Above: Inspiration4 Crew Members / Photo / Netflix
What do a billionaire, cancer survivor, geoscientists and a data engineer have in common?
For the first time on the streaming platform, Netflix will offer a 5 part docuseries covering the SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Mission in near real-time.
The series will cover SpaceX’s first all civilian mission (no astronauts!) as they prepare and train for the mission, the live launch coverage from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as well as footage from inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft as the 4 passenger crew orbit the Earth on the 3 day mission.
Unlike recent flights from Virgin (Richard Branson) and Blue Orbit (Jeff Bezos) that led suborbital flights, Inspiration4 will reach higher altitudes than that of the International Space Station and make history as first all-civilian mission to orbit.
Multiple firsts and groundbreaking accomplishments that go beyond, way beyond…
Breakdown for Netflix’s “ Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space”
Monday, September 6: Meet the four civilians heading to space
Monday, September 13: Watch them prepare
Wednesday, September 15: Watch the live launch
Thursday, September 30: Spend time with the crew in space
The Inspiration4 Mission which was brokered as a private deal by 38 year old Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments with SpaceX.
Isaacman will lead the mission along with his 3 other crew members: 29 year old Hayley Arceneaux who will act as chief medical officer , 51 year old Dr. Sian Proctor (mission pilot), who will become the fourth Black female American in space and 41 year old Christopher Sembroski, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who will be the mission’s specialist.
The mission also serves as a $200 million fundraising campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
A day before the launch day, Netflix will also launch “A StoryBots Space Adventure” on Sept.14 which is a live-action/animation special where Inspration4 crew members will participate by answering some of kids’ most pressing space related questions.
Look to the sky for a solar show that will create a stunning glow…
Stargazers and skywatchers are in for another treat, which come about two weeks after the lunar eclipse, also referred to as the “Super Flower Blood Moon”. Tonight and into Thursday, June 10th, an annular solar eclipse called “ring of fire” will be visible. Any discussion of all things lunar, blood moons and eclipses would certainly be congruent with a taste of the astrological perspective.
Unfortunately this time around, no parts of the United States will get to see the full eclipse, however some metropolitan areas like Toronto, Philadelphia and New York will be able to view a partial eclipse a little after the sunrise on Thursday morning.
Getting to see a partial eclipse looks kind of like the sun has a portion taken out of it. In total, this eclipse will last around 1 2/3 hrs (approximately 100 minutes) as it starts at sunrise in Ontario, Canada.
If you aren’t exactly clear on what a solar eclipse is, an annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farthest from Earth. And because the Moon is far away it appears smaller. The Moon does not block the entire view of the Sun and thus creates the appearance of a ring around the Moon.
The word annular comes from the Latin word for ring. Since the Moon covers the sun’s center and what is left forms a ring, hence the name “ring of fire”.
If you are one of the lucky folks situated along the East Coast and Upper Midwest and want to catch a glimpse at the partial eclipse, it is strongly recommended to use solar eclipse glasses and to not look directly into the sun as it may cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Don’t fret if you aren’t able to experience the upcoming solar eclipse. This summer we have a couple more opportunities to gaze above. There is set to be a Supermoon June 24, a Meteor Shower on July 28, and the Blue Moon come August 22.
We have a couple years until the next total solar eclipse in the United States, in April 8, 2024, weather permitting.
728 Successfully deployed satellites is one step closer to global broadband coverage
From the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk launched his twelfth Starlink Mission on Tuesday morning. With this latest launch from the company, SpaceX is now just a few dozen satellites away from providing a significant portion of North America with broadband access.
SpaceX started the Starlink project in 2019 with the goal of creating a constellation of satellites that will eventually provide the entire world with broadband Internet. After this morning’s launch— which carried 60 satellites—there are a reported 728 total satellites in orbit, just under the 800 required to achieve the goal across a moderate section of America.
With the 728 alone, however, SpaceX has already hit a milestone. According to Musk in a Tweet, Starlink is now able to run a public beta test in the northern U.S. and parts of southern Canada.
Once these satellites reach their target position, we will be able to roll out a fairly wide public beta in northern US & hopefully southern Canada. Other countries to follow as soon as we receive regulatory approval.
Eventual wide-adoption could break cable monopolies, increase decentralization and freedom
Starlink has been running private beta tests since July, allowing a handful of SpaceX employees and emergency service personnel to try out the system. Already, it has done some good in the world, as first responders in rural Washington state reportedly used Starlink to efficiently communicate during this summer’s wildfires.
Optimistically, people in rural parts of the world are the ones who stand to benefit the most from Starlink. Rather than settle for slow or outmoded forms of internet connection, Starlink will provide fast broadband to even the most remote regions. For this reason, SpaceX has applied to the Federal Communications Commission’s $16-billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to bridge the country’s digital divide.
In modern America—especially since COVID-19 has rendered so much remote and online—quality Internet access is nothing short of a necessity. Sadly, not all Americans have broadband, leaving troves of people without the proper tools for effective communication, information, and even education. Starlink could be the answer to this crisis of disconnection.
The project still has a ways to go, but the public beta could be a big step towards a brighter future. Already hundreds of thousands are interested in Starlink, and the public beta will better reflect its performance and utility on a broader scale.
