NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Feb 26, 2024

Martian Moon Eclipses Martian Moon

What if there were two moons in the sky – and they eclipsed each other? This happens on Mars. The featured video shows a version of this unusual eclipse from space. Pictured are the two moons of Mars: the larger Phobos, which orbits closer to the red planet, and the smaller Deimos, which orbits further out. The sequence was captured last year by the ESA’s Mars Express, a robotic spacecraft that itself orbits Mars. A similar eclipse is visible from the Martian surface, although very rarely. From the surface, though, the closer moon Phobos would appear to pass in front of farther moon Deimos. Most oddly, both moons orbit Mars so close that they appear to move backwards when compared to Earth's Moon from Earth, both rising in west and setting in the east. Phobos, the closer moon, orbits so close and so fast that it passes nearly overhead about three times a day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQTH0IGrwE

SpaceX, NASA 'go' to launch Crew-8 astronaut mission to ISS on March 1

Feb 25, 2024

SpaceX and NASA are officially go to launch their next astronaut mission to International Space Station (ISS) this week, with its four-person crew arriving at their Florida launch site on Sunday (Feb. 25).

Called Crew-8, the upcoming SpaceX mission will launch four astronauts into orbit on the Dragon capsule Endeavour and Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is scheduled for March 1 at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 GMT).

"Even though we all go today, we're constantly paying attention to what the rocket and spacecraft are telling us so that we'll make sure that we launch when the crew and the spacecraft are ready to go, and we're ready to have a good flight to the station and a good return," Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations and a former astronaut, told reporters in a Sunday night teleconference.

SpaceX's Crew-8 mission for NASA will launch NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barrett, Jeannette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin on a six-month expedition to the ISS. They will relieve their Crew-7 predecessors, another four-astronaut team, who will return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon a week after Crew-8 reaches the ISS.

Dominick will command the Crew-8 flight to the ISS with Barrett as pilot. Epps and Grekenkin are mission specialists. The mission is the first career spaceflight for all but Barrett on the Crew-8 team. NASA and SpaceX initially aimed to launch Crew-8 to the ISS on Feb. 22, but delayed it to March 1 to clear a path for a private moon launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from their same launch pad on Feb. 15.

The Crew-8 astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday afternoon as they spend their final days on Earth ahead of launch. The quartet will perform a dress rehearsal for their launch overnight on Monday and Tuesday, with SpaceX expected to perform a so-called "hot-fire" test of the Falcon 9's first stage engines a day later.

Steve Stitch, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, told reporters Sunday that NASA and SpaceX are working through some final issues to clear ahead of the Crew-8 launch. Those include reviews of composite material fasteners on the Dragon/Falcon 9 launch vehicle for Crew-8 that are expected to be resolved before flight. Engineers are also reviewing some paint discoloration on Crew-7's Dragon capsule currently docked at the ISS, apparently due to residue tape on the capsule, to ensure it's not an issue for reentry and landing.

Crew-8 will mark the fifth flight of the Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, which first flew astronauts to the ISS in May 2020 on SpaceX's first-ever human spaceflight, Demo-2. SpaceX and NASA are currently working to certify the reusable Dragon capsules for up to 15 spaceflights, NASA officials said.

SpaceX is one of two commercial companies with multi-billion-dollar contracts to fly astronauts to and from the ISS for NASA. The other company, Boeing, aims to launch the first crewed flight on its Starliner spacecraft no earlier than April 22.

https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-8-astronaut-mission-go-for-march-2024-launch

https://spacenews.com/chinas-2024-space-plans-include-100-launches-and-moon-sample-return-mission/

China’s 2024 space plans include 100 launches and moon sample return mission

February 26, 2024

China is planning a national record 100 orbital launches in 2024, according to the country’s main space contractor.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans around 70 launches to send more than 290 spacecraft into orbit. The remaining launches will be performed by China’s growing commercial launch sector.

The plans are outlined in CASC’s annual “blue book,” released Feb. 26. The document does not provide a full launch manifest nor a detailed schedule, but offers an overview of planned activities.

Major missions include two crewed and two cargo missions to the Tiangong space station. The first half of the year will see the launch of the Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite and Chang’e-6, a first-ever lunar far side sample return mission.

Other priorities noted include work on the country’s crewed lunar landing plan, targeting putting astronauts on the moon before 2030. Deep space exploration, geostationary radar satellites, the development of a new crew spacecraft and the Tianwen-2 (2025) near Earth asteroid and Chang’e-7 (2026) lunar south pole missions are also noted.

