Space flight not as easy as it Seems!

 This week we see a Moon lander flop over and the Musk Star-link Fail.

Space is still a dangerous place to be and what sets out for it does not always function, even with triple checking the systems, something that NASA learned over the years with the initial loss of rockets and then the disasters with the Space-shuttle and now even connecting to the International station remains a problem?

But many lesser nations have made it to Mars and the Moon, if not also to our Sun and we don;t get to hear much about them, because of our biased media who just cannot accept that they have been out-done!

Working together was seriously damaged under the Biden administration, but now Trump is fixated with Musk, cooperation with Russia might return to save the day?

Meanwhile China has its own Space station and a lander working on the dark side of the Moon with great success, the European space agency has many probes making breakthrough discoveries and the NASA New Horizons in now approaching a strange object well beyond its last target of Pluto.

Return to Mercury and Venus!

Lots going on in Space?

Recently we had a second Moon orbiting the Earth, but I think has now left and is heading away! 

It is nothing new with planets and their gravitational fields, many believe that Triton was captured by the gravity of Neptune and may be more of a minor planet such as Pluto and as we know now its many cousins (136) of them on the outer edge of our expanding Solar System!

But now we are off to Mercury and Venus once more, exploring the two inner planets may reveal that Venus is not as hot in the polar regions as once thought by the Soviet Russians who landed their rovers for eight-minutes before they melted.

Mercury has what seems to be ice or frost layers in its craters, despite being the closest object to the Sun! But these could equally be salts exposed by past bombardment?

Space X is progressing well with dockings to the International Space Station, but as yet not crewed? One more unmanned test is to be made, as the Russia claims that the U.S. is trying to capture planets in our Solar system and make them American!

If there is anyone out their, I think they will still not be bothering with our primitive world and its failure even to cooperate with millions to die from this COVID-19 Virus?

New Mission to Pluto?

A proposed paper is underway at NASA!

Pluto is intriguing in that it is an active world on the known edge of our Solar system, New Horizons proved that with cold volcanism and an atmosphere! It would be interesting to return there with a robotic craft and stay in orbit, while also sending a rover to explore the surface?

Microbial life could exist on most planets that are active in some way, wither anything larger has developed will probably one day be discovered? Within our Solar system there remains many mysteries in relation to all the planets and Moons, humans will have to go and find our what is what?

The Moon, Mars and Titan are the next targets for NASA and a new Space station known as Gateway to orbit the Moon. 

Water ice is the target to sustain our life on any of these bodies and Space travel too, it will take time since we are only sixty-two years old when it comes to this field of aeronautics and science!

New Horizons beyond Ultima Thule!

What is the next target and when?

The problem now with this probe is speed and commands and it is not clear what is the real size of the next object? I think like Pluto we may be presently surprised that this region of our outer Solar System might be more active than we think!

One wonders if there is a back up mission planned for Pluto along with possibly visiting the outer gas giants of Ouranus and Neptune with its interesting Moon Triton? The recent BBC the planets was a bit disappointing because so much was not taken into consideration!

Brian Cox seems to be fixated with the date 4.5 billion years and the much speculation of what is now becoming a bore? We just do not know what occurred in times past in the creation of the planets and also what is happening?

New Horizons?

A bit of a Disappointment!

After Pluto I suppose one could not expect much more, but then our curiosity drives us to see what is out there beyond the known planets?

The Kuiper belt may yet show us things that we do not expect to see in this region of what is claimed to be primordial Space, thus objects left after the creation of our Solar system?

But who really knows what this part of space is all about and what is beyond it in the Ort cloud! Distances here are enormous and one does not know how many more objects are on the cards for this probe before it runs out of fuel?

What one hopes for is that another probe will be sent to Pluto to stay there for some time studying it and perhaps even sending a robot to the surface of it or even to Charon?

Interstellar Travel. Part-One.

Our nearest Neighbour.

Much of space science is currently being employed into the idea of sending a Laser powered sail spacecraft on a thirty year trip to our nearest neighbouring star, which is four light-years away. With our current technology it would take us two hundred years plus to get there and back.

