Agreed with Jassica, the atmosphere scale height units issue bit us on the EASIER landing, because aerobraking is a lot easier than a powered landing with a rocket.

Plenty of other people have also failed in the last few years, so I don't think a failure would be particularly noticed or commented on, except that the USSR's last lunar mission was in 1976 (unmanned sampler that successfully returned) and this was the Russian Federation's first try, so they don't have any recent successes outside of near Earth-orbit to point to to deflect attention from this failure.

Also, the Russians aren't popular in the USA this year.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 01:03 pm: Edit

The Russians were successful in launching satellites for the world until recently (was a good source of income) as well as personnel to keep their orbital base going. They at least suffered no "manned" accidents. But Russia has always had problems with corruption, and who knows what effect that has had on their space program.

On the other hand, nice call back to the error on our own part Mike.

By Nick Blank (Nickgb) on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 02:05 pm: Edit

The Russian lander was performing a burn to change its orbit into the desired pre-landing orbit. The burn was supposed to be 84 seconds, but instead it continued a total of 127 seconds which presumably just dropped the orbit too much (into the lunar surface at speed). From a CNN story.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 02:29 pm: Edit

China has also had problems with corruption, and it looks like their problems with it will impact them on the level of the sanctions we imposed on Russia. However, corruption knows no nationality, and we seem to be doomed to our own corruption.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 08:33 am: Edit

Indian moon lander for Chandrayaan-3 mission has successfully touched down in a soft landing near the lunar south pole. It's an important mission, as the permanently shadowed areas in the craters near the pole all but certainly contain water ice.

By Nick Blank (Nickgb) on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 11:27 am: Edit

Looks like the Indian mission has a small rover as well.

By Douglas Lampert (Dlampert) on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 02:04 pm: Edit

Makes sense if you're looking for ice. A rover lets you look a lot more places, especially if it has a drill.

I wonder how they're calling home. From inside a crater at the pole their direct LOS is almost sure to be blocked, so they'll probably need to relay through a satellite with a polar orbit around the moon.

By Tom Lusco (Tlusco) on Thursday, August 24, 2023 - 07:46 am: Edit

I believe the communications path goes from rover->lander->lunar orbiting 'host'->earth.

Happy to see Chandrayaan-3 succeed, at least thus far. As noted, this stuff is really hard, and having a modest launcher deliver such a success should make every prospective moon mission look hard at what they are doing.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, August 24, 2023 - 10:56 am: Edit

The rover has now successfully deployed.

By Mike Dowd (Mike_Dowd) on Thursday, August 24, 2023 - 08:53 pm: Edit

A friend glibly commented that the Russian lunar probe hit the surface because the FSB got wind of a Ukrainian orphanage there.

By wayne douglas power (Wayne) on Friday, August 25, 2023 - 05:02 pm: Edit

Well done India.

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Friday, October 06, 2023 - 02:06 pm: Edit

In a first, the FCC fined the Dish company $150,000 for improperly disposing on an old satellite. Per plans filed with the FCC in 2012, at the end of the satellite's life, Dish was supposed to use remaining fuel to "de-orbit" the satellite by lifting it 186 miles, but fuel shortages limited the lift to 75 miles. The satellite was originally launched in 2002.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Sunday, October 08, 2023 - 12:26 pm: Edit

What do you want to bet that Dish decided to use up a lot of fuel that was supposed to be for the "de-orbit" to extend the service life of the sat. And there are probably documents to prove that...

