Welcome to Continuum
Space news for everyone
Greetings space fans! Welcome to the Continuum Newsletter, your biweekly serving of space news in words form. For our inaugural letter, we're bringing you a record-breaking asteroid quartet, an update on Russia’s fraying space collaborations, and what the heck happens when an old rocket crashes into the moon. Enjoy!
An Unscheduled Rendezvous With the Moon
By Joanna Thompson
A piece of a rocket just struck the moon at roughly 9,000 kilometers (5,700 miles) per hour. The Long March 3C — initially misidentified as a SpaceX Falcon 9 — left Earth in 2014 as part of China’s Chang’e 5-T1 mission and had been tumbling end over end in a chaotic orbit for over seven years. Last Friday, its journey finally came to an end — violently.
Quadruple Asteroid Sets New Celestial Record
By Jackie Appel
A team of researchers in Thailand recently discovered the first-ever quadruple asteroid system — an asteroid with three moons. Using data gathered from the Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team— lead by Anthony Berdeu from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand — created an algorithm that facilitated their discovery of the the third moon orbiting tightly around Elektra this year, and sent the whole system flying into the history books.
As Western and Asian Flags Fall Off Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia’s International Space Partnerships Fall, Too
By Rahul Rao
Last week, OneWeb, a London-based company, was set to launch 36 Internet satellites from a Soyuz rocket. Those satellites reached their Baikonur launchpad before Russia suspended the launch, demanding that OneWeb distance itself from the British government. OneWeb responded by leaving Baikonur, perhaps for good.
Breaking News
Elon Musk recently delivered more than two dozen Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine, which has been experiencing significant internet disruptions since Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had initially reached out to Musk for help on Twitter. He later thanked the SpaceX CEO, saying, “Starlink keeps our cities connected and emergency services saving lives.”
Speaking of Starlink, SpaceX launched 48 additional internet satellites into orbit on Wednesday. Just before takeoff, the launch director reportedly said, “Time to let the American broomstick fly and hear the sounds of freedom.”
Need an organ delivered from space? How about a pizza? Inversion Space, a new startup, has you covered…maybe. The co-founders were recently flamed on social media for describing their business model, which aims to store goods orbital capsules and summon them back to Earth on-demand. However, the startup has already raised $10 million in seed money. So, we’ll see.
China's Mars rover Zhurong, which has been on the surface of Mars since May of last year, just sent back evidence of wind and possible water erosion on the Red Planet. (!)
This Week’s Episode:
Continuum E1: Quadruple Asteroid, A Rocket Piece Crashes On The Moon, Private Spaceflight
In case you couldn't join us live, you can catch episode one here!
Continuum Podcast
Only have time for the highlights? Then THIS is the podcast for you! Whether you’re a space enthusiast or just starting to look up at the stars, we’ll take the best parts of our show and present them for you here in 8 minutes or less.
Alright y'all, that's all for this fortnight. Thanks for joining us on our continuing space odyssey. See you in two weeks.
Joanna
Head of Editorial Content @Continuum