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Post by swamprat on Jun 29, 2019 14:06:07 GMT
And another private space launch company! I'm telling you, folks! It's gonna get crowded up there!Rocket Lab Launches 7 Small Satellites to Orbit
By Mike Wall, 29 June 2019 | Spaceflight
The 'Make It Rain' mission went swimmingly.
A Rocket Lab Electron booster rises off the pad in New Zealand on June 29, 2019, with seven small satellites aboard. (Image: © Rocket Lab)
Sevens were wild for Rocket Lab early this morning (June 29).
The spaceflight startup launched seven small satellites to low-Earth orbit on the company's seventh flight, a mission dubbed "Make It Rain."
Rocket Lab's two-stage Electron booster rose into the heavens from the company's New Zealand launch site today at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT; 4:30 p.m. local New Zealand time). All seven craft were safely deployed by about 56 minutes after liftoff, company representatives said.
Those payloads include two craft called Prometheus, which will be operated by the United States Special Operations Command, and the cubesat ACRUX-1. This latter satellite was lofted for the Melbourne Space Program, an educational organization that gives Australian students hands-on experience with space projects.
"The largest spacecraft on the mission is BlackSky Global-3, a microsatellite developed, designed and manufactured by BlackSky, a leading provider of geospatial intelligence, satellite imaging, and global monitoring services," Rocket Lab representatives wrote in the "Make It Rain" press kit, which you can find here:
www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/
Rocket Lab aims to greatly increase access to space using Electron, a two-stage booster that's 57 feet tall and 4 feet wide (17 by 1.2 meters). The rocket is capable of lofting a maximum of about 500 lbs. (225 kilograms) on each roughly $5 million liftoff.
The total payload mass carried up this morning was 176 lbs. (80 kg), Rocket Lab representatives said.
Electron has now flown a total of seven times, including test flights, and three times in 2019. Rocket Lab plans to ramp up the spaceflight action soon; company CEO Peter Beck has said he'd like to get a dozen Electron missions in this year.
And the cadence will increase significantly in the future, if all goes according to plan. Rocket Lab would eventually like to fly once per week, or perhaps even more frequently than that, Beck has said.
Not all of these launches will occur from the New Zealand site, which sits on the North Island's Mahia Peninsula. Rocket Lab is building a second site at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia, and the company aims to have it ready before the end of 2019.
Rocket Lab gives all of its missions playful names. (The two previous 2019 flights were called "Two Thumbs Up" and "That's a Funny-Looking Cactus.") "Make It Rain" is a reference to Seattle, the famously wet city that serves as the home base of Spaceflight, the rideshare provider that procured the mission.
www.space.com/rocket-lab-launches-seven-satellites.html
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Post by Clifford on Jul 16, 2019 2:57:12 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Jul 17, 2019 14:40:17 GMT
German-Russian X-ray telescope takes off to study the dark universe
17 Jul 2019
by Peter Gwynne
Eye in the sky: the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission will study the X-ray sky between 0.2 and 30 keV. (Courtesy: P. Friedrich/MPE)
A long-awaited German-Russian telescope to survey the X-ray sky in unprecedented detail was successfully launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on 13 July. The Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (Spektr-RG) mission is designed to detect 100 000 galactic clusters allowing astrophysicists to constrain the properties of dark matter and dark energy, and hence test models of the expansion of the universe.
Spektr-RG consists of two instruments, one of which is eROSITA – an X-ray survey telescope designed and built by Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, which will operate between 0.2–10 keV. “It will provide a map of the entire sky in the 2–10 keV band for the first time,” says Esra Bulbul from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who will become chair of MPE’s eROSITA cluster and cosmology team in September.
Bulbul says that the mission is about 30 times more sensitive than ROSAT — the previous all-sky survey X-ray telescope — in the soft X-ray band between 0.2–2 keV. “Its enormous sensitivity in that band will allow us to detect galactic clusters and constrain cosmological parameters,” she adds.
Backing up eROSITA is ART-XC — a Russian-built telescope that can detect X-rays from 6–30 keV. This will allow the mission to detect supermassive black holes at galactic centres as well as study the “3.5 keV emission line” that could be produced by the decay of dark-matter particles. “The distribution of the dark-matter candidate line within our galaxy will allow us to test the origin of this signal,” says Bulbul, who adds that eROSITA will also aim to investigate the “physical processes at play in large-scale structures” as well as “nail down the evolution of metals in our universe”, which are all “unreachable with the current X-ray telescopes”.
