Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Soyuz Effort Accelerates at Kourou; Russian Rocket Lifts German Spy Sat

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The Russians Are Coming…to launch rockets from European base
AFP

“Today, though, the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) is girding for a new era when it will host Russian rockets and Russian engineers who just a short while ago were Europe’s space rivals.

“On Sunday, a freighter is due to dock in Cayenne bearing a first consignment of 150 containers of equipment to fit out a launch pad at CSG where, from the second half of 2009, the first “European” Soyuz is scheduled to blast into space.”

Russian Rocket Launches German Reconnaissance Satellite
Spaceflight Today

“The capstone of a fleet of German military satellites rocketed into space from Russia early Tuesday, completing a series of five launchings of spacecraft designed to scout locations around the world.

“The SAR-Lupe 5 satellite, a 1,700-pound craft (771-kg) outfitted with cloud-piercing and night-vision radar, launched aboard a Russian Kosmos 3M rocket at 0240 GMT Tuesday (10:40 p.m. EDT Monday), according to news reports.”

Phoenix Pulls an All-Nighter

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PHOENIX MISSION UPDATE

TUCSON, Ariz. – Phoenix early Tuesday finished its longest work shift of the mission. The lander stayed awake for 33 hours, completing tasks that included rasping and scraping by the robotic arm, in addition to atmosphere observations in coordination with simultaneous observations by NASA’sMars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

“Our rasping test yesterday gave us enough confidence that we’re now planning for the next use of the rasp to be for acquiring a sample to be delivered to TEGA,” said Phoenix project manager Barry Goldstein of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. TEGA is Phoenix’s Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, an instrument that heats samples in small ovens and uses a mass spectrometer to study the vapors driven off by the heating.

As preparation for that sample delivery in coming days, the Phoenix team developed plans to command the lander Tuesday evening to conduct 80 scrapings of the bottom of a trench informally named “Snow White.” The scraping is designed to freshly expose frozen material and ready the surface for using the rasp.

Picture caption: This animation combines two images of the trench informally named “Snow White” taken by the Surface Stereo Imager. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

Scientists Meet at Ames to Plan Out Lunar Trips

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Scientists and engineers are meeting this week at NASA Ames Research Center in California to plan out humanity’s return to the moon.

NASA plans GPS-like system for return to the moon
Scientific American

NASA has coughed up $1.2 million for a navigation system that will help astronauts find their way around the lunar surface when they return in 2020. The Lunar Astronaut Spatial Orientation and Information System (LASOIS) is designed to function  much the same way as a global positioning system (GPS).

Scientists swap moon, Mars exploration plans
San Francisco Chronicle

“Christopher P. McKay, a NASA scientist at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, has one overriding question for the future of human exploration on the moon and Mars.

“Could astronauts stay on the moon for any length of time where lunar gravity is six times weaker than it is on Earth or on Mars, where the gravity is an insupportably three times weaker than Earth’s?

“If those questions can’t be answered, McKay said, we may visit those distant places, but we won’t be able to stay.”

NASA: The Moon is not enough
The Register (UK)

“NASA and its international aeronautical cohorts have some serious explaining to do before they start rocketing folks to the Moon again.

“They better convince the public why it’s so important for our species to invest hand-over-fist just to root around some boring gray orbital dust ball - a dust ball we already stuck a flag in a full score and 19 years ago.

“Perhaps they’re preaching to the choir, but this week a gathering of scientists are giving this sort of time-tested anti-space exploration diatribe a workout at the NASA/AMES Research Center in Mountain View, California.”

Well Elon, It May All Be Up to You….

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on July 23, 2008
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Henry Spencer takes a look at the increasingly public problems with NASA’s Ares I and Ares V boosters, which are designed to carry the agency’s new Orion spacecraft to Earth orbit and the moon, respectively.

NASA thought it could easily adapt legacy shuttle hardware to the task. Not so much. Considerable upgrades were required, especially after Orion began to gain weight. That, in turn, caused the weight and cost of the rocket to grow as the schedule slipped. Meanwhile, Ares V might not be as cost effective to fly as NASA has stated.

Spencer believes that NASA’s savior could be its investment in the COTS program, which is providing funding to Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop commercial transportation to the International Space Station. SpaceX is developing a human and cargo-rated versions of its Dragon spacecraft, which Musk says could also fly to the moon. Orbital’s program is building a robotic freighter.

“If COTS works out well and Ares continues to blunder on, I expect that Congress will quickly run out of patience and force NASA’s hand by cutting off Ares funding,” Spencer writes.

“The one ray of hope for NASA is that with the White House about to change hands, there will almost certainly be a new NASA administrator next year. Immediately upon assuming office, he or she might declare the Ares programme a write-off and order a major change of direction, blaming the problems on the previous administration. But this would have to be done quickly, while it’s still plausible to blame his or her predecessor.”

New Russian-European Spacecraft Design Unveiled; Upgraded ATV Proposed

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on July 22, 2008
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Manned spaceship design unveiled
BBC News

“It is designed to replace the Soyuz vehicle currently in use by Russia and will allow Europe to participate directly in crew transportation. The reusable ship was conceived to carry four people towards the Moon, rivalling the US Ares/Orion system….

