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Tag: rocket

  • Ghana will launch a rocket into space soon – Space Science and Technology Institute

    Ghana will launch a rocket into space soon – Space Science and Technology Institute

    Ghana is on the path to launching a rocket into space, according to an announcement by the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute.

    However, this ambitious goal will necessitate partnerships with other member states of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

    This announcement comes on the sidelines of the 2024 IAU General Assembly, which is being held in Cape Town, South Africa.

    This marks a historic moment as it is the first time in the Union’s 105-year history that this prestigious event is being hosted on African soil, symbolizing a major milestone for both the IAU and South Africa.

    The IAU General Assembly is recognized as the world’s largest platform for astronomers, scientists, and researchers to engage in discussions on the latest developments in astronomical research and to strengthen international collaborations.

    The event is expected to draw over 2,000 experts from 82 countries, further establishing Cape Town as a significant hub for scientific innovation and discourse.

    During an interview with JoyNews’ Blessed Sogah at the event, Dr. Naomi Asabre Frimpong, a Research Scientist at the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, confirmed Ghana’s plans for space exploration.

    “Ghana does plan to go to space,” she stated. “However, we will need a lot of investment in space technology, space engineering, communication, and research because our current infrastructure does not support space missions as far as the international space station.”

    Addressing concerns regarding the perceived lack of advanced satellite technology in Ghana and other African countries, Dr. Asabre Frimpong emphasized the capabilities of Ghanaian scientists.

    “Ghanaians are really brilliant; we have a lot of potential and are able to achieve a lot with the limited infrastructure we have. With support from the government, the public, and our own research institutions and universities, Ghanaians can contribute significantly to the international scientific community. Therefore, we should not underestimate our scientists. We can achieve more with additional support.”

    South Africa, the host of the 2024 IAU General Assembly, has expressed its eagerness to collaborate with countries like Ghana to enhance their contributions to global astronomy.

    General Manager for Communications at Brand South Africa, Thoko Modise, the official marketing agency of South Africa, shared her enthusiasm for such partnerships.

    “We are thrilled to collaborate with the International Astronomical Union for the 2024 General Assembly,” Modise said.

    “Hosting this prestigious event in Cape Town not only highlights South Africa’s role as a significant player in the global astronomy community but also reflects our commitment to supporting international collaboration and innovation. This assembly underscores our country’s growing prominence in the field and our capability to host world-class events.”

    The 2024 IAU General Assembly presents a vital opportunity for South African scientists to showcase their contributions to astronomy, particularly through their involvement in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

    This massive international initiative aims to build the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, with components situated in South Africa’s Karoo desert and Australia’s Murchison region.

    The SKA project is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the universe with its unmatched sensitivity and scale. Recent achievements include the successful installation of the first phase of dishes and the deployment of advanced technology, setting the stage for groundbreaking discoveries in radio astronomy and deeper exploration of cosmic phenomena.

    The assembly will also feature presentations on topics such as the influence of the James Webb Space Telescope on our comprehension of the universe, cutting-edge techniques for discovering exoplanets, efforts to combat light pollution, and the role of astronomy in global development.

    Notable participants include Dr. Sian Proctor, who made history as the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft during the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission, and Dr. Brian Schmidt, a Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the accelerating expansion of the universe.

    Additionally, former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, will be featured in public events, along with a live radio link between ten Cape Town students and NASA astronaut Sunitha Williams aboard the International Space Station.

  • Watch SHS in Ashanti Region launch newly developed rocket

    Watch SHS in Ashanti Region launch newly developed rocket

    It was all joy and excitement in Adanwomase Senior High School on Friday, February 2, when the school launched its newly developed rocket.

    The school located in the Ashanti Region had its students surround the rocket as it was about to launch. The students joined the count down.

    The rocket indeed launched but not as expected.

