He's the Gay Ambassador
Seems like a good time to pull it
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Sep 6, 2023
HESS Telescopes Explore the High-Energy Sky
They may look like modern mechanical dinosaurs, but they are enormous swiveling eyes that watch the sky. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) Observatory is composed of four 12-meter reflecting-mirror telescopes surrounding a larger telescope housing a 28-meter mirror. They are designed to detect strange flickers of blue light Cherenkov radiation emitted when charged particles move slightly faster than the speed of light in air. This light is emitted when a gamma ray from a distant source strikes a molecule in Earth's atmosphere and starts a charged-particle shower. H.E.S.S. is sensitive to some of the highest energy photons (TeV) crossing the universe. Operating since 2003 in Namibia, H.E.S.S. has searched for dark matter and has discovered over 50 sources emitting high energy radiation including supernova remnants and the centers of galaxies that contain supermassive black holes. Pictured in June, H.E.S.S. telescopes swivel and stare in time-lapse sequences shot in front of our Milky Way Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds – as the occasional Earth-orbiting satellite zips by.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Chinese Ceres-1 rocket reaches orbit with first sea launch
September 5, 2023
HELSINKI — China’s Galactic Energy conducted its first sea launch early Wednesday, also marking a ninth successive successful launch for the commercial company.
The Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off from a transport erector launcher on a mobile sea platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, at 5:34 a.m. Eastern (0934 UTC) Sept. 5.
Aboard were four satellites for Guodian Gaoke, a commercial firm constructing its Tianqi low-Earth orbit narrow-band Internet of Things constellation.
The launch carried Tianqi satellites 21-24, with the spacecraft targeting an 800-kilometer-altitude orbit. The satellites are equipped with chemical propulsion systems allowing orbital maneuvers. Guodian Gaoke has 21 satellites in orbit and aims to complete the 38-satellite constellation in 2024.
Galactic Energy dubbed the launch “The Little Mermaid” in a Rocket Lab-style mission naming.
Ceres-1 has a diameter of 1.4 meters, a length of about 20 meters, a mass at take-off of about 33 tons and a liquid propellant upper stage. It can deliver 400 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO) or 300 kg to a 500-kilometer-altitude sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). This was the first launch to 800 kilometers.
China’s Eastern sea launch spaceport in Haiyang facilitated the launch. The mobile rocket launch barge designated DE FU 15002 was used for the launch.
Haiyang has now supported launches of state-owned Long March 11 solid rockets and the spinoff Jielong-3 rocket. Another startup, Orienspace, is currently targeting December for its first ever launch, using Haiyang.
Orienspace’s Gravity-1 consists of three solid stages and four side boosters. The rocket will have the capability to lift around 6,500 kilograms of payload to LEO, or 3,700 kilograms to 700-km SSO.
Haiyang spaceport could support liquid launchers in the future and is part of a wider expansion of spaceports in China to help ease a bottleneck in access to space, and provide greater launch flexibility and redundancy. It could potentially reduce the risk from falling rocket debris associated with Chinese launches from inland spaceports.
Tuesday’s Ceres-1 launch was a hot launch. Long March 11 launches from the Yellow Sea have been cold launches.
Galactic Energy was founded in early 2018 by former employees of the state-owned China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT). With support of the national military-civil fusion strategy, the firm launched its first Ceres-1 solid rocket in November 2020. This made it only the second private Chinese launch firm to place a satellite in orbit, following iSpace in 2019.
A single launch followed a year later, with a pair of launches performed in 2022. The company is now ramping up its launch rate, launching five times in 2023, including four since July 22.
The company is also preparing for the first launch of its Pallas-1 kerosene-liquid oxygen launcher. The reusable two-stage Pallas-1 will be capable of carrying 5,000 kilograms to LEO or 3,000 kilograms to 700-km SSO. It raised $200 million for reusable launch vehicle development in early 2022.
Galactic Energy stated at the China Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan in July this year that it is targeting Q3 next year for the Pallas-1 test flight. The company plans a first flight including recovery of the first stage using landing legs for 2025.
Space Pioneer (Tianlong-2) and Landspace (Zhuque-2) earlier this year became the first Chinese commercial firms to reach orbit with liquid propellant rockets. These successes mark a jump in Chinese commercial payload capacity, as well as launch vehicle complexity.
China’s commercial launch sector has also grown in terms of launch rate and diversity in 2023. Six firms — Galactic Energy, iSpace, Landspace, Space Pioneer and state-owned spinoffs CAS Space and Expace have all reached orbit this year. This group have already launched 11 times this year, surpassing the total of 10 missions accrued by Expace, CAS Space, China Rocket, Galactic Energy and iSpace (one failure) in 2022.
https://spacenews.com/chinese-ceres-1-rocket-reaches-orbit-with-first-sea-launch/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipz050Dzpl8
2023 Multilateral Coordination Board Joint Statement
September 5, 2023
The International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board met Wednesday, Aug. 23, to review the operational status of the microgravity laboratory.
