ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope Safely Launched

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: ESA

Earier today, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid Space Telescope was safely launched from Cape Canaveral on a Space X Falcon 9 rocket (though the original plan was to use a Russian Soyuz rocket until the invasion nixed that idea). The space telescope is destined for the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 2 (L2), which is an average distance of 1 million miles beyond Earth’s orbit. It will join the James Webb Space Telescope.

In addition to the 1.2 meter diameter telescope, the mission includes two scientific instruments: a visible-wavelength camera (the VISible instrument, VIS) and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer (the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, NISP). 

The focus of the new space telescope will be to create a 3D map of the universe to better understand dark matter and dark energy. As noted on the ESA’s website, Euclid hopes to answer these questions:

  • What is the structure and history of the cosmic web?
  • What is the nature of dark matter?
  • How has the expansion of the Universe changed over time?
  • What is the nature of dark energy?
  • Is our understanding of gravity complete?

It is a tall order for this new telescope. Astronomer Isobel Hook from the UK’s Lancaster University put it this way to BBC News:

It will be like setting off on a ship before people knew where land was in different directions. We’ll be mapping out the Universe to try to understand where we fit into it and how we’ve got here – how the whole Universe got from the point of the Big Bang to the beautiful galaxies we see around us, the Solar System and to life.

Starlink: DOD Pays for Ukrainian Service

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Map of Ukraine. (BBC News)

Elon Musk got his way. The US Department of Defense (DOD) will be paying an undisclosed amount for the Starlink services being used in Ukraine. This is good news for the Ukrainians had they feared interruption of this vital link with the rest of the world, yet I imagine this will also put SpaceX’s Starlink system at greater risk given that it now is a clearly a subcontractor to the US defense initiatives.

As the media has pointed out, Musk started to cut back on Starlink services to make a point about it being used as part of the war, with one Senator noting:

I was personally disappointed to see discontinuation of full services at such a critical time for Ukraine self-defense…Do you feel there’s a connection between the availability of this capability to our partners in Ukraine in this conflict, and relationships we have with companies like SpaceX?

It appears the relationship has improved now that DOD has opened its checkbook. I guess the next move will be taken by the Russians. And if the past is any guide, things may get ugly.

Two Space Stations, Two Stories

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The three Chinese astronauts who left for the Tiangong space station this week. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

This week astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) said goodbye to the second set of private astronauts who are part of the Axiom Space mission, while China sent its first non-military astronaut to its Tiangong space station. It is not surprising that China started out with military astronauts. NASA also recruited from the US military for its early astronauts, and still does today. Yet it is encouraging that China is already shifting to scientists.

So while China is following the expected trajectory towards more scientists, the ISS (and more particularly its US partners) is shifting towards greater tourism since Axiom missions are for quick flybys rather than deep research. For instance, the “astronauts” on the second Axiom mission were on the ISS for about a week. At least the second mission included a few scientists, whereas the first Axiom mission consisted of wealthy investors.

With commercial space stations in development, we can expect to see tourism as a key piece of the space industry, as we already see with SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. China is not far behind, indicating that it wants to find ways to be part of the space tourism industry as well.

Maintaining the right balance between the militarization of space, real science, and tourism will not be an easy balance, as we watch it all in play this week. I would rather see more tourists than military crews in space, but I am hoping we can find a way to keep the scientists fully engaged and the main players for now. Space mining and related industries will probably beat all of these other uses, but we are not at that stage just yet.

Space Stories: Threats to Artemis, Two Saudis Visit the ISS, and Signs of the Japanese Lunar Crash

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Moon and the Washington Monument. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Axios: “NASA Return to the Moon Could be Imperiled by Politics“

Efforts to insulate Artemis from possible cuts, delays and cancellation are facing a major test with the current budget fight on Capitol Hill. If NASA’s funding is stalled at the 2022 enacted level or reduced, agency administrator Bill Nelson has warned Artemis II and Artemis III could be delayed. The current launch dates are 2024 for Artemis II and 2025 for Artemis III.

—Al Jazeera: “SpaceX Sends Saudi Astronauts, Including First Arab Woman, to ISS“

A private rocket carrying the first Arab woman astronaut has blasted off on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher from Saudi Arabia, was joined on Sunday’s mission by fellow Saudi Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot. The pair are the first Saudi astronauts to voyage into space in decades.

—Quartz: “NASA Found the Japanese Moon Lander that Crashed into the Moon“

ispace’s attempt to become the first private company to safely land a robot on the Moon left a mark: A NASA space telescope orbiting Earth’s nearest neighbor in space spotted the impact of the vehicle on the lunar surface…NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been circling the Moon since 2009, carefully mapping its surface. Today, it released the first images of the impact site, which required scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center and Arizona State University to carefully hunt for changes to the lunar surface.

Blue Origin is Now Part of the Artemis Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rending of the Blue Origin lander on the Moon’s surface. (Blue Origin).

While SpaceX is building the lunar lander for the Artemis III mission, Blue Origin is back in the game building the next lunar lander for a follow-up human landing at the Moon’s southern polar region as part of Artemis V. The NASA contract with Blue Origin for this second mission is $3.4 billion.

Blue Origin’s partners in this venture include Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics.  All of this is good news for the space program in that its expands the knowledge and risk related to a lunar landing among even more companies. Such redundancy will increase resilience.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson welcomed Blue Origin to the team with this statement:

Today we are excited to announce Blue Origin will build a human landing system as NASA’s second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface…We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA’s commercial and international partnerships. Together, we are making an investment in the infrastructure that will pave the way to land the first astronauts on Mars.

Note: I am glad to hear that Mr. Bezos is still plugging away with his space company Blue Origin and not spending all of his money on play things, such as his $500 million yacht. The commercial space industry is party one run by billionaire playboys, which may not be the most stable foundation. Yet all the same, if part of their money is going to public projects, that is a good thing. Just as Andrew Carnegie invested in public libraries and Bill Gates fighting disease and poverty in Africa, we can all benefit from the money going into the space arena. Mind you, it is not charity, but it is starter funds for critical projects to keep the US in the space race.