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Sunday, October 08, 2023 - 04:54 pm: Edit

I think that's a VERY safe bet.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 02:16 pm: Edit

FYEO
Space: Russia Lost in Space
November 30, 2023: Economic disruptions created by the current Russian invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the decline of Roscosmos, the Russian government organization controlling all space program activities. Budget cuts mean Roscosmos has to delay construction of a new Russian Orbital Space station (ROS). It is designed to last for fifty years and function as a major space-based research facility. ROS will use three modules that were originally meant to be part of the ISS (International Space Station). Russia fell behind in building and placing these new modules into orbit and now plans to use them to assemble ROS. In the last few years Russia has fallen farther behind in delivering these new modules. Russia also lacks the money to build the ground control facilities to support their new orbital assets.
Nearly all the problems Roscosmos is having are related to budget cuts. The Ukraine War has a higher priority, and no one knows when Roscosmos will get its lost budget funds back. A lot of money is involved. Currently the missing funds amount to well over $10 billion and the amount will grow as long as the Ukraine War consumes so much of the Russian government budget. Recently Roscosmos reported that the government had agreed to restore the Roscosmos budget and planned to provide the nearly seven billion dollars needed to keep the Russian space station project on schedule. A lot more money will be needed before that space station is completed in 2032. This will be a major accomplishment for Roscosmos. Russia has fallen behind in most other aspects of their space program.
For example, Russia is no longer trying to compete with the innovative Americans firm SpaceX and its novel SLV (Satellite Launch Vehicle) operation. The business of building SLVs and successfully launching satellites was revolutionized by SpaceX. Few nations said they would try to emulate and compete with SpaceX. At least not yet.
Roscosmos did not keep up with new developments in SLV tech and has been in decline since its creation in 2015. Meanwhile the SLV future arrived unexpectedly in the form of SpaceX, a new firm that required no guaranteed government contracts or any government subsidies and did what previous government subsidized firms did but faster and cheaper. This was demonstrated during the first half of 2022, when the partially reusable Falcon 9 SLV launched 26 times, its total for all of 2020. The last three launches were carried out within 36 hours at the end of June. SpaceX carried out six more launches in July, exceeding the 31 achieved in 2021. One of the June launches involved a Falcon 9 booster that had been used 13 times. By June Falcon 9s had been launched 160 times since their introduction in 2012. The innovation was that Falcon 9 booster rockets land under their own power and are refurbished for reuse.
In Russia the situation is less positive. The Russian Space agency Roscosmos became a state monopoly in 2015 when it absorbed the few remaining space program entities it did not already control. Roscosmos was not helped when Russia threatened to cease all cooperation on supporting the ISS, but quietly suggested that a deal was possible if adjustments were made to the economic sanctions recently inflicted on Russia because of its current Ukraine invasion. Russian threats have accelerated efforts by American and European firms to build supply and crew capsules to replace the Soyuz capsules. SpaceX had developed a cargo capsule that has been in regular use since 2010 and its crew capsule was soon approved for regular use.
Roscosmos has long provided regular deliveries of supplies and transport of crew to and from the ISS. Russia uses its Soyuz SLV to put the Russian cargo and passenger capsules into orbit where they maneuver to and dock at the ISS. Russia and the United States are the major suppliers of new components to the ISS and use their own SLVs to get these components into orbit.
Despite the tension between Russia and the other nations responsible for operating the ISS, Russia is trying to maintain its duties up there. An early 2022 Soyuz crew capsule arrived at the ISS carrying three Russians, all wearing yellow and blue flight suits, which are the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Russia insisted this had nothing to do with the Ukraine War. These three Russians served on the ISS for about 30 weeks as part of the seven people who operate the ISS. Most Roscosmos personnel support expected continued participation in maintaining the ISS until ISS is retired in 2030. That is not going to happen as Russia in 2022 announced they would end support for and participation in the ISS program by 2024.
Some Roscosmos personnel also oppose the invasion of Ukraine but expressing that openly is now a felony in Russia and thousands of Russians have been arrested for demonstrating their opposition. The Russian ISS crew members went with their government’s explanation that the colors of the flight suits were a coincidence.