Data taking
Spektr-RG’s immediate destination is Lagrangian point 2 – a gravitational-balance point over a million kilometres beyond the Moon’s orbit where it will be free from temperature variations. According to Peter Predehl from the MPE, who is the mission’s principal investigator, the telescope will take about 100 days to reach that point after which it will orbit around it. Once there, the telescope will set out on its first full-sky survey, which should take about six months. It will then repeat the process and continue to do so, improving the resolution each time. “The only constraint is to keep it there for at least seven years with minimum fuel consumption,” says Predehl.
physicsworld.com/a/german-russian-x-ray-telescope-takes-off-to-study-the-dark-universe/
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Post by swamprat on Jul 22, 2019 15:18:24 GMT
Liftoff! India Launches Ambitious Mission to Land at the Moon's South Pole
By Mike Wall 22 July 2019
Chandrayaan-2 is expected to arrive in lunar orbit this September.
India is on its way to the moon again — this time, to the lunar surface.
The nation's robotic Chandrayaan-2 mission launched today (July 22) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, rising off the pad atop a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) rocket at 5:13 a.m. EDT (0913 GMT; 2:43 p.m. local Indian time). The launch came after just over a weeklong delay due to a rocket glitch, and just days after NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
"My dear friends, today is a historical day for space and science technology in India," said K. Sivan, Chairman of the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), adding that the GSLV Mk III rocket placed Chandrayaan-2 in a better orbit than expected. "It is the beginning of a historical journey of India towards the moon and to land at the place near the south pole, to carry out scientific experiments, to explore the unexplored."
The liftoff kicks off a long and looping deep-space trip. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will reach lunar orbit on Sept. 6 and then put a lander-rover duo down near the moon's south pole shortly thereafter.
An Indian GSLV Mark III-M1 rocket carrying the country's Chandrayaan-2 moon orbiter, lander and rover stands atop its launchpad on Sriharikota Island awaiting launch. (Image credit: India Space Research Organisation)
A successful touchdown would be historic; to date, only the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia and China have managed to soft-land a craft on the moon. And none of these touchdowns have been in the south polar region, which is believed to harbor huge amounts of water ice on the floors of permanently shadowed craters.
Chandrayaan-2 was originally scheduled to launch on July 14 but was delayed for eight days by an issue with the rocket.
A long time coming
India already has one robotic moon mission under its belt: the successful Chandrayaan-1, which launched in October 2008 and operated through August 2009. Chandrayaan-1 consisted of an orbiter and an impactor, which slammed hard into the lunar south pole in November 2008. Both of these craft spotted evidence of water ice on the moon.
There wasn't supposed to be an 11-year wait for the second lunar trip; Chandrayaan-2 was originally scheduled to launch in 2013. And the mission began as a partnership with Russia, which was to supply the lander.
But things changed after the 2011 failure of Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars mission, which never made it out of Earth orbit. Russia decided to perform an extensive review of Phobos-Grunt's gear, which included a lander. This resulted in significant delays, with Russian officials eventually stating they could not meet even a revised 2015 launch date for Chandrayaan-2. So, in 2013, India decided to cut ties with Russia and do everything in-house.
The cost of Chandrayaan-2 is around 10 billion rupees, officials with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have said. That's about $145 million at current exchange rates.
Lots of science gear
Chandrayaan-2 will settle into a circular orbit, 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon's surface. Eventually, the orbiter will deploy the lander-rover duo, which will touch down on a plain between the craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N, about 70 degrees south of the lunar equator.
The Chandrayaan-2 lander is named Vikram, after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program. The rover, called Pragyan ("wisdom" in Sanskrit), will roll down a ramp from Vikram onto the lunar surface. (Chandrayaan, by the way, means "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit.)
The six-wheeled, solar-powered Pragyan will be able to travel up to 1,640 feet (500 meters) on the lunar surface, ISRO officials have said. The rover will communicate only with the lander, which will be capable of beaming information both to the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter and directly to the Indian Deep Space Network here on Earth.
All three vehicles are packed with scientific gear. The orbiter carries eight scientific instruments, including multiple cameras and spectrometers; Vikram is outfitted with four instruments and Pragyan two.
