Richard Branson Flew to Space When He Turned 70. He Wants to Do It Again (and Again)

Sissi Cao
Wed, September 27, 2023 

Sir Richard Branson attends “Branson” New York Premiere at HBO Screening Room on November 29, 2022 in New York City. John Lamparski/Getty Images

On July 11, 2021, a week before his 71st birthday, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson flew to suborbital space along with five of his employees in a Virgin Galactic (SPCE) spaceplane. The British billionaire said it was the best day of his life and he fully intends to do it again.

“I booked it for my 80th, 90th and 100th birthday, and I’m an optimist, so my 110th as well,” Branson, 73, said in an interview with NBC last week while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism arm of Virgin Group, sells 90-minute round trips to and from the edge of Earth’s atmosphere (about 50 miles above sea level) in a spaceplane for $450,000 per person. The mission that brought Branson to space was the first full-crew test flight of Virgin Galactic. And after years of delay, the company finally began flying paying customers in June.

Read Also: Virgin Galactic Is Partnering with a Luxury Travel Agent to Take Space Tourism Mainstream

Virgin Galactic initially priced its tickets at $250,000 a pop but increased it to $450,000 shortly after Branson’s spaceflight in 2021. Branson, whose business conglomerate operates airlines and cruise lines, said Virgin Galactic has a low carbon footprint.

“We’ve managed to get the price of going into space, from a carbon point of view right down to a minimum,” Branson told NBC. “You know, if you’ve run an airline, you’ve got to try to get the youngest, most fuel-efficient planes. If you’re running a space line, you’ve got to reduce the cost of taking people into space dramatically from a carbon point of view.”

The burgeoning space tourism industry has drawn criticism over the high carbon emissions of rockets and spaceplanes. A 90-minute Virgin Galactic flight generates emissions equivalent to a ten-hour trans-Atlantic commercial air flight, according to a 2021 report by NSR, a firm providing research on satellite and space markets. Because Virgin Galactic can only carry up to six passengers on each flight, that averages to 4.5 tons of carbon emission per person, twice the Paris Agreement’s recommended annual individual carbon budget, per NSR’s calculation.

Virgin Galactic hasn’t responded to an inquiry to comment on these numbers by press time.

While in New York last week, which coincided with Climate Week NYC, Branson announced his latest climate initiative, Planetary Guardians. It’s a coalition of 14 world leaders, climate activists, business moguls and celebrities who will take what they call a “whole planet” approach to “safeguard Earth.” In addition to Branson, the group includes actor Robert Redford, activist Jane Goodall and Juan Manuel Santos, the former president of Colombia.

Here are every crewed mission and launched by Virgin Galactic to date and the passengers on board:

July 11, 2021 “Unity 22”

• Passengers/Virgin Galactic staff: Richard Branson, Beth Moses (Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor), Colin Bennett (lead operations engineer), Sirisha Bandla (head of government affairs and research operations)

• Pilots: Dave Mackay, Michael Masucci

June 29, 2023 “Galactic 01” 

• Passengers: Walter Villadei, Angelo Landolfi, Pantaleone Carlucci

• Staff: Colin Bennett

• Pilots: Mike Masucci, Nicola Pecile

August 10, 2023 “Galactic 02”

• Passengers: Jon, Goodwin, Keisha Schahaff, Anastatia Mayers

• Staff: Beth Moses

• Pilots: C.J. Sturckow, Kelly Latimer

September 8, 2023 “Galactic 03”

• Passengers: Ken Baxter, Adrian Reynard, Timothy Nash

• Staff: Beth Moses

• Pilots: Nicola Pecile, Michael Masucci

India space chief unfazed by Moon mission's apparent end

AFP
Fri, September 29, 2023 

The rover was powered down before the start of the two-week lunar night but efforts to wake it have so far been unsuccessful (-)

As hopes dim of further contact with India's Moon rover, the country's space chief has said he was satisfied with the prospect of calling its successful lunar mission to an end.

India began exploring the Moon's surface in August after becoming just the fourth nation to land a craft on the celestial body, sparking celebrations in a country rapidly closing in on milestones set by global space powers.

Rover Pragyan -- "Wisdom" in Sanskrit -- surveyed the vicinity of the Moon's south pole but was powered down before the start of lunar night, which lasts roughly two weeks on Earth.

The Indian Space Research Agency had hoped to prolong the mission by reactivating the solar-powered vehicle once daylight returned to the lunar surface, but so far has been greeted by radio silence.


"It is OK if it does not wake up because the rover has done what it was expected to do," ISRO chief S. Somanath told reporters late Wednesday, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

ISRO said last week it had hoped to reestablish contact with the rover and the lander that safely delivered it.

"As of now, no signals have been received from them," it added.

The world's most populous nation has been steadily matching the achievements of established spacefaring powers at a fraction of their cost.

It has a comparatively low-budget space programme, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since first sending a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.

Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.

India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars in 2014 and is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into the Earth's orbit by next year.

Earlier this month it launched a four-month mission towards the centre of the solar system to study phenomena on the surface of the Sun.

August's successful lunar mission came four years after its predecessor crashed on final descent, in what was seen at the time as a huge setback for its space programme.

Japan and India plan 2025 moon mission to hunt for water near the lunar south pole

Andrew Jones
Thu, September 28, 2023 


Japan and India plan 2025 moon mission to hunt for water near the lunar south pole


The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Is making progress on its rover for a joint mission with India to the south pole of the moon.

JAXA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) agreed to the cooperative project back in 2019. ISRO, which recently made India the fourth country to soft-land on the moon, will build the mission's lander, while JAXA will be responsible for the launch and a lunar rover.

The mission is slated to launch no earlier than 2025 on Japan's new H3 rocket, according to JAXA. The agency is meanwhile in the basic design phase of the rover with teams running tests in sand designed to simulate lunar regolith, the fine dust that covers the moon's surface. The tests will verify that the vehicle can perform its key science objectives on the moon.

Related: India tries waking up Chandrayaan-3 moon lander, without success (so far)

"The LUPEX project will investigate the quantity and quality of water on the moon. We hope to use this data as a basis for considering sustainable human activities on the moon in the future," Natsu Fujioka, who is part of the team developing the rover, said in a JAXA statement.

