Moon to Mars activities and asteroid crashing
September 25, 2022 1:36 PM Subscribe
NASA published its new strategic objectives. And a lot more is going on. Just past the fall equinox, we catch up with humanity's exploration of space.
On Earth, getting off of it, and returning to it
A Delta-IV Heavy rocket boosted a secret National Reconaissance Office (NRO) payload into orbit.
NASA delayed plans for the Artemis launch once more, partly because of weather, partly due to leak problems.
The large BlueWalker 3 satellite rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit, eliciting fears that it will blot out part of the sky in visual and radio spectra.
The European Space Agency (ESA) signed up Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) to help deliver some payloads to orbit.
Rocket Lab launched its 30th Electron rocket, orbiting a radar satellite. RL is also moving to launch rockets from Mississippi and Virginia.
Maritime Launch Services won permission to build "Spaceport Nova Scotia - Canada's first commercial spaceport."
A "drag sail" plan to deorbit satellites won venture and NASA funding. Centrifuge-based Spinlaunch won $71 million in new funding.
Delayed by Russian's war in Ukraine, a batch of OneWeb satellites arrived in India, ready for an October launch. A member of Russia’s delegation to a meeting on reducing space threats made a space threat - specifically, against Starlink satellites providing internet access to Ukrainians. Yet Russia also launched an American astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
In the Earth's L2 point
NASA is working on a problem with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
On and Around the Moon
The Chang'E-5 explorer discovered a new mineral: "Changesite-(Y) is a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal."
The NASA CAPSTONE probe, managed by Rocket Lab, is tumbling along its lunar course, in safe mode.
Both American and Chinese lunar exploration efforts are considering south pole landing sites.
China's space program is considering using lunar lava tubes for human habitation.
Japan and the United Arab Emirates are both on track to launch lunar probes via SpaceX in November.
Two scientists argued that we should look for interstellar objects which might have crashed onto the moon.
Visiting asteroids
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is scheduled to impact a small asteroid tomorrow, testing our ability to deflect bodies which might slam into Earth.
Venus
A solar coronal mass ejection struck the ESA's Solar Orbiter as it approached Venus for a gravity assist.
Mars
NASA's InSight lander detected the sounds of meteorites striking the Martian surface. Perseverance found some organic matter in the Jezero Crater. That rover's Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) has repeatedly converted the Martian atmosphere into oxygen.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA)'s Tianwen-1 orbiter took new photos of Martian's moon Phobos. The James Webb telescope captured its first images of Mars.
Jupiter
An amateur scientist turned the Juno spacecraft's JunoCam photos of Jovian clouds into a a video.
A Chinese official announced they were considering a robot mission to Jupiter and Uranus.
Uranus
NASA asked the internet to name a hypothetical mission to the seventh planet.
Neptune
The James Webb telescope imaged Neptune, its rings, and several of its satellites.
In interstellar space
NASA scientists figured out the source of odd data sent by Voyager 1.
On Earth, getting off of it, and returning to it
A Delta-IV Heavy rocket boosted a secret National Reconaissance Office (NRO) payload into orbit.
NASA delayed plans for the Artemis launch once more, partly because of weather, partly due to leak problems.
The large BlueWalker 3 satellite rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit, eliciting fears that it will blot out part of the sky in visual and radio spectra.
The European Space Agency (ESA) signed up Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) to help deliver some payloads to orbit.
Rocket Lab launched its 30th Electron rocket, orbiting a radar satellite. RL is also moving to launch rockets from Mississippi and Virginia.
Maritime Launch Services won permission to build "Spaceport Nova Scotia - Canada's first commercial spaceport."
A "drag sail" plan to deorbit satellites won venture and NASA funding. Centrifuge-based Spinlaunch won $71 million in new funding.
Delayed by Russian's war in Ukraine, a batch of OneWeb satellites arrived in India, ready for an October launch. A member of Russia’s delegation to a meeting on reducing space threats made a space threat - specifically, against Starlink satellites providing internet access to Ukrainians. Yet Russia also launched an American astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
In the Earth's L2 point
NASA is working on a problem with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
On and Around the Moon
The Chang'E-5 explorer discovered a new mineral: "Changesite-(Y) is a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal."
