SpaceX set to launch for first time since Sept blast

the above picture is the Falcon 9 rocket

SpaceX is poised to blast off a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, marking its first return to flight since a costly and complicated launchpad explosion in September.

The launch of 10 satellites for Iridium, a mobile and data communications company, is scheduled from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:54 am (1754 GMT).
The launch window is "instantaneous," meaning that any technical glitch or poor weather—the current forecast is just 60 percent favorable—would push the launch forward to the next opportunity on Sunday at 1749 GMT.
The stakes for SpaceX are high after a pair of accidents.
September's blast destroyed a $200 million satellite Facebook had planned to use to beam high-speed internet to Africa. Another explosion in June 2015 two minutes after liftoff obliterated a Dragon cargo ship packed with goods bound for the astronauts at the International Space Station.
The incidents cost SpaceX dearly, possibly pushing the privately owned company into the red, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.
"That June 2015 disaster, followed by months of launch delays, contributed to a quarter-billion dollar annual loss and a six percent drop in revenue, after two years of surging sales and small profits," the paper said after a review of internal financial documents from 2011 to 2015, forecasts for the next decade and interviews with former SpaceX employees.
Three weeks after last September's accident, the company removed a long-standing phrase from its website saying it was "profitable and cash-flow positive."
That "suggest(ed) both profit and cash flow had moved into the red for 2016," the Journal said, noting that it found an operating loss for every quarter in 2016 and negative cash flow of roughly $15 million.
SpaceX, headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, declined to comment on the findings and is not obligated to release its financial figures because it is a private company, the report said.
"The company is in a financially strong position and is well positioned for future growth," with $1 billion in cash and no debt, SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnson was quoted as saying.

Problems fixed
The June 2015 accident—in which the unmanned Dragon cargo ship exploded in a massive fireball two minutes after launch—was caused by a faulty strut that allowed a helium tank to snap loose, SpaceX said.
Last September's explosion, during a test a day prior to a scheduled launch, was traced to a problem with a pressure vessel in the second-stage liquid oxygen tank.
SpaceX said it will change the way it fuels for now and redesign its pressure vessels in the future.
Musk, who cofounded PayPal and also owns Tesla Motors, has lofty goals, including colonizing Mars and revolutionizing the launch industry by making rocket components reusable.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX logged 18 successful launches of the Falcon 9 before the 2015 accident.
The company has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to supply the International Space Station using its Dragon space capsule, which is the only cargo ship that can return to the Earth intact.
SpaceX had hoped to resume Falcon 9 flights as early as November, then in mid-December, before pushing the date to January.

A Swiss firm acquires Mars One private project

Mars One consists of two entities: the Dutch not-for-profit Mars One Foundation and a British public limited company Mars One Ventures

A British-Dutch project aiming to send an unmanned mission to Mars by 2018 announced Friday that the shareholders of a Swiss financial services company have agreed a takeover bid.

"The acquisition is now only pending approval by the board of Mars One Ventures," the company said in a joint statement with InFin Innovative Finance AG, adding approval from the Mars board would come "as soon as possible."
"The takeover provides a solid path to funding the next steps of Mars One's mission to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars," the statement added.
Mars One consists of two entities: the Dutch not-for-profit Mars One Foundation and a British public limited company Mars One Ventures.
Mars One aims to establish a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet, and is currently "in the early mission concept phase," the company says, adding securing funding is one of its major challenges.
Some 200,000 hopefuls from 140 countries initially signed up for the Mars One project, which is to be partly funded by a television reality show about the endeavour.
Those have now been whittled down to just 100, out of which 24 will be selected for one-way trips to Mars due to start in 2026 after several unmanned missions have been completed.
"Once this deal is completed, we'll be in a much stronger financial position as we begin the next phase of our mission. Very exciting times," said Mars One chief executive Bas Lansdorp.
NASA is currently working on three Mars missions with the European Space Agency and plans to send another rover to Mars in 2020.
But NASA has no plans for a manned mission to Mars until the 2030s.

Best weather satellite ever built is lunched into space

This photo provided by United Launch Alliance shows a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying GOES-R spacecraft for NASA and NOAA lifting off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 6:42 p.m. EST at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, part of an $11 billion effort to revolutionize forecasting and save lives. (United Launch Alliance via AP) 

 

The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, part of an $11 billion effort to revolutionize forecasting and save lives.

