Past and Future

I'll just wrap up some past stories to make way for the future stuff.

San Francisco Giants:
While the Giants club dates to 1883, baseball didn't start keeping real stats until 1918. I became curious over the past weeks because so many club records were falling or in danger of falling, and usually the copy read: "...since 1918"

USS Iowa:
Smooth sailing for the big battlewagon, her hull work completed, she entered Los Angeles Harbor Saturday morning.

The photo is courtesy of Donna Littlejohn, DailyBreeze.com The Victory Ship in the foreground is the SS Lane Victory built in Los Angeles and returned from distinguished service in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, she's a museum now. The Lane Victory has been restored to seaworthy condition and offers "Victory at Sea" summer cruises.

The Lane's website features an incredible photo album from the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond that includes day by day photos of a Liberty Ship on the ways under construction. It's really worth a look.

OK, now on to the Future:
There's bunches of spaceflight news this week.

Private/Public Spaceflight tallies historic first milestone.
The SpaceX Falcon/Dragon mission to the International Space Station is a rousing success. NASA says in light of the mission's success, approval for continued resupply missions under a $1.6 billion contract would be a mere formality.

Not everything in civilian spaceflight is rosy:
Sea Launch, another commercial spaceflight contractor successfully launched an  Intelsat 19 communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit. There was a problem with the satellite however when one of the spacecraft's two solar array wings failed to deploy.

X-Ray Space Telescope Nears Launch:
The NuSTAR space telescope will be launched by Orbital Sciences Corp. as early as June 13th, 2012. This satellite is launched from a converted Lockeed L-1011 airliner that launches a Pegasus rocket plane that carries the NuSTAR into orbit.

There's Military Spaceflight News...sort of:
The Air Force's XB-37B "Mini Space Shuttle" will return to Earth after it's classified 15 month mission in Low Earth Orbit sometime in the next few weeks...


Sutter's Mill Meteorites Found:
This story is getting a little long in the tooth, but I suppose it's the nature of the beast...I don't recall Mark Twain reporting on every nugget and vein discovered in the Comstock when he was a reporter for Virginia City's Territorial Enterprise


Video of the Sutter's Mill Fireball surfaced this week, and to date almost a pound of the meteorite has been found and reported. I wonder how many bits of the meteorite were found and sold on the spot to meteorite dealers at $1000/gram... At least one piece made it's way to a UC Davis geologist so far...


Don't toss those eclipse glasses just yet:
You'll need them again Tuesday June 5th to view the Transit of Venus across our Sun. Sky and Telescope have a good observation guide.

Head On a Swivel

OK, I feel all rested up from the busy weekend.

My Memorial Day Weekend was all about history...looking back if you will...WWII Battleship USS Iowa...70th Monaco Grand Prix...96th Indianapolis 500.

Even baseball brought the history. On Monday, San Francisco Giants left fielder Melky Cabrera passed Willie Mays' 1958 record of 49 hits in the month of May. Wednesday night the Melk Man knocked his 51st hit, tieing the all-time-any-month Giants record that goes back to 1918.

When SturgeUrge and I were on San Francisco Bay Saturday, the boat traffic became so crazy that SturgeUrge's head looked like it was on a swivel...call it Combat Boating. Well, Skipper 'Urge brought us back to dry land in one piece to float another day.

This evening, I feel like it's my head on the proverbial swivel. My world is all on the up and up tonight...after watching the Giants lose 4-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, my twitter feed was suddenly full of spaceflight tweets...

As I write, I'm keeping an ear on the SpaceX Dragon and the International Space Station's LIVE ungrapple and departure stream. The Dragon Capsule will leave the ISS tonight on it's way back to Earth. As it turns out, all this spaceflight stuff is history too...SpaceX's Dragon is the first commercial spacecraft to visit and dock to the ISS. The Dragon will shuttle people back and forth from the ISS after some more test flights and NASA approval.

SpaceX aren't the only private outfit building commercial spacecraft for the ISS delivery market either...

Orbital Sciences Corp. is developing their Antares rocket/ Cygnus capsule system to serve the ISS, too.

Another company, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic received the necessary permits from the FAA to test their SpaceShip Two with full rocket motor power. Virgin who call themselves the "First Commercial Spaceline" (as opposed to airline), is going after the Space Tourist Trade...short sub-orbital rides into space, complete with the dramatic, firey atmospheric reentry.

