Posted on 11/15/2022 9:51:33 PM PST by BenLurkin
Little is known about the Yunhai 3 satellite. SAST and Chinese state media have said that it's designed to perform atmospheric and marine environment surveys, space environment surveys, disaster prevention and reduction work, and scientific experiments.
Yunhai 3 is now orbiting at an altitude of around 520 miles (840 kilometers) above Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit, or SSO, which means it passes over the poles and particular spots on Earth at the same time every day.
One part of the mission that did not go according to plan, however, is the performance of the rocket’s upper stage after it released Yunhai 3 into orbit. The spent rocket stage suffered a breakup event and is now in more than 50 pieces at a range of altitudes, adding to the generalized threat of space debris in low Earth orbit.
The U.S. Space Force’s 18th Space Defense Squadron announced the breakup of the Long March 6A upper stage on Twitter(opens in new tab) on Sunday (Nov. 13). The squadron stated that it was tracking more than 50 associated pieces at an estimated altitude of 310 miles to 435 miles (500 to 700 km) and "incorporating [this information] into routine conjunction assessment to support spaceflight safety."
A number of observations have also been made from the ground, illustrating the breakup and fragmentation of the rocket stage. Distinct pieces are tumbling and rotating quickly, creating flash patterns as they catch sunlight.
This evening I observed 43(!!) pieces of debris of the CZ-6A rocket that broke up in space after being launched 2 days ago. All pieces were tumbling fast, giving very distinct flash patterns. @18thSDS will have a challenge tracking and determining orbits for all these. pic.twitter.com/HJCcwsyn1iNovember 13, 2022
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Moon orbiters / survey satellites have since been sent and pictures of lunar landing sites have been taken. I am not sure of the resolution of latest lunar mapping.
One issue with the lunar manned missions was and still is the cost. We went at extreme costs. It was considered a National security level task. Hence it was only affordable for a short period of time. It provided little other than some technical advancements and bragging rights. It was unsustainable and provided little value.
Was it real - yes. Was there embellishments in way of pictures nor real - yes in my opinion.
The last observation is that the country that went to the moon died. Only a husk remains.
There was fuel on the service module, but they only needed it to get out of lunar orbit and do small course corrections. You do understand that there is no drag in space, and the moon, the earth, and the planets travel essentially forever in their orbits with no fuel!
No fuel? You need to revue the specs of the Apollo Command and Service Module.
“No fuel” was the quote of who I was responding to. As you can see I was asking how you can go 250,000 miles with no fuel, but looks like you think they had enough. Maybe they did, but that’s an awfully long way.
Thanks for your informative posts. I admit after this educational session I believe it is more likely than I did before. And I certainly hope it did happen, multiple times.
“And 250,000 miles is a log way to travel with no fuel, whether there’s gravity or not.”
.... because no doubt they have to spend fuel combating wind resistance and friction and stuff in the vaccuum of space. Right?
I’m certain that your theories about travelling to the Moon must be a whole lot more entertaining than the boring old ones from physics class.
It’s not something I’ve ever really studied, but I have seen many reports from dedicated scientists with legitimate doubts on many aspects of the landing. As far as myself, I do have a degree in Engineering, earned on academic scholarship, and was class President of our IEEE student branch for 2 years, while graduating at 21, so I have sat in many physics classes for sure, most of which involved calculus. Regards.
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