Space news

[TommyJo 11]

Anyone interested in space news? There are a lot of them now. The most talked about news right now is probably Perseverance. And weekly satellite launches.
What do you think about the modern space industry? How close are we to becoming a multiplanetary species?
Or should we put things in order first in Earth orbit?
Or do you know about some cool projects that are not so well known?

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Ooooohhh I almost started a thread like this the other day ! 

Big space afficionado here. Love it for so many reason. I even have planets tattooed on my arm 😁

Perseverance landing was so cool. I followed NASA's stream for the landing and it was tense! It's amazing how everything went perfectly. All these preprogrammed steps worked even at millions miles away. And have you seen that video with the parachute opening and the sky crane lowering the rover onto the surface ? Man that was perfectly executed. And first pictures almost immediately ! Humanity can really do great things. 

I'm also following SpaceX Starship development closely. They flew a couple of them to 10-12km altitude but as you may have heard, they both crashed when attempting lading in a spectacular ball of fire ^^ 

What SpaceX is doing with this rocket is just astounding. Putting it in an horizontal position and freefalling back to land, before igniting the engines a short moment before landing to put the rocket back in a vertical position to land back almost exactly from where it launched is insane when you think about it. They just need to fix the engine issue when they reignite for the landing burn but I feel they are close ! Next attempt will take place at the end of the week or next week. There are some great live stream from the lauch site in Texas on Youtube. They just did a static fire yesterday and everything went well. The cool thing is that they are manufacturing them very quickly and there are 4 or 5 more waiting to be launched. They are testing fast it's cool to see. This ship is supposed to take people to Mars so it's the next big step for space exploration. Won't be this decade so but around 2040 maybe ? Very exciting years ahead with the planned return to the moon at the end of the decade ! 

[TommyJo 11]

6 cracks were found on the ISS. All of them are most likely located on the intermediate module Zvezda. Inspection of crack number 3 next to the docking station is due today. Three more cracks are being investigated for air leaks. Sealing of the first crack is planned for next week.
It sounds scary, but the leaks are far from critical.

And yes, I also hope that in the next 20 years we will already have our first missions. But I also hope that we will still learn how to remove space debris from orbit so that nothing could damage the ISS and other objects.

[TommyJo 11]

Terrestrial bacteria found the soil from Mars quite edible and were able to multiply on it. This became one of the proofs that life on Mars once existed. This is stated in an article published in Communications Earth & Environment.
Scientists have crushed several grams of a four and a half billion-year-old Martian rock and grown the microorganism Metallosphaera sedula on them. This microbe has formed a strong mineral capsule consisting of complex phosphates of iron, manganese and aluminium.

Perhaps Perseverance will find something interesting after all.

[Con 5,719]

On 2/24/2021 at 9:23 AM, TommyJo said:

Anyone interested in space news? There are a lot of them now. The most talked about news right now is probably Perseverance. And weekly satellite launches.
What do you think about the modern space industry? How close are we to becoming a multiplanetary species?
Or should we put things in order first in Earth orbit?
Or do you know about some cool projects that are not so well known?

Awesome! Are you studying astronomy in Singapore? I'm currently looking into purchasing small models of the rovers, I'm fascinated by the whole thing. 

Hopefully you will stay active and keep this thread alive. I've been wanting to start a space thread but only want to do it when I know I can make time on a daily basis for it. 

[Con 5,719]

3 hours ago, TommyJo said:

Perhaps Perseverance will find something interesting after all.

Can you imagine the disappointment in that Viking mission to Mars where they mistakenly determined that there was no sign of life ever on the planet. That led to twenty-years of NASA ignoring Mars...no life on Mars? Exploring Mars wasn't cool anymore.  

Luckily for us, on July 4th, 1997, the Pathfinder and Sojourner rovers landed on Mars and with the advanced tools now equipped on the rovers, they were able to find the smoking gun that persistent water flowed for long durations on Mars. This ignited a newfound fervor to explore Mars and is why we are mostly here in this thread, today!!

Edited February 25, 2021 by Con

[TommyJo 11]

One of the ideas of modern space research is an in-orbit refuelling station. Orbit Fab has developed and tested the RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface). RAFTI will allow spacecraft to be refuelled both before launch from Earth and in orbit. The interface is designed for refuelling at a rate of 1 litre per minute. Orbit Fab has entered into an agreement with Benchmark Space Systems. Benchmark Space Systems develops engines for small satellites. The Orbit Fab-designed RAFTI will be supplied by Benchmark Space, complete with engines, for all customers requiring an in-orbit refuelling service. None of Benchmark Space's engines has been launched into orbit yet, although the company already has several customers. One of them is Spaceflight Industries, which will install Benchmark units on its Sherpa boosters. Benchmark Space also has clients in the US Department of Defense.

