Morning television on Monday and Tuesday

Saturday 7/20/19, time 4:18 PM

I will come and tell about my trip:

Yle aamu-tv Monday 7:45 and

MTV Huomenta Suomi Tuesday 8:07.

This is a picture from my trip:

Statue of Apollo 11 -astronauts at Kennedy Space Center.

Apollo gala

Thursday 7/18/19, time 4:54 AM

There were 500 guests at the gala. There were 3 Apollo astronauts and one Apollo flight director. The gala was a memorable experience. The gala was organized by Aldrin Family Foundation.

From left to right: Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Gerald Griffin (flight director) and Charles Duke (Apollo 16)

Going to Apollo -gala tonight

Tuesday 7/16/19, time 5:24 AM

The gala will begin soon. VIP -passes and other things has been picked up. I got instructions how to dress and how to go the gala. Soon I will hear speeches from Apollo -astronauts and others.

More information: https://apollo50thgala.com/

Greetings from Florida

Saturday 7/13/19, time 3:06 PM

I did reach Florida after after 17 hours of travelling. Yesterday I already met two astronauts, Al Worden (Apollo 15) and Bruce Melnick (STS-41 and STS-49). Both were nice men. Today, there is a parade of astronauts in the program, followed by party on the streets. If I am lucky I can meet more astronauts.

My trip to Apollo -gala has started

Thursday 7/11/19

My trip to Apollo has started. I fly through London to Orlando and then take a rental car to the Cocoa Beach hotel. Thursday is a travel day and the actual program starts on Friday. On Friday, I attend the astronaut golf and can try a copy of Alan Shepard's golf club. In the evening, there is a pub tour with the astronauts. This holiday is a real space vacation, and on many days there is a space program from morning to night. In the Apollo -gala, which is the main party, there will be three Apollo astronauts: Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Michael Collins (Apollo 11) and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16). I will try to talk to them, but I do not know if I am lucky because there are probably 500 others who want to talk to them.

For more information:

Rusty Schweickart

Michael Collins

Charlie Duke

Apollo gala is approaching

Thursday 6/20/19, time 2:41 PM

My Florida journey begins three weeks from now, and now I've got all the things agreed. During the week I will attend 11 different space related events. There will be 100 -500 participants depending on event and I am the only one from Finland. The main event is on July 16, 2016, when the launch of the Apollo 11 rocket 50 years ago is celebrated at the Kennedy Space Center. I heard about Apollo Gala in 2017 and now I can do it. Gala tickets cost between $ 1,000 and $ 3,500. I have a $ 1,000 ticket. The most expensive ticket buyers can sit at the same table with the Apollo astronauts. Buyers of the Mid-Range ticket can sit with NASA astronauts at the table. I'm really looking forward to this week. Because it is an event organized by the Americans, it involves charity, sponsors, and auctions. A $ 100 bottle of wine with Apollo label will be available at the auction. Maybe I will buy it.

For more information:

https://apollo50thgala.com/

https://www.astronautscholarship.org/celebratingapollo.html

My space week program:

The Finnish Astronautical Society celebrates its 60th anniversary

Sunday 5/19/19, time 10:34 PM

The Finnish Astronautical Society is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. There are many different events in the anniversary year, and today there was a rocket launch event for the public. We flown dozens different rockets to height of 100-400 meters in Kulmakorpi, Espoo. The weather favored us and there were about 50 rocket boys and girls. Many children were able to launch a rocket with an electric trigger. The joy was great when the rocket left for the sky!

This flight and many other events have been shooted during this year. The Finnish Astronautical Society will later publish a video of the anniversary events.

For more information:

The Finnish Astronautical Society http://www.sats-saff.fi/

In the picture, one of the rockets is launched.

