A Day in Astronomy: Beginnings and Ends

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): ValentinaTereshkova just before boarding her Vostok 6 capsule. (NASA)

On this day in 1963, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova from the USSR became the first woman in space. She flew solo on the Vostok 6 for three days. It was her first and last time in space. Her importance as a symbol for women and the USSR meant she would never fly again lest something happen to her.

She was quoted as saying:

They forbade me from flying, despite all my protests and arguments. After being once in space, I was desperately keen to go back there. But it didn’t happen.

On this same day in 1977, German-American Wernher von Braun passed away. As the chief designer of the Saturn rockets that took men to the Moon, he was to see all of the Apollo missions before his death.

He is also quoted as saying:

I’m convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon.

It is unlikely he would have believed that it would be another 50 years before we found our way back to the Moon.

Image (Credit): Braun standing next to the first stage of the Saturn V booster he helped design. (NASA)

Video: Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Ongoing work to make the JWST a reality. (NASA)

If you are looking for some inspiration about the US space program, you might want to watch this NASA video, “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope.”

As the NASA site explains:

Go behind the scenes with the dedicated NASA team and its partners to uncover the untold story of the James Webb Space Telescope. “Cosmic Dawn” unveils the immense challenges, groundbreaking innovations, and extraordinary efforts behind humanity’s most powerful eye on our universe, from its complex development to its nail-biting deployment a million miles away.

This is what it takes to explore our universe, and I only hope we can continue to maintain the stamina, skills, and public support to maintain the JWST and initiate similar programs.

It may be time to write to Congress and let them know that America needs more of this grit and determination, not less.

Space Quote: ISS is Closed to Visitors at the Moment

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Falcon 9 rocket on the lauch pad with Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 4. (SpaceX)

“NASA and Axiom Space are postponing the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. As part of an ongoing investigation, NASA is working with Roscosmos to understand a new pressure signature, after the recent post-repair effort in the aft most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module.”

–Statement by NASA regarding an leak in the Russian section of the International Space Station (ISS) that has yet to be resolved. This may slow down some of the space tourism to the site, such as the already delayed Axiom Mission, but it is more important to get this right rather than risk additional lives on the station. Axiom Space stated that the launch of the mission will be no earlier than June 19.

The European Space Agency is Staying Busy with Sunshine

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A radiance map of the sun’s south pole as recorded by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. (ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/PHI Team, J. Hirzberger (MPS))

While NASA is going crazy over budget cuts, the European Space Agency (ESA) is focused on new images from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft showing the sun’s south pole from a distance of about 40 million miles (shown above).

Launched in February 2020, Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led cooperative mission with NASA designed to answer a number of questions:

  • What drives the Sun’s 11-year cycle of rising and subsiding magnetic activity?
  • What heats up the upper layer of its atmosphere, the corona, to millions of degrees Celsius?
  • How does solar wind form, and what accelerates it to speeds of hundreds of kilometres per second?
  • How does it all affect our planet?

Professor Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science, stated:

Today we reveal humankind’s first-ever views of the Sun’s pole…The Sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behaviour. These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.

We all need a diversion from the ongoing budget news, so it is good to read about ongoing science and a successful mission.

Pic of the Week: A Fun Evening Steven Colbert’s Guests

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (CBS)

This week’s image comes from an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired earlier this week. Mr. Colbert was interviewing William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson about the absurdities on Earth and in the galaxy.

In an odd twist, Dr. Tyson was generally quiet on the sofa while Mr. Shatner carried the show with his antics. The image above shows one of the few times Dr. Tyson had a chance to explain a point. It is worth watching.

Shatner and Tyson will soon be on the road together with their own show. It is a live stage event on Wednesday, June 18, called ROCKING: The Universe is Absurd.