Astronomy and space exploration

hoom said:
Thats SpaceX.

Electron is Rocketlabs & they had previously said they wouldn't do spy sats since NZ is supposed to be mostly neutral/independent. (in practice not really but we like to keep up the pretence)
They're supposed to be a commercial launcher, if most of the 'market' is just US spy sats then there's really no point in having commercial launchers.
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They do have interesting military ties. They've been doing work with DARPA. Lochheed Martin and the CIA's venture capital company are investors. Seems that's a source of, if not controversy, at least left wing hand wringing (because let's face it, right wing press generally love the industrial military complex). :D

https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/2...ide-rocket-labs-secret-us-military-contracts/
 
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hoom said:
Thats SpaceX.
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My mistake, I looking at articles on other launches and it must have run together in my mind.

Electron is Rocketlabs & they had previously said they wouldn't do spy sats since NZ is supposed to be mostly neutral/independent. (in practice not really but we like to keep up the pretence)
They're supposed to be a commercial launcher, if most of the 'market' is just US spy sats then there's really no point in having commercial launchers.
Click to expand...
Did they say they wouldn't launch them at all, or just not from NZ?
I'd expect that as a California-based company there is a tempting amount of revenue that would be more available to them compared to any non-US based companies.
Perhaps NZ is taking a hands-off approach, or the class of satellite at that size level doesn't seem as provocative? Perhaps there is some form of side benefit that can be gained by letting this continue, either as a favor or a capability that might have utility for NZ?
 
Mars is a seismically active world, first results from NASA's InSight lander reveal
By Mike Wall 3 hours ago

InSight has recorded about 450 marsquakes to date.
  • QRn4t7tBjBLxnjjVCwsF3m-320-80.jpg
This image, the second selfie captured by NASA's InSight Mars lander, is a mosaic of 14 photos taken between March 15 and April 11, 2019.
(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Mars may be cold and dry, but it's far from dead.

The first official science results from NASA's quake-hunting InSight Mars lander just came out, and they reveal a regularly roiled world.

Mars is a seismically active planet," InSight principal investigator Bruce Banerdt, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said during a teleconference with reporters Thursday (Feb. 20).
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https://www.space.com/nasa-insight-lander-mars-seismically-active.html
 
Davros said:
The Private space program has just had a major setback
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There's the suggestion that he was only a flat earther for the sweet "look, an idiot!" reality TV money and it was really just to fund his steam rocket dare devilry. The latter, of course, being a perfectly acceptable pastime.
 
eloyc said:
The SN1 blew up a few hours ago... :(
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Bit of a shame we didn't see it do a static fire. SN2 will be done in a few weeks. Whether SN3 and onwards follow at the same pace remains to be seen. The factory is growing quickly though. Another Sprung tent will be up this week and the High Bay building is getting cladding at the top.
 
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Not sure what SN1 is, is it this?


cheapchips said:
at least left wing hand wringing
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Thats me :yep2:
The US has NASA, the USAF, Space command and about a bazillion domestic defense contractors it can use to launch spy sats.
I wish they'd fuck off & let us just launch pure commercial payloads or frozen lamb-chops or something.
 
hoom said:
Not sure what SN1 is, is it this?

Thats me :yep2:
The US has NASA, the USAF, Space command and about a bazillion domestic defense contractors it can use to launch spy sats.
I wish they'd fuck off & let us just launch pure commercial payloads or frozen lamb-chops or something.
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It's where a good chunk of the money is sadly. Even Blue Origin is aggressively pursuing military contracts and they can rely on a £1bn+ annual payout from Uncle Bezos. Hopefully it'll change as small and reusable launchers grow the market. More likely, we'll just see military versions of Starlink instead. :-?

SN1 was SpaceX's first Starship prototype of the year (Serial Number 1). They have made a few short tanks as well to test bulkheads. They tested those to destruction as well, although they were less premature in popping. It's going to be even more fun than usual watching them this year. They're going fast and more things will break. Hopefully something will work as well!
 
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Scientists: NASA Rover Has Found Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars
Is this organic compound a sign of early Martian life?

An international team of astrobiologists claim that organic molecules discovered by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover could be evidence of life on Mars.

In a paper published in the journal Astrobiology, the team argues that the presence of “thiophenes,” which are special compounds found in coal, crude oil and white truffles back on Earth, could be a sign of ancient life on the Red Planet.
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https://futurism.com/scientists-nasa-found-evidence-ancient-life-mars

I think that it's likely we will find something there, someday. It's not just wishful thinking, it's all these small amounts of suggestive evidence we've found until now...

I hope the answer is LIFE. :love:
 
SpaceX purposefully selected a process of fast iteration on a pipeline of inexpensive candidate vehicles. Failing fast and often is a feature of this approach, so I'm not sure he can be too mad.
 
3dilettante said:
SpaceX purposefully selected a process of fast iteration on a pipeline of inexpensive candidate vehicles. Failing fast and often is a feature of this approach, so I'm not sure he can be too mad.
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Yes and no... He's shown to be quite disappointed in the past, even though we all know that these things can happen. He was planning to use SN3 to perform at least a tethered/static fire test and some short flight tests, so...

Let's see how things will go with SN4.
 
NASA Telescope Idea Could Spot Vegetation on Distant Exoplanets
NASA says it could spot "surface features" and even "signs of habitability" on faraway planets.
VICTOR TANGERMANNAPRIL 8TH 2020
NASA is funding research for a conceptual telescope called a “solar gravitational lens” (SGL) that could allow us to observe distant exoplanets at an astonishing resolution — a futuristic endeavor that could help find out once and for all if we are alone in the universe.
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https://futurism.com/nasa-telescope-vegetation-exoplanets
 
Very interesting!
NASA funds proposal to build a telescope on the far side of the moon
By Yasemin Saplakoglu 5 hours ago
D57qoBbnXEJZMR3u3kiP4o-320-80.jpg

The proposed telescope would be a 1km-diameter wire-mesh that can gaze out into the cosmos without being hindered by the Earth's atmosphere.
(Image: © © Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay)

NASA is funding an early-stage proposal to build a meshed telescope inside a crater on the far side of the moon, according to Vice.

This "dark side" is the face of the moon that is permanently positioned away from Earth, and as such it offers a rare view of the dark cosmos, unhindered by radio interference from humans and our by our planet's thick atmosphere.
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https://www.space.com/nasa-telescope-far-side-of-moon.html
 
Finally!
SpaceX's SN4 Starship prototype passes key pressure test
By Mike Wall a day ago

Starship SN4 just took a big step toward a test flight.

The newest prototype of SpaceX's Starship Mars-colonizing spacecraft just passed a crucial pressure test, likely setting the stage for a test flight in the near future.

Starship SN4 survived a "cryo pressure test" late Sunday night (April 26) at SpaceX's South Texas site, near the village of Boca Chica, company founder and CEO Elon Musk announced.
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https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-sn4-prototype-pressure-test-success.html
 
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