'SPACE' in News

October 6, 2012

Mind-Blowing Facts About Asteroids

Asteroids are small rocky objects orbiting the sun. They are too small to be called planets yet are sometimes called minor planets or planetoids. Many asteroids are located between Mars and Jupiter in the Asteroid Belt.

Scientists estimate the main belt alone contains more than 1 million asteroids. The total number in the solar system could be much higher if space rocks beyond Neptune’s orbit are considered. Scientists say collisions of space rocks with the Earth must have happened many times over its 4.5 billion year history, especially early on. If a large asteroid were found to be heading toward Earthtoday, scientists and engineers could possibly devise a plan to track and deflect it, expert say. Some interesting facts about asteroids: MORE HERE

Giant Eye In Space Seen By Telescopes

A pair of NASA space telescopes have captured a spectacular new photo of the Helix Nebula, a glowing celestial vision that resembles a giant cosmic eye.

The Helix Nebula (also known as NGC 7293) represents a dying star known as a planetary nebula. The new picture, released Wednesday (Oct. 3), combines data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which observes in long-wavelength infrared light, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), which picked out the short-wavelength ultraviolet light coming from the object.

The Helix Nebula is located about 650 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. It provides a sneak peak at the future of our own sun, which is expected to turn into a planetary nebula in about 5 billion years.

Planetary nebulas are stars around the size of the sun that have neared the ends of their lives and run out of hydrogen and helium fuel for fusion in their cores. At this point, they puff out their outer gaseous layers into glowing shells around them, and condense into small white dwarf stars. MORE HERE

55 Years of Space Exploration : Video

October 4 marked the 55th anniversary of the Sputnik launch, which sent the first artificial satellite into orbit. It was actually a fairly small satellite, about the size of a basketball, but it had a big impact. It set in motion not only the space race, but jump-started a push for education and technology development. Thanks to the giant leap of Sputnik, we now use satellites for telecommunications, weather prediction, remote sensing, and navigation, not to mention the exploration of space.

This great video shows the notable events in the past 55 years of space exploration. It was put together by NU STARS, Northwestern University’s Space Technology and Rocketry Society

Read the rest of Video: 55 Years of Space Exploration            Watch the Video

International Space Station deploys five cubesats

The Expedition 33 crew demonstrated the ability of the International Space Station to deploy satellites on 4 October. Several tiny satellites (Cubesats) were released outside the Kibo laboratory using the new Small Satellite Orbital Deployer attached to the Japanese module's robotic arm. Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide set up the satellite deployment gear inside the lab and placed it in Kibo's airlock. The Japanese robotic arm then grappled the deployment system and its satellites from the airlock for deployment.

Three Japanese-made and two U.S.-made satellites were sent out. Releasing satellites from the ISS results in less vibration than direct launches on rockets, helping to reduce design and production costs, according to JAXA.

The experiment involving Japan's Kibo lab used satellites provided by such entities as the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Tohoku University and Wakayama University as well as San Jose State University.

After being released into orbit, the satellites will carry out various missions, including taking pictures of Earth and (in the case of FITSat-1) sending Morse code messages to the ground with high-power light-emitting diodes, for about 100 days, JAXA said.

The Physics of the First-Ever Supersonic Skydive

A daredevil will skydive to Earth from 23 miles up on Oct. 8, achieving supersonic speeds during his freefall. Expert...
Read More »

NASA Aims to Trim Giant Deep-Space Rocket's Cost

Newly efficient assembly methods should lower the price tag of NASA's giant new rocket for deep space missions, agency officials say.

Engineers at ATK Space Systems in Utah are putting together the solid rocket boosters for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lifter, which is designed to blast astronauts toward near-Earth asteroids, Mars and other destinations beyond Earth orbit.

The new boosters are similar to the ones that helped loft NASA's now-retired space shuttles to orbit. But several new upgrades and improvements should allow the new boosters to be built more cheaply and efficiently, officials said.  For information about NASA's Space Launch System 

Improved solid rocket booster to be tested next spring

The largest and most powerful solid rocket booster ever built for flight is being assembled for NASA's Space Launch System at ATK Space Systems in Brigham City, Utah, incorporating new cost-savings measures. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads beyond low Earth orbit, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.

Photo shows the forward segment of the qualification motor for NASA'S Space Launch System rocket being transported through manufacturing and assembly at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah in preparation for a full-scale ground test there in the spring of 2013.

Although similar to the solid rocket boosters that helped power the space shuttle to orbit, the five-segment SLS boosters include several upgrades and improvements implemented by NASA and ATK engineers. In addition, the SLS boosters will be built more affordably and efficiently than shuttle boosters, incorporating new and innovative processes and technologies.

New process improvements have been implemented throughout the manufacturing of Qualification Motor-1, the next full-scale test article for SLS booster. Four case segments have now been cast, and the motor will begin assembly in the test stand next month in preparation for a ground test in the spring of 2013.

Implementing new handling processes, ATK estimates the total assembly time for the SLS booster can be reduced by approximately 46% overall. In one area, ATK optimised inspection methods and replaced x-ray inspections with an ultrasonic examination of the booster's nozzle, allowing technicians to evaluate the hardware on the production floor. In another, ATK reduced the number of moves from 47 to seven during one phase of booster assembly, reducing the chance of any damage in transit and greatly reducing the time it takes to complete that production process.

The booster team has successfully completed its Booster Requirements Review confirming the five-segment solid rocket motor had a well-understood set of requirements. The review, held at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, included independent consultants and determined the team is ready to proceed to a Preliminary Design Review in 2013.

