(Bloomberg) -- SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, one of the world’s most powerful operational rockets, blasted off on Tuesday carrying into orbit a new US satellite designed to help weather forecasters monitor massive solar storms.
The rocket, comprised of three modified Falcon cores, launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:26 p.m. local time, according to a live webcast.
The mission is ongoing. Falcon Heavy’s side boosters are scheduled to return and land at SpaceX’s facilities a few minutes after liftoff, while the rocket continues on to deploy the satellite several hours later, according to SpaceX.
GOES-U is the fourth and final satellite in a series from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA. Once GOES-U reaches geostationary orbit, it will be renamed GOES-19. GOES-16, the first in the series, launched in 2016.
Once it arrives to its intended orbit, a fixed position high above the Earth, the GOES-U satellite will use a compact coronagraph that will help weather forecasters monitor solar storms, track hurricanes and lightning, take atmospheric measurements and capture images of Earth.
A coronagraph is a telescope designed to block out the light of the sun so that researchers can see its corona or outermost layer. Coronagraphs help researchers predict the impact of solar flares and so-called coronal mass ejections — essentially massive expulsions of plasma and magnetic field lines — by measuring their size, velocity and density.
A solar storm can shine dazzling displays of light, such as the aurora in May. But the largest geomagnetic storm since 2003 also caused widespread radio blackouts and distortions to normal energy patterns across the Americas.
Last year, Falcon Heavy launched the world’s largest commercial communications satellite and, separately, the X-37B secretive spaceplane from the US Space Force.
SpaceX is separately developing an even bigger rocket, Starship, to launch satellites and take astronauts to the moon in the coming years.
(Recasts with liftoff, adds details on the mission.)
Chang'e 6 haul expected to include ancient volcanic rock that will answer questions about differences between the moon's two sides
Author of the article:
The Associated Press
Huizhong Wu
Published Jun 25, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
Officials prepare to recover the landing module of the Chang'e 6 moon probe after it landed in Inner Mongolia, in northern China, on Tuesday.Photo by AFP
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BANGKOK — China’s Chang’e 6 probe returned on Earth with rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first. The probe landed in the Inner Mongolian region in northern China on Tuesday afternoon local time.
“I now declare that the Chang’e 6 Lunar Exploration Mission achieved complete success,” Zhang Kejian, Director of the China National Space Administration, said in a televised news conference after the landing.
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Chinese scientists anticipate the returned samples will include 2.5-million-year-old volcanic rock and other material that scientists hope will answer questions about geographic differences on the moon’s two sides.
The near side is what is seen from Earth, and the far side faces outer space. The far side is also known to have mountains and impact craters, contrasting with the relatively flat expanses visible on the near side.
The probe had landed in the moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater created more than 4 billion years ago. The samples scientists are expecting will likely come from different layers of the basin, which will bear traces of the different geological events across its long chronology, such as when the moon was younger and had an active inside that could produce volcanic rock.
While past U.S. and Soviet missions have collected samples from the moon’s near side, the Chinese mission was the first that has collected samples from the far side.
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“This is a global first in the sense that it’s the first time anyone has been able to take off from the far side of the moon and bring back samples,” said Richard de Grijs, a professor of astrophysics at Macquarie University in Australia.
The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. — still the leader in space exploration — and others, including Japan and India. China has put its own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.
China’s leader Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations to the Chang’e team, saying that it was a “landmark achievement in our country’s efforts at becoming a space and technological power.”
The probe left earth on May 3, and its journey lasted 53 days. The probe has drilled into the surface and scooped rocks from the surface.
The samples “are expected to answer one of the most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: what geologic activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?” said Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a statement issued in the Innovation Monday, a journal published in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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China in recent years has launched multiple successful missions to the moon, collecting samples from the moon’s near side with the Chang’e 5 probe previously.
They are also hoping that the probe will return with material that bear traces of meteorite strikes from the moon’s past. That material could shed light on the solar system’s early days. There’s a theory that the moon acted as a vacuum cleaner of sorts, attracting all the meteorites and debris in the system’s earlier era so that they didn’t hit Earth, said de Grijs, who is also executive director at the International Space Science Institute — Beijing.
China has said it plans to share the samples with international scientists, although it did not say exactly in which countries.
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While NASA and Boeing are focused on finishing the first astronaut mission aboard the Starliner spacecraft early next month, what happens next is already on everyone's mind.
Boeing's Starliner capsule was delayed again Friday (June 21) in finishing its first International Space Station (ISS) mission with astronauts, with crew including NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Extra testing still remains ahead of undocking, team officials emphasized; Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster issues that extended its Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission from an originally planned 10 days after launching June 5. NASA and Boeing have not yet announced a return date for Starliner, saying only it will happen after a July 2 spacewalk.
