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April 29, 2021 Archives
Thursday, April 29, 2021
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Stratolaunch Roc Test Flight
A live stream of the flight is available at https://t.co/AAZax8mpVp
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) April 29, 2021
Stratolaunch’s ROC is on the runway awaiting a report on conditions from the chase plane.
Posted at
14:24
TRACKING WITH CLOSEUPS: Black Plasma
Sodium ions absorb light from a sodium vapour lamp, resulting in a black plasma flame. The trick only works with monochromatic sodium light.
Posted at
14:20
CONTEXT: Apollo to Venus! The 1967 Bellcomm Manned Flyby Study
In 1967, NASA contractor Bellcomm, Inc., delivered a detailed study and mission plan for a manned flyby mission of Venus to be launched in November of 1973 using modified Apollo hardware and a single Saturn V booster. Here is the 177 page paper, “Manned Venus Flyby”, which I have read and found thoroughly fascinating. A fictional portrayal of this mission was the subject of Gerald Brennan's 2017 novel Island of Clouds.
Posted at
12:45
THE HAPPENING WORLD: Another Sixty Starlink Satellites Delivered to Orbit
Posted at
12:18
THE HAPPENING WORLD: China Launches First Module of Space Station
Chinese officials confirmed the successful launch of the first element of the country’s space station early Thursday, laying the keystone to a permanently-inhabited orbiting habitat that could welcome its first astronauts this summer.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 29, 2021
Full story: https://t.co/qXTjVABGap pic.twitter.com/YWemXsptE7
This is cool. A 3D/VR version of the completed Chinese Space Station in which you can wander around through Tianhe, the experiment modules, docking hub and Shenzhou. From China's human spaceflight agency. https://t.co/2jYcIt7Rf9 pic.twitter.com/KoQsYaH1ml
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) April 29, 2021
Posted at
12:09
CONTINUITY: Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Fourth Flight
Flight No. 4 is targeted for April 29. 🗓️#MarsHelicopter has met or surpassed all its tech demo goals. Now, we'll push performance. We'll up the time airborne to 117 seconds, increase max airspeed to 3.5 m/sec (8 mph), & more than double the total range. https://t.co/4s7ujMZZmz pic.twitter.com/DxgB7e04Ni
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 29, 2021
Posted at
11:51