Will Falcon 9 Fly Tomorrow?

Update - December 21, 2015, 10:45 a.m. PST:

Today's Falcon 9 / Orbcomm-2 launch time has been changed to four minutes earlier than reported yesterday. This is important as the launch window is only open for about one minute.

Updated launch times for TODAY:
8:29 p.m. EST 
5:29 p.m. PST 
0229 Central Euro Time, Tues Dec 22. 

Live coverage will start at http://www.spacex.com/webcast/ about half an hour prior to launch time.

                          

Space X's official patch for the Falcon 9 Orbcomm-2 mission

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Update - December 20, 2015, 4:30 p.m. PST:

Weather is 80% favorable for tomorrow's launch time. The launch window is open for just one minute.

If there is a landing attempt tomorrow, it will occur about 10 minutes after lift-off at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1, formerly known as Launch Complex 13. This location is near the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral. 

If you are on the ground near the landing site, you will hear a sonic boom as the rocket returns to Earth. From nearby locations, you may also see the rocket's engines firing in the dark in preparation for landing.

News media won't be allowed to cover the launch and landing, so I'm counting on landing updates from spacetweeps who will be at the space coast tomorrow.

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Update - December 20, 2015, 1 p.m. PST:

Elon Musk just tweeted that launch will be delayed by 24 hours to December 21, 2015. Tomorrow's launch time is 8:33 p.m. EST (5:33 p.m. PST). That is 0233 Central European Time on Tuesday, December 22.

Just reviewed mission params w SpaceX team. Monte Carlo runs show tmrw night has a 10% higher chance of a good landing. Punting 24 hrs.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2015

He also RT'd this image of Falcon 9 on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral at sunset today:

New photo of @SpaceX #Falcon9 in advance of tonight's ORBCOMM #OG2 launch. She's a beauty. #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/cUhCgGieiP

— ORBCOMM (@ORBCOMM_Inc) December 20, 2015

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Update - December 20, 2015, 11 a.m. PST: 

Everything still looks good for a launch attempt today at 5:29 p.m. PST. SpaceX's coverage will start at 5:05 p.m. PST at spacex.com/webcast. The site is already displaying a countdown clock, which is a good sign. I'm not sure if NASA TV will live stream the launch. The launch window is 1 minute long and there are no other windows available today, should the launch not occur at 5:29 p.m. 

For those of you at Cape Canveral: Keep looking up after the launch. SpaceX may attempt to land the redesigned Falcon 9's upper stage on land near the launch site.
 
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I hope so. It would be fitting for Falcon 9 to return to actual, real-life flight the same weekend a movie soars to box office dominance that features the fictional ship - the Millennium Falcon - after which Falcon 9 was named.

Falcon 9 has been grounded since June, due to a failed launch attempt that was intended to deliver a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station as part of NASA's commercial crew program. Tomorrow's flight will carry 11 second-generation Orbcomm satellites to orbit and will mark the second time SpaceX will deliver New Jersey-based Orbcomm's satellites into space.

The launch has been delayed since August and several times during December. The past week has seen problems with pre-flight static firing tests. The test was completed successfully last night and tomorrow's launch is contingent upon a review of the static fire data.

Elon Musk said on Twitter that all looks good for a Sunday launch from Cape Canaveral:

Currently looking good for a Sunday night (~8pm local) attempted orbital launch and rocket landing at Cape Canaveral

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2015

 

 Falcon 9 and its Orbcomm payload on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral
Image credit: SpaceX

The exact launch time is Sunday, December 20 at 8:29 p.m. EST (5:29 p.m. PST).

Falcon 9 has received some upgrades: more powerful Merlin 1D engines arranged in their trademark "octaweb" configuration - eight Merlins arranged around one in the center. Together, the engines can generate 1.5 million pounds of thrust. The older generation Merlins generated a maximum of 1.3 million pounds.

The redesigned Falcon is also a little taller, 229 feet (69.9 m) instead of 224 feet (68.3 m), to accommodate longer nozzles and extended tanks on the upper stage engines.

In addition, the improved Falcon 9 will use super-cooled, compressed fuel, which allows the rocket to carry more fuel that can be used in a landing attempt.

Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin successfully launched a rocket to space and then landed it on a pad in West Texas just last month, and made rocket science history in the process.

