I know it has to cool down to…6 Kelvin, but I wonder if somehow they have also built in a 'fudge factor' on the first images and maybe we are closer to just 45-60 days from that vs. the longer 4 month timeline.

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Thirty days after launch, the detectors will provide their first "thumbprint images," which according to Ressler will allow the team to verify that the entire data chain is functional and that data will be collected as expected when the instrument is in its final cooled state.

From that point on for MIRI, approximately 63 days of cool down operations will follow as the cryocooler drives the instrument down to 6 Kelvin. Once there, approximately 93 or 94 days after launch, the first actual MIRI images will be collected… of the inside of the cover to continue verifying that all is operational with the instrument.

That calibration will take approximately two days, after which, MIRI will be ready for calibration with known star clusters.

"So there are two regions of the sky that JWST is always able to image, the north ecliptic pole and south ecliptic pole," said Ressler. "So we have specific targets chosen in those two ecliptic poles that will let us measure the plate scale how many arc seconds per pixel we've got. It'll let us check our distortion."

"So there's well-characterized clusters of stars that other missions have used. They're patches of sky that we understand very well. They'll be relatively photogenic. So yes these are images of things in the sky, but they are calibration fields that are commonly used to do instrument checkouts like this."

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"So there's well-characterized clusters of stars that other missions have used. They're patches of sky that we understand very well. They'll be relatively photogenic. So yes these are images of things in the sky, but they are calibration fields that are commonly used to do instrument checkouts like this."

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Sounds like that might be Pleiades star cluster. I am so very excited to see what JWST sees. How far back will she see? What gas/dust clouds will we see through that we've not before? Which Goldilocks zone exoplanets have oxygen and water vapor? Will she work with Event Horizon radio tele to re-image the super massive black hole?

Tiny arrow middle frame.

James Webb at L2 pic.twitter.com/2WZXG4uGNU

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) January 26, 2022

Spacex is hiring marine recovery specialists for starship program. A lot of them. Whatever that means.

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Oddly, despite repeatedly revealing plans to develop "marine recovery" assets for Starship, SpaceX's recent "marine engineer" and "naval architect" job postings never specifically mentioned the company's well-established plans to convert retired oil rigs into vast floating Starship launch sites. Weighing several thousand tons and absolutely dwarfing the football-field-sized drone ships SpaceX recovers Falcon boosters with, it goes without saying that towing an entire oil rig hundreds of miles to and from port is not an efficient or economical solution for rocket recovery. It would also make very little sense for SpaceX to hire a dedicated naval architect without once mentioning that they'd be working on something as all-encompassing as the world's largest floating launch pad.

That leaves three obvious explanations for the mentions. First, it might be possible that SpaceX is merely preparing for the potential recovery of debris or intact, floating ships or boosters after intentionally expending them on early orbital Starship test flights. Second, SpaceX might have plans to strip an oil rig or two without fully converting them into launch pads and then use those rigs as landing platforms designed to remain at sea indefinitely. Those platforms might then transfer landed ships or boosters to smaller support ships tasked with returning them to dry land. Third and arguably most likely, SpaceX might be exploring the possible benefits of landing Super Heavy boosters at sea.

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Arianespace's launch customer base appears to be changing. Hmm, I wonder why.

Also chuckle at the blithe mention of the Soyuz deliveries being taken over by their European counterparts, and having "discussions with our Russian partners to see whether there is a business case to go beyond 2023 or not."

https://spacenews.com/arianespace-looks-to-transitions-of-vehicles-and-business-in-2022/

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Arianespace looks to transitions of vehicles and business in 2022

After its most active year in two decades capped by the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope for NASA, Arianespace is heading into a period of transition in 2022 marked by the introduction of new vehicles and a changing mix of customers.

At a press briefing Jan. 6, Stephane Israel, chief executive of Arianespace, celebrated the company's accomplishments in 2021, including 15 launches of Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets. That was the most missions in one year for the company since 2000, when Arianespace conducted 16 launches of Ariane 4, Ariane 5 and Soyuz rockets.