This new GOES-R spacecraft will track U.S. weather as never before: hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, volcanic ash clouds, wildfires, lightning storms, even solar flares. Indeed, about 50 TV meteorologists from around the country converged on the launch site—including NBC's Al Roker—along with 8,000 space program workers and guests.
"What's so exciting is that we're going to be getting more data, more often, much more detailed, higher resolution," Roker said. In the case of tornadoes, "if we can give people another 10, 15, 20 minutes, we're talking about lives being saved."
Think superhero speed and accuracy for forecasting. Super high-definition TV, versus black-and-white.
"Really a quantum leap above any satellite NOAA has ever flown," said Stephen Volz, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's director of satellites.
"For the American public, that will mean faster, more accurate weather forecasts and warnings," Volz said earlier in the week. "That also will mean more lives saved and better environmental intelligence" for government officials responsible for hurricane and other evacuations.

Cell phones light up the beaches of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, Fla., north of the Cocoa Beach Pier as spectators watch the launch of the NOAA GOES-R weather satellite, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. It was launched from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a ULA Atlas V rocket. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)

Airline passengers also stand to benefit, as do rocket launch teams. Improved forecasting will help pilots avoid bad weather and help rocket scientists know when to call off a launch.
NASA declared success 3 1/2 hours after liftoff, following separation from the upper stage.
The first in a series of four high-tech satellites, GOES-R hitched a ride on an unmanned Atlas V rocket, delayed an hour by rocket and other problems. NOAA teamed up with NASA for the mission.
The satellite—valued by NOAA at $1 billion—is aiming for a 22,300-mile-high equatorial orbit. There, it will join three aging spacecraft with 40-year-old technology, and become known as GOES-16. After months of testing, this newest satellite will take over for one of the older ones. The second satellite in the series will follow in 2018. All told, the series should stretch to 2036.

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Saturday evening, Nov. 19, 2016. The rocket is carrying the GOES-R weather satellite. The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, part of an $11 billion effort to revolutionize forecasting and save lives. (Craig Bailey/Florida Today via AP)

GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. The first was launched in 1975.

GOES-R's premier imager—one of six science instruments—will offer three times as many channels as the existing system, four times the resolution and five times the scan speed, said NOAA program director Greg Mandt. A similar imager is also flying on a Japanese weather satellite.
Typically, it will churn out full images of the Western Hemisphere every 15 minutes and the continental United States every five minutes. Specific storm regions will be updated every 30 seconds.
Forecasters will get pictures "like they've never seen before," Mandt promised.

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Fla., Saturday evening, Nov. 19, 2016. The rocket is carrying the GOES-R weather satellite. The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, part of an $11 billion effort to revolutionize forecasting and save lives. (Craig Bailey/Florida Today via AP)

A first-of-its-kind lightning mapper, meanwhile, will take 500 snapshots a second.
This next-generation GOES program—$11 billion in all—includes four satellites, an extensive land system of satellite dishes and other equipment, and new methods for crunching the massive, nonstop stream of expected data.
Hurricane Matthew, interestingly enough, delayed the launch by a couple weeks. As the hurricane bore down on Florida in early October, launch preps were put on hold. Matthew stayed far enough offshore to cause minimal damage to Cape Canaveral, despite some early forecasts that suggested a direct strike.

This photo provided by United Launch Alliance shows a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying GOES-R spacecraft for NASA and NOAA lifting off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 6:42 p.m. EST at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. The most advanced weather satellite ever built rocketed into space Saturday night, par

 

credit; Marcia Dunn

200-mile electric Chevrolet Bolt, GM product

A battery is lifted into place for installation in the Chevrolet Bolt EV at the General Motors Orion Assembly plant Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, in Orion Township, Mich. The Chevrolet Bolt can go more than 200 miles on battery power and will cost less than the average new vehicle in the U.S. But it's unclear whether the car can do much to shift America from gasoline to electricity in an era of $2 prices at the pump. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson) 

 

It can go more than 200 miles on battery power and it costs less than the average new vehicle in the U.S. But in an era of $2 per gallon gasoline, the Chevrolet Bolt probably won't do a whole lot to shift America from gasoline to electricity.

