Rockets

Space transport roundup – May.2.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** Blue Origin New Shepard flies successfully:

Reports on the flight and the research payloads on board:

New Shepard hardware is produced at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Wash., and shipped down to Texas for flight. Cornell said people wouldn’t ride in the New Shepard capsule that was tested today, but in an upgraded capsule that’s currently sitting in Blue Origin’s “barn” in Texas.

“Because it’s such a special capsule to us, we actually decided to name the newest capsule that’s just in the barn the ‘RSS First Step,’ ” Cornell said. ” ‘RSS’? Reusable Spaceship, of course. And ‘First Step’ because it is our first capsule that is going to be taking people. It’s going to enable our vision of millions of people living and working in space

** CRS-17 Cargo Dragon launch set for early Friday morning following a fix to the ISS power problem that delayed the flight from Wednesday. However, weather is an issue. Only a 40% chance for suitable conditions for liftoff according to the USAF launch range forecast. This improves to 70% if the launch is postponed till Saturday morning

The rocket will blast off from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can watch the launch on the SpaceX webcast, which will start about 15 minutes before liftoff, currently set to occur during a 1 second window at 3:11:33 am EDT, or 7:11:33 UTC.

There will also be a NASA TV webcast as well.

The CRS-17 Mission press kit provides info on launch events, the payloads and other aspects of the mission.

Note that this Cargo Dragon vehicle also flew on the the CRS-12 mission in August 2017. The Falcon 9 booster is new. The booster will attempt to land on a sea platform not far off the coast of Florida.

** Interstellar Technologies MOMO 3 suborbital launch scrubbed today due to high winds. Next try is set for Friday:

A new launch attempt for the MOMO sounding rocket is tomorrow, May 3rd. A 75-minute launch window would open at 11:15 JST, or 2:15 UTC.

Updates at なつのロケット団公式 (@natsuroke) | Twitter.

** Scott Manley discusses a NASA report on 2 rocket failures caused by a manufacturer’s flawed materials:

In 2009 a Taurus XL rocket failed because the fairing at the top refused to separate, then in 2011 the same things happened again. A multi year investigation traced the problem to materials from a supplier which had been fabricating test results.

** Additional SpaceX:

*** More about Crew Dragon explosion in today’s CRS-17 pre-launch briefing:

Hans Koenigsmann of SpaceX said that the investigation is continuing and he would not speculate on the cause of the explosion. He did say,

  • The explosion started during the preparation for the firing of the SuperDraco thrusters and about a half second before they fired.
  • The Crew Dragon was destroyed.
  • He doesn’t think a SuperDraco itself failed.
  • He doesn’t think that the composite over-wrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) are to blame. These are not the same type of COPVs as the one that caused a Falcon 9 upper stage to explode on the pad in 2016.
  • The site of the test has not yet been fully cleared. There are, for example, pressurized COPVs visible so they must be careful when approaching the site.
  • He said the resulting cloud from the propellant mixture of monomethylhydrazine fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer became benign as it mixed with air.
  • Several Crew Dragon vehicles are in various stages of construction and so can be modified relatively easily to install the fixes required by the results of the investigation.

More at Dragon was destroyed just before the firing of its SuperDraco thrusters | Ars Technica.

*** Progress towards next Falcon Heavy flight in June: SpaceX’s third Falcon Heavy launch on track as custom booster aces static fire – Teslarati

SpaceX has successfully completed a static fire of its newest Falcon Heavy center core, a sign that the most challenging hardware is firmly on track for a late-June launch target.

Currently penciled in for June 22nd, Falcon Heavy’s third launch is of great interest to both SpaceX and its customer, the US Air Force. Most of the two-dozen payloads manifested on the mission are admittedly unaffiliated with the US military. However, the rideshare – known as Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) – was acquired by the USAF for the branch to closely evaluate and certify SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket for critical military launches. The potential upsides of a successful demonstration and evaluation are numerous for both entities and would likely trigger additional positive offshoots.

====

Delta-v

Astronomy, Europa, Titan, & other deep space sites, Space Science

Space sciences roundup – May.2.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images from space-related science news items:

** Latest Mars exploration news:

“Navcam Right image showing the newest “Kilmarie” drill hole on the right, <1 m away from the “Aberlady” drill hole on the left.” – NASA JPL
“Landslide in Hydraotes Chaos” – Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

… In perusing the April image release from the high resolution camera of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), I came across the image above, cropped and reduced to post here, of the discovery of another landslide within Hydraotes Chaos, one of the largest regions of chaos terrain on Mars. The image above was taken on February 9, 2019, and has since been followed up with a second image to create a stereo pair.

