It's All Downhill From Here

I think it's time to put the "Up and Down" meme to bed...

I was up in the middle of the night, and followed the Giro on Live Update Guy's website. I fell asleep shortly after the Stage began, and woke up in time to follow the last 30 or so kilometers and the finish. In my sleep deprived fog, I forgot to find the LIVE Video stream. Team CorduroyPlanet's World Champion Sprinter Mark Cavendish won again, and my team stays UP on my Fantasy Cycling League!

It will take a miracle in Italy Friday to keep Team CorduroyPlanet from beginning it's march DOWN to the bottom of the standings. The roads turn UP in the Giro d'Italia Friday, and my team is top heavy with sprinters, not climbers.

UP: Back in the States, the AMGEN Tour of California kicks off this Sunday May 13th.

Still up in the air...will three time ToC Champ Santa Rosa's Levi Leipheimer be healed enough to start after he was hit by a car training April 1st in Spain? Leipheimer was left with a fractured fibula in his left leg.

Mercifully, my San Francisco Giants have a day off before they open Friday night in Phoenix.

DOWN: I'm surprised at how little news there's been this week about the New Eldorado Meteorite Rush. No zeppelin stories, no new treasure maps, no nothin'...crickets...

UP: Scheduled for launch in 2018, NASA/ESA next-gen James Webb Space Telescope received it's first instrument.

DOWN: The ESA (European Space Agency) announced the death of their Envisat, a 9 Ton Earth Observation Satellite the size of a school bus. Unfortunately with the loss of communications, ESA won't be able to de-orbit the spacecraft as planned. Instead, Envisat will remain in orbit for another 150 years. Spaceflight folks are not happy about this development. They're calling ENVISAT dangerous space junk now.

UP: After parking for 19 weeks during Martian winter, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity put it in gear and drove 12 feet. Opportunity spent it's fifth winter on Mars doing scienctific measurements and making images on a Sun facing outcrop.

That's all I've got, Hands Down...

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!

The Sky Is Falling

...Again! Well, not actually the sky per se...it's another dead satellite...another Russian one. This one won't reenter over North America, and it's little compared to Phobos/Grunt, ROSAT and UARS. Molinya 1-89 only weighs 1600KG, about a ton and three quarters.

My Springtime plans are beginning to gel. Friend of CorduroyPlanet, Kirkvallus is coming down to the Inland Valley in May to catch a couple of stages of the AMGEN Tour of California. Stage 3 San Jose to Livermore climbs Mt Diablo, so we'll be up there watching the action. Here's a .pdf of the Stage 3 Map.

There's much less chance of fog ruining the TV view on Mt Diablo than at last year's Stage 4 that climbed Mt Hamilton between Livermore and San Jose. Baja Babe and I spectated from the Mt Hamilton summit, and it was an awesome spectacle.

Sadly, Perennial ToC contender Santa Rosa's Levi Leipheimer won't be contending this year. Levi was hit by a car while training April 1st for the Vuelta al País Vasco in Basque country, and suffered a broken tibia. Levi sounds like he's game for the challenge though...

I grabbed a couple of tix for the SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals during the week, too. It's a Day Game and should be a blast! Our seats are out in right-center field over the archways, under the Splash Hit water cannons and Fog Horns...note to self, remember to bring ear plugs!

There's Reno Air Race News this week. The NTSB will hold a press conference next Tuesday, to release recommendations to improve safety at air races and give an update on the ongoing investigation into last year’s tragic crash at the Reno National Championship Air Races.

Tickets for September's Reno Air Races went on sale a couple of weeks ago, but there's still uncertainty whether the Races will go on or not. 

Tonight was Opening Day for the Reno Aces Triple-A ball club. They defeated the Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5-2 after a...wait for it...snow delay!

Phobos/Grunt Watch...Epilogue

What a pleasant surprise! Phobos/Grunt news after all this time.

The truth is, I need some distraction tonight...it's been a tough couple of days...

We've been hunkered down during the biggest storm period of the Winter...avalanche warnings were up, as were the winds during the storm period.

Today three skiers decided to do a little backcountry skiing in Ward Canyon, despite the heavy snowfall and wind loading that caused the Sierra Avalanche Center to post High Avalanche Danger first thing in the morning. The lure of Champagne Powder can be hard to resist...especially this lean Winter...

The three found their avalanche, and one skier was swept 300 feet downslope. Luckily two were unhurt...one skied out for help, one stayed with the victim. I saw the story in @CorduroyPlanet's Twitter timeline. The local paper had the story that lit up all the regional news outlets from Sacramento to Reno.

On the evening news, a Placer County Sheriff's Deputy said: "The victim was wrapped around a tree with several fractures"

After my "evening nap" I saw the tweet announcing the victim's passing...so sad...Unofficial Squaw had the story. Avalanches are serious business, especially in the uncontrolled backcountry...

So, it was a happy distraction when I discovered this Phobos/Grunt story at Space Safety Magazine.

I find it disconcerting that the only manned space program on Earth has returned to Soviet Era Secrecy. American astronauts ride Russian rockets and spacecraft to and from the International Space Station. Only a willingly blind fool doesn't see trouble on the horizon.

I pray that the next few years are uneventful. NASA won't have manned launch capability until 2015 at the earliest. Godspeed, indeed...

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!

Bedtime In the Garden of Good and Evil

All the waiting is nearly over. This afternoon's Reno AFD says the waiting for snow ends Thursday evening.

Formula One's first practice session of the first race of the 2012 Season in Australia is only 58 days away.

It's a month and a day until the San Francisco Giants' pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

Only four days until the San Francisco 49ers host the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game...Winner advances to Super Bowl XLVI

Now I'm up 3:21 past my bedtime...gonna suffer tonight.

My @CorduroyPlanet twitter timeline is running about Warp 7.1 today. Lots of Giants baseball news, as the team comes to terms with it's players.

Lots of the fellow SF Giants Fans I follow are prolific Baseball Fans who tweet every move of the Giants' rivals' personnel moves, not just the Home Team news.Today is the last day of negotiations before the Arbitration Deadline. The Giants and their ace Tim Lincecum are $4 million apart...or about 20% adrift.

All the Tahoe Sierra Ski Resorts are tweeting up a blizzard of "Here Comes Winter" stuff.

I'm waiting on some Space Junk Reentry News...Confirmation of Phobos/Grunt's final resting place, and today's eminent demise of another Russian satellite, Cosmos 2176.

As with the whole Phobos/Grunt Saga, news is trickling out like molasses in January, and with all the baseball transactions, I'm bound to miss the news and Cosmos 2176's splashdown.

I won't give a damn later this week when I'm pushing newly fallen Sierra Cement around!

Must sleep NOW!

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!