Starlink launches in December 2023

Starlink Group 6-32: December 22, 2023, 11:00 p.m. EST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | DATE/TIME MAY CHANGE

Starlink Group 7-9: December 28, 2023, 9:09 p.m. PST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Station, California | DATE/TIME MAY CHANGE

Starlink Group 6-35: Date/TIME TBD
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | DATE/TIME MAY CHANGE

Completed December launches

Starlink Group 6-34: December 18, 2023, 11:01 p.m. EST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 7-8: December 8, 2023, 12:03 a.m. PST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Station, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-32: December 7, 2023, 12:07 a.m. EST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-31: December 2, 2023, 11:00 p.m. EST
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

You can watch a recorded livestream of the Starlink launches on SpaceX’s X account.

Expect more launches to be announced for the rest of the month. Watch this space for updates!

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After launch, look for a train of lights

Following every Starlink launch, the internet buzzes with people asking:

What’s that long line of lights in the sky that looks like a train?

What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites moving into a higher orbit. You can check to see if they will pass over your area using the Find Starlink website.

Growing numbers amid controversy

According to Wikipedia, as of November 2023, Starlink consists of over 5,500 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. They provide internet access to more than 2 million subscribers.

Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s vision for a global internet communication satellite constellation. They deliver high-speed internet service worldwide, mainly to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable, or expensive. The private company is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, several times a month, regularly lofting 60 satellites at a time. And SpaceX plans to build up to perhaps as many as 30,000 eventually.

Most thought it was exciting to see the first few Starlink satellites traveling together in the night sky. But then more were launched, and then more. And astronomers began to worry.

Because Starlinks are bright, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical images. Therefore, they interfere with the professional astronomical observations that bring us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And although SpaceX has tried to address the issue, they remain far from what astronomers say is acceptable.

Bottom line: Find a list of SpaceX’s Starlink launches for December here. Keep coming back for updates!

Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light

Via Space Launch Schedule

The post List of SpaceX Starlink launches for December first appeared on EarthSky.

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First commercial lunar lander delayed to January

It seems Santa Claus will be the only one carrying a load of goodies on Christmas Eve this year. An incomplete launch rehearsal on Friday (December 8, 2023) set back the Christmas Eve launch date for the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) Vulcan Centaur rocket. Its mission is to carry the first commercial lander to the moon. Now it looks like January 8, 2024, is as soon as we’ll see a liftoff.

ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno announced the delay on X (formerly Twitter):

#VulcanRocket WDR update: Vehicle performed well. Ground system had a couple of (routine) issues, (being corrected). Ran the timeline long so we didn't quite finish. I'd like a FULL WDR before our first flight, so XMAS eve is likely out. Next Peregrine window is 8 Jan.

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) December 10, 2023

The company planned another wet dress rehearsal of the flight system on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Bruno said in a follow-up message.

Preparing for Artemis

NASA is working with several American companies in preparation for future Artemis missions to the moon. NASA calls it the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project. Part of having a human presence on the moon requires payloads sent to the moon to supply the astronauts with all their needs. As NASA said, these first commercial deliveries will:

… perform science experiments, test technologies and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the moon as it prepares for human missions.

Moon flight will be packed with payloads

The Vulcan Centaur’s first flight will carry Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One, the first commercial lander targeting the moon. It was supposed to fly on December 24, 2023, and that would have been fitting, as the lander will be as packed with goodies as Santa’s sleigh.

Funded in part by NASA, the Peregrine Mission One will carry several small scientific instruments for the American aerospace agency. The Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and European Space Agency (ESA) will also fly science packages on Mission One.

Launching with the science payloads will be a variety of memorial, advertising, archival and citizen participation packages. Included are collections of photos of footprints from around the world, messages from children and even a lunar Bitcoin.

Solar system’s smallest rover and tiny robots

The Peregrine Lander isn’t a large vehicle, standing just 1.9 meters (6.2 feet). The rover it will take to the moon, however, is tiny. Built by Carnegie Mellon University students in Pennsylvania, the Iris lunar rover weighs in at just 2 kilos (4.4 pounds). The smallest and lightest rover ever sent into space, it’s also the first American rover heading to the moon. The Iris website says:

Iris’s shoebox sized chassis and bottle cap wheels are made from carbon fiber, attributing to its lightweight design and another first for planetary robotics. Along with testing small, lightweight rover mobility on the moon, Iris is collecting scientific images for geological sciences, as well as UWB RF ranging data for testing new relative localization techniques.

