Long Day !
author: Gavin Eadie
Dec 23, 2024
- Boeing Starliner – After years of delay the first crewed Starliner launched yesterday and docked to ISS today. Not all was smooth (helium pressurant leaks and failed thrusters) but that’s why it’s a test flight.
- SpaceX Starship – The fourth integrated test of the SpaceX heavy booster and Starship was Thursday’s day’s big event. I’ve followed spaceflight since the Mercury days and never seen a flight like this! The two primary goals of the flight (controlled landings of both booster and ship) were accomplished, which was impressive in it’s own right, but the modern ability to take video and other data continuously during flight made for spectacular visuals.
- SI Units – NASA, Boeing and SpaceX now all use SI units. No more nautical miles – all kilometers!!
- Near Miss – Around noon (local time) yesterday a 2m asteroid, affectionately named “2024 LH1”, passed the earth by about 5000Km at 17Km/sec. The typical unit of “miss distance” is lunar distance (LD) and it’s rare to have that measure less than 1.0 (ie, closer than the moon) .. today’s little rock’s was reported as LD=0.02! An impact would a have a visual show but 2024 LH1 is too small to survive passage through the atmosphere. As noted, I’ve not looked at details, but my quick glance suggests 2024 LH1 was only detected a few hours before it passed by.