Despite the professionalism and dedication of many Roscosmos personnel, key officials continue to cause problems with mismanagements and corruption. This causes problems with the contracts it already has. For example, in 2018 a Soyuz rocket failed as it was attempting to take two men, a Russian and an American, to the ISS. The two passengers survived because of the emergency recovery system that is part of the manned rocket. The failed Soyuz rocket was another example of the continued management and quality control problems in the Russian space program. Previously there had only been two failures of a Soyuz manned capsule, in 1975 and 1983. The 1983 failure involved a rocket catching fire on the launch pad and the crew rescue system saved the passengers, as was the case during the 2018 failure. As in the past, the Russians recovered and carried out a successful launch to deliver three people to the ISS. Roscosmos has been burdened with corruption and mismanagement since its creation and has had six directors since 2015, with the latest one taking office in 2022.
There have been over 1,900 launches of a Soyuz SLV since 1966 and the success rate has been 98 percent. The failures include inability to reach the correct orbit. The Soyuz FG SLV, used to carry passengers, has been used 65 times since entering service in 2001 and all were successful until the 2018 failure. The Soyuz FG is a more advanced and, until the recent failure, more reliable version of the Soyuz SLV design. There have been some recent problems with the Soyuz models used to launch satellites. Russia insisted that Soyuz FG was different but the personnel and management problems in the Russian space program could not be completely avoided.
Cheaper and more reliable Chinese SLVs are taking business away from Roscosmos. Russia lacks the cash to compete with the much more affluent China. There is also the entrepreneurial approach that China and the U.S. share. This is why China is working on an SLV design that can duplicate SpaceX innovations. Russia prefers not to risk scarce funds on duplicating SpaceX tech. Economic sanctions imposed after the Ukraine invasion have caused layoffs and pay cuts for Roscosmos staff. Construction of SLVs and satellites is hampered by the sanctions, which halted the import of key components, especially electronic items. The Russian government warned Roscosmos that this situation would last at least two more years, meaning that Roscosmos will incur annual losses instead of a small profit.
Over the last few years SpaceX has been gradually eroding the Roscosmos monopoly on taking crews and cargo to the ISS. This became more urgent since a Soyuz passenger capsule that reached the ISS in 2018 was later found to have a tiny leak, which was apparently created during manufacture and not detected by quality control. The growing number of manufacturing defects in Russian spaceflight equipment is compounded by the growing failure to catch and repair defects. The problems with two Soyuz passenger capsules in 2018 were not just rare events but part of a trend that has gotten worse. The Soyuz SLV and crew capsule problems also reinforced the belief that more than one nation must be able to get people to and from the ISS.
The SpaceX Dragon passenger capsule had its first test flight in 2019. Boeing also had a manned capsule design (Starliner) but it is more expensive than Dragon, which has already been replaced by Dragon 2, which can be used to carry cargo or up to seven passengers. That means the Soyuz monopoly as a crew transport to ISS ended in 2022 when Dragon 2 began regular trips to the ISS with passengers. Dragon 2 costs a third less than Soyuz per passenger going to the ISS.
Russians have looked on with growing dismay as their space program, once a close competitor with the Americans, slips into bankruptcy and insignificance. But the Russians were already falling way behind when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and since then the government has, with increasing frustration, sought to revive Russian space efforts and restore that program to its former fame and glory. The latest major move towards that goal occurred at the end of 2015 when Russia abolished its government federal space agency and transferred all the assets and responsibilities to the newly created Roscosmos. Over the next two years, it became obvious that the problems remained, seemingly beyond solution. To make that failure obvious, by the end of 2017 Russia had fallen to third place, behind the Americans and Chinese in space efforts. This was not a surprise because over the last decade Russian space efforts have struggled to meet military space needs, often at the expense of the more profitable civilian market.
In 2022 Russia made it illegal to publish details of Roscosmos problems without government permission. The ban included the Internet, where the bad news can still be found despite its disappearance from state- controlled media. The latest bad news involves the extent to which the new economic sanctions will prevent Roscosmos from freely importing foreign technology and the declining role Roscosmos plays in supplying SLV services.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Monday, January 08, 2024 - 02:50 am: Edit

