50 Kilometers above the moon

So tomorrow evening NASA is hoping to get this satellite launched out of Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital Sciences is launching the satellite payload on top of a converted Peacekeeper ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missile), now called a Minotaur V. According to NASA’s mission statement, they would like to have the satellite orbiting the moon in a few […]

That’s no moon…

…at least according to this article it isn’t, but it is a “quasi-satellite.” They do say in about 5,000 years or so it might become one of Earth’s moons for a while. The interesting thing about this particular satellite (it’s natural) is the orbital configuration, which scientists label co-orbital. Such a weird one coinciding with […]

A few satellites, simulated, to play with

One of my friends showed me the National Reconnaissance Office’s kids website. I know some of you know a lot about space, but some might like taking a gander, anyway. I think it’s really meant for children, so unfortunately a lot of the explanations and narration seems very simple. But that can be a good […]

New Chinese Launch–another three satellites in one.

The Chinese launched another three satellites from Jiuquan (map below), China, according to this article. One supposedly has a electro-optical payload, another has synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and the third has possibly a ELINT/SIGINT payload. All are suspected, according to the NASA Spaceflight.org page, to be used for maritime vehicle tracking. I don’t know, but suspect these are probably going […]

Kepler, focal plane array specs, still looking for a mission

From a previous aside “Not Dead Yet!!“, I noted the Kepler team is trying to find a different mission, since one of the satellite’s reaction wheels is not responding. Here are some interesting specs for the camera’s charged-coupled device (CCD). Observation: the Nokia Lumia 1020 has half of the megapixel capability (41MP). But I bet […]