Monthly Archives: May 2021

China's Long March 5B Y2 rocket carrying the core module of China's space station, Tianhe, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on April 29, 2021 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Debris from a large Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, which said most parts had burned up on reentry.

The uncontrolled nature of the rocket's fall to Earth had left experts concerned about the potential impact it could have on inhabited areas. Earlier in the week, some space trackers had predicted that it could have landed as far north as New York.

The Chinese agency said early Sunday that the rocket, called the Long March 5B, had re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time, landing at a location with coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north. That would put the impact location in the Indian Ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago.

"The vast majority of the device burned up during the reentry, and the landing area of the debris is around a sea area with the center at 2.65 degrees north latitude and 72.47 degrees east longitude," the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement on its website.

U.S. Space Command said in a statement that the Long March 5B had re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 p.m. ET on May 8. "It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water," it said.

The rocket was launched on April 29 at the Wenchang Space Launch Centerin south China's Hainan province. It measured 98 feet long and 16.5 feet wide, and it weighed 21 metric tons.

Its mission was to carry into orbit a module containing living quarters for a future Chinese space station. But after completing that task, the body of the rocket circled Earth in an uncontrolled manner before reentering the lower atmosphere.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference Friday that it was "common practice" across the world for the upper stages of rockets to burn up while reentering the atmosphere.

WENCHANG, CHINA - APRIL 29 2021: A Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module for the Chinese space station, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang in south China's Hainan province Thursday, April 29, 2021.

Barcroft Media | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

"China is following closely the upper stage's reentry into the atmosphere. To my knowledge, the upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will burn up upon reentry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low," he said, according to a translation on the ministry's website.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin bemoaned the negligence involved in the rocket's fall to Earth and said Washington had no plans to shoot it down.

"I think this speaks to the fact that for those of us who operate in the space domain, that there is a requirement there should be a requirement to to operate in a safe and thoughtful mode, and make sure that we take those kinds of things into consideration as we plan and conduct operations," he told reporters.

In a statement shortly after the debris landed, NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said it was clear that China "is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris."

"It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities," he said.

Indeed, it is common for rockets and pieces of space junk to fall back to Earth and experts say that the chances of actually being hit are very small. According to Reuters, parts from the first Long March 5B fell onto the Ivory Coast in Africa last year, damaging several buildings but with no reported injuries.

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China says its rocket debris landed in the Indian Ocean - CNBC

Youve heard for years that Lodi wine is out of this world, but now theres proof. Lodis Michael David Winery sent a small amount of their grape juice to the International Space Station in February, hitching a ride aboard the Northrop-Grumman NG-15 resupply mission.

Its part of an experiment being conducted to determine how grape juice decomposes (ferments) in space. In fact, Michael David is the first winery in history to conduct wine fermentation in outer space, according to Jeff Farthing, a winemaker at Michael David Winery and the smarty-pants wine guy who developed the project.

Theirs is one of hundreds of unrelated experiments being conducted at the space station, according to Farthing. It is officially known among scientists and at the space station as the Grape Microbiota project. The results may give scientists a better understanding of how to grow food in space, says Farthing.

The space juice will make its return trip to earth on July 20 aboard the Space-X 22 mission, says Farthing, splashing down near Florida. Once back on earth the fermented juice will be tested and compared to an identical experiment being conducted by Farthing at the winery. Everything reacts differently in outer space, he says. Theyve been told to expect the unexpected. Depending on the test results, Michael David may attempt to make wine from it, says winery co-owner Dave Phillips. Maybe theyll name it Moonshot?

DOG TALE: It all started in January with a guy named Tony, who was on vacation in Sayulita, Mexico. On the veranda of his Airbnb rental, he noticed this beautiful dog, a Mexican Belgian Shepherd, tethered to a building on a 4-foot leash.

The dog cried and barked day and night, and it was very skinny. He said in a video posted online that the owner just ignored the dog. Over the course of a week, he and the pooch became friends.

Eventually Tony was able to convince the owner to let him take the dog for a walk, to give him a taste of freedom. He named the dog Toby.

The two bonded, and Tony decided to buy Toby, to give him a new life. He appealed for donations online and was able to raise $250, which is what the owner accepted for the dog. Tony gave Toby to an animal rescue, and the two parted ways. After a trip to a local vet and all the required paperwork completed, Toby was on a plane headed for America to a new life and a new forever home across the border.

Toby was eventually taken in by Susan Hsu, a volunteer with Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue, who would foster the dog.

As fate would have it, Lodis Maria Pallavicini was looking to adopt a rescue dog to replace her beloved pet that she recently had to put down. Well, you know the rest of the story. Maria and Toby are new best friends. And it all happened thanks to a stranger shell never meet who sought to change the life of a dog.

THE END: Whats going on next to and behind Guild Cleaners? Men and trucks have been seen there recently digging up the pavement. What gives?

Its essentially a quiet ending to the PCETCE cleanup efforts at what was once the citys largest underground contamination plume. About 25 years ago the state came to town, telling several businesses they had contaminated the soil by discarding cleaning solvents down the drain. It was true.

The solvent leaked through the sewer lines, and over the years the chemicals percolated down through the dirt and were seeping into the water table below. Water and soil samples confirmed this. The state said it was a health risk and ordered the businesses to clean up the mess. Bring money. Lots of money.

