Orbit | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Mon, 18 Jul 2016 08:12:07 +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 Orbit | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Space X booster landed, Dragon orbital insertion successful https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-booster-landed-dragon-orbital-insertion-successful/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/space-x-booster-landed-dragon-orbital-insertion-successful/#respond Mon, 18 Jul 2016 08:12:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=299647 Space X has completed two major stages in its latest launch mission, sending a new docking port to the International Space Station (ISS). The payload has successfully been delivered into orbit around the Earth and the first stage booster has landed back on solid ground, marking only the second time Space X has achieved it. …

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Space X has completed two major stages in its latest launch mission, sending a new docking port to the International Space Station (ISS). The payload has successfully been delivered into orbit around the Earth and the first stage booster has landed back on solid ground, marking only the second time Space X has achieved it.

The main purpose of Space X's mission in the early hours of this morning was to deliver the new docking port into orbit, with a planned Wednesday rendezvous with the ISS. When delivered, the part will allow for future automated docking with the station by new Dragon and Starliner crewed craft.

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Space X also appears to be working on some sort of orbital space cannon…

Although we will need to wait for the middle of this week to find out if the new station component has been successfully received and installed, we do know at least that it now sits in a stable orbit. Better yet, Space X was able to recover the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket, this time back at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Although Space X has recovered five such boosters in this manner, this is only the second time it has achieved the feat over land. Due to higher-speed launches requiring larger amounts of fuel to return to solid ground, in general Space X looks to have the boosters touch down over water, which it has met with mixed success over the past couple of years.

However its launches this year have been far more successful, with the company looking quite capable of reducing launch costs in the future as it continues to improve reliability of its launch vehicles.

CEO of the company Elon Musk tweeted out shortly after the most recent landing, claiming that the first post-landing inspection of the rocket looked good and that the booster could likely fly again soon.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Another success for Space X. Although it still needs to improve its ability to reliably hit launch schedules, it's making big strides in launch efficiency. It's exciting to think that it won't be long until it begins launching humans up to the ISS and from there, perhaps beyond. 

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Space X cancels second launch attempt two minutes before takeoff https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-cancels-second-launch-attempt-two-minutes-before-takeoff/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/space-x-cancels-second-launch-attempt-two-minutes-before-takeoff/#respond Fri, 26 Feb 2016 12:03:55 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=285420 Space X has a lot of planned launches in 2016, more so than any previous year in-fact – that's why it's now mass producing the Falcon 9 rocket. However the second launch attempt since the new-year has been rather problematic, with the commercial space venture cancelling its last two launch attempts within the past week. …

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Space X has a lot of planned launches in 2016, more so than any previous year in-fact – that's why it's now mass producing the Falcon 9 rocket. However the second launch attempt since the new-year has been rather problematic, with the commercial space venture cancelling its last two launch attempts within the past week. The latest one was just two minutes before the countdown was set to begin.

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Source: SpaceX/Twitter

Although the initial launch planned for Wednesday this week was cancelled due to problematic weather – too much wind makes sending something as large as a Falcon 9 into space more than problematic – the reason for the canned launch yesterday hasn't been revealed as of yet.

There was some rushing around just before the launch, as the liquid oxygen required additional cooling to further compact it, so it may be that the team ran out of time before takeoff. For now, Space X has simply said it is reviewing data and has yet to announce a renewed attempt to launch its payload into orbit.

This launch is designed to take the Boeing-made, Belgian communication satellite, known as the SES-9 into orbit. When it does eventually make its space faring debut, the satellite will orbit the earth at an altitude of some 26,000 miles (as per Forbes).

While the secondary stage of the Falcon 9 will carry that payload into its orbit, the first stage will once again attempt to land on Space X's drone barge. The last time it tried was the closest attempt yet. The booster rocket landed near-perfectly on the platform, but one of its legs failed to lock out and the rocket quickly collapsed and exploded.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Better to be safe than sorry with expensive rocket launches, but it's always a bummer when one doesn't go up. Little makes me prouder to be human than seeing those big piles of fuel and metal hauling ass out of the atmosphere.