Another successful lift-off and milestone achieved for Elon Musk’s space company
SpaceX welcomed back its Falcon 9 as the company caught its rocket head (payload fairings) using a large net in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. This is the third time in less than thirty days that SpaceX has successfully retrieved its rocket head marking a significant milestone for the company. With an additional launch currently scheduled for August 27, 2020.
The payload fairing – the rocket’s nose splits into two as it comes back from orbit, both of which are equipped with a parachute and autopilot guidance software for the recovery. The two boats to catch each of the two fairings, Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief patiently waited for the rocket to come back to Earth. As you can see from the video, the company makes retrieving the fairing look extremely relaxing and seamless (cue elevator music).
The Falcon 9, which is currently SpaceX’s largest rocket was launched on August 18, 2020 for the 40th time and this also marks a record-breaking 6 times that the Falcon has used the same booster. Eco-friendly and climate conscious, Musk has been praised for his ingenuity to recover and be able to build reusable rockets, which also significantly cuts expenses on the previously extreme high cost of space launches.
During the August 18, 2020 launch that took place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the latest batch of 58 satellites were sent to orbit for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network. This marks the 11th batch of Starlink satellites sent to orbit. To-date, SpaceX has launched almost 600 satellites for its Starlink initiative.
Starlink is planning to deliver high speed broadband internet in the Northern United States and Canada As soon as September, in a limited test phase, then with full access during 2020. They then will expand for full global coverage by 2021.
In a recent update to the SpaceX web site, Elon Musk and crew added some detail and updates to the plans for passenger and satellite cargo travel using its developing rocket tech. Naturally both SpaceX Starlink Satellite Launches and work for hire missions for NASA and others have been happening on a regular basis.
All of these and other projects also all serve to push the development of the systems for longer term projects, goals and plans.
https://www.spacex.com/media/mission_reusability.mp4Video showing REUSABILITY – While most rockets are designed to burn up on reentry, SpaceX rockets can not only withstand reentry but can also successfully land back on Earth and refly again.
“You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great – and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”
— ELON MUSK, SPACEX
One that has a specific stated timeline is the Private Lunar Mission. First announced in the fall of 2018, Japanese fashion billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa has purchased the fist ticket to orbit the moon on a SpaceX flight. The undisclosed price of the ticket will help fund the ongoing project to perfect the Starship and it’s rocket booster side-kick Super Heavy (formerly known as BFR) which, together, represent a reusable transportation system that SpaceX hopes will, one day soon, take passengers into orbit and on interplanetary missions.
Diagram / SpaceX
Those missions, starting with the week-long moon mission for Maezawa, will eventually include the first manned mission to Mars, with an inaugural flight currently projected to happen by 2024. An initial cargo only flight is penciled in for 2022.
Elon and SpaceX are certainly aware of the challenges of these incredibly ambitious plans and accelerated timelines.
https://www.spacex.com/media/DragonTrunk_Animation_Render_Desktop.mp4video animation: The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and will soon become the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.
The website details the plan for the potentially treacherous landing sequence once the Starship actually reaches Mars. This includes an entry into the Mars atmosphere, never before breached by a human, at 7.5 kilometers per second. These video simulations show the ideal plan for the Starship to conquer this task.
Earth to Earth Transportation System
The team of Starship and Super Heavy are also part of a planned Earth to Earth transportation system for long distance travel around the globe. With the advantages of leaving the earth’s atmosphere (for a short time based on the incredible speed of the system) where there is little to no friction and no weather or turbulence.
As can be seen in the table below, the average intercontinental commercial jet flight, such as London to Hong Kong, that currently takes 12 in-flight hours, would be reduced to 35 minutes. Basically this would mean that any distance on earth could be reached in an hour or less.
ROUTE
DISTANCE
COMMERCIAL AIRLINE
STARSHIP
LOS ANGELES TO NEW YORK
3,983km
5 hours, 25 min
25 min
BANGKOK TO DUBAI
4,909km
6 hours, 25 min
27 min
TOKYO TO SINGAPORE
5,350km
7 hours, 10 min
28 min
LONDON TO NEW YORK
5,555km
7 hours, 55 min
29 min
NEW YORK TO PARIS
5,849km
7 hours, 20 min
30 min
SYDNEY TO SINGAPORE
6,288km
8 hours, 20 min
31 min
LOS ANGELES TO LONDON
8,781km
10 hours, 30 min
32 min
LONDON TO HONG KONG
9,648km
11 hours, 50 min
34 min
“Rocket-lag” vs. Jet-lag, that’s a topic for a whole other article.
With all these plans, in addition to the missions to and from the space station and trips to host various payloads, it begs the question, what was NASA doing during the years from 1972, when the last moon mission was completed, until SpaceX was first contracted to assist.
And with all the private space exploration companies vying for position and invested in by both public and private funding, will this push be sustained throughout the 2020s?
With the Global Climate Crisis looming and various governments and private behemoths showing little regard for cooperation or or philanthropic behavior, the outcome and timeline of off-earth projects seem almost certain to be impacted by terrestrial obstacles, virtually every step of the way.
