Feeling lunar gravity
September 4, 2023 12:30 PM Subscribe
Had ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface. Let's check in on humanity's exploration of space as autumn 2023 draws nigh, starting with the Sun and working outwards from there.
The Sun
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its first solar probe, Aditya-L1. NASA's STEREO-A solar probe is approaching the Earth after more than 16 years studying the Sun.
On Earth’s surface
American intelligence agencies warned companies that foreign adversaries were likely to attempt cyberattacks for space advantage.
From Earth’s surface to orbit
China's LandSpace company successfully launched the first methane-fueled rocket into orbit, Zhuque-2 beating other competitors for the honor. SpaceX launched its 62nd orbital mission this year. Some of those missions included lofting the first part of The U.S. Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The Firefly company started a 6 month standby experiment, ready to orbit a military payload on twenty-four hours' notice.
Meanwhile, NASA's Deep Space Network is facing pressures. The European Space Agency (ESA) delayed testing its new Ariane 6 rocket into 2024. An astronomer proposes a new type of space telescope. SpaceX seems to be thinking of a new space station idea. More ambitiously, Chinese scientist Wang Wei proposed a 77-year plan for developing and exploiting the solar system.
In orbit
Jing Haipeng and Zhu Yangzhu, Chinese astronauts in the Shenzhou 16 mission, conducted a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. An Australian company made a nice animation showing Tiangong's assembly over time. A study found that International Space Station (ISS) dust was messier than standards for earthly homes.
The internet-providing Arcturus satellite hit a disabling power problem. An old Soviet satellite, "either the Kosmos-2143 or Kosmos-2145," broke apart after a collision with space debris. A German grad student explored ways of hacking satellites.
Down to Earth
Four astronauts from three nations rode SpaceX back to Earth after a hurricane stomped through Florida. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) device offered new views of the atmosphere on top of North America.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe is scheduled to return to Earth later this month, with an assist from Queen's guitarist. Researchers may have found the largest asteroid impact on Earth, in New South Wales.
Moon
ISRO's Chandrayaan-3, which launched in July, detached a lunar lander on August 17. The lander descended, taking photos along the way, and successfully landed several days later. It then released a lander, Pragyaan ("from Sanskrit: prajñāna, lit. 'wisdom'"), which wheeled its way onto and across the lunar surface: "India took a walk on the Moon!" (previously) Lander and rover are now in sleep mode for the two-week lunar night.
Roscosmos launched lunar probe Luna-25, following the long Soviet tradition of lunar exploration, but it crashed on the moon's surface after an engine burn ran too long. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) seems to have found its impact crater. (previously)
On deck: the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) rescheduled a launch for their lunar probe, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) . Scientists used data from Chinese spacecraft to identify a warm spot on the moon's dark side. British and American researchers published some ideal routes for Earth-Moon travel. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on plans for lunar settlement and exploration infrastructure.
In the Earth’s L2 point
The ESA's Euclid telescope transmitted its first images. The James Webb telescope took updated images of one famous nebula and glimpsed the most distant star on record.
Mars
From orbit, the United Arab Emirates published Martian data from its Hope orbiter. ESA's Mars Express shared a glimpse of our Earth and its moon. ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (a/k/a Mangalyaan) imaged Phobos passing over the red planet.
On the surface, the Perseverance rover found preserved organic molecules. Curiosity started climbing a mountain. Ingenuity made its 56th flight. NASA robots saw each other.
On deck: NASA test-fired the Mars Ascent Vehicle's engine. A research team modeled a Mars colony's sustainability.
To the asteroids
Hubble imaged the asteroid debris from the DART mission. On Earth, scientists determined the origins of asteroid material retrieved by Hayabusa2. And a retired scientist published a plan for turning asteroids into human habitats.
Jupiter
Something smashed into the solar system's largest planet. NASA's Juno probe examined Io. The James Webb telescope peered at Jovian moons.
On the way to Jupiter, ESA controllers fixed a stuck antenna on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) probe. Juice also successfully created an ultraviolet image.
In the Kuiper belt
NASA lost contact with Voyager 2, then regained it.
The Sun
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its first solar probe, Aditya-L1. NASA's STEREO-A solar probe is approaching the Earth after more than 16 years studying the Sun.
On Earth’s surface
American intelligence agencies warned companies that foreign adversaries were likely to attempt cyberattacks for space advantage.
From Earth’s surface to orbit
China's LandSpace company successfully launched the first methane-fueled rocket into orbit, Zhuque-2 beating other competitors for the honor. SpaceX launched its 62nd orbital mission this year. Some of those missions included lofting the first part of The U.S. Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The Firefly company started a 6 month standby experiment, ready to orbit a military payload on twenty-four hours' notice.
Meanwhile, NASA's Deep Space Network is facing pressures. The European Space Agency (ESA) delayed testing its new Ariane 6 rocket into 2024. An astronomer proposes a new type of space telescope. SpaceX seems to be thinking of a new space station idea. More ambitiously, Chinese scientist Wang Wei proposed a 77-year plan for developing and exploiting the solar system.