The rover will be autonomous and will drive to seek out water with its science payloads. It will also be able to drill into the lunar surface to collect samples which will then be analyzed by the rover's instruments. Each of these capabilities is a feat in itself, but combining these and within weight constraints, presents a serious task.

"It is a challenging project to transport a rover weighing several hundred kilograms loaded with these instruments to the moon, move it around, and measure the collected samples in situ," Fujioka said.

Other agencies will also be sending science payloads on the mission. NASA's Neutron Spectrometer will seek out hydrogen up to 3.3 feet (1 meter) below the surface at the south pole, while the European Space Agency's (ESA) Exospheric Mass Spectrometer will assess gas pressure and chemical signatures at the surface.

Related Stories:

— Private Japanese moon lander crashed after being confused by a crater

— India's Chandrayaan-3 takes the moon's temperature near lunar south pole for 1st time

— India tries waking up Chandrayaan-3 moon lander, without success (so far)

"Analyses of various observational data over recent years suggest that water may be present in the lunar polar regions, the lunar polar regions being those areas around the moon's north and south poles," said Hiroka Inoue, who is involved in international cooperation and the selection of candidate landing site for LUPEX.

"If water can be found in these regions, it could be used as an energy source for future human activities on the moon. For this reason, countries are aggressively pursuing lunar exploration."

India launched the successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing mission this year, while Russia failed with its Luna-25 landing mission. Next year, NASA is tentatively scheduled to launch Artemis 2 in November 2024 to send astronauts around the moon. China meanwhile seeks to collect the first ever samples from the far side of the moon and bring them to Earth in 2024.

Other missions under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and a Japanese commercial lander are also planned to shoot for the moon next year.

Japan's 'moon sniper' probe snaps photo of Earth from orbit

Andrew Jones
Wed, September 27, 2023 


Japan's 'moon sniper' probe snaps photo of Earth from orbit


Japan's SLIM lunar lander has sent back an eerie image of Earth as a test of the camera it will use to help it land accurately on the moon.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) launched on an H-2A rocket on Sept. 6. It has already passed its first critical phase in Earth orbit by completing a series of systems tests, according to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Now, SLIM has imaged Earth, showing our planet half-shrouded in shadow in the vast expanse of space. The photo was a test of the camera system that will help SLIM determine its position during its descent onto the moon.

Related: Japan's SLIM moon lander completes 1st critical phase in Earth orbit

The image, which JAXA posted Sept. 21 via its SLIM account on X (formerly known as Twitter), was taken around 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from Earth. The image is monochromatic, as the dual-camera, vision-based navigation system is designed to identify crater positions from data stored aboard the spacecraft.

JAXA's SLIM account also posted an image showing Japan — central on the sphere, just outside the shadow of night — and the location of the distant, barely visible moon, its ultimate target.

And, to that end, SLIM is now taking its next steps on its long, looping voyage to the moon. SLIM, also known as "moon sniper," performed a second adjustment maneuver at 0100 GMT (10:00 a.m. Japan Standard Time) on Sept. 26.

RELATED STORIES:

— Japan launches SLIM moon lander, XRISM X-ray telescope on space doubleheader (video)

— The moon: Everything you need to know about Earth's companion

— Missions to the moon: Past, present and future

The spacecraft fired its main engine and attitude control thrusters for 70 seconds while near its orbit's perigee, or closest approach to Earth. This boost moved SLIM into its new, planned orbit with a higher apogee, or farthest point from Earth.

JAXA has not yet released a scheduled lunar landing date, though it has stated the spacecraft will take three to four months from launch to reach the moon. This longer route saves the lightweight spacecraft propellant and mass.

When it gets there, the spacecraft will prepare to demonstrate the capability to touch down within 328 feet (100 meters) of its target point. This aims to verify landing techniques that will help make more challenging landing areas for planetary exploration more accessible.

Photos show the 3.86 billion-mile journey of NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission from start to finish

Jenny McGrath
Updated Thu, September 28, 2023


Artist's illustration of NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe sampling an asteroid.Lockheed Martin

NASA's OSIRIS-REx has been traveling for seven years to get an asteroid sample to Earth.


It landed on the Bennu asteroid in 2020 and collected the sample but still had a long way home.


Check out its 3.86 billion-mile journey from launch to asteroid sample landing in the photos below.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx delivered an asteroid sample — the largest ever — to Earth on Sunday.

The spacecraft had traveled 3.86 billion miles in space to complete its main objective.

Here's the harrowing story of this historic spacecraft and what's next for it.
OSIRIS-REx launches
NASA first launched OSIRIS-REx seven years ago.United Launch Alliance via NASA

The spacecraft launched on September 8, 2016 on the Atlas V 411 rocket out of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The gravity assist

The first image NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft took after completing its Earth Gravity assist maneuver.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

One of its first major maneuvers was to whip around Earth in what's called a gravity assist. Earth's gravity acts like a slingshot, propelling the spacecraft forward toward its distant target, the asteroid Bennu.
Orbiting Bennu

This image was captured by OSIRIS-REx's MapCam imager as the spacecraft flew under Bennu's south pole during the mission's Preliminary Survey of the asteroid.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

In 2018, OSIRIS reached Bennu and began orbiting it.
Collecting the sample

NASA's OSIRIS-REx collects a sample from the rocky surface of the asteroid BennuNASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

In 2020, the spacecraft closed in on its target and scooped up a huge amount of regolith, the dust and dirt from Bennu's rocky surface.
A boulder-filled surface

This artist's concept shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft contacting the asteroid Bennu with the Touch-And-Go Sample Arm Mechanism or TAGSAM.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This was one of the most critical and dangerous moments for OSIRIS because the asteroid's terrain was rockier than researchers expected, and the boulders could have meant a rough landing.

OSIRIS-REx makes contact

Dante Lauretta, the mission's principal investigator, called the moment OSIRIS landed "transcendental." In the end, the spacecraft safely escaped Bennu's surface with its prize.

A nerve-wracking leak

Three images show some particles escaping NASA's OSIRIS-REx sampler head.NASA

Things nearly went awry when the container didn't close properly and dust started leaking out. Luckily, the spaceship's controllers acted quickly to safely seal the sample in a capsule. Ultimately, NASA estimates OSIRIS returned with about 8.8 ounces, or about half a pound, of dirt.

