OrbitalHub

Rocket Lab dicit:

DARPA’s Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) mission […] intends to space-qualify a prototype reflect array antenna to improve radio communications in small spacecraft. The antenna, made of a tissue-thin Kapton membrane, packs tightly inside the small satellite for stowage during launch, before deploying to its full size of 2.25 meters in diameter once it reaches low Earth orbit. This high compaction ratio enables larger antennas in smaller satellites, enabling satellite owners to take advantage of volume-limited launch opportunities while still providing significant capability. The mission could help validate emerging concepts for a resilient sensor and data transport layer in low Earth orbit – a capability that does not exist today, but one which could revolutionize global communications by laying the groundwork for a space-based internet.

Video Credit: Rocket Lab

Updated tasks on U.S. EVA 53.

Video Credit: NASA

An amateur radio-astronomer from Northern Ontario received this image from Starman and the Falcon Heavy test payload.

There are rumors that SpaceX is developing a revolutionary propulsion system. Clearly, the Falcon Heavy test launch was an opportunity to test this new drive. The payload with Elon Musk’s roadster was the perfect decoy for a mission like this.

In terms of drive performance, the roadster was able to reach the Saturn system in a little more than a year. It took Cassini seven years to reach Saturn. When Earth and Saturn are closest, the distance between them is approximately 1.2 billion kilometers. We can conclude that the roadster drive must be a remarkable piece of engineering. It could be the scientific breakthrough that will allow humans to colonize the Solar System.

Image credit: Zgabeartza Iftode

NASA dicit:

This is a simulation of a twenty-five-and-a-half-day mission from roll-out to recovery of the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket, launching from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This uncrewed mission will be the first in a planned series of exploration missions beyond the moon, signaling what astronauts who dare to operate in deep space will experience on future flights.

Video Credit: NASA

NASA dicit:

“The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station on March 8, 2019 after nearly 5 days aboard the orbiting laboratory during the company’s Demo-1 mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and descends to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Just over 5 hours later, the uncrewed spacecraft splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida and is recovered by SpaceX teams.”

Video Credit: NASA

NASA dicit:

“Demonstration Mission-1 (Demo-1) was an uncrewed flight test designed to demonstrate a new commercial capability developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The mission began March 2, when the Crew Dragon launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and racked up a number of “firsts” in less than a week.

First commercially-built and operated American crew spacecraft and rocket to launch from American soil on a mission to the space station.
First commercially-built and operated American crew spacecraft to dock with the space station.
First autonomous docking of a U.S. spacecraft to the International Space Station.
First use of a new, global design standard for the adapters that connect the space station and Crew Dragon, and also will be used for the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s future mission to the Moon.

NASA and SpaceX teams gathered in the early morning hours at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to follow the spacecraft’s return journey and ocean splashdown.”

Video Credit: NASA