Monthly Archives: April 2019

Rockets

Space transport roundup – April.16.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** Northrop-Grumman Antares set to launch Cygnus cargo vehicle to the ISS from Wallops Island, Virginia on Wednesday, April 17th at 4:46 p.m. EDT (2046 GMT): U.S. Resupply Ship Poised for Launch as Crew Studies Life Science – Space Station/NASA

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen during sunrise on Pad-0A, Tuesday, April 16, 2019 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 11th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Cygnus will

will deliver about 7,600 pounds of science, supplies and hardware to the orbital residents. Flight Engineer Anne McClain, with astronaut David Saint-Jacques backing her up, will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and capture Cygnus Friday about 5:30 a.m. [EDT].

NASA TV will webcast the launch.

** A review of rocket designs chosen by Chinese commercial launch startups: The Technical Choices of China’s NewSpace Launcher Companies in 2019 – The China Aerospace Blog

… a good half of these startups (7 out of 11) are also developing liquid propulsion. This is partly due to the intrinsic performance, but also the possibility to be reusable (although solid systems can sometimes also be refurbished, such as the Space Shuttle SRBs). Reusability actually seems to be one of the dominant reasons, as nearly all liquid propulsion rockets are being developed with a reusable design, often based on the return of the first stage through retropropulsive landing. It is striking to see the extent of the consensus around SpaceX’s business model within the Chinese private sector, while heated debates in Europe and Russia still take place on its sustainability.

** DARPA’s Launch Challenge competition aims to support companies developing rockets that can “demonstrate flexible and responsive launch capabilities in days, not years” –

** SpaceX:

**** Falcon Heavy Core damaged in fall as heavy seas rolled the sea platform on which it landed last week:

“Over the weekend, due to rough sea conditions, SpaceX’s recovery team was unable to secure the center core booster for its return trip to Port Canaveral,” said James Gleeson, a SpaceX spokesperson. “As conditions worsened with eight to ten foot swells, the booster began to shift and ultimately was unable to remain upright.

“While we had hoped to bring the booster back intact, the safety of our team always takes precedence,” Gleeson said in a statement. “We do not expect future missions to be impacted.”

Elon Musk later tweeted that the “Engines seem ok, pending inspection”. There are reports that the rocket is lying horizontal on the platform so we’ll see the level damage when the platform returns to Port Canaveral. Though the vehicle is unlikely to fly again, having the core will be useful to SpaceX to examine to better understand the wear and tear that it endured during the flight. Also, perhaps some components like the engines can be reused.

**** FH fairings returned to Port Canaveral. As mentioned in the previous roundup, Elon Musk says the fairings will be used for a Falcon 9 launch of the company’s Starlink Internet satellites:

**** A nice collection of videos and images of the FH launch and boosters landings:  SpaceX’s flawless Falcon Heavy Block 5 launch and landing in pictures – Teslarati

**** Cargo Dragon flight to the ISS set to launch on April 26th from Cape Canaveral at 5:55 am EDT (0955 GMT). This will be the 17th operational Dragon mission to the ISS.

**** A giant space telescope a good fit for the Starship. Most all of the mainstream space industry and government agencies are going out of their way to pretend the Super Heavy Booster/Starship project doesn’t exist. So while this is just a graphic done for fun, it’s nevertheless a bit of a surprise that even a lower level group at NASA would dare to show the proposed LUVOIR telescope in a Starship:

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age

Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – April.15.2019

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

1. Monday, April 15, 2019; 2-3:30 pm PDT (4-5:30 pm CDT, 5-6:30 pm EDT): No show for today. Monday is for special and timely programs only.

2. Tuesday, April 16, 2019; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): We welcome back Dr. Greg Autry for space economics, budgets, ISDC 2019, and US China space policy.

3. Wednesday, April 17 2019; 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, April 19, 2019; 9:30-11 am PDT; 11:30 am – 1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT. No show today as am at the Space Access Conference.

5. Sunday, April 21, 2019; 12-1:30 pm PDT, (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): No show today due to Easter and the Space Access Conference.

Some recent shows:

** Tue, 04/09/2019 – Dr. Mike Gruntman gave a “historical analysis of Tyuratam Missile Range to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, aerospace education, returning to the Moon, inspiration, Elon Musk, SpaceX, Jeff Bezos and much more”.

** Fri, 04/12/2019 – Kim Holder talked about “Moonwards.com news and update. Returning to the Moon, the Moon as a virtual world and more”.