A fly-by delivery

As part of a training mission, NASA used a model of the OSIRIS-REx sample to prepare for its retrieval.NASA/Keegan Barber

After collecting the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, OSIRIS began its long journey home.

On September 24, 2023, it flew by Earth and delivered the asteroid sample to the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.

Sample retrieval

Recovery team members gather around a capsule containing Bennu asteroid samples as part of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool

Recovery teams collected the sample from the desert. Some of the sample will be spliced and diced immediately, but some of it will be preserved for future generations of scientists to analyze for centuries to come.

Headed to Houston

A shipping container with the capsule of asteroid Bennu's sample traveled onboard a US Air Force C-17 aircraft to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/ Molly Wasser

The sample is now at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

"The asteroid sample poses no risk to Earth," according to NASA. "Bennu is an irradiated rock, and there is no chance that the sample could contain living organisms."
Analyzing the sample

Lockheed Martin recovery specialists Levi Hanish and Michael Kaye take the lid off NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample.NASA/Robert Markowiz

It will spend several weeks in a clean room before the regolith is sent to scientists all over the world.

"Those samples will be analyzed in the weeks, months, years, decades, really centuries to come," Noah Petro, a research space scientist with NASA, told Insider.

Why Bennu?

This image shows a view across asteroid Bennu's southern hemisphere, demonstrating the number and distribution of boulders across the surface.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Because Bennu is so old, scientists are hoping studying its dust will give us clues about how our solar system formed and help determine if asteroids carry the key chemicals that ultimately helped lead to the rise of life on Earth.

What's next for OSIRIS?

OSIRIS-REx has only just begun to explore our solar neighborhood.NASA/JPL-Caltech

OSIRIS's mission isn't over. It's headed to orbit another asteroid, Apophis, which it will reach in 2029.

Business Insider

Nasa's mission to 'metal asteroid' could reveal what's inside Earth

Rob Waugh
·Contributor
Updated Thu, September 28, 2023 

Nasa crews work on the Psyche spacecraft that will study a metal rich asteroid located between Mars and Jupiter. (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Nasa will soon launch a mission to a unique metal-rich asteroid that could hold the secrets of what is inside our own planet and how Earth formed.

The earliest possible launch date for the Psyche mission is 5 October, but it could launch at any time during October, targeting a very unique 170 mile (274 km)-wide space rock.

Psyche is a metal-rich asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.

Scientists believe the rock could be the exposed core of a planetesimal, an early planetary building block.

What do scientists hope to find?

Psyche could offer a unique insight into the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth (something that we currently can’t drill down to find out) and could offer insights into the distant past of our own Earth.

The spacecraft's thrusters passed final tests earlier this summer, and the science instruments – a multispectral imager, magnetometer, and gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer – that will investigate the asteroid Psyche are poised for action.

Read more:
Psyche asteroid that could make everyone a billionaire (The Independent)

Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth (AP)

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator for Psyche at Arizona State University, said: "These missions take so many people and so much meticulous, rigorous, personally driven work.

"I am ready to be ecstatic. We all are, but we are not ecstatic yet. Let’s launch and establish communications – then we can scream, jump, and hug each other."

A clean room engineer prepares the Psyche mission spacecraft inside a Spacecraft Assembly Facility clean room at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

 (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

When will we hear answers?

Nasa's Psyche spacecraft will take a spiral path to the asteroid Psyche, using solar electric propulsion to accomplish its six-year journey to the asteroid.

"It's getting increasingly real," said Henry Stone, Psyche's project manager at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. "The team is more than ready to send this spacecraft off on its journey, and it’s very exciting."

Measuring roughly 173 miles at its widest point, the asteroid Psyche presents a unique opportunity to explore a metal-rich body that may be part of a core of a planetesimal, the building block of an early planet.

Once the spacecraft reaches Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, it will spend about 26 months orbiting the asteroid, gathering images and other data that will tell scientists more about its history and what it is made of.
Will everyone become a billionaire?

Psyche might contain minerals worth an estimated $10,000 quadrillion, researchers said this year – and could mark the dawn of a new industry: asteroid mining.

Other researchers are less sure, suggesting the asteroid might consist mostly of iron, possibly in a texture something like steel wool.

But many asteroids are thought to contain vast sources of precious metals. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has predicted that the world’s first trillionaires could be created by a new asteroid 'gold rush'.

The website Asterank measures the potential value of more than 6,000 asteroids tracked by Nasa – and suggests that mining just 10 asteroids chosen for their proximity to Earth could net $1.5trn.

Rocket Lab Just Reminded Us: Accidents Can Happen

By Rich Smith – Sep 28, 2023 

MOTLEY FOOL

KEY POINTS

Last week, a Rocket Lab Electron rocket blew up after launching, taking its customer's payload with it.

Total losses from the mishap could be as high as $15 million in Q3 revenue.

But Rocket Lab may make up much of those losses in Q4 -- and even more afterwards.


NASDAQ: RKLB
Rocket Lab USA


Market Cap
$2B

Today's Change

(0.92%) $0.04
Current Price
$4.38
Price as of September 29, 2023, 4:00 p.m. ET


Uh oh. One of Rocket Lab's rockets is missing.


Space is hard, as the saying goes. Since its very first rocket launch from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, small rocket company Rocket Lab USA (RKLB 0.92%) has attempted 40 separate orbital rocket launches, along with one suborbital, hypersonic military mission. Thirty-six of those orbital launches succeeded. The suborbital launch did, too.

Up until last week, Rocket Lab was on quite a winning streak, too. From July 29, 2021, through September 19, 2023 -- more than two straight years -- every single Electron rocket that Rocket Lab launched, flew exactly as planned. That's 20 straight successful launches without a hitch.

But as I say, that was up until last week.

Last week, Rocket Lab reminded us that even for successful rocket companies, accidents can still happen.

Launching out of LC 1 once again, at 2:56 a.m. ET last Tuesday, a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, carrying one single Acadia synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for private customer Capella Space, suffered an anomaly two and a half minutes into its flight. The flight was promptly terminated by remote.

Rocket Lab stock promptly plummeted, closing the day down 7.5%, and it's drifted even lower over the past week.