Make Rocket Go!!!

Good luck to the ULA rocket - which succesful launched today.

Various missions on the private launch vehicle - and a NASA lander for the Moon - first one since April 1972!!!

By Tom Lusco (Tlusco) on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 12:56 pm: Edit

Its a private mission to the moon, but unfortunately it isn't going to make it. They had a problem with solar array deployment that was solved, but a fuel leak means they now they can't land safely. That's too bad.

On the plus side, Vulcan-Centaur seemed to work as intended. This is a good step. It remains to be seen if Blue Origin can build engines at the pace required to support ULA's intended launch cadence. Its also tough to swallow the economic sense of throwing away big expensive engines when the competitor has a working re-use solution, but having a second launch provider is unequivacally a good thing.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 02:15 pm: Edit

FYEO
Space: Chinese Space Plane Goes to Work
January 10, 2024: At the end of 2023, on December 14th, The Chinese Space Plane, called Shenlong (Divine Dragon) began its third orbital mission. There is no indication how long the Chinese spacecraft will remain in orbit. In August 2022 the Chinese Space Plane completed its second successful mission after remaining in orbit for 276 days. The first flight took place in early September 2020 and was in orbit for only two days. Initially China delayed releasing any photos of their reusable test spacecraft. Eventually there were satellite photos of the Chinese space plane after landing that showed a space plane similar in size to the American X-37B. The second launch and orbital activity was more closely observed. China delayed releasing any photos of its space launch facility, known as CSSHQ. The Chinese designer revealed that Shenlong is expected to be useful for up to 20 launches.
The Chinese version of the U.S. Air Force X-37B UOV (Unmanned Orbital Vehicle) lands at a 5,000-meter landing strip near their Lop Nor nuclear test site in the Gobi Desert. The Chinese mentioned the X-37B when they first announced their effort in 2017. During its first flight, the Chinese UOV was spotted by an American space surveillance system releasing a smaller object into orbit. The Chinese UOV apparently released two smaller objects before returning to earth. The Chinese UOV remained in a 350-kilometer-high orbit for over 40 hours on its first flight and is using a similar orbit during its second mission. The third, and current, mission uses a similar orbit and circles the earth once every 90 minutes.
The Chinese UOV was not a complete surprise as Chinese space officials mentioned such a project in 2017. It was believed they would test their UOV in 2020 and they did, but without any publicity until it landed safely. The only other nation to develop and use a spaceplane was Russia. Their Buran project was similar to the American manned Space Shuttle and made one unmanned flight in 1988. This was for only two orbits before Buran was landed. The Soviet Union dissolved in 19991 and there was no money for further work on Buran. The one working Buran vehicle was stored in a hanger and destroyed in 2002 when the hanger collapsed. The European Space Program is developing a space plane as is India.
On May 17, 2020, one of the American X-37Bs was launched into orbit, the sixth time this has been done. This was seven months after the other X-37B returned from its last, and longest 25.5 month mission. The X-37B has been doing this for over a decade now, going into orbit for the first time in April 2010, and remaining up there for over seven months. Each subsequent launch (March 2011, December 2012, May 2016, September 2017, and May 2020) kept the X-37B in orbit longer (225 days then 469, 675, 718 and over 908). There are two X-37B space planes, so they are not putting the same one back into orbit soon after it returns. Mission six remained in orbit for 908 days. The seventh mission launch is supposed to happen by the end of 2023.
The X-37B was developed by NASA as the X-37A but in 2004 that project was turned over to DARPA the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In 2006 the U.S. Air Force announced it was developing a larger X-37B and this replaced the DARPA X-37A project.
One unanswered question is what does X-37B or the Chinese UOV do up there? The X-37B operations are classified and little information about what happens in orbit is released. China has been equally secretive. On one X-37B mission the air force mentioned that the X-37B had carried and released three cubesats or very small satellites that were not registered with the UN. That X-37B was known to be carrying ten cubesats to be released into orbit to perform various experiments. The Chinese appear to have done the same while in orbit. The latest X-37B in orbit was reported to be carrying more items to put into orbit than any previous X-37B. The Chinese UOV released similar small satellites during its first flight, apparently to test the cargo launch system. Shenlong released several smaller objects during it latest flight. These objects appear to be broadcasting a signal that could be detected on earth.
Cubesats are technically U Class spacecraft that can be no larger than 10 cm square and weigh no more than 1.33 kg. Cubesats are increasingly popular for science experiments by smaller organizations, or even individuals, who cannot afford a multi-million-dollar satellite that is ten or more times larger and heavier than a cubesat. About 4,000 cubesats and similar Nanosats have been launched since 1998, with over 90 percent reaching orbit. That number is expected to keep increasing because more and more commercial satellite launchers are providing unused space and weight on their launcher rockets for carrying and launching some cubesats and the smaller Nanosats. In some cases, the cubesat owners pay for this service while in other cases some cubesats are taken up for free, as a public service.