The initial 70-metric-ton configuration of the SLS will provide 10% more thrust than the Saturn V rocket at lift-off. The rocket's first stage will be powered by four RS-25 former space shuttle main engines flanked by two five-segment solid rocket boosters. The SLS solid rocket boosters will generate a combined 32 MN (7.2 million lbf) of thrust to help power the massive rocket off the launch pad.

   Watcha video about the SLS Booster Value Stream Mapping

GSAT-10 satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit

The orbit raising manoeuvres of GSAT-10 satellite have been successfully completed from ISRO's Master Control Facility, Hassan.

The third and final orbit raising manoeuvre was performed on 3 October 2012 to place the GSAT-10 in an orbit with 35,734 km apogee (farthest point to Earth), 35,585 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and an inclination of 0.172 degree with respect to the equator. Currently, the orbital period of GSAT-10 is 23 hours 50 minutes.

The two solar panels and the two dual gridded reflector antennas were also deployed later in the day. Currently, the satellite is in final orbital configuration at 70.18 degree East longitude. In the coming days, the satellite will be moved towards its designated location of 83 degree East and in-orbit testing of its communication and navigations payloads will be performed. Read More

'SPACE' in news

• Cloud Computing Is Making A Leap In Space Technology

Writing six ginger bytes of data every 1/60th of an hour is a daunting task. It might even sound mind-boggling for those outside the scientific community. However, the reality is true of a current mission in Europe that endeavors to chart the universe in its entirety using advanced servers. The mission will compute biological issues like biometrics, study rocks beyond the Milky Way, and explore planets in and outside the Solar System. What is the tying factor to all these? It is, undeniably, cloud computing.
Mars Rover: a fresh example
The most recent example of how cloud computing is changing the outlook of far-flung science for ordinary mortals is the Mars Rover project. It is now possible to create forums that can follow the exploits of the space probe vehicle on its maiden career on the rocky, uninhabitable terrain. It is no longer the fiction of Ray Bradbury about a Martian invasion that people will be reading. Rather, they will be reviewing real-time pictures of the Martian terra firma to disclose how to chart the fourth planet from the sun. Indeed, people can use these forums to debate how to alter earlier boundaries of craters that early missions to Mars showed post-2004.
One of the mysteries that have always surrounded Mars, which cloud computing can help resolve, is the crater that resembles a humanface staring into the stars. The most recent photos from the current probing mission show even more stark details about this phenomenon.
Cloud computing as a spatial collaboration
Other than Mars, there are many more lands of opportunities at the behest of would-be scientists. People can use video teleconferencing to showcase experiments and discuss important discoveries.
As a collaborative effort, the cloud acts as a perfect channel for storing data without fearing that the magnitude of the research will exhaust server memory. Indeed, this need not be so, since cloud computing thrives on tenancy. One only uses the space when there is need to. This is why the Americans have maintained their earliest rovers on the ‘red planet’ even after the times of these special vehicles are over. They can still rent room in datacenters dedicated to scientific research for the probing vehicles when need be and not always.
The frontier in space is expanding day by day due to keen interest by every brilliant mind out there. Years are gone when a select team in a national space agency not only made policies but implemented them entirely. Cloud computing now welcomes the views of independent researchers in space technology. They can perpetuate their views forward using their private clouds. Who knows; maybe the leading space agencies may discover them one day.
Another inspiring advancement in the cloud is nanotechnology. Micro physicians are challenging themselves with the query: if a toothbrush can fix a problem that would take months on earth to do on a space craft in space, why not them? Interestingly enough, large corporations in the computer industry are joining in. They make model programs that can act as a benchmark for future space studies. For example, there is now a new platform that is affording upcoming science graduates from the US to trace the Rover as it sends reports back to earth. This PowerPoint-like software will allow them to take pictures and inscribe them with maps, and captions. These efforts by graduates may later prove to be the quintessential charts for Mars.
Cloud computing is also according the satellites circling the globe independence from their human makers. These satellites relay information using standards that are easy to assimilate. Scientists can track them, but do not need to stay with eyes open because the objects have a semi-autonomous model of checking weather patterns, analyzing rock formation and helping with radio signals. They send reports back to the surface in preset times, meaning that they are in a private cloud that operates on its own, though the larger public can take advantage of their byproducts including clear radio signals and satellite television reception.
Becoming space citizens
It is inspiring to note that a site that has come in the wake of the recent missions to the red planet has attracted a virtual world of its own. The federal site has now a population of fifty-four thousands citizens. The citizens exchange notes, in forums and via chat. They discuss the latest reports from Rover that seem to come from their own planet. They can even improvise ways for the space rover to look for more evidence about the existence of water in the craters of Mars by offering suggestions. The NASA scientists behind the project may take a look at some brilliant suggestions and feed this into the craft’s program.
Sciencefiction movies and novels are no doubt becoming a stable reality through the interactions of cloud computing. The majority who know that they are some of the 99.9% who will never leave earth as space tourists can now live the experience when hidden behind their computer servers. They merely need to interact with other knowledgeable minds whenever a new rocket launches. They can follow it using the fruits of nanotechnology and cloud computing.  (Source)

• Extraterrestrial “Iron Man”: Buddhist Statue, Discovered By Nazi Expedition, Is Made Of Meteorite, New Study Reveals

September 26, 2012 -  Priceless thousand year old Buddhist statue known as the Iron Man is the first carving of a human in a meteorite

It sounds like an artifact from an Indiana Jones film; a 1000 year-old ancient Buddhist statue which was first recovered by a Nazi expedition in 1938 has been analysed by scientists and has been found to be carved from a meteorite. The findings, published in Meteoritics and Planetary Science, reveal the priceless statue to be a rare ataxite class of meteorite.

