Space Stuff and Launch Info

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The Starliner spacecraft has started to emit strange noises
Is it haunted?
Here is the sound
It's scheduled to undock September 6.

The second flight of Vulcan is scheduled for September 16. It was supposed to fly Dream Chaser but that spacecraft needs more time. ULA has decided to fly an empty rocket (some dummy mass) - it needs a second flight to get certified for national security launches as soon as possible or ULA will lose more launches to SpaceX.

 

[berkeman]

Here is the sound

Sounds like there's a stowaway in the craft banging with a wrench to get help...

 

[Vanadium 50]

descend into yelling:

You've got to love the Post. (Best headline ever: Headless body in topless bar)

There is no way to make Starliner's track record look good.

I find the noises very disturbing.

 

[Tom.G]

Here is an update from:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/...an-emitting-strange-sonar-noises-on-saturday/

Sept. 2 Update: NASA issued the following explanation on Monday for the strange noises: "A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback."

Cheers,
Tom

 

[gleem]

The Polaris Dawn launch is now scheduled for this Friday, Sept. 6, in a four-hour window starting at 3:33 a.m. EDT.

 

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1 day and 2 hours until Polaris Dawn
Edit: Delayed again to Monday

The last original Vega rocket flew a few hours ago. It started with 14 successful launches and was a great example that you can design rockets that don't need to fail before becoming reliable - but the failures of the 15th and 17th launch ruined that. It retires with a 20/22 track record. Its upgrade Vega-C will stay flying (1 success, 1 failure so far).

Blue Origin is in a race against the clock. The first flight of New Glenn is planned to launch EscaPADE, two smaller satellites, to Mars. The nominal launch date is October 13. The window extends a bit beyond that - they can probably launch a week earlier, and maybe even towards the end of October - but there isn't much room for delays.
Most rockets take months from integration to their first launch. SLS had its first wet dress rehearsal attempt 9 months before launch. ULA had Vulcan hardware on the launch pad 10 months before launch. Ariane 6 performed a static fire test 8 months before launch. Starship performed static fire tests and wet dress rehearsals for months before the first flight. Falcon Heavy flew 6 weeks after arriving at launch pad - but its components were well-known from Falcon 9.
Blue Origin is still stacking the hardware for the first rocket. Launching that in 5 weeks would be an unprecedented pace for a new rocket. Tweets like this aren't exactly helping. The time until the launch is sufficient to install engines?

 

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Watch Starliner undock (starting in 2 hours):



Some earlier coverage here:



It's planned to land in southern New Mexico, coming from Mexico, visibility from the US will likely be minimal to non-existent.

 

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Starliner undocking in 10 minutes.

NASA Stands Down from October Launch for ESCAPADE to Mars
The spacecraft would need to be fueled now for an October launch, but removing that fuel again if the launch is delayed would be awkward. NASA looked at the chance of New Glenn making it for October and concluded that it's too unlikely to happen. Not surprising.
Another possible launch window opens in early 2025, with a different (slower) path to Mars.

 

[.Scott]

At 18:10, the Starliner separated 6 minutes ago and the first ten of the twelve sets of thruster burns has been uneventful. Starliner is more than 150 meters away from the station.
A minute later, all break out burns were completed successfully and had exited the 200M keep out sphere.
At 18:13, it was reported that Starliner was in an orbit that would take its closest approach to the station further and further on each orbit. So it has accomplished its departure objective.

 

[berkeman]

What is this view showing?

 

[.Scott]

It shows the Starliner outside the 200M keep-out sphere. I believe the gray arrow is showing its velocity relative to the station. The yellow arrow is likely to be the direction of orbital motion.
On top-right is the Starliner elevation trajectory relative to the space station.

 

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The sphere should be the keep-out sphere with a radius of 200 meters. Every spacecraft orbit needs to stay outside that sphere unless the spacecraft is moving very slow compared to the ISS and it has been verified that everything is working properly.

Edit: Yes, the foreground image is Starliner, looking into the service module.

 

[berkeman]

Ah, now the view makes more sense as Starliner has rotated so I can see it in the image. And I guess the sphere is the keep-out sphere...

 

[.Scott]

They just announced that Starliner has exited the exit approach ellipsoid and is basically on its own. It can maneuver without coordination with NASA.

 

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Landed without issues on the way down.

 

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2 hours 20 minutes until the launch of Polaris Dawn. The crew is in the capsule. Watch live.

 

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Delayed due to bad launch weather, another possible attempt in 2 hours 15 minutes from now but again with a bad weather forecast. A large chance that they have to try again tomorrow.

Edit: T-10 minutes, weather looks good, rocket is being fueled.

Edit: Liftoff!

Edit: Successful launch. The crew should be close to apogee now, 45 minutes after launch.

https://www.spacex.com/follow-dragon

 

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There are 19 people in orbit for the first time. The previous record was 17.

12 are on the ISS:
* 3 from Soyuz MS-26 (launched yesterday, new ISS crew members)
* 3 who will leave on Soyuz MS-25 (departing ISS crew members)
* 4 from Dragon Crew-8 (ISS crew)
* 2 from Starliner (unplanned ISS crew)

3 on Tiangong
4 on Polaris Dawn

In some sense, Boeing made this record possible.

Oleg Kononenko has become the first astronaut to spend over 1000 days, and over 3 years, in space. He'll leave later this month.