SpaceX is also developing re-usability technology. A landing attempt may occur tomorrow on land near Cape Canaveral. At the moment, I can find no information on the likelihood of a landing attempt or the likely landing location near KSC. If you're on the space coast tomorrow, you just may find yourself in the right place at the right time to see a rocket stage *land* at Cape Canaveral for the first time ever.

I will update this post if new information comes in. I will also live tweet the launch tomorrow, starting around 5 p.m. PDT. The launch window is very brief, with no others available tomorrow.

Go Falcon 9!!

When Will We Go Back To The Moon?

I'll leave this right here:

               


This is a panoramic view of the Moon taken during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, courtesy of the NASA History Office @NASAhistory. 

Spot NASA astronaut and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt running on the Moon's surface.

Apollo 17 was the last of the crewed Apollo missions and Harrison Schmitt was one of the last humans to set foot on the lunar surface.

That was 43 years ago. Think about that.

What are we waiting for? A planetary disaster that will give us no choice? It's sure starting to look that way.

To be fair, China has plans to establish a permanent Moon base within 10-15 years. But still. It's been 43 years since humans walked on the Moon. We have learned so very much since then. 

Let's leave behind Earth's formidable gravity well and go apply our collective scientific and technological advancements - on another world!

It's only a 3-day trip away.

@Astro_Terry's Goodbye Gift From Orbit

Tomorrow, June 11, NASA astronaut Terry W. Wirts (@Astro_Terry on twitter) is returning to Earth from an almost 200-day stay on the orbital outpost, along with this two crew mates, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (@Astro_Samantha) and Russian Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (@AntonAstrey).

While aboard the station, Samantha Cristoforetti broke the record for most consecutive days spent in space by a woman (199 days), a record previously held by Sunita Williams (194 days).

Undocking of the Soyuz from the ISS is currently scheduled for 3:20 a.m. PDT June 11, with touchdown on the Kazakh steppe projected for 6:43 am PDT. NASA and ESA will have live feeds. On the US West Coast, you'll have to get up early to watch.

This morning on twitter, prior to his departure from the orbital outpost, @Astro_Terry left us with an incredible image of some of the most recognizable and ancient human-built structures on Earth. Ponder the geometry and remember - construction on these pyramids started 4.5 millennia ago.

Can you name the three main Pyramids of Giza without looking it up?

DSCOVR Will Launch - Falcon 9 Plans Landing

Update - February 11, 12:15 pm:

Today's DSCOVR launch attempt is still on track for 3:03 pm PST. NASA and SpaceX will have live feeds.

Unfortunately, SpaceX will not attempt to land the Falcon 9 upper stage on a barge today due to extreme weather in the Atlantic. SpaceX reports 3-story-high waves crashing over decks and says the company plans a soft water landing through the storm to collect valuable landing data.

Please scroll down for more information about the DSCOVR mission and landing attempt.

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Update - February 10, 3:00 pm:

Launch was scrubbed today due to persistent upper level winds just above the safe margin. Next attempt will be tomorrow:

Wednesday, February 11, 3:03 pm PST (6:03 pm EST, 00:03 Feb.12 CET).

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Update - February 9, 8:00 am:

NOAA tweeted this morning that launch will be delayed one more day due to unfavorable weather conditions. New launch time: 

Tuesday, February 10, 3:05 pm PST (6:05 pm EST, 00:05 Feb.10 CET).

A backup launch window is available on Wednesday, February 11, 3:03 pm PST (6:03 pm EST, 00:03 Feb.12 CET).


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Update - February 8, 3:20 pm: 

Today's launch was scrubbed three minutes prior to lift-off time. According to spaceflightnow.com: "The Air Force Eastern Range called a hold due to a loss of tracking with the rocket. The SpaceX launch team was also working a telemetry problem in the final minutes of the countdown, and it's not clear if both conditions were "no go" for launch."

The launch window was instantaneous and there won't be another attempt today. Falcon 9 is being put in safe mode. SpaceX will try again tomorrow:

Monday, February 9, 3:05 pm PST (6:05 pm EST, 00:05 Feb.10 CET). 
Weather conditions are about 50% favorable. A backup launch window is available on Wednesday. The 1-day delay will also give SpaceX a chance to replace a video transmitter on the rocket's first stage.

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Tomorrow, February 8, Space X will launch the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) for NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force. This launch has been delayed a few times throughout January and is now scheduled for 3:10 pm PST (6:10 pm EST, 00:10 Feb. 9 CET). In North America, we'll see a Sunday afternoon launch from Cape Canaveral. NASA TV and SpaceX will have live coverage.

