Space news

[Penny the Penguin]

NASA Successfully Test Fires 3D-Printed Rocket Engine Part

NASA successfully hot-fire tested a 3D-printed combustion chamber for a rocket engine. The successful test is the latest in a series of advancements in 3D-printed rocket technology from both private companies and public research groups.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/spa...ocialflowFBPOP

[Bitogno]

China to test rocket reusability with planned Long March 8 launcher

Here : http://spacenews.com/china-to-test-r...ch-8-launcher/

They are also launching a private company called CopyX that will be managed by Hey Lun Meusc.

[pla]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/20/chin...lore-moon.html

China launched a relay satellite early on Monday designed to establish a communication link between earth and a planned lunar probe that will explore the dark side of the moon, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Citing the China National Space Administration, Xinhua said the satellite was launched at 5:28 a.m. (2128 GMT Sunday) on a Long March-4C rocket from the Xichang launch centre in the southwest of the country.

"The launch is a key step for China to realise its goal of being the first country to send a probe to soft-land on and rove the far side of the moon," Xinhua quoted Zhang Lihua, manager of the relay satellite project, as saying.

It said the satellite, known as Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge, will settle in an orbit about 455,000 km (282,555 miles) from earth and will be the world's first communication satellite operating there.

[pla]

China announced that its space station is open to non-Chinese astronauts. An European astronaut has already been training in China: https://arstechnica.com/science/2018...space-station/

At a time when NASA and its partners are trying to decide how long to maintain the International Space Station, China has taken the significant step of inviting the world to its planned orbital station. The China Space Station, or CSS, could become operational as soon as 2022.

"CSS belongs not only to China, but also to the world," said Shi Zhongjun, China's ambassador to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna. "All countries, regardless of their size and level of development, can participate in the cooperation on an equal footing."

.......Already, European astronauts such as Samantha Cristoforetti, who spent 200 days in space in 2014 and 2015 aboard the International Space Station, have begun traveling to China to learn the language and train with their Chinese counterparts. "Just back from China, great week, many new friends," Cristoforetti tweeted last year. The European Space Agency has an agreement with China's Space Agency that should allow European astronauts to visit the Chinese space station in the 2020s.....

[pla]

China launched its newest Earth Observation Satellite to replace the old one. This was China's 16th space launch in 2018 thus far: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018...ofts-gaofen-6/

China launched a new remote sensing satellite called Gaofen-6 on Saturday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Launch took place at 4:13 UTC from the LC9 launch complex using a Long March-2D – Chang Zheng-2D – rocket.

The new satellite is similar to the first Gaofen satellite launched on April 2013, carrying a one 2 meter panchromatic camera, an 8 meter multi-spectral camera and one 16m multispectral medium-resolution and wide-view camera.

The Gaofen civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellites (gao fen = high-resolution) are part of a program that is one of the 16 main programs announced by the State Council in a 15 year plan of Chinese national scientific and technology programs between 2006 and 2020.

This program will become the main civilian Earth observation project of China in the next years, combining the use of satellites as well as airplanes and even stratosphere balloons.

[Penny the Penguin]

Space.com Science & Astronomy
What Has NASA's Curiosity Found on Mars? We'll Find Out Thursday

[pla]

China launched a meteorological satellite to be used by Belt and Road countries: http://www.spacetechasia.com/china-l...oad-countries/

On 5 June 2018, at 9:07 p.m. Beijing time (GMT+8), China launched Fengyun-2H, a meteorological satellite which will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit. The launch took place using the three-stage rocket Long March 3A, from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province.

Fengyun-2H will be placed at 79 degrees East, with a launch mass of 1380kg and a design life of 4 years, and will be operated by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and the National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC). The satellite will bolster China’s weather monitoring system within its territory, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean. According to China, the satellite will be used by Belt and Road Countries, as well as the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), an intergovernmental initiative led by Beijing.

[The Master Cat]

Space.com Science & Astronomy
What Has NASA's Curiosity Found on Mars? We'll Find Out Thursday

NASA is really starting to shoot itself in the foot with the way they announce these announcements.

Soon no one will give them the time of day if they don't actually have an alien from zeta reticuli giving a live Q&A from WH lawn.

[Penny the Penguin]

NASA is really starting to shoot itself in the foot with the way they announce these announcements.

Soon no one will give them the time of day if they don't actually have an alien from zeta reticuli giving a live Q&A from WH lawn.

I'm sorry I think you're talking to the wrong person about that pov, I'm a complete NASA fan girl and think they should do more, more and more . AFAIK they do not do press releases on a whim, rather but when they have discovered or confirmed significant findings - such as finding water on Mars or finding other habitable exo planets, Etc. I would watch them any time. I can't wait for the James Webb Telescope press conferences, that will be astounding stuff, and I wish them well and much success, in all their efforts.

[pla]

After 20 days of travel, China's lunar relay satellite sent back images: https://gizmodo.com/chinese-satellit...-lu-1826873372

After a 20-day journey, China’s Queqiao lunar communications relay satellite has made it to lunar orbit. Its companion, the Longjiang-2 microsatellite, wasted no time, taking some neat pics of Earth and the lunar surface.

Queqiao, meaning Magpie Bridge, is a key component of the upcoming Chang’e 4 lander and rover mission, at which time it will provide a continuous communications link to Earth while the probe does its exploratory work on the dark side of the Moon. Chang’e 4 is expected to launch at some point in December 2018.

[Penny the Penguin]

Japanese Sample Return Spacecraft Reaches Target Asteroid

Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft has been traveling through space for almost four years, and it has finally reached its destination. The spacecraft has traveled all this way to a small asteroid, named Ryugu, for a singular purpose: to collect a piece of it and bring it back to Earth.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/spa...rget-asteroid/

[Penny the Penguin]

Cosmic 'diamond' holds clues to origins of space

Full story at http://www.usatoday.com

[Penny the Penguin]

Our Solar System's First Known Interstellar Object Gets Unexpected Speed Boost

Using observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, an international team of scientists has confirmed 'Oumuamua (oh-MOO-ah-MOO-ah), the first known interstellar object to travel through our solar system, got an unexpected boost in speed and shift in trajectory as it passed through the inner solar system last year.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7173

[TG0211]

Our Solar System's First Known Interstellar Object Gets Unexpected Speed Boost

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7173

Realist theory : it could have been influenced by the gravity wells of one or other planetary objects and the scientists are still looking what happened that day that could have influenced the object's trajectory.

Crazy theory : the aliens finally got to watch our TV shows and decided they'd better get the fuck away from our crazy ways. Smart aliens, you do that, you bugger off !!

[Ratamacue]

Realist theory : it could have been influenced by the gravity wells of one or other planetary objects and the scientists are still looking what happened that day that could have influenced the object's trajectory.

The most likely explanation is right in the article--outgassing of particles from the asteroid surface, similar to what's seen in comets. No unexpected gravitational effects required.

The actual measured vs. expected position difference was only 40,000 km--only noticeable because of the fidelity of modern astrodynamic models, and the fact that they never accounted for outgassing in their original models.