General Motors has started making Bolt hatchbacks on a slow assembly line at a factory in Orion Township, Michigan, north of Detroit.
The cars, starting at $37,495 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, will go on sale in California and Oregon before the end of the year, and will spread to the rest of the country next year. The average sales price of a new vehicle in the U.S. is about $34,000, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Analysts say the Bolt's 238-mile range on a single charge, plus a net price of around $30,000, should make it an attractive alternative to cars with internal-combustion engines. While they expect the Bolt to incrementally add to the number of electric cars now on the road, they don't expect a seismic shift to electricity yet.
The Bolt's range more than covers the average daily round-trip commute of about 40 miles in the U.S., and that should give comfort to those who fear running out of power, said Stephanie Brinley, an auto industry analyst for IHS Markit. But there's always the late night at work and the early meeting the next morning without enough charging time, or the night you forget to plug the car in. Those are tough adjustments for Americans, she said.
"We're trained to believe that wherever we go, we get can get the fuel that we need. With electricity you need to plan that out a little bit more," Brinley said.
IHS predicts that GM will sell just under 30,000 Bolts in the first year, which won't add much to the roughly 235,000 electrics now on U.S. roads. Brinley says there will be small growth as more companies such as Tesla Motors roll out affordable electric vehicles with range over 200 miles. Last year about 100,000 EVs were sold in the U.S., and IHS predicts 300,000 annual sales by 2020 and 400,000 by 2025.

Yves Dontigny, plant launch manager at the General Motors Orion Assembly plant, points out a feature on the drive train before its installation into the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, in Orion Township, Mich. The Chevrolet Bolt can go more than 200 miles on battery power and will cost less than the average new vehicle in the U.S. But it's unclear whether the car can do much to shift America from gasoline to electricity in an era of $2 prices at the pump. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Still, Chevrolet believes the Bolt is a game-changer. "It becomes just a mainstream vehicle choice," said Darin Gesse, the Bolt's product manager.
GM, he said, set out to make the range about equal to a half-tank of fuel in a gas-powered car. With a half-tank of gas, most people don't worry that they have to refuel for a while and are comfortable driving, he said.

In a quick drive Friday on roads near GM's technical center north of Detroit, the car accelerated quickly when compared to a gas car. GM says it goes from zero to 60 mph in about 6.5 seconds, which is faster than many muscle cars from the '70s and '80s. The handling was tight with very little body roll, yet the ride was smooth and quiet.
GM beat rival Tesla to market with a long-range affordable electric car by at least a year. Tesla plans to start delivering its 200-mile, $35,000 (before tax credits) Model 3 in the second half of next year, and it had 373,000 deposits as of May.
The carmaker hasn't revealed exactly when the first customer will get a Bolt. Chevrolet didn't take advance reservations but says there's been strong interest at its dealerships.
Not all of GM's 3,000 dealers nationwide will be certified to sell and service the Bolt, although the company isn't sure how many yet. Around 2,000 can service the Bolt's plug-in cousin, the Volt.
GM says that should be a big advantage over Tesla, which doesn't have service centers in every state.

China high-speed maglev train with 373 mph capability

Credit: crrcgc.cc 

 

China has a magnetic levitating train on its mind with amazing numbers. It is, yes, no keyboard error, 373 mph, meant as a commercial rail system.