This is not the first landslide found in Hydraotes Chaos. I highlighted a similar slide on March 11. Both today’s landslide as well as the previous one likely represent examples of gravitational collapses as shown in this science paper about Martian ground water. Some scientists have proposed that Hydraotes Chaos was once an inland sea, and as the water drained away the loss of its buoyancy is thought to cause this kind of landslide at the base of cliffs and crater rims.

The past presence of water also helps explain the soft muddy look of this landslide. When this collapse occurred the material was likely saturated with water. Today it is most likely quite dry and hardened, but when it flowed it flowed like wet mud. Its size, almost a mile long and a quarter mile across, speaks to Mars’s low gravity, which would allow for large singular collapses like this.

** Ocean Worlds in the Outer Solar System is the title of a Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture given recently by Kevin Hand of NASA JPL:

Dr. Kevin Hand of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory asks where the best place is to find life beyond Earth. He concludes it may be that the small, ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn harbor some of the most habitable real estate in our Solar System. Life loves liquid water and these moons have lots of it! Dr. Hand explains the science behind our understanding of these worlds, with a special focus on Jupiter’s intriguing moon Europa, which is a top priority for future NASA missions.

** Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) are discussed by Bill Diamond, director of the SETI Institute, and Andrew Siemion, director of the UC Berkeley SETI Research Center:

** Highlights of CRS-17 science payloads that will go to the ISS on the upcoming SpaceX Cargo Dragon mission:

====

Moon Rush: The New Space Race

Rockets

Space transport roundup – May.1.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** Blue Origin plans to fly a New Shepard rocket vehicle on Thursday morning at the company’s facilities in West Texas. The website will provide a webcast.

The FAA window for the flight lasts till Sunday: 9/0236 NOTAM Details.

*** A description of nine NASA sponsored payloads on the New Shepard including the Stratospheric and Suborbital Flight Experiments and Equipment for the Teachers in Space program: NASA and Blue Origin Help Classrooms and Researchers Reach Space | NASA

“We are now on the verge of giving students and teachers the ability to build and fly affordable experiments in space. When teachers are this excited about putting experiments in space, their students can’t help but get excited about space, too.”

Elizabeth Kennick, president of Teachers in Space, does not take the opportunity to fly an experiment to space for granted. The nonprofit organization has worked with educators and engineers to design and test standard equipment for classroom-developed experiments, including 3D-printed frames, customizable processors, power adaptors and more. The equipment first flew on high-altitude balloons and more recently on a stratospheric glider. Now, thanks to support from NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, the equipment will fly higher than ever before: to space on the next launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

** The ISS crew has made progress towards fixing the power fault that caused the delay of the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the CRS-17 Dragon Cargo vehicle. No word yet, though, if the mission will be allowed to take off early (3:11 am EDT) Friday morning.

** Rocket Lab preparing for an Electron launch of three USAF satellites during a two week window that opens this Saturday: Next launch | Rocket Lab

** Virgin Orbit shows off “Cosmic Girl”, the company’s rocket carrier aircraft in this report from Loren Grush: What it takes to fly Virgin Orbit’s huge plane that launches rockets into space – The Verge

Virgin Orbit has developed a small rocket called LauncherOne that can put satellites the size of washing machines into orbit. And its launchpad resides at 35,000 feet. Virgin Orbit owns a Boeing 747 airplane, called Cosmic Girl, which carries LauncherOne up into the sky. From there, the rocket will drop from underneath Cosmic Girl’s left wing and then ignite, climbing the rest of the way to orbit.

** Vector Launch moves towards test flights this year:

** UK startup Skyrora looking for a launch site for the company’s rockets, starting with the suborbital SKYRORA 1 rocket: UK’s Skyrora In Hunt For British Launch Sites For Upcoming Rocket Tests – SpaceWatch.Global

Skyrora will make three test launches over the next 12 months, the first expected to take place over the next few months, as part of its effort to certify its Skyrora XL satellite launch vehicle that will be 10 metres tall and will be able to loft a 100 kilogram payload into low-Earth orbit. The company conducted one of its first tests near Evanton, Scotland, in August 2018 when it launched its SkyLark Nano sounding rocket to an altitude of 6 kilometres, reaching a speed of Mach 1.45.