I'm so grateful to these companies picking up NASA's slack. NASA seems to be dithering lately, and time is running out for me to see earthmen walk on Mars. When I was a kid watching NASA blast off into the New Frontier, it was a given that men would be on Mars sooner than later...now it's been forty years since we last landed on the Moon! NASA gets it budget slashed every year while the Feds run up World Record deficits...

You know, all this internet/smartphone/Facebook/Twitter/iPad stuff is all the product of kids who were inspired by the Space Program and it's offshoots. Back in the day, we all felt like we were helping the astronauts...willing them higher, farther, longer...to the next unbelievable breakthrough, milestone after milestone, until Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface in 1969. We all carried astronaut lunch boxes to school, scores of toys and commercial tie-ins exploited our space mania. Is Tang still on grocery store shelves?

Well, in the Internet Age, pandering is as easy as click, click, click, only in the 21st Century they're giving it away. Here's some SpaceX Dragon fun that's free save the price of printing it on your home printer:

Print and build your own paper Dragon Spacecraft

Have fun kids!

No Rest for the Curious

Formula One's Free Practice One LIVE from the streets of Monte Carlo begins at 1AM PDT about an hour and fifteen minutes from now.

I was starting to nod off when I saw a tweet touting LIVE coverage of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft performing some maneuvers including a "FlyUnder" of the International Space Station in preparation for Friday's berthing with the ISS.

Nothing like some untried spacefaring to juice up the ol' adrenaline levels!

Enjoy, you can all sleep after history is made!

Up Early

I woke up to a stranger's voice this morning. I'd fallen asleep watching a LIVE stream from NASA's Cape Canaveral where private space launch contractor SpaceX was launching their Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.Liftoff was scheduled for 1:55AM PDT, I didn't get close. SpaceX however got as close as they could get to liftoff when the launch was aborted...1 second. The voice that woke me up was from the post-scrub press conference. Somewhere around 0600 I woke up enough to figure the lay of the land.

Launch computers showed an overpressure in one of the Falcon 9's nine rocket motors, and aborted the launch. Next launch window is 12:44AM PDT Tuesday morning. Falcon 9/Dragon Mission Status Center

This weekend is shaping up to be hyper-busy. Too many choices!

Saturday:
Indianapolis 500 Pole DayLIVE on  NBC SportsNet 8AM-11:30AM and 1:30PM-3:30PM and streaming Timing and Scoring at IndyCar.com all day.

Sunday:
The battleship USS Iowa leaves Richmond, CA on San Francisco Bay en route to Los Angeles Harbor. Under tow, the mighty dreadnaught is scheduled to pass under the Golden Gate bridge at 3:30PM PDT Sunday afternoon. The Chronicle has a great photo gallery at the link.

Annular eclipse of the Sun. 96% of the Sun will be obscured by the New Moon revealing "The Ring of Fire" for as much as 4 minutes and 30 seconds depending on where in the eclipse path the observer is. Plan your eclipse observations at Eclipse-Maps.com and be careful! DO NOT look directly at the eclipse! Use eclipse glasses, a welder's shield, or a projection method such as a pinhole projector to see the ring.

On the horns of my dilemma...
I really want to see the USS Iowa on the Bay. The timing of the tow makes it impossible to see Iowa on the open bay while still allowing for travel time to the High Sierra where the eclipse will be at the maximum displaying the full "Ring of Fire"

I'll let you know how it all turns out...

Everything Old is New Again Phobos/Grunt Edition

You've gotta hand it to the Roscosmos Space Agency, they've got stick-to-it-ness down to a science.

After a long absence, @PhG_Reentry tweeted a link to the UPI.com story of the announcement that Roscosmos is going to try Phobos/Grunt 2! No timetable was given, but they're going to do it again only more so.

Hats of to the Russians and their Space Program!

Should the unthinkable happen...when the time comes, I'll launch Phobos/GruntWatch 2

To better days then!

It's Raining

...again in Florida. I know this because I've tried to watch NASA launch a Saturn 5 rocket with a Navy MUOS Communication Satellite twice in two days.