The cost would likely bankrupt every business that was involved. Thats when the city stepped in and came up with a plan to collect the cleanup costs from insurance companies that had policies in force at the time. There ensued an epic legal battle. The city suffered some key legal defeats, which cost the city attorney at the time his job. But the city was ultimately able to settle with the insurance companies, who ended up paying most of the tab.

Steve Schwabauer, who became city attorney halfway through the battle, is widely credited with helping the city navigate the considerable legal morass and bring it to a conclusion.

Now, crews from Diede Construction are removing the remediation apparatus from the central plume site in the alley behind the cleaners and the Oddfellows Building.

The state has said the dirt has been cleaned to their satisfaction. The only cleanup effort remaining is at Church and Tokay, a much smaller problem.

The whole process has taken more than 20 years and over $10 million dollars, not including litigation costs. Schwabauer, who is now city manager, estimates theres still about $9 million left in the cleanup fund hopefully more than enough for what remains to be done.

FACELIFT: Facade improvements are coming for the former Save Mart grocery store on Kettleman Lane. The store closed last year but will soon reopen as a Food Maxx. The store is still owned by the Save Mart Company. Fioris Butcher Shoppe will only be open weekdays starting next Monday, a departure from their longtime Tuesday-Saturday schedule. Next time you go to Youngs Ace Hardware in the Lakewood Mall for BBQ supplies, you can also pick up a pie for dinner. A pie? Yep, they sell frozen pies made by The Pie Company in Ripon, who says theyll last up to a year in the freezer, or a few minutes on the dinner table.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The Harmony Homes project has started. Site improvements have begun at the corner of Washington Street and Lodi Avenue. Four tiny homes will be built on the site that will house folks who may have been homeless, or could be in danger of being homeless.

They will also be vetted and recommended by organizations such as the Salvation Army.

Occupants will have completed a variety of recovery and rehabilitation programs in order to qualify, according to Lodi Community Development Director John Della Monica.

This is the culmination of a years-long search for a suitable site. Maple Square at the corner of Lodi Avenue and Sacramento Street and the ArmoryChapman Field at Washington and Lawrence Avenue were previous contenders.

The Armory suggestion didnt go over well with the public, to say the least, so it was back to the drawing board. While the current project is the first, it may not be the last.

Della Monica has hinted that the city may look for additional sites to build more tiny homes in the future. The project is being funded by a $1.2 million state grant.

While the city is building the homes, it wont be in the rental business; the property will be managed by the Housing Authority of San Joaquin.

LAST LAUGH: Sterlie Kruse Eaves says, Yes, I support renewable energy. Its called coffee.

Steve is a former newspaper publisher and lifelong Lodian whose column appears most Tuesdays in the News-Sentinel. Write to Steve at aboutlodi@gmail.com.

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Steve Mann: Michael David Winery sends grape juice to the space station - Lodi News-Sentinel

Hint: you would not simply fall off the ISS.

If the video player is not working, you can click on thisalternativevideo link.

Let's assume for a moment that you could possibly skydive off the International Space Station (ISS). Would that be wise to do? Could you survive and would you end up back safely on Earth?

For starters, you would not simply fall off the ISS. Instead, you wouldbe traveling at the same speed as the ISS 17,150 mph (27,600 km/h). It would then take you at least 2.5 years to fall out of orbit and head back to Earth.

That is of course assuming that all the space junk didn't collide with you and injure you. But the worst part really comes after you enter the mesosphere. There youll travel up to three times faster than the speed of sound.

Youd likely faint from the intense gravitational forces, and, more horrifyingly, youd burn up during reentry at around 2,912F (1,600C). Not a fun ride!

If we have piqued your curiosity and you want to know more about what skydiving off the ISS will really be like, watch the video. You will also find out who holds the record for the highest skydiving jump. We'll give you a hint: it was conducted from Earth'sstratosphere.

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Can You Survive Skydiving Off the ISS? - Interesting Engineering

Image credit: NASA

Space solutions provider Redwire successfully delivered the first pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) to NASA space station prime contractor Boeing. The solar arrays are now undergoing flight package integration in preparation for launch on SpaceXs 22nd commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next month.

Redwire designed, manufactured, and tested the six new solar arrays, equipped with upgraded solar cells from Boeings Spectrolab. The ROSA arrays were developed by Redwire subsidiary Deployable Space Systems (DSS) and were first successfully demonstrated on ISS in June 2017. Each array provides more than 20 kilowatts of power each and a combined 120 kilowatts to the ISS, representing a 20 to 30 percent improvement over previous systems.

Modular versions of ROSA are also being produced for NASAs DART Mission, Maxars Power and Propulsion Element for NASAs Gateway program, the Ovzon 3 GEO spacecraft for Maxars Legion-class satellites, and other proprietary, civilian, and commercial applications.

Redwire is proud to partner with Boeing to provide critical infrastructure to support human spaceflight in low Earth orbit, said Andrew Rush, President and COO of Redwire. The enabling iROSA technology will provide a crucial power boost to support important work being done on station, from exploration technology demonstrations to commercial activity.

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Redwire Delivers the ISS' New Roll-Out Solar Arrays to Boeing - Via Satellite