Landing | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Fri, 09 Sep 2016 11:09:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Landing | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 NASA successfully launched Osiris-REx asteroid miner on 7 year trip https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/nasa-successfully-launched-osiris-rex-asteroid-miner-on-7-year-trip/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/nasa-successfully-launched-osiris-rex-asteroid-miner-on-7-year-trip/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2016 11:09:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=305593 NASA's Osiris-REx spacecraft has been successfully launched into a hyperbolic trajectory aboard an Atlas V rocket. The asteroid miner will spend the next seven years catching up with the Bennu asteroid, orbiting it and taking a sample from its surface, before returning to Earth. Lifting off at 7:05 PM local time at the Kennedy Space Center …

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NASA's Osiris-REx spacecraft has been successfully launched into a hyperbolic trajectory aboard an Atlas V rocket. The asteroid miner will spend the next seven years catching up with the Bennu asteroid, orbiting it and taking a sample from its surface, before returning to Earth.

Lifting off at 7:05 PM local time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Atlas V 411 configuration used a combination of liquid fuel RD-180 engine and a single solid rocket booster. It's an interesting design, with off-centre booster placement, but thanks to engine vectoring was able to stay straight and true on its mission, launching the payload successfully out of Earth's influence without incident.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfQdFY9PQM']

But uniqueness of the rocketry configuration aside, the Bennu mission itself is an exciting one. While the Japanese Hayabusa space craft returned the first samples of an asteroid in 2010, they totalled less than a gram of material. With Osiris-REx, the plan is to capture close to a kilogram of asteroid, before returning it to Earth for analysis.

To acquire the sample, the plan is for Osiris-REx to approach close to the surface of the asteroid, before hitting it with a burst of gas. It's hoped that dislodged material can then be collected and stored, before making the trip home.

osirisrex

Artist's interpretation of the sampling process. Source: NASA

It's hoped that since Bennu is estimated to be several billion years old, it will us a much greater insight into the history of the solar system and potentially hint at where life on Earth may have come from. The only catch is that it's going to take some time – seven years in fact – to make its round trip.

Part of that is because it needs to catch up with Bennu in the first place. To make that possible, Osiris-REx will pass by the Earth in September next year in order to gain a gravity assist, speeding it up, essentially for ‘free' without the use of additional fuel or power. Once it arrives around 2018, Osiris-REx will spend at least two and a half years orbiting and sampling the asteroid, before beginning the return trip.

The sample capture pod is expected to touch back down on Earth on 24th September 2023, while the orbiter will remain at Bennu for further study.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Fingers crossed for you Osiris-REx. It's bizarre to imagine remembering writing about your launch a near decade from now. The world is going to be very different when you return. 

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Space X does it again, nails fifth booster landing https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-does-it-again-nails-fifth-booster-landing/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-does-it-again-nails-fifth-booster-landing/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2016 08:15:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=303030 Space X continues to prove that its first stage recovery system for its Falcon 9 rocket launch, is a winning formula, as once again it has managed to return that booster to Earth via its drone barge. It successfully landed back home early Sunday morning, right after launching its satellite payload into orbit. This is the fourth time …

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Space X continues to prove that its first stage recovery system for its Falcon 9 rocket launch, is a winning formula, as once again it has managed to return that booster to Earth via its drone barge. It successfully landed back home early Sunday morning, right after launching its satellite payload into orbit.

This is the fourth time that Space X has brought home a booster on its automated drone ship, but the fifth time it has touched down a first stage. It initially brought one down on its landing pad in Cape Canaveral at the end of 2015, before beginning its drone landing successes.

jcsat16-01

This time around Space X was contracted to send up the JCSAT-16 commercial communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, which would see it sent out to quite a height, so that when it circularises the orbit, it would sit stationary above the Earth's surface.

The injection into orbit was successful and at last report, the transfer orbit was complete, with an apogee of 36,000 KM. All the while that was being achieved though, the first stage was returning to Earth, touching down safely on the drone ship “Of Course I still Love You.”

jcsat16-02

Once in its correct orbit, the JCSAT-16 will act as a backup for Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation, which provides satellite communications services all over the world via the Ku- and Ka-bands.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is almost old hat at this point! Space X is getting too good at it. The next big launch we'll be getting excited for is when a booster is first launched again. That will be a real test of the whole process. 