The U.S. was accused of using the unregistered cubesats launched from the X-37B as a test of a new anti-satellite weapon. A cubesat placed in the proper orbit could intercept and destroy or disable a much larger satellite. Or so the theory goes. The U.S. Air Force had no comment although two senior air force officials did mention, in 2019, that there were some secret anti-satellite projects underway. An anti-satellite weapon that is kept secret is more effective when used because the enemy doesn’t know what to prepare for.
The X-37B is unmanned and operated by earth-based controllers. It does have automatic landing software that has been used several times without any problems. While the air force reports few details about the X-37B, it was difficult to hide the fact that mission 5 used a different launch vehicle, the SpaceX booster. This was important because the SpaceX rocket itself is reusable; its first stage returns to earth and lands upright for refurbishing and reuse. Air force officials noted that the SpaceX design is a fitting match for X-37B which was designed for multiple reuse and autonomous operation. The Chinese UOVs were designed for at least 20 missions each. X-37B Missions, 4 5 and 6 were apparently all similar in that new technologies were tested, and more micro-satellites were placed in orbit, including the unregistered cubesats, which are the smallest class of satellites.
Mission 6 in 2020, using the disposable Atlas 5 launch vehicle was the last time it was employed. The SpaceX launchers are cheaper and just as reliable.
It was eventually revealed that X-37B mission 4 tested a new thruster system for mobile satellites that needed to be tried out while in orbit. Also carried were dozens of different materials, possibly including some new spy satellite components to see what the harsh environment in orbit, especially radiation, can do. Such exposure can have unpredictable effects on materials and microelectronics after prolonged time in space.
Earlier missions were also successful. The third X-37B mission ended in October 2014 after nearly two years in orbit. The second mission landed on June 16th, 2012, after 15 months in orbit. The first mission ended on December 3rd, 2010, after seven months in orbit. The official endurance of the X-37B was originally about nine months or 280 days. The real endurance is 3-4 times that, at least. The long endurance is largely because the X-37B carries a sizable solar panel, which is deployed from the cargo bay, unfolded, and produces enough power to keep the X-37B up there for a long time. The air force has not made public much about what the X-37Bs has been doing up there for over a total of over 3,000 days so far.
In effect, the X-37B is a remotely controlled mini-Space Shuttle. The space vehicle, according to amateur astronomers (who like to watch spy satellites as well), appears to be going through some tests much of the time. The X-37B is believed to have a payload of about 227-300 kg. The payload bay is 2.1x1.4 meters. As it returned to earth, it is designed to land by itself after being ordered to use a specific landing area. The X-37B weighs five tons, is nine meters (29 feet) long and has a wingspan of 4 meters. In contrast, the Space Shuttle was 56 meters long, weighed 2,000 tons and had a payload of 24 tons.
The X-37B has been in development since 2000 but work was slowed down for a while because of lack of money. Whatever the X-37B is now doing up there has been convincing enough to get Congress to spend over a billion dollars on it. What makes the X-37B so useful is that it is very maneuverable, contains some internal sensors (as well as communications gear), and can carry mini-satellites, or additional sensors, in the payload bay. The X-37B is believed capable of serving as a platform for attacks on enemy satellites in wartime. Using a remotely controlled arm, the X-37B could refuel or repair other satellites. All this is speculative because, as a classified project, there is little confirmed information about its payload or mission, other than testing the system on its first mission. It is likely that future missions will involve intelligence work, and perhaps servicing existing spy satellites which must use up their fuel to change their orbits. For regular satellite refueling missions a larger X-37C would probably be used. This is a scaled-up X-37B that would have a much larger, probably over a ton payload. The X-37C could be quickly switched between cargo and passenger configurations. The X-37C would still be robotic and not require anyone onboard to control it. Work on the X-37C has apparently been halted because there are similar alternative designs that are closer to service.
The X-37B also demonstrated that it could not be easily tracked while in orbit. An international collection of amateur sky watchers proved remarkably adept at spotting orbital objects in the past, including classified ones like the X-37B. The amateur orbital observer community has concluded that one thing the X-37B tested was how well it could change orbits and stay hidden. In that respect, the X-37B was a resounding success. That's because these amateur observers are generally very good at tracking what's up there.
But the X-37B has proved elusive and sometimes became a frustrating challenge to amateur sky watchers. This is pleasing to American air force officials, who designed the X-37B to be elusive to terrestrial observation, and the dedicated and quite effective amateur satellite watchers gave the X-37B quite a workout. China apparently seeks to do the same.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 03:14 am: Edit

