial Crew Dragon mission has been announced: Fram2, planned for later this year, will be the first crewed mission to fly over the polar regions. It's another mixture of tourist flight and some science program. All four passengers have some connection to the polar environment. Website of the project, news article

Chun Wang, who got rich with cryptocurrencies, finances the flight. He dropped some hints on Twitter over months, but no one noticed: One, two, ...

Jannicke Mikkelsen will become the first or second Norwegian* and first Norwegian woman in space, Rabea Rogge will become the 13th German and first German woman in space.

*depending on how you count Marcus Wandt with a dual citizenship