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Watch the Falcon 9 re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and touch down again https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/watch-the-falcon-9-re-enter-earths-atmosphere-and-touch-down-again/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/watch-the-falcon-9-re-enter-earths-atmosphere-and-touch-down-again/#comments Mon, 30 May 2016 12:07:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=294317 Last Friday saw Space X once again successfully touch down its Falcon 9 first-stage rocket on its automated-drone barge, after delivering its payload into orbit. The newly released video of the event shows off the entire descent, from re-entry burn, to suicide burn just above the landing pad. The video plays at several times the …

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Last Friday saw Space X once again successfully touch down its Falcon 9 first-stage rocket on its automated-drone barge, after delivering its payload into orbit. The newly released video of the event shows off the entire descent, from re-entry burn, to suicide burn just above the landing pad.

The video plays at several times the speed it really took place, but the whole process is captured as the booster rocket re-orients itself while outside of Earth's atmosphere, as it re-enters it and travels through cloud cover and as it spots the barge down below.

The final touch down is still nerve racking, even at speed and considering that Space X has already completed this sort of touch down several times before. The memories of the boosters exploding on impact are still too fresh for this to be a guaranteed win every time.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jEz03Z8azc']

So far so good though, as this is the third launch and landing that Space X has managed to pull off in a row. It has yet to re-use any of the booster rockets – that will be the big test of the cost-cutting system – but the fact that it is nailing the landing on a consistent basis is a very good sign.

When it does begin using old rocket parts for future launches, Space X believes it can save up to a third of the launch cost of Low-Earth-Orbit payloads. This makes launches far more affordable and paves the way for many more space-bound launches than we have been used to in the past.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Congratulations to Space X for really being the driving force of space exploration over the past few years. With NASA's budget issues, it feels like Space X is our best shot for getting people to Mars in the not-too-distant future.

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Space X lands Falcon 9 rocket on drone barge again https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-lands-falcon-9-rocket-on-drone-barge-again/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-lands-falcon-9-rocket-on-drone-barge-again/#respond Fri, 06 May 2016 10:36:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=291944 It was no fluke when Space X landed its Falcon 9 first stage rocket on its automated drone barge last month, as it's managed to do it again. This time following stage separation, sending the JCSAT-14 payload off into orbit, the first stage booster returned to Earth, landing smoothly on the drone barge, despite added …

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It was no fluke when Space X landed its Falcon 9 first stage rocket on its automated drone barge last month, as it's managed to do it again. This time following stage separation, sending the JCSAT-14 payload off into orbit, the first stage booster returned to Earth, landing smoothly on the drone barge, despite added difficulties.

falon9landing

Source: Space X

The history of Space X's attempts to land its booster rocket back on a solid surface has been one filled with almosts. Several times throughout 2014 and 2015 it tried to land back on its drone barge, with minor defects leading to just-misses every time. It eventually landed a booster back on solid ground in late-2015, but it was only in April this year that it finally made the sea-landing viable.

This is important as higher-velocity landings won't be possible on land and this latest touch-down was a great example of that. The higher speed of the returning booster this time meant that deceleration needed to utilise three engines rather than just one to bring it to a standstill, so the fact that the Space X team pulled it off is a huge achievement.

It's hoped that rocket landings such as this, will allow the boosters to be reused, saving as much as 30 per cent of associated costs on subsequent launches.

But of course as useful as that is, the main point of this launch was to get the JCSAT-14 satellite into orbit. It was successfully transferred into a geo-synchronous orbit by the second stage and will help provide better telecommunications over the Asia-Pacific region.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is another great step for Space X. Now we need to see how one of these boosters performs once it's been refurbished and readied for a second launch.

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Space X landed Falcon 9 is finally home for testing https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-landed-falcon-9-is-finally-home-for-testing/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-landed-falcon-9-is-finally-home-for-testing/#respond Wed, 20 Apr 2016 10:09:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=289971 Although the big, scary and complex journey for the Space X Falcon 9 rocket was its launch and recovery on the drone barge earlier this month, it still had to take a trip to Space X's facility at the Kennedy Space Centre. After many days of travel on the back of a much less impressive …

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Although the big, scary and complex journey for the Space X Falcon 9 rocket was its launch and recovery on the drone barge earlier this month, it still had to take a trip to Space X's facility at the Kennedy Space Centre. After many days of travel on the back of a much less impressive vehicle, that rocket has now made it back home completely, allowing Space X to begin testing to make sure it can be reused in the future.