 NASA / NOAA / USAF DSCOVR Mission Patch

Nine minutes after launch - and this time in daylight - the Falcon 9's first stage will prepare to land on SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic. The private rocket company tried this maneuver for the first time last month - an almost-nailed-it landing attempt that ended, as Elon Musk tweeted, with a full RUD event - rapid unscheduled disassembly. Sunday's landing attempt on a drone ship, if successful, will mark a historic occasion in the history of rocketry. You can find more details about the launch and landing timeline here.

  SpaceX DSCOVR Mission Patch

The DSCOVR satellite will be positioned 1 million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth, and about 90 million (145 million km) from the Sun at the L1 libration point, where the gravitational influence of the Sun and the Earth are exactly balanced. This places DSCOVR into a stable orbit, where the satellite will monitor space weather, such as solar winds that can affect communication grids and other equipment on Earth. DSCOVR is also tasked with Earth observing functions. Read more about DSCOVR here.

 Photo credit: NASA

Getting ready for launch: Enclosing DSCOVR in the Falcon 9's 43-foot-tall (13 m) payload fairing.

Year of the Dwarf Planets: Ceres 2015

In 2015, Pluto won't be the only dwarf planet that will receive a visit from an electronic ambassador. NASA's Dawn mission is currently on its way to Ceres.

Dawn was launched in 2007 to study the two largest celestial objects in our solar system's asteroid belt: asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn studied Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012 and is now headed for Ceres. The dwarf planet is of particular interest since it is the asteroid belt's largest object, accounting for 25% of its total mass. In addition, Ceres is differentiated, with a rocky core, like Earth and Mars, and a water ice layer below a thin outer crust, like some of the moons of the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter. 

In January 2014, using observations from the Herschel Space Observatory, astronomers discovered that Ceres was releasing water vapor into space from two points near its equator, at a rate of about 5 kg (11 lbs) / second. At the time these observations were made, the 950-km-wide (590 mi) dwarf planet was closest to the sun (perihelion) during its 4.5-year-orbit around the sun. This was an unexpected and exciting finding. The presence of water on Ceres raises the possibility of alien life. In addition, water vapor plumes have never been observed escaping from an asteroid belt object. 

Ceres thus poses a number of intriguing questions. In coming months, scientists will likely be able to answer many of them.

Image credit: NASA

Artist's impression of dwarf planet Ceres outgassing water vapor into space from two sources near its equator. This suggests the presence of water and the possibility of alien life.

Image credit: William K. Hartmann Courtesy of UCLA

Artist's rendition of Dawn in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, marking the boundary between our solar system's inner and outer planets. Vesta is the largest, potato-shaped asteroid on the left, and the dwarf planet Ceres - almost shperical in shape - is at the right.

Image credit: NASA

Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt with a rocky inner core, a trait it shares with inner planets like Mars and Earth, and a sub-surface water-ice layer, a feature it has in common with some of the moons of the outer planet gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.

This is the highest resolution image we have of Ceres to date, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Dawn will arrive at Ceres in late March / early April 2015 and start to return images with a higher resolution than the above in about six weeks. That event will mark the first time humans will get a close-up look at a dwarf planet. New Horizons will arrive at Pluto several months later. The differences and similarities between the two dwarf planets will provide a wealth of information about the formation of our solar system. 

Dawn will initially orbit Ceres at an altitude of 13,500 km (8,400 mi), and descend to about 1,500 km (950 mi) in August 2015 to resolve Ceres' surface in 3D. Dawn's closest passes to the surface will be at an altitude of 375 km (230 mi) in November 2015, where the craft will remain for three months.

New Horizons: All Eyes On Pluto in 2015

On December 6, New Horizons awoke from hibernation for the final time. This amazing outer solar system probe was launched in 2006 and has traversed 3 billion miles. New Horizons is going further than any planetary probe has gone before; only the two Voyagers - designed to leave the solar system - have traveled further from our home planet. The spacecraft is also zooming fast through space - at a clip that equals traveling from Los Angeles to New York every five minutes, since 2006.

Yesterday New Horizons woke up for the 18th and final time. The probe spent most of its journey in hibernation mode, only waking up periodically for instrument and status checks. Now that New Horizons is closing in on the Plutonian system, we can expect to see the dwarf planet and its moons with ever increasing resolution. New Horizons will have its closest encounter with Pluto in July 2015. 