Further notable missions include an ocean salinity detection satellite, the Sino-Franco Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM), Einstein Probe, the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite-2 with European collaboration, and the retrievable Shijian-19 space science satellite. There will also be debut flights for the Long March 6C and Long March 12 rockets.

The planned 100 launch figure is a significant rise on the national record-setting 67 launches in 2023. CASC conducted 50 of these, with 17 performed by commercial actors. CASC targeted launching more than 60 times in 2023, according to a January 2023 statement, meaning it fell well short of last year’s goal.

New sea and commercial spaceports at Haiyang and Wenchang respectively will help facilitate the planned launch rate growth. CASC also says it aims to complete multiple commercial launches, including rideshares.

New launch vehicles

The Long March 12 is a new launch vehicle developed by CASC’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST). It was previously referred to as the “XLV” and will launch from the new commercial spaceport at Wenchang. The Long March 12 will be China’s first 3.8-meter-diameter launcher. It will be capable of lifting 10 tons to low Earth orbit or 6 tons to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.

The Long 6C—a variant of the Long March 6A minus its solid side boosters—will have its first launch this year. CASC previously planned for its debut launch in 2023.

Separately, official newspaper China Space News reported that CASC is planning four launches of its largest rocket, the Long March 5, in 2024. A further five missions will follow in 2025. These figures do not include launches of the Long March 5B low Earth orbit variant.

The rocket has so far launched seven times since its debut in 2016. A period of more than 900 days grounded due to the failure of the second launch. Its 2024 launches include the TJS-11 classified satellite launched last week and the Chang’e-6 mission expected in May.

1/2

>>20479251

Further missions, priorities

Missions planned for China’s Tiangong Space Station are the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft, which launched in January, and Tianzhou-8 around August. Shenzhou-18 will launch in the first half of the year to replace the current Shenzhou-17 crew. Another six-month-long crewed mission, Shenzhou-19, will launch late in the year, taking over from Shenzhou-18.

CASC also noted it will continue work on a “four-dimensional new generation commercial remote sensing satellite system.” The system, starting with SuperView (Gaojing) satellites according to earlier statements, is to comprise a total of at least 28 satellites. These include high-resolution optical payloads, wide-width optical payloads, high-resolution radar payloads and other diversified types of commercial remote sensing satellites.

It will also support the integration and value-added services of the Beidou GNSS system, and integrate satellite applications into emerging fields to support key regional economic development.

Officials with the state-owned space and defense giant stated in a press conference that the corporation would continue to make new and greater contributions to accelerating the construction of a powerful aerospace country and support the construction of a world-class military.

Commercial plans

The blue book did not detail the plans of commercial actors. However previous statements by a number of these actors give an indication of the plans.

Landspace aims to launch three Zhuque-2 methalox rockets in 2024, following two successes in 2023. It will also likely conduct further hop tests for its stainless steel Zhuque-3. Galactic Energy plans at least 10 Ceres-1 solid rocket launches, while also debuting the kerolox Pallas-1.

Space Pioneer aims for a first flight of the Tianlong-3 around July, while Deep Blue Aerospace’s Nebula-1 orbital, reusable rocket could fly in the second half of 2024.

CAS Space (Kinetica-1), Expace (Kuaizhou rockets), and Orienspace (Gravity-1) have various plans for solid rocket launches.

A number of Chinese commercial firms are racing to develop and test reusable launch vehicles. A range of Chinese cities and provinces are currently seeking to foster their own commercial space and other high-end and strategy technologies. Beijing and Shanghai have recently released action plans to support commercial space ecosystems.

2/2

Shirley MacLaine, Whitley Strieber, Michael Ian Black Join Hollywood Disclosure Alliance

February 25, 2024 7:00am

They believe.

The Hollywood Disclosure Alliance has added some star power to its ranks, including Academy Award winner Shirley MacLaine, actor/podcaster Dave Foley, Communion author Whitley Strieber; actor/journalist Michael Ian Black, and Emmy Award-winning UFO Researcher Linda Moulton Howe.

The Hollywood Disclosure Alliance brings together a number of prominent Hollywood storytellers with many of the top UFO/UAP researchers and advocates. The goal is to provide a more unified voice in the media leading up to the end of the long-held U.S. government-imposed truth embargo regarding the presence of extraterrestrial life by confirmation from the President of the United States, i.e., “Disclosure.”

The HDA has just been granted nonprofit status with California and has also been designated a 501(c)3 corporation with the IRS.

“We believe we are involved in something of great importance with the Hollywood Disclosure Alliance,” said Dan Harary, chairman and cofounder.

https://deadline.com/2024/02/shirley-maclaine-whitley-strieber-michael-ian-black-hollywood-disclosure-alliance-1235837532/

>>20479439