Space stuff (NASA, UKSA, CSA, ESA, etc)
- Thread starter strawman
- Start date
I was set up fairly in line with the launch trajectory. The rocket was headed generally due east and I was about 14 miles away to the west northwest.
After decades of waiting, the Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to blast off....
The space telescope is scheduled to launch at 7:20 a.m. EST (4:20 a.m. PST) on Christmas morning from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. An Ariane 5 rocket will perform the heavy lifting, blasting off from launch complex ELA-3. The 32-minute launch window for the day will end at 7:52 a.m. EST (4:52 a.m. PST).
Live feeds of the launch will be made available at NASA TV, YouTube, and on ESA WEB TV ONE.
The space telescope is scheduled to launch at 7:20 a.m. EST (4:20 a.m. PST) on Christmas morning from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. An Ariane 5 rocket will perform the heavy lifting, blasting off from launch complex ELA-3. The 32-minute launch window for the day will end at 7:52 a.m. EST (4:52 a.m. PST).
Live feeds of the launch will be made available at NASA TV, YouTube, and on ESA WEB TV ONE.
(Gizmodo)
Did they contract with Perkin-Elmer again?
I have a coworker with that as a tie. So I gave him my WWI tie with Sopwith Camels on it.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations.
The world’s largest and most complex space science telescope will now begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the backsides of the segments to flex each mirror – an alignment that will take months to complete. Then the team will calibrate the science instruments prior to delivering Webb’s first images this summer.
Soon, Webb will also undergo a third mid-course correction burn – one of three planned to place the telescope precisely in orbit around the second Lagrange point, commonly known as L2, nearly 1 million miles from Earth. (NASA)
Also, I got a picture of the most recent Starlink launch:
The world’s largest and most complex space science telescope will now begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the backsides of the segments to flex each mirror – an alignment that will take months to complete. Then the team will calibrate the science instruments prior to delivering Webb’s first images this summer.
Soon, Webb will also undergo a third mid-course correction burn – one of three planned to place the telescope precisely in orbit around the second Lagrange point, commonly known as L2, nearly 1 million miles from Earth. (NASA)
Also, I got a picture of the most recent Starlink launch:
GasBandit
Staff member
We Finally Know The True Extent of Space Destroying Astronauts' Red Blood Cells
The effects of 'space anemia' can last for months.
www.sciencealert.com
From 800 feet away, it's surprisingly quiet. And it did actually pause for about 15 minutes. One of my friends was taking a time lapse and had paused it when the crawler stopped. It was a bit of a challenge to keep an eye on it to tell when it started moving again.
REALLY slowly. I've been watching this video for like 20 minutes and I don't think it's moved even an inch.
...oh wait, it's a picture.
"We've been trying to reach you about your spacecraft's extended warranty..."
--Patrick
CAPSTONE
A small microwave oven-sized spacecraft is on its way to the Moon, setting the stage for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface. NASA launched its CAPSTONE satellite on Tuesday, in a unique mission to test out a highly elliptical orbit around the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
CAPSTONE is designed to test this unique orbit for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, which is expected to be built later this decade. As part of the Artemis program, Gateway will be a lunar space station for enabling longer duration missions to the Moon. Based on orbital models, NRHO should allow the Lunar Gateway to consume less fuel as it cruises its way around the Moon, the result of gravitational interactions between the Moon and Earth. The orbit would also allow the gateway to stay in contact with Earth at all times. (Gizmodo)
ISS
NASA is breathing a sigh of relief following a successful demonstration in which a docked Cygnus freighter was temporarily converted into a booster engine for the International Space Station. The favorable test suggests NASA has the means to adjust the space station’s orbit should Russia decide to leave the orbital outpost, as Russia’s space chief has threatened to do. (Gizmodo)
A small microwave oven-sized spacecraft is on its way to the Moon, setting the stage for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface. NASA launched its CAPSTONE satellite on Tuesday, in a unique mission to test out a highly elliptical orbit around the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
CAPSTONE is designed to test this unique orbit for NASA’s Lunar Gateway, which is expected to be built later this decade. As part of the Artemis program, Gateway will be a lunar space station for enabling longer duration missions to the Moon. Based on orbital models, NRHO should allow the Lunar Gateway to consume less fuel as it cruises its way around the Moon, the result of gravitational interactions between the Moon and Earth. The orbit would also allow the gateway to stay in contact with Earth at all times. (Gizmodo)
ISS
NASA is breathing a sigh of relief following a successful demonstration in which a docked Cygnus freighter was temporarily converted into a booster engine for the International Space Station. The favorable test suggests NASA has the means to adjust the space station’s orbit should Russia decide to leave the orbital outpost, as Russia’s space chief has threatened to do. (Gizmodo)
figmentPez
Staff member