The statue weighs 10kg and is believed to represent a stylistic hybrid between the Buddhist and pre-Buddhist Bon culture that portrays the god Vaisravana, the Buddhist King of the North, also known as Jambhala in Tibet. The statue was discovered in 1938 by an expedition of German scientists led by renowned zoologist Ernst Schäfer. The expedition was supported by Nazi SS Chief Heinrich Himmler and the entire expeditionary team were believed to have been SS members.
Schäfer would later claim that he accepted SS support to advance his scientific research into the wildlife and anthropology of Tibet. However, historians believe Himmler’s support may have been based on his belief that the origins of the Aryan race could be found in Tibet.
It is unknown how the statue was discovered, but it is believed that the large swastika carved into the centre of the figure may have encouraged the team to take it back to Germany. Once it arrived in Munich it became part of a private collection and only became available for study following an auction in 2007.
The first team to study the origins of the statue was led by Dr Elmar Buchner from Stuttgart University. The team was able to classify it as an ataxite, a rare class of iron meteorite with high contents of nickel.

“The statue was chiseled from a fragment of the Chinga meteorite which crashed into the border areas between Mongolia and Siberia about 15,000 years ago,” said Dr Buchner. “While the first debris was officially discovered in 1913 by gold prospectors, we believe that this individual meteorite fragment was collected many centuries before.”

Meteorites inspired worship from many ancient cultures ranging from the Inuit’s of Greenland to the aborigines of Australia. Even today one of the most famous worship sites in the world, Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is based upon the Black Stone, believed to be a stony meteorite. Dr Buchner’s team believe the Iron Man originated from the Bon culture of the 11th Century.

“The Iron Man statue is the only known illustration of a human figure to be carved into a meteorite, which means we have nothing to compare it to when assessing value,” concluded Dr Buchner. “Its origins alone may value it at $20,000; however, if our estimation of its age is correct and it is nearly a thousand years old it could be invaluable.”
The fall of meteorites has been interpreted as divine messages by multitudinous cultures since prehistoric times, and meteorites are still adored as heavenly bodies. Stony meteorites were used to carve birds and other works of art; jewelry and knifes were produced of meteoritic iron for instance by the Inuit society.

 Approximately 10.6 kg of the Buddhist sculpture (the “iron man”) is made of an iron meteorite, which represents a particularity in religious art and meteorite science. The specific contents of the crucial main (Fe, Ni, Co) and trace (Cr, Ga, Ge) elements indicate an ataxitic iron meteorite with high Ni contents (approximately 16 wt%) and Co (approximately 0.6 wt%) that was used to produce the artifact.

 

In addition, the platinum group elements (PGEs), as well as the internal PGE ratios, exhibit a meteoritic signature. The geochemical data of the meteorite generally match the element values known from fragments of the Chinga ataxite (ungrouped iron) meteorite strewn field discovered in 1913. The provenance of the meteorite as well as of the piece of art strongly points to the border region of eastern Siberia and Mongolia, accordingly. The sculpture possibly portrays the Buddhist god Vaiśravana and might originate in the Bon culture of the eleventh century. However, the ethnological and art historical details of the “iron man” sculpture, as well as the timing of the sculpturing, currently remain speculative.

Citation: “Buddha from space—An ancient object of art made of a Chinga iron meteorite fragment”, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, September 2012, DOI: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01409. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01409.x/abstract

• Aliens To Invade Titan, Plans Disclosed, Ships Revealed

September 28, 2012 - Humanity has landed a rover on Mars. Now, say scientists, it’s time to land a boat on Titan. This outlandish scenario could become reality, according to engineers who presented their proposals at the European Planetary Science Congress on 27 September.  Of course, when humans go to another world, we are the aliens, you will please forgive the poetic license taken for the title of this story.

Image on the left shows the river networks draining into lakes in Titan's north polar region. I mage was produced by the Cassini mission.

The Cassini-Huygens mission, which studied Titan extensively in the 2000s, confirmed that lakes, seas and rivers of liquid hydrocarbons (similar to household gas) exist, covering much of the satellite’s northern hemisphere. Although it eventually landed on solid ground, the Hugyens lander was designed to be able to float for a short period.

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is one of the most Earth-like bodies in the Solar System. With a thick atmosphere, a diameter between that of Earth and the planet Mercury, and a network of seas, lakes and rivers, it is in many respects more like a planet than a moon like the Earth’s.

The new plans, called the Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer, proposes a boat-probe, propelled by wheels, paddles or screws. The probe would land in the middle of Ligeia Mare (the biggest lake, near Titan’s north pole), then set sail for the coast, taking scientific measurements along the way. The mission would last around six months to a year.

Screw concept for TALISE probe: This rendering of the proposed TALISE probe shows one possible means of propulsion: screws on either side of the probe.  

Paddle concept for TALISE probe: This rendering of the proposed TALISE probe shows one possible means of propulsion: paddle wheels on either side of the probe.
 
Wheeled concept for TALISE probe: This rendering of the proposed TALISE probe shows one possible means of propulsion: wheels on either side of the probe.

“The main innovation in TALISE is the propulsion system,” says Igone Urdampilleta (SENER), a member of the TALISE team. “This allows the probe to move, under control, from the landing site in the lake, to the closest shore. The displacement capability would achieve the obtaining of liquid and solid samples from several scientific interesting locations on Titan’s surface such as the landing place, along the route towards the shore and finally at the shoreline.”

