442 years ago today, Tycho's Supernova, SN 1572, became visible. Its observance throughout Europe on this night, during the meat of the Renaissance, launched the revolution of modern astronomy. Although it was noted by many early astronomers and mathematicians (Queen Elizabeth I in England commissioned court mathematician Thomas Allen to observe it), the observations of Tycho Brahe were most prominent. He would publish his observations in 1573, and they were re-published in 1602 and 1610 by his apprentice, Johannes Kepler, along with a compilation of the observations of others. Although termed a "nova" at the time, the terms "nova" and "supernova" today are used for completely different phenomena, both of which occur in end-of-life stars. SN 1572 is today known to be the latter.
The first production Orion spacecraft has been rolled to Pad 37, Cape Canaveral. The capsule itself is contained in the Launch Abort System, a fairing similar in design to the fairing used by Soyuz. Inside, it is attached to a boilerplate of the Orion service module. It is preparing for Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), which is scheduled for December 4. It will be launched on a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The Orion capsule and SM boilerplate will remain attached to the Delta IV second stage for the duration of the flight. It will go into a standard low Earth orbit for its first orbit, then will have its apogee raised to 3,600 miles on the second orbit. From there, it will be driven into the atmosphere, much like early unmanned Apollo and Zond test flights. The capsule will then detach. It will enter the atmosphere at over 20,000 mph, and is expected to splashdown in the Pacific off the cost of Baja California. The Orion capsule will use its on-board batteries for the duration of its four-hour flight.
Philae touched down half an hour ago. However, its anchors have not deployed. It will need the anchors to remain attached to the comet, since its gravity is negligible. The first pictures are expected around 1pm-ish EST.
We have the first image from the surface of Comet Cheryumov-Gerasimenko. Philae is supposed to be imaging a horizontal view. This has mission planners concerned the solar panels may not be exposed. The lander has an initial battery life of about 60 hours. They will try to deploy the anchors again to see about getting it in a more stable position.
Philae did deplete its batteries over the weekend. ESA hopes it will eventually get in a position where its batteries will recharge eventually. They were able to get some science, just not anywhere near as much as they hoped to.
25 years ago today, the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) was launched on a Delta 5920-8 rocket from Pad 2W, Vandenberg AFB. The Delta was a special configuration, the only time the uprated Castor 4A SRMs designed for the initial Delta II rockets were used with the original Extended Long-Tank Thor core. COBE was placed in a 900km circular polar orbit. The idea for COBE originated in the 1970s, but the first attempt to build the probe lost out to IRAS. The purpose of COBE was a study of cosmology, to determine the size and origins of the Universe itself. Its primary mission, using a liquid helium-chilled far-infrared telescope, lasted four years. The exact details of their discoveries are a bit above my pay grade to attempt to explain. All I know if that the probe's science team won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for their discoveries.
17 years ago today, Columbia was launched on STS-87 from Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center. The fifteen-day mission was the fourth to carry the U.S. Microgravity Payload. It also carried the SPARTAN free-floating platform with several astronomy and astrophysics experiments. Among the six-person crew was Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, representing JAXA, and Kalpana Chawla; the first Indian woman in space. ******** Chawla was born in Karnal, a suburb of New Delhi, on March 17, 1962. After receiving her Bachelor of Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in 1982, she emigrated to the United States to pursue becoming an astronaut. The Challenger disaster, which occurred while she was finishing her Doctorate in aerospace engineering at Colorado, did not deter her from her dream. Working with an aeronautics company called Overset Methods, she worked at Ames Research Center on V/STOL engineering, likely with the XV-15, the precursor to the Bell V-22 Osprey. After she became a U.S. citizen in 1991, she applied to become an astronaut, and was selected in 1994 with Group 15. Following STS-87, she was assigned to engineering for the International Space Station. Chawla was killed in the Columbia disaster following STS-107. There are several things in the U.S. and India named in her honor, including India's METSAT Kalpana series of meteorological satellites.
