22/VI 2024 [89-92]89)
Review: USS Hornet Chronological Pictorial Historyby Dwayne A. Day Monday, June 3, 2024
USS Hornet Chronological Pictorial History: Volume III and Volume IVCVA-12 – CVS-12
Keeping the Peace 1953 – 1970
A William Ballenger Collection
Presented by The USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum
Dennis de Freitas
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B094T5KGHV/spaceviewsRecovering astronauts in the middle of the ocean during the 1960s was a complicated, resource-intensive, and expensive operation. The US Navy provided substantial support for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, usually an aircraft carrier and other naval vessels. Today, several of the carriers used in these operations—Hornet, Intrepid, and Yorktown—are museum ships, and feature displays about their role in the space program. There are books about the recovery efforts, notably Moon Men Return by Scott Carmichael, and Hornet Plus Three by Bob Fish.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4802/190)
Space Resources 2024: In search of the Grand Bargainby Dennis O’Brien Monday, June 3, 2024
Harvesting resources from the Moon or other bodies raises questions about how those activities can and should be governed. (credit: ESA)The United Nations sponsored two meetings of space resource experts this spring, one in Luxembourg in March and the other in Vienna in April. The meetings were part of public outreach by the new Working Group on the Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activity (Working Group), created by the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The experts were selected by the member states of COPUOS. Although there was a wide spectrum of opinion on many topics, the possibility of an agreement still seems within reach, a grand bargain that will support the private sector while protecting essential public policies.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4803/191)
Power politics transcends space securityby Ajey Lele Monday, June 3, 2024
The UN Security deadlocked in a May 20 debate on a Russian resolution to ban weapons in space, weeks after Russia vetoed a resolution regarding nuclear weapons in space. (credit: UN Photo/Manuel ElĂas)For some years now the mockery of space security has been on display at various international forums, particularly at the United Nations (UN). Recently, the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted against a resolution presented by Russia and China that would ban member states from placing weapons of any kind in outer space. Before this, the US-Japan resolution specifically to ban the deployment of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) was vetoed in the UNSC by Russia.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4804/1Załoga przygotowuje się do trzeciej próby startu.
Wyciek (helu) w granicach normy.
Przy okazji wykryto nieoptymalne rozwiązanie konstrukcyjne związane z systemem silników deorbitacyjnych, czemu zaradzono tymczasowo poprzez modyfikację procesu jego działania.
92)
Star-crossed linerby Jeff Foust Monday, June 3, 2024
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner atop its Atlas 5 rocket before a May 6 launch attempt. NASA astronaut Suni Williams is at right, in the tower near the crew access arm. (credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)Sometime in the near future—perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning—an Atlas 5 will finally lift off from Cape Canaveral, carrying Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board. (...)
Boeing and NASA concluded that Starliner could fly as-is:
the leak was not a major risk, and replacing the seal would have required extensive repair work. “If we were to remove the seal completely,” Nappi said, “the leak rate would not exceed our capability to manage that leak. That made us comfortable that, if this leak were to get worse, it would be acceptable to fly.”
Other work conclude that the damaged seal was not a systemic problem, with no evidence of problems with any other seals in the spacecraft’s propulsion system. “This is really not a safety-of-flight issue for ourselves, and we believe that we have a well-understood condition that we can manage,” Nappi concluded. (...)
As it turned out, there was something to be concerned about. The review turned up what he called a
“design vulnerability” with Starliner’s propulsion system that had not been recognized. Starliner’s service module has four areas called “doghouses” spaced 90 degrees apart that host both larger Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thrusters and smaller reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. If two adjacent doghouses failed for some reason, though, it would prevent the spacecraft from doing a deorbit burn even though the spacecraft is designed with multiple ways to carry out the deorbit burn using combinations of OMAC and RCS thrusters.
“It’s a pretty diabolical case,” Stich said of that scenario, which he and Nappi emphasized was rare, occurring in less than one percent of the potential combinations of failures in the propulsion system. “You would lose two helium manifolds in two separate doghouses, and they have to be next to each other.”
NASA and Boeing developed another approach to doing the deorbit burn using four RCS thrusters, splitting the deorbit maneuver into two separate burns. But the late discovery of this design vulnerability prompted questions about why it was found only now, after years of development and scrutiny—particularly since it came two months after the agency and the company made the case their reviews had not missed anything. (...)
NASA had hoped to start flying astronauts to the station on Starliner early next year, a mission designated Starliner-1, alternating missions with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, but
it’s not clear now if the certification work can be completed in time to support that schedule. (...)
