Author Archives: Gray Rinehart

Probing the Venusian Atmosphere

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Forty-five years ago today — June 12, 1967 — the Soviet Union launched Venera 4 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.


(Venera 4. Image from the National Space Science Data Center.)

Venera 4 was designed to conduct “direct atmospheric studies” of Venus.

On October 18, 1967, the spacecraft entered the Venusian atmosphere and released two thermometers, a barometer, a radio altimeter, and atmospheric density gauge, 11 gas analyzers, and two radio transmitters operating in the DM waveband. The main bus, which had carried the capsule to Venus, carried a magnetometer, cosmic ray detectors, hydrogen and oxygen indicators, and charged particle traps. Signals were returned by the spacecraft, which braked and then deployed a parachute system after entering the Venusian atmosphere, until it reached an altitude of 24.96 km.

The Venera 4 Wikipedia page includes some fascinating details about the capsule’s design and test regimen, and notes that Venera 4 successfully measured Venus’s atmosphere to be made up of 90-93% carbon dioxide, 0.4-0.8% oxygen, 7% nitrogen and 0.1-1.6% water vapor.

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Exploring the Extreme Ultraviolet

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Twenty years ago today — June 7, 1992 — a Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) spacecraft.


(Artist’s conception of EUVE. NASA image.)

EUVE was, as its name implies, an Explorer series spacecraft built to survey the sky in “the extreme ultraviolet range of the spectrum, from 70 – 760 Angstroms.” In addition to a full-sky survey, EUVE also conducted a “deep-survey” and made specific observations.

EUVE operated well throughout its mission life and two mission extensions, until operations ceased on January 31, 2001. The spacecraft de-orbited a year later and “re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over central Egypt.”

Of particular interest to science fiction fans, one of the project scientists for EUVE was Dr. Yoji Kondo. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Kondo at Ravencon a few years ago. He’s a delightful fellow, and it’s no surprise that EUVE performed so well since he was involved in it.

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Extending the Space Station's Reach (Literally)

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Ten years ago today — June 5, 2002 — Space Shuttle Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station.


(STS-111 launch. NASA image.)

The STS-111 crew consisted of US astronauts Paul S.Lockhart, Kenneth D. Cockrell, Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Peggy Whitson, French astronaut Philippe Perrin, and cosmonauts Valery G. Korzun and Sergei Y.Treschev. Korzun, Treschev, and Whitson comprised the ISS “Expedition Five” crew, and stayed aboard the ISS when Endeavour departed with the Expedition Four crew.

Endeavour delivered supplies and equipment to the ISS, and returned unneeded hardware and materiel from the station. In a series of EVAs, the crew installed the Mobile Remote Service Base System on the Mobile Transporter, which extended the Canadarm2 robotic arm’s reach by allowing it to traverse the station’s length. They also replaced a wrist roll joint on the station’s robotic arm.

Finally …

This foray into space history wouldn’t be complete without noting how good it was to see SpaceX‘s Dragon space capsule become the first commercial vehicle to dock with the space station. Well done!

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'The Monster Hunter Ballad' Made the Pegasus Award 'Brainstorming Poll'

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My first original filk* song made it onto the “Brainstorming Poll” of the annual filk awards!

It’s not an official nomination, but it’s something.


(Pegasus Award logo.)

“The Monster Hunter Ballad”, inspired by the books by Larry Correia, made the poll in the “Best Song” category.

Nominations are open from now until the end of July.

___
*Folk music with science fiction or fantasy elements.

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Space History Today: Scott Carpenter and Mercury-Atlas 7

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A half-century ago today — May 24, 1962 — astronaut M. Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth when he launched from Cape Canaveral.


(Mercury Atlas 7 launch. NASA image.)

Mercury Atlas 7, also known as Aurora 7, carried Carpenter on three orbits before returning him to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean.

During the mission, Carpenter solved a mystery that had occurred on John Glenn’s earlier spaceflight. Glenn reported seeing what he described as “fire flies,” and Carpenter reported the same thing after he “accidentally tapped the wall of the spacecraft with his hand.” This led analysts to conclude that the “fire flies” were particles of frost dislodged from the reaction control system.