As a test flight, the unexpected on CFT was in a sense, expected. But there's a key milestone coming up fast: Starliner was expected to start its first operational mission to the ISS in early 2025. Known as Starliner-1, it is manifested to carry at least three astronauts to the ISS for a normal six-month mission.
NASA's Steve Stich told reporters recently (before the most recent delay on Friday) that the certification timeline for Starliner-1 may shift to the right, but the focus right now is bringing CFT to a safe conclusion.
"We're not going to go fly another mission like this with the helium leaks," Stich, manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said during a June 18 teleconference. That discussion will come "later this summer, [to] lay out all the work in front of us after the vehicle comes back with the crew, and then figure out what the path forward is."
Starliner's first helium leak was found on the launch pad in early May, after a scrub due to a valve issue with the capsule's United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The leak was not deemed an immediate threat to launch, but NASA and Boeing uncovered a design vulnerability in which, if enough of Starliner's reaction control system (RCS) thrusters go offline, the capsule's reentry could be affected. The team certified an additional reentry mode in simulations with the astronauts, before authorizing Starliner again for launch.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
CFT made it off the pad without issue on June 5, but Starliner experienced issues with five of its 28 RCS thrusters on its way to the ISS for docking. The first docking attempt was waved off, but Starliner achieved the second docking successfully a few hours later. Four new helium leaks also arose after Starliner reached space; a fault tree analysis and other work is still going on to figure out the root cause.
Starliner also had RCS thruster issues during its first uncrewed ISS docking in May 2022, but those appear to be due to a separate problem, officials said during the June 18 briefing. Learning why is still at an early stage.
Boeing's Starliner during its final approach to the International Space Station on June 6, 2024. (Image credit: NASA)
Both NASA and Boeing have emphasized repeatedly that timelines are not the priority on CFT, and that the unpredictable can always arise. The mission's two astronauts, former U.S. Navy test pilots, have said much the same.
The mission team is using the extra time in space to understand how Starliner's service module is behaving, as it contains most of the spacecraft's fuel and power and will be discarded during landing. The RCS thrusters appear to be mostly working now, while the helium leaks are "stable and less than measured [before]," according to Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's commercial crew program.
Notably, CFT has achieved 77 of the original 87 flight test objectives; the final 10 will be evaluated during undocking and landing, he added.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore, the first people to fly on Boeing Starliner, are the two astronauts of Crew Flight Test. (Image credit: NASA/Frank Micheaux)
Work after CFT will include trying to understand what is "causing the thrusters to have low thrust and then be deselected" by flight control systems, as the astronauts encountered this month, Stich said. The "silver lining" of the extended mission is that it will allow teams to get data in space that would not be possible to collect on the ground, potentially saving time in troubleshooting later.
"My goal is to get the quirks ... out of the system before we get to the phase where we will be using this vehicle to rotate up for crew members and then bring them back at the end of six months," Stich said. Some ideas are already coming to mind: for example, perhaps mission teams will change the "aggressiveness of the rendezvous profile" so as not to tax the thrusters, by firing them a little less.
"We fully intend to eliminate these, call them nuisances, for the flight," he added. "The good thing about the situation that we have is that we can stay up a little bit longer, like we talked, and get as much data as we possibly can so that we can fully understand this, or understand to the best of our ability, so we can eliminate it. And our intent is to fully eliminate these issues."
Selfie taken by CST-100 Starliner backup NASA astronaut Mike Fincke (at right) with prime crewmates Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams aboard Boeing's Astrovan II during a launch-day rehearsal in April 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Mike Fincke (via X))
NASA and Boeing do not anticipate, however, the need to fly an additional test flights to work out the issues ahead of Starliner certification.
"We characterize these problems as learning, and additional fine-tuning that we need to do to the vehicle, in order to [achieve] a certification for our vehicle," Nappi said. "I don't see these as safety-of-flight types of issues that we would have to go fly an uncrewed vehicle to further demonstrate the system."
Starliner-1 will carry NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Scott Tingle, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk. The crew is far along in its training and is working closely with CFT. Fincke is a long-running astronaut with Starliner and was backup for CFT, for example, while Kutryk served as capcom (capsule communicator) during the crucial ascent phase of the test mission.
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Starliner and SpaceX's Dragon capsule are tasked with bringing NASA-led astronaut crews to and from the ISS. Both Boeing and SpaceX received billion-dollar-scale contracts in 2014 for taxi services that were originally expected to begin in 2017. Technical and funding issues pushed that timeline back for both vendors, however.