At this time the only manned Space ship is the International Space Station, which is three-hundred miles up making a 45-minute circle of the Earth. The Russian Progress robotic and U.S. Dragon supply vessels are the only way of getting up and down, since the retirement of the ageing former Space Shuttles.

The next objective in to get a manned mission to Mars by 2035 or establish a southern-hemisphere Moon base, as a first step by 2028?

Prof. Stephen Hawking's is very keen to encourage the Solar sail project, but some believe it would be wise to test it out first within the known confines of the solar system? making a four hour journey to Pluto, instead of the ten years it took the New Horizon probe. 

It also remains unclear what is beyond Pluto in the Kuiper belt, which the second phase of the New Horizons will arrive at in 2019. One of the six believed moon type objects has already been spotted and a new planet Niku is on a 110 degrees plane between Neptune and Pluto. Meanwhile this small world is blue and is travelling backwards to the normal pattern of all the other planets rotation around the Sun.

The problems with Interstellar travel is the possibility of another rocky domain well beyond the Kuiper Belt that would be like a mine field to exit the Solar system, there is also believed to be another planet known as X9 somewhere out there with a very large gravity field?

Space Flight.

Pluto, Mercury, Mars and Juno.

This last two years has seen a rise in Space flight activity with new film and photography being returned from several planets and the International space station having the first British space man Tim Peak.

The eight year mission to the dwarf planet Pluto paid off with dramatic clear images of this far flung world having a three layered atmosphere and mountains of ice. Mercury being the closest to the Sun, also now seems to have ice polar caps.

It is confirmed that Mars has flowing water and loads of silica has also been discovered proving that this planet once had oceans of water. There are many areas of the planet that remain undiscovered and its is known that the southern regions are active in some way.

Juno is now half way to the largest planet, it will be arriving near to this gas giant 100X the size of the earth in two moths time. We know know that Jupiter has more than sixty-three moons and the great red spot has changed.

New Horizons has left Pluto and is now half-way to the outer Kyper Belt, with the first moving observation of a object in that region. As to planet 9X, that is still to be found, but New Horizons and other astronomical devices have measured an object 10X Earths size in the outer regions.

A visit to the NASA, ROSCOM,ESA websites, will give you much more detailed information and host of wonderful pictures and much, much more.

Space Exploration. Part-Two.

2015 A great Year.

A British man in Space, the July Pluto flyby, Pictures from a Comet and Mars seen from three views. Most people don't even bother looking up at the sky, day or night. Sometimes its the occasional drunk who claims to have seen more than one Moon!

But for may others it is the closet that we will perhaps for some time yet get into space? Just a pair of Binoculars and you open your eyes to see ponderous things, from nearby planets to distant stars and galaxies.

One may also see the International Space Station and other man made objects. The Moon is the nearest object to view, we only see one side of it  because it does not rotate. Venus and Mars are next, followed by the gas giants, Jupiter, and Saturn. 

Other wise we can visit the Indian, European, Russian and NASA websites to see the feast of what these many robotic craft are doing in space and on Mars.

Space Exploration. Part-One.

New Discoveries.

I don't know about you! But I am fascinated by Space exploration from the Moon landings to this day I like to follow all the press releases from NASA, the Russians and the Europeans ESA. plus now we have the new additions of China and India to also view.

Since July Pluto the furthest out planet has been reclassified as a planet, after it was discovered to have a 80 km thick methane atmosphere by the New Horizons probe. The plutonian system has also five moons, while on Pluto moving ice shelves were also discovered.

Ceres in the asteroid belt has some strange bright spots and a pyramid shaped mountain. Recent closer flybys have revealed more of them, but still no explanation to what they might be? 

Meanwhile ESA images from Philae on a hurtling comet has revealed mass water ejections, as it nears the Sun. The Mars Rover Curiosity has discovered silica deposits and has had to back track its route up Mount Sharp.  This discovery rises the possibility greatly in the search for fossils

Last of all Russians trusted Progress robotic supply ship has softened relations between it and the United States. because there is now no other alternative way to supply the ISS, International Space station.