The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully delivered a weather satellite into geostationary orbit today. But, for kids across Japan, the main attraction wasn’t the satellite or even the rocket — it was the artwork on board.
Pasted near the upper half of the H-IIA rocket were two manga drawings created with the help of kids across the country. The rocket art project was organized by Young Astronauts Club Japan, an organization that seeks to encourage children to marvel at space.
The pieces were originally drawn by famous manga artist Chuya Toyama, creator of the Space Brothers series. The rocket art project was intended to inspire youngsters to explore outer space, just like the brothers who aspire to become astronauts.
Although the pieces depict drawings made by Toyama, the two images were created by making a collage of 30,000 digital photographs submitted by kids in Japan, according to Hirokazu Kosada of Young Astronauts Club Japan. “We believe it’s the first time in the world to launch a rocket with manga art on it.” he told Agence France-Presse. “We wanted children in Japan to be interested in space and the weather.”
After a 24-hour rain delay, the H-IIA rocket launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan’s Osumi Islands at 6:20 a.m. local time. The Himawari 9 satellite is the second of two third-generation weather satellites and the ninth weather observatory sent into orbit by JAXA since the Himarwari (sunflower) series of satellites first began in 1977. During its eight-year operational period, Himawari 9 will collect atmospheric data to help scientists study weather patterns and the environment. The satellite joins Himawari 8, which has been providing forecasters from India and Australia with valuable data since it launched in early 2015.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.