Just thought I'd end this month by sharing these four images that I took of the San Gabriel Mountains from the city of Rancho Cucamonga—in San Bernardino County, California—last Sunday.
These pictures were obtained using my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. I had to drive around quite a bit in Rancho Cucamonga before I found an ideal location from which to take images of these mountains (the views of the snowcapped peaks were obscured by townhouses, apartment complexes and palm trees in most parts of the city)...which endured a major winter blizzard just the day before.
The blizzard was so intense that it caused snow to fall in low-elevation suburbs like Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and areas near Pasadena in Los Angeles County (though Pasadena is near the foothill of the San Gabriel Mountains...or am I thinking of Altadena instead?)!
By the time I went to San Bernardino County on Sunday, the snow was already melting in that area. The best time to go was the day before, but I was at AMC theaters watching the new dark comedy film Cocaine Bear around that time, heh. (You can read my review for that movie here.)
These photos of the beautiful snowcapped peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains will do for now. It'll probably be a very long time before it snows in the unlikeliest areas of Southern California again, but that's okay!
As mentioned in this earlier Blog entry, I was going to draw an illustration of one of Marvel's coolest antiheroes: Ghost Rider. And here he is!
It wasn't until Season 4 of ABC's now-cancelled TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.(AoS) that I found out there were different people who took up the mantle of Ghost Rider, such as Johnny Blaze(played by Nicolas Cage in two theatrically-released movies) and Robbie Reyes(portrayed by Gabriel Luna on AoS). As you can see from this artwork, I clearly went with the Johnny Blaze version of the Spirit of Vengeance.
So who will I draw next? I don't know... There are other projects that I need to work on before I end my sabbatical from work later next month.
I'm waiting till it starts warming up here in SoCal before I return to my job—as I hated leaving my house at 4 AM, in 38°F weather, a month ago and last December. Carry on!
So it was revealed over two hours ago that the earliest launch date for Astrobotic's Peregrine lander—which will head to the Moon on United Launch Alliance's (ULA)Vulcan Centaur rocket—is Thursday, May 4!
In a series of tweets posted today, ULA pointed out that the Vulcan rocket is still undergoing flight readiness verification tests at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida...with the two BE-4 engines performing well in their qualification testing. However, the engine testing is taking longer than expected, with the 6-week program most likely concluding in mid-April.
Due to this additional testing (which will culminate with a flight readiness firing for the BE-4 engines at the pad), ULA can't make the early April launch window for Peregrine.
While it's unfortunate that Astrobotic's robotic lander won't lift off in early spring as hoped for, it's still wonderful news that ULA is confident enough in the test campaign for Vulcan that it can target a specific launch date for its newest rocket and lunar payload! We'll see if May 4, a.k.a. Star Wars Day, will be the day that Peregrine successfully embarks on its almost month-long journey to the Moon...where it will hopefully touch down softly at Gruithuisen Domes.
Just thought I'd share these images after the Pentagon confirmed earlier today that the original picture, posted above, of a U.S. Air Force pilot taking a selfie with the now-defunct Chinese spy balloon is authentic.
This selfie was taken on February 3, one day before the balloon was shot down by an F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Carolina, as the U-2 Dragon Lady was circling the Chinese surveillance apparatus while it floated 40,000 feet above the U.S. mainland.
As of today, the operation to retrieve what remains of the balloon from the Atlantic Ocean is complete...and the analysis of the wreckage by such law enforcement agencies as the FBI is ongoing.
We'll see if China sends more of their balloons overseas to serve as target practice for America's fifth-generation fighters. Carry on.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Set to Begin Third Year at Jezero Crater (News Release - February 17)
After completing the first sample depot on another world, the rover continues its hunt for Mars rocks worthy of study on Earth.
NASA’s Perseverance rover will celebrate its second anniversary on the surface of Mars on Saturday, February 18. Since arriving at Jezero Crater in 2021, the six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover has been examining geologic features and collecting samples of the Red Planet that are central to the first step of the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency)Mars Sample Return campaign.