In orbit
Jing Haipeng and Zhu Yangzhu, Chinese astronauts in the Shenzhou 16 mission, conducted a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. An Australian company made a nice animation showing Tiangong's assembly over time. A study found that International Space Station (ISS) dust was messier than standards for earthly homes.
The internet-providing Arcturus satellite hit a disabling power problem. An old Soviet satellite, "either the Kosmos-2143 or Kosmos-2145," broke apart after a collision with space debris. A German grad student explored ways of hacking satellites.
Down to Earth
Four astronauts from three nations rode SpaceX back to Earth after a hurricane stomped through Florida. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) device offered new views of the atmosphere on top of North America.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe is scheduled to return to Earth later this month, with an assist from Queen's guitarist. Researchers may have found the largest asteroid impact on Earth, in New South Wales.
Moon
ISRO's Chandrayaan-3, which launched in July, detached a lunar lander on August 17. The lander descended, taking photos along the way, and successfully landed several days later. It then released a lander, Pragyaan ("from Sanskrit: prajñāna, lit. 'wisdom'"), which wheeled its way onto and across the lunar surface: "India took a walk on the Moon!" (previously) Lander and rover are now in sleep mode for the two-week lunar night.
Roscosmos launched lunar probe Luna-25, following the long Soviet tradition of lunar exploration, but it crashed on the moon's surface after an engine burn ran too long. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) seems to have found its impact crater. (previously)
On deck: the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) rescheduled a launch for their lunar probe, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) . Scientists used data from Chinese spacecraft to identify a warm spot on the moon's dark side. British and American researchers published some ideal routes for Earth-Moon travel. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on plans for lunar settlement and exploration infrastructure.
In the Earth’s L2 point
The ESA's Euclid telescope transmitted its first images. The James Webb telescope took updated images of one famous nebula and glimpsed the most distant star on record.
Mars
From orbit, the United Arab Emirates published Martian data from its Hope orbiter. ESA's Mars Express shared a glimpse of our Earth and its moon. ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (a/k/a Mangalyaan) imaged Phobos passing over the red planet.
On the surface, the Perseverance rover found preserved organic molecules. Curiosity started climbing a mountain. Ingenuity made its 56th flight. NASA robots saw each other.
On deck: NASA test-fired the Mars Ascent Vehicle's engine. A research team modeled a Mars colony's sustainability.
To the asteroids
Hubble imaged the asteroid debris from the DART mission. On Earth, scientists determined the origins of asteroid material retrieved by Hayabusa2. And a retired scientist published a plan for turning asteroids into human habitats.
Jupiter
Something smashed into the solar system's largest planet. NASA's Juno probe examined Io. The James Webb telescope peered at Jovian moons.
On the way to Jupiter, ESA controllers fixed a stuck antenna on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) probe. Juice also successfully created an ultraviolet image.
In the Kuiper belt
NASA lost contact with Voyager 2, then regained it.
Is it already time again for the best FPP contest?
posted by slogger at 1:21 PM on September 4, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by slogger at 1:21 PM on September 4, 2023 [4 favorites]
Not sure I can favorite this enough.
posted by flamewise at 1:37 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by flamewise at 1:37 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Meanwhile, NASA's Deep Space Network is facing pressures.
That one seems fairly serious. NASA prioritizes using the DSN's 3 big radio antennas for Artemis missions above all else, which means other vital projects can't get enough time on them for their own communications with objects out past Earth's orbit. It's only going to get worse as Artemis-related missions ramp up. The DSN's budget has been shrinking, and the debt ceiling deal U.S. GOP congresscritters forced through means no new increases. Ars Technica had a really good, detailed piece about the management and budgetary issues involved a few days ago, including sharper criticism of the decision to load Artemis I with a bunch of unreliable cubesats that took up a ton of antenna time:
There were 10 small rideshare secondary payloads that flew into deep space on the Space Launch System rocket on Artemis I. These CubeSats ranged in size from a shoebox to a briefcase, with small antennas and low-power transmitters that required large antennas on Earth to make a reliable connection. Eight of these CubeSats were tracked with the DSN, according to Dodd. "They got 871 hours of tracking, nearly as much as Artemis for eight little CubeSats," she said. "I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to put up (so many) CubeSats with Artemis I," Dodd said...
What makes CubeSats appealing to NASA and research scientists is what makes them unappealing to the Deep Space Network, Dodd said. "They're quick, they're not well-tested. They use little antennas...When they get in trouble, they need a really big antenna to find them... Do you want these CubeSats to take as much time (on the DSN) as James Webb?"
Most of the rideshare payloads on Artemis I encountered trouble after deploying from their dispensers on the SLS rocket, and some were never heard from after the launch. This took time on the DSN antennas to attempt to locate and restore communication with the CubeSats...
