SpaceWeather.com Archive — Fri, Sep 6, 2024

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STARLINER RETURNS TO EARTH TONIGHT: Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule will return from the International Space Station tonight, plunging through Earth's atmosphere for a landing in New Mexico. NASA says Starliner will touch down at the White Sands Space Harbor about 12:03 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 7, descending under parachutes and with inflated airbags to cushion the impact. [Live Coverage]

A SOLAR SAIL IS CIRCLING EARTH: Last week, NASA unfurled a solar sail in Earth orbit--the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3). It is wowing sky watchers with flashes as bright as the brightest stars. On Sept. 5th, Canadian satellite tracker Kevin Fetter photographed the sail passing almost directly in front of Vega:

"It got bright for a short time as it was passing by the star," says Fetter. "Briefly it was just as bright as Vega, the 5th brightest star in the night sky."

NASA launched ACS3 in April 2024, but didn't deploy it until last week. With its lightweight reflective sail fully extended on Aug. 29th, it is now about half the size of of a tennis court. Solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, eliminating the need for conventional rocket propellant.

Not everyone will see it shining as brightly as Fetter did. The sail is currently tumbling, so it presents variable reflections to different observers. It was dimmer but still visible on Sept. 3rd when Bryan Murahashi saw it cut through the star fields of Cygnus:

"I took this picture from San Jose, California, proving it can be seen even from urban areas," he says.

The tumbling is actually a feature, not a bug. NASA deliberately unfurled the sail without attitude control. Mission controllers want to learn how a slowly tumbling sail behaves. Later, they will turn on attitude control for further testing.

Would you like to see the solar sail? Local flyby predictions may be found on Heavens Above. Tip: Scroll down the website and look here for "ACS3."

more images: from Erik J. Hubl near Lincoln, Nebraska;

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"HAND OF APOLLO" STAR TREK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT: You can't buy this on Amazon. The Hand of Apollo Christmas Ornament is only available from the Earth to Sky Store. On Aug. 15, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have it for $127.95. This ornament depicts the iconic opening scene from original Star Trek series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" first aired in 1967. Near the planet Pollux III, the Enterprise was held immobile by an energy field shaped as a human hand. It belonged to a being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo. This will look far out on your Christmas tree this December.

The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space ornaments to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now!