Scientists want to study Martian samples with powerful lab equipment on Earth to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to better understand the processes that have shaped the surface of Mars.
“Anniversaries are a time of reflection and celebration, and the Perseverance team is doing a lot of both,” said Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley of Caltech in Pasadena. “Perseverance has inspected and performed data collection on hundreds of intriguing geologic features, collected 15 rock cores, and created the first sample depot on another world. With the start of the next science campaign, known as ‘Upper Fan,’ on February 15, we expect to be adding to that tally very soon.”
In addition to the rock cores, Perseverance has collected two regolith samples and one atmospheric sample, and it has sealed three “witness” tubes. (Learn more about all 18 samples taken so far.)
Numbers play a big role in the life of a Mars rover mission, not just because the team includes an impressive quantity of scientists (who don’t usually mind numbers) and engineers (who love them), but because statistics provide the best and most efficient glimpse of vehicle trends and performance.
For instance, the mission can tell you not only that the rover has driven 9.3 miles (14.97 kilometers), but also that as of February 14, its left front wheel has performed 9,423 revolutions. They can tell you not only that the MOXIE (short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) technology demonstration has produced 3.25 ounces (92.11 grams) of oxygen, but also that the Gas Dust Removal Tool (gDRT) – the little gas-puffing device on the robotic arm – has puffed 62 times to clear residual dust and particles from rock-abrading activities.
“We deal with a lot of numbers,” said Perseverance deputy project manager Steve Lee from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We collect them, evaluate them, compare them, and more times than we want to admit, bore our loved ones with them during a family dinner.”
With that, here are some of the most up-to-date statistics regarding Perseverance’s first two Earth years of Jezero surface operations. Some will seem obscure, while others are more immediate, but they all underscore how productive the mission has been.
Perseverance Science Statistics
The rover carries seven science instruments, and they’ve been busy.
- Laser shots fired by the SuperCam science instrument: 230,554
- Soundings performed by the RIMFAX (Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment) ground-penetrating radar to study underground rock layers: 676,828
- Mars audio recordings taken by SuperCam’s microphone: 662
- Hours of Mars weather data recorded by MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer): 15,769.1
- Hours the X-ray filament on the PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instrument has operated: 298.2
- Laser shots by the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument: 4,337,010
- SHERLOC spectroscopy observations: 33
Perseverance Mobility and Operational Statistics
Along with the massive drill-toting robotic arm, the rover has a small sample handling arm inside its belly.
- Times the rover’s main robotic arm has been unstowed and stowed: 64
- Times the drill on that arm has touched Mars: 39
- Times drill bits have been exchanged: 48
- Abrasions performed by the drill: 17
- Distance the rover’s sample handling arm’s z-stage has traveled up and down: 676.1 feet (206.1 meters)
Perseverance’s Camera Statistics
Perseverance packs seven science cameras along with nine engineering cameras. Together, those cameras have taken more than 166,000 images.
“Behind each number is a lot of thought and effort from a very talented group of women and men on the Perseverance team,” said Art Thompson, Perseverance project manager at JPL. “We have come a long way together, and I can’t think of a better group to work with as we go even farther.”
In fact, when Perseverance marks its second landing anniversary, Mars will be 97 million miles (156 million kilometers) from Earth. The weather at Jezero Crater is expected to be sunny with a high of about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 degrees Celsius).
The rover has instructions to perform remote science and take images of a place in Jezero Crater called “Jenkins Gap.” And people on the mission team are expected to take at least one moment to recall where they were and how they felt two years ago, when Perseverance landed on Mars.
NASA, ESA, CSA, I. Labbe (Swinburne University of Technology) and R. Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
NASA’s Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora’s Cluster (News Release - February 15)
Astronomers have revealed the latest deep field image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, featuring never-before-seen details in a region of space known as Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744). Webb’s view displays three clusters of galaxies – already massive – coming together to form a megacluster.
The combined mass of the galaxy clusters creates a powerful gravitational lens, a natural magnification effect of gravity, allowing much more distant galaxies in the early universe to be observed by using the cluster like a magnifying glass.
