This explains the source of the threat with dramatic animations of in-orbit satellite collisions creating a cloud of #spacedebris presenting hazards to #astronauts
#CollisionProbability
#SpaceCollision #NEO
#DebrisFieldManeuvers #CollisionAvoidanceManeuvers
#GraveyardOrbit #DeadZone
#KesslerSyndrome
You may have missed this story: 'We did get a warning message #CabinLeakSuspected astronaut Hansen said in the crew's first live interview from space.
#CabinLeakWarning #SpaceDebrisField #LEO
#IRL vs #SciFi
#StarfieldManeuvers
#OrionIntegrity #TLI Artemis II
Discussion prompted by film uses ATHYG Stellar Catalog (#opensource database for creating 3D star maps) as well as Blender (Free and Open Source Software) #FOSS
A serious error about the #McGuffin is discovered
#SpoilerAlert #MovieClips at end give away plot points.
#TechScepticism #DebunkingSciFi
Is the film "unserious", or is it "a clever extension of real-world physics"?
Dr. Becky Smethurst weighs in, with her infectious enthusiasm. Plus, get nerdy with 14 references provided in the notes to her video.
#SpoilerAlert A little of the plot is revealed. Film clips used do not give away much
On threat posed by South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA): inner Van Allen Belt approaches surface of Earth, exposing anyone passing through it to ionizing radiation - meaning dose equivalent rates up to 413 μSv/day (microSieverts per day, where one full Sievert, 1 Sv = 20% chance of death)
#RadiationSickness
Not mentioned in the above all-too-brief treatment: The risks to astronauts crossing the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth: a donut-shaped hazard field, as this #videoexplainer puts it:
#RadiationHotzones
short video on radiation hazards of #astronaut travel in #Cislunar space, leaving Earth's protective magnetic field: exposing them to solar radiation, solar particle storms, solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and cosmic rays
#radiationexposure
#ionizingdose
#biodosimetry
#RadiationInjury
illustration (not a photo) via ESAspacescience : An artist's impression of the orbit insertion in 2006 of the ESA's Venus Express interplanetary probe, that was sent to become a temporary satellite of the planet Venus. It passed within 200 km over the Venusian north pole, and passed as low as 130km over the planet surface on its closest approach. Originally on a 2-year mission, it lasted for more than 9 years in the end. After multiple orbits and out of on-board fuel, the spacecraft would have been irretrievably caught by Venusian gravity, collided with the planet's atmosphere, crumpled and scorched, before it hit the surface of the planet, that National Geographic calls "Earth's Hellish Sister". "Surface pressures are 90 times higher than on Earth, and visitors are not tolerated for long." Probably burned up or blew up or imploded as it plunged into the planet's atmosphere. Contact was lost well before its ultimate demise. https://web.archive.org/web/20141218020323/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141217-venus-express-final-plunge-space-science/
Designed for long-term observation of the Venusian atmosphere, Venus Express operated in harsh radiation, 155 million miles (250 million km) from Earth. Its orbit decayed Jan/Feb 2015. As NatlGeographic put it the "intrepid robot slipped into a sulfuric hereafter"
#RobotsInSpace
#UnmannedExploration
Since 2015, this #EarthObservation spacecraft--positioned at L1 Lagrange point--provides live images of sunlit side of the planet. DSCOVR takes full-Earth pictures with the on-board EPIC camera (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera)
#EarthAlbedo
#RobotsInSpace
#OzoneLayer
#EarthFromSpace
#WarningBuoy
A doctor without empathy. What's that game? Write a story in 4 words?
Reminds me of learning to sail, as a lad, in an Optimist. Now you've got me thinking about the people who were in class with me at that time.
The Orion-Integrity crew apparently did not get a photo of the LRO in orbit around the moon, while doing their fly-by. Here's an illustration (artist's impression) of the #LunarReconnaissanceOrbiter taking photos of the moon's surface. In operation since 2009. via NASA website
#RobotsInSpace
NASA satellite image of the far side of the Moon, illuminated by the Sun, as it crosses between the DSCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and telescope, and the Earth — one million miles (1.6 million km) away. The times of the images span from 3:50 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. EDT on July 16, 2015. The time of the New Moon was at 9:26 p.m. EDT on July 15. (screencap via Wikipedia) The animation version would not load to Bluesky (error msg: ozone_check_failed) but you can find it in the public domain (available as both .gif and .web versions).
from a decade ago: Moon transiting Earth, 16 July 2015. The far side of the Moon faces the camera. Image taken aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), at a distance much further than Artemis II. author: NASA/EPIC
#RobotsinSpace #photographichistory
#UncrewedExploration
#DeadMoonRock
In comparison to #LunarReconnaissanceOrbiter the Artemis II “biggest value is the PR.”
