Cert-2: Dress Rehearsal of Vulcan Launch Day Planned (News Release)
The United Launch Alliance (ULA)Vulcan rocket rolled out to the Space Launch Complex (SLC) 41 pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on September 30 to undergo an extensive practice countdown ahead of its second Certification(Cert-2) flight test.
Known as a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR), ULA is preparing to conduct a full day-of-launch test to ensure that the new rocket, pad systems and launch team are ready for the second Vulcan mission. The WDR exercises the hardware, procedures and the people to reduce the risk of a delay on launch day.
The rehearsal follows the tightly-scripted sequence by rolling the Vulcan from Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) to SLC-41 and performing the entire countdown operation to fuel the rocket with cryogenic propellant.
The countdown begins before sunrise under the guidance of the ULA launch conductor from the Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), located about four miles (6.4 km) from the pad.
The rocket stages are powered up, avionics tested and final preps to ground systems accomplished. That enables the ULA launch director to give approval for the fueling process.
The launch team configures the Vulcan Centaur for cryogenic loading and approximately one million pounds (454,000 kg) of methane, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen flow into the rocket's tanks using the same procedures that will be executed on the actual launch day.
With the rocket filled up, permission will be given to enter terminal count at T-minus 7 minutes. The final phase of the countdown pressurizes the rocket, arms various systems and transitions the vehicle to internal power. The count finishes just prior to ignition time.
The rocket is then safed and cryogenic tanks drained. The thorough data will be performed before moving into the countdown for launch. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than October 4.
The highly-instrumented rocket will carry a non-deployable inert payload into space, run unique experiments and conduct a series of detailed test objectives to collect performance data while fulfilling ULA’s certification obligations to the nation.
3,2,1...our practice countdown has culminated as planned for the #VulcanRocket's Wet Dress Rehearsal. Activities will continue into this evening as propellants are drained and our teammates begin reviewing all the data collected today to ensure #Cert2 is ready to fly. pic.twitter.com/L6jfRRLHr0
So my oldest sibling told me that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa may return to the field following his third NFL concussion (since 2022; this would be his fourth concussion since 2019, during his days on Alabama's Crimson Tide team) playing against the Buffalo Bills on September 12; ignoring the calls by lots of folks who want him to retire instead.
My sibling has Tua on his fantasy football team, and wants the Dolphins quarterback to return so Tagovailoa can "increase his team's points."
...
This is the latest thing that my sibling, who's 53, has said over the past 30 years to really piss me off. He's been unemployed since 2020 (and just resumed job-hunting earlier this year—having about four interviews since last February that obviously went nowhere due to his long gap in employment), and has nothing better to do than to work on his fantasy football team. And play golf in Palm Springs and other places...while my Dad, 77, wakes up around 5am in the morning three times a week to get ready for work.
So what's the reason why the company I work for hired five new people (myself included) in Los Angeles last year when the majority of assignments have been outside of California...and most of the L.A. staff aren't invited to work these out-of-town events? Hell, my department (except for the managers and full-time employees) wasn't even invited to the company Christmas party last December!
Absolutely frustrating. Especially considering the fact that I tried for eight years (from 2015 to 2023) to get a job at this company before I finally landed an interview (actually two interviews) with it.
Out of the five people who were hired in late spring of 2023, I'm the only one who regularly works here. Two quit the company earlier this year, while the other two are still on the payroll but rarely make themselves available to work this job.
(I haven't worked with one of those latter two co-workers since last October.)
The person who books assignments for my department really needs to find a job somewhere else.
They obviously aren't very good at booking in-town clients for us.
Fueling Complete on NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft (News Release)
Technicians completed loading propellants in the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Sunday, September 22, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Housed in the largest spacecraft that NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper’s propulsion module is an aluminum cylinder 10 feet (3 meters) long and 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide, and it holds the spacecraft’s array of 24 engines and 6,067.6 pounds (2,752.2 kilograms) of propellant in two propulsion tanks, as well as the spacecraft’s helium pressurant tanks. The fuel and oxidizer held by the tanks will flow to the 24 engines, creating a controlled chemical reaction to produce thrust in space during its journey to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.
After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.
NASA is targeting launch on Thursday, October 10, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with NASA JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Celebrating 10 Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission (News Release)
A decade ago, on September 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN(Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’ atmosphere responds to the Sun and solar wind, and how these interactions can explain the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space.
Today, MAVEN continues to make exciting new discoveries about the Red Planet that increase our understanding of how atmospheric evolution affected Mars’ climate and the previous presence of liquid water on its surface, potentially determining its prior habitability.