Titan’s environment is too cold for life as we know it, but its environment, rich in the building blocks of life, is of great interest to astrobiologists. The satellite’s atmosphere is made up largely of nitrogen (like Earth’s), is rich in organic compounds and hydrogen cyanide, which may have played a role in the emergence of life on Earth.
The TALISE concept is being developed as a partnership between SENER and the Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain. This mission concept is the result of a ‘Phase 0′ study. In the following phases the feasibility study and a preliminary mission architecture would be realised to consolidate a possible technical proposal for future space science mission call.
For many years, Titan’s thick, methane- and nitrogen-rich atmosphere kept astronomers from seeing what lies beneath. Saturn’s largest moon appeared through telescopes as a hazy orange orb, in contrast to other heavily cratered moons in the solar system Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer has imaged a huge cloud system covering the north pole of Titan.  This composite image shows the cloud, imaged at a distance of 90,000 kilometers (54,000 miles) during a Dec. 29, 2006, flyby designed to observe the limb of the moon. Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer scanned the limb, revealing this spectacular cloud system. It covers the north pole down to a latitude of 62 degrees north and at all observed longitudes.

SENER is a private engineering and technology group founded in 1956, which seeks to offer its clients the most advanced technological solutions and which enjoys international recognition, thanks to its independence and its commitment to innovation and quality. SENER has a workforce of more than 5,200 professionals and a turnover of €1.16 billion (2011 figures). SENER engages in the specific activities of Engineering and Construction, and also has industrial holdings in companies involved in Energy and Environment, as well as in Aeronautics. 

In 2004, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft — a probe that flies by Titan as it orbits Saturn — penetrated Titan’s haze, providing scientists with their first detailed images of the surface. Radar images revealed an icy terrain carved out over millions of years by rivers of liquid methane, similar to how rivers of water have etched into Earth’s rocky continents.
While images of Titan have revealed its present landscape, very little is known about its geologic past. Now researchers at MIT and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville have analyzed images of Titan’s river networks and determined that in some regions, rivers have created surprisingly little erosion. The researchers say there are two possible explanations: either erosion on Titan is extremely slow, or some other recent phenomena may have wiped out older riverbeds and landforms.
Oded Aharonson, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, says analyzing geologic processes on Titan may help scientists understand how rivers form. “Besides Earth, Titan is the only world where we see active river networks forming as a result of an active hydrologic cycle,” Aharonson says. “The finding suggests the process of river erosion on Titan is currently responding to resurfacing or resetting of the surface.” 

“It’s a weirdly Earth-like place, even with this exotic combination of materials and temperatures,” Taylor Perron, the Cecil and Ida Green Assistant Professor of Geology at MIT ays. “And so you can still say something definitive about the erosion. It’s the same physics.

SENER is a global leader in the Space industry, with over 208 devices launched to date in 48 satellites and space vehicles: for the space agencies of the US (NASA), Europe (ESA), Japan (JAXA) and Russia (Roscosmos), all without a single recorded failure. Its latest noteworthy projects include the Solar Orbiter joint mission between NASA and the ESA, a scientific satellite for studying the sun’s upper latitudes and poles, where SENER provided the entire antenna subsystem, along with other components; and NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, where SENER supplied the pointing mechanism for the antenna, which enables bi-directional communication between the rover Curiosity and the mission’s tracking stations on Earth. Curiosity successfully reached Mars’ surface on August 6, and since then its broadband communication with Earth has been functioning normally thanks to the precision of SENER’s mechanism. Video on River network on Titan 

         Source for this article

Useful web sites/Resources in 'Aero-Space'

• HyperPhysics  HyperPhysics is an exploration environment for concepts in physics which employs concept maps and other linking strategies to facilitate smooth navigation. For the most part, it is laid out in small segments or "cards", true to its original development in HyperCard. The entire environment is interconnected with thousands of links, reminiscent of a neural network. The bottom bar of each card contains links to major concept maps for divisions of physics, plus a "go back" feature to allow you to retrace the path of an exploration. The side bar contains a link to the extensive Index, which itself is composed of active links. That sidebar also contains links to relevant concept maps. The rationale for such concept maps is to provide a visual survey of conceptually connected material, and it is hoped that they will provide some answers to the question "where do I go from here?". Whether you need further explanation of concepts which underlay the current card content, or are seeking applications which go beyond it, the concept map may help you find the desired information.
  HyperPhysics-Open iTunes to buy and download apps.
  
  The following are a few sample pages at this site which explain the concepts :

• Mechanics
• Newton's Laws
• Gravity

Certainly this a good reference resource for those interested in Physics.

Similar resources from the same developers:  Mathematics

For more information  ... Please 'Click here'

• Fundamentals of rocket propulsion

• What''s Rocket Propulsion?
• Rocket Propulsion - a tutorial
• How a rocket engine works?
• Propulsion Options

Some more in next post ...