23 years ago today, Atlantis was launched on STS-44 from Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center. It was a DoD mission which was scheduled to launch the third of the fifth-generation DSP-I (That's the letter I, not roman numeral 1) missile launch detection satellites. It was lifted to geosynchronous orbited by an Inertial Upper Stage. The DSP-I constellation was originally supposed to be launched entirely by the Space Shuttle. When the Challenger disaster took place, it was moved to the Titan IV. By this point, two DSP-I satellites had already been launched on Titan IV 401A rockets. Why one was left on the Shuttle manifest is unknown. The mission was the second command for black astronaut Frederick Gregory.
51 years ago today, the first successful test flight of the Centaur upper stage took place atop an Atlas-D rocket from Pad 36, Cape Kennedy. The rocket put a boilerplate into GTO, making the first test-firing of a cryogenic-fuel engine in orbit.
The first Thanksgiving celebrated in space took place at the tail end of the first week of Skylab 4, on November 22, 1973. It was a working holiday for commander Gerald Carr, CM pilot William Pogue and mission scientist Dr. Edward Gibson. Pogue and Gibson did a spacewalk to swap out their first film canister and repair a malfunctioning antenna. True to Thanksgiving tradition, they tore some foil away from the station to get to the antenna equipment, inadvertently decorating for Christmas. The food of Skylab was among the most true-to-form ever flown into space. The large part of the reason is because they flew a freezer aboard the space station, stocked with enough food and more for six months worth of habitation. Not even the International Space Station has that luxury. They have to reconstitute freeze-dried food, with the occasional MRE-style shelf-stable delicacy mixed in. Each astronaut chose a different main dish. Only Gibson had turkey, while Carr had prime rib and Pogue had chicken. The crew, which would become infamous for their complaining, thought it was largely bland, but were limited on their salt intake due to medical requirements.
53 years ago today, the final orbital test flight of Project Mercury occurred when Mercury-Atlas 5 was launched from Pad 14, Cape Canaveral. On-board was the chimpanzee Enos. The mission profile was the basis of John Glenn's flight on Friendship 7. It was placed in a 99 x 147-mile orbit, and de-orbited on the third orbit. It splashed down 200 miles south of Bermuda. Enos was healthy following the flight, but pulled off all his medical electrodes and his urine collector during the mission. He contracted an antibiotic-resistant form of dysentery in August 1962, and died two months later.
Late last night EST, JAXA launched Hayabusa 2 on an H-IIA 202 rocket from Pad Y, Tanegashima Space Center. Hayabusa 2 is a follow-up to Japan's first asteroid rendezvous probe, Hayabusa, which visited asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005, then returned samples from the asteroid to Earth in 2010. This time, the target asteroid is 162173, which doesn't have an official name yet, just the code 1999 JU3. In addition to sample return, it will carry a separate microlander and an impactor. The microlander for the original, MINERVA, was deployed wrong, and went into solar orbit instead of landing on Itokawa. As much a technology probe as a sample return mission, it will carry state-of-the-art ion engines and guidance control. Hayabusa is the Japanese name for the peregrine falcon. ******** And EFT-1 is just about ready to get off the ground. It's still scheduled to lift off tomorrow at 7am EST.
41 years ago tonight, Pioneer 10 became the first probe to reach one of the outer planets, flying within 133,000 km of the planet Jupiter. In addition to close-up photos of the planet, one of the biggest discoveries was bands of hydrogen around the orbits of Io and Europa. It would be later that they would discover their true nature to be gigantic, highly-intense radiation belts supplied by Io's yet-to-be-discovered volcanism. The only moon to be photographed by Pioneer 10 with any noticeable detail was Ganymede, and it wasn't at a very close range. Europa was largely only seen as a dot, and an image of Io was lost due to latent radiation interfering with the probe during the fly-by. And 40 years ago today, Pioneer 11 followed around Jupiter. Pioneer 11 came a lot closer to the planet, flying within 43,000 km of the cloud tops and closer to its polar regions. It got images of Io, but not good enough to discover its volcanism yet.
i really like this being mostly OR's thread because he does such a great job but i saw this article which i though was excellent. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141202-the-greatest-spacecraft-ever
Orion is aloft. Its initial orbit was approximately 120 x 560 miles. Its second orbit took it to an apogee of 3,604.2 statute miles. The acceleration burn to re-entry has already taken place. As I post this, separation of the capsule from the service module boilerplate is taking place. It's flying over Indonesia (approaching Sulawesi island) at this time, and descending toward re-entry, which will take place in about 45 minutes. The upper stage will be re-directed away from the capsule's trajectory to burn up harmlessly between Hawaii and the U.S. west coast.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#.VIHX6zHF98E Orion is going like a bat out of Hell right now. Re-entry is moments away...