Everything Orion saw of the far side of the Moon was previously observed.
#Astronauts are “never going to take better images than LRO."
For 50+ years, scientists have explored with eyes of robots.
#RobotsInSpace
An open research paper on 'anthropogenic matter' (man-made space debris, including stratospheric aerosol particles from incomplete burn-up of used rockets) added to the Earth's upper atmosphere
#Anthropocene
#astronauts
#spacejunk
#upperstagerockets #reentry
#ozonedepletion
#airpollution
Earthrise over Compton crater, photo by LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, in orbit around the moon since 2009), NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Arizona State University, 12 Oct 2015. The shadow in foreground is from the crater's central peaks. The center of the Earth in this view is 4.04°N, 12.44°W, just off the coast of Liberia. The large tan area in upper right is the Sahara desert, and just beyond is Saudia Arabia. The Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America are visible to the left. Image was taken when LRO was 134 km above the farside crater Compton (51.8°N, 124.1°E). First the spacecraft was rolled to the side (in this case 67°), then the spacecraft slewed with the direction of travel to maximize the width of the lunar horizon in the NAC image. All this takes place while LRO is traveling over 1600 meters per second (faster than 3580 mph) relative to the lunar surface below the spacecraft. As a result of these three motions and the fact that the Narrow Angle Camera is a line scanner the raw image geometry is distorted. The colors are only approximately what an intrepid explorer would see from the Moon because the human eye is fully sensitive to all colors across the visible wavelength range, whereas the WAC sees through a set of narrow band filters (combining 604 nm (orange), 556 nm (yellow-green), and 415 nm (violet) bands displayed in red, green, and blue, respectively). The Earth is much brighter (higher reflectance) than the Moon, especially from this angle; the Earth was captured near noon while the limb of the Moon was just appearing from the shadows of night, so the Moon was relatively dim. In the image the Moon and Earth were contrast-stretched separately to bring out details on the lunar surface. The contrast makes for a spectacular image, but it may be misleading in a purely scientific sense. The sharp black outline across the bottom of the Earth is from mountains still on the night side of the lunar terminator. (Wikipedia)
More #photographichistory : Earth straddling the limb of the Moon captured by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on October 12, 2015, in orbit as close as 12 miles (20km) from the surface, much much closer than Artemis II #BlueTue #RobotsInSpace #UncrewedExploration
#BigBlueMarble vs #DeadMoonRock
An image of Earth straddling limb of the Moon captured by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera on October 12, 2015 source: assets-science-NASA-dotgov 2000x2914pixels
Image of Earth straddling limb of the Moon captured by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO), on October 12, 2015.
#BigBlueMarble
#RobotsInSpace
"The practical case for human spaceflight gets ever weaker with each advance in robots and miniaturisation."
e.g. James Webb Space Telescope "a sterling example of the complex missions that can be undertaken without space crews."
e.g. Rovers on Mars "requiring nothing but sunshine"
#RobotsInSpace
Two images, side by side, from the end of the Artemis II mission, 10 April 2026, depicting : 1. the moment of splashdown of the space capsule in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego, and 2. the alighting of a space crew member, in orange spacesuit, as they transfer from the Orion capsule to the rescue dinghy, affectionately described with the euphemism, 'the front porch'. In the second image, rescue team members, dressed in dark blue, are also visible in the foreground, standing in a separate dinghy, or zodiac. Everyone is wearing helmets, including the astronaut depicted. screencap via Youtube title card.
cp. these two photos, that could be from 1968 (screencap from Youtube title card, 2026).
#Repetition #Simulacra
#nostalgiacore #nostalgiatrip #nostalgia #NASA
"Lovely pictures, but nothing new when it comes to science."
NASA has the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite with the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) taking pictures from close to a million miles away - much further than Artemis II.
With mention of Bill Anders' iconic 1968 photo
Overview of the space adventure, with mention, about minute 2:17, of the ESM separating and burning up in the atmosphere. The life support module was built by Airbus in the Netherlands, a country that's famous for building ships.
