Space Space Calendar: Launches, Sky Events & More

[Penny]

Thought this may be a handy quick reference point, found on Space.com, a calander of upcoming 2019: Launches, Sky Events & More.


Space Calendar 2019: Launches, Sky Events & More

LAST UPDATED April 15: These dates are subject to change, and will be updated throughout the year as firmer dates arise. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on a date you see here. Launch dates collected from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, Spaceflight Now and others.

Watch NASA webcasts and other live launch coverage on our Watch Live page, and see our night sky webcasts here. (You can also watch NASA TV live via nasa.gov or YouTube.)

Find out what's up in the night sky this month with our visible planets guide and skywatching forecast. Spot the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and other satellites in the sky above with this satellite tracker.

Actual Link:

Space calendar 2024: Rocket launches, skywatching events, missions & more!

Keep up to date with the latest space events with our 2024 space calendar!

www.space.com

 

[morris]

European Space Agency will spend €129 million to protect Earth from asteroids

The European Space Agency will allocate 129.4 million euros for the creation of the HERA spacecraft, designed to protect the Earth from asteroids

usatodaynews.live

HERA, part of NASA's DART mission project, is slated to launch in October 2024.

 

[Forrest White]

They have also found water on the Moon which can much simply the process of colonization.

 

[Penny]

They have also found water on the Moon which can much simply the process of colonization.

Aside from a potential water source for habitation on the Moon, the elements of water can also be used in rocket fuel. Mining the Moon or Colonizing it, the Moon is a good launching pad and potential way-station where Humanity can set off to other Planets. Rockets launched from Earth would not have as big a payload not having to haul as much fuel, so more economical overall. So it would simplify not only colonization on the Moon but to the Moon and beyond.

 

[BCNTM]

Aside from a potential water source for habitation on the Moon, the elements of water can also be used in rocket fuel. Mining the Moon or Colonizing it, the Moon is a good launching pad and potential way-station where Humanity can set off to other Planets. Rockets launched from Earth would not have as big a payload not having to haul as much fuel, so more economical overall. So it would simplify not only colonization on the Moon but to the Moon and beyond.

Have we not got to get over the abrasive dust problem on the moon - I had read it is possibly the worst material we have ever come across

 

[Penny]

Have we not got to get over the abrasive dust problem on the moon - I had read it is possibly the worst material we have ever come across

Yes.

Interestingly, Moon dust is very clingy and sharp, not like on Earth where wind or running water wears the edges of the dust shards down. It's considered potentially hazardess to human health and our materials we need to survive and work on the Moon, the main concern is to keep it from getting into places we don't want it too.

There is a lot of research being done on it, and NASA have put the call out to Researchers to come up with novel ways to mitigate it. The dust is electrically charged, so the research I have read focuses on how Electrons can repel moon dust and make it less clingy.

The research among others includes concepts for electrodes in spacesuits (NASA), Electron beam blowers, Electron beam showers (University of Colorado Boulder), Electrodynamic Dust Shield (NASA's Kennedy Space Center).

Some links, and there's plenty more on it.
https://scitechdaily.com/pioneering-a-new-solution-to-a-lunar-problem-a-dustbuster-for-the-moon/
http://spaceref.com/moon/nasa-scientist-leading-team-to-combat-lunar-dust.html
https://www.space.com/35240-moon-dust-levitates-nasa-study.html


A lot of work/research is being done on all aspects of Moon Habitation, let alone other Planet Habitation such as Mars which is well known for it's dust storms. for example.

 

[BCNTM]

Watch an Atlas V rocket launch a new US spy satellite tonight!

Liftoff is at 5:54 p.m. EST for a potentially stunning twilight launch.

www.space.com

 

[Penny]

SpaceX Crew-1 launch: How to watch NASA mission to the ISS live Sunday

NASA will livestream the launch on Sunday and will provide continuous coverage of the mission, including docking, the hatch opening and the welcome ceremony. Lift-off is targeted for 4:27 p.m. PT, though coverage will begin sooner.

Article Link: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/spacex-...tch-historic-nasa-mission-to-iss-live-sunday/

 

[Telmar]

Godspeed to Crew 1!

 

[Penny]

Godspeed to Crew 1!