50 years ago today, NASA finally attempted to launch Gemini 2 after the hurricane issues that previously delayed its launch. One second after engine ignition, the engines cut off, leaving the rocket standing at Pad 19, Cape Kennedy. The issue was traced to a part in one of the engine turbopumps in the Titan II first stage. They re-designed the parts, and installed the new ones. It would have to wait about six weeks to finally fly.
General Dr. James H. Doolittle was born on December 14, 1896, in Alameda, California. Commissioned in March 1918 as a reserve military aviator after graduating from UC-Berkeley, he was an aviation instructor throughout the Central U.S. for the remainder of World War I. Through the 1920s, he was one of the earliest military test pilots, and by 1930 he had assisted in the genesis of instrument flying. He spent most of the interwar years in the Army Reserve, going active on and off to assist in testing. He returned active for good in 1940 to assist in Lend Lease. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, he put together a daring barebones raid of Japan, executed on April 18, 1942. A group of 16 B-25 bombers took off from an aircraft carrier (USS Hornet, to be exact, a predecessor to the later USS Hornet that would play a major role in the space race), bombing five cities in Japan including Tokyo, and landing mostly in China. One had to land in Russia. The only bomber lost was his own; he and his crew had to bail when they ran out of fuel. He was promoted to Brigadier General, and spent most of the rest of World War II in Europe. His strategies of requiring escort planes for bombers, and using advance fighters before bombing raids, helped to utterly destroy the Luftwaffe. His 8th Army Air Force was in the process of relocating to Okinawa when the war ended. After the war, Doolittle was promoted to Lieutenant General, and went to the reserves once more. Much of his time was spent as an executive at Royal Dutch Shell. He would become a special advisor of the newly-formed U.S. Air Force, and assist with modernizing U.S. aviation. He would also have a hand in the early ballistic missile programs. He retired from the Air Force for good in 1959. After that, he went to TRW, and helped launch their space industries. They would go on to design, among other things, Pioneers 10 and 11, and the High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO) probes. He was promoted to a four-star General on the retired list in 1985. He died on September 27, 1993, aged 97, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Three successive generations after him have been in the Air Force, though his first son, Maj. James Doolittle, Jr., himself a WWII pilot, committed suicide in 1958.
53 years ago today, NASA put in a contract with Boeing to construct the S-IC rocket stage, the first stage of the Saturn V rocket. Construction would take place at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, an annex of the Marshall Spaceflight Center.
53 years ago today, NASA formally contracted with Douglas Aircraft Company to construct the S-IVB rocket stage. Unlike the previous S-IV, which used a cluster of six Pratt & Whitney RL-10 engines designed for the Centaur upper stage, the S-IVB would use a single Rocketdyne J-2 engine. Two classes of S-IVB were created. The 200 series would have a straight skirt in order to top the Saturn IB rocket. The 500 series would have a flared skirt in order to top the Saturn V rocket. A total of 31 S-IVB's were produced; 15 of the 200 series and 16 of the 500 series. Seven of them are on display in various places and situations (including the backup Skylab). Twelve re-entered Earth's atmosphere (including the one turned into Skylab), with four largely surviving to oceanic impact, and one re-entering in pieces. Five are in heliocentric orbit, and five hit the Moon. One was destroyed in testing on the ground. One, "S-IVB-F", designed specifically to test fitting for facilities, is currently unaccounted for.
51 years ago today, the first serious proposal for a lunar base was made in connection to the Apollo program. Named the "Integrated Lunar Exploration System", it would involve two Saturn V launches. The result was a much hardier long-duration lunar lander with a "taxi" that would be more robust than the eventual lunar rover. The lander was referred to as the "LEM Shelter", and would allow for men to remain on the surface for a nominal 14-day mission. It would be the first evolution beyond the initial short-term LEM missions that would lead eventually to a permanent manned presence on the Moon. The LEM Shelter plan ended in 1968 when the required extra Saturn V purchases were canceled.