That’s still enormous compared to the robots the Mexican space agency is sending to the moon with Peregrine. Called COLMENA – Spanish for the hive – the project from the AEM will test the ability of a swarm of robots to act autonomously:

The five robots each weigh less than 60 grams (0.1 pounds) and measure 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) in diameter. All of their electronics will be less than two centimeters from the rocky rubble on the moon’s surface known as the lunar regolith.

NASA on the first commercial lunar landing

The Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly out of America’s East Coast space center in Florida. NASA provided all the technical details here:

Launch will take place from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket in the VC2S configuration, with 2 GEM-63XL solid boosters, a standard short faring, and two RL10 engines in the Centaur upper stage.

NASA also gave a timeline for the journey to the moon:

After a 3-to-33-day Earth orbit and cruise to the moon, followed by a 4 to 25 day lunar orbit phase, it will descend and land in Sinus Viscositatis (Bay of Stickiness) adjacent to the Gruitheisen Domes on the northeast border of Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). It is planned to land 55-110 hours after local sunrise and to operate for about 192 hours.

Bottom line: Peregrine Mission One – the first commercial lunar lander – will launch in January 2024. Its payload includes science, memorial, and citizen packages, and more.

The post First commercial lunar lander to launch in January first appeared on EarthSky.

1/ In answer to 'where are you going?': ?The journey will effectively end (for you) when my power supply is so low that I can't operate any of my instruments. The EOM command will shut down communication with Earth. When? Within the next few years.

— NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023

3/ The final goal was 2 send radio signals back 2 Earth through Triton's atmosphere, yielding data on its composition & density. 2 get that alignment right, I was sent skimming over Neptune's leading side & looping below the ecliptic plane to pass through Triton's radio shadow!

— NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023

5/ …but the reality is that 1.65 light-years is still an insurmountable distance. Every other star I will pass within the next _million_ years will be more than 2 light years from me. It is very likely that I will not _ever_ encounter anything.

— NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023

7/ I’ll see the last of the stars extinguish,& the flashes of evaporating black holes. The matter that I was made of will reach a time where it’ll simply fade away,along with the last of the longest wavelengths of light,stretched out by the expansion & cold death of the universe.

— NSFVoyager2 (@NSFVoyager2) November 28, 2023

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Voyager 1 and 2

Launched in 1977, the Voyagers 1 and 2 are the most distant human-made objects from Earth. And so they are likely to remain, for now. The New Horizons spacecraft – launched in 2006 – left Earth far faster than any outbound probe before it. But it won’t overtake the Voyagers as the most distant human-made object from Earth, because the two Voyagers received gravity assists from mighty Jupiter and Saturn.

Voyager 1 is slightly more distant than Voyager 2. Astronomers and space fans sometimes measure distances across our solar system in Earth-sun units, called astronomical units, or AU. A single AU is about 93 million miles (150 million km). Voyager 1 is 162 AU from Earth. And Voyager 2 is 135 AU from Earth.

You can keep track of their progress here.

For a few months each year, the distance between each Voyager spacecraft and Earth shrinks. That’s because – as the Voyagers streak away from our sun at more than 30,000 miles per hour (48,000 kph) – Earth is also moving, pursuing our yearly orbit around the sun. As we loop around the sun, sometimes we’re going in a direction opposite that of one or another Voyager. And sometimes when we’re hurtling through space – traveling at our own speed of 67,000 mph (107,000 km/h) – we’re hot on the heels of one or another Voyager. And so the distance between it and us decreases … until we head back the other way again, pulled inexorably by our sun’s gravity.

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system. Then, in 2018, Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause, the boundary of our sun’s influence, heading toward deep space. In 2021, Voyager 1 sent back a message that it’s hearing a faint, monotone hum of interstellar space.

Earlier this year, NASA said that it would be extending the science mission of Voyager 2 for another three years. It found a way to conserve power on the spacecraft and keep it communicating with us a bit longer.

