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January 24, 2021 Archives
Sunday, January 24, 2021
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Lunar Lander that Makes its Own Landing Pad
How do you prepare a landing pad on the Moon?@mastenspace says: turn your rocket engine into a giant injector nozzle that coats the lunar surface in (aluminium?) particle that sinter into a solid pad. https://t.co/MwOiHLeZpU pic.twitter.com/QJa4paP0Fc
— ToughSF (@ToughSf) January 24, 2021
Posted at
21:24
CONTEXT: Solid Iodine Thruster for Microsatellite In-Orbit Propulsion
Iodine thrusters will allow low-budget cubesats to do serious, long-duration missions. They also make it simpler to de-orbit old satellites before they turn into space junk. https://t.co/oC5H3TwlYY pic.twitter.com/wfhTlLE0Th
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) January 24, 2021
This thruster uses electricity to sublimate a solid block of elemental iodine and ionises the liberated iodine gas for propulsion. Thrust is low, but it is simple, light, has no moving parts, and should have a long life. One application is de-orbiting microsatellites at end of life, reducing space junk.
Posted at
15:18
THE HAPPENING WORLD: A Countertop Dishwasher, and It Actually Works
The “detergent cartridges” seem kind of scammy, like the printer ink racket, but according to the manufacturer, you can use it with conventional detergent if you wish. Can this redeem the concept of “Bob” as a product name after the dog's breakfast Microsoft made of it?
Posted at
13:44
CONTINUITY: SpaceX Transporter -1, Second Launch Attempt
After a scrub due to weather yesterday, the second launch attempt for the SpaceX Transporter-1 ride-share mission with 143 satellites bound for Sun-synchronous orbit is scheduled for 15:00 UTC on 2021-01-24.
Update: both fairing halves have been recovered from the sea. (2021-01-24 18:36 UTC)
SpaceX appears to have retrieved the two payload fairing halves from today’s Falcon 9 launch on the Transporter-1 mission.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) January 24, 2021
The fairings descended under parachute into the Atlantic Ocean just north of Cuba.
Continuing coverage: https://t.co/cx1fjVZqgJ pic.twitter.com/m1wMODgqm0
Posted at
11:50