- Israel-Hamas War Day 59 | Israeli Army Gearing Up for Ground Offensive in Southern Gaza as Hamas-run Health Ministry Says Death Toll Tops 15,800 – Israel News Haaretz
- Latest Israel-Hamas war news: Israel expands ground operations as Gaza death toll passes 15,800 The Washington Post
- IDF officials: 15000 likely killed in Gaza since start of war, 5000 of them are Hamas The Times of Israel
- Continued brutal Israeli aggression completely incapacitated the health system in the Gaza strip Al Jazeera English
- Israel Says it Killed 5,000 Fighters in Gaza War on Hamas Newsweek
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SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy rocket is gearing up for launch | photos
SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket is getting ready to fly again.
The Falcon Heavy has launched four times to date, most recently on Nov. 1, 2022. That flight, for the U.S. Space Force, was the first in 40 months for the heavy lifter.
There will be no such long drought between flights four and five, for SpaceX is already prepping the next Falcon Heavy for liftoff at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Falcon Heavy in the hangar at Launch Complex 39A in Florida,” SpaceX said via Twitter on Saturday (opens in new tab) (Jan. 7), in a post that included two photos of the massive rocket and its 27 first-stage engines.
Indeed, the launch is currently targeted for Friday (Jan. 13), according to EverydayAstronaut.com (opens in new tab).
Related: Why SpaceX hadn’t flown a Falcon Heavy rocket since 2019
The Falcon Heavy is based on SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. It consists of three strapped-together Falcon 9 first stages, with the central booster topped by an upper stage and the payload(s).
The Falcon Heavy is capable of delivering nearly 141,000 pounds (64,000 kilograms) of payload to low Earth orbit, compared to 50,265 pounds (22,800 kg) for the Falcon 9, according to the vehicles’ specification pages.
The SpaceX heavy lifter generates more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, which made it, until recently, the most powerful rocket in operation. NASA’s Space Launch System megarocket, which produces about 8.8 million pounds of thrust, took that mantle after launching the Artemis 1 moon mission on Nov. 16.
Like the November 2022 flight, the upcoming flight, known as USSF-67, was purchased by the U.S. Space Force.
USSF-67 will carry classified payloads to geostationary orbit, about 22,200 miles (35,700 kilometers) above Earth, according to SpaceNews (opens in new tab).
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
SpaceX gearing up for 1st Falcon Heavy launch since 2019 (photo)
The most powerful rocket in the world is getting ready to take flight for the first time in more than three years.
SpaceX has linked up the three boosters that comprise the first stage of its Falcon Heavy rocket, in preparation for an upcoming liftoff from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX posted a photo of that milestone on Twitter (opens in new tab) Sunday (Oct. 23), showing the three boosters laid out horizontally, their combined 27 Merlin engines all visible.
“Falcon Heavy in the hangar at Launch Complex 39A,” the company tweeted as a caption to the photo.
Related: NASA picks SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch Roman Space Telescope
Those three boosters are modified first stages of the Falcon 9, SpaceX’s workhorse rocket. The Falcon Heavy straps them together and puts a payload-carrying second stage atop the central booster.
Together, those 27 Merlin engines generate about 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, which is unmatched among rockets flying today.
“Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two,” SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy specifications page reads (opens in new tab). “With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb), Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the [United Launch Alliance] Delta IV Heavy.”
The current Falcon Heavy work at Pad 39A supports USSF-44, a coming mission that will launch two classified satellites to distant geostationary orbit for the U.S. Space Force. The launch date has not yet been officially announced, though various sources identify a “no earlier than” date of Oct. 31 (opens in new tab).
Falcon Heavy first stages, like those of the Falcon 9, are designed to be reusable. But only two of the three boosters on USSF-44 will come back to Earth for safe touchdowns; the central core will be ditched, falling into the sea when its launch work is done.
