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shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:31 pm

Annnnnnnnd not only did I just learn that yes you can see it with the unaided eye, NASA operates a website that tracks its orbit in real time so you know where to look.

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm
This post (and Shyster's responses) make me so happy. Tif, I know your skies are absurdly light-polluted, but for those trips out into the dark sky areas, I recommend either the Heavens Above app (awesome) or this site:

https://in-the-sky.org/satpasses.php

I have stood outside after sunset often and just looked up. Of course, you can only view ISS/satellite flybys within a couple of hours of sunset/sunrise since the Earth's shadow will block your view after that. But I have always been amazed at just how many satellites I can see going over in a 30 minute span. To the trained eye, you can pick them right away. About the brightness of a moderately bright star, moving steadily across the sky, taking about 3-6 minutes from horizon to horizon.

The other cool thing is how you can literally watch them slowly fade out as they move from west to east, as they move into the Earth's shadow. And yes, as Shyster said, you are not seeing the lights, you are seeing the sun reflecting off of the panels.

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Postby shafnutz05 » Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:32 pm

lol, I just realized Shyster covered most of these points in the last post. All good. As you can tell, I am a nerd with this stuff.

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Postby Kane » Tue Sep 24, 2019 7:53 am


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Postby Shyster » Tue Sep 24, 2019 5:02 pm

JAXA earlier this afternoon (US time) successfully launched its resupply mission to the ISS using an H-IIB rocket, which had been delayed by a pad fire. JAXA said that the pad fire was caused by a buildup of oxygen that was likely ignited by static electricity. Damage to the pad and vehicle was minimal. This is the eighth mission of the HTV cargo vehicle and the eighth launch of an H-IIB, which is only used for ISS missions. It's a special version of Japan's workhorse H-IIA rocket. The main difference is that the H-IIB uses a larger first stage tank that mounts two LE-7A main engines; the H-IIA only uses a single engine. Japan is deep in the process of developing the H3 rocket, which will replace both versions starting around 2021.

Next up is a historic Soyuz launch. The Russian space agency tomorrow will be launching a three-man crew to the ISS aboard the final flight of the Soyuz-FG rocket. The Soyuz has gone through a bunch of upgrades over the years, and the current version is the Soyuz-2. But manned launches have continued to use the older Soyuz-FG. Future launches will use the Soyuz-2. The launch will also mark the final use (as currently planned) for historic Pad 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a/k/a "Gagarin's Start." Pad 1/5 was the launch site for the world's first human spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 in 1961, and it's been in nearly continuous use ever since. But it would need upgrades for the Soyuz-2, and the Russians literally don't have the money for them. There's already a Soyuz-2 compatible pad at Baikonur at Pad 31/6, so Pad 1/5 is being decommissioned.

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Postby Shyster » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:37 pm

Rocket Labs has finished installing the launch platform for the new Pad 0C at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. There's still work to go in terms of integration, plumbing, and testing, but construction is in the home stretch. Rocket Labs has said that they're aiming for "Early 2020" for the first launch of an Electron rocket from the United States.

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Postby Kane » Fri Oct 11, 2019 8:02 am

Meteorite crashed in China.


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Postby shafnutz05 » Wed Oct 23, 2019 8:31 pm

I fired up the Heavens Above app, walked outside with my daughter, and within 30 seconds we were watching this move steadily across the sky:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_1300

There is just something so cool about watching an early 80s Soviet intelligence satellite just go soaring by. I HIGHLY recommend that app for anyone. It is really fun to plug in your zip code and see what is flying overhead. Then you can Google the satellite info after.

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Postby Shyster » Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:34 pm

The Air Force's X-37B unmanned space plane has finally landed after more than two years in space. The OTV-5 mission launched back in September 2017 aboard a Falcon 9 from Florida. It landed at the former space shuttle runway at KSC. All of the X-37's missions are classified, so we don't know exactly what it has been doing up there, but some security analysis believe that the X-37B has been used to test reconnaissance and spy sensors in orbit. The Air Force did that that the OTV-5 mission provided a "ride for small satellites," which is interesting because the fedgov did not report or announce the release of any satellites.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/28/77401098 ... s-in-orbit

In other news, SpaceX released a brief video of a test for the upgraded launch-escape system for the Crew Dragon capsule. SpaceX has redesigned the plumbing for the SupreDraco abort engines following the RUD during a test back in April. SpaceX is hoping to do the in-flight abort test before the end of the year and the first crewed mission in Q1 2020.