Data sent from Pluto won't arrive at Earth instantaneously. It takes 4.5 hours for the signal to traverse 3 billion miles through the vacuum of space to be received on Earth.

 Image credit: The Planetary Society

Below is an artist's rendering of New Horizons approaching Pluto and its moons. The dwarf planet at the outer edges of our solar system is still the least well known to us here on Earth. Having lost its status as a full planet not too long ago, Pluto is now likely to present us with spectacular images of its surface and a wealth of knowledge. In a way, going to Pluto is like discovering what an exo-planet looks like. We can't see its surface directly, and, until now, we could only guess what its surface may look like. New Horizons will also be able to discern the presence of subsurface oceans similar to those on icy moons further inside the solar system, volcanic activity like we found on Io, or plumes that vent into space as we see it on Enceladus.

One of the questions mission scientists are eager to answer is whether or not Pluto and its current features are primitive - unchanged since the dawn of our solar system - or the result of activity over time, such us tidal heating or subsurface oceans. 

New Horizons' science instruments will also explore Pluto's night side, search for rings, study the atmosphere, look for dust, plasma and hazes, and collect data that will tell us if Pluto has mountains, fault lines, chasms and other geological features. 

 Image credit: NASA

This is a Hubble telescope image of Pluto and its five moons. Charon is the largest and was discovered in 1978. Two of Pluto's smaller moons, Kerberos and Styx weren't discovered until 2011 and 2012, respectively. This poses a unique challenge for New Horizons scientists: Completing science missions at Pluto and Charon while taking into account two moons that were not known to exist when New Horizons launched in 2006.                     

 Image credit: NASA / Hubble

Below is a Hubble telescope image of Pluto and three of its moons. This is the highest resolution image of Pluto and its moons that we have to date. As New Horizons approaches Pluto in coming months, the spacecraft will start to return images that will be better than this in early May 2015. New Horizons scientists have named this threshold "BTH" - Better Than Hubble. After that point, the craft will return images with increasingly finer resolution until its closest encounter with the dwarf planet in July 2015. At its closest approach, New Horizons' camera will resolve Pluto's surface at about 70-80 m / pixel.

 Image credit: NASA / Hubble

New Horizons' mission may not end after visiting Pluto and Charon. NASA scientists are working to secure funding for extending the spacecraft's mission. It can use Pluto's gravity to slingshot out into the Kuiper Belt and examine a Kuiper Belt Object up close. Two possible target objects have already been selected. A close-up look at a KBO is particularly interesting because it will help us understand the nature and state of the very early solar system, long before planets had time to form. KBOs are thought to have changed very little in the billions of years since the formation of the solar system as we know it.

This Holiday Season..... Don't Miss These Launches!

Even though it's practically December that doesn't mean the year is winding down for spaceflight. On the contrary, it's going to be a busy month: Fourteen launches are scheduled for the month of December, roughly one every other day, and there are some you don't want to miss!


(No earlier than) December 2/3

Hayabusa 2 will launch on an asteroid sample return mission atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Hayabusa 2 is slated to rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018 and tasked with returning a sample to Earth in 2020. This is JAXA's second asteroid sample retrieval mission. The first Hayabusa craft returned an asteroid sample to Earth in 2010. "Hayabusa" is Japanese for peregrine falcon.

If Hayabusa 2 launches on December 3, the launch time in the U.S. fill fall on December 2: 11:22 p.m. EST / 8:22 p.m. PST. Hayabusa 2 has been delayed twice due to weather. I will post updates here if the launch slips again. 

Image credit: JAXA

December 4

NASA is scheduled to launch its new Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle on its first uncrewed mission to space: Exploration Flight Test One (EFT-1). Orion marks NASA's return to human spaceflight and is widely expected to pave the space agency's path to crewed Mars landings and other deep space missions. 

A United Launch Alliance's Delta 4-Heavy rocket will carry the Orion craft to orbit. This is a heavy lift vehicle with a triple-body rocket that brings the power of the Saturn V from the Apollo era Moon landings back to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Orion will reach an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. For comparison, the International Space Station orbit is ca. 220 miles above Earth. The Space Shuttle, retired in 2011, was not capable of traveling beyond low Earth orbit.

Exploration Flight Test One will test many of Orion's critical systems, such as its heat shield that must withstand temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit as re-entry speed reaches 20,000 miles per hour. Other Orion components to be tested during EFT-1 include the launch abort system and the parachute system that will help land Orion off the coast of California after completing two orbits.

