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#71
In the Media... / NASA warns as huge solar flare...
Last post by Rick - Feb 23, 2024, 10:32:27NASA warns as huge solar flare threatens comms, maybe astronauts too
NASA has warned of strong solar flares that have the potential to interrupt communications in space and down here on Earth.
The aerospace agency on Thursday posted news of a flare that peaked at 5:34 p.m. EST on Feb. 22, 2024 (10:34PM UTC) that it's rated an X6.3 event.
Solar flares are rated in five categories: A, B, C, M, and X. A C-class flare is ten times more powerful than a B-class event, and an M-class event is ten times more powerful than a C-class event. Flares are also scored with a numerical value to indicate the magnitude of the event.
X-class flares are therefore significant. And this one is a very big one: a list of historical solar flares at Space Weather Live suggests this event was the 27th-most-powerful flare recorded and the biggest since 2017. The list's biggest event was rated an X40.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/23/solar_flare_warning/
(There's been some speculation that this series of flares has contributed to difficulties in communicating with Odysseus on the Moon...)
NASA has warned of strong solar flares that have the potential to interrupt communications in space and down here on Earth.
The aerospace agency on Thursday posted news of a flare that peaked at 5:34 p.m. EST on Feb. 22, 2024 (10:34PM UTC) that it's rated an X6.3 event.
Solar flares are rated in five categories: A, B, C, M, and X. A C-class flare is ten times more powerful than a B-class event, and an M-class event is ten times more powerful than a C-class event. Flares are also scored with a numerical value to indicate the magnitude of the event.
X-class flares are therefore significant. And this one is a very big one: a list of historical solar flares at Space Weather Live suggests this event was the 27th-most-powerful flare recorded and the biggest since 2017. The list's biggest event was rated an X40.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/23/solar_flare_warning/
(There's been some speculation that this series of flares has contributed to difficulties in communicating with Odysseus on the Moon...)
#72
In the Media... / US returns to lunar surface fo...
Last post by Rick - Feb 23, 2024, 10:29:07US returns to lunar surface for first time in over 50 years: 'Welcome to the moon'
The United States has returned to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years after a privately-built spacecraft named Odysseus capped a nail-biting 73-minute descent from orbit with a touchdown near the moon's south pole.
Amid celebrations of what Nasa hailed "a giant leap forward", there was no immediate confirmation of the status or condition of the lander, other than it had reached its planned landing site at crater Malapert A.
But later Intuitive Machines, the Texas-based company that built the first commercial craft to land on the moon, said the craft was "upright and starting to send data".
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/22/us-moon-landing-odysseus-intuitive-machines
The United States has returned to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years after a privately-built spacecraft named Odysseus capped a nail-biting 73-minute descent from orbit with a touchdown near the moon's south pole.
Amid celebrations of what Nasa hailed "a giant leap forward", there was no immediate confirmation of the status or condition of the lander, other than it had reached its planned landing site at crater Malapert A.
But later Intuitive Machines, the Texas-based company that built the first commercial craft to land on the moon, said the craft was "upright and starting to send data".
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/22/us-moon-landing-odysseus-intuitive-machines
#73
In the Media... / Intuitive Machines' Odysseus p...
Last post by Rick - Feb 23, 2024, 10:28:04Intuitive Machines' Odysseus prepares for Moon landing
The landing attempt will occur today, February 22, 2024, with descent orbit insertion beginning at 2117 UTC. Just over an hour later, at 2218 UTC, powered descent will begin. At 2228 UTC, the lander will pitch over with the main engine and, after negotiating any hazards, land at 2230 UTC.
Those times are approximate. As the engineers behind many of the recent previous landing attempts will attest, the situation can change awfully quickly.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/22/intuitive_machines_odysseus_orbit/
The landing attempt will occur today, February 22, 2024, with descent orbit insertion beginning at 2117 UTC. Just over an hour later, at 2218 UTC, powered descent will begin. At 2228 UTC, the lander will pitch over with the main engine and, after negotiating any hazards, land at 2230 UTC.
Those times are approximate. As the engineers behind many of the recent previous landing attempts will attest, the situation can change awfully quickly.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/22/intuitive_machines_odysseus_orbit/
#74
In the Media... / Re: Chunks of deorbiting ESA s...
Last post by Rick - Feb 22, 2024, 05:26:38Seems anything surviving re-entry went into the sea somewhere between Alaska and Hawaii...
#75
In the Media... / Re: Chunks of deorbiting ESA s...
Last post by The Thing - Feb 19, 2024, 16:17:12I've got a hardhat 
#76
In the Media... / Chunks of deorbiting ESA satel...
Last post by Rick - Feb 19, 2024, 15:54:19Chunks of deorbiting ESA satellite are expected to reach the ground
ESA's ERS-2 satellite is heading back to Earth this week and some substantial fragments are likely to survive re-entry, although the chances of anyone being injured by a hunk of space junk are vanishingly small.
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) posted some images of the doomed European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) satellite at the end of last week. As of today, ESA's Space Debris Office reckons that re-entry will take place 1114 UTC on February 21, give or take 15 hours.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/19/esas_ers2_satellite_deorbit/
And: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-space-agency-project-captures-images-of-satellite-returning-to-earth
ESA's ERS-2 satellite is heading back to Earth this week and some substantial fragments are likely to survive re-entry, although the chances of anyone being injured by a hunk of space junk are vanishingly small.
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) posted some images of the doomed European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) satellite at the end of last week. As of today, ESA's Space Debris Office reckons that re-entry will take place 1114 UTC on February 21, give or take 15 hours.
More: https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/19/esas_ers2_satellite_deorbit/
And: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-space-agency-project-captures-images-of-satellite-returning-to-earth
#77
In the Media... / Re: Parker Solar Probe ‘touche...
Last post by Carole - Feb 19, 2024, 15:34:29Pretty amazing.
#78
Astrophotography / Re: A Rose after a Heart? Val...
Last post by Roberto - Feb 19, 2024, 13:57:04Thank you Carole. I was surprised how much colour I managed to extract from it after just 3hrs+ of OSC.
Roberto
Roberto
#79
In the Media... / Re: Parker Solar Probe ‘touche...
Last post by Rick - Feb 19, 2024, 13:08:12There's a little video from the Parker Solar Probe in APOD today: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240219.html
#80
Astrophotography / Re: A Rose after a Heart? Val...
Last post by Carole - Feb 19, 2024, 10:42:27This is beautiful and really needs to be admired in full resolution.
Carole
Carole