The board members welcomed the commitments by the United States, Japan, Canada, and member states of ESA (European Space Agency) to extend the International Space Station operations through 2030, as well as Russia’s commitment to extend operations through 2028. The members confirmed the readiness of the International Space Station partnership to continue working together to advance microgravity research on this unique orbiting laboratory and to ensure the safe operation of the space station.
During the meeting, the board underlined the role of the International Space Station in providing an environment to develop and test technologies and engineering solutions in support of long-term space exploration, as well as serving as a proving ground for an increase in the commercialization of low Earth orbit. The members also discussed respective plans and priorities for operations in low Earth orbit, including utilization goals and the importance of interoperability standards for enabling technical cooperation in space.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/09/05/2023-multilateral-coordination-board-joint-statement/
Japan will launch SLIM moon lander and space telescope today after delays.
Japan will shoot for the moon on Wednesday (Sept. 6).
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning to launch its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission, along with a space telescope called XRISM, on Wednesday at 7:42 p.m. EDT (2342 GMT; 8:42 a.m. Thursday Japan time).
You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of JAXA. Coverage will start at 7:10 p.m. EDT (2310 GMT; 8:10 a.m. Japan time).
The launch has been delayed multiple times by bad weather, most recently on Aug. 28.
SLIM and XRISM will launch from Tanegashima Space Center atop Japan's H2-A rocket. SLIM's lunar landing, which is expected to occur four to six months from now, will be Japan's second attempt in recent months to put hardware on the moon's surface. An effort by the Tokyo-based company ispace failed during its landing try on April 25.
Also flying on the H-2A is the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) mission, which aims to scrutinize the universe in X-rays. That spacecraft is a collaboration involving JAXA, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
SLIM is a small moon mission with big aims. The probe aims to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques with a precise touchdown. The mission plan calls for a landing no more than 328 feet (100 m) from a target inside the moon's Shioli Crater.
From there, the lander will examine the environment surrounding it in Shioli Crater, a 984-foot-wide (300 m) impact feature inside Mare Nectaris. The area is roughly at 13 degrees south latitude and 25 degrees east longitude, on the near side of the moon facing Earth.
If SLIM makes it safely to the surface, Japan will become just the fifth country to do so after the former Soviet Union, the United States, Japan and India. India just joined the group with the historic Aug. 23 touchdown of its Chandrayaan-3 rover-lander duo. (Other countries have made attempts, including Russia, whose Luna-25 lander recently crashed following an unsuccessful maneuver on Aug. 19.)
https://www.space.com/japan-slim-moon-lander-mission-launch-preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej4ZMp4a2xw
The world's UFO hotspots are revealed - as Pentagon chief admits hundreds of mysterious objects have been spotted 'all over the world'
UPDATED: 07:50 EDT, 5 September 2023
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Hotspot map released to the new website of the US government's UFO office
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Remote mountain village in Japan is described as a hotspot for UFO sightings
The US government is notoriously secretive when it comes to sharing what it knows about extraterrestrial life.
But in a possible bid for transparency, the Department of Defense has released a new document disclosing the 'world's UFO hotspots'.
It includes a map disclosing where the most sightings of unidentified objects have been recorded, based on reports between 1996 and 2023.
The map comes shortly after a Pentagon chief admitted that hundreds of mysterious objects have been spotted 'all over the world.'
Dr Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), said: 'We see these ['metallic orbs'] all over the world, and we see these making very interesting apparent manoeuvres.'
The map reveals Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan, the east and west coasts of the US including California, as well as parts of the Middle East are all hotspots for UFO sightings.
Revealing that Japan and a region of the Middle East – including Iraq and Syria – are UFO hotspots may surprise enthusiasts who commonly associate sightings with the US.
In particular, the map identifies a region in the south-west of the country, covering the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima – which were famously the targets of US nuclear strikes in 1945.
Another one of the Japanese hotspots is the small community of Iinomachi in Fukushima Prefecture, which has been referred to as 'UFO Town'.
Iinomachi has been decked out with extraterrestrial-themed decorations in an effort to drawn fans and promote itself as a 'home to aliens'.
It is also the base of a research institute called the International UFO Lab, opened in 2021 and headed by alien enthusiast Takeharu Mikami.
In June this year, the International UFO Lab released six images of 'likely UFOs', the Japan Times reported, taken in Kobe and Fukushima among other regions.
They were narrowed down from a total of 494 reports it received from people in Japan and abroad in one year, although most appeared to be of drones, birds or just reflections.
The US government's map features in a five-page document called 'UAP Reporting Trends', published on the new website of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a dedicated UFO department formed in July last year.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12481553/The-worlds-UFO-hotspots-revealed-Pentagon-chief-admits-hundreds-mysterious-objects-spotted-world.html
https://www.aaro.mil/Portals/136/PDFs/Latest_UAP_Reporting_Trends_Presentation.pdf?