Among the launch tests planned for the coming year is one aiming to breach the so-called Kármán line, the altitude at which atmospheric flight ends and orbital dynamics begin – 100km.

** The X-37B launched on a Falcon 9 in September 2017 remains in orbit after 600 days: X-37B Military Space Plane’s Latest Mystery Mission Passes 600 Days | Space.com

It’s unclear what exactly the spacecraft is doing up there. X-37B missions are classified, and Air Force officials tend to speak of project goals in general terms, as this excerpt from the X-37B fact sheet shows: “The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.”

Still, the Air Force does divulge some payloads flying on X-37B missions. For example, we know that OTV-5 includes the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader experiment (ASETS-II), which is measuring the performance of electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the space environment.

====

Delta-v

Rockets, Space Systems

Space transport roundup – Apr.30.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** SpaceX Cargo Dragon launch delayed from Wednesday to at least Friday due to power problems on the ISS.

From SFN:

A SpaceX Dragon supply ship packed with nearly three tons of experiments, crew provisions and supplies will remain on the ground until at least Friday morning to allow more time for NASA flight controllers to troubleshoot a problem with an electrical distribution unit on the International Space Station.

Multiple sources said the commercial resupply launch, previously scheduled for Wednesday, will be pushed back at least two days to no earlier than Friday at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 GMT).

Find more SpaceX items below.

[ Update: Northrop Grumman has released this video about the first flight of the giant Stratolaunch aircraft:

]

** China launches two Tianhui II-01 satellites remote sensing satellites with little warning: China launches two satellites for scientific experiments – Xinhua | English.news.cn

Long March 4B rocket, with two Tianhui II-01 remote sensing sciencie satellites. Credits: Xinhua

Booster lands on a local village:

*** Update on Chinese launch startup companies who will one can hope will be less likely to drop boosters on communities:

** Interstellar Technologies MOMO 3 suborbital rocket launch was postponed from Tuesday due to a problem with an engine valve. The launch is now set for Thursday:

We are now targeting May 2nd for launch of MOMO third flight. A 75-minute launch window would open at 11:15 JST, 2:15 UTC.

** Firefly tests Alpha upper stage for full launch duration:

From Firefly:

Firefly has achieved a major milestone toward flight qualification of the Alpha second stage, supporting Firefly’s goal of Alpha first launch in 2019. A 300 second hotfire test of the complete upper stage was accomplished on the company’s vertical stage test stand. The length of the test successfully demonstrates the capability of the integrated system (flight avionics, structures, and propulsion systems) to operate for the duration of a flight mission (i.e., a mission duty cycle).

** Blue Origin hints at an announcement from Jeff Bezos on May 9th when he gives a talk at a satellite industry conference: Blue Origin tweets picture from Antarctic voyage, hinting at moon mission – GeekWire

*** Blue Origin facilities in Washington state expand: Construction is well under way for Blue Origin’s expanded HQ – GeekWire

** SpaceX:

*** Latest on Crew Dragon test explosion and status of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program:

*** Everyday Astronaut explains why launch abort towers are being replaced on crew vehicles by integrated liquid fuel engines: Why have SpaceX, Boeing & Blue Origin ditched abort towers? – Everyday Astronaut

There’s a new trend going around in the commercial space industry when it comes to launch abort systems. All three commercial companies who are putting abort systems on their crewed vehicles have ditched the classic launch abort tower we’ve seen dominate abort systems in the past. Previous vehicles like the Mercury capsule, the Apollo capsule and even the Soyuz all used an escape tower that sat on top of the crew module, capable of pulling the vehicle away from a failing rocket in a hurry.

*** Falcon Heavy core booster tested in preparation for the STP-2 Mission set for launch in June:

*** Falcon 9 booster spotted on way to Vandenberg AFB: SpaceX ships Falcon 9 booster west for second California launch of 2019 – Teslarati

Barring a surprise reassignment, the booster Joshuah Murrah caught is Falcon 9 B1051, on its way west some 50 days after successfully supporting Crew Dragon’s March 2nd launch debut. Despite the availability of B1046, B1047, and B1049, B1051 was assigned to the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) shortly after landing aboard OCISLY, triggering major launch delays. The most logical explanation for customer CSA’s and satellite contractor Maxar Technologies’ curious decision is that they must believe that Falcon 9 Block 5 boosters with more than one launch in their past add more risk than those that do not.