Xinhua said in October that "A Chinese firm will start researching and developing a magnetic levitation (maglev) train that can run 600 km per hour, which would be faster than any other maglev train currently in operation."
SmartRail World said this is far faster than anything else in operation today.
Max Prince in The Drive earlier this week reported that the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation has in mind a maglev train with 373 mph capability. He said the train would go over a three-mile stretch of track that would be utilized for testing.
Prince added that the CRCC is also developing a second grade of maglev system, and its targeted top speed is 124 mph.
SmartRail World said the Beijing based company is the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer.
Prince described the magnetic levitation technology, as one where "traditional wheel/track is replaced by electromagnets, which both pushes from the rear and pulls from the nose, all on an air cushion."
TNW's Bryan Clark said "The US Air Force currently holds the record for maglev speeds at 633 mph after a rocket-powered sled traveled the distance of seven football fields in all of two seconds." (Andrew Hawkins, who covers transportation for The Verge, said that "Its unclear how long this current record will stand, though, as the 846th Test Squadron say its engineers are already back to the drawing board looking for ways to go even faster.")
SmartRail World noted that maglev technology was initially created by English inventor Eric Laithwaite. Japan is another place showing interest in the technology.
Hawkins said, "Last year, a maglev train in Japan reached a speed of 366 mph, breaking a world record that had stood for 12 years. But the train won't be ready for commercial use until 2027, due to the concerns about the infrastructure and costs to build the long tracks."
Then if the costs of construction are far more than traditional diesel-powered trains, why bother showing interest in maglev? Hawkins commented that "maglev is more sustainable and faster, which is why China is so bullish."
Commented Price, "if any nation can create a massive, nationwide maglev network, it's China. The Shanghai-Hangzou high-speed electromagnetic rail link, completed in 2010, was the second-largest public works project in history, after the U.S. Interstate Highway."
A CRCC subsidiary has a role in China's maglev development.
China.org.cn (published under auspices of the State Council Information Office and China International Publishing Group in Beijing) earlier this week reported that the CRCC subsidiary is China Railway Maglev Transportation Investment & Construction Co., in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
The latter carries out research on maglev technology for passenger and cargo transportation, along with planning, managing, building and investing in maglev projects.
The report talked about maglev plans. "Lei Jiamin, president of CRMT, said that more than 10 cities in China are currently planning maglev railways. These cities include Changsha, home to China's first maglev line, Qingdao and Beijing."
China.org.cn added that "According to CRMT, future low-speed maglev projects will primarily aim to link large cities with their satellite cities, as well as suburbs to downtown areas. They will also be used in second- and third-tier Chinese cities as a substitute for subways."
This is significant considering, according to that report, that "Currently, China has 142 cities with more than 1 million residents, but only around 30 cities have subways."

More radar, triple-camera system for next Autopilot version?

Causing lots of conversation this week has been word of a coming update to the Tesla Motors Autopilot system. News sites made reference to a recent article in Electrek, which talked about a coming "Tesla Autopilot 2.0" as the next-gen Autopilot. (The Autopilot is Tesla's assisted driving program. Features include Autosteer, Autopark, and Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, said Electrek.)

Key talking points about this next version include (1) more radar and (2) new triple camera.
BGR also talked about this.
Tesla's Autopilot 2.0 adds more sensors, said BGR on Thursday. The new hardware adds more radar units so that there's one on every corner of the car. That should give more radar coverage around the car. Chris Mills said, "we should also expect a new triple-camera front system, which will require a redesigned housing."
Electrek talked about a sensor suite enabling "level 3 autonomous driving and potentially level 4 fully autonomous driving in a not too distant future."
What do the driving levels mean? According to an article in Electrek last year: "Limited Self-Driving Automation (Level 3): Vehicles at this level of automation enable the driver to cede full control of all safety-critical functions under certain traffic or environmental conditions."
Tom Randall in Bloomberg looked at Autopilot recently, too. "The first thing to know about a Tesla on Autopilot is that it is not a self-driving car. Think of it instead as the next level of cruise control. Pull the lever once, and the car takes over acceleration and deceleration. Pull the lever twice, and it takes over the steering, too."
Michael Ballaban, Deputy Editor, Jalopnik, looked at the timing of a new version. "If Tesla's going to achieve company CEO Elon Musk's goal of full autonomy by 2019 at the latest, it's going to need to step up the physical tech that comes with each car."
How far will the new version go toward a fully autonomous self-driving car?
Randall in Bloomberg said, "By next year, Tesla will have collected data from a billion miles of Autopilot use, and it won't be long before the lives saved may vastly outpace risk from the imperfect human. "
No firm dates have been set as yet on when we can expect a fully autonomous drive with a Tesla car.
Fred Lambert had reported recently how, during a conference call, Elon Musk talked about Tesla's progress in level 4 fully autonomous driving. He did not want to make an announcement on the call, but he said that it is coming sooner than people think.