Direct imaging of a planet in another solar system.
The planet is a gas giant 6 to 8 times the mass of Jupiter, about 92 AU from its A-type star, which is 385 light years away. The planet was first discovered in 2017.
Officials Tuesday evening said teams are prepping for a 2:17 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 3, liftoff of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule. It will mark the opening of a two-hour window.
From HERE:
I’m having flashbacks to the early Shuttle days, when my parents would get me up at the crack of pre-dawn to watch the launch just before I had to catch my school bus, only for it to get scrubbed with one second to spare.
Wouldn’t have been the best launch weather anyway – this storm just swept over the SLS launchpad after NASA called a scrub. pic.twitter.com/uCSiQwIApZ
— Joey Roulette (@joroulette) August 29, 2022
UPDATE: Launch scrubbed, min engine trouble. Earliest next launch opportunity is September 2.
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The 2-hour launch window opens at 8:30 AM Monday morning, Eastern time. Should be streamed live here:
Also here:
The SLS is an insanely expensive, ridiculously obsolete design, but damn if I don’t hope it succeeds. I did some work on those boosters back in the day… fifteen friggen years ago. Youch.
The two RD-181 rocket engines on the booster stages are to be replaced with Firefly “Beta” engines.
Roscosmos showed a model of the new orbital station. At present, RKK Energia continues to work on the draft design of the station.#Roscosmos pic.twitter.com/YaBMBLqrSR
— Laks🚀🌌✨ (@laks513) August 15, 2022
A Russian-occupied Crimean air base suffered a series of impressive explosions. Some claim that Ukrainians fired long range rockets (longer range than any rockets they were though to have). The Ukrainian government suggested that special forces and partisans set off a series of explosions. The Russian government said that it was just an accident with some ammo, and that nobody was injured and no aircraft were trashed. While we still don’t know for sure what happened, satellites have passed over and hoo boy, the place is a mess.
There are a number of commercial satellite photos showing a bunch of planes turned into smoking ruins.
As some have pointed out, Russia has aircraft in reserve. Apparently they think they have access to the F-18’s on the aircraft carrier USS George Bush:
Snerk.
Well, after all this time and expense, it had *better* work. Currently scheduled to launch August 29, 8:33 AM eastern time.
As @NASA’s first launch attempt for #Artemis I approaches, teams are completing final checks and closeouts of the @NASA_SLS rocket and @NASA_Orion spacecraft.
NASA is targeting launch on Aug.29 during a two-hour launch window beginning at 8:33am EDT:https://t.co/oCyPZEWgzI pic.twitter.com/MVbBZYbRSX
— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) August 8, 2022
Ebay has recently suggested to me a few Apollo era knickknacks it thinks I need… chunks of Apollo capsule heat shield cast in Lucite. I guess they’re cool and all, and of historical interest, but somewhat outside of my wheelhouse (and finances). Still, looking at them got me thinking.
The Lucite seems to have yellowed with age. Some of this might be cigarette smoke, thus able to be cleaned off. Some might be UV damage to the outer surface, possibly fixable via “retro-bright” process or some similar. But it kinda looks like the Lucite has yellowed or darkened all the way through. If so, if there any possible way to clear that up? Blast it with UV? Gamma rays? Lasers? Boil it? Some sort of solvent to melt the Lucite away, then cast it again in a more modern transparent material that will hold up to time better? Given the prices being asked for these things, the correct answer is doubtless “leave it the frak alone,” but I wonder nonetheless.
Some current examples:
The same seller trying to sell the Martin X-23 lithograph is also selling a lithograph of an orbital HL-10.
Turns out that these two lithographs are, at least based on stains on the X-23 matting, the same two lithographs sold just a few months ago. I’m dubious of turning around two lithographs that sold for $384 together for a grand or more each. The seller has a *lot* of high-value items… celebrity autographs and such, so he’s presumably doing well, but normally a lithograph like this would sell for well under $100.
Shrug.
Anyway, the art depicts an HL-10 coming in for a landing. The configuration includes a raised cockpit and reaction control thrusters at the tail; the white paint seems burned off along the underside. This would indicate an orbital craft after re-entry. Given the lack of an apparent hatch in the rear, this would not seem to be an operational orbital HL-10 (depicted hereabouts many times in the past) but instead a slightly smaller test vehicle, probably with a single pilot, possible lobbed on a once-around flight.