"When your DSN is oversubscribed, I don't think it's a good use to put throwaway missions on the same set of antennas. Throwaway is probably not polite... They have a place. But their place, in my mind, is really not on the DSN, at least not in these numbers. Half of these missions were probably dead before they even launched out of the ring because of the design."
posted by mediareport at 1:53 PM on September 4, 2023 [6 favorites]
That one seems fairly serious. NASA prioritizes using the DSN's 3 big radio antennas for Artemis missions above all else, which means other vital projects can't get enough time on them for their own communications with objects out past Earth's orbit. It's only going to get worse as Artemis-related missions ramp up. The DSN's budget has been shrinking, and the debt ceiling deal U.S. GOP congresscritters forced through means no new increases. Ars Technica had a really good, detailed piece about the management and budgetary issues involved a few days ago, including sharper criticism of the decision to load Artemis I with a bunch of unreliable cubesats that took up a ton of antenna time:
There were 10 small rideshare secondary payloads that flew into deep space on the Space Launch System rocket on Artemis I. These CubeSats ranged in size from a shoebox to a briefcase, with small antennas and low-power transmitters that required large antennas on Earth to make a reliable connection. Eight of these CubeSats were tracked with the DSN, according to Dodd. "They got 871 hours of tracking, nearly as much as Artemis for eight little CubeSats," she said. "I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to put up (so many) CubeSats with Artemis I," Dodd said...
What makes CubeSats appealing to NASA and research scientists is what makes them unappealing to the Deep Space Network, Dodd said. "They're quick, they're not well-tested. They use little antennas...When they get in trouble, they need a really big antenna to find them... Do you want these CubeSats to take as much time (on the DSN) as James Webb?"
Most of the rideshare payloads on Artemis I encountered trouble after deploying from their dispensers on the SLS rocket, and some were never heard from after the launch. This took time on the DSN antennas to attempt to locate and restore communication with the CubeSats...
"When your DSN is oversubscribed, I don't think it's a good use to put throwaway missions on the same set of antennas. Throwaway is probably not polite... They have a place. But their place, in my mind, is really not on the DSN, at least not in these numbers. Half of these missions were probably dead before they even launched out of the ring because of the design."
posted by mediareport at 1:53 PM on September 4, 2023 [6 favorites]
This post made me want to check up on the Parker Solar Probe. It's just completed another gravity assist flyby of Venus to get even closer to the Sun. It's headed back toward the Sun where it will pass within 4.5 million miles from surface, or 11 radii from the center.
Both Parker and Juno at Jupiter intrigue me because they repeated pass thru hostile environments which slowly degrade them.
posted by concavity at 2:26 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Both Parker and Juno at Jupiter intrigue me because they repeated pass thru hostile environments which slowly degrade them.
posted by concavity at 2:26 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Both Parker and Juno at Jupiter intrigue me because they repeated pass thru hostile environments which slowly degrade them.
So do I.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:26 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
So do I.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:26 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Both Parker and Juno at Jupiter intrigue me because they repeated pass thru hostile environments which slowly degrade them.
So do I.
Eponysterical?
posted by Ickster at 6:02 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
So do I.
Eponysterical?
posted by Ickster at 6:02 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Thank you for making these posts doctornemo, I love how you touch on so many things!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:32 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:32 PM on September 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
"Roscosmos launched lunar probe Luna-25, following the long Soviet tradition of lunar exploration, b̶u̶t̶ i.e. it crashed on the moon's surface after an engine burn ran too long."
posted by senor biggles at 7:59 PM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by senor biggles at 7:59 PM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Amazing post!
posted by dg at 9:17 PM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 9:17 PM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
as autumn 2023 draws nigh
Autumn 2023 ended in June though? Oh.....northern hemisphere autumn....:-)
I like the look of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail system (ACS3) which hopefully will be launched this southern spring/summer via Rocket Labs from Mahia. I just like the animation I guess, and hopefully using solar sails for more cubesat propulsion / fixed space communication network stations sounds like a good idea if it works out.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:56 PM on September 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
Autumn 2023 ended in June though? Oh.....northern hemisphere autumn....:-)
I like the look of the Advanced Composite Solar Sail system (ACS3) which hopefully will be launched this southern spring/summer via Rocket Labs from Mahia. I just like the animation I guess, and hopefully using solar sails for more cubesat propulsion / fixed space communication network stations sounds like a good idea if it works out.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:56 PM on September 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
Apparently Chandrayaan-3 landed not once but twice! A 40cm hop is a nice lagniappe for the mission.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:40 AM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:40 AM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
Japan just successfully launched its SLIM moon lander, along with the XRISM x-ray and spectroscopy satellite, after 3 weather-related delays over the past week [WaPo gift link]. Both projects left the rocket successfully; XRISM was deployed into Earth orbit, and SLIM is on target for the moon in 3-4 months. Some great views of the beautiful seaside launch site as the countdown starts around 41 minutes into the livestream.
posted by mediareport at 9:18 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mediareport at 9:18 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
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