    A rocket launch involves a series of carefully orchestrated steps to propel a spacecraft or payload into space. The process typically includes the following key stages:

    1. Pre-launch Preparations:
      • Payload Integration: The payload (satellite, scientific instrument, or crewed spacecraft) is integrated into the rocket’s payload fairing, which protects it during the initial stages of the launch.
      • Rocket Assembly: The various rocket stages, including the first stage, second stage, and any additional boosters, are assembled and connected.
    2. Launch Vehicle Fueling:
      • The rocket is filled with the required propellants, typically liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) or liquid hydrogen, depending on the type of rocket.
    3. Countdown and Ignition:
      • The countdown sequence begins, involving a series of checks and verifications.
      • The rocket engines are ignited at the designated moment to start the launch.
    4. Liftoff:
      • The rocket lifts off from the launch pad, overcoming Earth’s gravity. The liftoff is a critical moment, and the rocket must generate enough thrust to break free from the gravitational pull.
    5. Stage Separation:
      • As the rocket ascends, it often consists of multiple stages. Once a stage has expended its fuel, it is jettisoned to reduce mass, and the next stage ignites.
    6. Orbital Insertion or Trajectory Adjustment:
      • If the mission goal is to achieve orbit, the rocket performs orbital insertion by firing its engines at specific points in its trajectory. If the mission involves leaving Earth’s orbit, further trajectory adjustments may be made.
    7. Payload Deployment:
      • Once the rocket reaches its intended destination or orbit, the payload is deployed. This could involve releasing satellites into orbit, sending probes on their interplanetary trajectories, or other mission-specific tasks.
    8. End of Mission:
      • After the primary mission objectives are achieved, the rocket may perform additional maneuvers or be intentionally deorbited.

    Adanwomase Senior High School’s rocket failed to exhibit from stage 2 to 8 in the video gone viral. It plummeted and came tumbling down hastily.

  • Launch rocket systems, vehicles donated to GAF

    Launch rocket systems, vehicles donated to GAF

    Chinese corporation MESSRS Poly Technologies Incorporated has donated state-of-the-art Ground Artillery Equipment (GAE) to the Battle Training Camp of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in Bundase, Greater Accra Region.

    The donation, made on December 7, 2023, includes 122 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), a Reconnaissance Vehicle, a Command Vehicle, 7200x122mm rockets, spare parts, and essential accessories.

    The equipment is intended to enhance Ghana’s defense capabilities, and the Deputy Chief of Staff expressed gratitude for the support in strengthening the nation’s defense system and safeguarding its sovereignty.

    “The acquisition of strategic equipment, platforms, and personnel training in diverse fields are ongoing efforts to effectively resource GAF operationally and provide essential welfare packages for troops during their service,” he said.

    The Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Michael Appiah-Agyekum, highlighted the strategic significance of the recently acquired Ground Artillery Equipment (GAE) for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

    He emphasized the critical timing of the acquisition amid increased instances of terrorism and trans-organized crime in the sub-region.

    AVM Appiah-Agyekum stated that the equipment would enhance the operational capabilities of the GAF, positioning it effectively to handle any aggressive force.

    Brigadier General Barima Brako Owusu, Chief Staff Officer at Army Headquarters, stressed the importance of professionalism and proper maintenance of the new equipment.

  • SpaceX’s Starship takes off

    SpaceX’s Starship takes off

    With a thunderous boom, the 33 engines of the Super Heavy booster of the most powerful rocket ever created lifted off from the launch pad.

    “Starship has cleared the pad and beach! Vehicle is on a nominal flight path,” SpaceX tweets.

    We should have had a separation by now, SpaceX engineers say.

    The Starship test flight is now over, after experiencing what engineers have called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” during ascent.

    “To make it this far is amazing,” engineers say, after the rocket cleared its tower and successfully lifted off.

    “You never know what’s going to happen,” they say, adding that “Starship gave us an exciting end to an incredible test”.

    “As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” the company tweeted.

    What a launch – seeing Starship head skywards, its 33 engines burning as it slowly pushed upwards into the blue Texan sky, was quite something. It passed a key point – clearing the tower and not blowing up the launch pad infrastructure.

    So far so good.

    But it was at the point where the booster tried to separate from the upper stage that things went wrong. The booster started tumbling, then boom – it was gone.

    SpaceX call this a rapid unscheduled disassembly. But even though the company wanted this test to go further, they won’t call this a failure.

    There were still cheers at SpaceX HQ even when the rocket went up in smoke. The fact that the rocket got off the ground is a start – they’ll assess what went right and what went wrong – and then have another go.

  • Elon Musk is set to fly the biggest rocket ever

    Elon Musk is set to fly the biggest rocket ever

    The most powerful rocket ever developed is about to attempt a maiden launch.

    The vehicle, known as Starship, has been built by the American entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

    It stands almost 120m (400ft) high and is designed to have almost double the thrust of any rocket in history.

