Recent Book: The Wrong Stuff

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: PublicAffairs

Here is a book released this month that may be worth taking to the beach.

The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Space Program Crashed and Burned is a tale about a space program that wowed the world in the 1950s and 1960s until the U.S. stole the show with the first man on the Moon. However, the Soviet space program may have had problems long before the U.S. leapfrogged it. If you are interested in the space race, then this is the book for you.

This is a summary from the book:

In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories–starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following–that seemed to achieve the impossible. It was proof, it seemed, that the USSR had manpower and collective will that went beyond America’s material advantages. They had asserted themselves as a world power.

But in The Wrong Stuff, John Strausbaugh tells a different story. These achievements were amazing, yes, but they were also PR victories as much as scientific ones. The world saw a Potemkin spaceport; the internal facts were much sloppier, less impressive, more dysfunctional. The Soviet supply chain was a disaster, and many of its machines barely worked. The cosmonauts aboard its iconic launch of the Vostok 1 rocket had to go on a special diet, and take off their space suits, just to fit inside without causing a failure. Soviet scientists, under intense government pressure, had essentially made their rocket out of spit and band aids, and hurried to hide their work as soon as their worldwide demonstration was complete.

As we watch the Russian military struggle in Ukraine, we are reminded that the Russians and others (North Korea?) have been good at putting on a show, but the truth can be very different.

None of this takes away from the bravery of the Soviet cosmonauts who thrived and died in that space program. As always, the rot was in the system, which could only stand for so long.

Maybe Putin should put this on his beach reading list as he continues to rattle his saber. It may do him and the world some good.

When Will the Boeing Astronauts Return?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Boeing’s Starliner approaching the ISS. (Samantha Cristoforetti/European Space Agency)

The return of the two astronauts from the earlier Starliner mission has been bumped a few times now, with the latest return scheduled for this Saturday (June 22).

The Boeing Starliner arrived at the International Space Station with thruster problems, and then encountered further helium leaks after that, so the need for additional time to study the issue makes some sense. NASA will address the status of the mission requirements and weather conditions at a press conference tomorrow (June 18).

It took long enough to get the two astronauts to the ISS after many delays, so maybe should not surprise anyone that we have a few delays on the return.

Boeing needs good press these days, so a quick and simple mission would have been nice. Yet this would be a bad time to throw caution into the wind when they are so close to the finish line.

Voyager 1 is Communicating Again

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Voyager 1 spacecraft. (NASA)

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is communicating properly again after having issues since November 2023. NASA was able to fix the spacecraft that is currently more than 15 billion miles from Earth, which is a pretty impressive feat.

Late last week, NASA noted:

The team partially resolved the issue in April when they prompted the spacecraft to begin returning engineering data, which includes information about the health and status of the spacecraft. On May 19, the mission team executed the second step of that repair process and beamed a command to the spacecraft to begin returning science data. Two of the four science instruments returned to their normal operating modes immediately. Two other instruments required some additional work, but now, all four are returning usable science data.

Launched back in 1977, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft explored the solar system before starting a journey to the great unknown. Both are now the only spacecraft outside the heliosphere.

You can read more about the Voyager spacecraft and mission here.

Podcast: A Mixed Week for Musk

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Scene from a Tesla crash. (fox2detroit.com)

While things appear to be going Elon Musk’s way with his ridiculous Tesla pay package, The Wall Street Journal had another story this week that discussed his self-serving management style that should not merit reward. The article, “Elon Musk’s Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX,” highlights some pretty horrible behavior for a man that then and now believes he is above the law (and all codes of decency).

If you cannot read the Journal article, you can find summaries of the story elsewhere or listen to the Wall Street Journal podcast called The Journal. The podcast is titled “Elon Musk’s Unusual Relationships With Women at SpaceX.”

It is scary that the US space program is so dependent on the behavior of this man, who has already been part of prior Wall Street Journal articles about his drug use.

We need to build greater depth in our space program, be it Blue Origin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, or others. The dream of a stronger space program could die if we tie too much to one man.

Congressional Support for Chandra

Posted on by onespaceman2000

An earlier post discussed efforts to restore funding for the Chandra X-ray telescope, noting that the Save Chandra was established to push Congress to restore funding. Well, it appears some in Congress are listening.

On June 6, nine members of Congress wrote to NASA opposing proposed budget cuts to the Chandra X-ray Observatory mission. In the letter, the members write:

As the last remaining flagships of NASA’s original fleet of “Great Observatories” satellites, Chandra and Hubble have safeguarded U.S. leadership in cosmic exploration for decades. Chandra’s enduring functionality after 25 years in space, without the need for servicing, and its unparalleled ability to synergize with other telescopes, underscore American ingenuity and a capability we must not prematurely relinquish.

Of course, the fact that the Chandra Operations Control Center is in Burlington, Massachusetts, may account for the high count of members representing Massachusetts. Even so, the campaign to restore funding has to start somewhere, and this is a logical place to start.