Moderators: Bakhtosh, EvilHomer3k
so I'm posting it here so we can talk tech geeky stuff
You probably shouldn't hold out hope for a launch of SpaceX's giant Starship vehicle this month.
SpaceX is gearing up for the second-ever liftoff of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, from its Starbase site in South Texas. The vehicle slated to make the leap is ready to go, according to company founder and CEO Elon Musk; SpaceX just needs to secure the necessary regulatory approvals, including a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
That license could be coming soon — though perhaps not as soon as Musk would like.
"We're working well with them and have been in good discussions. Teams are working together and I think we're optimistic [about issuing a license] sometime next month," the FAA's acting administrator, Polly Trottenberg, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Wednesday (Sept. 13), according to Reuters.
The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide, and shortage of ammonia, support the hypothesis that there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. These initial Webb observations also provided a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS). On Earth, this is only produced by life. The bulk of the DMS in Earth’s atmosphere is emitted from phytoplankton in marine environments.
The inference of DMS is less robust and requires further validation. “Upcoming Webb observations should be able to confirm if DMS is indeed present in the atmosphere of K2-18 b at significant levels,” explained Madhusudhan.
Some wetlands and scrub habitat at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are slated to make way for continued SpaceX expansion.
SpaceX proposes to expand its Roberts Road Operations Area within Kennedy Space Center, upgrade the utilities, and widen Saturn Causeway to support vehicle transport to and from launch facilities.
NASA's environmental impact study of the proposed expansion said it will have long-term "moderate" environmental impacts. NASA has spelled those out in a 231-page report, required under federal law.
Located near SpaceX’s HangarX facility, the company's operations area is used for processing and storage of the company’s Falcon boosters and payloads.
The public has a month to weigh in on SpaceX's plan.
The total footprint of facilities would not exceed 1.5 million square feet and facility height would not exceed about 400 feet. The size would be tall enough to accommodate future Starship vehicle development.
Join us as we delve into the significant upgrades SpaceX introduced for Starship’s second flight! From the intriguing hot staging ring, new vents, and gimbal changes to the major launchpad modifications, we leave no stone unturned. Relying on weeks of observations, official confirmations, and some theorizing, we uncover what makes Flight 2 unique. Strap in for a journey of exploration through SpaceX's engineering marvels.
Nearly 7,000 satellites orbit the Earth, serving vital functions such as communication, navigation, and scientific research.
In 2022 alone, more than 150 launches took place, sending new instruments into space, with many more expected over the next decade.
But who owns these objects? In this graphic, we utilize data from the Union of Concerned Scientists to highlight the leaders in satellite technology.
It's been 19 years since Genesis cratered into the Dugway Proving Ground.
We'll have to wait another week to see NASA's Psyche asteroid mission take flight.
Psyche had been scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Oct. 5. But that's no longer the plan; the mission team has pushed the liftoff back to Oct. 12.
"The change allows the NASA team to complete verifications of the parameters used to control the Psyche spacecraft's nitrogen cold gas thrusters," NASA officials wrote in an update on Thursday evening (Sept. 28).
Dream Chaser, the so-called “mini shuttle”, is set to bring back the capability of returning experiments and equipment from the International Space Station (ISS) through Earth’s atmosphere for an eventual runway landing.
As much as the vehicle resembles NASA’s Space Transportation System, better known as the space shuttle, it’s actually based on a different NASA design. NASA’s Vehicle Analysis Branch at the Langley Research Center in Virginia originally studied the lifting body design known as the HL-20. NASA researched the vehicle for more than 15 years before transferring the research to the then Sierra Nevada corporation, now Sierra Space, in 2006.
However, in discussion with NSF, representatives from Sierra Space tell us there’s still plenty of inspiration taken from the shuttle program, particularly its thermal protection system (TPS).
Sierra Space is providing NASASpaceflight access into the build and design of the first-ever commercial spaceplane. Its current iteration of Dream Chaser is the DC-100, with the first vehicle in the fleet taking the name Tenacity.
The vehicle is covered with more than two thousand individual tiles according to the company. That’s compared to approximately 24,000 for a single space shuttle vehicle.
Part of that has to do with vehicle size. In comparison, Dream Chaser is also around ¼ the size of the orbiters. The company is also using larger tiles compared to shuttle. Each Dream Chaser tile, while slightly different in size based on its location on the vehicle, is approximately 10 by 10 inches, compared to the 6 by 6 inch tiles used by NASA.