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NASA releases new dark side of the moon image https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/nasa-releases-new-dark-side-of-the-moon-image/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/nasa-releases-new-dark-side-of-the-moon-image/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2015 08:01:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=262556 The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCO) was launched earlier this year atop a Space X Falcon 9 rocket and it currently sits within a Lissajous orbit 930,000 miles from Earth. It's been sending back data on the ozone, vegetation, cloud height and aerosols in the atmosphere since and it's all been very useful. But perhaps its …

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The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCO) was launched earlier this year atop a Space X Falcon 9 rocket and it currently sits within a Lissajous orbit 930,000 miles from Earth. It's been sending back data on the ozone, vegetation, cloud height and aerosols in the atmosphere since and it's all been very useful. But perhaps its most intriguing bit of data yet – at least for us laymen – is a beautiful image of the dark side of the moon as it crossed across the Earth.

Since our Moon is tidally locked, the face you see in the sky at night is always the same. That doesn't mean there isn't another side to it though, which is what the DSCO recently managed to take a picture of with its “EPIC” – Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera – system. The EPIC keeps a constant view of the earth as it rotates, but the moon crossing it's path like this only happens twice a year, so capturing it like this is quite an event.

It also shows how relatively easy such a viewing is these days however. As NASA's blog points out, the far side of the moon was a total mystery to everyone until the 1959 Soviet Luna 3 sent back the first images.

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It's amazing how much brighter the Earth is than the moon

Ever striving for perfection, NASA does point out that there is a small green artifact on the right hand side of the moon. This is due to the moon moving between images taken, all of which are actually in black and white, with filters used to add colour. Traditionally 10 images including ultraviolet and near-infrated are combined, but creating the colour for an image like this is as simple as combining a red one, a blue one and a green one.

Although new images of our blue marble are often hailed with big news, the EPIC camera system will begin delivering almost daily image updates next month.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: When we can send satellites out to these sorts of complicated orbits, land remote rovers on comets and other planets, it boggles the mind that people still don't think we've done something as comparably simple as land people on the moon.

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US cargo delivery rocket explodes soon after launch https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/us-cargo-delivery-rocket-explodes-soon-after-launch/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/us-cargo-delivery-rocket-explodes-soon-after-launch/#respond Wed, 29 Oct 2014 09:07:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=219094 An unmanned rocket that was on its way to the International space station to drop off several thousand kilos worth of supplies to the waiting astronauts, has exploded shortly after leaving the launchpad. Nobody was hurt in the incident, but it's expected to delay any future launches at the Wallops Flight Facility in East Virigina, …

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An unmanned rocket that was on its way to the International space station to drop off several thousand kilos worth of supplies to the waiting astronauts, has exploded shortly after leaving the launchpad. Nobody was hurt in the incident, but it's expected to delay any future launches at the Wallops Flight Facility in East Virigina, due to damage to the launch pad itself.

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The Antares rocket was one of many built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, which NASA had sub-contracted cargo missions to since the retirement of the Shuttle program in 2011. This would have been the third flight conducted with an Orbital Sciences rocket, but it was not to be.

Seconds after leaving the ground, the rocket seemed to combust in on itself, collapsing to the ground shortly after and exploding, damaging the landing pad and associated equipment, as well as property on the south of the island. Orbital Sciences, along with NASA, will be conducting an investigation to discover what fault caused the explosion and subsequent crash. In the mean time, supply runs to the ISS will be picked up by other companies and their rockets.

“It  is  far  too  early  to  know  the  details  of  what  happened,”  said  Frank  Culbertson,  Orbital’s  Executive  Vice  President  and  General  Manager  of  its  Advanced  Programs  Group. “As  we  begin  to  gather  information,  our  primary  concern  lies  with  the  ongoing  safety  and  security  of  those  involved  in  our  response  and  recovery  operations.    We  will  conduct  a  thorough  investigation  immediately  to  determine  the  cause  of  this  failure  and  what  steps  can  be  taken  to  avoid  a  repeat  of  this  incident.    As  soon  as  we  understand  the  cause  we  will  begin  the  necessary  work  to  return  to  flight  to  support  our  customers  and  the  nation’s  space  program.”

As the BBC reports, part of the investigation into what went wrong looks likely to focus on the AJ-26 engines, which are essentially retrofitted Soviet NK-33 engines from the 70s. While cleared for usage after being fitted with US electronics and propellant, one did explode during a test earlier this year.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Thankfully no one was hurt in the explosion, but I imagine the guys on the ISS were looking forward to some fresh supplies. I wonder which country or company will step up to get it to them.

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