Only Pandora’s central core has previously been studied in detail by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. By combining Webb’s powerful infrared instruments with a broad mosaic view of the region’s multiple areas of lensing, astronomers aimed to achieve a balance of breadth and depth that will open up a new frontier in the study of cosmology and galaxy evolution.
“The ancient myth of Pandora is about human curiosity and discoveries that delineate the past from the future, which I think is a fitting connection to the new realms of the universe Webb is opening up, including this deep-field image of Pandora’s Cluster,” said astronomer Rachel Bezanson of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, co-principal investigator on the “Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization” (UNCOVER) program to study the region.
“When the images of Pandora’s Cluster first came in from Webb, we were honestly a little star-struck,” said Bezanson. “There was so much detail in the foreground cluster and so many distant lensed galaxies, I found myself getting lost in the image. Webb exceeded our expectations.”
The new view of Pandora’s Cluster stitches four Webb snapshots together into one panoramic image, displaying roughly 50,000 sources of near-infrared light.
In addition to magnification, gravitational lensing distorts the appearance of distant galaxies, so they look very different than those in the foreground. The galaxy cluster “lens” is so massive that it warps the fabric of space itself, enough for light from distant galaxies that passes through that warped space to also take on a warped appearance.
Astronomer Ivo Labbe of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, co-principal investigator on the UNCOVER program, said that in the lensing core to the lower right in the Webb image, which has never been imaged by Hubble, Webb revealed hundreds of distant lensed galaxies that appear like faint arced lines in the image. Zooming in on the region reveals more and more of them.
“Pandora’s Cluster, as imaged by Webb, shows us a stronger, wider, deeper, better lens than we have ever seen before,” Labbe said. “My first reaction to the image was that it was so beautiful, it looked like a galaxy formation simulation. We had to remind ourselves that this was real data, and we are working in a new era of astronomy now.”
The UNCOVER team used Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) to capture the cluster with exposures lasting 4-6 hours, for a total of about 30 hours of observing time. The next step is to meticulously go through the imaging data and select galaxies for follow-up observation with the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), which will provide precise distance measurements, along with other detailed information about the lensed galaxies’ compositions, providing new insights into the early era of galaxy assembly and evolution.
The UNCOVER team expects to make these NIRSpec observations in the summer of 2023.
In the meantime, all of the NIRCam photometric data has been publicly released so that other astronomers can become familiar with it and plan their own scientific studies with Webb’s rich datasets. “We are committed to helping the astronomy community make the best use of the fantastic resource we have in Webb,” said UNCOVER co-investigator Gabriel Brammer of the Niels Bohr Institute’s Cosmic Dawn Center at the University of Copenhagen. “This is just the beginning of all the amazing Webb science to come.”
Hubble and @NASAWebb have both studied Pandora's Cluster in great detail, revealing gravitational lensing – which occurs when a massive object's gravity warps and magnifies the light coming from more distant objects behind it. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eCPBaVBssG
Only the center core of Pandora’s Cluster (or Abell 2744) has been previously studied in detail by @NASAHubble. Webb’s powerful view fills in the gaps, providing astronomers a much broader and deeper look at this region. pic.twitter.com/klbM7fTQqY
NASA, ESA, CSA and J. Lee (NOIRLab). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)
NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas and Dust in Nearby Galaxies (News Release)
Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are getting their first look at star formation, gas and dust in nearby galaxies with unprecedented resolution at infrared wavelengths. The data has enabled an initial collection of 21 research papers which provide new insight into how some of the smallest-scale processes in our universe – the beginnings of star formation – impact the evolution of the largest objects in our cosmos: galaxies.
The largest survey of nearby galaxies in Webb’s first year of science operations is being carried out by the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS) collaboration, involving more than 100 researchers from around the globe. The Webb observations are led by Janice Lee, Gemini Observatory chief scientist at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab and affiliate astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The team is studying a diverse sample of 19 spiral galaxies, and in Webb’s first few months of science operations, observations of five of those targets – M74, NGC 7496, IC 5332, NGC 1365 and NGC 1433 – have taken place. The results are already astounding astronomers.