'SPACE' in News (Sept., 19-20, 2012)

China launches navigation satellites
A Chinese rocket launched two navigation satellites into orbit on Sept., 19, 2012. The Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China (at 3:10 am Beijing time Wednesday) and placed two Beidou satellites into orbit. The two satellites, designated Compass-M5 and M6, were put into medium Earth orbits by the rocket, with altitudes of about 21,500 kilometers. The satellites are the latest to join China'a Beidou satellite navigation system, which provides services to China and surrounding territory today and with plans to provide global coverage, similar to the American GPS and Russian GLONASS systems, by the end of the decade. Related Links: Spaceflight Now article,   NASASpaceFlight.com article
 
October return-to-flight set for Russian Proton rocket
Russia expects to resume launching Proton rockets in October after an Aug. 6 upper stage failure stranded two communications satellites in useless orbits, according to International Launch Services, the Proton's commercial operator.    FULL STORY

NASA Dawn Spacecraft Sees Hydrated Minerals on Giant Asteroid

Sept. 20, 2012 -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed the giant asteroid Vesta has its own version of ring around the collar. Two new papers, based on observations from the low-altitude mapping orbit of the Dawn mission, show volatile, or easily evaporated, materials have colored Vesta's surface in a broad swath around its equator. 
The volatiles were released from minerals likely containing water. Pothole-like features mark some of the asteroid's surface where the volatiles boiled off. Dawn did not find actual water ice at Vesta. However, it found evidence of hydrated minerals delivered by meteorites and dust in the giant asteroid's chemistry and geology. The findings appear Thursday in the journal Science. 
One paper, led by Thomas Prettyman, the lead scientist for Dawn's gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND) at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., describes how the instrument found signatures of hydrogen, likely in the form of hydroxyl or water bound to minerals in Vesta's surface. 
"The source of the hydrogen within Vesta's surface appears to be hydrated minerals delivered by carbon-rich space rocks that collided with Vesta at speeds slow enough to preserve their volatile content," said Prettyman. Read More

Fuelling underway with Galileo satellites for Arianespace's next Soyuz launch
Sept. 20, 2012 -- Both passengers for Arianespace's third Soyuz flight from French Guiana are entering their final processing phase. As part of the activity, Galileo Flight Model #3 (FM3) was fuelled this week in the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility.
Galileo FM3 and its "sister" FM4 co-passenger subsequently will be integrated side-by-side on a dispenser for their shared ride aboard the Soyuz ST launcher, joining another pair of similar European navigation satellites lofted by Arianespace on the Soyuz launcher's maiden Spaceport flight in October 2011. Lift-off is currently scheduled for October 2012.
These initial four Galileo platforms were built by a consortium led by the Astrium division of EADS, which produced the platforms and has responsibility for the payloads, while Thales Alenia Space handled the assembly and testing tasks.
Arianespace has responsibility for deploying the entire Galileo constellation, utilising a mix of its medium-lift Soyuz and heavy-lift Ariane 5.Read More

Indian Think Tank: Space Conduct Code Seen by Some as Western Ploy

Sept. 19,  2012- The proposed International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities is viewed by many nations as cover for a Western attempt to corral developing countries’ space ambitions, an Indian think tank has concluded.
That perception, plus the squabbling between the United States and Europe over the code’s content, could scuttle attempts to promote common standards for space operations, according to Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Dehli.
Originally drafted by the European Union (EU), the code, currently undergoing revision, is designed to include all spacefaring nations. But the lack of formal consultations on its contents has undermined its credibility, Rajagopalan said Sept. 13 during a space policy conference in Brussels, organized by the Secure World Foundation of the United States and France’s IFRI Space Policy Program.
“A sizable number of nations believe the EU code is a Western ploy to limit the activities of other spacefaring countries, including India,” Rajagopalan said, adding that established space powers’ judgment about space conduct violations “has not been credible.” Read More

India Looks For Greater Industry Participation In Space

Sept. 19, 2012 - The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to support its indigenous space technology industry to make launch vehicles and communication satellites.
“If industry takes up launch vehicles and satellites through a consortium and [working] with ISRO, it will benefit all of us in several ways. ISRO could focus on more challenging tasks,” according to ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan.
Since space missions have become a lucrative business for private industry, and in order to meet the huge demand for satellite services, “in the next two years, we need to work the with industry on this in a mission mode and show the new face of Indian space industry,” he says.
“ISRO would like to sit on one side and look at Indian Space Industry Consortia [to] take leadership in niche areas of operational and launch vehicle systems. If we fail to move into such a production regime now, we will feel the pinch in the next decade,” Radhakrishnan said recently.
ISRO has sketched out future scenarios and concluded that India’s operational launch vehicles — currently the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and in the future the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle or GSLV-Mk III — could be produced by Indian industry.
“In the future, operational launch vehicles such as the PSLVs, GSLVs and GSLV Mark III could be produced by the industry, starting from basic raw materials to actual launch,” he says.
Radhakrishnan suggests studying the relationships between European and U.S. space agencies and their respective supporting industries. Read More

 
NASA laser communications mission passes major review milestone

Do you ever wish your webpages would load faster? 
Do you remember the days of dial-up and how long it would take a webpage to load?
The internet is no longer limited by the slow speed of dial-up connections, so why should our satellites be?

NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission has successfully completed a Mission Concept Review, a major evaluation milestone of the engineering plan to execute the build and launch of a space communications laser system. The LCRD payload is scheduled for launch onboard a Loral commercial satellite in 2017.
The two-day review was convened at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Goddard's Systems Review Team consisted of members from various technical disciplines to evaluate the Goddard work needed for a successful LCRD mission.
The LCRD project is NASA's first long duration optical communications mission. The Goddard team leads the project with significant support from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Space Systems/Loral.
Space laser communications technology has the potential to provide 10 to 100 times higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems for the same mass and power. Alternatively, numerous NASA studies have shown that a laser communications system will use less mass and power than a radio frequency system for the same data rate. Read More

'SPACE' in Recent News (Sept., 13-19, 2012)

• Ariane-5 Glitch Delays GSAT-10 Launch

Sept., 19, 2012- The September 22 launch of Indian communication satellite GSAT-10 has been delayed one week following the discovery of a damaged hose connecting the launch vehicle to its launch pad. “While carrying out inspections the Arianespace has found that the air hose connecting the launch pad and the vehicle had a small damage,” said Indian Space Research Organisation. Read more

• Mars Rover Curiosity Has First Target in Sight

Sept., 19, 2012 - NASA's newly commissioned Mars rover Curiosity is expected to reach its first science target on Sept., 21 a pyramid-shaped rock that will be used to assess how well two of the rover's 10 science instruments complement each others' measurements. The rock, named for chief systems engineer Jake Matijevic, who died shortly after the rover’s landing, is about 10 inches tall and 16 inches wide at its base.