USSF-44 will be the first Falcon Heavy launch since June 2019 and just the fourth overall for the burly rocket. Its debut in February 2018 was one of the most memorable launches in recent memory: The test flight sent Elon Musk’s Tesla roadster, “driven” by a spacesuit-clad mannequin named Starman, into orbit around the sun.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
Cardano Creator Charles Hoskinson Says Hundreds of Crypto Projects Gearing Up for Launch After Blockchain Upgrade
Charles Hoskinson says many projects are preparing to launch on the Cardano (ADA) blockchain after its Vasil hard fork upgrade.
Hoskinson, the Cardano co-creator, says in a tweet that there are hundreds of projects announcing they will advance using ADA’s new capabilities become available to developers next week.
“I’ve seen hundreds of tweets like this one. Lots of projects are excited to deploy now.”
He refers to the project from the decentralized streaming music company NEWM, which is developing a platform to allow artists to share music among consumers and earn royalties through NFTs.
NEWM says the Vasil upgrade will make its operations more efficient.
“What does this mean for our community? We’ve been waiting for Vasil to deploy our smart contracts. This upgrade makes them more efficient and cost-effective on Cardano. The future of music is happening now! More on this soon.”
In another tweet, Hoskinson praises the achievement of the upgrade while criticizing a news headline for saying the upgrade came after a three-month delay.
“It’s amazing to me to see the passive aggressiveness in some of the headlines. We’ve just completed a major milestone that took coordination and testing from people and companies across the world, but the news item is ‘three-month delay’? Journalists always tell you who they are.”
The Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) CEO previously said the upgrade makes the goals of ADA seem achievable.
“We built Cardano to be the financial operating system of the world. We built it to bank the unbanked. We built it as a community to give economic identity to those who don’t have it so we can have one global fair marketplace.”
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SpaceX gearing up for another Falcon 9 launch attempt tonight – Spaceflight Now
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starlink 4-34 mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.
SFN Live
SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch is now set for 8:18 p.m. EDT Sunday (0018 GMT Monday) to deliver 54 more Starlink internet satellites to orbit. The mission has been delayed five days due to thunderstorms around the launch base.
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch SpaceX’s Starlink 4-34 mission. The weather outlook for Sunday night calls for a 40% chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff.
The SpaceX launch team called off Tuesday night’s Falcon 9 countdown just before starting to load propellants into the Falcon 9 rocket. Lightning flashes lit up the sky over Florida’s Space Coast throughout the evening. Similar weather conditions Wednesday night forced officials to call another scrub before tanking, and SpaceX stopped the countdown at about T-minus 30 seconds Thursday night as weather remained “no go” for launch.
It was a similar story Friday night as SpaceX loaded propellants into the Falcon 9, but stopped the countdown just inside of T-minus 60 seconds. Teams initially targeted another launch attempt Saturday, but SpaceX announced Saturday evening the mission would be delayed to Sunday night.
This flight will mark SpaceX’s 42nd Falcon 9 launch so far in 2022. It will be the 40th space launch attempt overall from Florida’s Space Coast this year, including launches by SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Astra.
When it takes off, the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage will release the satellites over the North Atlantic Ocean about 15 minutes after liftoff. The 54 Starlink satellites will total about 36,800 pounds, or 16.7 metric tons, in payload mass.
The Starlink 4-34 mission will be the third of as many as five Falcon 9 missions on SpaceX’s schedule this month. Tom Ochinero, SpaceX’s vice president of commercial sales, said Tuesday at the World Satellite Business Week conference in Paris that the company aims to complete more than 60 launches this year, with the goal of 100 rocket missions in 2023, continuing a dramatic uptick in SpaceX’s launch cadence.
The higher launch rate has been aided by shorter turnarounds between missions at launch pads in Florida and California, and SpaceX’s reuse of Falcon 9 boosters and payload fairings. Launches carrying satellites for SpaceX’s own Starlink internet network, like the mission Friday night, have accounted for about two-thirds of the company’s Falcon 9 flights so far this year.
SpaceX began flying 54 Starlink satellites on dedicated Falcon 9 flights last month, one more spacecraft than the company typically launched on previous missions. SpaceX has experimented with different engine throttle settings and other minor changes to stretch the Falcon 9’s performance.
SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 booster for the Starlink 4-34 mission at the launch pad Sept. 11. A static fire attempt Sept. 10 was aborted as a strong thunderstorm swept across the Cape Canaveral spaceport.
The booster is designated B1067 in SpaceX’s inventory of reusable rockets, and is going for its sixth flight to space Sunday night. The booster previously launched two astronaut missions toward the International Space Station, plus two resupply flights to the station. It also launched Turkey’s Turksat 5B communications satellite.
With the Starlink 4-34 mission Sunday night, SpaceX will have launched 3,347 Starlink internet satellites, including prototypes and test units no longer in service. The launch Saturday will be the 61st SpaceX mission primarily dedicated to hauling Starlink internet satellites into orbit.
Stationed inside a launch control center just south of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SpaceX’s launch team will begin loading super-chilled, densified kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants into the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 vehicle at T-minus 35 minutes.
Helium pressurant will also flow into the rocket in the last half-hour of the countdown. In the final seven minutes before liftoff, the Falcon 9’s Merlin main engines will be thermally conditioned for flight through a procedure known as “chilldown.” The Falcon 9’s guidance and range safety system will also be configured for launch.
After liftoff, the Falcon 9 rocket will vector its 1.7 million pounds of thrust — produced by nine Merlin engines — to steer northeast over the Atlantic Ocean.
The rocket will exceed the speed of sound in about one minute, then shut down its nine main engines two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. The booster stage will release from the Falcon 9’s upper stage, then fire pulses from cold gas control thrusters and extend titanium grid fins to help steer the vehicle back into the atmosphere.
Two braking burns will slow the rocket for landing on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” around 400 miles (650 kilometers) downrange approximately eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.
The Falcon 9’s reusable payload fairing will jettison durning the second stage burn. A recovery ship is also on station in the Atlantic to retrieve the two halves of the nose cone after they splash down under parachutes.
Landing of the first stage on Sunday’s mission will occur moments after the Falcon 9’s second stage engine cuts off to deliver the Starlink satellites into orbit. Separation of the 54 Starlink spacecraft, built by SpaceX in Redmond, Washington, from the Falcon 9 rocket is expected at T+plus 15 minutes, 21 seconds.
Retention rods will release from the Starlink payload stack, allowing the flat-packed satellites to fly free from the Falcon 9’s upper stage in orbit. The 54 spacecraft will unfurl solar arrays and run through automated activation steps, then use krypton-fueled ion engines to maneuver into their operational orbit.
The Falcon 9’s guidance computer aimed deploy the satellites into an elliptical orbit at an inclination of 53.2 degrees to the equator. The satellites will use on-board propulsion to do the rest of the work to reach a circular orbit 335 miles (540 kilometers) above Earth.
The Starlink satellites will fly in one of five orbital “shells” at different inclinations for SpaceX’s global internet network. After reaching their operational orbit, the satellites will enter commercial service and begin beaming broadband signals to consumers, who can purchase Starlink service and connect to the network with a SpaceX-supplied ground terminal.