*** Broken Falcon Heavy core prepared for departure from Port Canaveral:

*** FCC grants SpaceX permission to launch StarLink Internet satellites into an orbit lower than in the original plan:

In this Order and Authorization (Order), we grant the application1 of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC (SpaceX) to modify its previously authorized 4,425 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation using Ku- and Ka-band spectrum.2 Specifically, we authorize SpaceX to slightly reduce the number of satellites in this constellation, to operate a substantial portion of these satellites at a lower orbital altitude than previously authorized, and to include the use of Ku-band gateway earth stations for fewer than 75 of these lower-altitude satellites.3 Grant of this modification will allow SpaceX to make efficient use of valuable spectrum resources more safely, quickly, and cost-effectively as it initiates a new generation of broadband services available to customers worldwide, including those in areas previously underserved or even totally unserved by other broadband solutions.

A statement from SpaceX:

*** The first launch of operational Starlink satellites to this new orbital altitude is expected in May: SpaceX’s first batch of Starlink satellites already in Florida for launch debut – Teslarati

Above all else, SpaceX’s confirmation that the first batch of Starlink satellites are already in Florida drives home the reality that the company’s internet satellite constellation is about to become very real. Said constellation has long been the subject of endless skepticism and criticism, dominated by a general atmosphere of dismissal. There is no doubt that Starlink, as proposed, is an extraordinarily ambitious program that will cost billions of dollars to even begin to realize. SpaceX will have to find ways to affordably manufacture and launch ~11,900 satellites – together weighing something like 500 metric tons (1.1 million lbs) – in as few as nine years, start to finish.

*** Raptor engines tested for Starhopper flights : SpaceX wants to unleash Starhopper but longer Raptor test fires come first – Teslarati

According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the next round of Starhopper activity will focus on removing the spacecraft prototype’s tethers and performing far more substantial hop tests.

Longer tests demand that SpaceX begins expanding the known performance envelope of its full-scale Raptor engine. Towards that end, longer-duration tests would need to be done at the company’s McGregor, TX development facilities to reduce risk, tests that Musk confirmed are already well underway. A recent Raptor static fire reportedly lasted no less than 40 seconds, more than enough time for a single-engine Starhopper to significantly expand both the maximum altitude and velocity of future hop tests. In support of the upcoming Starhopper test campaign, significant construction work is also ongoing at SpaceX’s Boca Chica test and development facilities.

*** Progress on construction of the orbital Starship test vehicle continues at Boca Chica Beach:

*** Elon posts artwork for stainless steel Starships on the Moon and Mars:

====

Moon Rush: The New Space Race

Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – April.29.2019

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, April 22, 2019; 2-3:30 pm PDT (4-5:30 pm CDT, 5-6:30 pm EDT): No show this week.

2. Tuesday, April 23, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): Bruno Mombrinie, founder and lead designer of the electric short takeoff and landing airplane Metro Hop, will talk about “flying cars for real”.

3. Wednesday, April 24, 2019: Hotel Mars. See Upcoming Show Menu and the website newsletter for details. Hotel Mars is pre-recorded by John Batchelor. It is archived on The Space Show site after John posts it on his website.

4. Friday, April 26, 2019; 9:30-11 am PDT; 11:30 am-1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT): Marcia S. Smith will discuss NASA budgets and lunar program costs.

5. Sunday, April 28, 2019; 12 pm PDT (3:00 pm EDT, 2:00 pm CDT): Leonard David will talk about his new book, Moon Rush: The New Space Race. The interview will be followed by an Open Lines session.

Some recent shows:

** Sun, 04/28/2019 – 12:00 – Michael Ciancone talked aboout his spaceflight bibliography, the important 2018 IAC in Bremen, IAC 2019 in Washington, DC, and the Orion Service Module program with ESA.

** Fri, 04/26/2019 – Umberto Cavallaro talked about his book, The Race to the Moon Chronicled in Stamps, Postcards, and Postmarks: A Story of Puffery vs. the Pragmatic, and about “documenting early space history through stamps, USSR propaganda, US stamp approach and more”.

** Mon, 04/22/2019 – Daniel Suarez discussed his new science fiction novel, Delta-v, and “deep space mining, space economics, commercial space, policy and regulations, government space activities, risk taking, lunar return, Mars and much much more”.

** Tue, 04/23/2019 – Jeffrey Smith talked about his two recent booster series articles on The Space Review (Part 1 and Part 2) and “also talked rocket and booster history, returning to the Moon and more”.

See also:
* The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
* The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
* The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - David Livingston
The Space Show – David Livingston

 

Everyone can participate in space