Although Space X has built and launched many Falcon 9 rockets over the past year, this one is very special, as it's the first to ever land successfully on the company's drone barge. It joins one other Falcon 9 booster, which made it back for a landing pad touch-down in 2015, but since that one is being saved for posterity, this one could be the first ever re-used booster rocket.

And that journey back into space begins now. With the rocket now back at Space X's facility, engineers can begin the lengthy testing process to see which parts need switching out and which ones are good to go for a second run. Someone will also need to wipe off all that soot too – the poor thing does look rather dirty.

Although Space X made its own announcement of the returning hero, some tourists at the Kennedy Space Centre were able to appreciate its delivery first hand, as the mammoth rocket trundled by on its rather lengthy flatbed transport.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC3Szb5raXE']

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It's easy to forget how truly giant these constructions are, especially from the long-way-off shots during launch or from helicopters during ascent. Considering this is just the first stage booster too, it should put into context how big the whole space craft is. 

 

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Space X Falcon rocket touches down… and then falls over https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-falcon-rocket-touches-down-and-then-falls-over/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-falcon-rocket-touches-down-and-then-falls-over/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2016 09:34:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=281161 Space X has once again narrowly missed out on a successful drone-ship landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster rocket. Although the orbital launch vehicle did manage to touch back down on the automated platform, it only stood upright for a few seconds before toppling over and exploding on the landing pad. Everything up …

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Space X has once again narrowly missed out on a successful drone-ship landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster rocket. Although the orbital launch vehicle did manage to touch back down on the automated platform, it only stood upright for a few seconds before toppling over and exploding on the landing pad.

Everything up until that point was near perfect. The second stage separation was flawless, the payload – Jason 3 satellite – entered orbit successfully and the first stage came down straight and true above the drone ship. This was noteworthy in that it appears the Falcon 9 rocket came down much more directly than in previous landing attempts, where it laterally adjusted before touching down.

Despite its near vertical descent however, a hardware failure with the landing legs meant that it could not maintain its position and shortly after toppled over. Space X CEO Elon Musk believes that the culprit in this instance was ice buildup due to fog that was present during launch.

He was however optimistic, pointing out shortly after that more launches are planned and more landing attempts will be made. “At least the pieces were bigger this time,” he quipped in a tweet, highlighting how even recovering part of the rocket is a success compared to the utter obliteration of traditional launches.

This is just the latest in several attempts by Space X to land a Falcon 9 first stage after boosting a payload and second stage out of Earth's atmosphere. While it did successful land back on Earth in a previous test, other attempts at landing on the drone-barge have been met with failure.

This partial landing represents the best one yet and will no doubt spur the engineers on to further their efforts and make a future landing a reality.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: A shame for sure, but Space X is getting better at this. The overpressure event led to a bettering of the internal struts and no doubt this will lead to an improvement for the landing leg joints – or a change of parameters for launch conditions. Perhaps both.

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Elon Musk: Falcon 9 will try to land on barge again this weekend https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/elon-musk-falcon-9-will-try-to-land-on-barge-again-this-weekend/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/elon-musk-falcon-9-will-try-to-land-on-barge-again-this-weekend/#respond Tue, 12 Jan 2016 12:11:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=280403 Although Space X spent much of 2015 not launching rockets after a singular failure, it's starting 2016 off with a bang by launching a new payload into orbit this weekend. Better yet, after proving that its Falcon 9 first stage booster can be landed back on land, it's going to once again try and land …

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Although Space X spent much of 2015 not launching rockets after a singular failure, it's starting 2016 off with a bang by launching a new payload into orbit this weekend. Better yet, after proving that its Falcon 9 first stage booster can be landed back on land, it's going to once again try and land it on the automated drone-barge in the ocean.

rocketlaunch

Landing on an automated barge ship is something that Space X has been trying to do for a while. Several launches and landing attempts came close in 2015, before a mid-flight over-pressure event forced Space X to ground its fleet while testing was conducted. In the first launch since that catastrophe it managed to land the booster rocket on land, so now it's heading back out to the ocean.