Virgin Galactic moves to New Mexico

Sunday 5/12/19, time 9:53 PM

On May 10, 2016, Virgin Galactic released a newsletter stating that it will transfer rocket and personnel to New Mexico. Virgin Galactic made 2 test flights to the space from Mojave, California. Now is the time to move the rocket and the required number of staff with their families, about 100 to New Mexico. New Mexico has Spaceport America, where commercial flights are made. The move begins immediately and is ready after the summer. So now we are close to the start of commercial flights. This move is not done for fun.

Virgin Galactic newletter-> www.virgingalactic.com

Spaceport America-> www.spaceportamerica.com

Rocket-Uno version 3.2

Saturday 5/4/19, time 7:59 PM

I bought my Fiat-Uno in May 2012. Tuning it has been a good hobby while waiting for the flight. I have used about 1000 hours to modify it in 7 years. The latest improvement was the new rocket racks. Now I can drive a car with rockets on the roof. And when the car is not moving I can lift the rockets up. The car is especially appealing to boys.

Stratolaunch first flight

Monday 4/15/19, time 10:50 PM

Stratolauch is the world's largest airplane and its purpose is to launch rockets into space. The idea is the same as Virgin Galactic. Statolauchn is designed by Scaled Composites. I have for many years followed Stratolauch, because it is quite staggering device: It flew for the first time 04/13/2019. I would have been there!

Videos: Stratolaunch first flight!!! ja World's biggest airplane takes flight for first time over Mojave desert

Scaled Composites: Stratolaunch

SodaStream invention helps astronauts in space

Monday 4/1/19, time 7:17 AM

Finnish Astronautical Society has studied the invention of SodaStream: video

This is a small burb for a man but a giant bubbling leap for mankind! SodaStream and @StationCDRKelly have made the life of astronauts in space much better.

Check out more from here: video

Update April 2th,2019

This was April Fools day joke:)

video

Second flight to space, 89.9 km high

Friday 2/22/19, time 9:45 PM

Virgin Galactic made today another test flight into space. This time the rocket went to 89.9 km high. The pilots were Dave Mackay and co-pilot Michael Sooch Masucci. There was also Beth Moses in the rocket. Now looks really promising! The first commercial flight into space can become a reality within half a year!

More information->  Virgin Galactic

Below are a couple of photos of the flight. Photos Virgin Galactic.

My pilots got their commercial astronaut wings

Saturday 2/9/19, time 8:03 PM

My rocket flew to 83 kilometers in December 2018. It was piloted by Mark 'Forger' Stucky and 'CJ' Sturckow. The space begins with a height of 80 kilometers, according to the Americans, so the local authority, U.S. The Department of Transportation, gave to the pilots commercial astronaut wings in a separate ceremony. Ceremony was held in Washington, if I had been there, I would have been able to see the ceremony. Sturckow has already been a space shuttle pilot. This was Stucky's first flight into space and he became 568th man who has been in space.

I will be around 800th person in space and I will get the wings below possible in 2020.

More information:-> Virgin Galacic and Youtube

Picture: commercial astronaut wings

Picture from the ceremony Feb 7th, 2019 in Washington

Picture: Virgin Galactic

Finnish Satellite Workshop 2019, Espoo, Finland 23-25.01.2019

Sunday 1/27/19, time 7:49 PM

Finnish Satellite Workshop, a satellite seminar, was held on 23-25 ​​January 2013 at the premises of Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. The seminar has grown from last year and it had 400 participants from 120 companies or organizations. There were 70 lecturers, more than half were from abroad. The most distant lecturer came from the United States.

The main focus of the seminar was on small satellites and the use of the data received from small satellites. There are many applications that use satellite data now and new applications are being planned. In Finland, the space sector now employs 1,000 people and many companies use space data. There are now many projects under way that will strengthen Finland's space sector. The goal is that by 2025 the space sector will employ 10,000 people. Aalto satellites, ICEYE and Reaktor Space Lab are examples of the success achieved in recent years in Finland. And more is coming.

Last year we were talking about sending satellites to orbit the earth. This year, there were projects also launched to send satellites further, for example, asteroids or to the Moon. One project is planning to send a measuring device to the Moon, and in the MOOCHA project, 8 small satellites are planned to be sent to orbit the Moon in the near future.

