This week’s episode of NASA’s Space to Ground report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Explore Your Project Ideas for Space Station
Have a science or technology idea? Flying experiments on the International Space Station is a unique opportunity to eliminate gravity as a variable, provide exposure to vacuum and radiation, and have a clear view of the Earth and universe. For more information on how you can conduct your research in microgravity, visit www.nasa.gov/stationopportunities
** What Launches to Space on SpaceX’s Next Cargo Mission?
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies and critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur aboard the International Space Station for current and future crews. Learn more about CRS-18: https://go.nasa.gov/2L9ioX7
** NASA’s webcast of the SpaceX CRS-18 cargo mission to the ISS: Includes discussion and reports on ISS R&D.
Orbiting some 20,000 miles [35,786 km (22,236 mi) to be exact] above the Earth – much further than the International Space Station (245 miles) yet much closer than the Moon (c238,900 miles) – while perpetually fixed over the Eastern Hemisphere, Himawari-8 provides a unique perspective on the planet and its weather patterns. With the film’s haunting soundtrack and swirling imagery, it’s easy to get lost in the hypnotic clouds and forget that below them is half of humanity, rendered almost entirely invisible by the distance.
Muriel Anderson performs “View From Space” on harp guitar, during her “All Star Guitar Night” charity event [2009] at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
Pulsar music based on the data obtained from the Spectr-R space telescope and the Radioastron project. Pulsar is a rapidly rotating ultra high-density neutron star left over from a supernova explosion. Pulsar signals could be used as time references and navigation for satellites. By converting the frequency of pulsar signals into sound waves, you can compose music. Spectr-R is a space observatory launched in 2011. It was in orbit for 8 years, surpassing its warranty period by more than 2.5 times. The Radioastron project made a great contribution to the research of pulsars.
On Friday 7 June, ESA began a three-day starring role at the World Club Dome electronic dance music festival. Billed as the Space Edition, this event is the latest stage of an 18-month partnership with BigCityBeats, the company behind the show. This year’s festival featured Armin van Buuren, Jason Derulo, Steve Aoki and David Guetta among its star performers – as well as a 28-m high model of an Ariane 5, which dominated the main stage.
World Club Dome Space Edition was inaugurated with a spectacular light and music show for the crowd of 55 000 music fans. The programme recounted the history of human space exploration and highlighted ESA’s many achievements. ESA astronauts André Kuipers and Matthias Maurer took to the stage to recount their experiences and their hopes for the future.
#LightSail2 pass 3 is complete. The spacecraft was successfully commanded into solar sailing mode, and the momentum wheel spun up as expected! The team was not able to get image thumbnails down. They will try during today’s final pass starting at 15:11 PDT [18:11 EDT].
** India launches the Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission, which includes an orbiter, lander, and rover. The spacecraft’s elliptical orbit of Earth will gradually extend farther and farther out until on August 14 the engines will fire to put the spacecraft on course for the Moon. It will go into lunar orbit on August 20th. The goal is to separate the lander/rover combo from the orbiter on September 1st and settle down on the lunar surface on September 6th. If successful, the landing will be the first time a spacecraft has reached the southern polar region, where water ice is believed to be embedded in the floors of permanently dark craters.
** Russian Soyuz launches 3 new ISS crew members and docks with the station just 6 hours after liftoff. The July 20th flight took place on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Currently, the US has no operational system for putting people into orbit (though, in a pinch, the SpaceX Cargo Dragon could certainly be configured to take someone to orbit).
The new members of the ISS crew include cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA physician-astronaut Andrew Morgan. More at:
announced its next launch is a mission carrying satellites destined to begin a new constellation for UNSEENLABS, as well as more rideshare payloads for Spaceflight, consisting of a spacecraft for BlackSky and the United States Air Force Space Command.
The mission – named ‘Look Ma, No Hands’ – will lift-off in August from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, carrying a total of four satellites aboard an Electron launch vehicle.
*** Falcon 9 set to launch Cargo Dragon on CRS-18 mission on Wednesday at 6:24 pm EDT (2224 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. The weather forecast (pdf), however, gives only a 30% chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff within the instantaneous launch window.
*** A fuel leak fire following the Starhopper static engine test last week resulted in a scary fireball but caused no significant damage to the vehicle. The first brief flight of the vehicle is planned for this week.
#SpaceX crews hard at work today under the hot #Texas.☀️ progress on the polishing of #StarShip nosecone is making significant progress, meanwhile the team seem to be preparing to erect another section for the windbreaker. Crews seen doing inspections on raptor and #StarHopper.🚀 pic.twitter.com/ByYMYYAzgo
If the above Starhopper test flight is successful, Elon promises to provide a more extensive update soon after on the latest design details.
*** Elon Musk discusses SpaceX projects in two interviews. Highlights include his belief that the first crewed Dragon mission to the ISS will happen within 6 months, an uncrewed Starship could land on the Moon within 2 years, and with a crew in 3-4 years:
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:
** Asteroid Day LIVE 2019 – Videos of seminars and panel discussions on planetary defense related topics. For example: this video shows a discussion of
Planetary Defense and in particular, the importance of Asteroid Deflection Missions, DART and HERA. The panel will look at Europe‘s role in US-European cooperation and evaluate the importance and value of multi-country and private industry collaborations on Space Missions and Planetary Science.
** Was the Apollo Program a Bad Idea? | A SciShow Documentary – An extended SciShow video sponsored by Draper’s “We Hack the Moon” initiative, which describes
…how engineers guided us to the moon and back with a fraction of today’s technology. The Apollo program was famous for being risky and expensive. It had a crunched timeline, daring astronauts, and lacked modern tech, and that all kind of makes you wonder… was the Apollo program a bad idea?