ROCKET: Falcon 9 (B1067.6)
PAYLOAD: 54 Starlink satellites (Starlink 4-34)
LAUNCH SITE: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
LAUNCH DATE: Sept. 18, 2022
LAUNCH TIME: 8:18 p.m. EDT (0018 GMT on Sept. 19)
WEATHER FORECAST: 40% chance of acceptable weather; Low risk of upper level winds; Low risk of unfavorable conditions for booster recovery
BOOSTER RECOVERY: “Just Read the Instructions” drone ship east of Charleston, South Carolina
LAUNCH AZIMUTH: Northeast
TARGET ORBIT: 144 miles by 208 miles (232 kilometers by 336 kilometers), 53.2 degrees inclination
LAUNCH TIMELINE:
- T+00:00: Liftoff
- T+01:12: Maximum aerodynamic pressure (Max-Q)
- T+02:27: First stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
- T+02:31: Stage separation
- T+02:36: Second stage engine ignition
- T+02:42: Fairing jettison
- T+06:48: First stage entry burn ignition (three engines)
- T+07:07: First stage entry burn cutoff
- T+08:26: First stage landing burn ignition (one engine)
- T+08:40: Second stage engine cutoff (SECO 1)
- T+08:47: First stage landing
- T+15:21: Starlink satellite separation
MISSION STATS:
- 176th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
- 184th launch of Falcon rocket family since 2006
- 6th launch of Falcon 9 booster B1067
- 151st Falcon 9 launch from Florida’s Space Coast
- 97th Falcon 9 launch from pad 40
- 152nd launch overall from pad 40
- 118th flight of a reused Falcon 9 booster
- 61st dedicated Falcon 9 launch with Starlink satellites
- 42nd Falcon 9 launch of 2022
- 42nd launch by SpaceX in 2022
- 40th orbital launch attempt based out of Cape Canaveral in 2022
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Here’s how Utah’s universities are gearing up to fight monkeypox as classes resume
A vial containing the monkeypox vaccine is pictured at the Salt Lake Public Health Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, July 27. With an influx of people coming back to the state for college, here’s how Utah’s higher education institutions are preparing for the students’ return and how the institutions are equipping themselves to handle a monkeypox outbreak. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The federal government on Thursday declared a public health emergency in the face of the monkeypox outbreak that has now infected more than 7,000 Americans.
Universities around the state will be kicking off the fall semester later this month, marking a return to the Beehive State for students all across the world.
With an influx of people coming to the state — some living in dorms or close-quarter situations — here’s how Utah’s higher education institutions are preparing for students’ return and how they’re equipping themselves to handle a monkeypox outbreak.
Utah Valley University
As the largest university in the state, with over 41,000 students, Utah Valley University has been monitoring monkeypox “for several weeks” and will continue to do so.
“We are in contact with the Utah County Health Department as a part of the monitoring process,” said Robin Ebmeyer, director of emergency management and safety at UVU.
Ebmeyer noted that UVU has a strong relationship with the county health department after working through the COVID-19 pandemic together.
Currently, there isn’t a high concentration of monkeypox in Utah County — only four cases, according to Utah Department of Health and Human Services data.
“We are updating our student health services regarding case counts and vaccination availability,” Ebmeyer said. “We are working on a document that will be available for students, staff and faculty, regarding monkeypox; and it will be available on our website.”
This document will contain information on the disease, how to lessen the chance of contracting it, as well as necessary steps to take if there is a concern.
“Our focus at this time is monitoring and getting appropriate information to our campus community,” Ebmeyer said.
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is handling monkeypox similarly to its neighbors to the north.
Right now, BYU’s focus is on working closely with state and local agencies to plan for and mitigate the disease.
“Our plan is to follow the direction of public health professionals within the Utah Department of Health and the Utah County Health Department,” said Todd Hollingshead, media relations manager at BYU.
Utah State University
As of Friday, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services wasn’t reporting any monkeypox cases in Cache County.
Despite this, Amanda DeRito, spokeswoman for Utah State University, said the disease is “on everyone’s radar.”
“At Utah State University, we look to our state and local public health officials for guidance, as we do in all situations involving infectious diseases,” DeRito said.
She added that tests and vaccines for monkeypox are in short supply and not currently available at USU’s campus.
“Anyone experiencing symptoms of monkeypox should see their health care provider,” DeRito said. “Students on the Logan campus can reach out to the USU Student Health Center.”
Weber State University
As of Wednesday, there were three confirmed cases of monkeypox in Weber and Morgan counties, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services said.
Weber State University officials said they are prepared to handle the disease through lessons learned over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Weber State has time-tested protocols for emerging health crises, many of which we successfully employed early on and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bryan Magaña, director of public relations at WSU.
This includes routine and detailed updates to ensure their students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community remain informed and safe.
“Our health and safety experts are currently working on more detailed plans should the monkeypox health crisis evolve into an epidemic or pandemic,” Magaña said. “For all public health concerns, (university) housing works closely with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, as well as WSU Public Safety, to develop and execute plans to keep students safe.”
He added that WSU’s plans incorporate the latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Southern Utah University
David Bishop, Southern Utah University’s director of public relations, told KSL.com the Cedar City university is monitoring what’s going on both nationally and statewide with monkeypox.