SpaceX, borrowing its design from its robotic Dragon cargo spacecraft, which has been operational since 2012, achieved its first human flight in 2020. Starliner is a new spacecraft and encountered more development issues, which often arises with complex new aerospace projects.
The path to CFT was postponed after the first uncrewed test in December 2019 failed to reach the ISS due to technical glitches. The second uncrewed mission made it in 2022, but more issues with Starliner were found in 2023 with the parachute loading and with flammable tape on much of the capsule's wiring.
The Starliner rocket that carried two astronauts to the International Space Station is now stuck in space and its return to Earth has been postponed until at least July 2. A report has emerged saying that the US space agency NASA knew before the launch of a helium leak but it was deemed too minor to pose a safety risk. The situation worsened as the spacecraft developed four additional helium leaks after it reached the orbit, rendering one thruster unusable. It means that the return trip of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will not materialise unless all safety checks have been done.
Watch: Gravitas: NASA scientists fix Voyager 1 from 30 billion kilometres away
CBS reported that NASA will further analyse and review the leaks and the thruster. The US space agency will conduct re-entry tests before determining the next return date. The report said the delay in return is unlikely to extend beyond July 2.
Are Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams safe?
Amid all speculations and rumours, NASA has stressed that both astronauts in the spacecraft are safe and not stranded. They are cleared to undock and return home at any time if any malfunction or problem arises.
But the situation might not be that easy for Boeing officials on Earth. The Starliner fiasco comes as salt into the company's wounds, as it is already facing criticism for high-profile malfunctions of its planes over the past year.
At least 20 whistleblowers have highlighted issues with the company's safety and quality standards and expressed concerns.
NASA 'taking its time'
Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said, "We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process."
He said they make decisions based on data. They will do a review at the agency level like they did before when NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission returned from space after two months.
(With inputs from agencies)
Vikrant Singh
Geopolitical writer at WION, follows Indian foreign policy and world politics, a truth seeker.
Published Jun 23, 2024 • Last updated 46 minutes ago • 4 minute read
A porcupine in a tree captured on camera by Alberta photographer Memory Roth.Photo by Memory Roth /Supplied
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Tucked away in northwest Edmonton, hived off by the Henday, the shoreline of a shallow natural lake sprawls eight kilometres at the beating wetland heart of Lois Hole Centennial Park.
Big Lake is bigger than ever this year, thanks to the province chipping in another 238 hectares in January 2024. That’s up from the 1,119 hectares of lake and wetlands designated Big Lake Natural Area in 1999, and Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park (LHCPP), formed by the province in 2005 in honour of the late lieutenant-governor of Alberta.
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At-risk birds that hang out among the 235 species spotted at Big Lake include Sprague’s pipits, trumpeter and tundra swans, and peregrine falcons.
Among the pelicans, great blue herons, lesser yellowlegs and loons, the world-travelling Franklin’s gulls flock in annually by the thousands from Peru and Chile to create floating nests anchored in vegetation flourishing in the shallows.
A small mammalian universe, Big Lake hosts an impressive array from the large — lumbering moose — to the small — 13-striped ground squirrel.
Others in the marshy habitat range from white-tailed deer and beaver to red fox, snowshoe hare or the shy, fierce wolverine.
Coyotes can be seen frolicking there from nearby Ray Gibbon Drive, which is too often bloodied by moose strikes.
Realism of details
Big Lake is also the artistic home to prize-winning St. Albert photographer and artist Memory Roth, whose misty-tinged and grippingly detailed wildlife paintings are known for capturing infinite details in realism, like the sunset’s glow on a moose’s beard.
In 2006, a friend invited her to do an art class, and Roth found her niche in painting — oils, not acrylic, as she prefers the longer window for blending.
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Mama and Me (#4 Big Lake Series), a painting by Alberta artist Memory Roth.Photo by Memory Roth /Supplied
Before he died, her husband urged her to pursue her artistic talents.
“I wasn’t sure if I would, but I did a series, and it just kind of grew up,” Roth said.
That led to recognition — awards and publications — particularly after she joined the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Roth recalled needing to find something new to do on quiet evenings.
Storm Approaching (#2 Big Lake Series), a painting by Alberta artist Memory Roth.Photo by Memory Roth /Supplied
A photographer friend introduced her to Big Lake, where she looks to capture the beautiful and the unusual — first with photo images, then with brushstrokes. Like the bristly bulk of “Porky,” the resident porcupine, perched up a tree like some prickly, oversized bird.
Her favourite Big Lake denizen? The ruddy duck, also known as Oxyura jamaicensis, is a smaller, stiff-tailed charmer with his own modus operandi for impressing females during mating season. His grey bill turns bright turquoise and he flirts aquatically.
