An End InSight
InSight detects a meteoroid impact, Falcon Heavy is back, a couple casual planet killers are discovered, and the first meeting of the UFO Club
Hello Continuum readers and Celestial Citizens,
Hope you all had a happy Halloween - and if you are like me - used the day as an excuse to break out your best space frock. Of course, while there might be some pretty exceptional space age wardrobes out there in this community that will pop up at events like Yuri’s Night, no one could possibly compete with a Kylie space photo shoot. Of course, the ISS always puts on a good show for spooky season, and this year even tweeted out an eerie green view of an aurora to get the vibe right.
But Halloween in space wasn’t all fun and games - in fact certain headlines are downright terrifying - duh duh dunnnn….
For instance, if you thought billboards in space and other space advertising gimmicks are scarier than that creepy house from Stranger Things, you might be horrified to learn that “eyes on the sky” could have a whole new meaning for consumer culture (and a lot sooner than you think).
It’s true folks - nothing is sacred anymore. Not the night sky and not even Building 4200 on the Marshall Space Flight Center.
But hey, if like the cast of Stranger Things you really find yourself running up that hill this past October - don’t despair. You’ve got some pretty amazing photos from the LUCY asteroid mission and Hubble’s capture of the “Cosmic Keyhole” to help you shake off the spine-tingling frights of October and embrace the season of gratitude. More on that in our next edition of the newsletter…
And now, onto the space beat you came here for!
Top Headlines
Mars – Everyday we get a little bit closer to learning more about the history of the red planet. First up, we might be one step closer to learning Phobos’ origins. Upgraded software utilized by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft has detected “possible signs of previously unknown features below the moon's surface.” Was Phobos a part of Mars originally, or was it caught in its orbit? We might know the answer soon! And what was originally thought to be a Marsquake detected by the InSight lander last Christmas Eve has turned out to have been a meteoroid impact. This event created a crater about 500 feet wide. New satellite images of the impact have even detected ice, making this the closest that ice has been discovered to the Martian surface! Very exciting, and perhaps a good way to go out for InSight. Due to dust accumulating on its solar panels and the resulting dwindling power supply, the end may be “in sight” for InSight. NASA wrote that the lander will continue operating on what power it has, likely concluding operations in a few weeks. InSight has already operated far past its expectations, and with discoveries like this meteoroid impact, it’ll be sad to see this chapter close, but we eagerly await the start of the next one in our ongoing study of Mars.
UFO Club – Last Monday was the first meeting of NASA’s panel commissioned to study UFOs, or as they’re currently being called by the agency UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena). The full team has been revealed, consisting of “16 investigators from a variety of fields, from astronomy to oceanography to computer science to journalism.” Among the group is astronaut Scott Kelly. The study is expected to conclude in nine months, so mark the date in your 2023 calendars – next summer is gonna be all about aliens! (or super high-tech foreign military aircrafts…who’s to say?)
Falcon Heavy – The Falcon Heavy is back! If you haven’t seen videos or photos from its first launch in three years, do yourself a favor and check them out here. The rocket successfully brought a classified payload from Space Force “towards geostationary orbit.” What will Falcon Heavy launch next? Maybe all the verified Twitter users who aren’t going to fork over $8 to keep their blue check mark?
Danger – Two asteroids considered to be “planet killers” due to their size (1 km across) have been discovered recently and they’ve been right under our noses this whole time! Utilizing the very cool sounding Dark Energy Camera, a team of researchers in Chile surveyed “the region interior to the orbits of Earth and Venus” during twilight and found three near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that are usually obscured by the glare of the sun, one of which has an orbit that will bring it into Earth’s path. While the asteroid is, and will remain (at least in the near future) far from Earth, the light obstruction makes it hard for scientists to properly assess the asteroid’s orbit and when, in the next few centuries, it might cross paths with Earth. So maaaybe the data from DART will be coming in handy sooner than we think?
Artemis 1 – SLS is about to go where it has boldly gone a good handful of times - as of this morning, the rocket has begun its journey from VAB to prepare for launch. With the current launch window slated for November 14 - will this finally be the one?
Artemis 4 – And once we get past this “will they, won’t they” launch business, we can start looking ahead to the future of Artemis missions – and you can bet that NASA already is. When outlining the schedule for Artemis missions in the late 2020s, Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for Artemis Campaign Development, revealed that Artemis 4 would now include a lunar landing, following the currently planned lunar landing in Artemis 3. Initially planned to just be a mission to add the I-Hab habitation module to the Gateway station, the mission will now feature a lunar landing, utilizing a lander from SpaceX. Originally scheduled for 2027 - the date of this mission will change depending on the readiness of both the habitation module, and the lander.
The JWST Download
Why we love The Pillars of Creation, no matter which picture is your favorite.
The “pale red dot” that Webb is looking deeper into.
Merging galaxies never looked so good.