“The clarity with which we are seeing the fine structure certainly caught us by surprise,” said team member David Thilker of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
“We are directly seeing how the energy from the formation of young stars affects the gas around them, and it’s just remarkable,” said team member Erik Rosolowsky of the University of Alberta, Canada.
The images from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveal the presence of a network of highly structured features within these galaxies – glowing cavities of dust and huge cavernous bubbles of gas that line the spiral arms. In some regions of the nearby galaxies observed, this web of features appears built from both individual and overlapping shells and bubbles where young stars are releasing energy.
“Areas which are completely dark in Hubble imaging light up in exquisite detail in these new infrared images, allowing us to study how the dust in the interstellar medium has absorbed the light from forming stars and emitted it back out in the infrared, illuminating an intricate network of gas and dust,” said team member Karin Sandstrom of the University of California, San Diego.
The high-resolution imaging needed to study these structures has long evaded astronomers – until Webb came into the picture.
“The PHANGS team has spent years observing these galaxies at optical, radio and ultraviolent wavelengths using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array and the Very Large Telescope’s Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer,” added team member Adam Leroy of the Ohio State University. “But, the earliest stages of a star’s lifecycle have remained out of view because the process is enshrouded within gas and dust clouds.”
Webb’s powerful infrared capabilities can pierce through the dust to connect the missing puzzle pieces.
For example, specific wavelengths observable by MIRI (7.7 and 11.3 microns) and Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (3.3 microns) are sensitive to emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which play a critical role in the formation of stars and planets. These molecules were detected by Webb in the first observations by the PHANGS program.
Studying these interactions at the finest scale can help provide insights into the larger picture of how galaxies have evolved over time.
“Because these observations are taken as part of what's called a treasury program, they are available to the public as they are observed and received on Earth,” said Eva Schinnerer of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, and leader of the PHANGS collaboration.
The PHANGS team will work to create and release data sets that align Webb’s data to each of the complementary data sets obtained previously from the other observatories, to help accelerate discovery by the broader astronomical community.
“Thanks to the telescope's resolution, for the first time we can conduct a complete census of star formation, and take inventories of the interstellar medium bubble structures in nearby galaxies beyond the Local Group,” Lee said. “That census will help us understand how star formation and its feedback imprint themselves on the interstellar medium, then give rise to the next generation of stars, or how it actually impedes the next generation of stars from being formed.”
The research by the PHANGS team is being conducted as part of General Observer program 2107. The team’s initial findings, comprised of 21 individual studies, were recently published in a special focus issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. and Intuitive Machines, LLC Announcement (Press Release - February 13)
Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. and Intuitive Machines, LLC Announce Closing of Business Combination; Intuitive Machines, Inc. to Trade on Nasdaq Under Ticker Symbols LUNR and LUNRW
HOUSTON, TX and NEW YORK, NY – Intuitive Machines, LLC, a leading space exploration, infrastructure and services company, today announced the completion of its business combination with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. (“Inflection Point”) (Nasdaq: IPAX, IPAXU, IPAXW), a special purpose acquisition company traded on Nasdaq.
Inflection Point’s shareholders approved the business combination at an extraordinary general meeting held on February 8, 2023.
In connection with the closing of the business combination, Inflection Point has been renamed “Intuitive Machines, Inc.” (the “Company” or “Intuitive Machines”). Commencing at the open of trading on February 14, 2023, Intuitive Machines’ common stock and warrants are expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbols LUNR and LUNRW, respectively.
“Intuitive Machines is playing a critical role in America’s return to the Moon by providing technologies and services to establish long-term lunar infrastructure and commerce,” said Kam Ghaffarian, Ph. D., Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Intuitive Machines. “This merger accelerates and strengthens Intuitive Machines’ strategic plan to help expedite a thriving commercial ecosystem for space for the benefit of human civilization.”
“We are excited to begin this new chapter as a publicly-traded company,” said Steve Altemus, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Intuitive Machines. “Intuitive Machines is in a leading position to replace footprints with a foothold in the development of lunar space. With our launch into the public sphere through Inflection Point, we have reached new heights financially and opened the doors for even greater exploration and innovation for the progress of humanity.”
“Today marks an incredible milestone for Intuitive Machines, and we will continue to support them on their historic voyage as a public company,” said Michael Blitzer, Co-CEO of Inflection Point. “The Company is exceptionally well positioned to capitalize on growing commercial and governmental interests in space, and it has been a privilege to partner with the Company as it positions itself as a strategic national asset.”
As a result of the transaction, the Company will receive approximately $55 million of committed capital from an affiliate of its sponsor and company founders.
Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs for winning a very close game against the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, in Super Bowl LVII at Arizona's State Farm Stadium tonight!
I originally didn't care about who'd win the Big Game, but then I remembered that Eric Bieniemy—who graduated from my high school alma mater (Bishop Amat Memorial) in 1987—is still the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs. Bieniemy now has two Super Bowl rings... Kudos, and Go Lancers!
Of course, I still want the Los Angeles Rams to regain their championship form and return to the Super Bowl next year. The 2024 game will be held at Allegiant Stadium...home of the Las Vegas Raiders. Carry on!
Seeing as how I usually sketch comic book, anime and movie characters (you can view their illustrations in the main Artwork section of my website), just thought I'd draw a picture of Garfield...my favorite cartoon feline ever since I was in elementary school!
In the drawing above, you see Garfield, Nermal (who Garfield actually despises in the Jim Davis-drawn comic strip, heh), Odie and Squeak the Mouse enjoying a ride through the desert—with Jon Arbuckle, Garfield and Odie's accordion-playing owner, at the steering wheel...and Jon's girlfriend (and Garfield's veterinarian) Liz Wilson riding shotgun.
As shown in this illustration, I still use coloring markers...even though I also utilized Adobe Photoshop to adjust the color and brightness on some parts of this artwork. I also had to airbrush the faces of Jon and Liz since the marker I used for their skin tone left a few undesirable streak marks on them.
(I'm well aware that there are streak marks everywhere in this drawing! The downside of not employing digital coloring instead.)
You can analyze changes to the illustration in these work-in-progress photos below.
So what will I draw next? Since I went lighthearted with this picture of Garfield, just thought I'd sketch a dark and brooding character from a (Marvel) comic book soon...
NASA Selects Blue Origin to Launch Mars’ Magnetosphere Study Mission (Press Release)
NASA has awarded Blue Origin, LLC of Kent, Washington a task order to provide launch service for the agency’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers(ESCAPADE) mission as part of the agency's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract.
ESCAPADE will launch on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket from Space Launch Complex-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Launch is targeted for late 2024.
Blue Origin is one of 13 companies NASA selected for VADR contracts in 2022. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contracts.
As part of VADR, the fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts have a five-year ordering period with a maximum total value of $300 million across all contracts.
ESCAPADE will study Mars’ magnetosphere – the magnetized area of space around the planet – using two identical small spacecraft, which will provide simultaneous two-point observations. The spacecraft will help provide researchers a better understanding of how the magnetosphere interacts with the solar wind, and how energy and plasma enter and leave the magnetosphere.
Each satellite will carry three instruments: a magnetometer for measuring magnetic field, an electrostatic analyzer to measure ions and electrons, and a Langmuir probe for measuring plasma density and solar extreme ultraviolet flux.
It will take ESCAPADE about 11 months to arrive at Mars after leaving Earth’s orbit, where both spacecraft will spend several months adjusting their orbits before they are in position to best capture data about the magnetosphere. Studying different magnetospheres gives scientists a better understanding of space weather, which can protect both astronauts and satellites as they orbit Earth and explore the solar system.
ESCAPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program.
Building on NASA's previous procurement efforts to foster development of new launch vehicles for NASA payloads, VADR provides FAA-licensed commercial launch services for payloads that can tolerate higher risk. By using a lower level of mission assurance, and commercial best practices for launching rockets, these highly-flexible contracts help broaden access to space through lower launch costs.