“The male makes bubbles just below his chest to impress women,” Roth said.
A moose in a snowstorm captured on camera by Alberta artist Memory Roth.Photo by Memory Roth /Supplied
Big lake, old origins
Just four metres deep, Big Lake is part of the Sturgeon River chain that leads from Hoople Lake to the North Saskatchewan River.
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One of just three bird’s-foot deltas in Alberta, with long channels that branch outward like a bird’s foot, it’s numbered by Alberta Fish and Wildlife among the 20 most important habitat areas in the province.
Nomadic people’s sites as well as recovered stone tools and weapons show the lake was a prehistoric centre, perched on the sands and gravels of the glacier-born Empress Formation, an aquifer 100 feet below its surface.
The Big Lake Environment Support Society (BLESS) welcomed news of the lake’s growth.
“These additional lands will now be environmentally protected and only used for nature-based activities compatible with the conservation of this important wetland and bird habitat,” said Kevin Aschim, BLESS vice-president, in a media release.
The addition included a 90-acre parcel north of 137 Avenue and a parcel southwest of the intersection at Ray Gibbon Drive and LeClair Way. A parcel in the northwest corner of Edmonton’s Starling neighbourhood was also set aside for LHCPP.
A proposed realignment of nearby roadways is expected to protect the natural area.
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Take pictures, protect the wild
Memory Roth recalls a surprise encounter with a 1,200-pound male moose on the trail at Big Lake.
“I thought, ‘What do I do? Do I run? Do I lie down? What do I do?’” she said.
Another woman called out, “Are you OK?” and distracted the moose.
But then Roth responded “I’m OK, as long as he’s OK,” and he fixed his ire back on her. Then, thanks to the distraction from other hikers, she evaded a closer, more dangerous encounter.
She applies lessons learned about respecting the hulking herbivore that’s not an uncommon sight on the trails of Big Lake or the nearby Grey Nuns White Spruce Park, where she sometimes wanders for inspiration, with its four kilometres of trails, boardwalks, picnic shelters and viewpoints.
St. Albert artist and photographer Memory Roth.Photo by Ron Richey Photography /Supplied
In a panic during mating or calving seasons, a stressed moose can build speeds to 60 kilometres per hour.
“You stay far away. If you want to take pictures, have a long lens,” Roth said.
“If you see they look agitated — the hair on the back of their neck and on their backs will start to stand up — or if they start snorting, if they start pawing, if they urinate, if they flatten their ears, it’s almost too late.
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“You have to respect the wildlife that you see, respect the boundaries that you need to keep, and if you get a great shot in those boundaries, great.”
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An asteroid large enough it could do some damage if it were to impact Earth will make a rare pass by us this week that will bring it closer than the moon. Fortunately, it will sail harmlessly right on by our planet.
In the process, though, it will become bright enough to see with binoculars, another rarity for a near-Earth object and one of the brightest such events in recent years. Most asteroids passing closer than the moon are so small they can only be seen by advanced telescopes or sky surveys and would burn up completely in the atmosphere were they to impact Earth (as some occasionally do).
The space rock has been labeled as asteroid 2024 MK by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. It measures between 130 and 280 meters (427 and 919 feet) in diameter, according to the European Space Agency (ESA), and was discovered on June 16 before being officially announced on June 19.
Its closest approach is set to happen on June 29, when it will pass within 184,000 miles. For comparison, the moon is an average of about 239,000 miles distant from our planet.
The ESA says 2024 MK will reach a peak brightness of magnitude 8.5, which is comparable to the Large Magellanic Cloud for experienced skywatchers. Using an amateur telescope, the asteroid should be visible from the southern hemisphere as it approaches Earth and will be easier to see from the northern half of the planet after its closest approach on Saturday after it begins to head away from us.
Astronomers assure us there is no chance of impact, but on the cosmic scale this is actually a pretty close shave for an object of this size. Consider that the bolide that exploded over Russia in 2013, blowing out thousands of windows, was less than one-tenth the size of 2024 MK. This asteroid’s dimensions put it in what is colloquially (and somewhat creepily) referred to as the “city-killer” category. In other words, this hunk of cosmic detritus colliding with a metropolitan area wouldn’t be pretty.
But once again, there is nothing to actually worry about in this case. If you want to try and spot the asteroid yourself using a backyard telescope or pair of binoculars, you can use a tracking tool like The Sky Live, which puts 2024 MK’s current position in the constellation Centaurus. If you’re unable to try and spot it yourself or don’t have the gear, the Virtual Telescope Project will be conducting an online watch party you can join as it approaches.
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