And so Voyager 1 should keep communicating until 2025. Excellent work, for a spacecraft scheduled to last only four years.

Bottom line: Where is Voyager 2 going? It’s not aimed for any particular star, but in 40,000 years it will pass within 1.65 light-years of the star Ross 248.

The post Where is Voyager 2 going? And when will it get there? first appeared on EarthSky.

Head over to SpaceX’s X for replays of last month’s launches, and read more about them here.

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Successful Starlink launches in November 2023

Starlink Group 6-30: November 27, 2023, 11:20 p.m. EST (4:20 UTC November 28)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-29: November 21, 2023, 10:47 p.m. EST (3:47 UTC November 22)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 7-7: November 20, 2023, 2:30 a.m. PST (10:30 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-28: November 18, 2023, 12:05 a.m. (5:05 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-27: November 8, 2023, 12:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-26: November 3, 2023, 8:37 p.m. EDT (0:37 UTC November 4)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

After launch, look for a train of lights

Following every Starlink launch, the internet buzzes with people asking:

What’s that long line of lights in the sky that looks like a train?

What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites moving into a higher orbit. You can check to see if they will pass over your area using the Find Starlink website.

Growing numbers amid controversy

According to Wikipedia, as of November 2023, Starlink consists of over 5,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. They provide internet access to more than 2 million subscribers.

Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s vision for a global internet communication satellite constellation. They deliver high-speed internet service worldwide, mainly to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable, or expensive. The private company is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, several times a month, regularly lofting 60 satellites at a time. And SpaceX plans to build up to perhaps as many as 30,000 eventually.

Most thought it was exciting to see the first few Starlink satellites traveling together in the night sky. But then more were launched, and then more. And astronomers began to worry.

Because Starlinks are bright, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical images. Therefore, they have the potential to interfere with the professional astronomical observations that have brought us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And although SpaceX has tried to address the issue, they remain far from what astronomers say is acceptable.

Bottom line: SpaceX successfully launched six batches of Starlink satellites in November. Learn more about the launches and Starlink here.

Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light

Via Space Launch Schedule

The post SpaceX Starlink launches for November first appeared on EarthSky.

Starship met a fiery end near Puerto Rico

After SpaceX launched its 2nd Starship test flight on November 18, 2023, the 1st stage exploded shortly after separation from the main spacecraft. That explosion occurred over the Gulf of Mexico. Astronomers, other experts, weather radar images, witnesses and videos all suggested Starship continued its flight toward the Caribbean for a few minutes. Then, around 8 minutes into the flight, Starship appeared to come to an explosive end, with a reentry just north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to sighting reports, Starship disintegrated near Puerto Rico around 9:15-9:16 a.m. AST (13:15-13:16 UTC) on Saturday.

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said:

I infer an impact point in the Atlantic at about 13:19 UTC near 65W 19N, north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Indeed, a debris cloud was detected in NOAA weather radar data at that time and location, confirming this analysis.

Marco Langbroek, a satellite and orbital tracking expert, also agrees that Starship appears to have reentered in the Caribbean:

(Trajectory) brings it near the debris trail north of Puerto Rico as observed by weather radar.

And NOAA/NWS radar detected a reentering debris field near Puerto Rico.

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Radar loop of debris field from NWS San Juan radar. pic.twitter.com/IdxzVCWty6

— AnthonyCarl8610 (@ACarl8610) November 18, 2023

Closeup of the breakup

Eyewitness reports

One of the witnesses, a sports photographer, was with camera in hand taking pictures of surfers at a beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Jankiel Carranza, of JCJ Photos, said:

I saw this blazing object falling from the sky from northwest to northeast. I took a picture probably near the end of the sighting, but the object was even brighter just a few seconds before.

Carranza was able to capture the reentry with a camera using a 70-300mm zoom lens. His picture is a remarkable one, because it clearly shows a disintegrating object with noticeable fragmentation, leaving smaller objects or debris behind, which is characteristic of a manmade object reentry, and not a natural object such as a space rock (meteor).

At last contact, Starship was still at a 92-mile (148-km) altitude and traveling at around 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph), probably with propulsion. This means that any trajectory deviation or altitude loss would cause it to disintegrate through the atmosphere while still showing a huge speed. This description coincides with the object seen in this video taken from Puerto Rico.

Angélica Pérez, another witness to the event, said:

The object showed noticeable fragmentation, leaving smaller pieces behind the main, bright and golden object.

Here’s another video from San Juan, Puerto Rico, by Elias Sobrino Najul.

Many people in Puerto Rico, Anguilla and British Virgin Islands reported that they heard an explosion-like sound, and even felt a rumble, around 9:16 a.m. AST, which coincides with the time of the Starship reentry over the Caribbean. This suggests a good\-sized mass of the object was reentering the atmosphere, and since Starship was covered with thermal protection tiles, it cannot be ruled out that some considerable debris might in fact have reached the surface (ocean) in the eastern Caribbean.

A view from the Florida Keys

Although some people initially thought that Starship’s second stage also exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, this image taken from the Florida Keys suggests the spacecraft, with fins visible, was still intact when passing by that area during its flight.

Please let me know if my tracking shot of the Starship debris from the Florida Keys after its explosion could be of any use to you, I'd be happy to provide the raw footage. pic.twitter.com/AmZ1vgNmaY

— Astronomy Live (@astroferg) November 19, 2023

Reentry maps

Bottom line: After the launch of Starship on November 18, 2023, the spaceship seems to have triggered its self-destruct mode around 8 minutes in. Witnesses around Puerto Rico saw what they believe to be its fiery reentry.

The post Eyewitnesses saw fiery Starship reentry over Caribbean first appeared on EarthSky.

It was a picture-perfect liftoff for the 2nd orbital test flight of the SpaceX Starship. But it ended with a bang. Two, in fact.

The 20-minute test window for the 2nd launch of SpaceX’s mighty Starship opened at 7 a.m. CT (13 UTC) on Saturday, November 18, 2023. After a brief delay, the powerful rocketship lifted off slowly and majestically from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/qXnGXXZP5k

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023

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Unfortunately, neither stage of the test vehicle survived the flight. Following a successful stage separation about 165 seconds into the mission, the main stage flipped itself around for its planned touchdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Then it exploded. The RUD – rapid unscheduled disassembly – came about 30 seconds after stage separation.

Stage separation! pic.twitter.com/PipaCW1PDT

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023

Starship’s 2nd stage continued its journey despite the booster’s explosion. Mission control, however, lost contact with the vehicle soon after. A 2nd stage RUD is suspected. Given the speed and altitude when the 2nd stage stopped communicating, it’s likely it continued well along its planned path.

So I did some back of the envelope math, and based on the velocity and altitude it likely made it to the Atlantic ocean and burned up there

— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) November 18, 2023

A replay of the epic launch is available on the SpaceX official Twitter account.

Watch Starship’s second integrated flight test ? https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/cahoRQ72lm

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 18, 2023

The greatest rocket ever flown

In case you haven’t heard, Starship is the world’s tallest and most powerful rocket. And this 2nd Starship test launch has been anticipated for some months, at least since the first test launch – which sent aloft the most powerful rocket ever flown, in April 2023 – ended in a dramatic mid-air explosion. Among other problems, the launch also obliterated the concrete launch pad beneath the mighty rocket and blew out some windows.

Afterwards, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had questions. And SpaceX could not launch Starship without further FAA approval. In the nick of time, on Wednesday of this week, the FAA granted SpaceX a license to fly its 2nd Starship.

The nod from the FAA – which was much awaited by both space fans and SpaceX – arrived just three days before the hoped-for launch.

We need to replace a grid fin actuator, so launch is postponed to Saturday

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2023

FAA approval at last

In an email statement, the FAA said the aerospace company addressed all the agency’s concerns following Starship’s first test flight in April 2023.

SpaceX recently provided the FAA with additional information regarding operation of a deluge system, addition of a forward heat shield interstage to the vehicle, and expansion of the Area of Potential Effects for cultural resources.

The FAA has given license authorization for the second launch of the @SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle. The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.https://t.co/gmSbhHGohv

— The FAA ?? (@FAANews) November 15, 2023

Musk said Starship was ready in September

Space fans got excited in September about a possible launch of Starship. It would have been the 2nd launch of a Starship; the first one launched successfully but ended in a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD) – an explosion – over the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2023.

There was excitement for the 2nd launch of Starship, but there were also maritime warnings both in the Gulf of Mexico and near Hawaii. CEO Elon Musk had announced on September 6, 2023 – via X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter – that everything was in order.

Then paperwork intervened …

Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval https://t.co/WjENkdudo9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 6, 2023

63 corrective actions needed

Starship must have FAA approval to launch. Finally, on September 8, 2023, the FAA broke its silence. On the day some were hoping to see Starship’s 2nd flight, we instead got a statement from the FAA, saying SpaceX had a lot of work left to do:

The final report cites multiple root causes of the April 20, 2023, mishap and 63 corrective actions SpaceX must take to prevent mishap reoccurrence.

SpaceX, the agency said, needed a safer approach to testing its monster rocket:

Corrective actions include redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of safety critical systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety System, and the application of additional change control practices.

For its part, SpaceX said in a quickly issued response (also September 8, 2023) that it was already taking steps to address the FAA’s concerns. The company said it learned “numerous lessons” from the first flight.

And SpaceX said in its September 8 statement that the company must maintain its breakneck pace. It said that rapid pace is key to the company’s success:

This rapid iterative development approach has been the basis for all of SpaceX’s major innovative advancements, including Falcon, Dragon, and Starlink.

It’s likely SpaceX knew generally what the FAA had to say, as the company said its investigation was overseen by the FAA, NASA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

What went wrong with SpaceX Starship the 1st time?

SpaceX also gave a rundown of how its first attempt to get Starship to orbit went wrong. From the moment the engines ignited, there were problems that continued until the vehicle finally exploded about 39 km (24 miles) over the Gulf of Mexico.

The company provided a brief timeline of the flight and how they’re going to prevent a repeat of its mishaps:

During ascent, the vehicle sustained fires from leaking propellant in the aft end of the Super Heavy booster, which eventually severed connection with the vehicle’s primary flight computer. This led to a loss of communications to the majority of booster engines and, ultimately, control of the vehicle. SpaceX has since implemented leak mitigations and improved testing on both engine and booster hardware. As an additional corrective action, SpaceX has significantly expanded Super Heavy’s preexisting fire suppression system in order to mitigate against future engine bay fires.

Also addressed was the disintegration of a massive reinforced concrete slab under the launchpad during liftoff. SpaceX’s new fire suppression system will prevent another storm of concrete during the next test flight.

SpaceX also made significant upgrades to the orbital launch mount and pad system in order to prevent a recurrence of the pad foundation failure observed during the first flight test. These upgrades include significant reinforcements to the pad foundation and the addition of a flame deflector, which SpaceX has successfully tested multiple times.

So the previous attempt in April 2023 to get Starship to orbit ended in a bang. It also added RUD – rapid unscheduled disassembly – to the list of nerdy things space geeks like to say.

Bottom line: SpaceX’s Starship – world’s most powerful rocket – launched successfully Saturday, November 18, 2023. But it ended with a bang. Two, in fact.

The post SpaceX Starship 2nd test flight: A blast! And a success first appeared on EarthSky.

Lost tool bag captured on video

The tool bag recently lost by NASA astronauts during a spacewalk is now orbiting Earth and is surprisingly visible to stargazers. The object can appear as bright as a 6th-magnitude star. You can see it in the video above by Eddie Irizzary and Nelson Ortega taken from Añasco, Puerto Rico, on November 11, 2023, around 7:15 pm AST (23:15 UTC). At the time, the tool bag was passing close to where we see Delta Aquilae and Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. Orbital tracking and predictions confirm the object in this video is, in fact, the tool bag that astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara accidentally lost on November 2, 2023.

The tool bag changes slightly in brightness, suggesting the object is tumbling as it orbits our planet. Although the tool bag was ahead of the International Space Station (ISS) by about a minute or two shortly after the incident, it is gradually appearing farther ahead of the ISS as it loses altitude.

In fact, it was already about five minutes ahead of the ISS on November 11 (the date the video was taken). By mid-November, the tool bag should be ahead by about ten minutes.

Observations also indicate that as the tool bag loses altitude, it has drifted slightly to the east, or left, of the ISS’s trajectory.

In the last segment of the video above, the ISS appears. It was passing close to where we see the bright star Altair.

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How long will it be up there?

The tool bag should remain in orbit around Earth for a few months yet. Unlike the ISS, the tool bag will rapidly descend in orbit until it reaches about 70 miles (113 km). At that point it will disintegrate. New estimates indicate the tool bag should reenter the atmosphere between March and July of 2024.

How to see the tool bag with binoculars

It’s surprisingly bright (for a tool bag), shining just below the limit of visibility to the unaided eye at around magnitude +6. That means some sky observers should be able to pick it up with binoculars.

The first step to seeing it is checking if you have a visible pass of the ISS. Check here for how to see ISS in your sky. Your strategy will be to figure out the trajectory of the ISS and look for it before the space station crosses the sky. It’s already five minutes ahead of the ISS and will soon be nearly 10 minutes ahead.

If you get an image, please submit it to EarthSky Community Photos!

How did it get lost?

The spacewalkers were conducting repairs on assemblies that allow the ISS solar arrays to track the sun continuously. A blog post at SciTechDaily, which was describing the spacewalk, explained:

During the activity, one tool bag was inadvertently lost. Flight controllers spotted the tool bag using external station cameras. The tools were not needed for the remainder of the spacewalk. Mission Control analyzed the bag’s trajectory and determined that risk of recontacting the station is low and that the onboard crew and space station are safe with no action required.

The lost tool bag on social media

Last seen by @Astro_Satoshi while floating over Mount Fuji ? the 'Orbital Police' can confirm that the lost EVA gear is being tracked ? https://t.co/wz4MITmAfM pic.twitter.com/eksfu9fPFw

— Dr Meganne Christian (@astro_meganne) November 5, 2023

A tool bag was lost during last week’s EVA to replace a trundle bearing on the port solar alpha array. The object is now listed in the catalog as ID 1998-067WC/58229. The tool bag as a +6th magnitude ‘star’ currently about a minute ahead of the ISS.https://t.co/2YZf3PnjzV

— Dave Dickinson (@Astroguyz) November 6, 2023

The crew lock bag that floated free during the Nov 1 EVA-89 spacewalk has been cataloged as 58229 / 1998-067WC in a 415 x 416 km orbit

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) November 5, 2023

Not the first time

And this isn’t the first time a NASA astronaut has lost a tool bag. On November 18, 2008, astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper was performing a similar repair at the ISS when she inadvertently lost a tool bag.

Some two months later, on January 12, 2009, the object was still visible ahead of ISS and was seen with binoculars by Joxelle Velazquez among others during a star party at Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. See the image below.

There’ve been earlier losses of astronauts’ items, too, to the junkyard of near-Earth orbit. Victor Tangermann at Futurism reported on November 3:

It’s far from the first time astronauts have lost track of tools in space. Back in 1965, NASA astronaut Ed White infamously lost a spare glove during a spacewalk outside of his Gemini 4 spacecraft. Over the decades, several other astronauts have lost other objects, from spare bolts in 2006 to an entire bag ironically containing a debris shield in 2017.

And, although NASA has determined that the 2023 tool bag isn’t on a trajectory that’s dangerous to the astronauts aboard the ISS at this time, the problem of litter in near-Earth orbit remains and is serious. As Tangermann wrote at Futurism:

The problem, of course, is that not every piece of space debris will stay out of the way of future space travelers.

And that is a sad truth.

Bottom line: NASA astronauts accidentally lost a tool bag during a spacewalk on November 2. Now, observers on the ground have caught the tool bag on video. See it here.

Via SciTechDaily

The post Lost tool bag from spacewalk caught on video first appeared on EarthSky.

UPDATE: The CRS-29 Dragon has now docked with ISS. NASA said early on November 11, 2023:

While the International Space Station was traveling more than 262 miles [422 km] over central Brazil, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to station’s Harmony module at 5:07 a.m. EST, with NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara monitoring operations from the station.

CRS-29: SpaceX resupply mission to the ISS

SpaceX successfully launched its 29th cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, November 9, 2023. The CRS-29 mission lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:28 p.m. EST on November 9 (1:28 UTC on November 10). Dragon delivered over 6,500 pounds (3,000 kg) of supplies and scientific hardware to the ISS, including seasonal treats like chocolate, pumpkin spice coffee, and cranberry sauce.