But why land on something as small as an ocean barge, when ground based landings worked so well? According to Space X CEO and founder, Elon Musk, it's because high-velocity landings will still need to be conducted over the ocean for safety reasons. At least until the technology is more proven.

Beyond the barge landing though, this launch is important for science(!) too. It's taking the Jason-3 satellite into orbit, which will use its radar altimeter to measure the depth of oceans around the world, giving an accuracy within an inch.

In the mean time, if you'd like to take a stab at landing the rocket booster on the barge, you can try it out in 8bit here.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It will be interesting to see what sarcastic remark Jeff Bezos makes if SpaceX does manage this landing.

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Space X sticks the landing – Falcon 9 stage one lands safely https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-sticks-the-landing-falcon-9-stage-one-lands-safely/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-sticks-the-landing-falcon-9-stage-one-lands-safely/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2015 09:26:39 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278823 Space X made history in the early hours of this morning, when it launched its new and improved Falcon 9 rocket into Low-Earth Orbit, separating the first stage booster part-way through the ascent, and returning it safely to Earth. This is Space X's first successful landing of the first stage and more importantly, the first …

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Space X made history in the early hours of this morning, when it launched its new and improved Falcon 9 rocket into Low-Earth Orbit, separating the first stage booster part-way through the ascent, and returning it safely to Earth. This is Space X's first successful landing of the first stage and more importantly, the first time anyone has landed such a large rocket booster on land.

Poetically this is also the first rocket launch Space X has taken part in since July this year, when its older model Falcon 9 experienced an overpressure event half-way through the first stage burn, causing it to explode. This time though all went as planned. The rocket took off from Cape Canaveral at 8:29PM ET (1:29AM GMT), burned for a few minutes before first stage separation.

While the second stage and payload continued to orbit, the first stage completed a controlled burn during its descent and safely touched down at a designated launch site.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bTbVbe4e4′]

Although the above webcast shows the full 45 minute webcast covering the pre-launch preparations, stage separations and the landing, for those that just want to see the first stage touch-back down, Space X isolated that footage for the sizzle reel:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCBE8ocOkAQ']

To make the landing possible, the first stage rocket completed a “Boostback Burn,” which utilised three of its nine engines to help slow its descent back to Earth. It also extended its landing legs, which lie near-flush with the rocket body during launch.

falconlanded

The Falcon has landed

This landing isn't just big news for Space X though. As much as it's a major achievement for the commercial space venture, it's even bigger news for the likes of NASA and other organisations, as it cuts their potential costs by huge margins. Recovering the first stage booster rocket on every launch would save millions in costs and drastically cuts the price of sending hardware and people into orbit.

And on top of that, the satellite payload deployed just fine too.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is a historic moment in space travel. It just became much, much cheaper and if it can be repeated, means more launches, more often. 

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Space X’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch to take place today https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-xs-next-falcon-9-rocket-launch-to-take-place-today/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-xs-next-falcon-9-rocket-launch-to-take-place-today/#respond Mon, 21 Dec 2015 12:21:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278728 “Punting 24 hours,” sounds like a very relaxed way to push back the launch of a $50 million rocket, but that's exactly what Space X CEO Elon Musk did on Sunday, via Twitter. His announcement means that the improved Falcon 9 rocket carrying 11 ORBCOMM satellites will instead head into Low-Earth-Orbit today and hopefully come …

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“Punting 24 hours,” sounds like a very relaxed way to push back the launch of a $50 million rocket, but that's exactly what Space X CEO Elon Musk did on Sunday, via Twitter. His announcement means that the improved Falcon 9 rocket carrying 11 ORBCOMM satellites will instead head into Low-Earth-Orbit today and hopefully come back down again, as Space X is planning on landing its rocket on land for the first time.

falcon922

Falcon 9 rocket loaded up with the ORBCOMM payload. Source: ORBCOMM

The reason for the delay was weather. Not because Sunday's was especially bad, but because Monday's was that bit better. In his Tweet, Musk explained that pushing the launch date back 24 hours meant a 10 per cent better change of landing the rocket due to improved weather conditions.