The launch window for EFT-1 on December 4 is 7:05-9:44 a.m. EST / 4:05-6:44 a.m. PST. This is going to be rough on us West Coasters.

 Image credit: NASA

Update 2 - December 18: SpaceX CRS-5 launch moved up into the first week of January 2015. Click here for current updates and more info about the new launch date and time.  

Update 1 - December 16: Launch re-scheduled for December 19, 10:22 a.m. PST (19:22 CET)

December 16 (original date before re-schedules)

Delayed multiple times since September 12, SpaceX's cargo delivery to the International Space Station is now scheduled for December 16, launching a Dragon cargo capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. This mission will be the private space company's fifth cargo delivery to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The mission is named CRS-5 and has a brief launch window: 2:31 p.m. EST / 11:31 a.m. PST.

For SpaceX, CRS-5 is quite a bit more than another supply run to the ISS, as the company will further test the re-usability of its flagship Falcon 9 rocket. From its inception, SpaceX has aimed to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible. Reusable rocket stages are a crucial factor in the quest to develop rockets that are significantly cheaper to fly than single-use rockets. 

On a mission earlier this year, SpaceX began post-launch re-usability testing by guiding the Falcon 9's upper stage (the rocket stage to be recovered) to hoever upright above the ocean for a few seconds before it tipped over sideways into the water. SpaceX uses a combination of landing legs, grid fins, retro rockets and stabilizing technologies to enable Falcon 9's upper stage to perform a precision soft landing on water and eventually on land.

This time, Falcon 9's upper stage is expected to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship. Last week on twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave us a glimpse of what to expect on December 16 - a historic milestone never before achieved: precisely land and recover a rocket that is intact and reusable, without the need to fish it out of the water.

Testing operation of hypersonic grid fins (x-wing config) going on next flight pic.twitter.com/O1tMSIXxsT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2014

Autonomous spaceport drone ship. Thrusters repurposed from deep sea oil rigs hold position within 3m even in a storm. pic.twitter.com/wJFOnGdt9w
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2014

Amazing Videos ~ Grasshopper, Cows, Rocket Frog and Space Bat

I have previously written about SpaceX's Grasshopper Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing Vehicle. The most recent test takeoff / landing has left us with some truly jaw-dropping footage. In August of this year, Grasshopper reached an altitude of 820 ft (250 m) with a 328 ft (100 m) lateral divert maneuver, and then returns to the center of the launch pad. 

This technology is instrumental for the development of reusable rockets, both manned and unmanned, for landings and takeoffs on Earth and on off-planet destinations in our solar system. 

Video credit: SpaceX

Grasshopper test launch and landing with 100-meter lateral divert maneuver

Video credit: SpaceX

 Stampede!

A different camera angle shows that we've also got cows! Launches and landings are rough on the wildlife and farm animals.   

Let's have a moment of silence for Rocket Frog:  
 

  Image credit: NASA Wallops

This unlucky frog became a viral video sensation after NASA's recent LADEE launch to lunar orbit.




 Let's not forget Space Bat: 
 

On March 15, 2009, Space Bat launched to instant fame on STS-119 Discovery from Kennedy Space Center.

Welcome Home, Soyuz Expedition 36!

Three humans returned safely from the International Space Station after a well practiced, yet fiery plunge through Earth's atmosphere, landing in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 (the evening of Tuesday, September 10 in the US).

 Photo credit: NASA

Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy (NASA), left, Commander Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos), center, and, Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin (Roscosmos) just minutes after being helped out of the Soyuz TMA-08M capsule. The trio launched to the ISS on March 29 and spent five and a half months in space.

Photo credit: NASA

Fiery landing: Soyuz TMA-08M with its human passengers under the main parachute just as the soft landing engines fire to soften the capsule's impact. 

More images from a rare Soyuz night landing last November: http://lotsinspace.blogspot.com/2012/11/soyuz-expedition-33-returns-to-earth.html

Comet ISON - Celestial Display Of Our Lifetime?

Update - November 9, 2013:

Comet ISON continues its journey to the center of our solar system for its perilous Thanksgiving Day maneuver around the sun. Whether or not ISON will survive its close encounter with our sun is still unknown. 

Astronomers will keep a close eye on ISON and study the comet's composition by observing which gases boil off the comet's core as it approaches perihelion. 

At the time the image below was taken, ISON was 212 million km (132 million mi) from Earth, roughly half the distance to Mars. 