"Both of those instruments could make a measurement and there could be differences because one is measuring at a small scale and one is measuring at a larger scale," said Curiosity lead scientist John Grotzinger.
"The hope is that we can analyze this rock and then do a cross-comparison between the two instruments -- not to mention that it's just a cool looking rock, sitting out there on the plains with almost pyramidal geometry, so that's kind of fun as well," Grotzinger said.
Curiosity, which landed inside a 96-mile-wide impact basin known as Gale Crater on Aug. 6, is enroute to a patch of terrain where three different kinds of rock intersect.
The science team is making several stops to practice using Curiosity's instruments. The point of the two-year mission is to assess whether the landing site has or ever had the chemical and environmental conditions needed for microbial life.  (Source)  Related pages: Photo 2

• Harnessing Solar Energy To Sail To The Stars?

It's interesting when you look back at the history of space exploration and realize that propulsion technology hasn't really changed very much.

The earliest rocket prototypes were nothing more than elaborate versions of weapons used during World War 2 and fireworks used during civil celebrations. Even the Space Shuttle made use of solid rocket fuel technology in its pair of solid rocket boosters. But, with the liquid rocket fuel propulsion in the external tank, this combination has proved to be highly effective and launched hundreds of astronauts into space.The approach works -- albeit not very efficiently -- and to get out of the Earth's gravitational well, it seems for now that the extra punch from exothermic processes is needed.
The solar sail concept is simple: any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation 'feels' a pressure known as radiation pressure and it's this pressure that exerts a tiny pushing force against the surface. If the surface happens to be a spacecraft or part of a spacecraft, it could act against it to provide propulsion through space.The concept of radiation pressure isn't particularly new. The idea was first alluded to by Johannes Kepler in 1610 when he suggested the reason why the tail of a comet points away from the sun was in some waycaused by the sun. Kepler even made reference to using this unknown force for exploration when he wrote in a letter: 'Provide ships or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes, and there will be some who will brave even that void.'
The technique is already being used in space exploration for course corrections and fuel savings. For example, NASA's Mercury MESSENGER probe successfully used solar radiation pressure to make small course corrections during its journey to the innermost planet.

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With Ikaros' 27 square meter sail deployed, the full effect of radiation pressure from the sun on the sail produces about 0.0002 pounds of force, that's equal to about 0.1 grams -- less than the average goose feather! The acceleration offered by this method of propulsion is small but over a long period of time, incredible speeds could be reached.
The downside to this mode of transportation is that heavier craft will take longer to accelerate, so larger sails would need to be manufactured. Ikaros' sail was impregnated with solar cells to power the electronic equipment and a matrix of liquid crystals around the outside whose reflectivity could be altered to change the attitude of the spacecraft.
Future missions will take these tests further from the sun. The challenge here is that the further away from the sun you go, the weaker the radiation pressure, so acceleration through interstellar space will be limited. Innovations in laser technology may extend the range of solar sails.
The technology is no doubt in its infancy, but new ideas of rotating solar sails in various configurations show great promise.
In deep space, however, there are alternatives receiving very serious consideration -- such as the "eco-friendly" solar sail.

 By 1864, it was accepted that light carried momentum and would exert a pressure on anything it meets. A great demonstration of this can be seen in the Nichols radiometer, which is a sealed bulb with tiny silvered glass mirrors attached by a very thin wire inside the glass. On being exposed to light the mirrors start to rotate, driven by radiation pressure exerted by photons from the bulb filament.To make the most out of radiation pressure for space exploration every bit of solar energy needs to be eked out. For any useful form of propulsion, giant solar sails need to be used and exposed to as much light as possible.
The first interplanetary test of a solar sail was conducted by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency in May 2010 with the launch of Ikaros. This was the first time a solar sail was deployed and tested in space and used as its primary propulsion. NASA also launched the orbital solar sail prototype Nanosail-D in November 2010, successfully completing its mission after 240 days in Earth orbit. Ikaros, on the other hand, continues its journey around the sun after passing Venus in December 2010.
Related pages: NASA's Nanosail-D Released into the Winds of Space;  Japan's Solar Sail Photographed in Orbit;  Using Fusion to Propel an Interstellar Probe

• NanoThor Aims to Fling NanoSats into Orbit

Sept., 18, 2012- Humans can only dream of having the power of Thor, the Norse-inspired 

