Can't Wait To See Rocketlab Recovering First Stages! They Are Made Of Carbon Fibre So They Should Be

Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan's view from and of the Gemini-9A spacecraft during his extravehicular activity (EVA). Taken during the 32nd revolution of the 72-hour, 21-minute spaceflight.

"'What a beautiful spacecraft,' said Gemini IX pilot Eugene Cernan during his two hour, eight minute spacewalk. He took this wide-angle photograph looking back at the window where command pilot Tom Stafford was watching."

"Northwestern Mexico as seen from the Gemini-9A spacecraft during its 32nd revolution of Earth. The large penisula is Baja California. The body of water at lower right is the Pacific Ocean. The land mass at upper left is the State of Sonora. The Gulf of California separates Sonora from the peninsula."

Date: June 5, 1966

NASA ID: S66-38032, S66-38044, S66-38046, S66-38047, S66-38048, link, S66-37989, S66-38048, S66-38049, S66-38050, S66-38051, S66-38055, S66-38068, S66-38070

JODI BALFOUR as ELLEN WAVERLY For All Mankind, Season 1 (2019-present)

A solar cycle: a montage of 10 years worth of x-ray images taken by the ようこう (Yōkō 'sunbeam') sun-observation satellite.

The Sun undergoes a cycle of magnetic activity with a period of about 11 years. At solar maximum, solar observatories see more sunspots on the Sun's surface. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are bigger and more frequent, triggering auroræ in Earth's skies, interfering with some types of radio communication, and irradiating deep space hardware. The Sun's magnetic field also undergoes a polarity inversion during solar maximum, when the north and south magnetic poles on the Sun swap (this happens again 11 years later in the next maximum). By contrast, the solar minimum has very few or no sunspots and the Sun is generally calm; a good time for deep space missions.

The last solar maximum was in February 2014. The last minimum was December 2019, marking the transition from cycle 24 to 25 (records began in 1755). The next maximum is predicted for the second half of 2025.

May 8, 1989 - Atlantis on final approach into Edwards AFB, Ca after a four day mission (STS-30)

“Nebulose diffuse, semplici, stellate. cometa. pianeti. anelli.” (to accompany) Atlante di geografia universale. 1842.

David Rumsey

“Stop The Militarisation Of Space” Soviet Union 1984

TODAY IN HISTORY – On June 18, 1983, the Space Shuttle Challenger carried astronaut Sally Ride into Earth orbit, launching her into history as the first American woman in space. It was seventh space shuttle mission, lasting 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds. When the shuttle returned, Dr. Ride said, “I’m sure it was the most fun that I’ll ever have in my life.”

(NASA)

Dragon has achieved zero-g!

My thoughts on the upcoming IFT-3 flight of Starship-Super Heavy

As of writing (12th of February), IFT-3 is currently scheduled to occur later this month, but it could still easily get delayed.

My prediction is that IFT-3 will probably achieve orbit and will probably conduct an internal propellant-transfer, but that the upper stage (SN28) will probably suffer a failure of some kind during reëntry, either being destroyed or deviating far from its targetted splashdown-zone.

It's safe to say that successful reëntry is unlikely on IFT-3. Here's why:

The Starship upper stage will be the largest reëntry-vehicle ever built.

This reëntry profile (a belly-first reëntry with four fins used for stability) is unique and has never been done before. Starship's belly-first orientation is inherently ærodynamically unstable, which is why it needs constant corrections from the four fins. It could get trapped in a nose-first or tail-first orientation, both of which might be more stable. Else, a loss of control would just result in endless tumbling.

We've already seen heatshield-tiles falling off during IFT-1 and IFT-2. In fact, more fell off the latter than the former due to higher ærodynamic pressures and engine vibrations.

A failure during reëntry would be consistent with the general pattern of testflight-failures established so far. Essentially, each flight is a failure, but less of a failure than the previous one.

Honestly, I don't know what could happen to the first stage booster (B10). SpaceX knows how to do boostback-burns and propulsive landings. It's seemingly just a matter of preventing the vehicle from blowing itself up. Engine reliability will probably determine the booster's success.

It'll be interesting to watch nonetheless.

The fate of the Artemis Programme now depends on the success of these test flights and in SpaceX rapidly developing and utilising this reüsable launch-system. Development has been ongoing for over five years now, and the vehicle has yet to reach orbit. The landing of astronauts on the Moon is scheduled for September 2026. How likely is it that SpaceX will have humans on the Moon in just two and a half years from now?