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4805/123/VI 2024 [93-96]93)
Prospects for orbital data centersby Lawrence Furnival Monday, June 10, 2024
A terrestrial data center. The business case for orbital data centers might close witha modest reduction in launch costs. (credit: KKR)In the near future, orbital data centers could prove to be an important new revenue stream for launch providers and cloud services. As this article describes, if the price of a Falcon 9 was $20 million instead of $67 million, it would make sense to operate data centers in orbit with their current cost and weight. This goal could be moved significantly closer if space optimized data center systems were available—primarily shielding and cooling systems. Moreover, near-future launch costs per kilogram to low Earth orbit for SpaceX’s next rocket are thought to be about 10% of that of the current Falcon 9.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4806/194)
Challenges for India’s emerging commercial launch industryby Jatan Mehta Monday, June 10, 2024
Agnikul launched a small suborbital rocket May 30 to test technologies for a future orbital launcher. (credit: Agnikul)After persevering through four scrubbed launch attempts over a month, Chennai-based space startup Agnikul launched its first rocket demonstrator mission called “Suborbital Tech Demonstrator” (SOrTeD) on May 30. Unlike what many national and international media reports have implied though, and which tweets from the company or ISRO don’t actively clarify against, the single-stage SOrTeD vehicle was not intended to reach space. It was not just a suborbital mission but a squarely sub-space one, unlike competitor Skyroot’s 2022 launch of Prarambh, which achieved an apogee of 89.5 kilometers, versus the less than 10 of SOrTeD.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4807/195)
Hubble limps alongby Jeff Foust Monday, June 10, 2024
The Hubble Space Telescope at the end of the final shuttle servicing mission to it in May 2009. (credit: NASA)For months, one of the three remaining working gyroscopes on the Hubble Space Telescope, designated Gyro 3, has been malfunctioning. A problem with the gyro would trigger a safe mode, taking the telescope offline for days while engineers worked to get the gyro working again, allowing observations to resume.
“Gyro 3, to be frank, has always performed a little bit out-of-family on orbit,” said Patrick Crouse, project manager for Hubble at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, during a media telecon last week. “It’s been ongoing work since 2018 on the operations team to learn to live with this gyro and make the best of it.”
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4808/196)
National Reconnaissance Program crisis photography concepts, part 3: Axumiteby Joseph T. Page II Monday, June 10, 2024
A typical F-4 Phantom II. The NRO studied using the fighter jet as an air-launch platform for a crisis reconnaissance system. (credit: National Archives)On November 3, 1970, the Deputy Director of the NRO, Dr. Fumio Robert “Bob” Naka, gave a series of presentations to the staff of Mr. Ray S. Cline, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research at the State Department. The presentations briefed capabilities within the National Reconnaissance Program (NRP) to monitor the Middle East Cease Fire Zone, established during the War of Attrition (1967–1970), with KH-8 Gambit systems and future capabilities such as KH-9 Hexagon. Additionally, Dr. Naka briefed concepts for future crisis reconnaissance systems, based upon the likelihood of further military action with little or no warning.[1]
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4809/124/VI 2024 [97-100]97)
Reviews: space documentaries of the past and presentby Jeff Foust Monday, June 17, 2024
Apollo 13: Survivaldirected by Peter Middleton
2024, 96 mins.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31852716/Wild Wild Space
directed by Ross Kauffman
2024, 93 mins.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32258850/The DC/DOX documentary film festival, held over the weekend in Washington, included two films on space topics. The subjects and filmmaking approaches are very different, but the two perhaps have more similarities than one might think.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4810/198)
The rush to return humans to the Moon and build lunar bases could threaten opportunities for astronomyby Martin Elvis Monday, June 17, 2024
The same commercial capabilities enabling new science at the Moon, like the LuSEE-Night radio astronomy experiment, could also jeopardize that research. (credit: NASA/Firefly Aerospace)The 2020s have already seen many lunar landing attempts, although several of them have crashed or toppled over. With all the excitement surrounding the prospect of humans returning to the Moon, both commercial interests and scientists stand to gain.