Making small satellites and sending them into space is getting cheaper all the time. The smallest satellites, such as the Suomi100 satellite, are 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm in size and weight is about one kilo. Although the Suomi100 satellite is small, it has a solar cell, communication devices, a computer, measuring devices for exploring the Northern Lights and a camera. If the size of the satellite is 30 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm, it can do much more.

Now you can now make and send a small satellite to the space with less than 100 00 EUR. Traditional large satellites can cost hundreds of millions. Satellites can use the same components as in computers and phones. The dimensioning of small satellites is standardized and satellites can be sent from multiple locations. There are more and more satellite experts and universities train them more. That's why there are coming new applications more and more.

For example, with the new technology can better predict when grain should be harvested. Take a picture of fields from space and analyze it with new techniques. For Japanese tourists, a live image can be shown from the Northern Lights. Ships can be steered remotely. Asteroid mineral resources can be estimated. More accurate weather forecasting. Cheap phone and data connections to the whole globe. The possibilities are almost limitless and not all possibilities have been realized yet.

At the beginning of the space, only large countries or organizations were able to send satellites. In recent years, the majority of satellites have been sent by private companies and universities. In 2018, more than satellites 500 were sent to the space. In 2019, even more satellites will be sent. The first small satellites were sent to space in 2003. Development has been really fast.

When there are more and more satellites sent, a problem of space debris will come bigger. All satellites have not been successfully destroyed in the earth's atmosphere. Today it is estimated that 30,000 ten centimeters objects and 750,000 items of one centimeter will circulate in orbit at different altitudes. There are systems to control them and, for example, ISS changes its course if there is a threat to hit something. One small object can break the satellite or its equipment, such as a solar cell. In the future, more attention will be paid to removing all satellites from orbit. Finally time will take care of debris. If the launch of new satellites is stopped now, in 10,000 years almost all space debris has either burned in the earth's atmosphere or landed to the earth.

Several interesting technical details were presented at the seminar. The efficiency of satellite solar cells is 30%, while the efficiency of solar cells sold to ordinary consumers is about 17%. The solar cells in the satellites cost about 10 times more and are therefore not worth putting on the roof of houses on the ground. Of course, this achievement of space technology will become common over time.

Today, small satellites are launched with large rockets. Few make rockets themselves. There was one rocket project at the seminar. Latvia wants to be the 19th country to launch a rocket at a height of 100 km. The project has one unique idea: get the rocket first to height of 30 km with a ball and then launch a rocket. The name of the project is “Pirie LV 100 km kosmasa”. The project is still in the early stage and the exact launch date is not known yet. You should follow this project!

In the near future, the space industry will need many new experts. Children, young people and students need to be told about space. What if you built your own rockets or satellite? It is now possible and definitely makes space more attract!

I was in the seminar for the second time. The content and organization of the seminar worked well. Jaan Praks, Samuli Nyman and their team are doing great job. I will definitely participate again next year!

For more information:

Suomi100 satellite http://suomi100satelliitti.fi/

Latvian 100 km rocket https://www.zinoo.lv/latvijaskosmosarakete/

Satellite Seminar https://spaceworkshop.fi/

Where we are?

Finnish Satellite Workshop 2019, 23-25.01.2019

Sunday 1/20/19, time 9:34 PM

In the next week, a three-day space seminar, Finnish Satellite Workshop 2019, will be held. Last year the seminar was two days long and now it takes three days. It shows that space sector is growing in Finland. I'm going to the seminar to learn more about satellites and other space-related issues. There are dozens of speakers from different countries. Just like last year, the seminar venue is Dipoli in Espoo and there will be 250 listeners. Jaan Praks, Professor at Aalto University, is the organizer of the event as of last year.

More information:> https://spaceworkshop.fi/

What happened in 2018 and what do I expect from 2019?

Tuesday 1/1/19, time 5:19 PM

Events in 2018:

Virgin Galactic rocket, VSS Unity, made four rocket-powered test flights in 2018. The last of them went up to 83 kilometers in December. In the near future, the rocket will make a flight up to 100 kilometers. So now it looks really good!

My biggest own project last year, Rocket-Uno version 3, was completed in early July. In July, the car was on TV twice and in Aamulehti on September! Anywhere the Rocket-Uno goes, it gets even bigger smiles than before.

In 2018 I was interviewed twice on television, in “Friday” -program in February and in “Arto Nyberg” -program in September. Both programs were positive experiences for me and now I have enough experience on being on TV. There's no more tension on being on TV.

What am I expecting from 2019:

In early 2019, Virgin Galactic will make additional test flights. It is quite possible that Branson will make the first commercial flight into space already in the spring of 2019. The flight has six seats and the only confirmed passenger is Richard Branson himself. He has not yet told who the other five passengers are. There will be many persons who would like to be in this historic flight! I expect that I will get invitation from Virgin Galactic to see to see this flight.

I personally hope to know the date of my flight before Christmas. It would be the best Christmas present ever. Now, the wait time from years has changed into months. Finally!

The great event of 2019 will be the Apollo Gala on July 16, 2019 at the Kennedy Space Center. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic moon flight. I go to the gala and see the moon flight veterans.

I have not planned any big own projects for 2019. It may be that the tuning of Rocket-Uno continues. I will continue do to all kind all sports as before.

Merry Christmas

Monday 12/24/18

I have been waiting for my space flight for 8 years. During that time, friends have remembered me on birthdays and Christmas with a lot of space-related gifts. I have received sheets, shirts, cartoons, puzzle, rockets, rocket pencil, greeting cards, as well as a variety of self-made gifts.

I am very happy for all of them, I hope, however, that I will not get many gifts anymore. My best present this year was Virgin Galactica's successful flight to space on 13.12.2018. My next year's best gift could be the date of my flight.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for everyone!

Pictures:

Made by Harri Salo

Made by Jasper and her mother

Sheets

Puzzle

Shirt

Rocket

Made by Raisa Kettunen

Rocket pen

Cartoon

My rocket made a successful test flight into space!

Thursday 12/13/18, time 8:46 PM

Today it finally happened, VMS Unity made a successful test flight into space! The highest speed was 2.9 times the speed of sound and the rocket engine was burned for 60 seconds. The rocket engine tank was not full yet, so the next flight will certainly go up to 100 km. The flight involved two pilots, Annie -doll and NASA research equipment. Americans space starts from 80 kilometers, so the limit was exceeded by 2 kilometers. The Europeans space starts from100 km. The rocket will soon fly also to Europeans space.

This flight was a big thing for Virgin Galactic and I can imagine what kind of party Richard Branson will hold in the evening! Congratulations Richard! And have a couple of drinks for me! I'll have a few drinks tomorrow!

Video from the flight. YouTube

Picture from space. Picture Virgin Galactic.

The first space flight is near

Wednesday 12/12/18, time 2:07 PM

Virgin Galactic has published news (12.12.2018), which tells about tomorrow's test flight (13.12.2018). The purpose of the flight is to fly higher and faster than ever before. The previous test flight in July went to 54 km and the highest speed was 2.47 times the speed of the sound. Virgin Galactic cannot promise that this flight will go to the space yet, but certainly this flight will be close to the space.

This is the first time Virgin Galactic tells the day before about the test flight. Usually flights have been reported after the flight. Richard Branson has promised, at least since 2011, that flight to the space will take place before Christmas. Now this promise can be redeemed on Christmas 2018.

More information -> Virgin Galactic

Brycetech site -technical information about satellites and more

Sunday 11/25/18, time 9:12 PM

I ran into a site called Brycetech with has comprehensive and detailed reports about space industry. The reports are detailed and they are free. The reports show, among other things, that in 2017 almost 500 launches were made to space, most of them satellites.

More information-> Bryce reports