“We’re going to rely heavily on the guidance that we get from state and federal health officials,” Bishop said. “That’s going to be our guiding force on this or any other pandemic that may be out there.”
He added that the university has had preliminary discussions about handling the disease but hasn’t developed any action plans quite yet.
“To the best of our knowledge, there have been no cases in southern Utah,” Bishop said. “We’re in preliminary discussions on what to do if we have a case of monkeypox here on campus.”
Utah Tech University
Similar to the northern Utah institutions, Utah’s southernmost university depends on “health authorities’ expertise to determine if a response to a health concern is necessary,” said Jyl Hall, Utah Tech University’s director of public relations.
“Utah Tech has not received any direction from our local or state health departments or the CDC indicating a need to initiate a monkeypox response plan,” Hall said.
Statewide numbers
As of Wednesday, 43 confirmed and probable cases of monkeypox had been reported in Utah, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Case counts by county are as follows:
- Davis County: 2
- Salt Lake County: 34
- Utah County: 4
- Weber and Morgan counties: 3
The state health department has advised the best way to prevent infection is to have people with the infection avoid transmitting it to others.
“This means not coming into contact with other people while the rash is present. The rash can look like pimples or blisters and can appear on any part of the body. If you notice an unusual rash, seek testing from your medical provider and avoid exposing others,” according to a news release from the health department.
Additionally, vaccines and tests for the disease are in low supply, and the health department expects that to be the case “for the foreseeable future.”
The agency “is tracking the virus, collecting data from local health departments, coordinating distribution of vaccines, and providing information to providers about how to recognize and initiate testing for the virus,” the release says.
Rebecca Walsh, associate director of communications at the University of Utah, told KSL.com that University of Utah Health will have information regarding monkeypox available next week.
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Report: Apple is gearing up to launch a ‘flood’ of new devices starting this fall
Apple’s poised to release a slew of new devices between this fall and the beginning of 2023, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. What Gurman describes as a “deluge” of products will reportedly include four iPhone 14 devices, a set of new iPads, three Apple Watches, several M2 / M3-upgraded Macs, a pair of refreshed AirPods Pro buds, a new HomePod, and a spec-boosted Apple TV model.
Let’s break down these predictions.
Although Apple announced two new Macs with its flagship M2 processor at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this month, Gurman expects to find the chip — and its variations — in several other devices. This includes an M2 Mac mini, M2 Pro Mac mini, M2 Pro / M2 Max 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros, as well as an M2 Ultra / M2 Extreme Mac Pro. Of course, there’s Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset, which is also expected to come with an M2 chip. If this isn’t overwhelming enough, Gurman says Apple’s M3 processor is already in the works, and will likely appear in the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops coming next year.
We already know that Apple is getting ready to launch the iPhone 14 this fall, and Gurman’s report offers a roundup of all the rumors floating around for the past year or so. For one, only the Pro and Pro Max models are reportedly set to receive the new and more powerful A16 chip, as well as support for always-on display. The iPhone 14 Pro models are also supposed to come with a 48-megapixel camera sensor, a new notch featuring a “pill-shaped cutout” for Face ID, and a hole-punch-style selfie camera. Gurman says the standard iPhone 14 will have the A15 chip that comes with the iPhone 13, with a 6.7-inch variation replacing the Mini model.
In terms of iPads, Gurman’s report indicates that Apple will launch M2-equipped 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models later this year, in addition to a larger iPad between 14 and 15 inches coming in the “next year or two.” Gurman also backs up an earlier rumor from 9to5Mac, which suggests that a new entry-level iPad will come with an A14 chip, 5G, and USB-C connectivity.
Apple’s also expected to release three new Apple Watch models this fall: the standard Watch Series 8, a new SE, and a more “rugged” watch geared towards people into “extreme sports.” Gurman notes that while the S8 chip present in the upcoming Watch Series 8 will offer the same level of performance as the preceding S7 and S6 chips, the Watch coming next year will reportedly feature an upgraded processor. Gurman also expects Apple to discontinue the Series 3 this fall in favor of the new SE, which could also come with the S8 processor — a jump from the S5 chip that came with the 2020 SE model.