#PlannedObsolescence
youtu.be/n7HNhsNu4Xc?...
three parachutes, in formation, patterned in red & white. screencap from the moving images taken by remote-controlled camera aboard the Artemis I mission unmanned Orion capsule, a view taken through the window of the spacecraft looking up to the heavens, showing the three main parachutes deployed (with tethers visible) to slow the capsule's descent, moments before splashdown. The scene was re-enacted by the Artemis II mission, with humans aboard. Artemis I&II in turn re-enacted the scenes familiar to a previous generation, with the Apollo mission splashdowns (Earth landings) looking exactly the same, some 50+ years ago (1968-1972). Artemis II is therefore a (mere) repitition of a cultural achevement from the previous century, nothing new. background reading/viewing; "Video of Orion's skip reentry on Artemis 1, showing the entire reentry process unedited from space to splashdown" (via Wikipedia entry for 'atmospheric reentry') https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_entry
Crystallized culture
re-enacts 3-parachute
rescue nostalgia
#writesky #instapoetrygram #haiku
#TechScepticism
#BlueskyMonday #Groupsof3 'Zahlen: Drei' FotoVorschlag #InspiredByCircumstance
television graphic, or 'farewell screen', from the closing sequence ("snackable" outro, or closing roll) of a recent episode of "Horizons" (April 10th 2026) from PBS News, on PBS TV, featuring a quote from Carl Sagan, famous astronomer: "The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand." From his book "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space" (first published November 8, 1994) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61663.Pale_Blue_Dot img left: View of Earth from space, presumably taken by astronauts aboard the Artemis II mission's Orion/Integrity crew capsule. The illuminated limb of the Earth is contrasted by both the terminator line defining the divide between daytime and nightime, as well as the darkness of deep space surrounding the globe. img bottom-left: television station logo used as a watermark (digital on-screen graphic, for brand recognition)
Throwaway Society
ESM recedes from view
spacejunk now
Solar-powered craft
discarded on high
ablates in ignominy
#SpaceOpera #NightskyPoets #DarkPoetry #SciFaiku
#InspiredByCircumstance #writesky #instapoetrygram
prompts: hybrid disassembly
#ESA #lifesupport
youtu.be/Gy5fTDIcMiY?...
Terran Sphere of Influence
fiery re-entry
water medicine
#instapoetrygram
#InspiredByCircumstance
#writesky #haiku
#ImageAndVerse
#SpaceOpera
Flinging Orion
back to Earth Nokomis says
Adjust Your Metric
#haiku
#InstaPoetryGram
nativecanadianarts.com/gallery/gran...
A map of Orion's re-entry path into the Earth's atmosphere, and the space capsule's projected splashdown point in the Pacific Ocean, on 10 April 2026, bringing the Artemis II mission to a close, the first crew to fly by the far side of the moon in decades. Graphic found on Reddit (credit not clear)
Precisely, Orion will reach max speed 24,661.21 mph some 24 seconds into re-entry, during 6-minute communications blackout #LOS
Deceleration from 35x speed of sound to 0mph, in 14min
"The final 100 or so miles of their 695,081-mile (1,118,624 kilometers) journey are potentially the most dangerous."
Generic illustration of a NASA space capsule on Earth re-entry. A fiery ball of plasma igniting on the exterior of the hull, due to high-speed friction with the atmosphere. (image: NASA)
#Euphemism of the day: 'Entry interface' to Earth’s atmosphere
Starts at 400,000ft (approx 122 km, or 75 miles, from the surface)
Orion heats to 5,000F (2,760C) during its 25,000mph plunge into the atmosphere. A fiery re-entry.
#HaveALotOfBottle
#AdjustYourMetric
#PlasmaFireball
#EarthGravityWell
Must be many examples, to explain a continent-wide scarcity of high-speed rail.
e.g. In U.S., passenger connection between Tulsa and Oklahoma City killed by the #asphaltlobby
e.g. 30 years since Dallas-Houston link first mooted. Today shovel-ready, but for political will to stand up to road lobby
"Ominous side of the moon," says Eddy Frankel
"This photo of Earth [falling behind] the moon is different, ominous and threatening, terrifying and desolate. Forget the doe-eyed pale blue dot-isms, this is the photo for our times. Bleak, grim and incredibly scary."
#geologictime
#transitoryhumanity