“‘If ESA and the Russian Space Agency reach agreement, Europe will supply the service module of that co-operative spacecraft,’ [Anatoly] Zak told BBC News.

“This service module will use technology - such as the propulsion systems - developed for Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned freighter recently sent to re-supply the International Space Station (ISS).”

ESA aims for manned capsule by 2020
Flight International

“A €300 million ($475 million) three-year Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Advanced Return Vehicle (ARV) development project, to be proposed to the European Space Agency’s November ministerial meeting, could become a stepping stone to a human transport system in 2020.

“ESA wants to evolve its expendable 20,000kg (44,000lb) ATV, which docked with the International Space Station for the first time in April, into an EADS Astrium Ariane 5-launched ARV. That cargo vehicle would be the basis for the manned system operating around 2020. ESA will design ARV with a view to man-rating it in future. The cargo version will be about 5,000kg lighter than the Ariane 5’s low-Earth orbit capability to allow for the future addition of a launch abort tower.”

Space Agencies Meet in Montreal to Coordinate Space Exploration Plans

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on July 21, 2008
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JAXA Press Release

Representatives of 11 space agencies from around the world gathered in Montreal, Canada July 10 - 12 to continue the coordination of programs to extend human and robotic presence throughout the Solar System.

In May 2007, multilateral space agency discussions resulted in the release of “The Global Exploration Strategy - The Framework for Coordination.” This “framework document” - the product of a shared vision of space exploration focused on solar system destinations where humans may someday live and work - represented an important first step in coordinating space exploration efforts toward common goals. The Framework Document envisioned a coordination mechanism to facilitate international planning, leading to the establishment of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG).

During the Montreal ISECG meeting which was hosted by the Canadian Space Agency, the participating agencies made significant progress in a number of areas that will facilitate cooperation. Among accomplishments were the establishment of an ISECG secretariat, that will be initially hosted by ESA, plans for conducting effective public engagement, and development of tools for sharing information on exploration capabilities and mission plans across agencies.

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iMARS Working Group Issues Mission Design Report on Sample Return

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Credit: ESA

ESA News Release

The first robotic mission to return samples to Earth from Mars took a further step toward realisation with the recent publication of a mission design report by the iMARS Working Group. The report, defines key elements of the future internationally-funded mission involving the cooperation of ESA, NASA and other national agencies.

iMARS, which stands for the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples is a committee of the International Mars Exploration Working Group made up of scientists, engineers, strategic planners, and managers. The report, which comes after months of deliberation, outlines the scientific and engineering requirements of such an international mission to be undertaken in the timeframe 2020-2022.

The Mars Sample Return mission is an essential step with respect to future exploration goals and the prospect of establishing a future human mission to Mars. Returned samples will increase the knowledge of the properties of Martian soil and contribute significantly to answering questions about the possibility of life on the Red Planet. This mission will improve our understanding of the Mars environment to support planning for the future human exploration.

Well, the Escape Engine Works at Least….

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on July 21, 2008
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Image Credit: Aerojet

NASA’s Orion spacecraft apparently has a viable escape engine should its underpowered Ares rocket be able to lift the capsule off the ground. NASA’s full press release follows.

HAMPTON, Va. - NASA completed a full-scale rocket motor test on Thursday, July 17, to further development of the Orion jettison motor, which will separate the spacecraft’s launch abort system from the crew module during launch. Orion, the Constellation Program’s crew exploration vehicle now under development, will fly to the International Space Station and be part of the spaceflight system to conduct sustained human exploration of the moon.

NASA and Aerojet successfully fired the jettison motor at the Aerojet facility in Sacramento, Calif. The demonstration is part of a series of developmental tests that pave the way for delivery of the motor to be used for the first full-scale test of the launch abort system at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico late this year.

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The Times Profiles Virgin Galactic’s Will Whitehorn

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on July 20, 2008
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Virgin Galactic’s Will Whitehorn combines industrial research with luxury goods
Martin Waller
The Times of London

“Mr. Whitehorn, who joined Virgin in 1987 as public relations man and then increasingly took on a managerial role, became president of Virgin Galactic in 2004.

The first task was to demonstrate there was a big enough market to justify putting the funds into what was, literally, a blue-sky venture. “We went out and decided to try to sell tickets,” he says. “We thought the easiest place to go first was people who wanted to go into space.”

The second phone call came, improbably, from Ms. [Victoria] Principal, who has since her days on the Dallas set built a large cosmetics business. Within months they had $10 million in deposits from 50 people.”

First Lunar Astronomical Observatory to Fly Aboard Odyssey Moon Craft

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Press Release
20 July 2008

Mountain View, CA – The world’s first astronomical observatory bound for the Moon was announced today as a joint venture between the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) and Google Lunar X PRIZE contender Odyssey Moon Limited.

A dual function ILO precursor instrument demonstrating observation and communication techniques will be part of the scientific and commercial payloads aboard Odyssey Moon’s inaugural “MoonOne” lander mission, planned for 2011, and destined for the lunar equator in pursuit of the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

The ILO precursor instrument will be used to conduct astrophysical and in-situ observations and communications, providing scientific research, technical demonstrations and proof of concept for the ILO venture. The announcement was made during a NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

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