Polaris Dawn is on track for the EVA
Live coverage: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJAZnwZqLxb

 

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Suits are pressurized, awaiting venting of the cabin air in 10 minutes.
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1OyJAZnwZqLxb

 

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Isaacman outside in space. Camera placement could be improved, we always see him from the back. It's mounted on the nose cone, and the rails are going away from the cone.

Edit: Gillis was out as well, tested the suit and went in again, they repressurize the capsule now.

Edit2: EVA done. Everything was successful.

 

[.Scott]

Polaris Dawn crew member Sarah Gillis provides orbital violin for Rey's Theme or Rey's Theme (at about video 0:25) with planetary accompaniment.

 

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Polaris Dawn reentry as seen from the ISS. Posted on reddit by Don Pettit, the astronaut who took the picture, as he was flying over southern Pakistan.

 

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Static fire test of New Glenn's second stage - progress towards its first launch.

An interesting article discussing how NASA chose to fund two crew capsules in 2014: In the room where it happened: When NASA nearly gave Boeing all the crew funding

Bad weather delayed Crew-9 to September 28. Once it docks with the ISS, the Starliner crew will have their own proper seats on a vehicle again.
This will be the fourth launch ever, and the first from the US, with 50% American and 50% Russian astronauts. Nick Hague was already on one of the other three, and also launched on one of the rare Soyuz flights with two American astronauts.


There are two major interplanetary flights coming up:

* Hera, October 7: It will do a Mars fly-by in March 2025 before entering an orbit around Didymos in December 2026. It will observe the aftermath of the DART impact on Dimorphos. Two cubesats will also land on it.

* Europa Clipper, October 10: Primarily studying Jupiter's moon Europa (from 2030 on), as the name suggests: The magnetic field environment, the chemistry of the surface and gases the moon ejects, radar measurements down to the ocean, and more. With a mass of 6 tonnes it is the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built and at $5 billion it is the third-most expensive individual spacecraft ever (after JWST and Hubble, not counting modular space stations). Only a fully expendable Falcon Heavy can launch it. SLS would have the payload capability but there are concerns about vibrations and the $2 billion cost difference. It would delay Artemis, too.

 

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Crew-9 will launch in 2:30 (17:17 UTC), the crew is on board. NASA live coverage

The pre-launch conference has some interesting info, too.

Dragon has 4 parachutes. If one fails it's not changing the landing much. With 2 you get a rough but acceptable landing. With 1 it's survivable but you are probably not going to fly again. With 0? From now on, Dragon can use its launch escape system in that case, firing the SuperDraco thrusters to slow down. Certifying the thrusters for a landing would have delayed the program so much that SpaceX decided to use parachutes and abandon propulsive landing - but the requirements are probably lower in a scenario where the alternative is certain death. SpaceX had this emergency option for commercial customers before, but now NASA agreed to use it as well.

We got a picture of one of the backup seats for the Starliner crew. They will be removed once Crew-9 is at the ISS.

This, combined with the delay of Crew-9 and all the other Starliner-induced activities, has made Crew-8 the longest Dragon flight so far. Dragon was originally certified for 210 days, but that has been increased to 240 days. Dragon Endeavour has been in space for 208 days on this flight.

 

[Vanadium 50]

With 1 it's survivable but you are probably not going to fly again. With 0?

Reminds me of the old Bill Dana routine.

"Where will your space capsule be landing?"
"The state of Nevada"
"And if your parachute fails, what provisions have they made to break your fall?"
"The state of Nevada"

 

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Another anomaly with a Falcon 9 upper stage, this time at the deorbit burn (after deploying Crew-9 successfully).



In July, the first burn had the engine running while oxygen leaked, the re-ignition to circularize the orbit then failed. Dragon launches only use a single engine burn to deploy the spacecraft*, so the deorbit burn was the second use of the engine as well. The specific sensor line that caused the problem in July has been removed, but it could be a similar cause.

*this is less efficient, but simplifies the launch and allows an earlier release of Dragon. This flight is a good example why SpaceX and NASA chose this profile.

 

[Flyboy]

That’s interesting that it’s on relight for both anomalies. And that it’s happening in such quick succession.

Wild speculation time: the emphasis on Starship/Superheavy is causing a brain drain on Falcon 9, doubly so with it being seen as a “mature” design. This is the most obvious manifestation of that brain drain.

I hope SpaceX is self-aware enough to recognize that and address it before the rot sets in too deeply (glares at Boeing).

 

[Astronuc]

US FAA grounds SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket after second-stage malfunction
https://www.reuters.com/technology/...et-after-second-stage-malfunction-2024-09-30/

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday said SpaceX must investigate why the second stage of its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket malfunctioned after a NASA astronaut mission on Saturday, grounding the rocket for the third time in three months.

After SpaceX on Saturday launched two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the rocket body that had boosted the crew further into space failed to properly re-light its engine for its "deorbit burn," a routine procedure that discards the booster into the ocean after completing its flight.

 

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Live coverage of Vulcan's second launch
Just a mass demonstrator, unfortunately. They'll do some tests with the upper stage which will fly to an interplanetary orbit.

 

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Mostly successful. It delivered the second stage to its target orbit. Something went wrong with one of the solid rocket motors, however. It started with an explosion apparently damaging or breaking the nozzle, followed by a very asymmetric pattern of the two solid rocket motors and some more debris flying off later.

1:50:26 in ULA's live coverage, this picture was taken from the NASASpaceflight coverage after launch as it has a better angle.

2:30:25: "We did however have an observation on SRB Number 1"