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Postby Shyster » Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:05 pm

Northrop Grumman is on track for the launch of the Antares NG-12 cargo mission to the ISS, which is scheduled for liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, tomorrow, November 2, at approximately 10:00 am EDT. Included in the 8,200 lbs. of tools, supplies, and experiments on board the Cygnus cargo vehicle will be the Zero-G Oven, which astronauts will use to bake cookies in space for the first time. Right now the weather is forecast at a 95% chance of "go" for tomorrow morning. The below link is a viewing map for the east coast.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/northropgrumman/ ... es-launch/

This is the first launch for Northrop Grumman under its second CRS-2 contract with NASA. This is also the first launch of the upgraded 230+ version of the Antares rocket. When the Antares switched from its original (and demonstrably unreliable) Soviet-surplus NK33/AJ26 engines to the new-construction RD-181 engines, it had to under-throttle the RD-181s because the structure of the first stage wasn't strong enough to handle their higher maximum thrust. The 230+ version has a reinforced booster stage that permits the engines to be run at full throttle. The 230+ version also removes some unnecessary mass from the entire vehicle, and the result is that the 230+ has a significant payload increase over prior versions. Right now the Cygnus is capable of lifting a greater cargo mass to the ISS than any of the other active resupply vehicles (Dragon, Progress, HTV).

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Postby Shyster » Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:00 pm

Boeing this morning conducted a static test of its Starliner crew capsule's abort systems. The abort engines worked perfectly to pull the capsule away and then maneuver the capsule into the proper positions, but one of the three main parachutes did not deploy. Boeing was quick to say that two out of three mains was within margins, but whether NASA will agree on that is another matter. Here's Scott Manley discussing the test:



SpaceX earlier had been having some issues with parachute deployment for its Dragon 2 capsule, and under NASA direction SpaceX in the last few months has run more than a dozen successful drop tests of a revised Mark 3 parachute design. I'd be surprised (but maybe not too surprised) if NASA didn't require Boeing to do more parachute testing as a result of today's anomaly.

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Postby Shyster » Mon Nov 11, 2019 6:04 pm

SpaceX earlier today set a couple of new reusability milestones with the launch of its next batch of 60 Starlink satellites. The launch was the fourth launch for the first stage booster, and it was also the first time that the Falcon 9 flew with recovered/reused payload fairings. The booster made a successful landing on the droneship, so we may see launch number five for this stage, but SpaceX did not attempt to recover the fairings.


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Postby shafnutz05 » Sun Nov 17, 2019 7:31 am

This is pretty awesome...proud of my alma mater. Always loved having a really nice planetarium in my high school.

https://www.altoonamirror.com/sports/lo ... g-to-aasd/
A 9,000-pound cone-shaped hunk of metal rusting away on a Mercer County farm for about 25 years is as substantial for its historical importance as it is for its weight, though it has been long overlooked until now.

The object is a capsule that was designed by NASA as a test dummy for what would become the actual command module nicknamed “Columbia,” which was the portion of the Apollo 11 spacecraft that splashed down safely in 1969 with three astronauts, including two who walked on the moon.

To safeguard man’s return to Earth from the moon, NASA engineered and tested multiple “boilerplates” under extreme conditions, including the one that is soon to become a permanent fixture at Altoona Area Senior High School. Altoona Area astronomy teacher Jim Krug is taking on the task of restoring the capsule and using it as a teaching tool.

Krug plans to use the piece of history to develop a new curriculum that could be launched nationwide.

NASA made 26 boilerplate models for different testing purposes, he said. Some were used to practice egress — how to exit the capsule.

The specific testing purpose of the capsule he is set to receive was most likely for naval recovery practice, he said.

“I believe there are less than 10 known today,” Krug said. “They are special pieces of history.”

With the renovation of the Altoona Area High School complex, the planetarium’s museum space is planned to double. That’s where the capsule will be relocated for tours by students and the public, Krug said.

