Monthly Archives: April 2019

Activism, Astronomy, SpaceCasts

Videos: TMRO Orbit 12.11 & 12.12 – James Webb Space Telescope’s first images & APL’s Interstellar Probe

A recent episode of the TMRO.tv Space show: Why JWST’s first images will just be 18 fuzzy blobs

This week we are joined by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Program Scientist Dr. Eric Smith. We talk about the most ambitious space telescope project humans have ever undertaken, and why when we get the first images back it will likely just be 18 fuzzy blobs.

** And here is another: APL’s Interstellar Probe

The always energetic and information powerhouse Dr. Kirby Runyon joins us to talk about New Horizons, Yuris Night and announces the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Interstellar Probe. It’s a really fun and exciting interview, and we had a bit of stuff we missed in After Dark so we left a bit of that in there at the end as well.

** A space news report: RocketLab announces Photon, ISS Spacewalks and the weight of the galaxy!

This week in Space News from TMRO we have: Rocket Lab announces their Photon satellite system US Spacewalk 53, Space Suit Mixup Milky Way Weight There were 2 Soyuz launches in Space Traffic and of course the Space Weather Woman Dr. Tamitha Skov brings is our Space Weather.

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The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, Space Systems

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Apr.12.2019

The latest episode of NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** STEMonstrations: Spacewalk Part1: Safety and Training – A tutorial on ISS EVAs:

During their time on the International Space Station many astronauts have the opportunity to participate in spacewalks, also known as Extravehicular Activities (EVA). These spacewalks play a critical role in keeping the station functional as it travels approximately 17,500 miles per hour 250 miles above the Earth’s surface. In this episode, Expedition 55/56 Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold talks about the extensive training needed for spacewalks on the ground prior to a mission on the space station, and how it helps prepare astronauts for spacewalks outside of the station in low-Earth orbit. Visit https://nasa.gov/stemonstation for more educational resources that explore the research and technology of the International Space Station.

** Science on the Space Station: Women’s History Month Edition

Of the 64 women who have ever flown in space, 37 of them have spent time on board the International Space Station. In honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a look at a few of the women who have made history doing scientific research in Earth orbit. For more information, check out: http://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

** Science on the upcoming NG Cygnus cargo mission to the ISS:

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft scheduled to liftoff no earlier than April 17 will carry supplies and scientific experiments to the International Space Station. For this mission, Northrop Grumman will use a new late load capability that allows time-sensitive experiments to be loaded just 24 hours before liftoff.

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Come Fly with Us: NASA’s Payload Specialist Program (Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight)

Rockets, Space industry

SpaceX Falcon Heavy successfully launches Arabsat-6A and lands all 3 boosters

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SpaceX this afternoon launched a Falcon Heavy rocket with the Arabsat-6A communications satellite from Cape Kennedy Space Center. This was the second launch of a FH but this time all 3 cores of the FH were the most up-to-date Block 5 versions. And all 3 boosters  successfully landed. The 2 side boosters landed back on pads at Cape Canaveral while the center landed on a floating platform at sea.

A clip from the SpaceX webcast showing the liftoff:

Here is the segment of the webcast with the return flights and landings of the boosters:

After a coast period, the upper stage engine fired for about 85 seconds and 5 minutes later Arabsat-6A was deployed:

Contact was later made with the satellite after the deployment.

The power of the FH sent the satellite into a long ellipse with an apogee of 90,000 km (55,500 mi) beyond Earth. The satellite will fire its on-board engine to circularize the orbit and bring it to its assigned slot in geostationary orbit (35,786 km above the equator). The initial extra high orbit will reduce the amount of fuel that the satellite needs to reach its spot as compared to a launch with, say, a Falcon 9 rocket. This extra fuel will give the satellite a few more years of operation since it needs to occasionally fire the engine to maintain its position.

The next Falcon Heavy launch is expected to lift off in June (presumably with the same two side boosters as this flight). The mission will be for the U.S. Air Force and is referred to as STP-2 (Space Test Program-2). STP-2 will carry several military and scientific research satellites including the Planetary Society’s LightSail-2 solar sail: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Flies Again; LightSail 2 Is Next! | The Planetary Society

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The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

Space participation, Space Systems, The Moon

Webcast: SpaceIL to land Beresheet on the Moon today [Update]

[ Update 2: The final image returned from Beresheet as it came down the lunar surface:

Update 3:30 pm EDT: Unfortunately, Beresheet failed to make a soft landing. The descent was going as planned but then the main engine cut off and could not be restarted before it was too late.

The good news is that a low-cost privately funded and designed lunar project successfully for the first time reached the Moon’s surface after successfully going into lunar orbit, also a first for a private project.

The spacecraft made a selfie made during the descent:

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Today Israel’s SpaceIL team plans to send the Beresheet (which translates to “genesis” or “in the beginning”) spacecraft from its orbit around the Moon down to the surface for a soft (we hope) landing. The de-orbit operation will start at 22:05 Israeli time (UTC+03:00) or 04:05 in Tokyo, 05:05 in Sydney,12:05 in Los Angeles, 14:05 in Mexico City, 15:05 in New York, 16:05 in Rio, 20:05 in London, 21:05 in Paris. The landing should happen about 20 minutes later.

A live webcast of the landing will begin about 20 minutes before de-orbiting begins:

Updates are available at Israel To The Moon (@TeamSpaceIL) | Twitter.

Here is a SpaceIL video about the landing:

More info at

The SpaceIL Beresheet spacecraft.

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First on the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Experience