UniverseToday speaks to Lee Feinberg, the Optical Telescope Element Manager for JWST about the state of JWST now and what the future looks like.
A Global Space
India – Watch India’s GSLV Mark III rocket go! Currently India’s “most powerful rocket” - it successfully brought 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit with ISRO’s commercial arm New Space India Limited overseeing the launch. This is the first mission for OneWeb since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hindered further launches from the company and it is also the “first commercial multi-satellite mission of its kind” for the rocket.
China – China has been keeping busy! Most importantly it seems that China’s Tiangong space station is complete. With the last module, Mengtian, launching last week and its booster expectedly (and unfortunately) uncontrollably falling back to Earth, it seems that China is ready to put their space station into full use, planning for over 1,000 experiments to be conducted. On a less public note, it seems that China’s spaceplane has delivered something to orbit. With no pictures of the plane, or the object deployed, there is much speculation as to what it could be, with some experts noting it may be an object to track spacecrafts, or possibly just tracking the spaceplane itself.
Australia – In a joint statement made last week, Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong, defense minister Richard Marles and industry and science minister Ed Husic pledged to not conduct ASATs, making it the latest country to join in this initiative. Per SpaceNews, they “called on ‘all nations’ to join the initiative as a ‘transparency and confidence-building measure.’”
Starlink – The White House is talking with Elon Musk about setting up Starlink in Iran to support the protest movement that has followed the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini under Iranian police. Per CNN – “The White House sees Starlink’s compact, easy-to-use technology as a potential solution to the Iranian regime’s aggressive efforts to restrict activists’ internet access and communications.” Axios recently described Musk as a “self employed diplomat” and if Starlink services continue to support geopolitical goals, we might be inclined to agree.
MOONSHOT
If we’re going to get to space, we’re going to need a lot of help. In our Moonshot section, we’ll share highlights from some of the commercial companies that are taking us there:
Check out CNBC’s profile on Apex Space - a startup that has received $7.75 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz and plans on mass-producing spacecraft, specifically in the arena of satellite bus manufacturing.
Relativity Space gets ready for the launch of its 3D printed rocket, named “Good Luck Have Fun.” With the launch window set for the end of this month, will this be the first commercial company to successfully reach orbit on its first try?
Array Labs, a startup focused on creating a constellation of radar satellites to “fly in formation and gather global 3D imagery” has raised $5 million in seed funding.
So long SpaceLink – the company announced that it would be closing up shop, barring any last minute investments. SpaceLink was developing a space-relay constellation - which, as SpaceNews notes, there is, and will likely be, a strong demand for such, but “setting it up requires significant upfront investment.”
Solar Energy from space might be a closer reality than we think – a team from Caltech is “working to deploy a constellation of modular spacecraft that collect sunlight, transform it into electricity, then wirelessly transmit that electricity.”
Privateer is partnering with Celestron to “crowdsource the transparency and predictability of space.” They plan to crowdsource and distribute data from millions of telescopes on their Wayfinder platform to continue keeping space accessible to all.
And as Boeing’s losses on Starliner racks up to $900 million, SpaceX takes their place as NASA’s second biggest private contractor. Per data compiled by reporter Irene Klotz, Caltech, which operates NASA JPL, is their biggest contractor by a tiny margin of $600 million dollars.
Space Tweet of the Week
Space Reads!
Can’t get enough stellar content? Here are some pieces of space-adjacent news we’ve been reading:
Dust might be a slight annoyance here on Earth, but space dust can be a huge problem. Check out ESA’s article on “Defying Dust.”
These days, there’s a new launch every week, delivering payloads to varying orbits. If you can’t remember the difference between LEO and GEO, don’t worry, Gizmodo’s orbit guide has got you covered.
Our climate and space are intrinsically linked. Learn how climate change keeps space debris afloat longer, and how NASA is spotting “methane super-emitters” with their Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation Mission. And lastly, check out Al Jazeera’s story about how everyone from space enthusiasts, climate activists, and local residents are reacting to the UK’s first space launch, and the emissions problem it will contribute to.
Fans and readers of Ghost Fleet might have seen this coming, but Miriam Kramer from Axios Space writes a compelling yet also terrifying piece about how commercial satellite networks might play a big role in how warfighting is carried out in the space domain.
Truthfully, this article had me at “3D printing a human knee in space.”
And lastly, because we do love to anthropomorphize a space object here at Continuum. Check out this thoughtful and enjoyable read from Marina Koren at The Atlantic on how to mourn a space robot.
Here’s hoping that this edition of Continuum left you feeling informed and inspired. Thanks for reading and catch us again in two weeks time - when we hope to be reporting about the successful launch of Artemis 1!
A big thank you to Evan Yee for writing this edition with me - these space puns don’t write themselves.
Lastly, Substack just rolled out a chat feature on their app. Who wants to casually chat about space with me? Drop a comment if you are interested, so we know how many people want in!
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum