Month: September 2018

Enlarge (credit: Rocket Lab / Aurich Lawson)

Welcome to Edition 1.19 of the Rocket Report! Lots of news this week about the development of rocket engines in the United States, South Korea, and elsewhere. There are also milestones for the Ariane 5 rocket and an anniversary for SpaceX.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

SpaceX hits 10 years since the Falcon 1. In an in-depth feature, Ars recounts the harrowing eight weeks following the failed third flight of the Falcon 1 rocket and the finally successful fourth flight. "If we had not reached orbit on that attempt, SpaceX would not exist," Elon Musk recalled. "That was a very tough launch emotionally." Shortly after the Falcon 1 launch, SpaceX intensified work on developing its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

Enlarge / Left to right, hurricanes Katia, Irma, and Jose on September 8, 2017. (credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

A lot of people who would rather forget the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, and many are no longer alive because of it. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria were all destructive when they made landfall, and three other major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger) mercifully spun out their lives over the ocean. In an average year, the Atlantic sees 2.7 major hurricanes—six is highly unusual.

The birth and life of tropical cyclones in a flowing, churning atmosphere is amazingly complex. But by looking at the past, we’ve learned there are certain ocean patterns that tend to boost or dampen a hurricane season. To investigate the factors responsible for 2017’s hurricane season, a team led by NOAA’s Hiroyuki Murakami leaned on that knowledge, together with climate model experiments.

Forecase models

North Atlantic hurricanes are born just above the equator as a low-pressure center. As that low pressure moves westward with the prevailing trade winds, it can continue to organize into a strong cyclone if it has a warm sea surface and if the winds aloft are mild enough to allow the storm to grow upwards.