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Watch SpaceX's Starship reenter Earth's atmosphere in this fiery video
Mar 14, 2024
SpaceX's third Starship megarocket made sure its epic demise would be remembered.
Starship launched today (March 14) for the third time ever, soaring into space from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas. The giant vehicle notched a number of important milestones, including opening its payload door in space and conducting a propellant-transfer demonstration away from Earth.
Starship's upper stage didn't stick its planned water landing in the Indian Ocean, going dark partway through its fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere. But the ship kept its cameras on during reentry, showing us just how harrowing the ordeal was.
The upper stage reached orbital velocity and attained a maximum altitude of 145 miles (234 kilometers) today, according to the telemetry data that SpaceX provided during its launch webcast.
The 165-foot-tall (50 meters) spacecraft sent home amazing views from this lofty perch. We saw fluffy white clouds floating above glassy seas, for example, and got peaceful looks at Earth's curving limb against the blackness of space.
But the tone shifted about 46 minutes after launch, when Starship had descended to an altitude of about 62 miles (100 km) — low enough for the atmosphere to start making its presence felt.
The vehicle's onboard cameras showed clouds of orange blooming against Starship's fins and belly. A few seconds later, these clouds blazed into a wall of superheated plasma that intensified as Starship got lower and lower, experiencing temperatures of up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1,430 degrees Celsius).
It's tough to send data home through such plasma fields. But Starship managed to do so, using SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites to communicate with its handlers here on Earth, company representatives said.
"Reliable high-speed, low-latency internet around the world — even while traveling at 27,000 km/h through a plasma field," Starlink's official X account wrote shortly after today's flight, in a post that featured a video of Starship's reentry.
Starship kept sending imagery until about 48.5 minutes after launch, when it had descended to an altitude of 48 miles (77 km). All telemetry ceased shortly thereafter, likely indicating when Starship gave up the ghost, breaking apart under extreme frictional forces.
Today's test flight was a big leap forward for Starship, the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) vehicle that SpaceX is developing to help humanity settle the moon and Mars. Starship's first two test flights, in April 2023 and November 2023, lasted just four minutes and eight minutes, respectively.
SpaceX will try to make even more Starship progress soon; the company has already built four more of the giant stainless-steel rockets.
"These vehicles are slated for future flight tests just like today's," Siva Bharadvaj, a space operations engineer at SpaceX, said during the launch webcast.
"And, in fact, just this week, we static-fired our next ship that's planning to fly and expect to test the booster as soon as the launch mount is free from today's flight test," he added.
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-third-test-flight-reentry-video
Surprise Chinese lunar mission hit by launch anomaly
March 14, 2024
A pair of Chinese spacecraft, apparently intended for lunar orbit, have potentially been lost following an issue with a Long March rocket’s upper stage on Wednesday.
A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 8:51 a.m. Eastern (1251 UTC) March 13. There was no official acknowledgement of the launch until early Thursday, when Chinese state media Xinhua announced the DRO-A and B spacecraft had not been inserted accurately into their designated orbit by the rocket’s Yuanzheng-1S upper stage.
It is currently unknown whether the spacecraft and their mission can be salvaged. It is also unknown what orbit the satellites are in.
Xinhua provided no details of the nature of the DRO-A and B satellites. However, it is thought that the pair were intended to enter a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the moon. If correct, this would have seen DRO-A and B target a high lunar orbit that moves in the opposite direction to the moon’s rotation around Earth.
DRO orbits are highly stable and could offer advantages for exploration, science, and infrastructure, such as acting as a waypoint, lunar observation and communications.
The DRO-A and B satellites are designed to communicate with another satellite, named DRO-L, in low Earth orbit (LEO), according to a paper published in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration in 2023. The paper discusses high-precision relative navigation technology for a pair of satellites operating in DRO. China launched the DRO-L satellite, developed by IAMCAS under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, into LEO on a Jielong-3 rocket in February.
China had neither indicated plans for a lunar launch nor officially stated the purpose of the DRO-A/B satellites. However, adding weight to the idea that the launch was targeting the moon is that U.S. Space Force’s space domain awareness group has not reported any new objects in LEO associated with Wednesday’s launch. Launches beyond LEO often take longer to be cataloged. The pertinent airspace closure notices issued before launch also suggest a launch heading beyond LEO.
China tested out using a lunar distant retrograde orbit in 2022 with the service module from the successful Chang’e-5 moon sample return mission. This was part of the spacecraft’s extended mission. NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission entered DRO in November 2022.
The DRO-A/B mission does not appear to be a major part of China’s lunar exploration program. It is rather a technology and orbit-testing mission that could play a role in its wider lunar ambitions to establish lunar navigation and communications infrastructure to support lunar exploration.
The DRO-A and B satellites will also be relatively small, with the Long March 2C capable of launching around 1,250 kilograms to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).
Launch tracking
The launch, despite being conducted quietly, was tracked. Apparent footage of the launch of a Long March 2C lifting off from Xichang was uploaded to the Chinese social media site Douyin shortly afterwards.
The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense posted on the X social media site that it detected and tracked a launch vehicle originating from Xichang traveling through its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) as it headed toward the West Pacific Ocean. The launch would have been expected as China issued airspace closure notices days ahead of the launch.
The first signs the launch had not gone according to plan came through official silence. China’s main space contractor and maker of the country’s Long March rockets, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), usually issues a report immediately after the launch payloads are inserted into their intended orbits and deemed operational.
A report of launch success usually follows from within minutes for launches to low Earth orbits, but can take hours, depending on the intended orbit. Chinese state media typically release a short statement within hours of launch in the case of failure of a launch vehicle.