Getting this launch right is important for Space X too, since it will be the first since its catastrophic failure in July earlier this year. The Falcon 9 has since been tweaked to improve durability, overall thrust power and the second stage has been extended to increase its range.

Even more so though, it will be trying something it's never done before: landing the first stage back on solid ground. While before Space X has attempted to land its first stage rocket on an automated barge out at sea, this time it will try and touch down on land – it seems, in an effort to combat a PR push by Amazon's Blue Origins team.

Although it should be easier to land the rocket stage on land than on a barge on water, this will still be the first time Space X has attempted this. Traditionally bringing rockets down over land or even launching over land was considered too dangerous, should something go awry and land on a populated area. Clearly that's no longer as much of a concern.

Space X will be live streaming the launch when it takes place at 8:33 PM EST (1:33 AM GMT). Watch it here.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This one might be worth staying up for. It's going to be quite a historic event if Space X can stick the landing. 

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Here’s Space X’s drone barge after rocket explosion https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/heres-space-xs-drone-barge-after-rocket-explosion/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/heres-space-xs-drone-barge-after-rocket-explosion/#respond Thu, 23 Apr 2015 11:00:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=246380 Space X's latest launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon supply capsule payload went off without a hitch last week. At least, in that it achieved orbit and successfully docked with the international space station to deliver much needed food, science experiments and other important tools for the astornauts to make use of. …

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Space X's latest launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon supply capsule payload went off without a hitch last week. At least, in that it achieved orbit and successfully docked with the international space station to deliver much needed food, science experiments and other important tools for the astornauts to make use of. When it came to landing the first stage booster on Space X's drone barge however not all went to plan and now we have an image of what it looked like after the rocket exploded.

spacexbarge

The image shows the barge's bullseye-like landing zone, along with debris from the booster which actually came quite close to landing perfectly. After completing its suicide burn, it was able to touch down gently on the pad. However, due to a stuck throttle valve, the booster came in with too much lateral velocity, so when it touched down, it overloaded one of the legs and from there it was only a matter of time before it toppled over. 

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhMSzC1crr0′]

In the video above, posted by Space X founder and CEO Elon Musk, you can actually see the Falcon 9's RCS thrusters attempt to stabilise the rocket, but it's not enough and within just a few seconds it falls to the floor and explodes; quite spectacularly. 

KitGuru Says: It's good to see that the explosion didn't damage the barge too much. There's now a two month wait until the next launch. Hopefully Space X will have fixed the valve issue by then and we'll see our first successful landing.

Image source: Petr Bourdais/Twitter

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TV news uses Kerbal Space Program footage for Space X landing https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/tv-news-uses-kerbal-space-program-footage-for-space-x-landing/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/tv-news-uses-kerbal-space-program-footage-for-space-x-landing/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2015 07:59:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=245377 As much as Kerbal Space Program is a fun game and certainly quite realistic in terms of its orbital mechanics, nobody is quite ready to suggest it's an accurate simulator of the real world. Still, that didn't stop the US based, CBC News network from airing footage of the game as a “simulation” of what Space …

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As much as Kerbal Space Program is a fun game and certainly quite realistic in terms of its orbital mechanics, nobody is quite ready to suggest it's an accurate simulator of the real world. Still, that didn't stop the US based, CBC News network from airing footage of the game as a “simulation” of what Space X's landing of its first stage booster rocket on a drone barge could look like.

bandicam
You would think that they would have at least removed the “Bandicam” watermark

It seems a shame that no credit was thrown to anyone for the use of this video. The game's developer, Squad, doesn't even get a mention.

NB: Skip forward to 2:39 to see the KSP footage.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpI0KpKUpg#t=159′]

It's not clear from the footage whether it's an intentional use of Kerbal Space Program and the reporter simply negated to mention it, or whether this was the ‘simulation' that the guys behind the scenes cooked up for their bosses. We do know however that this wasn't made in-house, but is actually a video produced by Redditor and Youtuber, FutureMartian97, who posted the video four months ago.
That may be why the video was cribbed for the news broadcast, but it could also be because it's named with the KSP acronym, which may have been overlooked by those looking for simulator footage.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzkaVTeguNk']

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Although the video no doubt comes under fair use for a news organisation, it would have been polite to at least provide a source link. Come on CBC.

