Videos: Recent rocket launches – SpaceX Falcon 9, Ariane 5, Russian Soyuz and Rokot

** Dec. 5: SpaceX Falcon 9 Dragon Resupply Mission (CRS-16) from Cape Canaveral: Falcon 9 successfully lofts CRS-16 Dragon enroute to ISS – Booster spins out but soft lands in water – NASASpaceFlight.com

[ Update 3: Another good view of the booster. Shows it clear detail the stage when it starts to spin and wobble,  the engine struggling to maintain control, and ends with the legs deploying and the soft landing:

Update 2: Another view of the water landing:

Update: Video from Elon showing the landing from a camera on the booster:

]

Unfortunately, a stuck hydraulic pump on a guide fin caused the first stage to miss the landing pad and go into the water offshore:

The return trajectories of the boosters always aim for the water offshore. Then, if everything is working OK, the engine and fins at the last minute will guide the rocket over to the pad, which lies just beside the beach.

** Dec.4: Ariane V launched two satellites – GSAT-11 for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute): Ariane 5 conducts dual passenger launch with GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A – NASASpaceFlight.com

** Dec.3: SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A mission puts 64 satellites into orbit after launch from Vandenberg AFB in California. First stage lands for third time: Spaceflight Successfully Launches 64 Satellites on First Dedicated Rideshare Mission – Spaceflight

** Dec.3: Russian Soyuz takes three new crew members to the ISS: NASA Astronaut Anne McClain and Crewmates Arrive Aboard Space Station | NASA

** Nov.29: Russian Rokot launches from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia with three military satellites: Russian Rokot launch vehicle lofts three military satellites – NASASpaceFlight.com

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Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Dec.5.2018

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. about student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** Weiss School students part of SpaceX project – wptv.com

As a Space X Falcon 9 rocket launched into orbit on Monday, the students at Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens cheered over a small piece of cargo that is theirs.

A group of middle schoolers has spent the last three years working on a small satellite known as a “cube sat” which is holding bacteria to be studied in space.

“We’ve been working on this for so long,” says 13-year-old Zoey Freedman.

** Crown Prince announces launch of first Jordanian mini satellite | Jordan Times

On this occasion, CPF’s CEO Tamam Mango was quoted in the statement as saying: “We proudly announce the launch of the first Jordanian mini satellite, designed and built by Jordanian engineers.”

She noted that the satellite was designed and built by 18 young engineering students, with support from five academics and consultants, in various engineering fields, from Jordanian universities. “Jordan has entered both the design sector and implementation of satellites, two elements in line with the Crown Prince Foundation’s mission, providing Jordanian youth with pivotal skills and tools to branch into various sectors, enhancing their capabilities, simultaneously enhancing Jordan’s position/status on various levels.”

** Asia-Pacific satellites on SpaceX’s SSO-A mission | SpaceTech Asia

Among the satellites launched were 13 satellites for Asia-Pacific (APAC) companies or those with a presence here – including the first private satellite ever launched by an Indian company. [Seven of the 13 satellites are from educational institutions.]

** AMSAT’s Fox-1Cliff Amateur Radio CubeSat Launched Successfully – ARRL

 A SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle carried Fox-1Cliff and several other satellites into space on December 3 at approximately 1334 UTC from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, following a 1-day launch delay. (See the launch on YouTube.) According to AMSAT, at approximately 0030 UTC on December 4, several stations in Brazil — including PS8MT, PT9BM, and PT2AP — reported hearing the voice beacon “Fox-1Cliff Safe Mode,” confirming that the satellite was alive.

“Just before 0040 UTC, AMSAT Fox-1 Team Member Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, was the first to submit and upload telemetry to the AMSAT servers,” AMSAT reported on its website. “Initial telemetry values show the satellite to be in good health. Thanks to the 29 stations that contributed telemetry during Fox-1Cliff’s initial orbits.”

** Micro satellite ExseedSAT1 to fly on SpaceX – The Hindu BusinessLine

This satellite is freely available for all radio amateurs across the world. It is an open radio transponder that works on ham radio frequencies. One has to pay just Rs 100 license from the WPC to communicate through this satellite.

The Indian government has waived the need for security clearances for amateur radio, enabling a lot of students to quickly apply and obtain radio amateur license, Farhan told BusinessLine.

ExseedSAT1 aims to provide a major boost to private radio operators after ISRO-manufactured micro-satellite, HAMSAT, ceased operations about four years ago. The amateur radio services provide vital communication links during natural disasters.

** Annabelle Grant named winner of Yukon College CubeSat idea contest | Yukon College

Out of 15 submitted ideas from 15 contest participants, Annabelle Grant has been named the winner of the Yukon CubeSat idea contest. 

Grant’s name was pulled from a hat last week. Her idea for the micro-satellite payload is to have it track solid waste in oceans through photographs from low earth orbit.

Other notable ideas submitted to the contest last month involve using data collected from space for education and outreach with the public, using the CubeSat to transmit Yukon stories through amateur radio frequencies, and capturing visual and magnetic studies of the aurora.

As the contest winner, Grant’s name will be featured on the 10cm x 10cm x 20cm satellite due to be launched into orbit in 2020.

See also the Canadian CubeSat Project – Canada.ca.

** USI blasts off into space – The Shield

“Once I heard the word, ‘space’ and ‘USI to be involved with it,’ I immediately asked him how I could jump in on the project,” Loehrlein said. “And he said if he got the grant I’d be asked to be on the team.”

