A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):
** SpaceX set to launch Starship prototype SN8 to 15 km following successful static firing of its three Raptor engines on Nov. 24th. The company currently has a FAA permit for a flight during a 3 day window opening on Dec. 4th. (There are local restrictions on closing access to the beach on weekends so the window may effectively be 1 day long.) A wet dress rehearsal took place on Wed. Dec. 2nd. Elon Musk had indicated that there would be another static firing before the flight but it looks like they may skip this.
[ Update: The flight has been postponed till Monday Dec. 7th at the earliest. Also, the max altitude will be 12.5 km rather than 15 km.]
On Tuesday, December 1, at 10:33 p.m. (local time), Arianespace successfully launched the FalconEye optical observation satellite using a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. FalconEye is a very-high-performance optical Earth observation satellite developed in a consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space for the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces (UAEAF).
[ Update: What’s Up: December 2020 Skywatching Tips from NASA – JPL
What are some skywatching highlights in December 2020? Catch the year’s best meteor shower, the Geminids, in the middle of the month. Then witness an extremely close pairing of Jupiter and Saturn that won’t be repeated for decades. And mark the shortest day of the year on the northern winter solstice. Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up….
Step outside on a cold December night when the stars shine bright to find the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. They will help you locate a binary star system, a fan-shaped open star cluster, and a variable star. Stay tuned for space-based views of a ragged spiral galaxy, an open star cluster, and an edge-on galaxy.
What can you see in the night sky tonight? Astronomers Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel talk us through the best sights to see in the night sky throughout December 2020, including how to see the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (03:30) and the Geminid meteor shower (08:48).
** What’s in the Night Sky December 2020#WITNS | Great Conjunction | Solar Eclipse | Geminid Meteors – Alyn Wallace
** The Night Sky & A Telescope – The Night Sky Sights – December 2020 – Richard J. Bartlett
This month, Jupiter and Saturn are at their closest for 400 years, while Mars still shines in the evening hours. The Geminid meteor shower reaches its maximum on the 13th, and we’ll take a closer look at the Pleiades star cluster.
A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):
It is not easy to summarize Pamela Melroy in a few lines. No matter what she gets in touch with, she is most likely one of the best at it. One of the highlights was certainly one of the most daring outdoor missions that any human being has ever done on the International Space Station ISS. Now she looks back on one of the most exciting careers ever and has exciting messages for the future of space travel.
ChinaSat-16 5G Test… Launch of Tiantong-1 02 … Galaxy Space Funding Round … Appearance of Shandong Space … Our “Only in China” News of the Week: …
** Eric Felt – What’s New At The AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate? – Cold Star Technologies
Col. Eric Felt is the Director at Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate. He is also one of 49 Air Force Research Lab, Phillips Research Site officers selected to join the United States Space Force. With host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project, Col. Felt discusses: – Regarding the State of the Space Industry 2020 Report that you were one of the four main signatories of, what were your biggest takeaways from both the process of developing this report and the concluding product? How would you recommend space industry folks (civilians included) make use of it? – What is the focus of the Space Vehicles Directorate; what do you believe are the necessary elements to a plan for keeping American capabilities and effectiveness ahead of our geopolitical opponents?
** Official launch of the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) –Luxembourg Space Agency
Watch our video «Driving the future of Space Exploration» to see what is planned and how space resources will be used to make space exploration missions possible and viable.
3. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020: Hotel Mars with The John Batchelor Show. This show will cover Starlink launch news and new health issues for human spaceflight.
4. Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): No program today.
** Tuesday, Nov.24.2020 – Douglas Messier discussed “space in 2020 plus a look ahead for space 2021. All the key events and not so key events were examined.”
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Space Station Crew Discusses the Meaning of Thanksgiving on Orbit – NASA Johnson
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 64 Flight Engineers Kate Rubins, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed the meaning of spending Thanksgiving on orbit and their holiday plans during downlink messages delivered on Nov. 20. Rubins has been aboard the orbital complex since mid-October following her launch on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and was joined a month later by Hopkins, Glover, Walker and Noguchi, who launched on the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Resilience” from the Kennedy Space Center.
** Thanksgiving in Zero-G: Preparing Meals at the International Space Station – NASA
Thanksgiving dinner aboard the International Space Station is a little different than one here on Earth. Watch this video to learn how astronauts living and working in space can enjoy holiday meals, thanks to the NASA Nutritional Lab at Johnson Space Center. Read more about celebrating Thanksgiving in space: https://nasa.tumblr.com/post/18934937…
** International Space Station 20th Anniversary Panel: Benefits for Humanity, Science for All – NASA
For 20 years, astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station have conducted science in a way that cannot be done anywhere else. Orbiting about 250 miles above our planet, the space station is the only laboratory available for long-duration microgravity research in the world. In recognition of the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station, listen as Tara Ruttley, associate chief scientist for gravitational research at NASA Headquarters, sits down with senior science management who are leading the science and research efforts within the International Space Station Program Research Office. Learn more about the importance of doing research in microgravity, how that research has made technological advances and benefited life on Earth for the past two decades, and how the science conducted on the space station today is preparing us for future Artemis missions. Joining the conversation are ISS Chief Scientist Kirt Costello, ISS Deputy Chief Scientist Jennifer Buchli, and ISS Research Integration Office Manager Marybeth Edeen.
** Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov go outside the ISS – Space.com -Video of an EVA outside the ISS by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov
For the first time, [a] Russian spacewalk [was] carried out from the docking compartment of the Poisk module in Orlan-MKS spacesuits No. 4 and 5. For both cosmonauts this [was] the first experience of work outside the International Space Station. Sergey Ryzhikov [wore] commander gear with red stripes (Orlan-MKS No. 5 spacesuit) and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov [wore] the spacesuit with blue stripes (Orlan-MKS No. 4).
During their work, they [checked] the airtightness of the Poisk module exit hatch immediately after direct airlocking, [replaced] the removable panel of the fluid flow regulator on the Zarya functional cargo block, [cleaned] the window of the Zvezda service module, [switched] the Tranzit-B telemetric system antenna from the Pirs module to the Poisk module, [changed] the pressure and sedimentation control unit sensors position installed on the Poisk module. In addition, as part of the ‘Impact’ space experiment, [they dismantled] tablet No. 1 on the assembly compartment of Zvezda service module and [installed] tablet No. 2 in its place. In the future, this study should allow more reliably estimate the contamination levels of outside scientific and service equipment. Previous spacewalks under the Russian program were carried out from the Pirs module, which is currently being prepared for undocking from the ISS. Next year, Nauka, the new Russian multifunctional laboratory module will arrive in its place. Currently, it is being prepared for the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