Interestingly,

The pilot was originally planned to be Donald K. Slayton but was changed to be M. Scott Carpenter after a medical examination of Slayton revealed an irregularity in his heartbeat.

“Deke” Slayton is an important historical figure in my alternate history story, “Memorial at Copernicus”, from the August 2010 issue of Redstone Science Fiction. You can listen to the story here, if you like.

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My ConCarolinas Schedule

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My summer science fiction & fantasy convention schedule starts the first weekend of June, when I’ll be at ConCarolinas at the Charlotte Hilton University Place (in Charlotte, of course).


(ConCarolinas program cover by Artist Guest of Honor Robert Luedke)

In addition to “Filking the Night Away” Friday and Saturday nights at 10 p.m., I’ll be on several panels and will also help out at Allen Wold’s writing workshop:

Friday, June 1

Saturday, June 2

Sunday, June 3

Should be fun!

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Retreating … to Write

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Beginning about midday, I’m taking myself on a writing retreat. As we used to say in mobile C2, I’ll be at an “undisclosed location.” (Thank goodness for Marriott Rewards points.)


(TYPEWRITER by HeavenlyCabins, on Flickr, via Creative Commons.)

Over the next couple of days, my goal is to write the improved opening I thought of for my novel. Wish me luck.

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First Energia Launch Attempt — And, Atlantis Flies to Mir

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Twenty-five years ago today — May 15, 1987 — the USSR launched its first Energia rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.


(Energia-Polyus, prior to being raised for launch. Image from the Buran-Energia site.)

The Energia was a heavy-lift booster built by the Soviet Union to launch their “Buran” space shuttle. On its maiden flight with the Polyus upper stage instead of Buran, the Energia performed as intended but the upper stage did not place the payload in orbit. According to the Wikipedia entry:

The Soviets had originally announced that the launch as a successful sub-orbital test of the new Energia booster with a dummy payload, but some time later it was revealed that the flight had, in fact, been intended to orbit the Polyus, a UKSS military payload. The two stages of the Energia launcher functioned as designed, but the Polyus payload failed to reach orbit. Due to a software error in its attitude control system, the burn of the Polyus’ orbital insertion motor failed to insert the payload into orbit. Instead, the payload reentered the atmosphere over the Pacific ocean.

According to the Buran-Energia site,

It would seem that Polyus is the Soviet response to the project “Star Wars” launched by the American president Reagan. It was to be in fact a space combat laser station. Finally, we know very few things about this apparatus and its real use. Officially it was intended to make scientific experiments in upper atmosphere.

Very interesting.

[BREAK, BREAK]

Ten years later — on this date in 1997 — the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-84. The shuttle carried U.S. astronauts Charles J. Precourt, Eileen M. Collins, C. Michael Foale, Carlos I. Noriega, and Edward T. Lu; French astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy; and Russian cosmonaut Elena V. Kondakova to the Mir space station. Foale stayed on Mir, and the shuttle brought astronaut Jerry Linenger back to Earth after his 123-day space station stay.

Quite a contrast with the cold war days.

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First Inhabitants of Salyut-7

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Thirty years ago today — May 13, 1982 — the USSR launched a Soyuz-T from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first crew to their newest space station.


(Salyut-7. At bottom, a Soyuz vehicle is docked with the station. USSR image from Wikimedia Commons.)

Mission Soyuz T-5 launched on (of course) a Soyuz rocket, carrying cosmonauts Anatoli N. Berezovoy and Valentin V. Lebedev. As noted on the Wikipedia page, it was the first mission to the Salyut 7 space station, which had only been launched a few weeks earlier.

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Analog's July/August Issue

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I’ve had my copy for a couple of weeks, but the new issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact that includes my short story, “The Song of Uullioll,” should be available on newsstands soon. (So to speak; I don’t suppose there are many actual newsstands anymore.)

Yesterday the good folks over at SF Scope posted the table of contents for the issue.

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