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superhero who can whirl and throw his hammer at blinding speeds. A NASA-funded plan envisions rockets using a similar idea to hurl tiny satellites toward other planets.
The "NanoTHOR" project aims to connect small satellites with upper rocket stages by using miles-long tethers, so that the  rocket stages can spin the satellites around like Thor's hammer. NASA awarded the idea $100,000 from its Innovative Advanced Concepts program to begin running computer simulations and figure out a hardware design.
NanoTHOR, whose name derives from the Norse god Thor’s thrown hammer, would enable multiple nanosatellites to be carried as secondary payloads on upper stages launched into GTO to be injected into Earth-escape trajectories by scavenging orbital momentum and propellant from the upper stage. It utilizes a lightweight, re-usable tether to transfer momentum from the rocket stage to the nanosatellite. The use of a rotating tether “multiplies” the rocket’s delta-V by the mass ratio of the stage to the nanosat, enabling it to provide both very-high specific impulse propulsion competitive with the best EP thrusters and short transfer times competitive with chemical rockets. The tether also enables the stage’s orbital momentum to be converted to tether rotational momentum to increase the nanosat toss velocity.
"Using a few tricks, we could get that system spinning so the rocket upper stage could swing the nanosatellite out of Earth's orbit and on to the moon or an interplanetary trajectory," said Robert Hoyt, CEO and chief scientist of Tethers Unlimited Inc. Read More

• German Space Agency Prepares to Capture Errant Satellites

On September 13 German Space Agency DLR awarded Astrium GmbH a contract to manage the Deutsched Orbital Servicing Mission (DEOS) mission preparation. The one year 15 million Euro contract is intended to pave the way for construction of an experimental servicing satellite. “The DEOS mission is expected to put this to the test for the [...] Read More

• Investigation into Failed Proton Complete

Sept., 18, 2012- On September 11, the Failure Review Oversight Board completed its investigation of the August 6 failure of a Proton-M Breeze-M upper stage. The board confirmed the root cause of the accident as a manufacturing defect and approved manufacturer Khrunichev’s corrective action plan.
”This is an opportunity to learn, enhance and improve the overall reliability and processes of our systems,” said acting ILS Vice President and Chief Technical Officer John Palme.
The August 6 failure occurred when a pressurization failure in the Breeze-M fuel line caused its third stage burn to operate seven seconds instead of the intended 18 minutes and five seconds. No action has been taken with respect to the Telkom and Ekpress-MD2 satellites that were stranded as a result. On August 7, the investigation board was convened headed by research center TsNIIMash first deputy director O.P. Skorobogatov, scheduled to conclude its work by August 16. As that date came and passed, conflicting political voices alternately threatened mass punishment for the industry’s slackness and denied any sort of systemic problem in Russia’s space industry. The failure came almost exactly one year after another Breeze-M failure that resulted in the Ekspress-AM4 satellite being placed in a useless orbit.
The batch of Breeze-Ms manufactured with the failed unit have already been recalled and are slated to be reworked and inspected. The review board approved that approach and called for an enhanced quality management system to be applied across all Khrunichev facilities. These actions must be completed prior to Proton’s return to flight. The next launch of the vehicle is currently scheduled for mid-October, when it is due to carry an Intelsat satellite into orbit. A reorganization of the industry is in the works that is expected to take place over the next three years. A $21 billion funding allocation was announced by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on September 10 help get the Russian agency back on its feet.
Over the course of recent Russian space failures, the consistent attributions that arise are a critical funding shortage and a more critical workforce shortage. Roscosmos’s 200 employees have an average age of 50, an age which continues to rise as younger professionals have not been hired in sufficient numbers or trained to take their places.

• Two Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Whizz By Earth

Sept., 14, 2012 - On the evening of September 13-14, two asteroids classified as “Potentially Hazardous” streaked past Earth with no potential of impacting the planet. Asteroid 2012 QC8, with a diameter of one kilometer, passed at 23 lunar distances (8.7 million km). Asteroid 2012 QG42, with dimensions of 190-430 meters, passed within 7.5 lunar distances at 2.8 million km. View a Video

• European Industry Develops Space Safety Radar

ESA will boost European industrial expertise by developing a new radar as part of the Agency’s Space Situational Awareness programme. The radar will test future debris monitoring techniques, helping European satellite operators avoid space hazards and increase safety in Earth orbit.
ESA and France’s ONERA – Office National d’Etudes et Recherches Aérospatiales – research centre have signed a €4 million contract that will see the French organisation and five industrial partners in France, Spain and Switzerland design a test surveillance radar and develop a demonstrator model. Work begins this month.
“The agreement significantly increases European industrial competitiveness and capabilities in this field,” says Nicolas Bobrinsky, Head of ESA’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Preparatory Programme.  Read More

'SPACE' in NEWS

(Aug. 18 - 28, 2012)

Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the Moon, passes away Aug 25, 2012 -  Neil Armstrong, the former NASA astronaut who became the first person to walk on the surface of the Moon in 1969, passed away Saturday at the age of 82. Armstrong died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures, according to a statement released by his family. Armstrong underwent cardiac bypass surgery earlier this month. Armstrong is best known as commander of Apollo 11, the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, and he became the first person to set foot on the Moon, joined by lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. Armstrong also flew on the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. Armstrong left NASA in 1971 and went on to careers in academia and industry, and also served on the NASA Advisory Council. Related Links: NBCNews.com article Farewell, Mr. Armstrong August 27, 2012- On Saturday, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, passed away at the age of 82. Jeff Foust examines what his life meant to so many people inside and outside the space community.

