Space Stories: Europeans Not Joining Chinese Space Station, the Milky Way is Odd, and Lucy has a New Target

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A computer rendering of China’s new Tiangong space station in orbit. (Alejandro Miranda/Alamy Stock Photo)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Royal Astronomical Society: “European Space Agency Says it has No Plans to Send Astronauts to China’s Tiangong Space Station“

A top official with the European Space Agency said it had no plans to send European astronauts to the newly completed Chinese space station, making it clear for the first time that the agency is no longer committed to working with China in human space flight in the near future. “We are very busy supporting and ensuring our commitments and activities on the International Space Station,” ESA director general Josef Aschbacher told a press conference in Paris on Monday.

—Royal Astronomical Society: “Milky Way Found to be More Unique than Previously Thought“

Is the Milky Way special, or, at least, is it in a special place in the Universe? An international team of astronomers has found that the answer to that question is yes, in a way not previously appreciated. A new study shows that the Milky Way is too big for its “cosmological wall”, something yet to be seen in other galaxies. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

—Southwest Research Institute: “SwRI-Led Lucy Team Announces New Asteroid Target“

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will add another asteroid encounter to its 4-billion-mile journey. On Nov. 1, 2023, the Southwest Research Institute-led Lucy mission will get a close-up view of a small main belt asteroid to conduct an engineering test of the spacecraft’s innovative asteroid-tracking navigation system. The Lucy mission was already on course to break records by its planned visit of nine asteroids during its 12-year mission to tour the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, which orbit the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter. Originally, Lucy was not expected to get a close-up view of any asteroids until 2025, when it will fly by the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson. However, the SwRI-led Lucy team identified a small, as-yet unnamed asteroid in the inner main belt as a potential new and useful target for the Lucy spacecraft.

NASA Claims U.S. in a Space Race with China, Again

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday, August 29, 2022. (NASA)

A recent Politico interview with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson covered old ground about the Chinese taking possession of the Moon and yet seemed to get some media play in the quiet post-holiday period. As I said, it is nothing new (see this earlier news clip) nor should it be a surprise. Yes, the U.S. is in a space race again, and it is a good thing. We needed the pressure in the 1960s and apparently we need it again today, 50 years after the last man stepped on the lunar surface.

For some reason, Administrator Nelson has a thousand excuses for why the Chinese may get to the Moon first – the Orion capsule from Artemis I needs to be reused for Artemis II (which should be seen as a good thing, at least by those that want to reduce costs and increase efficiencies), the space suits may not be ready, SpaceX may need more time, and on and on. Get a grip, man!

And then the Administrator has this comment regarding Chinese behavior: “If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands.” That is not the only model available. One only needs to look the Outer Space Treaty to see that China and others have agreed not to make claims on the Moon. Another treaty worth viewing is the Antarctic Treaty that relates to real exploration on a cold, distant body. About 50 permanent active research stations representing 32 countries are already conducting science on Antarctica without issue. China, the U.S., Russia and others have shown that they can play well together.

So maybe we need less chest-pounding and more attention to the Artemis project at hand. The U.S. dropped the ball 50 years ago. It seems a little silly to get all upset now when other nations have shown an interest all these years later.

Image: Emblem represents the Antarctic Treaty System.

Space Stories: Chinese Space Partnerships, Approaching Comet, and European Rocket Shortage

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Chinese space program poster. (Asia Times)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—SpaceNews.com: “China Looks to Build Space Partnerships with Gulf Nations“

China is aiming to grow cooperation with emerging space nations including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Space was named as one of a number of priority areas for the next three to five years during the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit held in Riyadh earlier this month. “China stands ready to work with GCC countries on remote sensing and communications satellite, space utilization, aerospace infrastructure, and the selection and training of astronauts,” according to the text of the keynote speech made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit, Dec. 9. The GCC intergovernmental group comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

—Newsweek: “Once-in-a-Lifetime Cosmic Event Could Be Visible to the Naked Eye“

A comet zooming through the solar system could soon be visible to the naked eye from Earth in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. And some astronomical predictions indicate that the object may never return to our cosmic neighborhood. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is currently located around 100 million miles away from Earth and will make a close approach to our planet in early February 2023.

