DIY space, Solar Science, Space Systems

ISEE-3 Reboot Project investigating possible solution to propulsion failure

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project (see posts here, here, and here) appeared to suffer a serious and irreversible setback this week when they were unable to fire the propulsion system to change the spacecraft’s trajectory. While hydrazine fuel still remained in the tank, there did not appear to be any nitrogen to push the fuel into the engine : Curtain Falls on ISEE-3 Reboot Project as Propulsion System Fails – SpaceNews.com.

Now there is some hope that the nitrogen has not leaked out but has dissolved into the hydrazine. The group is asking for help from anyone who might know how to deal with this:

The team asks:

 Did the Nitrogen pressurizing gas dissolve in the Hydrazine in the tanks?

This is something that we would like to research and for efficiencies sake and to get the job done quicker, we would like our project fans out there to help us in this research. I am reading an old USAF document on this now and it may be nothing, but it also may be something. We need to research the following:

– What is the solubility of Nitrogen in Hydrazine?
– What is the temperature dependence?
– Most important, what is the time required to dissolve 1 kg of Nitrogen in 15 kg of Hydrazine? This is an approximation for both tank systems of course.

This is important. Don’t just throw stuff on the wall, help us research this.

Solar Science

Sunspot cycle update

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Bob Zimmerman gives the latest update on the suns activities: The sun continues its ramp down – Behind The Black

ISES Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Progression - NOAA

 

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Bookmark the HobbySpace Sun and Space Weather page and check daily on what’s happening with our nearest star.

Astronomy, Exoplanets, Space participation

IAU decides exoplanet naming by the public is OK

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Uwingu was attacked by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) when it started a program to allow the public to select names for exoplanets :

And this year when Uwingu opened a program to name craters on Mars, the IAU attacked that as well.

Now, however, the IAU has created its own exoplanet naming program for the public:

The Popular Science article uses the word “official” a lot but assigning “official” to whatever the IAU management endorses is purely subjective. IAU is just one of many astronomy and science organizations. (I’d guess that only a minority of professional astronomers and space scientists belong to it.) It is neither a global nor intergalactic governmental organization. It’s main job is to organize conferences. Acceptance of the IAU’s space nomenclature system is voluntary. It’s clear that the IAU is merely fighting to protect and expand its turf and to maintain an aura of space officialdom. It wants to keep organizations like Uwingu from trespassing on its turf and dulling its aura.

Uwingu makes no claim that the names selected in its programs are “official” or will become broadly accepted names in the future.  Users are informed of the limited domain for the names they choose. The primary goal is to give people a sense of participation and connection to real places off of earth and in the process raise  some money for research.

The IAU’s exoplanet naming program will do little to limit Uwingu’s activities and I expect will instead encourage more organizations to get into the space place naming biz.

Activism, DIY space, Space Settlement

Paths to space settlement + Mars One update

A review of current thinking about how to achieve space settlement: Living in Space 6: Beyond O’Neill – Space Safety Magazine –

Going by the above, it may seem like the topic of Space Settlement is effectively dead. A handful of papers and two designs in over 30 years may seem dire, but in fact the conversation has merely shifted. While research and debate continues, the field has moved from direct discussion of habitats to discussing and researching ‘routes’ to settlement. No longer do we see books and papers on colony designs and their implications, instead we see discussion on asteroid mining, space tourism, and planetary defense. “There’s not a whole lot going on for the simple reason that there is no institutional money available,“ Globus told us. “There is money available for the paths to space settlement (tourism, space solar power, and planetary defense[2]), or at least the first and third.  There is a lot of progress in those areas.”

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Here’s the latest update from Mars One, a group that ‘s pursuing its own road to space settlement: Mars One Newsletter – July 2014.

Space Music

Matthew Young – classic New Age reissues

Kathryn Wilson at Drag City Records tells me that they

are doing a super cool reissue of Matthew Young‘s Recurring Dreams on July 22nd. His acclaimed album, Traveler’s Advisory, was reissued just a couple of years back by yours truly in conjunction with Yoga Records (the guys who brought you the definitive compilation of New Age music – I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age In America, 1950 – 1990). Recurring Dreams is a really beautiful example of a forgotten New Age masterpiece and I think you’d be really interested in it.

Update: I should add that Matthew Young’s Recurring Dreams will be released by Drag City on July 22nd.

Everyone can participate in space