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Postby Shyster » Thu Nov 21, 2019 9:51 pm

BBC report on massive fraud and corruption regarding the construction of the new Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. The famous Baikonur Cosmodrome is not located in Russia. It's located in Kazakhstan, and the Kazakhs have been charging the Russians a pretty penny for its use ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Vostochny is supposed to take over for Baikonur for pretty much everything except manned launches.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50462431?u

It's unfortunate to see the current state of the Russian space industry. The Soviets/Russians developed some great technology, and to this day they still make some of the best rocket engines in the world. But low funds, mismanagement, and corruption have rendered the Russians pretty much unable to accomplish anything significant.

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Postby Shyster » Thu Dec 05, 2019 3:29 pm

Successful launch earlier today for the SpaceX CRS-19 cargo mission to the ISS. This launch is the twenty-first flight of the first-generation version of the Dragon capsule and marks its twentieth mission to the ISS. It is also the third launch for this particular Dragon. Rather unusually for these days, this launch featured a brand-new first stage, which executed a successful droneship landing. The Dragon is carrying 5,769 lbs of cargo, which includes computer equipment, spare parts, crew provisions, scientific payloads, and a handful of tiny cubesats that will be deployed later on from the ISS.

The first stage executed a droneship landing rather than the usual return-to-launch-site landing on this mission because SpaceX will be running some thermal tests on the second stage in order to prepare for future satellite launches that might require long coasts between upper stage burns. In order to give the second stage on this flight more fuel for those tests, SpaceX ran the first stage longer than usual for ISS launches, which meant that it didn't have enough fuel left for a full boostback burn to Cape Canaveral.

A Russian Progress cargo vehicle is also scheduled to launch to the ISS on Friday, so the next week or so will be pretty busy for the ISS crew in terms of docking operations and unloading.

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Postby Shyster » Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:12 pm

In space news, China conducted the third launch of the Long March 5 rocket, which was carrying a massive communications satellite. The LM5 is China's new heavy-lift rocket, and is roughly comparable to a Delta IV heavy. The prior launch, which was more than a year ago, failed due to a turbopump failure in one of the core's two engines. China plans to lean heavily on the LM5 to launch missions to the Moon and Mars and to launch the components of a new Chinese space station.

Russia today performed what it to be the final launch of a Rokot launcher, which was carrying three Gonets-M communications satellites. Russia's Gonets network is similar to the Iridium satellite-phone network. The Rokot launcher was developed as a low-cost, lightweight rocket using decommissioned ICBM hardware to place small payloads into orbit. Rokot used the first two stages of the Soviet UR-100N ballistic missile, coupled with a Briz-KM upper stage. One of the reasons for the Rokot's retirement is that its control system is made in Ukraine, and Ukraine ain't shipping anything to Russia right now. It's possible that the Russians could develop their own control system and bring the Rokot back, but that would take money, and the Russian space agency doesn't have much of that.

Most of you probably saw in the news that the test launch of the Boeing Starliner crew capsule didn't go as planned. There was an error where the onboard guidance system for the Starliner was using the wrong mission clock. The Starliner thought it was in the middle of a orbital burn, so it started using its reaction-control-system (RCS) thrusters to maintain an extremely precise orientation, which would be necessary during a burn. Those unnecessary RCS burns were rapid enough and lasted long enough that by the time ground controllers were able to order the Starliner to stop, it had already expended enough of its onboard fuel that it was no longer able to reach the ISS. It's not known at this time whether Boeing will need to conduct a second unmanned qualification launch. While Boeing and NASA were able to conduct some tests in obit in terms of the Starliner's cooling, power, communications, and guidance systems, the primary test and mission goal for this launch was to dock with the ISS, and that didn't happen.

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Postby Kaiser » Fri Dec 27, 2019 7:39 pm

Good thing it wigged out on the ground. That could've been lights out for the station.

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Postby Shyster » Sun Jan 19, 2020 5:09 pm

SpaceX this morning conducted a successful in-flight test of the launch-escape system for the crew Dragon. The launch flew a normal ISS flight profile up through Max-Q, at which point the Falcon 9's engines were manually commanded to shut down. The Dragon successfully registered the loss of thrust as an abort event and fired the SuperDraco escape engines. The rest of the abort went perfectly, with the detachment of the service module, deployment of chutes, and splashdown. As expected, the Falcon 9 rocket went kablooey from aerodynamic forces, which marks this as one of the few Rapid Scheduled Disassemblies in the history of rocketry.



The core that was sacrificed for the test was B1046, which was the first Block 5 booster.

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Postby Kaiser » Wed Jan 29, 2020 4:19 pm

New pic of the surface of the sun.