NASA astronauts and Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara monitored the CRS-29 Dragon capsule’s docking with the ISS on Saturday, November 11. NASA TV began its docking coverage at 3:45 a.m. EST (8:45 UTC) on Saturday. The docking itself took place at 5:21 a.m. EST (10:21 UTC).

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See the launch in the video below

You can watch a recorded livestream of the launch in the video below, or on SpaceX’s X account.

AWE and ILLUMA-T

Among the cargo are two distinguished experiments, AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) and ILLUMA-T (Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal). Both are funded by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation Program.

The AWE experiment seeks to determine the forces driving space weather, challenging the previous belief that only the sun’s solar wind influences the upper atmosphere. Specifically, it will help scientists study airglow patterns. Airglow refers to the faint, predominantly greenish or reddish glow of the Earth’s upper atmosphere, particularly in the night sky.

ILLUMA-T, on the other hand, is poised to revolutionize space communications. The experiment will test high-speed laser communications, working in tandem with NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration mission. By creating NASA’s first two-way laser communications relay system, ILLUMA-T opens the door to improving how we send data in space, adding to the existing radio systems and preparing scientists for more advanced exploration in outer space.

After CRS-29, more spaceflight to come

After Thursday night’s launch, the Falcon 9’s first stage landed back on Earth at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1. The November 10 launch marked the 9th flight on the Commercial Resupply Services-2 SpaceX contract and the 2nd flight of this Dragon spacecraft, which previously flew on NASA’s SpaceX 26th resupply services mission. Previously, this Dragon supported the Crew-7 mission.

The ISS is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. With 273 individuals from 21 countries having visited the ISS, the orbiting laboratory continues to symbolize global collaboration: not a bad message for these trying times.

Bottom line: SpaceX launched its 29th cargo mission to the ISS atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida at 8:28 p.m. EST (01:28 UTC on November 10). The cargo arrived at the ISS at 5:21 a.m. EST (10:21 UTC) on November 11.

Via NASA: NASA’s SpaceX CRS-29 Mission Overview

The post SpaceX CRS-29 Dragon has docked with ISS first appeared on EarthSky.

You can watch a recorded livestream of the Starlink launches on SpaceX’s feed, on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Successful Starlink launches in October 2023

Starlink Group 6-21: October 5, 2023, 1:36 a.m. EDT (5:36 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 7-4: October 9, 2023, 12:23 p.m. PDT (7:23 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-22: October 13, 2023, 7 p.m. EDT  (23 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-23: October 17, 2023, 8:36 p.m. EDT (0:36 UTC October 18)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 7-5: October 21, 2023, 1:23 a.m. PDT (8:23 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-24: October 21, 2023, 10:17 p.m. EDT (2:17 UTC October 22)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 7-6: October 29, 2023, 2 a.m. PDT (9 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-25: October 30, 2023, 7:20 p.m. EDT (23:20 UTC)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

After launch, look for a train of lights

Following every Starlink launch, the internet buzzes with people asking:

What’s that long line of lights in the sky that looks like a train?

What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites moving into a higher orbit. You can check to see if they will pass over your area using the Find Starlink website.

Growing numbers amid controversy

According to Wikipedia, as of August 2023, Starlink consists of over 5,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. They provide internet access to more than 2 million subscribers.

Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s vision for a global internet communication satellite constellation. They deliver high-speed internet service worldwide, mainly to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable, or expensive. The private company is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, several times a month, regularly lofting 60 satellites at a time. And SpaceX plans to build up to perhaps as many as 30,000 eventually.

Most thought it was exciting to see the first few Starlink satellites traveling together in the night sky. But then more were launched, and then more. And astronomers began to worry.

Because Starlinks are bright, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical images. Therefore, they have the potential to interfere with the professional astronomical observations that have brought us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And although SpaceX has tried to address the issue, they remain far from what astronomers say is acceptable.

Bottom line: SpaceX’s final Starlink launch for the month took flight from Florida at 6:20 p.m. EDT (23:20 UTC) on October 30, 2023.

Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light

Via Next Spaceflight

The post SpaceX wraps up Starlink launches for October first appeared on EarthSky.