The launch issue appears to be the most serious issue with Long March rockets since an April 2020 launch failure. The Palapa-N1 satellite for Indonesia was lost due to a Long March 3B third stage failure.
https://spacenews.com/surprise-chinese-lunar-mission-hit-by-launch-anomaly/
FCC approves direct-to-smartphone regulatory framework
March 14, 2024
U.S. regulators have approved ground rules for allowing SpaceX and other satellite operators to use radio waves from terrestrial mobile partners to keep smartphone users connected outside cell tower coverage.
The Federal Communications Commission voted March 14 unanimously in favor of its Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) regulatory framework.
SCS providers would operate as a secondary service to companies providing Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) with conventional frequencies already approved for use from space.
This means an SCS operator would have to immediately cease operations if they interfere with an MSS provider or terrestrial telco with primary rights.
The final version of the framework has yet to be released to the public, although it will be based on the draft the FCC published last month. The framework would go into effect after it is published in the Federal Register and the legally required Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review, which could take several weeks.
The FCC also voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to consider a number of additional issues, including protections for radio astronomy and requiring 911 calls and texts to be routed to a public safety answering point by using location-based routing or an emergency call center. This rulemaking would be subject to a public comment period.
“We are the first country to adopt a framework that combines satellite and wireless service through supplemental coverage from space,” FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said, enabling these networks to accomplish more than they could do on their own.
“Together, they can end dead zones,” Rosenworcel said, and it “means that when disaster strikes and destroys ground-based systems, we’re going to have a backup in space.”
Other countries are watching the United States closely to inform their own rules for allowing satellites to use spectrum from terrestrial partners to plug connectivity gaps nationwide, she added.
Low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation developer Lynk Global said the FCC’s approval will support the growth of what it estimates to be an addressable market worth more than $325 billion.
“This is a good news story that highlights America’s continued role in developing and delivering technology that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world,” Lynk Global CEO Charles Miller said.
Omnispace, which is looking to provide connectivity directly to devices using S-band spectrum already approved for MSS, said it is encouraged to see SCS classed as a secondary service to companies with a primary allocation like Omnispace.
However, Omnispace chief regulatory and international strategy officer Mindel De La Torre remains concerned about potential interference from SpaceX, which plans to use T-Mobile spectrum for direct-to-smartphone services in the United States.
https://spacenews.com/fcc-approves-direct-to-smartphone-regulatory-framework/
Met Office explains 'UFO shaped clouds' spotted across Scotland
UPDATED16:05, 14 MAR 2024
A spokesperson from the Met Office said: "These strange, unnatural looking clouds sometimes form downwind of hills or mountains. They are quite unusual in the British Isles but do occasionally occur."
"They look a lot like the traditional shape of flying saucers in science fiction, and real lenticular clouds are believed to be one of the most common explanations for UFO sightings across the world.
"When air blows across a mountain range, in certain circumstances, it can set up a train of large standing waves in the air downstream, rather like ripples forming in a river when water flows over an obstruction.
"If there is enough moisture in the air, the rising motion of the wave will cause water vapour to condense, forming the unique appearance of lenticular clouds.
"Lenticular clouds are a visible sign of mountain waves in the air. However, these waves can be present beyond the clouds, and may exist even when no clouds are formed.
"On the ground, they can result in very strong gusty winds in one place, with still air only a few hundred metres away. Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence that accompany them."
"Skilled (and brave) glider pilots, on the other hand, like them, because they can tell from the shape of the clouds where the air will be rising."
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/met-office-ufo-shaped-clouds-32355770
Exact replica of Titanic ‘Titanic II’ to be built by billionaire with designs revealed
Last updated on Mar 15, 2024 at 4:17PM (UTC+4)
An Australian billionaire is working on a perfect, period-correct Titanic replica dubbed ‘Titanic II’.
And the new ship is expected to set sail sooner than you’d think.
The idea is pretty simple and straightforward.
Clive Palmer, a 69-year-old billionaire, runs and owns a company called Blue Star Line, whose main goal is to build a perfect replica of the Titanic.
But wait because the details are quite juicy.
For starters, Titanic II will be a faithful, 1:1, period-correct replica of the ill-fated ‘unsinkable’ ship.
The construction of the ship, which should start next year, will cost Palmer at least $1 billion.
Just like the ‘original’ Titanic, the new ship will feature a first-class grand staircase descending through most of the boat’s decks, a massive wrought iron and glass dome with a 50-light chandelier and an exact replica of the vessel’s bridge.
Even the gym (pictured above) is 100 percent period-correct.
It’ll span nine decks, for a grand total of 835 cabins, with 383 first-class cabins, 201 in second and 251 in third.
All in all, the Titanic replica will have room for 2,500+ people.
Which is relatively small when compared with the world’s biggest cruise ship, which is the same size as five Titanics.
And, according to Palmer, a “couple of million people” have already registered their interest.
There are at least two things people will be wondering, though.
First, the plan was first announced in 2012, and then in 2018.
So even though Palmer says the ship should be ready by 2027, the fact there have been delays before indicates the maiden trip may be delayed further.
But the biggest ‘issue’, and again we can totally see why some people might use that word, is the ship’s maiden voyage aims to replicate the exact Southampton-New York route the Titanic attempted to cover on her maiden trip in 1912.
This isn’t unheard of per se, because it’s not like the Southampton-New York route has been discontinued.
From the massive Icon of the Seas to cruise ships you can live on, different ships use different routes all the time, and that particular route is just one of many that’s available.
But would people do that on the Titanic II, a literal Titanic replica? Possibly, let’s wait and see.
https://supercarblondie.com/titanic-replica-ship/