All of these payloads were developed by Indian scientists, except one: a passive experiment from NASA called the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA).
The LRA is designed to help researchers pinpoint the location of spacecraft on the lunar surface and calculate the distance from Earth to the moon precisely. An instrument of the same design also flew aboard Israel's Beresheet lander, which crashed during its lunar touchdown attempt in April.
Advancing exploration
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is designed to operate for one Earth year. Vikram and Pragyan, by contrast, are expected to work on the surface for just half of one lunar day — equivalent to about 14 Earth days. (The duo likely won't survive the long and cold lunar night.)
The data gathered by the three spacecraft should build upon the knowledge gained by Chandrayaan-1 and enable even more ambitious exploration down the road, mission team members have said.
"Through this effort, the aim is to improve our understanding of the moon — discoveries that will benefit India and humanity as a whole," ISRO officials wrote in a description of Chandrayaan-2. "These insights and experiences aim at a paradigm shift in how lunar expeditions are approached for years to come — propelling further voyages into the farthest frontiers."
India isn't alone in eyeing the moon's resource-rich south polar region. For example, NASA plans to land astronauts there in 2024, and build up a long-term, sustainable presence on and around the moon over the following years.
www.space.com/india-chandrayaan-2-moon-mission-launch-success.html
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Post by swamprat on Jul 30, 2019 16:12:55 GMT
Chandrayaan-2 successfully completes 3rd orbit-raising maneuver
Posted by Sharmila Kuthunur in HUMAN WORLD | SPACE | July 29, 2019
India’s 2nd moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, successfully carried out its 3rd orbit-raising maneuver on Monday. It will soon enter trans-lunar orbit, with the goal of landing on the moon on September 7.
Mission sequence showing Chandrayaan-2’s trajectory. Image via ISRO.
India’s second spacecraft to the moon – an unprecedented attempt to soft-land on the lunar south pole – is steadily breaking free of Earth’s gravity. Chandrayaan-2, consisting of an orbiter, lander and rover, launched on July 22, 2019, from India’s spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
Once launched, the spacecraft entered a highly elliptical orbit around Earth. Multiple orbit-raising maneuvers have been now steadily increasing its altitude until Earth’s gravitational force becomes weaker and the moon’s influence can begin to take over. The third such maneuver was carried out successfully today, according to ISRO:
"Third earthbound orbit raising maneuver for Chandryaan-2 spacecraft has been performed successfully today (July 29, 2019) at 1512 hrs (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 989 seconds. The orbit achieved is 276 x 71792 km. All spacecraft parameters are normal. The fourth orbit raising maneuver is scheduled on August 2, 2019, between 1400 – 1500 hrs (IST)."
If everything goes well, Chandrayaan-2 will soon enter trans-lunar orbit and land on the moon on September 7, 2019.
The instruments onboard the spacecraft will study the moon’s topography and chemical composition, and map the abundance of lunar water, especially at the polar regions. Chandrayaan-2’s predecessor, Chandrayaan-1, launched in 2008, confirmed the presence of lunar water.
The moon is positioned in such a way that some parts of the polar regions are permanently shadowed. Chandrayaan-1 also provided evidence of ice being present in craters of the south pole. Places like these allow water to freeze and to remain frozen. Building upon its precursor’s findings, Chandrayaan-2 will land on a high plain between two such craters in the southern hemisphere – Manzinus C and Simpelius N. While the evidence of lunar water is not new knowledge, the south pole is still unfamiliar terrain.
If Chandrayaan-2 is successful, India will be the fourth country after the U.S., China, and the Soviet Union to complete a soft landing on the moon. A recent attempt by an Israeli group was unsuccessful.
Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter, rover, and lander are housed inside the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII-M1 – India’s most powerful rocket.
Soon, the spacecraft will enter a Lunar Bound Phase where its propulsion systems will be fired to slow it down and insert it into an orbit around the moon. On day 43, the lander, called Vikram, will separate from the orbiter from a distance of 62 miles (100 km).
The lander will then attempt to soft-land – a first of its kind for India – using complex braking mechanisms. A few meters above the ground, all thrusters will shut off to allow a free fall. The quiet landing will ensure that the moon’s surface remains undisturbed and its dust unmoved, dust which could otherwise spurt all around the spacecraft due to the thrusters’ force and spoil its circuitry systems.
