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Post by Ak9 on Jan 7, 2020 1:27:12 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Jan 7, 2020 2:41:32 GMT
I was able to see it once it got up high enough. Was pretty dim, as I am over at the big bend of the pan handle.
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Post by HAL on Jan 7, 2020 17:28:08 GMT
In a way it is almost amusing. Definitely ironic.
There is so much talk about us going out into space, The Final Frontier' etc.
Yet we don't even have a way to go up and fix a wayward orbiting spacecraft that is only, relatively speaking, in our back yard.
One would think that by now it should be routine. Along with the collection and return of defective or redundant satellites.
Somehow I suspect the priorities are out of sync with the requirements.
The prospects for Trump's Space Force don't look too promising.
HAL.
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Post by swamprat on Jan 9, 2020 17:31:31 GMT
The first completed core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is guided toward the agency’s Pegasus barge on Jan. 8, 2020, ahead of its forthcoming journey to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Teams rolled the core out from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the barge in preparation for the core stage “green run” test series. (Image: © NASA)
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Post by Moon pigeon on Jan 10, 2020 17:16:47 GMT
Godspeed
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 16:23:30 GMT
I was able to see it once it got up high enough. Was pretty dim, as I am over at the big bend of the pan handle. Awesome ! A long time ago, in a forum far, far away you posted an article about M4 in Scorpio so I broke out the scope (120mm refractor f/5) to see it again. I observed about 30 messier objects that night. The skies were amazing. I think I observed 3 comets that night as well ? Then, to top it off came these two blue comet like objects launched from Florida. I watched them for about 20 minutes ? Or more ? from here in Mo. One was especially spectacular. : www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbcs755JCOY&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2j9vtfoQ7_ESjeoWffMoNZFx_PMhx73kj-QVbh_z3X-N6nUOBbCpn2bgIJHU Applied Physics Laboratory The Van Allen Probes: Seven Years of Science in Space Watching a launch from Vandenberg as a kid was inspiring...I was very young. We were on the road headed through Cali like always and was very close ...  Kennedy is kewl too  On another note, a nearby tornado yesterday close to home, and now ice is coming down... Typical Mo. weather. Hopefully no power outage. Ive been through a few of them for long durations. A country boy can survive. Edit to add : Observing the shuttle release the Hubble Space Telescope out of the cargo bay overhead was especially kewl back in the day !!! Etc., etc... Cliff |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2020 15:50:05 GMT
SpaceX, NASA Gear up for In-Flight Abort Demonstration NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch the final, major test before astronauts fly aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test, known as in-flight abort, will demonstrate the spacecraft’s escape capabilities — showing that the crew system can protect astronauts even in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch. The uncrewed flight test is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 18, at the start of a four-hour test window, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Continue here www.nasa.gov/feature/spacex-nasa-gear-up-for-in-flight-abort-demonstration |
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Post by swamprat on Jan 19, 2020 21:09:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2020 15:18:57 GMT
Wishing a Happy 90th Birthday to astronaut Buzz Aldrin today.  |
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Post by swamprat on Jan 27, 2020 16:45:59 GMT
SpaceX is launching 60 more Starlink satellites Tuesday
By Amy Thompson an hour ago
Due to bad weather Monday, liftoff is now set for Tuesday, Jan. 28, 9:28am
Sigh..... When are people going to learn that these are NOT UFOs?!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2020 0:02:43 GMT
SpaceX is launching 60 more Starlink satellites Tuesday
By Amy Thompson an hour ago
Due to bad weather Monday, liftoff is now set for Tuesday, Jan. 28, 9:28am
Sigh..... When are people going to learn that these are NOT UFOs?!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2020 1:19:17 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Jan 29, 2020 3:14:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2020 3:57:58 GMT
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Post by swamprat on Feb 10, 2020 15:12:04 GMT
European Space Agency launches Solar Orbiter mission
10 Feb 2020
On the way: The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter will improve our understanding of how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere. (Courtesy: ESA/S. Corvaja)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a new mission to take the most detailed view yet of the Sun and its polar regions. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft will get as close as 42 million kilometres to the Sun – about a quarter of the distance between the Sun and Earth – to capture regions that have never been seen before and probe its electromagnetic environment. It was launched today on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 04:03 GMT, Sunday 11:03pm EST..
"It is the most important UK space-science mission for a generation," said Chris Lee.
Once in orbit around the Sun — with a maximum heliographic latitude of 24° — the spacecraft will have a close up high-latitude view of the star, including its poles. The hope is that this positioning will improve our understanding of how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the vast bubble of charged particles around the Sun and its planets. New information on the Sun and its atmosphere will also improve predictions of solar storms, which can disrupt satellites and infrastructure on Earth.
‘A big beast’
Solar Orbiter consists of six remote-sensing and four in-situ instruments. The remote sensing equipment will perform high-resolution imaging of the Sun’s atmosphere and solar disk, while the in-situ instruments will measure the solar wind, electric and magnetic fields and waves, and energetic particles.During orbit, the in-situ instruments will run continuously while the remote-imaging instruments will operate when the craft is in the closest approach to the Sun as well as at the minimum and maximum heliographic latitudes. As the mission progresses the orbital characteristics will change wth individual orbits being dedicated to specific science questions.
The UK space industry has been heavily involved in the development of the Solar Orbiter mission investing £20m in the development and building four of the instruments. “I am incredibly excited by Solar Orbiter,” says Chris Lee, chief scientist at the UK Space Agency. “It is the most important UK space-science mission for a generation, both in terms of our leading industrial role on the satellite itself and our key academic roles on the science payload.” Lee adds that the mission is a “big beast” for the UK space community with the mission also contributing to space-weather forecasting.
The Solar Orbiter will now unfold its 18 m-long solar array and fly past Earth once and Venus several times, using the gravity of the planets to adjust its trajectory and place it into its tilted, highly-elliptical orbit around the Sun.
It is expected to reach operational orbit in just under two years with the mission scheduled to last seven years (including the initial two-year cruise), with a possible three-year extension.
physicsworld.com/a/european-space-agency-launches-solar-orbiter-mission/
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