Explore Space and Science

One week ago: we set sail for Jupiter's ocean moon Europa. The spacecraft is now about 2.4 million miles (3.88 million kilometers) from Earth. Next up are a series of checkouts and instrument deployments, and a flyby of Mars for a gravity assist on our way out to Jupiter. All about the mission: http://nasa.gov/europaclipper

Detailed information about the first Sample return from the far side of the Moon that just landed back on Earth

Chang'e 6 returns with precious lunar samples China's Chang'e 6 robotic mission finished successfully on Tuesday afternoon, bringing scientifically precious samples from the moon's far side back to Earth for the first time.

📷 This stunning image of Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano not only on but in the entire Solar System, was taken by ESA’s Mars Express as part of new research revealing water frost for the first time near Mars’s equator (where it was thought improbable for frost to exist).

🔗https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Frosty_volcanoes_discovered_in_Mars_s_tropics

Using this image we can do an approximate calculation of the what speed the booster is traveling at the time of the photo.

The result is Mach 1.086
1339 km/h
832 mph

When a body is traveling higher than Mach 1 it produces a Mach wave. This is sometimes visible. If we can determine the angle of the Mach wave or sides of the triangle that make that angle, we can determine the Mach number of the object. Which is how many times faster than the speed of sound its traveling.
Once we have the Mach number, we can determine the velocity if we know the speed of sound at the location of the image.

Calculations for determining the velocity of an object that is producing a Mach wave:

Using the image (SpaceX booster producing a Mach wave) we measured an equivalent angle of 67.08 degrees, or a triangle that has longest side 38mm and y (opposite) side 35mm.

Note we will be using the triangle sides lengths to determine the result (not the angle as the side lengths is probably more accurate and we didn't have a protractor for measuring the angle on the image so we used the side lengths instead)

Formula for Mach angle to Mach number

Mach = 1 / sin(angle)

And

sin(angle) = y / r

So

Mach = 1 / (y / r) = r / y

where y and r are the opposite side and hypotenuse lengths.

Using inputs

Mach = 38 / 35 = 1.086

We will use 343 m/s for the speed of sound. The speed of sound can change depending on height and other factors, but we will use this value as the booster was still quite near the surface.

Velocity = Speed of sound x Mach
= 343 x 1.086
= 372 m/s
Or
1339 km/h
Or
832 mph

The v***r cone is amazing 👏 🤩
📷SpaceX

SpaceX Starship Flight Test 4

Planned to launch in the coming minutes

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