06/25/2021 – Ephemeris – The era of commercial human space flight has begun

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, June 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 34 minutes, setting at 9:32, and it will rise tomorrow at 5:58. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 10:58 this evening.

It looks like this year 2021 is the year that commercial crewed spaceflight is going to take off, literally. There’s Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic with their air dropped VSS Unity that will achieve a few minutes of weightlessness in suborbital space like the old X15 did. Competing in suborbital space is Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin with their New Shepard rocket and capsule. Bezos and his brother are expected to ride the first crewed capsule flight later this summer. Running rings around these guys, actually, is Elon Musk’s SpaceX with three orbital Commercial Crew missions for NASA already under his belt and a completely civilian orbital mission, Inspiration 4, slated for the end of summer. So the era of commercial human space flight is finally beginning.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT-4). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship VSS Unity ignites its hybrid rocket engine after being dropped from its carrier aircraft WhiteKnight Two on a test flight to the edge of space. Credit Sky News.

The Launch of the Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and Crew Capsule. Credit: Blue Origin.

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from historic Launch Complex 39A and sends Crew Dragon to orbit on its first flight with NASA astronauts. Credit: SpaceX/Twitter.

Boeing also built a human rated spacecraft, the Starliner, which will be used to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. It will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. They are scheduled to repeat their uncrewed test flight this summer before they can send crews to the ISS.

Virgin has Virgin Orbital a company to air launch small payloads, Blue Origin is developing the New Glenn rocket a partially reusable rocket, which is expected to launch in 2022 or 2023. SpaceX is actively developing its StarShip completely reusable rocket and booster near Brownsville, Texas.

12/30/2019 – Ephemeris – Some space advances this year

Ephemeris for Monday, December 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:10, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:20. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 9:45 this evening.

Let’s look back at space activity this past year. SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket twice successfully for commercial payloads. It also performed the Demo 1 flight to send a uncrewed Dragon 2 to the International Space Station. That went off without a hitch. However when testing the same capsule a month later it was destroyed in a fueling mishap that postponed further flight tests until next month. The other Commercial Crew contractor Boeing was having problems with its Star Liner capsule. The latest being a mishap with their test flight to dock with the ISS. Supposedly a timing malfunction caused it to use too much fuel, so it ended in the wrong orbit. However it did land safely.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program 2 Mission, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

The Demo 1 Dragon docking with the International Space Station. Credit NASA

Starliner Orbital Test Launch on an Atlas 5. Credit Boeing.