The Moon is uniquely suitable for researchers to build telescopes they can’t put on Earth because it doesn’t have as much satellite interference as Earth or a magnetic field blocking out radio waves. But only recently have astronomers like me started thinking about potential conflicts between the desire to expand knowledge of the universe on one side and geopolitical rivalries and commercial gain on the other, and how to balance those interests.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4811/199)
Artemis Accords lift offby Jeff Foust Monday, June 17, 2024
Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, signs the Artemis Accords June 12 as (from left) Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Jennifer Littlejohn, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States Lilit Makunts look on. (credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)At the end of 2022, more than two years after the rollout of the Artemis Accords, 23 nations had signed the document outlining best practices for sustainable space exploration. Since eight of the countries had signed the Accords at once at an unveiling event in October 2020, it meant that 15 nations had joined since then.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4812/1100)
Things that almost go boomby Dwayne A. Day Monday, June 17, 2024
Discoverer One was launched in February 1959, a little over a month after the Discoverer Zero accident. The Air Force announced that it was in orbit, but those involved in the launch concluded that it most likely fell over Antarctica, and the spacecraft was never tracked in orbit. Discoverer suffered a string of failures before achieving success in summer 1960 and making possible the first reconnaissance satellites. (credit: Peter Hunter Collection)According to the US Air Force, the first military satellite launch attempt at Vandenberg Air Force Base took place on February 28, 1959, with the successful orbiting of Discoverer 1. As usual, the reality is more complicated. Discoverer 1 most likely never made it into orbit, falling to Earth over Antarctica. Discoverer 1 had been preceded over a month earlier by another operation which was not publicly acknowledged and was known to a small community as “Discoverer Zero,” and nearly ended in tragedy.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4813/125/VI 2024 [101-104]101) Review: The People’s Spaceship
by Jeff Foust Monday, June 24, 2024
The People’s Spaceship: NASA, the Shuttle Era, and Public Engagement after Apolloby Amy Paige Kaminski
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024
hardcover, 336 pp., illus.
ISBN 978-0-8229-4766-0
US$60.00
https://www.amazon.com/?asc_source=01HEJFKGGQJ5VG7C2WE1AR8Y5M&tag=namespacepl-21NASA today embeds public outreach in nearly every aspect of its activities. “Slow Your Student’s ‘Summer Slide’ and Beat Boredom With NASA STEM” declares a recent NASA release, explaining how agency resources can keep kids entertained and educated during summer vacation. (“Finally, summer isn’t complete without a sweet treat, so bake some sunspot cookies. Real sunspots are not made of chocolate, but in this recipe, they are!” it states.) People can also register to virtually “attend” for this week’s scheduled launch of the GOES-U weather satellite, giving people access to mission updates as well as “curated mission resources.” The unstated rationale for the mission updates, educational activities, and even cookie recipes is to build and maintain public support for the agency and its programs.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4814/1102)
The mirage at the core of space commerce, space stations, and other optionsby Roger Handberg Monday, June 24, 2024
As companies work to develop commercial successors to the ISS, an open question is what markets they will serve. (credit: NASA)Space commerce is repeatedly described as entering an era of tremendous economic expansion, one where the future is bright. Such assertions are now driven by the explosion in launches carrying humans and satellites into orbit. These satellite constellations and other events demanded a dramatic expansion in the launch capacity from the governments and corporations. SpaceX, with its reliable and less costly launches, is critical for fueling these expansive views of space economics. As other launch vehicles come into service, more launches translate into more satellites entering orbit at lower costs. The problem becomes that these spacecraft may enter a marketplace that is becoming saturated. Whether this situation can be sustainable is the unknown haunting the industry.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4815/1103)
The little rocket that could: Thor in the early days at Vandenberg (part 1)by Dwayne A. Day Monday, June 24, 2024
The US Air Force developed the Thor launch vehicle from an intermediate range ballistic missile. Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Thor was a workhorse, carrying numerous classified payloads into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (credit: Douglas Aircraft Company brochure)In the mid-1950s, as the United States Air Force first began considering how it would launch satellites into orbit, the obvious choice was the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile then under development. Atlas was expected to have the required performance to put a good-sized payload—several thousand kilograms—into low Earth orbit. But Atlas was relatively expensive and difficult to use, and bigger than many missions required. Fortunately, the Air Force had under development a smaller missile that could also loft a payload into orbit, the Thor intermediate range ballistic missile. Thor’s lower cost and easier handling made it a more useful rocket for the Air Force, and by the late 1950s, Thor was assigned to carry an increasing number of satellites to orbit, including the CORONA reconnaissance satellites and growing families of military and civilian satellites. When Thor was withdrawn from its missile role, many vehicles were freed up for conversion to launch satellites. Thor evolved over the next several decades into Thor-Delta and eventually the Delta II rocket, and was referred to by some in the space program as the workhorse rocket of the early American space program.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4816/1104)
Suborbital spaceflight’s crossroadsby Jeff Foust Monday, June 24, 2024
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity, attached to its VMs Eve mothership aircraft, takes off June 8 on its final commercial suborbital flight. (credit: J. Foust)If one tried to compile a list of key locations in the history of commercial human spaceflight, launch sites immediately come to mind. They include Mojave Air and Space Port, which hosted SpaceShipOne’s first suborbital spaceflight 20 years ago this month, as well as Blue Origin’s and Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceports in West Texas and New Mexico, respectively. Then there’s Cape Canaveral, where SpaceX is launching commercial Crew Dragon missions for NASA and private customers.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4817/1
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