Moon Craters and the Russians

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): USSR’s Luna 2 spacecraft. (Worldhistoryproject.org)

So who owned the rocket stage that hit the Moon earlier this month? I had earlier noted the speculation pertaining to both SpaceX and then the Chinese rockets. Surprisingly, it is still is not clear who owned that rocket stage and maybe we will never know. That is not a good answer for the European Space Agency’s Space Safety Programme, which stated:

The upcoming lunar impact illustrates well the need for a comprehensive regulatory regime in space, not only for the economically crucial orbits around Earth but also applying to the Moon.

While that case has yet to be solved, we are pretty certain about the first Earth-launched rocked to hit the Moon. We can blame the Soviets for that strike back in 1959 with its Luna 2 (nicknamed the Lunik 2). At least the goal in that case was to hit the Moon.

Launched on September 12, 1959, it took 35 hours to travel the distance between the Earth and Moon. Luna 1, launched by the Soviets earlier that year, was supposed to hit the Moon but it missed by about 3,700 miles. You can see more about Luna 2 via this dated news clip.

Movies: A Romance Set on Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Upcoming HBO movie Moonshot. (HBO)

On March 31st you can can watch another space-related movie, though this one has a misleading name. Called Moonshot, the setting is actually a space colony on Mars. You can watch a trailer of the HBO Max movie here.

While its just a platform for a young adult romantic comedy, it will be fun to see how the film portrays life on the Red Planet. Given that it includes a stowaway on the trip to Mars, you have to wonder what kind of space program these people are running when every pound of extra weight is critical.

Of course, Netflix already did the Mars mission stowaway story in last year’s film Stowaway.

So don’t think too hard. Just enjoy the spacecraft and scenery.

The Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency and the Mission to Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s image of UAE’s Hope probe orbiting Mars. (UAE Space Agency)

You may want to visit Time magazine and view the article “The Woman Who Took the UAE to Mars.” It summarizes Sarah Al Amiri’s efforts related to the United Arab Emirates’ mission to Mars as well as her plans for the country’s space agency, which she now heads as Chairwoman.

Prior to becoming Chairwoman, Ms. Amiri was deputy project manager of a mission to map the Martian atmosphere. Her team, which was 80 percent female, developed the Hope probe to accomplish this goal. The probe was launched aboard a Japanese rocket in July 2020 and now orbits Mars. The data obtained from this mission is being shared openly to assist others studying the Martian atmosphere.

Another mission mentioned in the Time article by Chairwoman Amiri is a tour of seven asteroids as well as a flyby of Venus. A UAE space page defines the mission in this way:

The spacecraft will undertake a 3.6 billion-kilometre, five-year journey, which will see it perform gravity assist manoeuvres by orbiting first Venus, then Earth in order to build the velocity required in order to reach the main asteroid belt, located beyond Mars…The mission will study seven main belt asteroids…The mission will make its first close planetary approach orbiting Venus in mid-2028, followed by a close orbit of Earth in mid-2029. It will make its first fly-by of a main asteroid belt object in 2030, going on to observe a total of seven main belt asteroids before its final landing on an asteroid 560 million kilometres from Earth in 2033. This will make the Emirates the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on an asteroid.

What was not mentioned in the story but is available via another UAE government page is plans for several other space endeavors, including:

  • Sending a rover to the Moon in 2024. The rover’s name is Rashid, named in honor of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai.
  • Establishing a settlement on Mars by 2117, and building a Mars Science City within the UAE to make this Martian mission possible.

The Future of the International Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image(Credit): Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter approaching the International Space Station (NASA).

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published an editorial by Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and advisor to the National Space Council, titled, “Our space partnership with Russia can’t go on.” In the piece, Mr. Hickam argues that the International Space Station (ISS) has accomplished its goals and the US can now move onto other projects without the Russians:

With our flourishing commercial space companies, who are already cutting metal on their own future space stations, plus our federal government’s Artemis moon program, the United States is entering a new golden age of space exploration. The Russians, meanwhile, are stuck in the past with antiquated spacecraft and nowhere to go except the ISS.

Mr. Hickam appears to believe pushing out the Russians may mean the end of the ISS. Of course, this is just one man’s view, and whatever we do we need to do it in conjunction with our other ISS partners.

We could continue to maintain the ISS through 2030, as planned, and schedule more useful science even without the Russians as partners. This may make sense until we have another viable station that we can use, such as NASA’s planned lunar Gateway. Russia will not be part of the Gateway given that it is working with China on other lunar plans, so we do not need to worry about another breakup.

It would be better if Russia had focused on its space accomplishments rather than territorial ambitions as it prepares for the future. Joint space programs are a great way to use rockets for peaceful missions. I am not against a space race that pushes us even farther into space, yet I would prefer it be fueled by scientific achievement rather than nationalist angst.

Image(Credit): Artist rendering of the Artemis lunar Gateway (NASA).

A Day in Astronomy: The Discovery of Uranus

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Image of Uranus taken by Voyager 2 in 1986 (NASA).

On this day in 1781, astronomer Frederick William Herschel noticed a new object in the constellation of Gemini. With further study, he found he had discovered a new planet in our solar system – Uranus. Following his discovery, King George III appointed him Court Astronomer (yes, that King George who did not get many kind words from the embattled colonists on the other side of the pond).

While Frederick William Herschel is credited with numerous astronomical findings (including finding a number of moons, such as Saturn’s Enceladus, and discovering infrared radiation), he was also an accomplished musician. He played the oboe, violin, harpsichord and organ, and composed 24 symphonies as well as concertos, sonatas, and more. You can hear one of his symphonies here.

He was also a man with strong views about life beyond the Earth, including believing the Moon and the planets were populated with intelligent life (stating the surface of the Moon was similar to the English countryside) and speculating that the interior of the sun was heavy populated. Of course, he was a bit off the mark, but I expect he would be fascinated with the discovery of other planets and moons around the galaxy.

Extra: Frederick William Herschel’s sister Caroline assisted him with his work and also became an astronomer herself. For instance, she discovered a companion galaxy to the Andromeda Galaxy, M110 (NGC 205). She also discovered 14 nebulae and 8 comets. For her work cataloging stars, she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. She also became an Honorary Member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835.