Events, Mars, Space Science

Videos: Follow the Insight Mission landing on Mars today [Update]

[ Update: The landing was a success: NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface | NASA

NASA’s InSight Mars lander acquired this image of the area in front of the lander using its lander-mounted, Instrument Context Camera (ICC). This image was acquired on Nov. 26, 2018, Sol 0 of the InSight mission where the local mean solar time for the image exposures was 13:34:21. Each ICC image has a field of view of 124 x 124 degrees. Credits: NASA/JPL-CalTech

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NASA’s Insight spacecraft will set down on the Martian surface today Nov. 26th at around noon PST (3 p.m. EST). NASA TV will provide live coverage:

InSight was launched on May 5th and marks the first landing of a NASA spacecraft on the Red Planet since the Curiosity rover arrived in 2012. InSight’s mission, which should last at least two years, is to study Mars’ deep interior. The studies will help scientists better understand the formation of Mars as well as other rocky worlds, including Earth.

InSight is accompanied by two mini-spacecraft in a test named Mars Cube One (MarCO). This is the first deep-space mission for CubeSats. The MarCO satellites will not land but instead will fly by Mars and attempt to relay data from InSight during its entry into the planet’s atmosphere and the landing sequence.

For the key events during the landing, see NASA InSight Landing on Mars: Milestones | NASA.

Here is a preview of the Insight landing:

NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft is on track for a touchdown on the surface of the Red Planet on Nov. 26. One day before landing, the mission team provides an update and explanations of everything that must go right during the entry, descent and landing of the spacecraft. 

And here is a Q&A with the Insight mission team:

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Amateur/Student Satellite, Rockets, Space Arts

Two rockets set to orbit dozens of payloads including space artworks

There are two rocket launches scheduled for this Wednesday that will each carry large collections of small satellites into low earth orbit.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Southern California with “more than 60 satellites from more than 30 organizations” in the SSO-A mission brokered by Spaceflight Services of Seattle, Washington.

The liftoff time is set for 10:31:47 am local Pacific Time and 1:31:47 pm EST and 1831:47 GMT. SpaceX aims to land the Falcon 9 first stage on a platform floating on the Pacific. This will be the first reusable F9 booster to fly three times.

The SSO-A collection of payloads includes two unusual spacecraft.

The Enoch cubesat is a tribute to Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut, who was killed in a plane crash in December 1967 before he had a chance to go to space: SpaceX to Launch CubeSat Containing “Soul” of First African American Astronaut – IEEE Spectrum

… Enoch contains a 24-karat-gold canopic jar with a bust of Lawrence. Canopic jars were used by ancient Egyptians to house the organs of the deceased for use in the afterlife. This jar was blessed at a Shinto shrine in Japan and “recognized as a container for Lawrence’s soul,” according to the museum.

“[Lawrence is] someone who has a mostly untold story, who I look at as a hero but who wasn’t necessarily considered one when I was a child in school,” says Tavares Strachan, the artist behind Enoch, in an interview with IEEE Spectrum.

The project is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Another space artwork to fly on the SSO-A mission is the Orbital Reflector designed by artist Trevor Paglen and sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art. The spacecraft is an inflatable space mirror that will be visible by naked eye from the ground.

The Orbital Reflector space sculpture.

The low orbits of most of these spacecraft means the friction with the atmosphere will limit their time in orbit to relatively short periods. For example, the large cross-section area of the Orbital Reflector will reduce its lifetime to a few months. The much smaller Enoch should last 5 to 10 years.

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Meanwhile, at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set to launch India’s Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) plus a collection of small satellites. These include a dozen from Spaceflight: Spaceflight Arranges Launch of 12 Satellites Aboard India’s PSLV C43 – Spaceflight.

Liftoff is set for 0400 GMT on November 29th or 11 p.m. EST on November 28th.

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Commercial use of small satellites is growing fast, e.g. earth imaging company Planet has 21 satellites on the two launches including five  company birds on the Falcon 9  and two university CubeSats that the company sponsored.

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Space Policy

Space policy roundup – Nov.24.2018

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and global) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

Webcasts:

** November 20, 2018 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

 

In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Nov.23.2018

Here is this week’s episode of NASA’s Space to Ground report on activities related to the International Space Station:

NASA promotes itself:

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Rocketry, Rockets, Space Models

Video: First flight of BPS Space’s Falcon Heavy model rocket

I’ve posted a few times about Joe Barnard‘s scale model rocket projects that seek to emulate realistically the takeoff and landing characteristics of SpaceX rockets. Here is a report on the first flight of the Falcon Heavy model:

Find more about Joe’s projects at BPS.space.

You can also support his efforts at BPS.space is creating Rockets | Patreon.

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Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women in Space.

 

Everyone can participate in space