Saturday, May 20, 2017

SpaceCast Notes 5/20/17

SpaceCast - 5/20/2017
Links
Rocket Lab to launch Electron rocket this month
  • American spaceflight company Rocket Lab has announced plans to debut its Electron rocket from its launch complex on New Zealand’s Mahia peninsula
  • The 10-day launch window begins May 21 (tomorrow)
  • The first launch will carry a test payload to an elliptical orbit (300-500 km altitude at 83 deg. inclination)
  • Specs on the rocket:
    • Two stages, almost entirely made of composites & some  3D-printed parts
    • 56 ft tall (compared to falcon 9 260 ft)
    • 36000 lb thrust (compared to F9 1.7 million lb thrust)
    • Cost is $4.9 million per launch (compared to F9 $62 million)
  • If the launch is successful, it will be the first orbital launch from a private launch facility
  • The launch is the first of 3 test flights before commercial launches begin


Man-made barrier surrounding earth discovered
  • This is not some type of sky dome or wall of space debris, in fact the “barrier” is only composed of radio waves - specifically those in the very low frequency (VLF) range
  • Under the right conditions, these signals can affect high-energy radiation surrounding the earth
  • VLF signals are used to communicate with submarines, but the waves also travel outside the atmosphere
  • Researchers noticed that the outer edge of the VLF barrier corresponds to the inner edge of the Van Allen belts, a layer of ions trapped by Earth’s magnetic field
  • There is indication that the radio transmissions actually caused the radiation belts to recede, meaning VLF signals could potentially be used to eliminate excess charged particles such as those generated during solar flares


Global seed vault victim to climate change
  • Melting permafrost on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen has seeped into the Svalbard seed vault, a structure designed to preserve thousands of crop varieties by keeping them frozen underground
  • Obviously the melting permafrost (and associated global warming) are a concern to the seed vault
  • The vault contains about 1 million seed packets
  • The water did not flood the vault itself, only the entrance tunnel
  • Technicians are now waterproofing the vault to prevent further flooding
SpaceX launches Inmarsat-5
  • Inmarsat-5 was the heaviest geostationary payload ever launched on an F9 (it was originally supposed to launch on a Falcon Heavy)
  • The booster was expendable in order to provide the necessary delta-v
  • The mission was a complete success
World’s largest wind turbine comes online

  • 32 new wind turbines have been installed at the Burbo Bank wind farm off the coast of England
  • Each turbine is 195 m (640 ft) tall with 80m (262 ft) blades, and produces 8 MW of power
  • The complete installation has a capacity of 258 MW
  • A single revolution of a turbine blade can power a home for 29 hrs
  • The UK has more offshore wind capacity than any other country, at 5.3 GW
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Saturday, May 6, 2017

SpaceCast Notes 4/29/17

SpaceCast - 4/29/2017
Links
Cassini spacecraft on final series of orbits
  • Starting April 26, Cassini will dive through the region between Saturn and its rings (a 2400 km/1500 mi gap)
  • No spacecraft has ever done this before
  • The scientists in charge of Cassini hope to learn more about Saturn’s internal structure, take samples of its atmosphere, and take cool pics of its clouds and inner rings
  • Cassini will take the final plunge on Sept. 15
China & ESA to collaborate on moon base
  • Reps from ESA and CNSA  have discussed collaboration on a moonbase and other projects
  • The ESA rep, Pal Hvistendahl, said that international cooperation is necessary to explore space for peaceful purposes
  • The moon base could serve as a launching pad for missions to Mars, or space tourism
  • NASA, on the other hand, is still barred from working with China by US legislation (China also cannot participate in the international space station)
Tunnel boring machine has arrived at SpaceX
  • Elon Musk’s latest venture, the Boring Company, has taken delivery of its first TBM
  • In february Musk was looking to purchase a used 400ft x 26ft diameter TBM, but it is unclear if it’s the same one that just arrived at SpaceX headquarters
  • It has begun to dig a hole in the parking lot, of all places
  • Musk’s eventual goal is to create a “vast transportation network” under the city of Los Angeles for cars (and possibly hyperloop)
Falcon 9 launching classified payload
  • The payload is for the US gov’t’s National Reconnaissance Office
  • The F9 booster was lifted into place on LC-39A this morning
  • All the NRO has said about the payload is that is was “designed, built, and will be operated by” the NRO, meaning it’s most likely a spy satellite
  • The mission, termed NROL-76, is SpaceX’s first dedicated national security payload
  • The launch is scheduled for Sunday at 0600 CST
SLS launch date pushed back (unsurprisingly)

  • The maiden flight of the SLS will be delayed from Nov. 2018 until sometime in 2019
  • Major problems included a missed delivery for the Orion service module, issues with welding parts of the core stage, and a tornado at the New Orleans plant
  • The first mission, EM-1, would send Orion around the moon then back to Earth, probably without astronauts (however, NASA was directed to evaluate whether it could carry astronauts)
  • NASA will have spent $23 billion on SLS & Orion by the end of the 2018 fiscal year, but the agency cited concerns over low budgets which limits flexibility in the event of unexpected problems or delays
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