SpaceX’s Starship and NASA’s SLS prepare for launch
That’s not to say we’re not nearing launch though. Starship is set to launch from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas. The company is preparing for lift-off, and it recently conducted a “static fire” engine test with both its first-stage Super Heavy booster, called Booster 7, and its Starship prototype, dubbed Ship 24. SpaceX fired up only one of Booster 7’s 33 engines on Tuesday, August 9, while Ship 24 ignited two of its six Raptor engines. While the company is making steady progress towards launch, there’s still a way to go before both are ready for lift-off.
Static fire test of two Raptor engines on Starship 24 https://t.co/NNpViztphI
Both Starship and Super Heavy are designed to be fully reusable, and they are powered by a total of 39 of SpaceX’s next-generation Raptor engines. The improved efficiency of Raptor 2 alongside the full reusability of the launch elements is set to greatly reduce launch and operational costs, which is one of the main factors that will allow Starship to eventually take humans to Mars.
NASA, which may launch its own Space Launch System (SLS) around the moon this month — it’s targeting an August 29 launch date — has opted to use Starship for its upcoming Artemis III moon landing mission. SLS isn’t reusable, and it will be used for Artemis I and II, each of which will travel around the moon before returning to Earth. With preparations well underway, we’re on the verge of two historic launches that will likely usher in a bold new era for spaceflight.
A SpaceX representative says a team will travel to Australia after the recent discovery of a large piece of space junk on an outback property, saying the incident is “within the expected analyzed space of what can happen.”
Key points:
SpaceX will send a team to Australia after their space debris was found in the NSW Snowy Mountains
The fragments were found after locals heard a sonic boom on July 9
A space law lecturer is calling on better communication between SpaceX and Australia
Fragments of the SpaceX Dragon capsule were found in the NSW Snowy Mountains, after locals heard a loud bang on July 9, believed to be caused by the spacecraft re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
Addressing reporters during a live streamed media conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center on August 4, senior director of the SpaceX Human Spaceflight Program Benjamin Reed acknowledged the incident.
“We did get reports of debris of the Dragon trunk that had landed in the outback of Australia,” he said.
“We actually have a team that’s going to check that out.”
Mr Reed told the conference SpaceX had been working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Australian Space Agency as part of this process, saying the incident fell within expectations.
“The important news is of course there was no injury or damage,” he said.
“Also importantly is this was all within the expected analyzed space of what can happen.”
This piece of space junk is estimated to be about three meters long.(ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
Companies require permission from the US government prior to launching space craft, which includes filling out an orbital debris report.
Mr Reed alluded to that as part of his response.
“You have an expected path of where things may come down and this particular debris was within that analyzed space,” he said.
“It’s part of the process we do with NASA, with FAA, internally and we use models that are all jointly approved to predict and plan for these things.”
Mr Reed’s comments to the August 4 conference appear to be the only public comments that have been made by SpaceX about the incident so far. The ABC has contacted SpaceX.
so arrogant
The discovery of SpaceX debris has triggered both intrigue and concern from space experts about whether space activity needs to be better managed.
Space Law Lecturer at UNSW Canberra Duncan Blake says the explanation from Mr Reed about the incident was too vague.
“I’m not satisfied with that response,” he said.
“I think it’s a bit dismissive and I think that SpaceX ought to be doing more than simply saying that it was within their analysis.”
Duncan Blake is a space law lecturer at UNSW Canberra.(Supplied: Duncan Blake/UNSW Canberra)
Mr Blake believes the comments imply that SpaceX was aware before hand of the possibility of space debris would land in somewhere like Australia, and decided the risk was acceptable.
He says the company needs to be more open and communicative with Australia if that’s the case.
“I wonder whether they coordinated with Australia when they made that risk assessment,” he said.
“If they didn’t, then that seems somewhat arrogant to make a decision that affects Australia without consulting Australians.”
Coverage cost
Confirmation that SpaceX will eventually visit Australia has been welcomed, with an expectation the pieces will have to be repatriated back to the US.
“They need to come to Australia,” Mr Blake said.
“The space object belongs to SpaceX and they may want the space debris returned to them.”
“If there are any costs involved in doing that, in cleaning up, then they’re obliged to cover those costs.”
Jock Wallace found this piece of space junk on his sheep farm.(ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
As part of the media conference, SpaceX’s Mr Reed noted that there was always room for improvement.
“We look very closely at the data, we learn everything that we can,” he said.
“We always look for the ways we can improve things but again, this was within analyzed space, within expectation.”
Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for black women in Hollywood when she played lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek TV show, has died at 89.
Key points:
Nichols’ son Kyle Johnson said she died on Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico
Her role in the 1966—1969 series as Lieutenant Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series’ fans
Nichols also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps
Her son Kyle Johnson said Nichols died on Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico.
“Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away,” Mr Johnson wrote on his mother’s official Facebook page.
“Her light, however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.
“Her’s was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”
Her role in the 1966—1969 series as Lieutenant Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series’ fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies.
It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial on-screen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.
Nichols played the Communications Officer on the USS Enterprise in the original series Star Trek.(Supplied: NASA/file)
Fellow cast member George Takei described Nichols as “trailblazing and incomparable”
“For today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend,” he posted to Twitter.
Takei played Sulu in the original Star Trek alongside Nichols.
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But her impact was felt beyond her immediate co-stars, and many others in the Star Trek world also tweeted their condolences.
Celia Rose Gooding, who currently plays Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, wrote on Twitter that Nichols “made room for so many of us. She was the reminder that not only can we reach the stars, but our influence is essential to their survival. Forget shaking the table, she built it.”
Like other original cast members, Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spin-offs starting in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and frequented Star Trek fan conventions.
She also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps.
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More recently, she had a recurring role on television’s Heroes, playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.
Star Trek premiered on NBC on September 8, 1966.
Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry’s message to viewers that in the far-off future — the 23rd century — human diversity would be fully accepted.
“I think many people took it into their hearts… that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,” Nichols said in 1992 when a Star Trek exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.
