SPACE - random thread about space stuff

[Daehawk]

JWST

Already 255,000 miles from Earth now.

[Zaxxon]

And tomorrow we hopefully get sunshield deployments beginning.

[Zaxxon]

[Isgrimnur]

[jztemple2]

From NASASpaceflight.com, SpaceX continues to break reuse records and reach new milestones in 2021

Having launched 31 orbital Falcon 9 missions and four suborbital Starship tests, 2021 was the most active year for SpaceX to date. These launches included a number of new reuse records, including flying a booster for the eleventh time, flying the same booster twice in under a month, flying a fairing half for the fifth time, and setting a turnaround record for Dragon.

[jztemple2]

Aft Sunshield Pallet has been unfolded.



The story: James Webb Space Telescope begins unfolding delicate, massive sunshield

On Tuesday (Dec. 28), the spacecraft notched another key step in that deployment as it unfolded the Forward Unitized Pallet Structure (UPS) of its vast sunshield, according to a NASA statement. The process took four hours and concluded at 1:21 p.m. EST (1821 GMT), according to the agency. Webb then mimicked that process with the Aft UPS, which finished deploying at approximately 7:27 p.m. EST on Tuesday (0027 Dec. 29 GMT), the agency said in an update.

[Zaxxon]

[stessier]

Found this super interesting and understandable.

[Zaxxon]

[Daehawk]

[jztemple2]

Temperature data is now also available for the Webb on the tracking page.

[The Meal]

A buddy at Ball just texted me that link.

[Isgrimnur]

[jztemple2]

Thanks for posting the image. That's a real good visualization of the gravity wells.

[Isgrimnur]

Thanks. Stolen directly from the tracking page.

[The Meal]

How does that relate to time cube?

[Isgrimnur]

First, you have to cube the sphere through coordinate substitution...

[jztemple2]

Two items for your Thursday pleasure:

The 10 wildest things we learned about black holes in 2021

Scientists who study black holes can rest assured that their field will deliver astounding and mind-bending findings, year after year. And 2021 was no exception, with many exciting new results regarding these strange gravitational beasts. Here, we take a look at this year's most captivating black hole discoveries and how they've advanced our understanding of the universe.

China's Tianhe space station module dodged SpaceX Starlink satellites twice this year

China moved its Tianhe space station module twice this year to avoid SpaceX Starlink internet satellites, and the nation apparently isn't too happy about it.

Chinese officials filed a note with the United Nations (UN) earlier this month explaining that Starlink spacecraft had two "close encounters" with Tianhe this year, both of them occurring when astronauts were aboard the module.

"For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control on 1 July and 21 October 2021, respectively," Chinese officials wrote in the note, which was dated Dec. 6. The communique takes on a somewhat aggrieved tone toward the end, urging UN officials to remind signatories of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty of their various responsibilities.

"In view of the foregoing, China wishes to request the secretary-general of the United Nations to circulate the above-mentioned information to all States parties to the Outer Space Treaty and bring to their attention that, in accordance with article VI of the Treaty, 'States Parties to the treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty,'" the note concludes.China moved its Tianhe space station module twice this year to avoid SpaceX Starlink internet satellites, and the nation apparently isn't too happy about it.

Chinese officials filed a note with the United Nations (UN) earlier this month explaining that Starlink spacecraft had two "close encounters" with Tianhe this year, both of them occurring when astronauts were aboard the module.

"For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control on 1 July and 21 October 2021, respectively," Chinese officials wrote in the note, which was dated Dec. 6.

The communique takes on a somewhat aggrieved tone toward the end, urging UN officials to remind signatories of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty of their various responsibilities.

"In view of the foregoing, China wishes to request the secretary-general of the United Nations to circulate the above-mentioned information to all States parties to the Outer Space Treaty and bring to their attention that, in accordance with article VI of the Treaty, 'States Parties to the treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty,'" the note concludes.

[Isgrimnur]

[jztemple2]

From Space.com, These are the space missions to watch in 2022

An exciting year lies ahead with many space missions slated to launch in 2022.

While 2021 was an eventful year with the first space tourist-focused missions, NASA's new Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landing on Mars, the long-awaited launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and numerous other science missions, there's even more to look forward to in 2022.

From new launch vehicles like SpaceX's Starship, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, to missions to the moon, Mars, asteroids and much more, a lot of exciting missions are expected to launch or arrive at their destination in 2022. We'll also see a lot of missions that were delayed in 2021 take flight.

And also from Space.com, Why the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield deployment takes so long

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is three days into the deployment of its massive sunshield — and it still has about three days to go.

The $10 billion Webb launched on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) to seek out heat signals from the early universe. To pick up these faint signals, the observatory's optics and instruments must be kept extremely cold, and that's where the sunshield comes in.

The five-layer structure will reflect sunlight and radiate heat extremely efficiently, allowing Webb to maintain its "cold side" at a frosty minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 223 degrees Celsius) or so, if all goes according to plan. The observatory's sun-facing "hot side," by contrast, will be around 230 degrees F (110 degrees C), NASA officials wrote in a Webb sunshield explainer.

The kite-shaped sunshield measures 69.5 feet long by 46.5 feet wide (21.2 by 14.2 meters). That's far too large to fit inside the payload fairing of any currently operational rocket, so the structure lifted off in a highly compact configuration and must now unfurl in space.

That operation is incredibly complex, involving many different nail-biting, time-consuming steps.

