Controllers at the iSpace mission control center in Tokyo received telemetry from the Hakuto-R lander right up to the moment when it should have landed. The controllers were not able to reestablish contact with the lander. The assumption is that the Hakuto failed to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. A preliminary analysis suggests that the vehicle ran out of propellent before it presumably crashed.
Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Friday, April 28, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Monday, April 24, 2023
Update: Don Lemon out at CNN too. It's the Night of the Long Knives at cable news.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
The first test launch of the Starship/Superheavy rocket was an “incomplete success,” as it blew up in the skies over the Gulf of Mexico. Still, SpaceX got a lot of data for the next attempt. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, it was not the beginning of the end, but certainly be the end of the beginning. A great deal must happen before the Starship is an operational vehicle as reliable as the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Friday, April 21, 2023
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Update: Starship lifts off on first integrated test flight, breaks apart minutes later
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
I find it interesting that a man slated to be the first African American to fly around the moon listens to a song by another African American who detested the very idea of space exploration. I think Gil Scott Heron was ill informed, not the least about the idea that the Apollo program was conducted at the expense of black people.
In fairness, it should be noted that Glover does not agree with the sentiments expressed in the poem.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Sunday, April 16, 2023
The European Space Agency has launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) on an eight-year voyage to the moons of Jupiter. Starting in July 2031, JUICE will explore Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, and its three ocean-bearing moons, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. In December 2034, JUICE will orbit Ganymede to give that moon a closer look. Ganymede is of particular interest as it is the only moon in the solar system known to have a magnetic field. The mission will end a year later when it expends its propellent and crash-lands onto Ganymede.
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Friday, April 14, 2023
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
NASA’s announcement of the crew of Artemis II, a mission to circle around the moon in advance of a lunar landing, has sparked interest and excitement among people on Earth. The prospect of returning to the moon has burnished the space agency’s reputation and has created a new focus on the dreams of space entrepreneurs such as SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos to colonize space and exploit its natural and energy resources for the benefit of all humankind.
However, the excitement is not universal.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Monday, April 10, 2023
The objections to the economic development if the high frontier of space have already been answered In defense of space colonies and mining the high frontier
Sunday, April 09, 2023
Over 50 years have passed since humans from the planet Earth last voyaged to the moon. Much has changed in that time. Now, the next step in the NASA-led Artemis return to the moon program has four human faces. NASA recently announced the crew that will fly around the moon on the mission of Artemis II planned for late 2024 — one of the two planned, the other being the private Dear Moon flight.
Saturday, April 08, 2023
Thursday, April 06, 2023
Tuesday, April 04, 2023
Nuclear has several advantages over solar and wind. First, nuclear power runs 24/7 without the need for battery backup. It takes far less land to build on than renewables. And when one factors in fabrication costs, nuclear actually has a lower carbon footprint than renewable energy.
Monday, April 03, 2023
Sunday, April 02, 2023
NASA recently announced that Kathy Lueders, a long-serving engineer and manager for the space agency, will retire effective May 1. Lueders leaves NASA with a long list of accomplishments, not the least of which was seeing the Commercial Crew program to a successful launch as manager of that program. She subsequently served as associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate and then associate administrator of the Space Operations Missions Directorate when HEO was split into separate exploration and operations organizations.