    Monday’s uncrewed demonstration will lift off from Boca Chica in Texas. The aim is to send the upper-stage of the vehicle eastward, to complete almost one circuit of the globe.

    Mr Musk has appealed for everyone to temper their expectations. It’s not uncommon for a rocket to experience some kind of failure on its initial outing.

    “It’s the first launch of a very complicated, gigantic rocket, so it might not launch. We’re going to be very careful, and if we see anything that gives us concern, we will postpone the launch,” he told a Twitter Spaces event.

    “If we do launch, I would consider anything that does not result in the destruction of the launch pad itself to be a win.”

    SpaceX will try to get Starship airborne at 08:00 local time (13:00 GMT; 14:00 BST).

    It’s anticipated thousands of spectators will try to reach coastal locations on the Gulf of Mexico to witness the event.

    Elon Musk is hoping to completely upend the rocket business with Starship.

    It’s designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. He envisages flying people and satellites to orbit multiple times a day in the same way a jet airliner might criss-cross the Atlantic.

    Indeed, he believes the vehicle could usher in an era of interplanetary travel for ordinary humans.

    Super Heavy static fire
    Image caption,The booster was held on the ground when its engines were ignited for a “static fire” test

    The top segment of Starship has been tested previously on short hops, but this will be the first time it will go up with its lower-stage.

    This mammoth booster, called simply Super Heavy, was fired while clamped to its launch mount in February. However, the engines on that occasion were throttled back to half their capability.

    If, as promised, SpaceX goes for 90% thrust on Monday, the stage should deliver something close to 70 meganewtons. This is equivalent to the force needed to propel almost 100 Concorde supersonic airliners at takeoff.

    Rocket launch mount graphic

    Assuming everything were to proceed as planned, Starship will rise up and head down range across the Gulf, the 33 engines on the bottom of the methane-fuelled booster burning for two minutes and 49 seconds.

    At that point, the two halves of the rocket will separate, and the top section, the ship, will push on with its own engines for a further six minutes and 23 seconds.

    By this time, it should be travelling over the Caribbean and cruising through space more than 100km above the planet’s surface.

    SpaceX wants the Super Heavy booster to try to fly back to near the Texan coast and come down vertically, to hover just above the Gulf’s waters. It will then be allowed to topple over and sink.

    The ship is aiming to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere after almost a full revolution of the Earth, coming down in the Pacific just north of the Hawaiian islands. It’s been given protective tiling to cope with the immense heating it will experience during the descent. A bellyflop into the ocean is timed to occur 90 minutes after lift-off.

    Rocket comparison graphic

    In the longer term, SpaceX expects both the booster and the ship to be making controlled landings so they can be refuelled and relaunched.

    The company has been experimenting at Boca Chica with different approaches to building the steel vehicles.

    There are various models waiting their turn to take flight.

    One of the most interested spectators on Monday will be the US space agency, Nasa.

    It is giving SpaceX almost $3bn to develop a variant of Starship that is planned to land astronauts on the Moon.

    Garrett Reisman, a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California, says Mr Musk has the ambition to go even deeper into the Solar System.

    “He sees Starship as potentially another giant paradigm shift, an incredible increase in capability – the capability to truly bring people on large scale to Mars,” the SpaceX advisor and former astronaut told BBC News.

    “There’s a lot of potential benefit, but there’s also a lot of potential risk because this is very difficult. Nobody’s built a rocket anywhere near this big – twice as big as the next nearest thing.”

    Artwork: Starship at Mars
  • A 3D-printed rocket fails shortly after takeoff

    A 3D-printed rocket fails shortly after takeoff

    On Wednesday night, a rocket that was nearly entirely constructed from 3D printed parts successfully launched, but it malfunctioned shortly before entering orbit.

    At 11.25 p.m. on Wednesday, Relativity Space, a California-based aerospace manufacturer, launched its Terran 1 rocket from the Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

    The first stage of the 110-foot rocket was successful, traveling 1,242 miles per hour for 10 miles into the stratosphere.

    On Wednesday night, a rocket that was nearly entirely constructed from 3D printed parts successfully launched, but it malfunctioned shortly before entering orbit.

    At 11.25 p.m. on Wednesday, Relativity Space, a California-based aerospace manufacturer, launched its Terran 1 rocket from the Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

    The first stage of the 110-foot rocket was successful, traveling 1,242 miles per hour for 10 miles into the stratosphere.