**  Sun, 04/07/2019 – Open Lines program with Dr. David Livingston who led the discussion of the Space Access Society Conference update and multiple caller topics.

** Fri, 04/05/2019 – Dennis Wingo discussed “Returning to the Moon by 2024, V.P. Pence & NASA Administrator Bridenstine, lunar industrial development program, potential lunar development plan, and more”. In particular, they talked about Dennis’s recent essay, SLS and Lunar Return in 2024: “With Faith and Ambition”.

** Tue, 04/02/2019 – Author Rod Pyle talked about his two newest books, Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age and First on the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Experience.

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
The Space Show – David Livingston
Activism, Space Policy

Space policy roundup – April.15.2019

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:

Webcasts:

** The Space Show – Tue, 04/09/2019 – Dr. Mike Gruntman gave a “historical analysis of Tyuratam Missile Range to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, aerospace education, returning to the Moon, inspiration, Elon Musk, SpaceX, Jeff Bezos and much more”.

** The Space Show – Fri, 04/12/2019 – Kim Holder talked about “Moonwards.com news and update. Returning to the Moon, the Moon as a virtual world and more”.

** Celebrating Yuri’s Night with Legendary Astronaut Story Musgrave | The Planetary Society –

The Los Angeles celebration of Yuri’s Night came six days early this year. It attracted hundreds of space party animals, along with celebrities like Bill Nye and Story Musgrave. Host Mat Kaplan talked with both under the wing of space shuttle Endeavour. Jason Davis is counting down to Space IL’s attempt to soft land Beresheet on the Moon. “Where We Are” is a great new visual feature of the Planetary Society. Emily Lakdawalla introduces us to it. There’s a lot to see in the night sky! Get a What’s Up preview from Bruce Betts.

** April 12, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

** April 9, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Systems

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – April.14.2019

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

** More on the Virginia university student CubeSat program mentioned in previous roundups here:

In a giant leap for Virginia Tech, the first satellite built by undergraduate students is scheduled to be launched into space on April 17, 2019.

One small step closer to reaching space, a group of Virginia Tech undergraduate students recently delivered their small satellite to Houston to be incorporated into NanoRacks’ commercially developed CubeSat deployer. Virginia Tech’s satellite, along with two satellites from other Virginia universities, is scheduled to launch on the payload section of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket and then will be headed to the International Space Station.

If the weather is clear, the Antares launch will visible over a large East Coast area: Rocket launch from Wallops Flight Facility to be visible from Hampton Roads, NE North Carolina | WTKR.com.

** An all girls team in Kyrgyzstan is building a smallsat:

Back in January we started crowdfunding on the Patreon platform and by the end of November the amount of donations has reached more than $1,100 per month. This amount has increased particularly after the aforementioned article in Quartz magazine.

Moreover, since November we have a donor-organization in the Kyrgyz space program — the Internews organization will donate sufficient amount of money that will cover expenses on building, testing and launching two (!) nanosatellites.

This does not mean that we no longer need patrons — there are quite a few unforeseen crazy ideas (for example, to test a prototype of the satellite in the mountains of the Issyk-Kul region), the costs of which are not included in the Internews grant, but are necessary to make the satellite launch happen.

** Canada’s Western University and Nunavut Arctic College will build a CubeSat to test

a novel imaging system for the engineering technology demonstration with the potential to provide virtual reality-ready images. This imagin system has future applications in the Earth observation and space exploration.

More at:

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-104 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

  • TAPR/AMSAT Banquet Speaker Announced
  • Seats Still Available for AMSAT Academy
  • AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019
  • N8HM to Appear on Ham Talk Live April 18th
  • Last Chance to Bid in ARISS Auction
  • ARISS SSTV Event Continues Through 18:00 UTC April 14th
  • Diwata-2 Designated Philippines-OSCAR 101 (PO-101)
  • March/April 2019 Edition of Apogee View Posted
  • How to Support AMSAT
  • Upcoming Satellite Operations
  • Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age

Rockets

Space transport roundup – April.13.2019

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport:

** Giant Stratolaunch aircraft flies for the first time at Mojave Air & Space Port: Stratolaunch Completes Historic First Flight of Aircraft – Stratolaunch

Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, founded by Paul G. Allen, today successfully completed the first flight of the world’s largest all-composite aircraft, the Stratolaunch. With a dual fuselage design and wingspan greater than the length of an American football field, the Stratolaunch aircraft took flight at 0658 PDT from the Mojave Air & Space Port. Achieving a maximum speed of 189 miles per hour, the plane flew for 2.5 hours over the Mojave Desert at altitudes up to 17,000 feet. As part of the initial flight, the pilots evaluated aircraft performance and handling qualities before landing successfully back at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

…

The test team conducted standard aircraft testing exercises. Initial results from today’s test points include:

    • Performed a variety of flight control maneuvers to calibrate speed and test flight control systems, including roll doublets, yawing maneuvers, pushovers and pull-ups, and steady heading side slips.
    • Conducted simulated landing approach exercises at a max altitude of 15,000 feet mean sea level.

The Stratolaunch aircraft is a mobile launch platform that will enable airline-style access to space that is convenient, affordable and routine. The reinforced center wing can support multiple launch vehicles, weighing up to a total of 500,000 pounds.

“We all know Paul would have been proud to witness today’s historic achievement,” said Jody Allen, Chair of Vulcan Inc. and Trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. “The aircraft is a remarkable engineering achievement and we congratulate everyone involved.”

Following the death of Paul Allen, the company canceled plans to build rocket vehicles for the aircraft launch platform. Currently the only rocket that is nominally compatible for launch from the aircraft is the very expensive Northrop Grumman Pegasus. So it’s unclear what is ahead for the company and the largest aircraft ever flown.

See also Roc – the world’s largest plane – takes flight ahead of Stratolaunch rocket goals – NASASpaceFlight.com.

** PLD Space of Spain tests first stage booster return by parachute. The suborbital MIURA 1 and orbital MIURA 5 rocket systems each reuse their first stage boosters, which return to earth via parachute. The company carried out a drop test for the MIURA 5 booster this past Thursday (April 11): Successful drop test of the demonstrator of the first stage of MIURA 5 – PLD Space –

A brief video of the test:

PLD Space has successfully completed the first drop test with a full-scale demonstrator of the first stage of the MIURA 5 orbital rocket. This project is part of the FLPP-LPSR program, promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA), supported by CDTI, INTA, Ejército de Tierra #FAMET #BHELTRAV, Tecnalia

** Japan’s Interstellar Technologies prepares for next launch of the MOMO suborbital rocket: Launch Test of “MOMO No. 3”, a Space-Shifting Sounding Rocket- Interstellar Technologies Inc. (Google Translation)

Expected launch date: April 30, 2019 (Tuesday) 
Expected launch time: 11:15 to 12:30, 16:00 to 17:20 (Japan Standard Time) 
Launch date: 
Wednesday, May 1, 2019 16: 00-17: 20 
Thursday, May 2 2019-Sunday, May 5
5: 00-8: 00 
11:15 to 12:30 
16: 00-17: 20 
Launch location: Hokkaido Taiki-cho launch site

The first MOMO test in 2017 flew for about a minute before a break in the telemetry communications connection caused a premature shutdown of the engine. On the second test in 2018, the engine shutoff shortly after liftoff and the rocket fell back to the pad and exploded.

** China’s Deep Blue Aerospace aims for a low cost launch system with a reusable first stage:

More about Deep Blue and other Chinese rocket startups:

** Blue Origin continues to add more facilities:

** SpaceX:

**** More views of the Falcon Heavy launch of Arabsat-6A and the landing of the boosters:

[ Update: Slo-mo views of the liftoff and landings:

]

**** The fairings from the Arabsat-6A mission were recovered after they landed softly in the water via paragliders and will be reused for a launch of SpaceX’s broadband Internet satellites:

See also SpaceX retrieves Falcon Heavy fairings from sea for reuse on future launch – Spaceflight Now.

**** More about the FH:

**** SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch the DART asteroid impact mission:

NASA’s first planetary defense mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), has been slated for a June 2021 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The mission, led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will be the first to demonstrate the kinetic impactor technique, which involves slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid at high speed to shift it off course.

“We’re excited that NASA has selected the vehicle to launch DART on its important planetary defense mission,” said DART Mission Systems Engineer Elena Adams, of APL. “The DART team is eager to move ahead with our spacecraft and mission designs and demonstrate, for the first time in space, a method to keep potentially hazardous bodies from reaching Earth.”

DART will target the smaller of the two objects that make up the binary asteroid Didymos, which will be about 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth at the time of impact, scheduled for October 2022.

** Some misc. space transport items:

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Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age