Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it to the end of 2017. What a year it has been. This is
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it to the end of 2017. What a year it has been. This is the final episode for the year, and I’d like to just jump right in. These are the headlines for space in December of 2017. Be sure to check the end of the post for an update regarding the continuation of the show.==Astronomy==
• Voyager learns a new trick and extends its life – link
• Scientists start picking the first targets for the James Webb Space Telescope – link
• Astronomers find eighth planet around distant star – link
• Recreating the thermal vents on Enceladus – link
==Planetary Science==
• Worms on Mars! – link
• Trump pushes to make crewed moon landing a near-term goal – link
• NOAA’s latest satellite goes into operation – link
• NASA picks a high-flying visitor for Titan – link
==Launches and Rocketry==
• Rocket Lab to launch second Electron mission – link
• The GOES-S weather satellite has arrived in Florida, prepping for integration before launch – link
• Delta 4 in California delayed – link
• Blue Origin is a sneaky punk – link 1, link 2
==SpaceX News==
• Elon Musk’s whimsical payload for the Falcon Heavy demo flight will make the fastest car ever – link
• SpaceX launches CRS 13 – link 1, link 2, link 3
• SpaceX’s final launch of the year – link
==International==
• Russia launches intel satellite for the military – link
• China launches a military imaging satellite – link
• Galileo grows thanks to Ariane 5 – link 1, link 2
• China does a launch for Algeria – link
• Japan dual payload launch – link
• China launches military satellite – link
• Zenit launches com sat for Angola – link
==ISS News==
• BEAM goes into overtime, granted an extension of service on the ISS – link
• Space Station Crew Rotation – link 1, link 2, link 3
• The passing of a legend – link
Bruce McCandless II passes away at the age of 80.
Bruce on the first ever un-tethered spacewalk.
Bruce reached a maximum distance of 320 feet/98 meters from Shuttle Challenger.
All images used – Credit: NASA
==Upcoming Launches==
ALL LAUNCH DATES AND TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO THE NATURE OF ROCKETRY
Jan 4/5 – 8:00-10:00 p.m. EST on 4th
Falcon 9 – Zuma – SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Jan. 10 – Time TBD
Delta 4 – NROL-47 – SLC-6, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Jan. 10 – Tentative Date – Time TBD
PSLV – Cartosat 2F & NovaSAR-S – Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
Jan. 16 – 4:00-4:35 p.m. EST
Epsilon – ASNARO 2 – Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
Jan. 18/197:40-8:20 p.m. EST on 18th
Atlas 5 – SBIRS GEO Flight 4 – SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
January – Time & Date TBD
GSLV Mk.2 – GSAT 6A – Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
Jan. 25 – 5:20-6:05 p.m. EST
Ariane 5 – SES 14 & Al Yah 3 – ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana
Jan. 30 – Tentative date – 5:20-6:05 p.m. EST
Falcon 9 – SES 16/GovSat 1 – SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Jan. 30 – Tentative Date – Time TBD
Falcon 9 – Paz SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
TIME AND DATE YET TO BE DETERMINED
January – Time & Date TBD
Long March 2D – Superview 1-03 and 04 – Taiyuan, China
January – Time & Date TBD
SS-520-5 – TRICOM 1R – Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
January – Time & Date TBD
Electron – Still Testing – Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
January – Time & Date TBD
Falcon Heavy – Demo Flight – LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
==The end of the year, and the end of the show==
That’s everything for the year. 2017 has been pretty amazing for space, and 2018 is shaping up to carry that momentum forward. One thing that will be absent, however, is this show. Unfortunately, this will be the last episode of Committed to Launch, at least in its current incarnation. It has simply proven to be too difficult to produce on my own the way I’ve settled in to make it. It’s no longer as rewarding an experience as it used to be and I have to make a change.
I may continue it in some other form, perhaps by making short videos more frequently and assembling the audio into a month-end recap. I’m still debating the matter. I’ll be keeping the website open and the twitter account will still be around so you’ll still be able to get updates if and when I find a way to carry on that isn’t as stressful. I want to thank everyone who has been listening since 2016. I’ve managed to keep this going for over a year on my own, and that’s no small feat. Hopefully you found it entertaining in some fashion.
Like the unpredictable nature of rocketry, I’m not sure where I’ll go with this next. I would like to keep trying to get people interested in space, but there are so many others out there that do a much better job than I do. Who knows, maybe I’ll hit on a formula that I really like and it ends up fun to make again. I don’t intend to stop looking and trying, but as for this show, as it currently is, I’m afraid I have to say farewell. The mission has concluded and we’re reading loss of signal.
I’ll still be making my short space news segments for the podcast FWIW so you can still get a few little updates there. Check the Committed to Launch website for updates in the coming month, and follow @LaunchCommit on twitter to see where I go from here.
Until next mission, this is Smokescale Aquatos signing off. Keep looking up, space fans.