A few hours ago, LeBron James made history in the 3rd quarter of the L.A. Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game when he scored his 38,388th point in career history...surpassing the 38,387 points that fellow Lakers champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar achieved 40 years earlier.
While the Lakers lost to the Thunder, 130-133 tonight, its current team captain officially cemented his place as the King of the NBA.
We'll see if LeBron wins another ring in Los Angeles (which would be his 5th championship—tying Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant but falling one short of Kareem and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan—and the 18th franchise title for the Lakers) before he calls it quits, but if not, he'll nevertheless have his jersey retired and placed on the rafters of Crypto.com Arena someday.
Well-done, King James... This achievement belongs in the same category as Kobe scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors back in 2006, and the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain-led Lakers winning 33 games in a row during the 1971-'72 NBA season! That is all.
NASA Redirects Intuitive Machines’ First Mission to the Lunar South Pole Region (Press Release)
Intuitive Machines, LLC (“Intuitive Machines” or the “Company”), a leading space exploration, infrastructure and services company, is collaborating with NASA to prioritize the return of lunar scientific data in support of the Artemis Program. As part of this joint effort, Intuitive Machines will shift the landing site of its first mission to the lunar South Pole Region in support of NASA’s priority objectives.
“Redirecting Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission landing site is a testament to our collective commitment to supporting NASA’s Artemis Program and advancing lunar exploration for the benefit of humanity,” said Steve Altemus, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Intuitive Machines. “The Company is honored to accept the historic and scientific responsibility of bringing the United States to the lunar South Pole Region for the first time ever.”
Intuitive Machines is working closely with its stakeholders to ensure a seamless landing site change. The landing date is currently scheduled for late June of 2023.
This change is expected to positively impact Intuitive Machines’ backlog. More importantly, Intuitive Machines views this as a significant win for the Artemis Program.
NASA has its sights set on locations around the South Pole Region for the Artemis era of human lunar exploration. The agency has identified the South Pole Region as one with characteristics that hold promise for unprecedented deep-space scientific discoveries, like discovering water ice on the Moon.
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander would become the first spacecraft to land on the Moon’s South Pole Region.
We have chosen a rapid transit trajectory to the Moon, a three to six-day lunar transit that will minimize exposure to the radiation environment. Unlike many spacecraft, our landers will only need to make one pass through the Van Allen belts on their way to the Moon. pic.twitter.com/43JHzqNzOw
Intuitive Machines is going public imminently through its merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: IPAX). Post-merger: Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) pic.twitter.com/TOWHyU3MjW
According to this latest press release by Intuitive Machines, its Nova-C lander--which will launch on a #SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carry the DOGE-1 rideshare payload--will touch down at the Moon's South Pole around late June of this year:https://t.co/eSJKBKhNw8#Artemis#DOGEpic.twitter.com/Zi4SIN0AMJ
So I found out last night from my Dad that he and my Mom sailed past this SpaceX drone ship on their way to Catalina Island last Thursday, February 2!
That's the Falcon 9 B1071 booster...sitting on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You after the rocket (which has now flown into space seven times) launched from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on a Starlink mission last Tuesday, January 31.
My Dad took these photos from aboard the Catalina Express and then texted them to me! After docking at the Port of Long Beach—where my parents' boat departed from on its way to Catalina—B1071 should make its way back to SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne (about a 22-mile drive down the freeway from Long Beach) to be refurbished for its next flight.
Visit my webpage below to see photos that I took during my trip to Catalina back in 2013!
F-22 Safely Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off South Carolina Coast (Press Release)
A U.S. Air Force fighter safely shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a written statement.
President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure that no Americans on the ground were harmed.
"The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters," Austin said.
The action was taken in coordination and support of the Canadian government. "We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through [North American Aerospace Defense Command] as it transited North America," Austin said. "Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said, referring to the People's Republic of China.
U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho.
"President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to U.S. civilians under the balloon's path," said a senior defense official speaking on background. "Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland."