Apple didn’t have much to say about tvOS at WWDC, however, Gurman says the company is supposed to reveal a new Apple TV with an A14 chip and slightly more RAM this fall. This sets the device up for the “additional gaming capabilities” that we could see in tvOS 16, Gurman notes.
Apple’s also set to roll out an upgraded HomePod — but probably not until next year. According to Gurman, the upcoming HomePod will come with a similar size and level of performance as the original HomePod released in 2018. It’s expected to have an S8 chip, refreshed display, and potential support “multi-touch functionality.”
The AirPods Pro earbuds are due for an upgrade as well, with Gurman predicting a new chip and improved sound. Hopefully, this means support for lossless audio, which supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo rumored earlier this year.
NASA gearing up for another try at Artemis 1 ‘wet dress’
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will fly NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission is at the pad for a critical series of tests this weekend.
NASA officials held a call with reporters on Wednesday (June 15) to give an update ahead of those tests, which together comprise a launch simulation known as a “wet dress rehearsal.”
The Artemis 1 stack — the SLS and an Orion crew capsule — was rolled out to the historic Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on June 6. Mission teams have since completed ground communication validations leading up to the wet dress, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday (June 18).
Live updates: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos
Artemis 1 will be the first launch for the SLS and will send an uncrewed Orion around the moon and back. This is Artemis 1’s second time at the pad for a wet dress rehearsal, a launch simulation that involves fueling the rocket and running through the procedures of an actual countdown, right up until T-10 seconds.
NASA tried to perform the wet dress in early April, attempting to fuel up the SLS three separate times over the course of multiple days. But the Artemis 1 team decided to roll the Artemis stack back to KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in late April, after a hydrogen leak and other issues prevented fueling of the rocket, ultimately scrubbing each attempt.
Over the course of about a month, teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida were able to make the necessary repairs to the SLS vehicle and associated ground systems, as well get a jumpstart on some upgrades that had been originally scheduled for after the wet dress rehearsal.
“We fixed some things around the area where we saw the [hydrogen] leak,” Jim Free, associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA, said during Wednesday’s call.
The time in the VAB also gave technicians a chance to improve loading operations for SLS. Using “knowhow from the [space] shuttle days,” Free said, teams in the VAB were able to update and automate certain procedures for filling the rocket’s cryogenic fuel tanks.
Free praised Exploration Ground Systems teams, as well as other Artemis-focused NASA offices, for their excellent planning “to save as much of [this year’s] launch periods that we can, so we can get the vehicle going and understand how it operates.” Free stressed that SLS is still a new vehicle, and while officials are hopeful for a late-August Artemis 1 launch attempt, a successful wet dress rehearsal has to precede the liftoff.
Related: NASA’s Artemis program of moon exploration
“This is the first step on getting us back to the moon,” Free said. “This launch has very specific objectives. It is a flight test. We want to test the heat shield at lunar reentry velocities, we want to make sure we recover the vehicle, and we want to make sure the systems work in orbit so that when we get to [Artemis] 2, we feel confident to put crew on [Orion].”
The Artemis 1 stack has spent the past week at Pad 39B undergoing validation tests, according to Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director with the Exploration Ground Systems Program at KSC, who was also on Wednesday’s call. Over several days following Artemis 1’s return to the pad, teams worked to confirm services and connectivity between the SLS mobile launch platform and the command and control systems in NASA’s launch control center.
This past weekend, teams also performed booster servicing procedures, completing hypergolic fuel loading for the booster hydraulic power unit, which provides the rocket’s thrust-vector control during flight. Blackwell-Thompson said that system is scheduled to be tested “inside the 30-second mark” of the coming wet dress rehearsal.
“Our pad flow is essentially complete,” Blackwell-Thompson said, “less our wet dress rehearsal preps, which are in full swing now.” Further wet dress preparations have included completion of booster and engine inspections, lowering the engine service platform away from the rocket and, finally, the completion of prep work on the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen systems, which preceded a full power-down of the launch vehicle.