Yesterday's launch was scrubbed by high winds aloft...today those high altitude winds brought a heavy cloud layer with scattered showers that forced NASA to postpone launch until Wednesday February 22nd.

Today's weather shortened NASCAR practice 50 miles north of Cape Canaveral at Daytona International Speedway for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout. The Bud Shootout is the first race of a week of stock car racing culminating in the Daytona 500 next Sunday February 26, 2012

Down at the Cape, John Glenn was in attendance for the two launch attempts, just days ahead of the 50th Anniversary of his historic Friendship 7 Orbital Flight.

This all pains me more than a little...it's all happening against the background of deep NASA budget cuts, and the race to turn the Space Shuttle Fleet into flightless museum pieces before they have flown half the flights they were designed for.

The draconian budget cuts will derail our very successful ongoing Mars Mission, where NASA has been launching every two years maintaining a continuous presence in orbit around the Red Planet and on the Martian surface.

With the Shuttle Fleet effectively scuttled, thousands of high paying high tech jobs are lost, and the money they generated will now be sent to Russia who's shaky Soyuz program now charges double to send astronauts and supplies to our multi-billion dollar International Space Station.

The Saturn 5 is the next generation of heavy lift launchers that will carry our astronauts into orbit once the next generation crew capsule, Orion is ready sometime in 2020. Unmanned test flights are scheduled to begin in 2014.

Now I'm no CPA, but the ledger seems to be tipped in Russia's favor...more outsourcing Washington? No kidding...

Phobos/Grunt Watch: Wrap-Up...It IS Rocket Science!

Somehow I missed this thoughtful piece last week.

"A rational approach to the challenge of spaceflight involves significant mental discipline and a specific habit of mind to ask the right questions and not be satisfied with superficial answers or deflectional excuses. Without this approach, disaster and disappointment is inevitable. And even with our full attention, as Mike Griffin [NASA Adminstrator, 2005-2009] once said, “Spaceflight is so hard that even at our best we are barely able to accomplish it.”"

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Loose Ends

Here's something...not the definitive closure I'm seeking...but better than nothing...

The Russian International News Agency has the story...

Smoking Gun?

"In February 2012, it transpired that one of two processors in a pair of TsVM-22 computers in the probe's flight control system had failed and had to be deactivated during preparations for launch. To make matters worse, the second remaining channel in this computer started conflicting with its counterparts in the second remaining TsVM-22 machine. As a result, the decision was made to shut off one TSVM-22 computer entirely, even though it remained physically onboard. Therefore, Phobos-Grunt would have to fly with only a single operational computer, leaving no redundancy in the flight control system."

More from Anatoly Zak.

If there's more in the coming days, I'll put up another Phobos/Grunt Update...

Stay tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Post-Mortem Mea Culpa?

OK, here's what Roscosmos blames for Phobos/Grunt's failure...

Cosmic Rays
         or
Software Glitches
         or
Sub-Par Chips (not MilSpec)
         or
Inadequate Testing
         or
Personnel Changes

Anatoly Zak has an in depth encyclopedia of Phobos/Grunt at RussianSpaceWeb.com

In the face of all these snafus, Roscosmos is actually thinking of trying Phobos/Grunt 2.0!

Pity I have to work tonight...the Late Night Comics will have a field day with today's Phobos/Grunt News!

I guess we better Stay Tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Still Wanted: Wrap-Up

Well, Roscosmos was going to release their Phobos/Grunt Wrap-Up Report yesterday January 29th...still MIA...

That's not to say there isn't news of the failed Russian Mars Moon Probe:


The latest from RussianSpaceWeb.com

Did some of Phobos/Grunt's reentry debris land on dry ground? This op-ed posits that The Planetary Society's LIFE Module may have landed in Chile or Argentina.

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Post-Post-Mortem

What a pleasant surprise, after my night of rain on My Mountain! When I got home this morning, I fired up the internet to look at my Twitter timeline, and I discovered a new Planet!

No, not another new Exoplanet, but @PlanetCharlene. She came up on @CorduroyPlanet's radar thanks to @PhG_Reentry, who retweeted @PlanetCharlene:"Nice summary of what we know about fall of #PhobosGrunt...", with a link to Universe Today's latest on Phobos/Grunt's final resting place.

As is par for this course, more questions than answers come up when it's Phobos/Grunt.