“It is an incredibly exciting time for the MAVEN team as we celebrate 10 years of Martian science and see the tremendous impact this mission has had on the field,” said Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of MAVEN and a researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “We also look forward to the future discoveries MAVEN will bring.”
In celebration of this mission milestone, we recap some of the most significant scientific results of this unique and long-lasting Mars aeronomy mission.
1.) Extreme atmospheric erosion
One of MAVEN’s first big results was discovering that the erosion of Mars’ atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms. The team studied how the solar wind — a stream of charged particles continually streaming from the Sun — and solar storms continually strip away Mars’ atmosphere, and how this process played a key role in altering the Martian climate from a potentially habitable planet to today’s cold, arid world.
2.) Sputtering to space
To better understand how Mars lost much of its atmosphere, MAVEN measured isotopes of argon gas in the upper Martian atmosphere. Argon is a noble gas, meaning it rarely reacts with other constituents in the Martian atmosphere. The only way it can be removed is by atmospheric sputtering — a process where ions crash into the Martian atmosphere at high-enough speeds that they knock gas molecules out of the atmosphere.
When the MAVEN team analyzed argon isotopes in the upper atmosphere, they were able to estimate that roughly 65% of the argon originally present had been lost through sputtering over the planet’s history.
3.) A new type of aurora
MAVEN has discovered several types of auroras that flare up when energetic particles plunge into the atmosphere, bombarding gases and making them glow. The MAVEN team showed that protons, rather than electrons, create auroras at Mars. On Earth, proton auroras only occur in very small regions near the poles, whereas at Mars they can happen everywhere.
4.) Martian dust storm
In 2018, a runaway series of dust storms created a dust cloud so large that it enveloped the planet. The MAVEN team studied how this “global” dust storm affected Mars’ upper atmosphere to understand how these events affect the escape of water to space. It confirmed that heating from dust storms can loft water molecules far higher into the atmosphere than usual, leading to a sudden surge in water lost to space.
5.) Map of Martian winds
MAVEN researchers created the first map of wind circulation in the upper atmosphere of Mars. The new map is helping scientists better understand the Martian climate, including how terrain on the planet’s surface is disturbing high-altitude wind currents. The results provide insight into how the dynamics of the upper Martian atmosphere have influenced the Red Planet’s climate evolution in the past and present.
6.) Twisted tail
Mars has an invisible magnetic “tail” that is twisted by its interaction with the solar wind. Although models predicted that magnetic reconnection causes Mars’ magnetotail to twist, it wasn’t until MAVEN arrived that scientists could confirm that the predictions were correct. The process that creates the twisted tail could also allow some of Mars’ already thin atmosphere to escape to space.
7.) Mapping electric currents
Researchers used MAVEN data to create a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. These form when solar wind ions and electrons smash into the planet’s induced magnetic field, causing the particles to flow apart. The resulting electric currents, which drape around the planet, play a fundamental role in the atmospheric loss that transformed Mars from a world that could have supported life to an inhospitable desert.
8.) Disappearing solar wind
MAVEN recently observed the unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind. This was caused by a type of solar event so powerful that it created a void in its wake as it traveled across the Solar System. MAVEN’s measurements showed that when it reached Mars, the solar wind density dropped significantly.
This disappearance of the solar wind allowed the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere to balloon out by thousands of kilometers.
9.) Ultraviolet views of the Red Planet
MAVEN captured stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along the Red Planet’s orbit around the Sun. By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways.
10.) Mars’ response to solar storms
In May 2024, a series of solar events triggered a torrent of energetic particles that quickly traveled to Mars. Many of NASA’s Mars missions, including MAVEN, observed this celestial event and captured images of glowing auroras over the planet.
MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission.
Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.
Cert-2: Vulcan Rocket Readied for Second Flight Test (News Release)
The second United Launch Alliance (ULA)Vulcan rocket stands fully assembled for launch no earlier than October 4 to fulfill flight test obligations and complete its certification process with the U.S. Space Force to carry national security payloads starting later this year.
Liftoff will occur from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida during a launch window of 6 to 9 a.m. EDT.
This second Certification(Cert-2) launch will demonstrate Vulcan's high-energy rocket architecture by achieving an Earth-escape trajectory and placing the Centaur V with an inert, non-deployable payload into deep space where it will orbit the Sun for the rest of time. Cert-2 follows Vulcan's successful inaugural launch on January 8, 2024.