"Gas station" for satellites coming soon.

[TommyJo 11]

New applications of satellite technology.
Now satellites will be able to track plastic debris in the ocean!
The European Space Agency is manufacturing satellites that identify discarded plastics such as water bottles, fishing nets, and grocery bags, all the while monitoring the concentration, movement, and origin of plastic debris across the world’s oceans.
Original article:
https://www.skyrora.com/post/tracking-ocean-plastic-pollution-using-satellite-technology
I think it's great that space technology is helping us explore more than just outer space.

[Con 5,719]

Nearly 11 Million Names of Earthlings are on Mars Perseverance

When the Perseverance rover safely touched down on the Martian surface, inside Jezero Crater, on Feb. 18, 2021, it was also a safe landing for the nearly 11 million names on board.

How did NASA collect the names?

NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign invited people around the globe to submit their names to ride along on the rover. And people did – with a grand total of 10,932,295 names submitted. Those names now sit on the surface of Mars, written on three fingernail-sized chips on board the Perseverance rover.

How were the chips made?

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory stenciled the names onto the chips using an electron beam. The "E-beam" machine they used allows the writing of very tiny features: less than 1 micron, much less than the width of a human hair. They normally use this machine for high-precision fabrication in JPL's Microdevices Laboratory.

Along with the nearly 11 million names, engineers also included the essays of 155 finalists in NASA's “Name the Rover” essay contest. This included the winning essay for “Perseverance,” as well as the essay for “Ingenuity,” the name selected for the experimental helicopter that accompanied the rover to Mars.

A placard commemorating NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign was installed on the Perseverance Mars rover on March 16, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Full image and caption ›

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, before launch, the chips were mounted to a small plate attached to the center of the aft crossbeam on Perseverance, where they are visible to cameras on the rover's mast.

The plate affixed to the aft crossbeam of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover is seen here on March 16, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Full image and caption ›

Also on the plate: a laser-etched graphic depicting Earth and Mars connected by the rays of the Sun that gives light to both. Written in Morse code in the Sun’s rays is a hidden message, “Explore As One.” The illustration pays tribute to the plaques on the Pioneer spacecraft and the Golden Records carried into space by Voyagers 1 and 2.

How can I sign up to send my name on the next Mars mission?

If you sent your name to Mars on Perseverance, you can retrieve your boarding pass here. If you missed out on that opportunity, you can sign up to send your name on a future Mars mission.

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Starship SN10 first static fire (iginition at 20 seconds) :

 

And the second one yesterday, after swaping one of the three engines following a malfunction (2:09) :

 

 

Next launch window is march 1st-3rd so maybe it will fly soon. Be sure to tune in to SpaceX livestream. It's an exciting thing to see ! 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Fido_le_muet

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

2 hours ago, Con said:

Nearly 11 Million Names of Earthlings are on Mars Perseverance

Mine included 😍

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

SpaceX Starship SN10 should fly very soon, most likely tomorrow ! Flight window scheduled from monday to wednesday. 

[TommyJo 11]

Do you think they will use 3D printing for the base on the Moon or Mars? And how realistic is it to get materials for 3D printing in space? For example, the house for the first settlers must be protected from radiation, hermetically sealed, etc.

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Starship SN10 scheduled for launch on wednesday. Test flight cancelled today and tomorrow because of weather. 

1 hour ago, TommyJo said:

Do you think they will use 3D printing for the base on the Moon or Mars? And how realistic is it to get materials for 3D printing in space? For example, the house for the first settlers must be protected from radiation, hermetically sealed, etc.

I think they will stick with conventionnal material at first. If we get a moon base going, they may try to add new different modules like inflatabes ones (like they did on ISS) or 3D printed ones. Could be interesting but is it radiation proof ? Maybe they will need to coat the module with a layer of something for that. 

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Test launch for Starship SN10 happening today. Launch window is 9am-6pm Texas time. 

Be sure to tune in cause it's always a good show! Hopefully it can stick the landing this time. 

SpaceX live stream will start just before launch but in the meantime :

 

 

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Launch in 30-60 minutes. Tune in ! 

EDIT : launch was delayed for a bit because of a technical issue. Should launch in 30-40 minutes now. 

Lift off in 10 mins at around 2:14 CST. But it's the "landing" that's the most fun so add 8 minutes to that. 😁

EDIT : Space X is live ! Launch in T-4min

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Fido_le_muet

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Aaaaand it's an abort ! Something wrong with one or several engine.

EDIT : New attempt at 4:30pm CST.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Fido_le_muet

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

It landed! And then it blew up lol

Landing was a bit rough but the entire belly flop sequence and the rest ignition of the engines to bring the ship in vertically for landing were perfectly executed. There was an issue with the landing legs and also a methane leak which caused the big fireball 8 minutes after landing. 

Overall, great success.