With the launch of a Chinese weather satellite late last night (01:02 UTC this morning), it's time to wrap up 2014. The CIS launched 37 rockets (not including one suborbital Angara test launch): 22 Soyuz (including 4 from Kourou) 11 Universal Rockets (8 Proton, 2 Rokot, 1 Strela) 2 Dneprs 1 Zenit The first Angara The United States launched 23 rockets: 9 Atlas V's 5 Deltas (4 Delta IV, 1 Delta II) 6 Falcon 9's 3 Antares The European Space Agency launched 7 rockets, not including the Soyuz rockets they launched from Kourou: 6 Ariane 5's 1 Vega China launched 16 rockets: 6 Long March 2's 2 Long March 3's 7 Long March 4's 1 Kuaizhou India launched four rockets (not including the first suborbital test launch of the GSLV Mark III): 3 PSLV's 1 GSLV Mark II Japan launched four rockets, all H-II's, and Israel conducted a rare orbital launch with their Shavit rocket. There were two full launch failures: A Proton-M rocket on May 15 suffered a failure in its third stage. Its payload is believed to have crashed in the Altai mountains. The first Antares 130 rocket suffered a first-stage engine failure on October 28, crashing back onto the pad to severe damage and delaying the Cygnus ISS logistics program. There were also two partial launch failures: The Fregat upper stage of a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from Kourou on August 22 malfunctioned, leaving two Galileo navigational satellites in lower-than-intended orbits. They were able to place FOC FM-1 Doresa into its proper orbit with on-board propellant, but they had to recalibrate FOC FM-2 Milena to use it at its lower orbit. The Briz-M upper stage of a Proton-M rocket launched on October 22 underperformed, leaving an Ekspress comsat in a lower-than-intended orbit. They were able to compensate with on-board propellant in this case as well. Four manned flights were conducted, all by Russia. Currently, Soyuz TMA-14-M and Soyuz TMA-15-M are docked with the International Space Station with Expedition 42. Cassini flew by Titan another 11 times. MAVEN and Mangalyaan both arrived at Mars, and Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P Cheryumov-Gerasimenko, deploying the Philae lander on an ultimately partially-successful landing mission. China conducted a test run in preparation for their next lunar mission, Chang'e 5, which will be a sample return mission. The LADEE mission ended as predicted, and was allowed to crash into the Moon. The International Cometary Explorer flew by the Moon, but attempts to maneuver it to be re-captured in Earth orbit were thwarted when it was revealed the probe had plenty of fuel, but no pressurant to use said fuel. ******** 2015 is going to be a busy year. Dawn will arrive at dwarf planet Ceres on March 8, and New Horizons will fly by Pluto on July 14. MESSENGER will end its mission and crash into Mercury some time in March. The Japanese probe Akatsuki will make its second attempt to enter orbit around Venus in November. Cassini will fly by Titan five more times, and Dione twice, before beginning its Grand Finale with three fly-bys of Enceladus. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko will arrive at the ISS on Soyuz TMA-16-M in March to begin a one-year mission. NASA will simultaneously study Scott's twin brother, Mark, on Earth during their mission. That will be one of four planned manned missions to the ISS, including the September flight of space tourist Sarah Brightman. Ten ISS resupply missions are planned: 4 Progress, 4 Dragon, 1 Kounotori, and 1 Cygnus on a backup Atlas V rocket. At least one of the Progress missions is supposed to be of the updated Progress-MS design. The maiden flight of the University of Hawaii's SPARK rocket was delayed from this year, as was Falcon Heavy. Falcon Heavy is predicted to launch in the third quarter, as SpaceX decided to wait until Pad 39A was ready before launching it. The first attempt to win the Google Lunar X Prize by conducting a privately-funded lunar lander and rover mission is planned for the second half of 2015. The Barcelona Moon Team is planning to launch their lander and rover on a Chinese Long March 2C rocket.