The mission will further demonstrate the operational capabilities of Vulcan, perform unique experiments and run complex demonstrations for potential incorporation into future missions.
"After the key objectives necessary for certification are completed, the mission will evaluate additional changes to design of the upper stage and how it is operated over long coast periods to further increase its endurance," said Mark Peller, ULA's senior vice president, Vulcan Development and Advanced Programs.
This Vulcan rocket, designated V-002, was built in ULA's unique rocket factory in Decatur, Alabama, then shipped to the Florida launch site aboard the R/S RocketShip.
The launch campaign at Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) began on August 10 when the Vulcan booster stage was hoisted aboard the mobile Vulcan Launch Platform (VLP). The stage measures 109 feet (33 meters) in length and 17.7 feet (5.4 meters) in diameter. Made of internal orthogrid aluminum construction to create a structurally-stable stage, it is equipped with two BE-4 main engines, each producing approximately 550,000 pounds (2.45 mega-Newtons) of thrust to lift Vulcan out of the atmosphere on the way to orbit.
A pair of Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM) 63XL solid rocket boosters (SRBs) were added to the sides of the first stage on August 13 and August 14. Measuring 63 inches (1.6 meters) in diameter and 72 feet (21 meters) in length, each motor is filled with over 100,000 pounds (45,360 kg) of aluminized solid propellant to deliver 463,249 pounds (2.1 mega-Newtons) of thrust at its peak.
Together, the methane-fueled main engines and SRBs will provide the 2 million pounds (8.9 kilo-Newtons) of thrust generated at liftoff to power Vulcan off the launch pad.
The high-performance Centaur V upper stage -- 38.5 feet (11.7 meters) long and 17.7 feet (5.4 meters) in diameter -- was installed atop the rocket on August 17. With its pressure-stabilized stainless-steel tanks, the cryogenic stage features two RL10C-1-1A engines, each producing 23,825 pounds (106 kilo-Newtons) of thrust to shape the mission's final orbital destination.
The Cert-2 payload, already encapsulated in the composite fairing measuring 17.7 feet (5.4 meters) in diameter and 51 feet (15.5 meters) in length, was moved from the off-site preparation facility to VIF-G adjacent to SLC-41 on September 21.
ULA technicians attached the lifting sling to the payload and hoisted it into the VIF for connection to the Centaur V upper stage of the Vulcan rocket, which now stands fully assembled at 202 feet (61.6 meters) tall.
Integrated testing and a complete electrical checkout of the combined rocket and payload will be completed in the coming days while final readiness reviews and closeout activities are performed in preparation for rollout of the rocket on its VLP to SLC-41 for a Wet Dress Rehearsal, followed by the countdown and liftoff.
This is the second of two flight tests required for ULA's certification process with the U.S. Space Force. ULA has worked in close partnership with the Space Force throughout the design, development, testing and production of the next-generation rocket for assured access to space. The Space Force selected Vulcan as the No. 1 offeror and "best value" choice in the Phase 2 National Security Space Launch (NSSL) competition.
Vulcan incorporates the best attributes of the venerable Atlas and Delta heritage rocket families and introduces innovative technologies and streamlined processes, creating one launch solution that meets the demanding requirements for launching critical national security missions to the full spectrum of orbits.
Congrats to Shohei Ohtani for being the first-ever player in Major League Baseball history to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season!
Ohtani ended today's game—in which the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins, 20-4, at loanDepot park in Florida—with his 51st home run and 51st stolen base.
This feat takes place almost 36 years after the Oakland A's Jose Canseco started the 40/40 club by stealing his 40th base and finishing the game with his 42nd home run against the Milwaukee Brewers on September 23, 1988, respectively.
Now all Ohtani needs to truly cement his greatness (that was denied to him during his 6-year stint with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) is to finally win his first World Series title! You're on the clock, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers have officially clinched a spot in the MLB playoffs with today's victory.
"F*** that. Too much respect for this guy for that s*** to happen."
8 Things to Know About NASA’s Mission to an Ocean Moon of Jupiter (News Release - September 17)
The first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth, Europa Clipper aims to find out if the ice-encased moon Europa could be habitable.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, the largest that the agency has ever built for a planetary mission, will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Europa, an intriguing icy moon of Jupiter. The spacecraft’s launch period opens on Thursday, October 10.
Data from previous NASA missions has provided scientists with strong evidence that an enormous salty ocean lies underneath the frozen surface of the moon. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and conduct 49 close flybys of the moon to gather data needed to determine whether there are places below its thick frozen crust that could support life.