Image

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Postby Shyster » Wed Jan 29, 2020 8:08 pm

Provisionally, it looks like the IRAS and POPPY 5b / GGSE-4 satellites missed each other.

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Postby Dickie Dunn » Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:03 pm

New pic of the surface of the sun.

Image
Pretty sure that’s a caramel rice cake.

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Postby Shyster » Fri Feb 07, 2020 8:46 pm

The Boeing Starliner test back in December almost went even worse than it did. In addition to the computer error that caused the Starliner to unnecessarily burn fuel (which left it without enough fuel to reach the ISS), Boeing patched another bug literally two hours before reentry that could have caused the destruction of the vehicle. Specifically, Boeing revealed that a software error would have caused a set of thrusters on Starliner's service module to fire in the wrong manner. After the service modules separates from the capsule, it's supposed to perform a burn to pull itself away from the capsule so that it will reenter and burn up at a safe distance from the crew capsule. If the bug had not been patched, however, the service module's thrusters would have fired such that the service module and crew capsule could have collided, which very well could have destroyed the crew capsule or damaged it enough that it wouldn't survive reentry. Boeing also admitted that they wouldn't have found that second bug if the first bug had no occurred (which sent them looking for other bugs), which means that had the Starliner successfully made it to the ISS, it probably would have been destroyed on reentry.

While NASA didn't say exactly what it's going to do about this, they did day that their oversight of Boeing had been "insufficient" and that they intended to address that going forward. I can't imagine NASA will let the Starliner program go forward without extensive oversight and testing and a second uncrewed test flight. And while I hate to say it, these are precisely the sort of software errors that caused the 737 MAX to crash twice: glaring software-design errors that should have been caught before going into active use.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/02 ... r-mission/

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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Feb 13, 2020 6:14 am

This is fascinating. For those of you interested in stargazing, Betelgeuse is the upper shoulder (the brighter red star) in Orion, which is easily visible at night right now in the southern sky. It is over a full magnitude dimmer than it's normal maximum brightness, and astronomers are wondering if it is going through a terminal phase right now, or if it is just an exceptional, record-setting pulsation.

If we are lucky enough to see Betelgeuse go supernova in our lifetime, it will be a sight that is never forgotten. Can you imagine the worldwide phenomenon? Think about the buzz about Hale-Bopp back in the late 90s.
When Betelgeuse does eventually go supernova, it will be the most fascinating act of nature witnessed by any human ever. Other supernovae like SN 185 and SN 1604 were much further away than Betelgeuse. When Betelgeuse goes supernova, it will the third brightest object in the sky, after the Sun and the full Moon. But some estimates say it’ll be even brighter than the Moon.
That brightness will last months, and it’ll cast shadows on Earth even at night. Then in about three years or so, it will dim down to its current brightness.

Betelgeuse will light up the sky like no other supernovae, and will last for months, visible in daytime, and casting shadows at night. Then in about three years, it will fade to its current brightness. Then in about six years after it goes supernova, Betelgeuse won’t even be visible in the night sky. Orion the Hunter will be no more.
https://www.universetoday.com/144694/be ... magnitude/

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Postby Shyster » Wed Feb 26, 2020 3:01 pm

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/02 ... satellite/

A successful event took place today that could have a significant impact on the satellite industry. Four months ago, Northrop Grumman launched its experimental Mission Extension Vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Russian Proton Rocket. The Mission Extension Vehicle is designed to rendezvous with comsats in orbit and "dock" to them by inserting an expanding probe into the comstats' engine nozzles. The Mission Extension Vehicle will then use its own engines and reaction-control thrusters to maintain the combined satellites' orbit and orientation. Today, the MEV successfully docked with Intelsat 901.

This event is significant because it represents the first time an orbiting satellite has been serviced by another satellite. The lifespan of satellites is generally limited by the amount of fuel they have on board. Thanks to such things as the gravitational influence of the moon, satellites (especially geostationary satellites) have to regularly expend fuel to stay in their orbital slots, and that means that the amount of fuel available is what generally limits the lifespan of a comsat. Comsats cost hundreds of millions of dollars, so the ability to extend their lifespan even for a few years would be a major development.

Here's how the Mission Extension Vehicle works:


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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:10 am


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Postby robbiestoupe » Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:55 am

:lol: :lol:

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