Arianespace reported revenue of 1.25 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in 2021, an increase of 30% over 2020. The company did not disclose its profitability for the year, but Israel described the year as "break-even."

The coming year could be even busier, with up to 17 launches on its manifest for 2022. That includes nine Soyuz launches from Baikonur and French Guiana as well as four Ariane 5 launches.
. . .
Perhaps the most important launch of 2022 for Arianespace will be the inaugural launch of the Ariane 6, currently scheduled for the second half of the year. The core and upper stages of an Ariane 6 are en route to French Guiana for combined tests on the pad there starting in April.

Israel remained optimistic that the first Ariane 6 launch would take place this year despite extended delays in the vehicle's development, including a recent slip from the second quarter of 2022 to some time in the latter half of the year. "All our energies are mobilized to do so," he said at the briefing. "Very important milestones are now behind us, and this is why we are confident of making this maiden flight this year."
. . .
"The overlap between both launchers will be quite limited," Israel said in a later interview. He projected three Ariane 6 launches in 2023, followed by an "ambitious ramp up" to eight launches in 2024 and 10 to 12 in 2025. "We are prepared for this ramp up due to the high level of demand."

Changing customers

The sources of demand for those launches are changing. Arianespace had long relied primarily on the commercial sector for business, which remained true in 2021. Israel said at the briefing that, of its 15 launches last year, 11.5 were commercial, a figure that includes an Ariane 5 launch that included one commercial satellite and one French government satellite.

However, he emphasized at the briefing a growing amount of business from European government or "institutional" customers. Arianespace announced Jan. 6 a contract from ESA and the European Union for four launches of Galileo satellites, three on Ariane 6 vehicles and one on a Soyuz. The company also announced a contract to launch two small Earth science satellites for the Italian space agency ASI on Vega launches between 2022 and 2024.

"If you take now our order book, it's almost perfectly balanced," he said, with 51% of future launches for institutional customers and 49% for commercial customers.

"We welcome this rebalancing," he said in the interview, but added he was not certain it was a permanent change. "I expect that, in the coming years, we will have more exposure to the commercial market but, all in all, the more commitment we have from our institutions, the more resilient we will be."
. . .
Uncertain Soyuz future

As Arianespace introduces the Ariane 6 and Vega C, the future of Soyuz launches from French Guiana is unclear. While four Soyuz launches from the pad there are scheduled for this year and two next year, Israel raised questions about the use of that facility after 2023.

"We need to have the guarantee of a number of payloads, and it's not certain because Ariane 6 and Vega C should now take over what Soyuz has delivered," he said at the briefing. "We've had discussions with our Russian partners to see whether there is a business case to go beyond 2023 or not."

Israel said in the interview that European institutional customers that had been using Soyuz will likely shift to Ariane 6 and Vega C after 2023. "Regarding commercial missions, it is a bit too early to say exactly what will be the market," he said. Strong demand from constellations could support additional Soyuz sales, but that would be complicated by U.S. regulations that make it increasingly difficult for American companies to use Russian vehicles.
. . .

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Socialism loses again. Shocker.

will25u said:

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If you scare people enough, they will demand removal of freedom. This is the path to tyranny.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022

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The FAA review just got extended to April. Good for Elon though

The revolutionary drop in cost to get things (and sometimes even people) into space.

log scale chart: visualcapitalist https://t.co/qWntxRFDYr pic.twitter.com/qOKQWIHJ8T

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) January 28, 2022

This is with the vehicle at maximum capacity. How many launches actually are at maximum capacity? Does anyone know the true cost except insiders? Searching the internet it seems to be all over the place.

Basically this chart is showing you freeway mpg, when the reality may be more like city or combined driving. Payload mass is not always maximized every launch, due to volume, or schedule, etc. what does the actual average cost come out to? For the market of most interest, small satellites from smaller companies that need cheaper access to space.

The cost is still going to scale.

It's also the reason the small sat launch market is absolutely booming right now.

$20,000 hammers kneecapped government space budget.

Aggie lanyard and ring at 1:23.

New World Ag said:

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Aggie lanyard and ring at 1:23.

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****ing ship got in the no go area with 33 seconds in the countdown. On hold til tomorrow.