Loehrlein, a senior engineering and finance major, said it felt amazing when the university received the grant.

“It was kind of a mind-blowing opportunity,” Loehrlein said. “I didn’t really expect a small university like USI to originally get a NASA grant for two hundred thousand dollars. So hearing we actually got it and that I could work on a satellite while at USI, it was, honestly, something I couldn’t even fathom at the time.”

* AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-336 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • Fox-1Cliff Launch Targeted for December 2nd
  • AMSAT Web Adds Donation Portal
  • Amateur Radio Contest for Receiving PW-Sat2 Telemetry
  • Additional Amateur Radio Communication Cubesats Launch on SSO-A
  • AMSAT-DL Provides Update for Es’hail-2/P4A Geosynchronous Orbit
  • Nihon University NEXUS VU-mode Linear Transponder Launch Announcement
  • AMSAT Rover Award Updates
  • VUCC Awards-Endorsements for November 2018
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations Reported by KE4AL
  • ESA and RaspberryPi.org Collaborate on Astro Pi Mission Zero
  • MarCo Cubesats Relay NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Touchdown
  • Happy 20th Anniversary to the International Space Station
  • Satellite Shorts From All Over

Other CubeSat and smallsat news & info:

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The High Frontier: An Easier Way

 

Sci-Tech: Plimp hybrid airship, Drone with ion drive propulsion, Audi’s 2-part flying car, UrbanAero Cormorant

The VTOL Plimp Hybrid Airship avoids two problems with airplanes and helicopters. If an airplane’s speed drops below a critical value in horizontal flight it will stall and fall quickly to earth.  A helicopter plummets as well when there is a breakdown in its complex rotor system. The Plimp will take off vertically with the simplicity of an airship and fall slowly back to earth if the engine stops working or there is a leak in its balloon. So far. the design has been tested by Egan Airships with a scaled drone version:

Find more videos here.

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An MIT group has demonstrated an ionic drive that is powerful enough to propel a drone: MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts | MIT News

Now MIT engineers have built and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of propellers or turbines, the light aircraft is powered by an “ionic wind” — a silent but mighty flow of ions that is produced aboard the plane, and that generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained, steady flight.

Unlike turbine-powered planes, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels to fly. And unlike propeller-driven drones, the new design is completely silent.

“This is the first-ever sustained flight of a plane with no moving parts in the propulsion system,” says Steven Barrett, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “This has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler, and do not emit combustion emissions.”

More at

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Audi is developing a new approach to the age-old pursuit of a flying car. Here the electric car does not have built-in wings or rotors but instead docks to a drone-like flight module that carries the car to its destination. So far Audi engineers are testing the concept with 1:4 scale models: Audi is starting to test its ‘all-electric flying and self-driving car’ – Electrek

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Urban Aero has posted a video of a flight of the Cormorant from last spring. Looks similar to previous videos (i.e. it flies around a field) but the full scale vehicle does seem more stable:

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Some interesting speculation on the impact that technologies such as electric VTOL vehicles, autopiloted cars, hyperloop, etc could have on rural life: Flying cars, robocars and more will rewrite the rural landscape, for good and ill | Brad Ideas

Just as these factors make rural life less of a compromise, they and other forces will make urban life better. Flying vehicles, robocars and many other factors here also make urban commuters shorter, and give even greater and faster access to things for urban dwellers. For those who value many urban things the city will not lose its advantage, though the balance shifts. The ability to have easily accessible vacation property may encourage people who crave both urban and rural living to have both, and to switch between them not just for the weekend.

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Telescopes and Binoculars at Amazon

The Space Show this week – Dec.3.2018

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

1. Monday, Dec. 3, 2018: 2-3:30 pm PST (4-5:30 pm CST, 5-6:30 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. Kirsten Howley of Lawrence Livermore Lab to discuss both dark energy and dark matter.

2. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018: 7-8:30 pm PST; 9-10:30 pm CST; 10-11:30 pm EST: We welcome back Douglas Messier of Parabolic Arc.

3. Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018: 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, Dec. 7, 2018: 9:30 am -11 am PST, (12:30 -2 pm EST; 11:30 am -1 pm CDT. We welcome Dr. George Fox from the University of Houston regarding his research pertaining to the study of hardy Earth germs that could contaminate other planets. For more information, see astrobiology.com/2018/06/hardy-organisms-threaten-interplanetary-contamination.html and sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180627160249.htm.

5. The Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018: 12-1:30 pm PST, (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CDT): We welcome both Dr. Brian Weeden and Dr. Namrata Goswami back to The Space Show for a comprehensive two hour discussion regarding the need for a separate U.S. Space Force. Don’t miss this discussion with these two highly qualified experts on this topic.

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
David Livingston

Some recent programs:

** Fri, 11/30/2018Dr. Haym Benaroya of Rutgers University talked about “lunar policy, returning to the Moon, planning a human lunar return mission, commercial lunar market potential, advocacy action and more”.

** Tue, 11/27/2018Dr. Doug Plata discussed “policy meetings regarding alternative lunar return possibilities, Scott Pace meetings, Doug’s Dec. 5th telecon, and much more”.

** Mon, 11/26/2018John Hunt “discussed his interest in space and physics, advanced & exotic propulsion, he updated us with the Woodward Mach Thruster work plus the latest on SLS and the Gateway, Space Show annual campaign, Space Show Advisory Board”.

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