This was to be expected, though. After all, in addition to the spectacular explosion, Rocket Lab stock got rocked a bit by the financial implications of the mishap. The company noted that it will need to revise its third-quarter guidance "in the coming days" to account for both the loss of one rocket, and the likelihood that the company will have to delay a subsequent launch that it had hoped to complete within this current third fiscal quarter.
Get ready for disappointment

So how much will this disaster cost Rocket Lab, and how much should investors expect to be disappointed when earnings come out in November? Well, according to company executives, Rocket Lab charges about $7.5 million per rocket launch. Losing one rocket and delaying a second should therefore cost the company something on the order of $15 million in Q3 revenue, depressing sales from analysts' expected $74.5 million to probably something closer to $60 million.

That sounds bad -- and it is bad -- but it could have been worse.

Quarterly revenue of $60 million is approximately what Rocket Lab did a year ago. So investors can anticipate that sales won't grow 24% year over year, as expected, but they might still be no worse than flat year over year. And assuming Rocket Lab can work out what went wrong with its Electron relatively quickly, and resume launching in Q4, it's likely that it will be able to make up for lost time and simply shift $7.5 million of its "missing" Q3 revenue into Q4.

Also, if Rocket Lab insured its rocket, then not all of the revenue from the rocket that blew up may have been lost, further dulling the blow to Rocket Lab's revenues.
Don't be too disappointed

It's also worth pointing out that as disappointing as Rocket Lab's failure may be, in the grand scheme of things it's perhaps less significant than first appears.

Granted, with "rockets" right there in the name of this space company, you might think that rocket problems with Rocket Lab's pose an existential crisis for the company. But already, even as it depends on Electron rockets to send customer satellites into orbit today, Rocket Lab is working on a next-generation rocket to replace or supplement the disposable Electron: a larger, fully reusable rocket to be known as Neutron, which should enter service next year.

So Rocket Lab probably isn't as dependent upon Electron as you might think.

What's more, with every passing quarter, it's becoming more apparent that Rocket Lab is about a whole lot more than just rockets. Fact is, Rocket Lab's rocket launch business actually provides only about 29% of this company's total revenue. The far more significant 71% of Rocket Lab's money comes from building equipment and spaceships for its customers -- a business that Rocket Lab calls "space systems."


In contrast to Rocket Lab's launch business -- which does not now and never has earned a profit -- space systems has been profitable (on a gross margin basis) from the beginning and produces not insubstantial 17% gross profit margin already today. And while Rocket Lab's launch business grew by a very respectable 56% last year, space systems grew 550%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Long story short, the news about Electron isn't great. It's a disappointment, to be sure -- but it's not a fatal flaw in the stock. Long-term investors can safely look past this setback and focus instead on the elements that are more important to Rocket Lab's future: Neutron, and space systems.

Longest U.S. spaceflight record smashed thanks to space junk collision

Matthew Rozsa
Wed, September 27, 2023

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images


Earth is encircled by millions of pieces of trash, called "space junk," which orbit our planet and are the bane of astronomers' existence. This garbage has had devastating impact on at least one American astronaut, Frank Rubio, who returned to Earth on Wednesday after space junk is suspected to have hit the International Space Station last year. As a consequence, a trip that was supposed to last only 180 days dragged on for 371 days while Rubio and his Russian colleagues waited for a replacement team.

If there is any silver lining, it is that Rubio's inadvertently year-long stay in space earned him a record: He now has spent more time in space than any other American, beating the record held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei. That said, Rubio's achievement is only national; internationally, Russia has the record, having stayed in space for as long as 437 days, a milestone set in the mid '90s.

Rubio does not seem to believe that his record was worth the sacrifice. Speaking to CNN, Rubio said that he would not have gone on his space mission if he had known it would last more than twice as long as planned. Indeed, living space can be extremely dangerous, as more time off-planet equals more exposure to radiation and other hazards that can have devastating health effects.

"And that's only because of family things that were going on this past year," Rubio explained. "And if I had known that I would have had to miss those very important events, I just would have had to say, 'thank you, but no thank you.'" Among the events he missed: One daughter finished her first year at the U.S. Naval Academy, while another left for West Point.



NASA astronaut returns to Earth after 371 days in space, a US record for longest continuous spaceflight

Pilar Arias
Wed, September 27, 2023 
1
A NASA astronaut now holds the record for the longest U.S. spaceflight after returning to Earth Wednesday, but the feat did not come voluntarily.

American Frank Rubio and two Russian cosmonauts were stuck in space for just over a year. The trio landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and lost all its coolant while docked at the International Space Station.

The mission that was supposed to be 180 days long turned into 371 days, which meant Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA's previous endurance record for a single spaceflight.

Just last week, Rubio said he would have declined his space mission had he known he would be in orbit so long.

RECORD-BREAKING ASTRONAUT REVEALS HE WOULD HAVE DECLINED ASSIGNMENT IF HE HAD KNOWN THIS

"If they had asked me upfront before you start training, because you do train for a year or two years before your mission, I probably would've declined," Rubio told reporters from the ISS during a NASA press conference. "That's only because of family things that were going on this past year."

"Had I known that I had to miss those very important events, I just would have had to say ‘thank you, but no thank you,’" he added.

The replacement Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was launched in February.

"It’s good to be home," Rubio, a 47-year-old Army doctor and helicopter pilot, said after being pulled from the capsule.

Russia still holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s.

Fox News' Jon Michael Raasch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


NASA Astronaut and Father of 4 Returns to Earth from Record-Setting 371-Day Space Mission
Allie Hayes
Wed, September 27, 2023 


Frank Rubio has just returned to Earth following the completion of a 371-day mission at the International Space Station

Frank Rubio is finally back on his home planet.

What was meant to be a six-month mission turned into a 371-day trip to space for the astronaut and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, who returned to Earth on Wednesday, according to a press release from NASA.

The trio’s unexpected trip broke a world record for the longest an astronaut from the United States has spent in microgravity, overtaking the former record of 355 days held by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.

Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin departed the International Space Station in the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on Wednesday and made a safe, parachute-assisted landing at 7:17 a.m. EST in Kazakhstan. Upon landing, the astronauts underwent medical checks, with the plan for Rubio, 47, to then fly home to Houston via a NASA airplane.

