Space In General

Another successful Starlink mission last night. This booster previously ran missions for CRS 19 and CRS 20. First rideshare on a Starlink launch.

103962389_168785141343711_3405856923026255465_o.jpg

103999364_168785424677016_5248368347623437781_o.jpg

103438186_10217055709171669_477415714637068565_n.jpg
 
SpaceX has been testing a new fuel tank for Starship that is made from 304L stainless instead of 301. I think it handles cryogenic temps better? Not sure. Either way, last week it popped a weld and had a small leak, so they fixed it and tried again today. This was test to failure, so you can guess how it went. They are trying to achieve 8.6 Bar for flight pressure. No word yet on the results of this test.



Also, they have a Boston Dynamics robot dog on site they have named "Zeus" which it appears they are using to inspect the area when things like this happen...

 
From today's edition of Spaceweather.com:


A GLOBAL MAGNETIC ANOMALY: Lately, Earth’s magnetic field has been quiet. Very quiet. The sun is in the pits of what may turn out to be the deepest Solar Minimum in a century. Geomagnetic storms just aren’t happening.

"That’s why I was so surprised on June 23rd when my instruments picked up a magnetic anomaly," reports Stuart Green, who operates a research-grade magnetometer in his backyard in Preston UK. "For more than 30 minutes, the local magnetic field oscillated like a sine wave."



Green quickly checked solar wind data from NOAA's DSCOVR satellite. "There was nothing–no uptick in the solar wind speed or other factors that might explain the disturbance," he says.

He wasn't the only one who noticed. In the Lofoten islands of Norway, Rob Stammes detected a similar anomaly on his magnetometer. "It was remarkable,” says Stammes. "Our magnetic field swung back and forth by about 1/3rd of a degree. I also detected ground currents with the same 10 minute period."

What happened? Space physicists call this phenomenon a "pulsation continuous" or "Pc" for short. Imagine blowing across a piece of paper, making it flutter with your breath. Solar wind can have a similar effect on magnetic fields. Pc waves are essentially flutters propagating down the flanks of Earth's magnetosphere excited by the breath of the sun. During more active phases of the solar cycle, these flutters are easily lost in the noise of rambunctious geomagnetic activity. But during the extreme quiet of Solar Minimum, such waves can make themselves "heard" like a pin dropping in an silent room.



Earth's magnetic field was so quiet on June 23rd, the ripple was heard all around the world. INTERMAGNET's global network of magnetic observatories picked up wave activity at the same time from Hawaii to China to the Arctic Circle. There's even a hint of it in Antarctica (note Scott Base in the plot, above).

Pc waves are classified into 5 types depending on their period. The 10-minute wave on June 23rd falls into category Pc5. Slow Pc5 waves have been linked to a loss of particles from the van Allen radiation belts. Energetic electrons surf these waves down into Earth’s atmosphere, where they dissipate harmlessly.

With Solar Minimum in full swing, there’s never been a better time to study these waves. Keep quiet … and stay tuned for more.
 
SpaceX has re-built the testing pad for Starship and are currently testing SN5. Live stream if anyone is interested...

Edit: People at the pad inspecting things. May not do any more testing tonight.

 
Last edited:
A few things...

RocketLab unfortunately lost the payload in their recent launch for multiple customers. It is currently unknown what has happened, but they noted a loss of the 2nd stage after performing a battery hot-swap.



An enormous crane has been constructed and will be in use at the SpaceX Boca Chica facility to construct the SuperHeavy "high bay" assembly building.



And there's a Starlink launch on Wednesday at 11:59am EST.

 
SpaceX is fairly close to doing a static fire test on Starship SN5 and, if successful, may attempt a 150m hop shortly after. They seem to be aiming for that goal because they have cleared the landing pad for the attempt. Meanwhile, they have started putting nose cones on the next prototypes. They have also started building the assembly building for the Superheavy rockets and are clearing ground to expand the assembly area. The complex is VERY active and things seem to change by the hour. Blink and you'll miss something.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/202...X0Z1z6-U2nHMZre48rYY3rQewivRmKf92SPZK67U1v5LU

DSC_2055-2-1170x780.jpg

DSC_2403-3-2048x1365.jpg
 
From spaceweather.com:

COMET NEOWISE VS. THE SOLAR WIND: On July 12th, two of the best comet photographers in the world, Michael Jaeger and Gerald Rhemann, traveled to the Hochkar Ski Resort in Austria for a good long look at Comet NEOWISE. "The ski resort is over 1400 meters above sea level and has a perfect horizon view to north," explains Jaeger. "From there, we could expose the comet as deeply as possible." This is what they saw:

cometvssolarwind.jpg


Rhemann's color photo is inset in Jaeger's high-resolution black and white image. They both reveal the comet's spectacular double tail. The brighter of the two is the dust tail, made of dusty-rocky grains sprinkled like crumbs along the comet's curved orbit. Just above it is the blue ion tail, made of gas shoved straight away from the sun by the solar wind.

Well ... not quite straight. Take a closer look at the ion tail. It is filled with kinks, curlicues, and other discontinuities. These are signs of turbulence in the solar wind. As gusts buffet the ion tail, irregularities ripple downstream from the comet, adding a dash of complicated beauty to an already gorgeous object.

Stay tuned for even longer exposures as Comet NEOWISE climbs higher in the evening sky.

Morning sky maps: July 15, 16, 17; Evening sky maps: July 15, 16, 17.
 
SpaceX has a couple things happening today. Starship fueling test in Boca Chica in preparation for a static fire and possible hop this week.



And a Falcon 9 launch with a South Korean military satellite using the same booster that launched Bob and Doug to the ISS.

 
AudiMan2011
10 minutes until Perseverance Mars Rover launch
Click to expand...

Eight minutes in flight and so far so good. As I understand it, the mission is to discover life on Mars. I think they will.
Interesting that two of the five teams running the mission are DOE and US Space Force.
 
SpaceX has completed the static fire on Starship SN5. There are NOTAM's in place for the 150m hop on either Sunday or Monday.



20200730_134716.jpg
 
Last edited:
Two things of significance today. Bob and Doug splashing down. SpaceX is currently live for that event:



Also, Starship SN5 will attempt a 150m hop (assuming after Bob and Doug are home safe) with backup attempts either Monday or Tuesday. I will edit this post when a live stream is up.
 

Latest Posts

Back