Weekly Links
Down to Earth
Former astronaut Bruce McCandless II died at 80 years old. McCandless was selected as an astronaut in 1966 but didn’t fly until 1984 on STS-41-B. McCandless is probably best known as the first astronaut to do an untethered EVA using the MMU on that first flight. He flew again on STS-31 in 1990.
SpaceX released photos of the first Falcon Heavy rocket being readied for flight, as well as its payload.
Falcon Heavy at the Cape pic.twitter.com/hizfDVsU7X
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2017
Red Roadster for Mars!
Elon's car is ready for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy in January, taking a billion year elliptic Mars orbit. The cavernous carbon fiber fairing closes like a clam shell to form the bulbous nose of the Rocket. From Elon: https://t.co/ZBtF5GE7LF pic.twitter.com/lesBm62MrK
— Steve Jurvetson (@dfjsteve) December 22, 2017
The Falcon Heavy rocket was temporarily vertical on the launch pad for fit checks ahead of its January launch.
NASA completed a parachute drop test of the Orion spacecraft in Arizona. The test used only 2 of the 3 parachutes, to validate a parachute failure case.
NASA conducted a water suppression system test at launch pad 39B at KSC in preparation for SLS flights. Check out the video below:
NASA has selected two finalists for a new robotic planetary mission. The mission will either be a comet sample return or a Titan quadcopter.
The new American Girl doll will be an aspiring astronaut, with space suit and all.
In Orbit
There were five orbital rocket launches since my last post, two weeks ago:
- Dec 23 – SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California, carrying communications satellites for Iridium.
- Dec 23 – JAXA launched an H-IIA rocket carrying two scientific satellites.
- Dec 23 – The Chinese space agency launched a Long March 2D rocket carrying an Earth-observing payload.
- Dec 25 – The Chinese space agency launched a Long March 2C rocket carrying payloads for the Chinese military.
- Dec 26 – Roscosmos launched a Zenit rocket carrying a communications satellite for Angola.
The Anogosat-1 payload initially had a problem and lost comm with ground control. However, reports in the past day or two indicate that communications have been restored.
#Angosat-1 developer confirms restoring communications with the spacecraft, says all systems work fine. (Let's hope it stays that way). Details: https://t.co/fh44NZsfta
— Anatoly Zak (@RussianSpaceWeb) December 29, 2017
The SpaceX launch was their 18th and last of the year – in 2016 they launched only 6 rockets. The launch was just after sunset and created spectacular views from the LA metro area. The video below from a drone is one of the best examples:
Meanwhile, the Soyuz rocket that launched on December 17th arrived at ISS successfully on Wednesday. The ISS crew has now returned to a full complement of 6. One of their Christmas treats was an onboard screening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Space Station movie night, complete with “bungee cord chairs”, drink bags, and a science fiction flick! pic.twitter.com/IPZ2thI8rw
— Mark T. Vande Hei (@Astro_Sabot) December 24, 2017
Also aboard the space station, the Progress 67P freighter undocked from the ISS this week and re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, carrying trash. The freighter will be replaced by 69P in February.
Here are some more pictures from the astronauts aboard the ISS the enjoy on your holiday weekend (as always, follow them on Twitter here).
Hello Little Rock, Memphis, Jackson, New Orleans, Birmingham, Miami, and many places in between! #SpaceIsCloserThanYouThink pic.twitter.com/SdVScsxWv2
— Mark T. Vande Hei (@Astro_Sabot) December 17, 2017
Hello to Jamaica from @Space_Station! pic.twitter.com/KKg63dW3ge
— Mark T. Vande Hei (@Astro_Sabot) December 23, 2017
Фотографии моей Родины: Балаклава, Севастополь и Крымский мост. Контролирую строительство моста из Космоса. 🚀Подтверждаю, все идет по графику! 😉
The images of my Homeland from space: Balaklava, Sevastopol and the Crimean bridge. pic.twitter.com/pDqTMbotaX
— Anton Shkaplerov (@Anton_Astrey) December 28, 2017
凍てついたカナダの大地。
宇宙ステーションのロボットアーム、通称「カナダアーム２」と、その子アーム「でくスター」が、一段と映えます。 pic.twitter.com/PIjnFx6EDn— 金井 宣茂 (@Astro_Kanai) December 29, 2017