Can somebody provide a better update on what this "moon mission" is doing? The google search found only info from years ago.

By John Wyszynski (Starsabre) on Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 07:38 am: Edit

Try the term "Peregrine lunar lander". Stuck value doomed it.

In related news, the Artemis mission has been delayed another year.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 10:29 am: Edit

SVC

'Spinning in space' is probably an accurare answer.

I have been following it - and it seems a pipe broke/fractured (could be a failed valve as John mentioned) just after the lander seperated from the launcher - and what ever was in the pipe is leaking out and created a thrust, which rotated the lander so that it's Solar Panels where not directly at the sun... and so it began to lose power.

Mission Controler used the Lander thrusters to arrest the rotation and keep the Solar Panels directed at the Sun - which in effect has burnt the bulk of it's fuel up (and it could be the fuel leaking).

Net effect, at some point probably today, the fuel will have run out - the solar panels will not be facing the sun and so it will die a horrible cold death.

It may well be Mission Control get lucky and the leak stops before it fully runs out of fuel and so the solar panels remain pointing towards the sun - and they was trying to get some value from the various missions/experitments on the lander - I don't know how succesful that has been.

So it will not be a total disaster.

By Tom Lusco (Tlusco) on Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 01:06 pm: Edit

Its a learning experience regardless. This was a certification flight for the rocket, so I'm not sure how much Astrobotic paid for launch costs, if anything.

On the other hand, Astrobotic seems to be wanting to establish themselves as a payload-to-the-moon service, and this failure is not a good start since they won't get to try out what is presumably the really hard part, the landing sequence.

Hopefully they can learn from it and do better next time.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 04:58 am: Edit

Well, looks like the Lunar Lander isn't dead yet - if the "48 hours" keeps at "48 hours of fuel left" - on an update yesterday.

It seems they have also been able to power up all the missions (or 9 of the 10) and so looks like some data will be obtained.

Bit surprised none of the main news channels (not even the BBC) have had any updates since Tuesday???

By Tom Lusco (Tlusco) on Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 12:18 pm: Edit

Its not war or finger-pointing-bad. MSM kinda sucks for science/tech reporting.

Space.com has a recent update. Still sounds like they are trying to salvage as much as possible but have little-to-no chance of a successful landing. We'll see.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 11:44 pm: Edit

The lander has reached a point at lunar distance but is nowhere near the moon. At least it got that much done, but this is egg on the face of the company trying to develop a reliable lunar delivery system. It will take several successful landings to get a share of that market.