Similar to the shuttle, each tile on the vehicle is a unique design. “[Each tile] differs in size, shape, thickness, and density,” Sierra Space said. However, they note some significant differences.
Each of the tiles on Tenacity are made of a stronger material than what was used on each of NASA’s orbiters, although still silica-based.
Jupiter-sized "planets" free-floating in space, unconnected to any star, have been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
What's intriguing about the discovery is that these objects appear to be moving in pairs. Astronomers are currently struggling to explain them.
The telescope observed about 40 pairs in a fabulously detailed new survey of the famous Orion Nebula.
They've been nicknamed Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or "JuMBOs" for short.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, now scheduled for launch on Oct. 12, will dial down the power of its maneuvering system after engineers discovered its thrusters were in danger of overheating during its eight-year expedition to explore a metallic asteroid.
The $1.2 billion mission was just two weeks from the opening of its launch window when testing of a spare thruster in a ground test bed revealed higher than expected temperatures. At first, engineers based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) suspected it was an isolated problem with the test bed equipment, but it soon became clear the thrusters installed on Psyche were also affected.
“The data that had come from the subcontractor about these cold gas thrusters was incorrect,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche’s Principal Investigator. The way the spacecraft was designed to operate was based on those specifications.
It was potentially another major blow for a project already delayed a year by late software, that had also faced challenges developing and building a spacecraft during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When thruster problem was discovered, the Psyche spacecraft was nearing the end of pre-launch preparations at the AstroTech processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. If any hardware changes were required, the mission could have missed its 20-day launch window and faced another long delay or even cancellation.
“It did pass through my mind: can we not catch a break?” said Elkins-Tanton.
But it was quickly determined that the overheating could be avoided by a relatively simple change to one of the parameters governing the thrusters. Instead of operating at the planned 80 percent of their maximum rated thrust, they would be limited to 30 percent.
“Thank god we’ve got this great team,” said Elkins-Tanton. “I have really transisted to a place of total gratitude that they found this before we launched. And it was just fortuitous.”
If engineers had not caught the problem, the higher than expected temperatures could have damaged the thrusters.
“It could have had a real mission impact,” said Elkins-Tanton.
The direct link to the Explorer is hereA spectacular annular solar eclipse will grace the Americas on Oct. 14 and you can track it down to the exact second with NASA's 2023 Eclipse Explorer.
The Eclipse Explorer's interactive map details when and where the eclipse will be visible, including the path and duration of annularity (the areas from which the 'ring of fire' can be seen), allowing users to dive into the eclipse viewing experience like never before.
Find out exactly when the eclipse will be visible at your location and watch how the eclipse evolves in time. You can toggle between cities and use the slider bar at the bottom to move through different stages of the eclipse.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 (£125,000) for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use.
The company admitted liability over its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a "compliance plan" with the FCC.
...
Dish was meant to move the satellite 186 miles further from Earth, but at the end of its life in 2022 had moved it only 76 miles after it lost fuel.
The instrument team I work for only found out about it the Friday before launch week. It was a mad scramble to get flights and hotel dates changed for my family.jztemple2 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 4:48 pm A bullet dodged? Simple settings tweak should save Psyche asteroid mission from overheating thrusters
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, now scheduled for launch on Oct. 12, will dial down the power of its maneuvering system after engineers discovered its thrusters were in danger of overheating during its eight-year expedition to explore a metallic asteroid.
The $1.2 billion mission was just two weeks from the opening of its launch window when testing of a spare thruster in a ground test bed revealed higher than expected temperatures. At first, engineers based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) suspected it was an isolated problem with the test bed equipment, but it soon became clear the thrusters installed on Psyche were also affected.
“The data that had come from the subcontractor about these cold gas thrusters was incorrect,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche’s Principal Investigator. The way the spacecraft was designed to operate was based on those specifications.
It was potentially another major blow for a project already delayed a year by late software, that had also faced challenges developing and building a spacecraft during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When thruster problem was discovered, the Psyche spacecraft was nearing the end of pre-launch preparations at the AstroTech processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. If any hardware changes were required, the mission could have missed its 20-day launch window and faced another long delay or even cancellation.
“It did pass through my mind: can we not catch a break?” said Elkins-Tanton.
But it was quickly determined that the overheating could be avoided by a relatively simple change to one of the parameters governing the thrusters. Instead of operating at the planned 80 percent of their maximum rated thrust, they would be limited to 30 percent.
