SpaceX Starship: Booster Issues

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Test run of the Starship Booster on May 5, 2022. (SpaceX)

Earlier this week, SpaceX conducted another test of its Starship. However, the booster was damaged by an explosion during a pre-launch test and will now need to be inspected to determine whether it can be used in the inaugural launch of the Starship later this summer.

For more on the Starship, check out the Cool Worlds video titled “Why Starship Could Transform Astronomy.” It argues that reduced launch costs, reduced complexity, and heavier payloads would allow NASA to launch a fleet of telescopes within current budgets. For instance, the larger Starship payload would have allowed NASA to avoid all of the contortions necessary to fold the James Webb Space Telescope into a smaller rocket. The video also argues that SpaceX’s willingness to take risks is something NASA may want to emulate.

These are interesting times with NASA and SpaceX testing new rockets to place astronauts on distant objects. Even if Russia wants to sit this one out, we have a full blown space race underway domestically.

European/Russian Rover Coordination Now Dead

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Drawing of the ESA’s ExoMars martian rover called the Rosalind Franklin. (ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to terminate cooperation with Russia on the ExoMars rover mission. The joint mission, planned for September 2022, was suspended earlier this year after Russia invaded Ukraine. The ESA has now cut all links on the project and hopes to work with NASA on some aspects of the mission.

The rover, named the Rosalind Franklin, would be the first European rover to visit Mars. It is designed to explore the surface of Mars as well as collect and analyse samples. The plan is to land the rover at a site with high potential for finding well-preserved organic material, particularly from the very early history of the planet.

Both Covid and the war in Ukraine have delayed the rover mission, but the ESA will see it through, alone if necessary, but hopefully with others. Maybe Russia can be a partner again in the future, but it will need new leadership that knows how to play well with others.

JWST: An Early Image of Galaxies

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

Earlier today, President Biden released one of the first images (shown above) from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWSP). A full release is scheduled for tomorrow at this location: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages.

The image shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which represents thousands of galaxies in a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

Here is a little more from NASA on what we are seeing:

The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s NIRCam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus – they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.

It’s certainly a good start. Stay tuned for more.

Video/Radio: Martian Life is “Not Bonkers”

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Professor Brian Cox on The Chris Moyles Show. (Radio X)

Last week on the The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, Dr. Brian Cox responded to a call in question about life on Mars. He noted that NASA’s Perseverance rover may find signs of life in an ancient river delta where it is now drilling. He said he would not be surprised if Martian microbes were located.

He also discussed plans to visit Jupiter’s moon Europa to explore its seas and look for life. Interestingly, he highlighted how Europa may contain three times as much water as can be found on the Earth. That would make it quite a rest stop for future solar system voyages.

In the end, he made it clear that finding life in our solar system is “not bonkers.” That said, he also explored the idea that we may be alone in this universe in terms of intelligent civilizations.

Space Quote: NASA Condemns Russian Political Stunt

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov pose with a flag of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic on the ISS in a photograph released July 4. (Roscosmos via Reuters)

“[NASA] strongly rebukes using the International Space Station for political purposes to support [the] war against Ukraine, which is fundamentally inconsistent with the station’s primary function among the 15 international participating countries to advance science and develop technology for peaceful purposes.”

-NASA statement, as quoted in the Washington Post, regarding the picture of three Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station (ISS) holding a flag of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic released earlier this month. Russia is probably try to clear up some earlier confusion about the colors worn by these same astronauts back in March (see below). We get it, you represent an aggressive nation preying on its neighbors.

Image (Credit): Russian cosmonauts clothing for their March arrival at the ISS . (Roscosmos)