According to NASA, the mission was prolonged after it was discovered that a coolant leak had occurred on the Soyuz MS-22 while they were docked at the International Space Station. Their overall trip encompassed 157.4 million miles and 5,963 orbits of the Earth, NASA said.

Related: First Woman and Black Male Astronaut to Make 2024 Flight Around the Moon for NASA

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Rubio, who is a father of four, told CNN of his new record that — had he known the mission would be extended to this degree — he “probably would have declined," adding, "And that’s only because of family things that were going on this past year, and if I had known that I would have had to miss those very important events, I just would have had to say, ‘thank you, but no thank you.’”



Bill Ingalls/NASA via GettyNASA astronaut Frank Rubio (left), cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev (center) and Dmitri Petelin (right) sit in chairs outside the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft

The medical doctor and military helicopter pilot also told CNN in a recent interview that he was "looking forward to just being outside and enjoying the peace and quiet" after a year of hearing the space station's constantly humming machines.

It will take some time for Rubio's body to get used to life back on Earth, though, after existing outside of the planet's gravity — he told CNN he expects it to be anywhere from two to six months.



Bill Ingalls/NASA via GettyNASA astronaut Frank Rubio is carried to a medical tent

Related: Queen's Brian May Reveals He Helped NASA Team That Returned First Asteroid Sample from Space

Of the mission, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in the news release, “Frank’s record-breaking time in space is not just a milestone; it’s a major contribution to our understanding of long-duration space missions. Our astronauts make extraordinary sacrifices away from their homes and loved ones to further discovery."

Continued Nelson, "NASA is immensely grateful for Frank’s dedicated service to our nation and the invaluable scientific contributions he made on the International Space Station. He embodies the true pioneer spirit that will pave the way for future exploration to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”

Astronauts land after 'accidentally' spending a year in space and circling the world 6,000 times

Telegraph reporters
Wed, September 27, 2023 

Frank Rubio is happy to be home - Roscosmos State Space Corporation

A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are home after circling Earth some 6,000 times while they were stuck in space for more than a year.

The trio landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and lost all its coolant while docked to the International Space Station.

What should have been a 180-day mission had turned into a 371-day stay – an unexpected adventure that meant American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest US spaceflight.

Rubio spent more than two weeks longer in space than Mark Vande Hei, who held NASA’s previous endurance record for a single spaceflight.

Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s.

The Soyuz capsule that brought Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin back was a replacement launched in February. Russian engineers suspect a piece of space junk pierced the radiator of their original capsule late last year, midway through what should have been a six-month mission. Engineers worried that without cooling, the capsule’s electronics and any occupants could overheat to dangerous levels, so the craft returned empty.

There wasn’t another Soyuz to launch a fresh crew until this month. Their replacements finally arrived nearly two weeks ago.

“No one deserves to go home to their families more than you,” the space station’s new commander, Denmark’s Andreas Mogensen, said earlier this week.

Expedition 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio squeezed out of the spacecraft - Roscosmos State Space Corporation

Mr Prokopyev told ground controllers throughout the descent that all three were feeling good. They experienced more than four times the force of gravity as their capsule streaked through the atmosphere and came to a touchdown in the barren Kazakh steppes, ending up on its side. Helicopters moved in with recovery crews to fetch the astronauts.

“It’s good to be home,” Mr Rubio said after being pulled from the capsule.

Mr Rubio, 47, an Army doctor and helicopter pilot, said last week that he never would have agreed to a full year in space if asked at the outset. He ended up missing important family milestones including the oldest of his four children finishing her first year at the US Naval Academy and another heading off to West Point military academy.

He had said the psychological aspect of spending so long in space was tougher than he expected.

It was the first spaceflight for Mr Rubio and Mr Petelin, 40, an engineer. Mr Prokopyev, 48, an engineer and pilot, has now pulled two long station stints.

They logged 157 million miles since launching from Kazakhstan last September and circled the world nearly 6,000 times.

US FAA ends probe of Blue Origin's 2022 rocket mishap, needs engine redesign

Joey Roulette
Updated Wed, September 27, 2023 

Blue Origin's rocket New Shepard blasts off, near Van Horn, Texas


By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it has closed a probe into Blue Origin's 2022 New Shepard rocket failure, forcing a redesign of the vehicle's engine and other fixes before the company can resume its suborbital launch business.

Blue Origin must take 21 corrective actions before its reusable New Shepard rocket can return to flight, including a "redesign of engine and nozzle components to improve structural performance during operation as well as organizational changes," the FAA said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson said "we've received the FAA's letter and plan to fly soon" but did not answer questions on whether any of the corrective actions had already been made or what organizational changes the FAA is requiring.


The New Shepard, which flies cargo and humans on short trips to the edge of space, has been grounded since a September 2022 uncrewed mission failed roughly a minute after liftoff from Texas, forcing the rocket's capsule full of NASA experiments to safely eject mid-flight.

In March, Blue Origin said New Shepard would fly "soon" after concluding the mishap was caused by a "structural failure" in the rocket's engine nozzle, which had been contorted during flight by hotter-than-normal temperatures coming out of the engine's combustion chamber.

The FAA, which regulates launch site safety and oversees mishap investigations led by rocket companies, cited the same conclusion as Blue Origin's in its statement on Wednesday. The company cannot obtain a license to fly until it demonstrates all the required fixes have been made, it added.

The failure occurred on New Shepard's 23rd flight from rural Van Horn, Texas, as flights with the 60-foot (18-meter) tall rocket-capsule system were becoming routine. The company has flown multiple crews of people, including paying customers and its founder, Jeff Bezos.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Leslie Adler, David Gregorio and Richard Chang)



FAA closes investigation into Blue Origin rocket failure and demands changes before next launch

Andrew Wulfeck
Wed, September 27, 2023 

VAN HORN, Texas – The Federal Aviation Administration says Blue Origin must implement nearly two dozen corrective actions before the private space company tries again to launch its New Shepard suborbital vehicle from its West Texas launch facility.

The federal agency released limited details of its investigation on Wednesday, more than a year after a spectacular failure caused a booster to crash into Earth on Sept. 12, 2022.

During the event, the company said the launch vehicle detected an anomaly, triggering the uncrewed mission to abort.