Watch the live coverage and review in the video at the top of this post, plus on YouTube, X, Facebook, Twitch, Daily Motion, the NASA app, NASA TV, and NASA’s UHD Channel.

16 Psyche was one of the first asteroids to be discovered, in the year 1852. It isn’t made of rock, and it isn’t made of ice. Instead, it’s a rare metal asteroid, orbiting our sun in the solar system’s asteroid belt between the 4th planet Mars and 5th planet Jupiter. We haven’t yet explored any world quite like it. And so scientists at Arizona State University – which is leading the mission – are thrilled about the launch of the space mission to 16 Psyche.

The craft is due to arrive at the asteroid in 2029.

Although not everyone agrees, some scientists believe this asteroid is the remains of an iron-rich core from a failed planet. If so – and if asteroid mining techniques could be developed – Psyche’s metallic resources might be worth some $10,000 quadrillion (that’s 15 more zeroes).

But that’s not the only reason scientists are interested in 16 Psyche!

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Psyche mission goals

The current mission isn’t about mining. It’s about exploring. After it arrives in 2029, the Psyche spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for three years. During that time, scientists hope to learn more about the origins of the asteroid and whether it truly was the core of a failed planet.

They also want to explore Psyche’s topography (the features on its surface) and determine the age of its surface. They say it’ll give them insight into the interiors of all the terrestrial planets, including Earth.

But the big question may be … is Psyche a true metal asteroid, as once believed? Or is it closer to what scientists call a “rubble pile?”

There’s no way (at present) to put a true price on space objects such as asteroids. But many have tried to estimate the worth of asteroid Psyche, with its metal-rich composition. One estimate suggests a massive, metal-rich object would be worth $10,000 quadrillion, more than the entire economy of Earth.

If Psyche isn’t as dense as once believed, this estimate will go down.

Still, either way, Psyche will be worth a lot! And, to scientists, it’ll remain … priceless.

Mining the asteroid?

Now, about that $10,000 quadrillion worth of metals in Psyche … again, the current mission isn’t about mining asteroid Psyche. Instead, according to NASA, Psyche is a science mission to learn more about asteroids and the formation of terrestrial planets.

No one on Earth is yet at a stage where we can successfully go to an asteroid and mine it. But private companies are working on how to mine asteroids. Learn more about the asteroid mining process in the video below.

More about Psyche

Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovered Psyche in 1852. It was the 16th asteroid discovered. Hence its designation 16 Psyche. De Gasparis named the asteroid after the Greek goddess of the soul.

Psyche measures approximately 140 miles (225 km) in diameter, with a surface area of about 64,000 square miles (165,800 km²). Current estimates of its density are 3,400 to 4,100 kg/m³. This density measurement would mean the asteroid is 30 to 60% metal by volume.

Scientists speculate that Psyche was once a young planetesimal, a solid object drifting with other debris in orbit around our newly forming sun. They think it’s possible that Psyche might ultimately have formed a planet, and that its composition had already separated out into an iron core and a rocky mantle. But the early solar system was a violent place. Debris was flying! And a collision might have ripped away Psyche’s rocky exterior.

So a planet never formed. Psyche become a lowly asteroid instead, orbiting with thousands of other asteroids around our sun. But if in fact Psyche was once on its way to becoming a planet, scientists might now have a first-row seat on viewing a planet, from the inside out.

The mission’s instruments

The Psyche mission carries three primary instruments: a multispectral imager, a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer and a magnetometer. These instruments will be investigating the first metal space object that humankind has ever visited.

The imagers will take pictures while the spectrometer will measure the elemental composition of Psyche. The magnetometer will check for any remaining magnetic field, which will be an indication of whether or not Psyche was once a planetary core.

Psyche also has an X-band radio telecommunications system that will help map the asteroid’s gravity and structure. The system is also used in sending commands to the spacecraft and receiving data back on Earth.

Bottom line: The Psyche mission has successfully launched to a priceless asteroid. The spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy from KSC in Florida on October 13, 2023.

Via NASA

Via ASU

The Psyche launch and its journey to a metal world: What to expect

The post Psyche mission launch success! Priceless asteroid, here we come first appeared on EarthSky.