Weather delays Atlas launch to next week Aug 25, 2012 -  Poor weather prevented Saturday's planned launch of a pair of NASA space science satellites, and the threat of a tropical storm will keep the rocket grounded until late next week. NASA had hoped to launch the twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) at 4:07 am EDT (0807 GMT) Saturday, one day after a technical problem scrubbed the first launch attempt. However, stormy weather prevented the launch from taking place during a 20-minute window. NASA announced later Saturday morning that the launch would be postponed to no earlier than Thursday, August 30, because of concerns about Tropical Storm Issac, which is approaching southern Florida and likely to preclude launch attempts for several days. The Atlas 5 rocket will be rolled back to its assembly building until the storm passes. The two RBSP spacecraft will study the Van Allen radiation belts that surround the Earth. Related Links:  Florida Today article

Latin America’s space programs in 2012  August 27, 2012- An increasing number of countries in Latin America are getting involved in space through the development or ownership of their own satellites and by other means. W. Alex Sanchez examines the changing capabilities of and interests among Latin American countries in space today.

Review: A Brief History of Rocketry in ISRO August 27, 2012- India has been developing a variety of launch vehicles for over half a century. Jeff Foust reviews a book that provides a history of the development of those rockets and profiles the key people who made them possible.

News on Curiosity@Mars ... Curiosity sends stunning views of Mount Sharp NASA's Curiosity rover, giving earthlings a glimpse of its ultimate target, has beamed back spectacular high-resolution photos of the rugged foothills of Mount Sharp, showing a khaki-coloured landscape marked by towering hills, gaping canyons and sand dunes reminiscent of the American southwest, scientists said . Mars craft bring weather stations to the red planet Amid its rock-zapping duties and choreographed test drives, the Curiosity rover's weather station is logging sharp temperature swings, wind gusts and pressure changes to create an enduring record of Martian climate.     ChemCam Laser First Analyses Yield Beautiful Results (23 August 2012) Members of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover ChemCam team, including Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, squeezed in a little extra target practice after zapping the first fist-sized rock that was placed in the laser’s crosshairs last weekend. Coverity Ensures Seamless Touchdown And Operation Of Curiosity Mars Rover (21 August 2012) Coverity today announced that the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), builder of the Curiosity Rover, used Coverity to help ensure the reliability of the mission-critical flight software guiding the successful landing of Curiosity on Mars. NASA Selects DLR Experiment For InSight Mission To Mars (21 August 2012)  After the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, NASA has selected one more lander mission to Mars. Lockheed Martin To Build Spacecraft For Insight Mars Lander (20 August 2012) An exciting and novel mission to Mars has been selected as NASA’s next Discovery mission. New Insight On Mars Expected From New NASA Mission (20 August 2012) On Aug. 20, NASA announced the selection of InSight, a new Discovery-class mission that will probe Mars at new depths by looking into the deep interior of Mars. New NASA Mission To Take First Look Deep Inside Mars (20 August 2012) NASA has selected a new mission, set to launch in 2016, that will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars to see why the Red Planet evolved so differently from Earth as one of our solar system's rocky planets. Rover's Laser Instrument Zaps First Martian Rock (19 August 2012) Today, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity fired its laser for the first time on Mars, using the beam from a science instrument to interrogate a fist-size rock called "Coronation."

Is China Going to Blast Past America in Space? Aug 21, 2012 - In recent weeks China has appeared prominently in the international media. To the layman it would seem that the Asian superpower is advancing its space technology and exploration program at warp speed and may overtake the American space program very soon. Most recently its Shenzhou-9 spacecraft successfully docked with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab. This was the country's first space flight with a female astronaut and its first docking in orbit. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft lifted off on Ju ... read more

XCOR Aerospace’s multi-talented Lynx spaceplane set for KSC August 27th, 2012 - XCOR Aerospace – who are believed to be close to arranging a deal to set up a base at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) – have outlined the three versions of their Lynx suborbital spaceplane. The reusable vehicle will even include the ability to send small spacecraft to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), utilizing an upper stage, housed in an installed dorsal pod.  XCOR Aerospace is a small, privately held California corporation that has a focus on the research, development, project management and production of Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), rocket engines and rocket propulsion systems. KSC requires no introduction, following its world famous career launching American astronauts into space. However, that is – for now – at an end, leaving the Center with an arduous task of trying to attract commercial companies to the Space Coast, as part of its “multi-user” spaceport brief.  FULL STORY

NASA's RBSP launch rescheduled again The launch of an Atlas V carrying NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) payload was scrubbed again, this time due to weather conditions associated with lightning, as well as cumulus and anvil clouds. With the unfavourable weather forecast as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac, the leadership team has decided to roll the Atlas V vehicle back to the Vertical Integration Facility to ensure the launch vehicle and twin RBSP spacecraft are secured and protected from inclement weather. Pending approval from the range, the launch is rescheduled to 30 August at 0805 UTC. More ...

Articles of your Interest Achieving Mission Resilience for Space Systems Space systems need enhanced resiliency to ensure performance of critical functions and overall mission operations during a cyberattack. Aerospace is investigating various approaches to achieving such resilience for current and future programs. Cyber Protection and Space System Acquisition Space systems will undoubtedly be targeted for future cyberattacks—but by focusing on capabilities, rather than components, developers can ensure that space assets will deliver critical functionality when it is needed most. Green Propulsion: Trends and Perspectives Environmentally friendly alternatives could reduce the risk and cost of propulsion systems. Aerospace has been investigating possible candidates for national security space systems. Rocket Soot Emissions and Climate Change Scientists at The Aerospace Corporation have been studying the effects of rocket launch emissions on the atmosphere in anticipation of growing trends in space launch activities. Modeling the Effect of Thermospheric Changes on Satellite Orbit Lifetime Aerospace conducted a series of simulations to quantify the effect of declining mesospheric density on low Earth orbital lifetimes.