“Thank god we’ve got this great team,” said Elkins-Tanton. “I have really transisted to a place of total gratitude that they found this before we launched. And it was just fortuitous.”
If engineers had not caught the problem, the higher than expected temperatures could have damaged the thrusters.
“It could have had a real mission impact,” said Elkins-Tanton.
Not mentioned in the article but still pertinent is that this is the first NASA mission named after a TV show about a psychic detective, although for legal reasons they added an extra "e" at the end. This is not NASA's first experience with cribbing mission names from popular media, although Dreamworks did decline to pursue legal action for NASA's use of the name Spirit for a Mars rover.NASA is preparing to launch its Psyche spacecraft on the first mission designed to study a metal-rich asteroid up close. The Psyche mission is set to blast off on Thursday (Oct. 12) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 GMT) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
After traveling an estimated 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion kilometers), the spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is located at the far edge of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, in 2029.
Once the spacecraft is in place, mission scientists will study the metal asteroid, which is different from the rock- and ice-dominated bodies studied in situ in the past, to learn more about how the rocky planets of the solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) formed.
With the exception of the weather, NASA and SpaceX said at a prelaunch news conference Wednesday everything was ready for the launch the Psyche mission at 10:16 a.m. EDT (1416 UTC) on Thursday, Oct. 12. on a seven-year mission to an asteroid of the same name.
Arlena Moses, the launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron, said the launch forecast for Thursday remains only 20 percent favorable for liftoff, but she said there were a couple elements that made her somewhat hopeful for a Thursday liftoff.
“It looks right now that warm front is going to be a little north of us as we go into the first part of tomorrow morning and what that’s going to kind of help us out with is that it should take a lot of the heaviest rainfall and best chances of storms north of us,” Moses said.
“However, we still will have a very unstable atmosphere, so there still may be some storms and rainfall around, probably lots of cloud cover, all of these things that we have concern for with our rocket launches and our lightning commit criteria,” she added.
Moses said that winds could pick up quickly out of the southwest of 20 to 25 miles per hour for the Thursday launch window. Looking at the 24-hour backup opportunity, there are lower winds of only 7 to 12 miles per hour and a 50 percent probability of ‘go’ weather.
The U.S. space agency posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that due to unfavorable "weather conditions,” both NASA and SpaceX are pushing back the launch to Friday, Oct. 13, at 10:19 a.m. ET.
Since launch was delayed a day, did you get to spend the day doing some fun things?raydude wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:07 pm Since I work on the Psyche mission as part of the GRNS instrument team I was given the option of registering myself and up to 3 people for invites to view the launch about 3 months ago. The NASA official invites just came in today. I'm going to the Psyche launch! Wooooo!
I had a perfect view of it in the Albuquerque area. We were directly in the umbra path, and the skies were perfectly clear. We had a pair of eclipse binoculars, in addition to glasses and a cereal box pinhole viewer. The binoculars gave a great view -- you could even see sunspots through it -- but it looked great through the regular eclipse glasses as well. Really fun to see.
Just got back from Florida. Due to the delay on Thursday we ended up going to Universal. Got soaked on the Jurassic Park ride due to a passing shower right when we hit the water. Thought it was part of the ride until we realized the water wasn't shutting off. Had a great time there.jztemple2 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 7:41 pmSince launch was delayed a day, did you get to spend the day doing some fun things?raydude wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:07 pm Since I work on the Psyche mission as part of the GRNS instrument team I was given the option of registering myself and up to 3 people for invites to view the launch about 3 months ago. The NASA official invites just came in today. I'm going to the Psyche launch! Wooooo!
Glad you were able to get to do something fun on Thursday. That's the thing about Central Florida, there's always someplace to go and have fun, especially with children.raydude wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 10:23 am Just got back from Florida. Due to the delay on Thursday we ended up going to Universal. Got soaked on the Jurassic Park ride due to a passing shower right when we hit the water. Thought it was part of the ride until we realized the water wasn't shutting off. Had a great time there.
Friday morning it was hot but we took turns visiting the Apollo Saturn 5 building until 20 mins before launch. Also bought a NASA umbrella at the gift shop which helped with the sun. I managed to capture the sound of the two sonic booms from the boosters landing. That was awesome! Also, the launch announcer mentioned that SpaceX was launching Starlink satellites that night at 7pm so we went out on the beach and watched that. Caught a 2 for 1 deal on Friday the 13th. Pretty cool!