@esaoperations published their findings too: "Space debris experts confirm estimate for Phobos–Grunt reentry".

I'm sure we haven't heard the end of Phobos/Grunt...Stay tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Post-Mortem

So it's been a week since Phobos/Grunt plunged into oblivion, and the news of the Russian probe has disappeared into oblivion as well. (I must confess that I have been a little less than vigilant since Thursday when the long Winter's drought began to end, and my NFL Football team the San Francisco 49ers were playing for a berth in the Super Bowl™)

So we've all been waiting for some definitive word on Phobos/Grunt's demise. No word has been forthcoming since reentry. There is still a little finger pointing coming from Russian sources.

Finally, this could be closure:

@Zarya_Info tweets: "Phobos-Grunt - SpaceTrack has issued a full TIP Message for the decay: http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Misc/PhobosGrunt3.php , notes & updated map:"

Zarya's posted his Phobos/Grunt Wrap-Up Blog.

@cosmos4u tweets: "Eight days after Fobos-Grunt came down, the U.S. military "suddenly" claims to know precisely(!) when & where: http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Misc/PhobosGrunt4.php -source?"

As an American taxpayer, I'd be dismayed if US Stratcom didn't watch reentry in realtime from it's vast array of Spy Satellites. Furthermore, I'd expect them to keep their hand close to the vest, lest they tip potential adversaries to our surveillance capabilities.

Thanks for following along everyone! Stay tuned...there's tons of satellites in decaying orbits. I'll cover the next one when in shows up on my radar!

Quick Phobos/Grunt Reentry Update 5

The flight of Phobos/Grunt is over, but accusations of blame are just beginning to fly!

I don't know if the US radars on Kwajalein atoll are even used to study asteroids...

All this seems like so much CYA...are all these Space Agencies still full of aging Cold Warriors?

Comrades, fellas...Old Dudes! You can let go of the past without dishonoring it, or diminishing your place in it's history! You'll save a ton of money and grab more brass rings along the way if you figure out how to cooperate!


From the Muddied Waters Dept:
@Zarya_Info tweeted:
"Phobos-Grunt - is everyone writing fantasy about the re-entry? Aviation Week item riddled with inaccuracies/errors: aviationweek.com... "

Lest we forget, Kosmos 2176 has most likely reentered. Predicted reentry zone was again the Southern Pacific Ocean.

All this reentering satellite stuff caught the UKGuardian's eye.

Quick Phobos/Grunt Reentry Update 4.1

Here it is Wednesday...Phobos/Grunt reentered Sunday...still no word from ESA, NASA or US StratCom.

There's still some background noise about the failure and the location of the debris field.

Spaceweather.com has the rebuttal to the Marshall Islands Radar Charge:

"Sources within the Russian Space Agency have suggested to newspapers that a US radar on the Marshall Islands might have accidentally disabled Phobos-Grunt. The mishap could have occured, they say, while the radar was using megawatt pulses to track near-Earth asteroid 2005 YU55 on the same night the Mars probe was launched. According to an analysis by satellite tracking expert Ted Molczan, however, "the asteroid was below Kwajalein's horizon during both of Phobos-Grunt's passes" over the radar facility. An errant "zap" seems unlikely. Besides, says NASA, they weren't using the radar anyway."

Spaceflight 101 Blog:
Phobos-Grunt's Exact Reentry Location Remains a Mystery.

Kosmos 2176 Reentry Update
Most predictions say the Russian Satellite reentered Tuesday afternoon PST...I won't be holding my breath on this one...

Stay Tuned!

Afternoon Update:
The plot thickens!

Quick Phobos/Grunt Reentry Update 3

Day two of waiting for confirmation of Phobos/Grunt's final resting place.

Monday (yesterday) @esaoperations tweeted:
"Formal update in ESA web on #phobosgrunt reentry will come only Tuesday 17.01. Team waiting for one final set of estimates. Regret delay."

Again this morning @esaoperations tweeted:
"#spacedebris team still waiting for final data inputs to complete our #phobosgrunt report. News as soon as we have it. Regret (more) delay."

I see the dearth of observation tools in the Southern Oceans at play here, while US Space-Based radars are Top Secret, so out of bounds for now...I'm sure US StratCom doesn't want to tip potential adversaries to their capabilities...