While the capsule landed safely, the booster was destroyed just over one minute after launch.

Investigations by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and the FAA found that structural failures of an engine nozzle likely played a significant role in operating temperatures.

"The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of New Shepard launches. Blue Origin must implement all corrective actions that impact public safety and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety and other applicable regulatory requirements prior to the next New Shepard launch," the FAA said in a statement.

Specifics from the investigation were not released because the FAA said the report contained proprietary data, but the agency did consult with NASA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

BLUE ORIGIN CAPSULE ABORTS MID-LAUNCH AFTER NEW SHEPARD ROCKET ANOMALY IN TEXAS

The private space company previously said it planned to return to flying in late 2023, but a spokesperson’s statement following the latest news from the FAA produced more questions than answers.

"We’ve received the FAA’s letter and plan to fly soon," a Blue Origin representative said.

Blue Origin has not stated when it plans to restart crewed flights for seats that originally cost upwards of $28 million.

The company had offered 10-minute spaceflights for tourists to experience brief weightlessness and had launched more than 30 people into suborbital space before the mishap.

Regulators close investigation into Blue Origin's New Shepard anomaly

Aria Alamalhodaei
Updated Thu, September 28, 2023 

Image Credits: Blue Origin

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has closed the investigation into a mishap that occurred last September during a launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, with the regulator saying that Blue Origin must implement 21 corrective actions before it can fly New Shepard again.

New Shepard was grounded after a September 2022 launch ended with an abort about a minute after liftoff. The vehicle’s capsule, which was not filled with people, had to conduct an emergency parachute landing to clear the booster. It landed safely while the propulsion module was destroyed on impact with the ground. There were no injuries to Blue Origin personnel.

In an emailed statement, a representative for the FAA said the anomaly was caused by a “structural failure of an engine nozzle caused by higher than expected engine operating temperatures.” Among the 21 corrective actions includes redesigning the engine and nozzle components as well as “organizational changes.”

In response to TechCrunch’s inquiries into the corrective actions, a Blue Origin spokesperson simply said, “We’ve received the FAA’s letter and plan to fly soon.”

The closure of the mishap investigation does not mean that Blue Origin can immediately start flying New Shepard. The company must implement all the corrective actions and receive a launch license modification from the FAA first, the FAA spokesperson said.

Mishap investigations are conducted by the companies and overseen by the FAA, the agency that issues commercial space licenses and is responsible for ensuring the safety to the public during commercial launch activities.

When Blue Origin released a report on the mishap back in March, it simply said it expected to fly "soon." But that was six months ago, so it's unclear when New Shepard will be ready to fly next.

The Climate Sleuth Uncovering Methane Leaks for the United Nations

Aaron Clark
Thu, September 28, 2023 






(Bloomberg) -- Like a detective gathering clues, Itziar Irakulis Loitxate scans her computer monitor looking for yellow-colored clouds in satellite data that suggest the presence of methane, a pernicious greenhouse gas that can escape from the Earth when coal, oil and fossil gas are produced.

The 27-year-old Ph.D. student isn’t a detective but she may be the closest thing the world has to climate police. She’s one of the world’s foremost remote sensing scientists who uses satellite observations to identify some of the most damaging emissions. She uncovered and published a paper last year on a massive release of methane spewing from an offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico that eventually forced government-owned Petroleos Mexicanos to acknowledge a leak. Before that, she identified 29 pieces of equipment in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan leaking so much methane they had a similar climate impact as the annual emissions from all the cars in Alabama.

As record temperatures threaten devastating ecological and human impact from Athens to Phoenix, governments are under increasing pressure to take measures to slow climate change. Because of methane’s short-term climate impact — the gas has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in its first two decades in atmosphere — halting releases could do more to ease heating in the next few years than almost any other single measure.

That means the work of Irakulis Loitxate and fellow scientists who identify and attribute leaks is more important than ever. In September, she started work at the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, including on a new initiative called the Methane Alert and Response System, or MARS, that notifies governments and companies to methane leaks from their fossil fuel infrastructure.

“When I find a plume I look for the source. When I know the source we can do something about it,’’ said Irakulis Loitxate (i-RA-kuu-lis loy-CHA-teh). IMEO has detected hundreds of methane clouds in dozens of countries and has alerted operators and governments in about half of the nations in which large emissions events have occurred. “More and more countries are trying to help us and improve the system and they are very receptive.’’

Satellites detect concentrations of methane from space by observing the way sunlight reflects off the Earth. As light passes through a cloud of the gas, its intensity is weakened on certain wavelengths. Methane absorbs light in the short-wave infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is invisible to humans.

To find clouds of the potent greenhouse gas Irakulis Loitxate works with scientists at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research who mine low-resolution imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P to identify global methane hotspots. Although the orbital only offers a rough approximation for where a plume might be coming from because of its course spatial resolution the satellite orbits the globe 14 times per day and provides global coverage.

Once Irakulis Loitxate has identified areas with potential emitters she searches for an image of the same area from high-resolution satellites like the Italian Space Agency’s Prisma or Germany’s EnMAP. These cover less ground but can offer close-up detail of methane clouds. Although those satellites weren’t explicitly built to observe the greenhouse gas, they have spectral bands that include the short-wave infrared and recent data processing innovations have allowed scientists to use them for precision imagery.

Because materials on the Earth’s surface can share portions of methane’s spectral profile, algorithms that process satellite data can occasionally have trouble distinguishing between these so-called artefacts and methane plumes, particularly for smaller emissions. To guard against false positives scientists typically check each plume before alerting an operator or government.

“In many cases, the emissions are challenging to identify even by humans if you don't have a well-trained eye and previous knowledge of the area you are studying,’’ said Irakulis Loitxate, who holds a research position at Polytechnic University of Valencia and expects to defend her Ph.D. by early next year.

Although agriculture is the biggest source of methane from human activity followed by energy and waste, halting the emissions from fossil fuels is some of the lowest hanging fruit in the fight against climate change because those releases typically come from large point sources and technology exists to halt them. IMEO is currently tracking roughly 125 fossil fuel hotspots located in 27 different countries.

IMEO has yet to publicly release the leaks it tracks but it intends to begin releasing some information by the end of this year. But a peek into observations from several methane-detecting satellites gives a sense of the hotspots that Irakulis Loitxate and her colleagues are likely trying to curb.