. Yes, those VIP bleachers behind the Saturn building are really convenient for launch viewing and getting into the AC. I've been to the building several times on tours. I did win an award that gave me an opportunity to watch a Shuttle launch from that location, but since my normal work location was actually closer to the launch I took a pass on it. Heh, it's not the heat, it's the humidity! We also got to tour the Kennedy Space Center. Their newest attraction, the Gateway Deep Space Launch Complex was pretty cool. There were four motion simulator rides, each one focusing on different space trip. We got to ride 3 of them, but the fourth was offline. They also had a Boeing Starliner Simulator that let you try to manually dock with the ISS. It has a lot of panels full of non-functioning switches and buttons and a joystick controlling the thrusters. Gateway made KSC a lot more fun for us. Would highly recommend for folks thinking about visiting there.jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 11:23 amGlad you were able to get to do something fun on Thursday. That's the thing about Central Florida, there's always someplace to go and have fun, especially with children.raydude wrote: ↑Sun Oct 15, 2023 10:23 am Just got back from Florida. Due to the delay on Thursday we ended up going to Universal. Got soaked on the Jurassic Park ride due to a passing shower right when we hit the water. Thought it was part of the ride until we realized the water wasn't shutting off. Had a great time there.
Friday morning it was hot but we took turns visiting the Apollo Saturn 5 building until 20 mins before launch. Also bought a NASA umbrella at the gift shop which helped with the sun. I managed to capture the sound of the two sonic booms from the boosters landing. That was awesome! Also, the launch announcer mentioned that SpaceX was launching Starlink satellites that night at 7pm so we went out on the beach and watched that. Caught a 2 for 1 deal on Friday the 13th. Pretty cool!
Ah, you northerners*! Friday wasn't that hot
It was really cool that you also got to see the night launch as well. Getting to see two launches in one day is pretty exceptional for visitors, glad you got a chance to do it.
*Note: northerners to us are anyone who lives north of Florida... exception given for folks from southern Texas
Enjoyed it here! We were at around 90% obscured (only the very SW corner of CO got the full enchilada). It still got noticeably cooler and a bit darker (enough that our solar PV production dropped significantly for the 'peak' hour or so of the eclipse).
SpaceX leadership is heading to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby for greater efficiency when it comes regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The company is hoping to streamline the process of issuing launch licenses for both Starship test flights and more routine Falcon 9 rocket missions.
Ahead of the hearing before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told Spaceflight Now its regulatory approval process for the second Starship test flight could potentially last until the spring of 2024.
In a statement on Tuesday, a FWS spokesperson said their agency received a final biological assessment from the FAA Oct. 5 and FWS has up to 30 days to review it. This came after the FAA sent FWS a letter in August, which requested “reinitiation of Endangered Species Act consultation.”
“Under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, reinitiation of formal consultation is required when a project and its impacts change significantly, the amount of take issued previously is exceeded, we have new information on listed species not previously considered, or a new species is listed,” the spokesperson said. “Reinitiation involving major changes in effects analysis or changes in the [FWS’] biological opinion are addressed fully in a new consultation. For SpaceX reinitiation with FAA, we are considering the operation of a water deluge system.”
That new deluge system was part of a list of 63 corrective actions created as part of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation following the failed launch of the first integrated flight test on April
On Tuesday, the company unstacked the rocket after stacking it just a day before. Following Monday’s stacking operation, SpaceX said in a post on the social media site X, “Starship fully stacked while team prepares for a launch rehearsal. We continue to work with the FAA on a launch license.”
However, that license could still be a ways off. Following the 30-day review of the final biological assessment from the FAA, the FWS has “135 days to issue an amended biological opinion.”
That 135 days is comprised of the formal consultation period, which could last up to 90 days, and the process of crafting its biological opinion, for which it has 45 days.
In an interview with Ars Technica this week, a senior SpaceX official said that a backlog with FAA work caused them to make some tough calls on what they want the agency to prioritize regarding their launch vehicles.
“Licensing at this point for Starship is a critical path item for the Artemis program and for our execution,” a SpaceX official said. “Certainly looking forward into next year, we really need to operate that program at a higher cadence of flights. Six to eight months turns, that’s not great for the program.”
At the rate that regulatory approval is moving, that turnaround could theoretically become a year or more.