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SpaceX to retry Falcon 9 barge landing at 8PM tonight https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/spacex-to-retry-falcon-9-barge-landing-at-8pm-tonight/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/spacex-to-retry-falcon-9-barge-landing-at-8pm-tonight/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:41:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=244974 Yesterday's intended launch of a supply mission to the International Space Station was scrapped due to a thunder storm straying too close to the launch pad, but there's more at stake here than food and supplies for the astronauts aboard the world's only persistent, manned space craft. Yesterday's launch was also going to see if …

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Yesterday's intended launch of a supply mission to the International Space Station was scrapped due to a thunder storm straying too close to the launch pad, but there's more at stake here than food and supplies for the astronauts aboard the world's only persistent, manned space craft. Yesterday's launch was also going to see if the Space X Falcon 9's rocket could land its first stage booster on an automated drone ship. Just one of many attempts that have so far been unsuccessful.

falcon9

Fortunately then, the commercial space venture will be trying again later today, with the launch scheduled for 20:10. There is still only a 50/50 shot that the weather will be optimal though according to NASA and we may not know if it's going down until it leaves the Florida launch pad, as yesterday's planned launch was only scrapped three minutes before the countdown began.

After it does launch, SpaceX employees will know if the booster stage has landed successfully on the barge in about 30 minutes, though it will likely take them longer to provide confirmation to the press if all goes well. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, has said that there is still a less than 50 per cent chance of the re-entry landing going successfully, but that by the end of the year, with many more planned launches, he hopes to raise that chance to as much as 80 per cent.

The reason that landing on the barge is so important for SpaceX, is because rebuilding the rocket from scratch every time it's launched costs $56 million. However the fuel to launch it into orbit costs just $200,000. Being able to save a good many millions by re-using that first stage booster could make space travel far cheaper, which would lead to more launches, cheaper space tourism and a much easier trip to far flung places like Mars.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Fingers crossed for you Space X. God speed.

Image source: Space X

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Rosetta successfully releases Philae Lander for comet descent https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/rosetta-successfully-releases-philae-lander-for-comet-descent/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/rosetta-successfully-releases-philae-lander-for-comet-descent/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:15:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=221528 Update: The confirmation has come through. Philae has successfully separated from the Rosetta Probe “flawlessly” and now begins its multiple hour descent. This is quite an emotional moment for the Probe's crew back here on Earth, as Philae and Rosetta have travelled through space inseparably for over 10 years and now begin the next stage …

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Update: The confirmation has come through. Philae has successfully separated from the Rosetta Probe “flawlessly” and now begins its multiple hour descent. This is quite an emotional moment for the Probe's crew back here on Earth, as Philae and Rosetta have travelled through space inseparably for over 10 years and now begin the next stage of their journeys alone.

Original Story: Just two days ago we learned the news that the Rosetta probe, currently in orbit around a comet named 67P hundreds of millions of miles away, was readying to separate its lander Philae. It was initially thought that by now we'd have the lander portion of the space craft on the surface of 67P, but a problem with the lander's thrusters (designed to prevent it bouncing off of the surface) caused a slight delay. However the European Space Agency has given it the go ahead to land anyway, using just the harpoons and feet screws to secure it in place.

At the time of writing, the Rosetta team is waiting on confirmation that the probe has released the lander and that the descent has begun. The signal of any movements made or steps taken by Rosetta can take up to half an hour to reach us, so we're just playing the waiting game right now.

You can watch the live steam of it here.

esa
The ESA's team is quiet, but clearly confident while they wait for confirmation

Beyond the separation, there is the descent stage to consider, which once begun will take around seven hours to complete. Confirmation of a landing on 67P will hopefully appear around 4PM this afternoon. From there, Philae can begin taking pictures and studying the structure of a comet for the first time, hopefully giving us a unique insight into how parts of our solar system were formed, potentially even giving us a hint of how planets are seeded with life.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Congratulations to the ESA team and fingers crossed for the next steps. 

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