An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.
The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt.
Long before the shoot-down, U.S. officials took steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. The senior defense official said the recovery of the balloon will enable U.S. analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment.
"I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," the official said. "I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable."
The balloon did not pose a military or physical threat. Still, its intrusion into American airspace over several days was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty.
The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.
While Chinese officials admitted that the balloon was theirs, they said it was a runaway weather balloon. "The PRC has claimed publicly that the high-altitude balloon operating above the United States is a weather balloon that was blown off course. This is false," the official said. "This was a PRC surveillance balloon. This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites."
The mission now transitions to one of recovery. There are a number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels establishing a security perimeter around the area where the balloon came to Earth.
They are searching for debris, said a senior military official also speaking on background. There is no estimate for how long the recovery mission will take, the military official said, but the fact that it came down in such a shallow area should make recovery "fairly easy".
The military official gave some detail of the engagement:
- The F-22 fired the Sidewinder at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon at the time was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet.
- F-15 Eagles flying from Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, supported the F-22, as did tankers from multiple states including Oregon, Montana, South Carolina and North Carolina. Canadian forces also helped track the overflight of the balloon.
- The Navy has deployed the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Carter Hall, an amphibious landing ship in support of the effort.
Watch incredible HD video of the moment when the Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down by a single missile from an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base pic.twitter.com/KjwTrgcvcb
The Department of Defense reveals three Chinese spy balloons entered US airspace during the Trump administration, but they were never shot down or even publicly revealed. pic.twitter.com/Aauv2thk1v
🚨MAJOR BREAKING: The Pentagon confirms that at least THREE Chinese spy balloons flew over the US during Trump’s presidency and he HID THEM from the public and never shot them down.
New Landing Site Will Upgrade Science Returns for Astrobotic Flight (News Release)
Through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, NASA is working with American companies to deliver scientific, exploration and technology payloads to the Moon’s surface and orbit. The science investigations and technology demonstrations delivered to the lunar surface through CLPS are part of the agency’s broader goal of returning humans to the Moon through Artemis, and the success of CLPS could help further establish American leadership in the global and commercial space industries.
Astrobotic’s first orders for scientific payload delivery were awarded in May of 2019. Astrobotic will deliver NASA payloads on its first flight to the lunar surface using the company’s Peregrine lunar lander.
These NASA payloads will investigate specific aspects in and around the landing site. Astrobotic will also carry some non-NASA payloads from other organizations.
The original landing site for Astrobotic’s flight within Lacus Mortis, which is in the northeast quadrant of the lunar nearside of the Moon, was chosen by Astrobotic to suit its lander performance and safety, as well as Astrobotic’s preferences. However, as NASA’s Artemis activities mature, it became evident that the agency could increase the scientific value of the NASA payloads if they were delivered to a different location.
The science and technology payloads planned for this delivery to the Moon presented NASA scientists with a valuable opportunity, prompting the relocation of the landing site to a mare – an ancient hardened lava flow – outside of the Gruithuisen Domes, a geologic enigma along the mare/highlands boundary on the northeast border of Oceanus Procellarum, or Ocean of Storms, the largest dark spot on the Moon. The Domes are suspected to have been formed by a sticky magma rich in silica, similar in composition to granite.
On Earth, formations like these need significant water content and plate tectonics to form, but without these key ingredients on the Moon, lunar scientists have been left to wonder how these domes formed and evolved over time. With the selection of the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE), a suite of instruments that will investigate the origin and composition of the Gruithuisen Domes in 2026 on a separate CLPS delivery, relocation of Astrobotic’s Peregrine CLPS flight to a mare near the Domes will present complementary and meaningful data to Lunar-VISE without introducing additional risk to the lander.
CLPS providers are responsible for managing their activities to ensure that they are compliant with NASA schedule requirements. While NASA is the primary customer purchasing a flight to send its payloads to the lunar surface, CLPS vendors also work with other customers to send non-NASA payloads to the Moon.
Follow along for more updates on Astrobotic’s upcoming flight in 2023 and other CLPS news!