Looks like Royal Caribbean busted the keep out zone and MSC was on its way to do the same.

Wtf. How can you not manage to notice whether you're pushing cruise ships out of port or not? They didn't mention the zone was red until under 10 minutes.

Was in Brownsville for work a couple days ago, so I figured I'd go check out Starbase while I was there.

Trying again tomorrow, should still be great weather.

SIAP

https://www.wfaa.com/article/tech/science/space/spent-spacex-rocket-stage-hit-moon/67-2387e044-26e0-4d3c-a9c1-0482784386d1

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FLORIDA, USA A part of a SpaceX rocket stage is going to reach the Moon in March, but it's not in the way you'd probably expect it.

Astronomers say, after seven years in orbit, a spent Falcon 9 second stage that was left in "high orbit" after a 2015 launch is now expected to hit the Moon.

Bill Gray, the creator of the Project Pluto software, says data points to a March 4 impact between the rocket stage and the lunar surface. There won't be much to see given the rocket is expected to hit the far side of the Moon.

While the idea may seem concerning, astronomers say there's really nothing to worry about. Gray addressed concerns about if the impact could somehow "tweak" the Moon's orbit.
The short answer is: "no."

"Keep in mind that this is a roughly four-ton object that will hit at 2.58 km/s. The moon is fairly routinely hit with larger objects moving in the ballpark of 10-20 km/s; hence, the craters. It's well-built to take that sort of abuse," Gray wrote.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, echoes the sentiment that while the projected impact is interesting, it's really nothing to worry about.

"For those asking: yes, an old Falcon 9 second stage left in high orbit in 2015 is going to hit the moon on March 4. It's interesting, but not a big deal," McDowell tweeted.

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Decay said:

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Wtf. How can you not manage to notice whether you're pushing cruise ships out of port or not? They didn't mention the zone was red until under 10 minutes.

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Not excusing anyone here... This was/is a polar launch using a cooridor that until recently hasn't been used (and therefore included in exclusion zones) since1960.

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Sunday's launch was slated to fly toward the southeast, a corridor that went unused from 1960 to 2020. New technologies have enabled SpaceX to resume north-to-south polar launches from Florida, which fly almost parallel to the coast but also mean pilots and mariners need to be on the lookout for different exclusion zones. Hazard areas, designed to mitigate risks to people in the event of a rocket failure, are issued before every mission.
Earlier this month, Space Launch Delta 45 issued a statement and warned pilots and mariners that there would be upwards of five polar launches in January alone. Sunday's launch marks the fourth.
"The 2022 launch pace is going to be exceptionally busy with up to five polar, and seven total launches, projected for the month of January alone," Space Force Maj. Jonathan Szul said in a statement. "Due to the unique southerly trajectories, there will be a larger potential impact to air and sea traffic along the southeast coast of Florida."
"We ask that all pilots and mariners double-check their Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) and Notices to Mariners (NOTMAR) to ensure they are fully aware of all pending launch activities in this historic month on the Space Coast," Szul said.

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The ridiculous thing is that the FAA makes the exclusion zone so damn big. Musk has griped about it before, as well.

I went to the launch over the summer that was scrubbed thanks to a sightseeing helicopter range violation. 4 hour round trip wasted due to human error.

My nephew is out on "Bob" or "Doug" right now awaiting launch for fairing recovery. He should have made it home on Friday, but he gets paid 24 hours a day to sit out there and wait and play dominoes. He was their first certified diver which helped them transition from trying to catch fairings to wet recoveries.

View of Falcon 9's stage separation from ground cameras pic.twitter.com/lHDfQlKgZI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 31, 2022

Wow, what a great shot. Incredibly difficult to get that in frame from the ground.

Beautiful launch, just perfect.

NASASpaceflight guys got great shots of the sep and boost back. Awesome stuff.

SpaceX getting a lot better at the video thing.

Another beautiful landing. Getting pretty routine nowadays.

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed pic.twitter.com/E22NvEiKe0

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 2, 2022

First time I've seen a 1st stage come back in person, it was so cool watching it come back down. ****ty iPhone picture but this is the first stage right before it landed.