Image (Credit): A disabled Russian tank in Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons)
SpaceX’s Starlink system, shared with Ukraine last month, is already proving to be a boost to Ukrainian fighters. While the focus of the new system was to keep Ukrainians connected to the Internet, it has also been used by drones attacking Russian military tanks and trucks. The NY Post quotes one Ukrainian source as stating, “If we use a drone with thermal vision at night, the drone must connect through Starlink to the artillery guy and create target acquisition.”
All of this will make the Starlink system within Ukraine a Russian target and Mr. Musk himself persona non grata, not that Mr. Musk really cares. However, he has warned Ukrainians to be cautious when using the system:
Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution.
Let’s just hope that all of this doesn’t lead to anti-satellite actions in space. We have enough issues on the ground.
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.
Source/Credit: Image of Russian section breaking away from the ISS from NASA Watch.
You may have already seen this ridiculous Russian video that NASA Watch shared with the world. It is very disturbing. Presumably created by the Russian space program Roscosmos, it shows the Russian portion of the International Space Station (ISS) breaking away as a result of the worldwide sanctions against the Russians for invading Ukraine. Here is the NASA Watch tweet and related video (an image of which is shown above):
Russian gov’t-controlled RIA Novosti @rianru posted a video on Telegram made by @Roscosmos where cosmonauts say goodbye to Mark Vande Hei on #ISS, depart, and then the Russian segment detaches from the rest of ISS. @Rogozin is clearly threatening the ISS program. #NASA#Ukraine
One person provided some hope among all this foolishness with this reply:
Basically all astro-/ cosmonauts said that after a couple of days in space they only see a fragile planet, and that nation states start to disappear in their minds.
And now we have former US astronaut Scott Kelly and SpaceX’s Elon Musk battling with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos. Scott Kelly was clear in his dislike of Rogozin’s comments about the ISS:
Maybe you could find yourself a job working at McDonalds if McDonalds still exists in Russia.
None of this is helpful when we have lives in space depending on a competent ground team. Let’s hope all these egos do not get in the way of the professionalism we expect from the US, Russia, and others with regards to the safe operation of the ISS.
Source/Credit: Starlink terminals posted in a Ukrainian tweet.
Three cheers for SpaceX’s assistance to Ukraine during this difficult time. After Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov made a plea to SpaceX for assistance with its Internet, Mr. Must approved the shipment of Starlink terminals to Ukraine to allow the country to use the company’s satellites for its communications.
@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfullyland from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.
We can haggle about the number of Starlink satellites in orbit another time. Fortunately, such satellites are there when the beleaguered Ukrainians need them.
I guess once was not enough. Billionaire Jared Isaacman wants to spend even more money sending private citizens into space aboard SpaceX spacecraft. He funded his first private flight last September, called Inspiration 4, and now wants to do three more of these flights. The first one raised funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, whereas it is not clear whether these other voyages also relate to charitable causes.
Space tourism is all the rage these days, with Captain Kirk going up on Blue Origin’s capsule and Virgin Galactic sending Sir Richard Branson into space in preparation of paying customers in the near future. SpaceX always seemed to have more serious goals, but I suppose a buck is a buck.
The first of these three new flights is planned for later this year and will include a spacewalk and science experiments. The second will involve SpaceX’s Dragon, which is currently used for trips to the International Space Station (ISS). The third will involve SpaceX’s Starship created for lunar missions under NASA’s Artemis program.
Apparently, these new missions are expected to “…serve a bigger purpose of opening up space for everyone and making humankind a multiplanetary species, and ideally, have a benefit for the things we’re trying to accomplish back here on Earth.” Once might ask whether this bigger purpose, such as space walks and science experiments, can already be performed by professional astronauts aboard the ISS. It is hard to believe these new vanity missions are critical. And maybe dangerous stunts on such missions should only be performed by a professional team, but Mr. Isaacman wants to command the mission. I cannot see how having an accident on one of these flights will benefit SpaceX. I can still remember the blow-back after sending (and losing) the first teacher to space.
Space is still a dangerous place. Maybe money should not trump everything, including common sense. This seems more like a bored corporate executive spending $500,000 on a new fire truck, setting a few old buildings on fire, and then going in with an inexperienced crew to have fun putting out the blaze while claiming he is advancing the science of firefighting. I am not convinced.
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