One area of focus is likely China, which the International Energy Agency estimates has more fossil fuel-related large leaks than any other country due to its coal operations. Sentinel-5P data shows a bleak history of dense clouds of the invisible gas frozen in mid-release after they escape from underground and surface mines. China has so far declined to join the US and EU-led Global Methane Pledge that has 150 signatories and the nation has said its pursuing its own mitigation approach. It has yet to release details publicly.

In the US Permian Basin, one the world’s largest active oil and gas reserves, clusters of observations are thick over parts of Texas and New Mexico. Although the US plans to implement new methane rules next year that will include fines for operators that exceed threshold limits, many operators still routinely vent the potent greenhouse gas directly into the atmosphere.

One objective of IMEO, through its MARS initiative, is to identify and halt so-called super emitters — large leaks that research shows accounts for as much as 12% of emissions from oil and gas production and transport. A recent leak in Kazakhstan captured by Sentinel-5P and the Prisma satellites illustrates the danger posed by these events. The release, which started June 9 after a natural gas well blowout, was ongoing as of Sept. 21 according to an analysis of satellite data from Kayrros SAS, which estimated an emissions rate of between 35 and 107 metric tons an hour. Assuming the release has been constant its short term climate impact is equivalent to the annual emissions from between 1.6 and 4.8 million US cars.

But the climate transparency generated by satellite observations and scientists like Irakulis Loitxate are expanding awareness of the devastating impact methane leaks have on the planet has started to trigger stronger action from officials.

“Governments and fossil fuel operators are more and more concerned about the problem with methane’’ said Irakulis Loitxate. “In some countries they weren’t concerned, but now, with a bit of training and education they realize that this is a big issue and they should do something.’’

 Bloomberg Businessweek

When storms collide: Could Philippe, Rina produce the Fujiwhara Effect?

Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Updated Thu, September 28, 2023

Let the dance begin.

Tropical Storm Rina formed Thursday morning in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from Tropical Storm Philippe. Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center say the two systems might begin to interact with one another as they spin in the open ocean far from land, in a complex dance − almost like a square dance − known as the Fujiwhara Effect.

According to meteorologist Matt Lanza's blog The Eyewall, "the two systems would track close enough to one another to impact each other’s track." In this case, Philippe would likely slow, stall, or get pushed to the south since it’s ahead of Rina, and Rina would basically slingshot over the top of Philippe either west or northwest and out to sea, he said.

Miami-based meteorologist John Morales, writing on X, said the two storms are now separated by less than 700 miles and that "they're expected to pivot around each other, with one becoming more dominant. Now, neither is expected to hit the Caribbean."

What is the Fujiwhara Effect?

Basically, the Fujiwhara Effect describes the rotation of two storms around each other. It's most common with tropical cyclones such as typhoons or hurricanes, but it also occurs in other cases.

When two hurricanes spinning in the same direction pass close enough to each other, they begin an intense dance around their common center, the National Weather Service said.

The effect is thought to occur when storms get about 900 miles apart.
Square dancing and ice skaters

Storms involved in the Fujiwhara Effect are rotating around one another as if they had locked arms and were square dancing. Rather than each storm spinning about the other, they are actually moving about a central point between them, as if both were tied to the same post and each swung around it separately from the other.

A good way to picture this is to think of two ice skaters who skate quickly toward each other, nearly on a collision course, grab hands as they are about to pass and spin vigorously around in one big circle with their joined hands at the center.

The effect is named after Dr. Sakuhei Fujiwhara who was the chief of the Central Meteorological Bureau in Tokyo shortly after the first World War. In 1921, he wrote a paper describing the motions of "vortices" in water. Water vortices, such as whirlpools, are little water whirls that spin around.

What is the path of Philippe and Rina?

The National Hurricane Center, in its 5 p.m. ET forecast discussion for Tropical Storm Philippe, said that its "trackforecast is challenging, in part due to Philippe's close proximity to Tropical Storm Rina." During the next few days, Philippe will likely move slowly southwestward as it rotates around Rina currently to its east, the hurricane center said.

As of Thursday evening, the center of Philippe was located 525 miles east of the northern Leeward islands. It had winds of 45 mph and was crawling along at 2 mph.

As for Rina, the tropical storm is moving northwestward, with a forward speed near 14 mph. Rina "should begin to turn more westward today and continue this general motion for the next several days."

"Confidence in the track forecast (for Rina) is lower than normal based on the model spread and uncertainty regarding the potential interaction with Tropical Storm Philippe during the next several days," the hurricane center said.

No coastal watches or warnings are in effect for either storm, and there were no hazards affecting land.

Track Tropical Storm Philippe

Rina is the 18th storm of the season

Tropical Storm Rina is the 18th Atlantic named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, said Colorado State University research meteorologist Phil Klotzbach, on X. "That's the 3rd-most on record through September 28, trailing 2020 (23 named storms) and 2021 (19 named storms)."

Track Tropical Storm Rina

Tropical Storm Rina forms, could mix with Tropical Storm Philippe, hurricane center says

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel
Updated Thu, September 28, 2023 

Orlando Sentinel/TNS

A slowing Tropical Storm Philippe might end up mixing with the newly formed Tropical Storm Rina in the coming days, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of 11 a.m. the NHC said Philippe was located about 560 miles east of the Caribbean’s northern Leeward Islands moving west-northwest at 2 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

“A slow westward or southwestward motion is expected during the next few days,” forecasters said. “Little change in strength is forecast during the next few days.”

Tropical-storm-force winds extend out up to 175 miles.

The storm’s slowing forward movement gives uncertainty to the forecast, with the latest five-day cone of uncertainty projecting it will avoid a direct path over the Caribbean islands, and a shift to the north. Its sluggishness puts it in a potential path to mix with the season’s latest named storm, Tropical Storm Rina.

“A complicating factor to this track forecast is the proximity of an area of disturbed weather to the east of the cyclone,” forecasters said. “Some models are still showing a binary interaction between the two systems, which will largely depend on the strength of each.”

The NHC began advisories on Tropical Storm Rina at 11 a.m. Thursday.

It was located about 1,190 miles east of the northern Leewards moving north-northwest at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend out 60 miles.