“The next power-up will be as part of our wet dress rehearsal operations,” said Blackwell-Thompson. She indicated that a pre-test briefing for ground teams will take place on Friday (June 17), with the expectation for the wet dress to begin the next day. The rehearsal itself is estimated to last just under 48 hours and will run the vehicle through several launch countdown simulations, holds and abort situations.
NASA officials are hopeful that a successful wet dress rehearsal will keep Artemis 1 on track for an available launch window at the end of August but emphasized that they’re focused on completing the wet dress first. Accounting for lunar positioning, NASA has published a schedule of possible launch windows for the Artemis 1 mission that extends through 2023.
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NASA gearing up for rollout of Artemis 1 mission next week
Teams are starting to retract the “kitchen drawer” platforms surrounding the first rocket that will launch a NASA Artemis mission toward the moon.
Retracting the platforms surrounding the huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is a key step to safely sending the rocket and spacecraft to the launch pad on March 17 ahead of the Artemis 1 launch, which is expected to take place no earlier than May.
The uncrewed Artemis 1 will send an Orion spacecraft around the moon, to make sure both SLS and Orion are ready for crewed missions. The first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis 2, will send astronauts around the moon in 2024, if all goes according to plan. Artemis 3 will land people on the lunar surface no earlier than 2025, though a 2026 liftoff is probably more likely given some issues identified by NASA’s inspector general.
But the focus for the time being is on Artemis 1, and preparation is ongoing to ready SLS and Orion for launch, NASA said in a March 2 blog post. “Teams are continuing to install instrumentation on the SLS’s twin solid rocket boosters inside the VAB,” the post stated, referring to KSC’s cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building.
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos
Such sensors will allow engineers to ride along virtually with the rocket and spacecraft during their four-mile (6.5 kilometers) rollout to Launch Complex 39B and monitor the mission’s progress as it readies for launch.
Once on the pad, the SLS-Orion stack will send back a plethora of data on systems including the rocket, spacecraft and rollout ground gear. Propellant loading and other pad activities will also be captured.
The SLS-Orion stack still needs to pass a wet dress rehearsal — a test run of most of the steps that will be completed on launch day — to be ready for liftoff. The Artemis 1 launch has been pushed back several times due to technical issues and other scheduling factors. The wet dress rehearsal is scheduled for about two weeks after Artemis 1 arrives at the pad, which puts the procedure in late March at the earliest.
If successful, the Artemis program will be the first set of missions to put humans on the moon since the half-dozen Apollo flights that landed on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. The 50th anniversary of the last crewed moon mission, Apollo 17, will be in December 2022.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
One Ethereum Rival Gearing Up for New All-Time Highs As Bitcoin (BTC) Flashes Trend Reversal: Crypto Analyst
A closely followed crypto analyst says he’s bullish on one Ethereum (ETH) competitor and predicts a potential trend reversal for Bitcoin (BTC).
Pseudonymous analyst Smart Contracter tells his 204,500 Twitter followers that he’s following the price action of smart contract platform Avalanche (AVAX).
The crypto strategist says he believes AVAX is gearing up for a strong rally after completing a corrective pattern.
“Where alts are concerned, I’m really digging AVAX. Not only did it have a very strong reaction from a very major 0.618 level but also [the] move down from the highs was a three-wave corrective ABC. Expecting this to outperform many alts, potentially even [an] all-time high.”
Smart Contracter is a popular practitioner of Elliott Wave theory, a technical analysis technique that predicts future price action by following crowd psychology that tends to manifest in waves. According to the Elliott Wave theory, the resumption of an uptrend is likely after an asset completes an ABC correction.
Looking at Bitcoin, the crypto analyst says BTC is showing signs of strength after managing to close above the diagonal resistance that has kept the king crypto bearish since November.
“Solid daily close above downtrend. First signs of bullish market structure in almost three months.”
Smart Contracter is long-term bullish on Bitcoin. Last month, when BTC was threatening to breach support at $30,000, the crypto strategist predicted that Bitcoin will rally above $100,000 this year.
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