Once firmly on the ground, the lander will deploy its rover, called Pragyaan, which will perform on-site chemical analysis for one lunar day (14 earth days). Onboard Pragyaan, a suite of spectroscopic instruments will fire lasers at different locations on the lunar surface to analyze its chemical composition. The rover will primarily hunt for major rock-forming minerals such as sodium, magnesium, and iron. The orbiter carries the highest number of instruments and is also responsible for a large chunk of information. Studies such as 3-D mapping of the lunar surface, solar radiation monitoring and analyzing the moon’s ionosphere are crucial to understanding the moon’s evolution.
All in all, Chandrayaan-2 will not only help us understand our natural satellite better, but will also inform future manned missions to the moon, such as NASA’s Artemis in 2024.
Bottom line: India’s second spacecraft to the moon – Chandrayaan-2 – is steadily breaking free of Earth’s gravity. If everything goes well, it will soon enter trans-lunar orbit and land on the moon on September 7, 2019.
earthsky.org/space/chandrayaan-2-isro-india-moon-mission
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Post by Clifford on Aug 22, 2019 13:34:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2019 15:41:57 GMT
ICON went up last night. There's also another spacewalk happening right now. I read somewhere the all female spacewalk is back on for Oct. 21st ?
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Oct 11, 2019 23:36:23 GMT
ICON went up last night. There's also another spacewalk happening right now. I read somewhere the all female spacewalk is back on for Oct. 21st ?
From The Hindu newspaper -
First all-female spacewalk
The Hindu Net Desk
October 11, 2019 13:33 IST
NASA announced on October 4 that the International Space Station’s two women astronauts will pair up for a spacewalk later this month. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are set to venture out of the ISS on October 21 to plug in new, upgraded batteries for the solar power system. It will be the fourth of five spacewalks for battery work.
This will be the first all-female spacewalk. NASA’s deputy chief astronaut Megan McArthur told reporters the all-female spacewalk will be a milestone.
Koch and Meir are members of NASA’s Astronaut Class of 2013.
According to NASA, since the world’s first spacewalk in 1965, only 14 women have done it, compared to 213 men. There are 11 spacewalks coming up in the next few months out of which 10 will be U.S. walks and one will be a Russian walk.
www.thehindu.com/news/international/watch-first-all-female-spacewalk/article29655094.ece
Crystal
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Post by swamprat on Nov 11, 2019 15:13:15 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Nov 11, 2019 22:16:18 GMT
SpaceX Just Launched 60 Starlink Satellites (And Nailed a Milestone Rocket Landing)
By Amy Thompson | 11 Nov. 2019 | Spaceflight
The same Falcon 9 just made its fourth launch and landing.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX's plans to bring global internet coverage to the world just took another leap forward as its 9th Falcon 9 rocket flight of the year launched 60 new Starlink internet satellites into orbit Monday (Nov. 11).
The satellites rode into space atop a veteran Falcon 9 first stage, ending a nearly three-month launch hiatus for the company. The last time a SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the skies, was on Aug. 6, when the company’s flagship rocket carried the Israeli AMOS-17 communications satellite into space.
The sooty Falcon roared to life at 9:56 a.m. EST (1456 GMT), lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here in Florida, marking the fourth flight for this particular booster, and the first time a Falcon 9 has flown more than three times.
"The Falcon has landed for the fourth time," SpaceX Starlink engineer Lauren Lyons, said during launch commentary. "These boosters are designed to be used 10 times. Let's turn it around for a fifth, guys."
The launch occurred on Veterans Day, a U.S. holiday commemorating military veterans, and SpaceX dedicated the flight to service members. "Liftoff! With gratitude to our veterans today and always," a SpaceX commentator said. "Go, U.S.A.!"
Following the successful launch, the rocket's first stage gently touched down on a SpaceX's drone ship landing platform "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the company's 45th booster recovery.
Tucked inside the rocket's nose cone were 60 Starlink satellites — the second batch (and first operational set) of SpaceXs broadband internet megaconstellation, which the company hopes will help provide affordable internet coverage to the world.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket making its fourth trip to space launches 60 new Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Nov. 11, 2019. (Image credit: SpaceX)
Increased Connectivity
Currently, internet users rely on wireless cell towers or cables routed into our homes and offices to access the internet. This means that many rural, remote areas around the world are often left without access as the satellites providing coverage are too far away. Many other options for satellite-based internet exist, but can be very expensive and offer slow connecting rates. SpaceX wants to change that.
"This will not only provide internet access to areas that don't have it, but provide competitive access to areas that already have connectivity,” company CEO, Elon Musk said in a media teleconference prior to the first Starlink launch in May.
Traditional satellite internet providers beam internet coverage down from a high orbital perch, with their satellites stationed in what’s known as geostationary orbit (which is typically 22,000 miles above the Earth). Because the signal has to travel such a long distance, the time it takes to send and receive data is substantially longer and more akin to the days of dial-up.
By operating at a lower altitude — approximately 217 miles (350 km) above the Earth — SpaceX hopes to cut down on this issue and provide reliable coverage at an affordable price.
This SpaceX image shows the 60 Starlink satellites for a Nov. 11, 2019 launch in stacked configuration ahead of launch. It is the heaviest payload for a Falcon 9 yet. (Image credit: SpaceX)
And SpaceX is not alone. Several other companies (including OneWeb, TeleSat, and now Amazon) want to provide internet to the masses by deploying a network of small satellites in low-Earth orbit, hovering much closer to the Earth than current satellites.
Last month, Musk tweeted via Starlink for the first time. And with as few as six to eight more launches, the company says it could begin offering broadband service in the United States by mid-2020. “We still have a long way to go from tweets to 4K videos, but we are on our way,” company representatives said during Monday’s launch broadcast.
Astronomical Impact
But not everyone is thrilled about SpaceX’s new business venture. Many astronomers are concerned that mega constellations, like Starlink, will impede their research and make it more difficult for amateur astronomers to enjoy the night sky.
When the first batch of satellites launched in May, they were bright enough to see without a telescope as they were easily visible, marching across the sky like a train shortly after launch. Astronomers feared the satellites, which appear as bright as stars, would make it harder to distinguish between the two in the night sky.
SpaceX and Musk, tried to reassure concerned astronomers that once the satellites settled into place, they would be less noticeable.
Shortly after the initial batch launched, Musk tweeted that he "sent a note to Starlink team last week specifically regarding albedo reduction," a measurement that refers to the amount of light reflected by the satellites. Musk also said that both he and SpaceX valued science and would do their part to not impede astronomical research.
Astronomers are anxiously waiting to see what happens with this second batch of satellites and how bright they will appear once they’ve reached their intended orbit.
Although the initial Starlink plan called for a megaconstellation of 12,000 satellites, the company plans for its burgeoning cluster to eventually be more than 40,000 satellites strong. Musk said SpaceX will need at least 400 Starlink satellites in orbit for "minor" broadband coverage, and 800 satellites aloft for "moderate" coverage.
So, with roughly 120 in the sky and thousands more intended to launch, time will tell how troublesome they may or may not be.
Reusability Milestones
This flight marks the first time that SpaceX has flown the same Falcon 9 first-stage booster four times.
The veteran booster flew for the first time just over a year ago. On July 25, 2018, it carried a batch of Iridium satellites into orbit; on Oct. 8, 2018, it lofted the Argentinian Earth-observing satellite SAOCOM 1-A, and on Feb. 22, it ferried the Nusantara Satu Indonesian communications satellite and the Israeli Beresheet lunar lander into space.
Additionally, it marks the first time SpaceX has reused a payload fairing — the rocket's clamshell-like nose cone that shields the rocket's contents during launch.
Musk believes that a fully (and rapidly) reusable rocket is the key to dramatically reducing the cost of spaceflight. The company has already shown it can reuse the most expensive portion of the rocket — the first stage — but would like to reuse much more, essentially making fuel the only major expense.
To that end, SpaceX has transformed two ships (called GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief) into mobile catcher's mitts, each outfitted with four arms and a giant net strung in between to attempt to catch the fairing halves as they fall back to Earth. Saltwater is extremely corrosive, so keeping the fairing halves dry, rather than letting them splash down in the Atlantic Ocean, is crucial to reuse.
SpaceX uses identical fairings for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Each one costs about $6 million (roughly 10% of the $62 million Falcon 9 price tag) so there's a significant financial incentive to recover and reuse the fairings. SpaceX fairings are composed of two halves, each of which is equipped with small steering thrusters and parachute-like equipment to aid in recovery efforts.
SpaceX’s efforts finally paid off in June during a Falcon Heavy launch, when one half of the rocket's nose cone glided into the outstretched arms of the boat GO Ms. Tree (formerly known as Mr. Steven).
But that fairing hasn’t been reflown just yet. On Monday, SpaceX reused a fairing recovered from the Atlantic Ocean back in April after it helped a Falcon Heavy deliver the Arabsat-6A communications satellite into space. SpaceX did not specify what sort of refurbishments the fairing halves have gone through or how many times they expect to reuse a recovered fairing.
Both ships deployed in advance of Monday’s launch attempt in hopes of snagging the fairing halves. Unfortunately rough seas thwarted an attempt at another catch.
But with many more Starlink launches on the horizon, fairing reflights could become as common as booster reflights.
www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-fourth-rocket-landing-success.html
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Post by swamprat on Nov 23, 2019 23:02:12 GMT
Chinese Rocket Launches 2 Satellites (and Drops Debris on Settlement)
By Tariq Malik | 7 hours ago | Spaceflight
China's space agency launched two new navigation satellites into orbit Saturday (Nov. 23), a successful mission that also appeared to send booster segments crashing into a settlement back on Earth.
A Long March 3B rocket launched two Beidou navigation satellites for China's constellation from the Xichang Satellite Launching Center in the country's Sichuan Province at 8:55 a.m. Beijing Time Saturday (1255 GMT or 7:55 p.m. EST on Nov. 22). The rocket was equipped with a Yuanzheng-1 (Exploration-1) upper stage to help deliver the satellites to their final orbit.
While the Long March 3B rocket successfully delivered its satellite payload to orbit, boosters from the three-stage rocket appear to have crashed into a settlement downrange from the Xichang launch site, according to video and pictures shared on China's Wiebo social media service and reposted on Twitter. The images show buildings on fire and damaged, apparently by debris from the Long March 3B, which can be strewn across the area.
While it may seem surprising, the scene is can be a familiar one for Chinese residents living downrange of the Xichang launch site.
China's first three launch sites were built deep inland, meaning that their boosters drop segments and stages over land, rather than out to sea, said Andrew Jones, a space journalist who specializes in China's space program and shared the Weibo images on Twitter. (Jones is also a contributing writer to Space.com).
"In particular, launches from Xichang, situated in Sichuan province in the southwest, seem to threaten populated areas downrange," Jones told Space.com in an email. "The launch profile of Long March 3B rockets, especially those with a payload of a pair of Beidou navigation satellites, has resulted in near misses and impacts on settlements."
China has been ramping up its space launches in recent years, so impacts near or in towns are occurring more often, he added. The two Beidou satellites launched Saturday are the 50th and 51st of their kind and part of the Beidou-3 system, according to China's state-run Xinhua news service. They serve as a global positioning satellite network for China, which aims to complete the current Beidou constellation by mid-2020, Jones said.
"The residents within the calculated drop zones for spent stages and boosters are warned and these areas are, apparently, evacuated — the fact that we often see amateur footage of boosters falling from the sky supports the notion that they are warned and expecting to see a falling spent rocket stage," he added.
According to Jones, the warnings sent to residents in a rocket drop zone include key safety instructions.
"The notice instructs people to go to a safe zone ahead of launch, and not to approach wreckage if they find it, due to the harmful effects of the residual propellant," he said.
Watch China's Launch March 3B Rocket Launch:
videos.space.com/m/qpxocBZp/china-launches-two-beidou-navigation-satellites?list=9wzCTV4g
www.space.com/chinese-rocket-launch-drops-debris-on-homes.html
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2019 20:45:51 GMT
I've watched some of the Starlinks/Falcon do flybys the past couple nights. 1st night was about 2.6 mag. Last night Heavens above called for 2.6 again. One of them was similar in brightness to ISS instead at my est. of mag. -3. Hopefully they can get a grip soon on solar panel reflectivity reduction before more go up...  Some astro photographer's are getting very upset over this ! Can't blame em. It's getting busy up there. Just for fun... Now add umpteen thousand more Starlinks and you have a clusterxxxx.  |
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Post by DennisEvope on Nov 26, 2019 3:09:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2019 3:36:34 GMT
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Post by Ak9 on Nov 27, 2019 19:09:58 GMT
Portals  Out of curiosity, I wonder if Voyager spacecrafts detected anything similar (cusps of some type but different of course than our magnetosphere ) in the heliosphere ? |
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