—Atalayar.com: “Europe Runs out of Rockets for Autonomous Access to Space“

Overnight, the European Space Agency (ESA) headed by Austrian Josef Aschbacher has been left without any capacity to position its own satellites in outer space. Neither Aschbacher nor his director of space transport, the Swiss Daniel Neuenschwander, have any space vector model to fulfil their commitments to the European Union to renew the Copernicus constellation and place their Sentinel environmental monitoring satellites in orbit. Much less is ESA in a position to meet the growing global demand for launch services that is knocking on its doors, those of the United States, China and India.

A Day in Astronomy: The Last Lunar Footprint

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Official emblem of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission. (NASA)

On this day in 1972, Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan was the last human to be on the Moon. He was the eleventh human to ever step on the Moon.

Here is the full crew of Apollo 17:

  • Eugene A. Cernan, Commander
  • Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot
  • Ronald E. Evans, Command Module Pilot

Mr. Cernan, who passed away in 2017, was also part of the Apollo 10 mission that orbited the moon without landing (similar to the upcoming Artemis II mission).

With the successful orbit of the Orion spacecraft around the Moon this month, let’s hope the 50 year dryspell is finally over and the United States can again be the nation putting humans back on the lunar surface. Of course, we will be followed by others, including the Chinese. Yet it’s important the first space-faring nation get back in the game and restart the human exploration of the Moon, and then Mars soon thereafter.

In Case You Missed It: Poop for the Ages

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A trasch bag lying beneath the Apollo Lunar Module in 1969. (NASA)

Back in July 2019, Vox had a great article about the waste astronauts left behind on the Moon. In the article, “Apollo Astronauts Left Their Poop on the Moon. We Gotta Go Back for That Shit.,” we learn about approximately 96 bags of human waste left behind on the moon. The topic is relevant today because (1) we are talking about returning to the Moon under the Artemis mission and (2) we probably want to learn more about the lifespan of this waste before we continue to deposit it on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere. So maybe it is time to revisit the poop.

Earlier, The Atlantic had another article that listed much more human debris on the Moon than just the 96 bags (of urine, feces, and vomit, mind you). Here is the incomplete list:

  • more than 70 spacecraft, including rovers, modules, and crashed orbiters;
  • 5 American flags;
  • 2 golf balls;
  • 12 pairs of boots;
  • TV cameras;
  • film magazines;
  • 96 bags of urine, feces, and vomit;
  • numerous Hasselbad cameras and accessories;
  • several improvised javelins;
  • various hammers, tongs, rakes, and shovels;
  • backpacks;
  • insulating blankets;
  • utility towels;
  • used wet wipes;
  • personal hygiene kits;
  • empty packages of space food;
  • a photograph of Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke’s family;
  • a feather from Baggin, the Air Force Academy’s mascot falcon, used to conduct Apollo 15’s famous “hammer-feather drop” experiment;
  • a small aluminum sculpture, a tribute to the American and Soviet “fallen astronauts” who died in the space race—left by the crew of Apollo 15;
  • a patch from the never-launched Apollo 1 mission, which ended prematurely when flames engulfed the command module during a 1967 training exercise, killing three U.S. astronauts;
  • a small silicon disk bearing goodwill messages from 73 world leaders, and left on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11;
  • a silver pin, left by Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean;
  • a medal honoring Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin; and
  • a cast golden olive branch left by the crew of Apollo 11.

In the 2022 movie Moonshot, we sent Martian trash back to Earth. But that was not the case with the Moon. And now China and Russia are clamoring to do the same in the near future. Will the Moon someday be marked with more trash heaps than craters?

One might argue that explorers throughout time have had to leave something behind. Think of the piles of trash as well as corpses left on the top of Mount Everest. The great sea explorers also left plenty of men, material, and ships at the bottom of the sea where they would remain unclaimed.

But the interesting part of the Vox story is the potential of life remaining in that trash and even producing new life. If such biological material can seed new life, then who can say whether the Earth was simply a rest stop for aliens on their way somewhere else, and we are the product of their poop.

One more thing. If we do manage to let the Earth slip away from us and flip into another Venusian nightmare, the Moon poop may be the only human biology for a future alien to analyze. We sent the Voyager and other spacecraft out into the void with recordings and data, but no one thought about adding a biological component. Well, now we have that surviving piece on the Moon should it be needed. If we can figure out what a Tyrannosaurus was eating millions of years ago, maybe future visitors can figure out what the astronauts were eating in 20th century Texas.

Intense stuff, and worth reading about when you have a moment.