X 2

 

[Penny]

San Francisco start-up to launch first Gas Station in Space

The San Francisco-based start-up agreed with Spaceflight, the rideshare and mission provider, to launch its first operational fuel depot, dubbed Tanker 001 Tenzing, into space next year.

Tanker 001 Tenzing will provide fuel for the fast growing in-orbit servicing industry, Orbit Fab said, and is expected to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than in June 2021. Tanker 001 Tenzing will store propellant in sun synchronous orbit, where it will be available to satellite servicing vehicles or other spacecraft that need to replenish fuel supplies.

Article Link: https://spacewatch.global/2020/11/san-francisco-start-up-to-launch-first-gas-station-in-space/

 

[Telmar]

Not a spacefligt, but a high altitude test (10 miles) of the SN8 Starship prototype is planned for Monday perhaps at 13h00 UTC. Lucky people in Boca Chica Texas, near Brownsville, who will get to see perhaps a glimpse of the future ships mankind will use to colonize Mars.

Kind of a test of the "Santa Maria", the "Pinta", and the "Nina".

EDIT: A "starship" should be a 165 feet tall spacecraft with max capacity 100 passengers. Six engines" three atmospherics, three vacuum. Launched from Earth with a rocket SpaceX has to build.

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[Penny]

Japanese capsule carrying asteroid rocks lands in Australia after six-year mission

An armored re-entry capsule carrying pristine specimens from an asteroid streaked into Earth’s atmosphere and parachuted to a landing in the Australian outback Saturday, bringing home extraterrestrial rocks that could hold clues to the origin of life on Earth.

The Hayabusa 2 mission’s six-year round-trip journey to asteroid Ryugu ended Saturday with the landing of the spacecraft’s sample return capsule near Woomera, Australia.

Article Link: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/12/...t-carrying-asteroid-rocks-lands-in-australia/

 

[Telmar]

Just maybe some 90-120 mn from now, high altitude flight of the SpaceX Starship SN8 launching from Boca Chica in Texas.

Live feeds on several channels (but not Space X yet)

The rocket is being fueled as of now.

I like the "everyday astronaut", he´s young cool, enthusiastic...

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[Euroamerican]

100 passengers is a huge, very expensive payload. I assume the $ per pound for man-rated payload is significantly higher than putting a pound of electronics or metal gear up up and away!!!

 

[Telmar]

If I remember correctly: launch of a space shuttle was 145 million dollars, and launch of a starship (fully reusable, new building techniques) is 2 million...

Now compare 8 passengers to 100, and you get a cost per person of 20000 dollars. economically, it§ s also a revlution.

Looking good, the T38´s are in the air, and SpaceX just went live.


But not to get ahead of ourselves, probability of success is low for the landing...Even Musk gives only 30%. The landing is really complicated

 

[BCNTM]

SpaceX rocket for Mars mission explodes into fireball during live stream test

The Starship SN8 prototype was scheduled for a test and managed to lift-off successfully, but after attempting to land the spacecraft exploded into a huge fireball

www.dailystar.co.uk

oops

 

[Telmar]

SpaceX rocket for Mars mission explodes into fireball during live stream test

The Starship SN8 prototype was scheduled for a test and managed to lift-off successfully, but after attempting to land the spacecraft exploded into a huge fireball

www.dailystar.co.uk

oops

Honestly, it' s a success. Even Musk, who' s an optimist, gave a 30% chance of success. This was a first flight to test descent and approach and the functional fluidity of the new raptor engines and the methane/liquid oxygen fuel combination.

It took off, it controlled its descent to the point of arriving vertically exactly where it was supposed to land, but they lost an engine in the last 30 seconds and what should have been a soft landing became a hard one. They did come in where they wanted, in the position they wanted.

But I'll agree on this...it' s not "man rated" yet

 

[Penny]

It was incredible and the ascension and maneuverability in descent was astonishing!



Musk tweeted they got all the data they needed:

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[Penny]

Solar Orbiter prepares for festive Venus flyby

Solar Orbiter is getting ready for the first of many gravity assist flybys of Venus on 27 December, to start bringing it closer to the sun and tilting its orbit in order to observe our star from different perspectives.

Article Link: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-solar-orbiter-festive-venus-flyby.html