Space In General

Some of the interesting findings from beyond the heliosphere:

- There is a very strong increase in cosmic rays.
- The plasma density is 40 times higher.
- The magnetic field of the galaxy appears to align with the magnetic field of solar system.
 
Dotini
Some of the interesting findings from beyond the heliosphere:

- There is a very strong increase in cosmic rays.
- The plasma density is 40 times higher.
- The magnetic field of the galaxy appears to align with the magnetic field of solar system.
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That fits quite well with the data readings NASA picked up from the onboard Plasma Science Experiment: a steep decline in the speed of solar wind particles on November 5th, with nothing else being registered since, pretty much points toward the departure of Voyager 2 from the heliosphere on that date.

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Readings from the cosmic ray subsystem, the low energy charged particle instrument and the magnetometer, are also consistent with the departure.

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For those interested, there are FOUR launches tomorrow.
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 (GPS III) from Florida at 9:11am EST
  • Blue Origin New Shepard (NS-10) from Texas at 9:30am EST
  • Soyuz STA (CSO 1) from French Guiana at 11:37am EST
  • ULA Delta IV Heavy (NROL-71) from California at 8:57pm EST
 
UKMikey
It looks like it was dropped from an aeroplane.

Does the vehicle gain altitude after launch or is the plane capable of spaceflight? :confused:
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Also to add to what was said, typically when you see a parasite aircraft launch it's done for the sole purpose of giving said vehicle the ability to achieve a mission and a certain rate of climb that it wouldn't be able to through conventional means. Orbital ATK/Northrop, Virgin, and Boeing all have a current system that uses this type of means to get into higher altitude or rather achieve some LEO.
 
Bad week for launches it seems. SpaceX has been scrubbed 3 times now. ULA twice. Blue Origin twice. Weather and/or technical difficulties.
 
Things are always bigger in Texas...

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SpaceX "Starship" hop tests to happen by March/April. Musk will release technical specs around that time.
 
Linus Tech Tips got to go to the LIGO facility, where they detected gravitational waves. I think they did a pretty good job explaining the science and the tech behind everything.

Language warning
 
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“China sets long-term goals and meets them...They see the moon as a vast energy resource for sustainable development. Their plan is to industrialize the moon.”

In 2018, China sent more rockets into orbit than any other country for the first time: 36, compared with the U.S.’s 30. Beyond the current moon mission, China is scheduled to deploy a space station by 2022 and set up mankind’s first permanent lunar base eight years later.
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A 1:8 scale model of the Chang’e-4 lunar probe—with astronaut models that don’t reflect the current mission—on display in November at a Maisto Tech plant in Dongguan, China. PHOTO: VCG/GETTY IMAGES


The rover will comb the lunar surface’s far side, scraping up samples. In a year’s time, another mission, Chang’e-5, will retrieve samples and return them to Earth.

Some Chinese scientists see the moon’s abundant supplies of helium-3, a nonradioactive isotope, as a potential source of nuclear-fusion energy.

By its timetable, the Chinese space agency will have a fully operational space station in orbit in 2022. Once the U.S.-led international space station retires in the mid-2020s, China’s space station will be the only such platform and Beijing will have an opportunity to lead global teams in conducting scientific research on board the station.

Whether the U.S.—which blocked China from accessing the ISS—will be welcome to take part is unclear. China’s space agency didn’t respond to questions about that. A government policy paper on space issued in 2016 includes the space station as a possible area of international cooperation.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-pushes-for-primacy-in-space-11546171206
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There are numerous examples of dumbbell shaped asteroids and comets. Now we have gone to Ultima Thule, 4 billion miles away into the Kuiper belt of supposedly virginal material left over from the birth of the solar system, and it is shaped like a dumbbell.

Virginal you say? Perhaps its male and female, united by love, trying to make babies? :D

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The first clear image of the object nicknamed Ultima Thule, beamed back after the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby on Jan. 1.CreditNASA, via Associated Press
 
It looks like a comic book rocket and its being built by a water tower construction company.

SpaceX's 'Starship' Hopper Prototype Could Make 1st Test Flight in Weeks, Elon Musk Says
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 7, 2019 02:20pm ET


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Artist's illustration of the "hopper" test-flight version of SpaceX's Starship vehicle, shared via Twitter by company founder and CEO Elon Musk on Jan. 5, 2019.
Credit: Elon Musk/SpaceX via Twitter
 

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