The NASA CAPSTONE probe, managed by Rocket Lab, is tumbling along its lunar course, in safe mode.
Both American and Chinese lunar exploration efforts are considering south pole landing sites.
China's space program is considering using lunar lava tubes for human habitation.
Japan and the United Arab Emirates are both on track to launch lunar probes via SpaceX in November.
Two scientists argued that we should look for interstellar objects which might have crashed onto the moon.
Visiting asteroids
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is scheduled to impact a small asteroid tomorrow, testing our ability to deflect bodies which might slam into Earth.
Venus
A solar coronal mass ejection struck the ESA's Solar Orbiter as it approached Venus for a gravity assist.
Mars
NASA's InSight lander detected the sounds of meteorites striking the Martian surface. Perseverance found some organic matter in the Jezero Crater. That rover's Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) has repeatedly converted the Martian atmosphere into oxygen.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA)'s Tianwen-1 orbiter took new photos of Martian's moon Phobos. The James Webb telescope captured its first images of Mars.
Jupiter
An amateur scientist turned the Juno spacecraft's JunoCam photos of Jovian clouds into a a video.
A Chinese official announced they were considering a robot mission to Jupiter and Uranus.
Uranus
NASA asked the internet to name a hypothetical mission to the seventh planet.
Neptune
The James Webb telescope imaged Neptune, its rings, and several of its satellites.
In interstellar space
NASA scientists figured out the source of odd data sent by Voyager 1.
I like to say ''Jovian".
Isn't that just like a Terran. :)
posted by Splunge at 3:15 PM on September 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
Isn't that just like a Terran. :)
posted by Splunge at 3:15 PM on September 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
Just to point out something that went under a lot of radar: Astrobotic expands with acquisition of Masten Space Systems. Astrobotic's blog post.
posted by Catblack at 3:19 PM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 3:19 PM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
This post is JOVIAN!
I made the joke then realized it actually makes sense in terms of the godlike strength required to assemble so many links. Thanks for helping me catch up.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:36 PM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
I made the joke then realized it actually makes sense in terms of the godlike strength required to assemble so many links. Thanks for helping me catch up.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:36 PM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Uranus
NASA asked the internet to name a hypothetical mission to the seventh planet.
This will probably go well.
Great post!
posted by Literaryhero at 7:34 PM on September 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
NASA asked the internet to name a hypothetical mission to the seventh planet.
This will probably go well.
Great post!
posted by Literaryhero at 7:34 PM on September 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Thanks for this post, great roundup!
posted by inexorably_forward at 1:29 AM on September 26, 2022
posted by inexorably_forward at 1:29 AM on September 26, 2022
There is in fact a live stream of that Asteroid deflection mission here.
It's currently not all that interesting to look at, but in 84 minutes time it'll be slamming into a space rock!
Maybe this should be a fanfare post.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:51 PM on September 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's currently not all that interesting to look at, but in 84 minutes time it'll be slamming into a space rock!
Maybe this should be a fanfare post.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:51 PM on September 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Three minutes to impact! Someone on the livestream just complained that the live feed is only 720P.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 4:12 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the duck by the oboe at 4:12 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
I swear I saw a set of car keys
posted by clavdivs at 4:25 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 4:25 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Watching that happen was the coolest thing I've seen in while. #bestshotever #4milespersecond #dustyinhere
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 4:39 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 4:39 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
NASA streamed an update today: a press conference on the results of the DART mission.
I don't know if a transcript is ready yet, but one early tidbit I caught is that DART was expected to slow the orbit of the smaller asteroid around the larger one by about 10 minutes... but appears to have slowed down the orbit by 32 minutes.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:08 PM on October 11, 2022
I don't know if a transcript is ready yet, but one early tidbit I caught is that DART was expected to slow the orbit of the smaller asteroid around the larger one by about 10 minutes... but appears to have slowed down the orbit by 32 minutes.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:08 PM on October 11, 2022
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The solar system is getting 'smaller' and that's a wonderful thing
posted by clavdivs at 1:59 PM on September 25, 2022 [1 favorite]