The Space Roundup - Jul 25th, 2021
Hello, hello, my dear space lovers!
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Now, are you ready? 5,4,3,2,1...lift-off!
Nauka to the ISS!
Finally! The Russian space lab is now on its way to the ISS, in preparation for docking next week. This module is going to be an amazing extension to the Station. After its construction started in 1995 it has suffered delays for many many years… 26 years in the making, waiting for this moment!!!! Wow…
This module is a 20-tons bus-sized laboratory, that will provide massive extra space and research facilities, and it brings an extra present: the European Robotic Arm (ERA).
The 11-meter robot developed by Airbus has been waiting for ten years to get to space and it’s now ready to start operations when it gets to the ISS. It will help install, deploy and replace elements in outer space from the Russian module. Nice!
Since launching we have experienced several scary moments due to technical issues - so we’ll have to wait until the docking phase before we call this a success … crossing my fingers!
Talking about the ISS, Boeing’s Starliner is now go for launch to the ISS on July 30. If everything goes according to the plan, the Starliner spacecraft will dock autonomously to the ISS for the first time.
Self-destructing satellites
You all know how serious the space debris problem has become nowadays. One of the key experiments designed to test a novel way to deorbit dying satellites after they run out of fuel was launched in November 2020 and this week proved its success. The DragRacer experiment consisted of two small satellites one of which had "The Terminator Tape” (what a cool name!) attached to it: a 30-meter long tether that behaves as an “anchor”.
Due to the dragging effect of the tether, the satellite reentered the atmosphere and burned up in 7 months, while the other satellite remains almost in the same orbit. With a longer 70-m tether for bigger satellites, Millennium Space Systems says they can be deorbited in 45 days instead of an average of nine years.
A telescope on a balloon!
The US and Canada's space agencies and several universities are working together on a space telescope that will fly aboard of a balloon the size of a football stadium and that will have similar capabilities to those of the Hubble telescope, with the benefit of being cheaper to launch, easier to maintain (it can go up and down as needed). SuperBIT will launch next year and its first science goal is to measure the properties of dark matter particles.
Now that the Hubble is back to normal operations after yet another technical issue that took it offline for a whole month, we realize how important it is to have more alternatives and options to help us keep exploring the cosmos.
Martian updates
Perseverance is now ready to acquire its first rock sample that will be sent back to the Earth on future missions.
Not far away, NASA's InSight lander has helped scientists reveal first-ever peek inside Mars’s center. Its mars-quake measurements have let scientists detect at least three distinct layers within the red planet, including the boundary of its core, which is radically different than ours. This discovery is the culmination of a ten-year astrogeology research. Amazing.
And then, boom! Today, the tenth flight was achieved by the martian helicopter Ingenuity. Ingenuity has already flown a total distance of 1 mile (1.6kms), at a record altitude of 12m. It is crushing it and working way beyond expectations, taking pics of impossible areas for the team of scientists at NASA. Go, Ingenuity!
Goodnight Moon Base!
Kids are naturally curious and excited about space travel. There is a children’s book in the works to inspire these dreams entitled “Goodnight Moon Base”.
It is written by Brett Hoffstadt, an aerospace engineer who wants to give our next generation a powerful vision and desire for our future beyond Earth. He is using the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to raise funds and give away amazing perks to those who order an advance copy. There are only a few days left in this campaign, so let’s help him make this project a reality! READ MORE AND SUPPORT IT HERE
SpaceX progress
Super Heavy test-fire was a success on the first try! The team successfully ignited three Raptor engines and Elon Musk tweeted they might try a nine engines test next depending on the progress made with the next booster. These are very important steps towards the first flight test of the full Starship spacecraft.
Blue Origin: mixed feelings
The first crewed flight of Blue Origin was a complete success. Both Bezos brothers plus the younger and oldest persons ever to go to space went up 100kms and then experienced zero gravity before landing back. This rocket, designed to fly 25 times, is now ready for next flights as there is a massive demand: more than $100M dollars already sold on tickets, so it seems commercial flights are going to be the new normal from now on.
The reaction of the general public has been mixed, though. Bezos statement to his Amazon employees ("You paid for all of this”) was very shocking and a big part of the public opinion reacted very negatively to it. What do you think about it? Looking forward to reading your comments below.
Pic of the week
The picture of the week can’t be other than the one that was released by the astronomers at the European Southern Observatory: the first clear detection of a Moon-forming disc around an exoplanet 400 years-light away.
Basically, they have visually identified for the first time a ring of dust and gases around an exoplanet that will form up to three moons around it. This is key to get a better understanding of how natural satellites could be forming. Read more about this incredible discovery here.
I also recommend watching this impressive video to better understand it:
Launches of the week
This week we have two launches on the same day: next Friday.
- Friday - July 30th - Ariane 5 • Star One D2 & Eutelsat Quantum
- Friday - July 30th - Atlas 5 • CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2
And that’s it for today! :)
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Cheers from sunny Spain! :)
Juan, the Curious Astronaut