I see cooler heads are speaking out out in regards to the charge that US Radar Sabotage may have brought about Phobos/Grunt's demise.

OK...it's been 24 hours since ESA promised their formal update on Phobos/Grunt's reentry. I'll post an update to this post when ESA publishes.

Stay Tuned!

Quick Phobos/Grunt Reentry Update 2

While still no debris has been found, and no location confirmation is forthcoming, there is news:

@esaoperations Tweets: "Formal update in ESA web on #phobosgrunt reentry will come only Tuesday 17.01. Team waiting for one final set of estimates. Regret delay."

Dutch Sattrackcam's blog illuminates the problems pinpointing the exact spot that Phobos/Grunt reentered and crashed.

If you feel the Post-Phobos/Grunt letdown like I do, fear not, another piece of space junk will reenter tomorrow reports @SPACEFLIGHT101:

 "1,900-Kilogram COSMOS 2176 is expected to re-enter the Atmosphere tomorrow at 16:10 UTC +/-7 Hours. Current Prediction: http://www.spaceflight101.com/entry.html

Stay tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Wanted: Wrap-Up

It's been almost 20 hours since the reported end of Russia's Mars probe, Phobos/Grunt.

No official confirmation has been forthcoming from Roscosmos, US StratCom, NASA, ESA...etc.

Reports say the spacecraft crashed into the South Pacific Ocean 700 miles west of Chile...or in Brazil...or in Australia?

Here's the round-up of what is out there from the usual sources:

Russian Space Web

Universe Today

Spaceflight 101

Space Safety Magazine

Sky and Telescope

Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies

As you can see, events are as murky as everything else since Phobos/Grunt failed to leave Earth orbit for the Red Planet.

Quaint reminder of the Cold War era of spaceflight? Or annoyance?

Stay tuned!

Quick Phobos/Grunt Reentry Update

Typically the hours after reentry are the longest. Confirmation usually takes days unless debris actually lands on land.

There's two stories coming from Russian sources an hour after supposed reentry.

Stay tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch: Missed It

Mea Culpa:
Not that! Phobos/Grunt still orbits...no, I missed my last chance to see Phobos/Grunt in orbit.

I was playing with my sleep schedule again...I got off work Saturday morning a little early, had two beers and set the alarm clock to rouse me at 1:30PM My team was playing in the NFL's Divisional Playoffs.

It was a great game, won by my San Francisco 49ers in the final seconds. I was elated...and drained...emotionally exhausted. After trailing all game, the New Orleans Saints scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:37 left in the game. The Niners marched it down the field, amazing passes and catches...and won in front of a rocking packed Candlestick Park. 97 seconds of awesome!

During the game, my twitter feed was rockin' too. Plenty of 49er Fan Hyperbole, and lots of Phobos/Grunt tweets.

I had Real Time Satellite Tracking running in another tab, and I was looking forward to my last chance to view a Phobos/Grunt pass before the inevitable.

I woke up 10 minutes after the probe passed over the DaveCave...just damn!


The Latest Phobos/Grunt Info:
Spaceflight101's latest reentry data

Add @drspacejunk to your twitter stream, she giving great tips on safety should Phobos/Grunt's debris land in your area:

#Reentrytips No 1: DO NOT TOUCH FRAGMENTS RT @yearoffun Tell me, @drspacejunk, what should I do if #phobosgrunt lands nearby?

 #Reentrytips No 2: the spacecraft fragments are legally the property of Russia, and you cannot sell them on eBay. #PhobosGrunt @PhG_Reentry

#Reentrytips No 3: Keep animals and household pets secure. The sonic booms will cause them to panic. #PhobosGrunt @PhG_Reentry

#Reentrytips No 4: If #PhobosGrunt or parts of it land near you, notify the relevant authorities. In Australia - state emergency services

About 9 hours to go...

Stay tuned!

Phobos/Grunt Watch: The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Spaceflight 101 has the latest numbers at their Phobos/Grunt Reentry Page. The predictions are all for Sunday January 15th now.

@PhG_Reentry tweets: "trajectory" flattening (lower drag than expected) potentially delaying re-entry http://twitpic.com/86yv4u

Phobos/Grunt featured on Comedy Central's Colbert Report Wednesday. Watch the whole episode here.

Stay tuned!