"Webb's sunshield assembly includes 140 release mechanisms, approximately 70 hinge assemblies, eight deployment motors, bearings, springs, gears, about 400 pulleys and 90 cables totaling 1,312 feet [400 m]," Webb spacecraft systems engineer Krystal Puga said in "29 Days on the Edge," a video about Webb's deployments that NASA posted in October.

"All this just to keep the sunshield under control as it unfolds," added Puga, who works for the aerospace company Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the Webb mission.

[jztemple2]

From Space.com, White House directs NASA to extend International Space Station operations through 2030

The White House has given NASA a New Year's Eve "go" to continue operations on board the International Space Station through 2030, granting the orbital outpost a six-year life extension.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was directed by the Biden-Harris administration to work with the agency's partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russia's federal space corporation Roscosmos, to enable the International Space Station's use throughout the rest of this decade.

"I'm pleased that the Biden-Harris administration has committed to continuing station operations through 2030," said Nelson in a statement posted to NASA's website on Friday (Dec. 31). "The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational and technological developments to benefit humanity."

[Kraken]

That's good news. It gives Starliner a shot at being ready before ISS retires.

[Hrdina]

That's good news. It gives Starliner a shot at being ready before ISS retires.

A shot, yes.

[jztemple2]

James Webb Space Telescope unfurls massive sunshield in major deployment milestone

One of the James Webb Space Telescope's most nail-biting deployment steps is safely in the books.

The $10 billion observatory unfurled its huge sunshield on Friday (Dec. 31), carefully unfolding the five-layer structure by sequentially deploying two booms.

"Shine bright like a diamond. With the successful deployment of our right sunshield mid-boom, or 'arm,' Webb’s sunshield has now taken on its diamond shape in space," mission team members said via Webb's Twitter account Friday night.

[Zaxxon]

[Zaxxon]

[Zaxxon]

Bam!

[Isgrimnur]

[Zaxxon]

Much BAMming.

[stessier]

Spoiler:

RIP the surface of Mars.

[raydude]

From Space.com, These are the space missions to watch in 2022

An exciting year lies ahead with many space missions slated to launch in 2022.

While 2021 was an eventful year with the first space tourist-focused missions, NASA's new Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landing on Mars, the long-awaited launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and numerous other science missions, there's even more to look forward to in 2022.

From new launch vehicles like SpaceX's Starship, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, to missions to the moon, Mars, asteroids and much more, a lot of exciting missions are expected to launch or arrive at their destination in 2022. We'll also see a lot of missions that were delayed in 2021 take flight.

My work touches on 3 of the missions listed there. I'm on the Psyche mission supporting the GRNS instrument on that spacecraft, I'm on DART creating the data we download from the DART and LICIACube spacecraft, and I'm on the Astrobiotics mission to the moon, helping them archive their data with NASA's Planetary Data System.

[jztemple2]

From Space.com, These are the space missions to watch in 2022

An exciting year lies ahead with many space missions slated to launch in 2022.

While 2021 was an eventful year with the first space tourist-focused missions, NASA's new Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landing on Mars, the long-awaited launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and numerous other science missions, there's even more to look forward to in 2022.

From new launch vehicles like SpaceX's Starship, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, to missions to the moon, Mars, asteroids and much more, a lot of exciting missions are expected to launch or arrive at their destination in 2022. We'll also see a lot of missions that were delayed in 2021 take flight.

My work touches on 3 of the missions listed there. I'm on the Psyche mission supporting the GRNS instrument on that spacecraft, I'm on DART creating the data we download from the DART and LICIACube spacecraft, and I'm on the Astrobiotics mission to the moon, helping them archive their data with NASA's Planetary Data System.

Very cool stuff indeed. Also I'm not so sure about "I'm on DART creating the data we download from the DART and LICIACube spacecraft". You mean, there's not really data coming down from them? You're just making it up?

[raydude]

From Space.com, These are the space missions to watch in 2022

An exciting year lies ahead with many space missions slated to launch in 2022.

While 2021 was an eventful year with the first space tourist-focused missions, NASA's new Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landing on Mars, the long-awaited launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and numerous other science missions, there's even more to look forward to in 2022.

From new launch vehicles like SpaceX's Starship, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket and Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, to missions to the moon, Mars, asteroids and much more, a lot of exciting missions are expected to launch or arrive at their destination in 2022. We'll also see a lot of missions that were delayed in 2021 take flight.

My work touches on 3 of the missions listed there. I'm on the Psyche mission supporting the GRNS instrument on that spacecraft, I'm on DART creating the data we download from the DART and LICIACube spacecraft, and I'm on the Astrobiotics mission to the moon, helping them archive their data with NASA's Planetary Data System.

Very cool stuff indeed. Also I'm not so sure about "I'm on DART creating the data we download from the DART and LICIACube spacecraft". You mean, there's not really data coming down from them? You're just making it up?

I am part of the DART mission. My job is to take downloaded telemetry packets and transform them into usable data: images + metadata.

[Isgrimnur]

You could just outsource it.

[jztemple2]

You could just outsource it.

Yeah, but can he figure out my income taxes?

[Isgrimnur]

Spoiler:

[Daehawk]

Last video of Webb. In HD too.

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space- ... w-4k-video

[Daehawk]

[Montag]

Should have shared this earlier:

James Webb Telescope timeline.

https://planet4589.org/space/misc/webb/time.html

[jztemple2]

Well, after experiencing the Total Perspective Vortex I feel pretty good about myself