The picture was taken on October 25, 2013 with a 36-cm (14-in.) telescope at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. I have not yet come across ISON sightings with the naked eye. Please let me know if you have sightings or photos to share in this post as I publish updates during ISON's approach.

The streak across the right side of the photo was caused by the passage of Italy's SkyMed2 satellite through the frame.
(Thanks for the photobomb, SkyMed2!)


 

 Image credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Comet ISON on its way to the sun - October 25, 2013

Image credit: Adam Block via spaceweather.com

Comet ISON - October 8, 2013

The above image was published on the website for the Comet ISON Observing Campaign (CIOC), along with an article that explains why ISON appears to have a greenish tinge.



 

Update - November 6, 2013: 
As we close in on Thanksgiving Day and ISON's hairpin turn around the sun, the comet's fate at perihelion is still unknown. Amazing images have emerged of ISON's journey into the inner solar system. Astronomers on Earth have already imaged it. 





We are only four months away from what could turn out to be the most stunning astronomical event of the year - potentially of our lifetimes and the entire century. Or we could end up disappointed. 

It all depends on whether or not Comet ISON will survive its plunge towards and tight turn around the sun during the far end of the outbound leg of its orbit. The comet is known as a sungrazer because of how closely it will travel to the sun. Space.com has a nice infographic that illustrates ISON’s journey through our solar system.

ISON was discovered only recently, in September 2012, by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. The comet is named after the telescope for the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), which is operated by an association of 10 nations that cooperate to track objects in space. 

This image of ISON on its way to Earth was taken by the Hubble Telescope on April 30, when ISON was traveling between Jupiter and the asteroid belt on its way to the inner solar system. The image is a composite of five photos taken by the Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 2 UVIS instrument. Three exposures were taken with a filter that let in yellow and green light (seen as blue in the image) while two used a filter that let in red / infra-red light. The result is a simulation of what human eyes would see if they looked at ISON with the Hubble telescope’s resolution.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

This breathtaking image of Comet ISON heading towards Earth and the Sun was taken by the 

Hubble Telescope on April 30, 2013

To give you an idea of what you are truly looking at, consider the following:

- Comet ISON originated in the far regions of our solar system in the Oort Cloud and started its journey 10,000 years ago.

- This is thought to be ISON’s first trip into the center of our solar system. But if it isn’t, humanity would be unlikely to have a record of a prior passage.

- ISON will travel within 724,000 miles (1.16 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface at its closest approach, while making a hairpin turn around the sun. 

- The comet’s nucleus is 3-4 miles wide and consists of ice, gas and dust particles. The comet’s tail is created as ISON heats up plunging toward the sun, trailing a tail of particles that will grow by 200 million kilograms per day as dust and ice evaporate off the nucleus. 

- ISON’s tail is already gigantic – long enough to wrap around the Earth seven times.

- If ISON survives its brush with the sun’s heat, radiation and tidal forces on Thanksgiving Day 2013, it will light up the skies for days, even weeks, and appear as bright or brighter than the moon this December. 

- ISON’s celestial display could well equal breathtaking displays of previous comet sightings in history.


If ISON delivers upon its promise of a jaw-dropping celestial display, I will throw a comet watching party in December for my birthday. 

Reading about ISON reminded me of Gregory Benford’s and David Brin’s visionary book Heart of the Comet (1986). What if we could hitch a ride on ISON at its closest passage to Earth, establish a colony inside the comet’s nucleus and send “cometary humans” off onto a journey to the furthest reaches of our solar system – a voyage that will not return back to Earth for many thousands of years?


To me, ISON’s discovery only last year, its close passage to Earth, along with the recent surprise meteor impact in Russia represent another wake-up call that we must redouble our efforts to make human life multi-planetary. What if ISON were headed for a collision course straight with Earth? Would we be able to muster the technology, capacity and international cooperation needed to prevent impact in a few short months? What if we couldn’t? Our planet would survive but would humanity be as lucky? How big will the next asteroid be that we can’t see coming because it well be headed for Earth straight out of the sun like the Russian meteorite? What if the next one is ISON-sized? Can we as a species really afford to sit on our hands and do nothing while we have the technology to colonize the moon and Mars?



Update - July 29, 2013: 
Well, it was fun to imagine cometary fireworks in our skies for a couple hours.... Here is an interpretation of available observation data that predicts ISON will likely break apart before perihelion or will not survive its close encounter with the sun.