“The storm is expected to turn more westward later today or tomorrow,” forecasters said. “Some gradual strengthening is forecast during the next few days.”

Forecasters said persistent shear and its close proximity and uncertain interaction with Tropical Storm Philippe should limit intensification, so it is not expected to form into a hurricane.

“Confidence in the track forecast is lower than normal based on the model spread and uncertainty regarding the potential interaction with Tropical Storm Philippe during the next several days,” forecasters said.

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is now ranked third for storm formation through Sept. 28, according to hurricane expert Philip Klotzbach with Colorado State University.

While only the 17th storm with a designated name, 2023 also had an unnamed 18th subtropical storm in January.

It trails only the 23 named storms seen by this date in 2020, and the 19 seen by this date in 2021. 2020 ended up with a record-tying 31 systems that year, which was also seen in 2005, with both years forming several storms in October and November. 2021 ended up with 21 systems for the year.

The hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.

Philippe drifts northwest as odds remain high for new system to form

Robin Webb, Angie DiMichele, Bill Kearney, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Thu, September 28, 2023 


Tropical Storm Philippe is expected to drift for the next few days as it nears the Caribbean, though it may curve and skirt that boundary. Following to the east, a second system is highly likely to strengthen into a tropical depression, or possibly Tropical Storm Rina.

The National Hurricane Center expects some slight fluctuations in intensity as Philippe moves west-northwest or west. It’s unclear at this point if the storm will maintain its tropical cyclone status if it reaches the northern Leeward Islands, or if it will weaken by that point. In general, forecasters anticipate an overall slow weakening trend later this weekend and weekend as the storm continues to encounter storm-shredding wind shear and dry air.

Tropical-storm-force winds from Philippe, which extend outward up to 175 miles from its center, could begin arriving in northern Caribbean islands as early as Friday, including Anguilla and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.

From Friday to Monday, Philippe could produce 2 to 4 inches of rain across the islands of the northeastern Caribbean, the Virgin Islands and eastern Puerto Rico. Western Puerto Rico could see 1 to 2 inches of rain. Areas hardest hit by rainfall could see isolated urban and small stream flooding.

As of 5 a.m. Thursday, Philippe was located about 560 miles east of the far eastern Caribbean, moving west-northwest at 5 mph. Its maximum sustained winds are holding steady at 50 mph.

The system that could soon become a tropical depression or tropical storm was located about halfway between the Cabo Verde Islands off Africa and the far eastern Caribbean and had a 90% chance of developing within two to seven days, the hurricane center said as of 2 a.m. Thursday.

Its showers and thunderstorms had become more concentrated, and forecasters said conditions are favorable for it to develop if it stays far enough away from Philippe to its west. The hurricane center said it is expected to become a tropical depression or storm in about a day or so and will move northwest across the Atlantic.

So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.

Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.

Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.

What is the Fujiwhara Effect?
Aaron Barker
Thu, September 28, 2023

Hurricanes are among the most intense weather systems on the planet. When two tropical cyclones get too close for comfort, a delicate dance can happen and lead to some unusual things.

Meteorologists call this tropical tango the Fujiwhara Effect. It happens when two tropical cyclones get close enough to each other to create a shared center, forcing the two storms to whip around that common central point.

If one of the storms is stronger than the other, the effect usually leads to the weaker one being gobbled up by the more powerful cyclone. If the storms are similar in strength, they can sometimes merge or just slingshot around each other and continue on their way. On rare occasions, the storms can combine into a larger storm, according to the National Weather Service.

BRYAN NORCROSS DISCUSSES POSSIBILITY OF FUJIWHARA EFFECT HAPPENING WITH PHILIPPE, RINA

A demonstration of the three scenarios typically seen during the Fujiwhara Effect.

This lesson in physics was demonstrated by Super Typhoon Hinnamnor in 2022 in the Pacific Ocean. Hinnamnor devoured a weaker tropical low that was near it.

The video below shows how Hinnamnor, indicated by the hurricane symbol, pulled the weaker tropical cyclone, indicated by the L symbol, toward it. Eventually, the hurricane overpowered the weaker storm and absorbed it.

According to NOAA, the cyclones need to be between 350 and 860 miles of each other to begin rotating around their common center. That distance is dependent on the size of the storms.

Bryan Norcross: More than meets the eye to new study about tropical cyclones

Angeli Gabriel
Wed, September 27, 2023 at 5:39 PM MDT·2 min read


FOX Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross breaks down the complex tropical cyclone data used in a recently published study in Nature.

Titled "Seasonal advance of intense tropical cyclones in a warming climate," the study states that intense tropical cyclones have been occurring earlier than usual in most tropical oceans since the 1980s. Researchers said this phenomenon is largely driven by the warming effects of greenhouse gas forcing.

The study has gained much attention in the weather news space, including some outlets stating that this year’s active hurricane season in the Atlantic is demonstrative of the study’s findings.

However, Norcross analyzed the study and said there are a few aspects to consider.

New satellite images show powerful Super Typhoon Mawar approaching the U.S. island territory of Guam.

He notes that first, the study has a global perspective. This means that it includes data about hurricanes, which are tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, along with typhoons and other tropical cyclones of different names around the world. He said that much of what the study covers involved tropical cyclones on the western side of the Pacific Ocean.

5 DIFFERENT NAMES FOR HURRICANES AROUND THE WORLD

Also, the time period of the data set used ranges from 1981 to 2017, which introduces a couple of complexities. According to Norcross, this period of 36 years includes half of a suppressed hurricane era and about half of an enhanced hurricane era.

"That suppressed area was caused by air pollution coming from Europe, kind of shielding the Atlantic Ocean we know now," he said. "So, that's not in the picture now."

Because of this, the upward trend that seems apparent in the data set from the 1980s appears to be influenced by the exceptionally lower numbers of hurricanes in the Atlantic, as caused by European air pollution.

Whether this year’s active hurricane season in the Atlantic is demonstrative of the global tropical cyclone activity remains to be seen.

Tropical cyclone activity occurs throughout the year around the world, according to the State Department. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, cyclones in the South Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean typically occur between November and April and typhoon season in the Northwest Pacific Ocean runs from April through December.

Original article source: Bryan Norcross: More than meets the eye to new study about tropical cyclones