Here are eight things to know about the mission:
1. Europa is one of the most promising places to look for currently habitable conditions beyond Earth.
There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life — water, the right chemistry and energy — may exist at Europa right now. This mission will gather the information that scientists need to find out for sure. The moon may hold an internal ocean with twice the water of Earth’s oceans combined, and may also host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface.
If the mission determines that Europa is habitable, it would mean there may be more habitable worlds in our Solar System and beyond than we have imagined.
2. The spacecraft will fly through one of the most punishing radiation environments in our Solar System — second only to the Sun’s.
Jupiter is surrounded by a gigantic magnetic field 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s. As the field spins, it captures and accelerates charged particles, creating radiation that can damage spacecraft. Mission engineers designed a spacecraft vault to shield sensitive electronics from radiation, and they plotted orbits that will limit the time Europa Clipper spends in most radiation-heavy areas around Jupiter.
3. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter, studying Europa while flying by the moon dozens of times.
The spacecraft will make looping orbits around Jupiter that bring it close to Europa for 49 science-dedicated flybys. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in Jupiter’s dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out. Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process, making another flyby.
4. Europa Clipper features NASA’s most sophisticated suite of science instruments yet.
To determine if Europa is habitable, Europa Clipper must assess the moon’s interior, composition and geology. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. In order to obtain the best science during each flyby, all of the science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass.
Scientists will then layer the data together to paint a full picture of the moon.
5. With antennas and solar arrays fully deployed, Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft that NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission.
The spacecraft extends 100 feet (30.5 meters) from one end to the other and about 58 feet (17.6 meters) across. That’s bigger than a basketball court, thanks in large part to the solar arrays, which need to be huge so they can collect enough sunlight while near Jupiter to power the instruments, electronics and other subsystems.
6. It’s a long journey to Jupiter.
Jupiter is on average some 480 million miles (about 770 million kilometers) from Earth; both planets are in motion, and a spacecraft can carry only a limited amount of fuel. Mission planners are sending Europa Clipper past Mars and then Earth, using the planets’ gravity as a slingshot to add speed to the spacecraft’s trek. After journeying about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) over 5½ years, the spacecraft will fire its engines to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
7. Institutions across the U.S. and Europe have contributed to Europa Clipper.
Currently, about a thousand people work on the mission, including more than 220 scientists from both the U.S. and Europe. Since the mission was officially approved in 2015, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper, including teams who work for contractors and subcontractors.
8. More than 2.6 million of us are riding along with the spacecraft, bringing greetings from one water world to another.
As part of a mission campaign called “Message in a Bottle,” the spacecraft is carrying a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, cosigned by millions of people from nearly every country in the world. Their names have been stenciled onto a microchip attached to a tantalum metal plate that seals the spacecraft’s electronics vault. The plate also features waveforms of people saying the word “water” in over 100 spoken languages.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.
Technicians Work to Prepare Europa Clipper for Propellant Loading (News Release)
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission moves closer to launch as technicians worked on Wednesday, September 11, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to prepare the spacecraft for upcoming propellant loading at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The spacecraft will explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which is considered one of the most promising habitable environments in the Solar System. The mission will research whether Europa’s subsurface ocean could hold the conditions necessary for life. Europa could have all the “ingredients” for life as we know it: water, organics and chemical energy.
Europa Clipper’s launch period opens on Thursday, October 10. It will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. The spacecraft will then embark on a journey of nearly six years and 1.8 billion miles before reaching Jupiter’s orbit in 2030.
The spacecraft is designed to study Europa’s icy shell, underlying ocean and potential plumes of water vapor using a gravity science experiment alongside a suite of nine instruments including cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer and ice-penetrating radar. The data that Europa Clipper collects could improve our understanding of the potential for life elsewhere in the Solar System.
Check out this hilarious video clip, borrowing this memorable scene from the 2004 war drama Downfall, showing Adolf Hitler—err, Donald Trump—reacting to news that his performance at the presidential debate three days ago was considered a disaster, and that the world's most popular popstar today is supporting Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.
This clip also makes references to other wacky (and racist) things involving Trump that transpired during this election season...such as him saying that Haitian immigrants are eating cats (they are not), commenting that Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is the "weird" one and not him, Trump refusing to allow J.D. Vance to become president instead, and Trump wanting President Biden to be the one that he ran against as originally intended.
Click here to register to vote (blue) on November 5th, my fellow Yanks...and Happy Friday the 13th!
