Kalbear Posted July 13, 2023 Share Posted July 13, 2023 Oh hey, speaking of political will:https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/07/the-senate-just-lobbed-a-tactical-nuke-at-nasas-mars-sample-return-program/ Quote "The Committee has significant concerns about the technical challenges facing MSR and potential further impacts on confirmed missions, even before MSR has completed preliminary design review," stated the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee in its report on the budget. The committee report, obtained by Ars, noted that Congress has spent $1.739 billion on the Mars Sample Return mission to date but that the public launch date—currently 2028—is expected to slip, and cost overruns threaten other NASA science missions. Further, the report states that the $300 million allocated to the Mars mission will be rescinded if NASA cannot provide Congress with a guarantee that the mission's overall costs will not exceed $5.3 billion. In that case, most of the $300 million would be reallocated to the Artemis Program to land humans on the Moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted July 29, 2023 Author Share Posted July 29, 2023 World's most powerful bidet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) Falcon Heavy launch of the Hughes JUPITER 3, world's biggest comms sat. Edited July 31, 2023 by SpaceChampion Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted August 3, 2023 Author Share Posted August 3, 2023 Concept mission from NASA using Starship as a basis for exploring near earth asteroids. Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loge Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Russia's recently launched Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed on the moon. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66562629 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Loge said: Russia's recently launched Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed on the moon. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66562629 I’m not fond of schadenfreund… but… Edited August 20, 2023 by Ser Scot A Ellison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Did the Moon ask to join NATO? Kalbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted August 22, 2023 Author Share Posted August 22, 2023 (edited) NASA announces the geology team for Artemis 3. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-geology-team-for-the-first-crewed-artemis-lunar-landing I'm a bit excited at the news for two friends who are on it. One is a prof at a Canadian university so that will have downstream benefits for hundreds of Canadian researchers and students. Had a few days with him at the Haughton Impact Crater in the Arctic on Devon Island, studying meteor impact sites for their similarity to likely abodes of bacterial life in the cracks. The other is an planetary scientist from NASA whom I spent with a her and a dozen others for a month in the Australian Outback doing Mars analog studies in deserts, particularly where some of the oldest stromatalite structures could be found. Edited August 23, 2023 by SpaceChampion Tears of Lys, Ser Scot A Ellison, Kalbear and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 (edited) India has become the first country to land closest to the Moon’s South Pole Region and 4th overall to land a robotic vehicle on the moon. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/23/science/india-moon-landing-chandrayaan-3 Also, ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation) did it with a budget of 75mn USD which is less than what the movie Gravity was made for, kinda absurd ! There are also plans for future crewed missions and Solar atmospheric research satellites. Edited August 23, 2023 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II Corvinus85, SpaceChampion, JGP and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 23, 2023 Share Posted August 23, 2023 *applause emoji* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted August 26, 2023 Author Share Posted August 26, 2023 Static fire of all 33 engines, with all but 2 for the full duration, with the deluge system seeming to work as intended. People watching from South Padre Island commented on how much quieter it is, and that they didn't feel the shock wave at all. Noticeable debris sitting near the pad before the test fire seemed to remain in place. Next for Starship is a few integrated tests with the upper stage stacked on top of the booster. Launch maybe in 4 weeks. Ser Scot A Ellison and Tears of Lys 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted August 27, 2023 Author Share Posted August 27, 2023 A closer view: Tears of Lys 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 Not good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horangi Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said: Not good... The responsible space authorities should partner to create a space tractor of sorts to start safely deorbiting all the derelict space junk. I doubt Roscosmos has any intent on spending money on cleaning up their trash. Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 6, 2023 Author Share Posted September 6, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted September 6, 2023 Share Posted September 6, 2023 (edited) 12 hours ago, SpaceChampion said: They look a lot like the Russian Orlan suits… don’t they? Edited September 6, 2023 by Ser Scot A Ellison SpaceChampion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 Maybe life.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 It may not look like much, but Stoke Space (the company working on an aerospike engine for a reusuable rocket) appears to be the real deal. They say after completion of its latest test program they have all they need to design the orbital version. https://x.com/stoke_space/status/1703569700540883195?s=20 Ser Scot A Ellison and horangi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 21, 2023 Author Share Posted September 21, 2023 Was just thinking about the age of the galaxy and realized it's only rotated about 36 times since it first formed. Earth was formed 20 rotations ago. If it had been existent since the beginning of the universe our galaxy would have only rotated 60 times since then. It's got about another 20 rotations before it collides/merges with the Andromeda galaxy. Erik of Hazelfield 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted September 24, 2023 Author Share Posted September 24, 2023 OSIRIS-REx landing in the next hour. NASA TV covering it here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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