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November 9th, 2021
Fregat upper stage. Credit: Roscosmos
Russia’s re-entry into lunar exploration – the Luna-25 – is slowly coming together with a projected launch date apparently sliding from May into July 2022.
Meanwhile, an upper stage “Fregat” designed to launch the Moon probe atop a Soyuz-2.1b booster is being air-shipped to the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Russia’s Luna-25 Moon lander.
Credit: RSC Energia/Roscosmos
Luna-25 has been produced by NPO Lavochkin and tasked to soft land in the near-polar region and to carry out contact studies of the South Pole of the Moon. The main task of the mission is to develop basic soft landing technologies.
The Fregat upper stage, manufactured by NPO Lavochkin, is used as part of medium-class launch vehicles, hurling payloads on trajectories departing from the Earth. Since 2000, the Fregat upper stage has provided 101 launch campaigns and launched more than 700 spacecraft, both Russian and foreign, into various near-earth orbits and departure trajectories.
Factory floor integration of science instruments on Russia’s Luna-25 Moon mission, originally targeted for an October 2021 sendoff.
Credit: Roscosmos
Follow-on missions
Originally targeted for sendoff in October 2021, Luna-25 opens a long-term Russian lunar program, which includes missions to study the Moon from orbit and surface, collect and return lunar soil to Earth, as well as construct a visited lunar base, in cooperation with the Chinese National Space Administration within a large-scale project to create an International Scientific Lunar Station.
As noted by the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, there are follow-on Russian Moon missions on the books: Luna-26 (or Luna-Resurs-Orbiter), an orbital mission to study Moon from low polar orbit. Luna-27 would be a landing mission (or Luna-Resurs-Lander), designed to study lunar regolith on-the-spot. The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on a drill and a sampling device for this spacecraft.
Luna-27
Credit: Roscosmos/ESA
ESA/Russia cooperation
When Luna-25 lands on the Moon, it will image the terrain with a European Pilot-D camera built specifically for landing.
According to ESA, two years after Luna-25, the Luna-26 orbiter will be sent to lunar orbit for remote scientific measurements and as a possible communications relay for the next lander mission. It will transmit data back to ground stations on Earth, including ESA’s ground station network.
The Luna-27 lander will be launched one year after Luna-26 and will be larger than its predecessor Luna-25. It will fly to a challenging landing site closer to the lunar south pole using a European system called Pilot as its main navigation system.
Additionally, Luna-27 will deploy the European Prospect drill that will search for water ice and other chemicals under the surface.
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China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Circling Mars, China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft has been placed in a new orbit to initiate a global remote sensing sweep of the planet. The orbit change was completed in nearly two hours with four high-power engines pushing the orbiter into a pre-set orbit through a single ignition.
The orbiter is designed to orbit Mars for about two years and has been working since it entered Mars orbit in February 2021.
Tianwen-1 will continue to relay communication between China’s Zhurong Mars rover and Earth in the new orbit.
Credit: Zou Yongliao, et al.
Seven payloads
China National Space Administration (CNSA) has stated that the orbiter’s seven scientific payloads will obtain scientific data relating to morphology and geological structure, surface material composition and soil type distribution, the atmospheric ionosphere and the space environment of Mars.
In a China Central Television (CCTV) interview, Zhu Xinbo, deputy chief designer, Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter, said the orbiter will move between the north and south poles of Mars, and conduct surface sensing at its perigee (lowest point of the orbit) to better observe the Red Planet.
“The camera’s resolution will be greatly improved,” Zhu said.
Zhu said it is estimated that preliminary global data of Mars will be available by June 2022, laying a foundation for subsequent robotic Mars sampling missions.
Zhurong Mars robot. Credit: CNSA
“We can get insightful data about the Mars through the payloads, including magnetic field, topography and subsurface structure,” said Zhu.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
In good condition
To date, CNSA added that the Tianwen-1 spacecraft has worked in orbit for 473 days. Meanwhile the Zhurong rover has operated on the Martian surface for 174 Martian days, accumulating a total distance of 0.7 of a mile (1,253 meters). The two are in good condition and all systems are reportedly working normally.
Before the rover touched down on the Red Planet, the orbiter’s high-resolution camera and medium-resolution camera produced images of the landing area.
“At the end of next year when the orbiter’s designed life comes to an end, we’ll design new missions based on the specific conditions of the orbiter, and will then lower its orbit to extend the segmental arc for closer observation of Mars and obtain more exploratory data,” Zhu said.
Subsurface radar deployment
Onboard the Tianwen-1 orbiter is the Mars Orbiter Subsurface Investigation Radar (MOSIR). MOSIR is intended to search for water ice and liquid water that may be associated with signs of life in the polar layered deposits, Tianwen-1 landing site, and other selected areas.
With its deployment, the subsurface radar will have four antennas, which are about five meters in length. “Electromagnetic waves can be transmitted and received through the four antennas. Then we can explore and get the data about the subsurface structure of Mars, including the distribution of water and ice,” said Zhu.
Go to these newly released videos detailing the orbit change and China’s planning of Red Planet exploration at:
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping completed their extravehicular activities (EVAs) and returned to the space station core module Tianhe in the early hours of Monday, Beijing time.
The two returned to the core module after 6.5 hours of spacewalking duties. Ye Guangfu remained in the cabin and supported the EVAs.
This was the third extravehicular mission conducted during the construction of China’s space station and the first by the Shenzhou-13 crew.
Zhai’s spacewalk signaled his second time performing an EVA. He completed China’s first spacewalk 13 years ago during the Shenzhou-7 mission. In this more recent outing, he installed “foot stoppers” and then performed the EVAs under the assistance of the station’s robotic arm.
Credit: CNSA/China Media Group/CCTV
Robotic arm work
Following her exit of the Tianhe core module, Wang became China’s first woman astronaut to perform an EVA.
The ground control center and the Shenzhou-13 spacewalkers cooperated closely in installing a suspension device and transfer connectors to the robotic arm.
Credit: CNSA/China Media Group/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“The device installed this time is mainly used for connecting the upper and lower parts of the robotic arm. We made this to prepare for the two parts to carry out combined operation. After being connected, the two parts can form a 15-meter-long robotic arm, which will have a wider working range,” Tang Zixin, monitor of the robotic arm engineering of the space station system at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told China Central Television (CCTV).
Following two-person EVAs, the trio of taikonauts celebrate.
Credit: CNSA/China Media Group/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Station orientation
“This time, the Tianhe core module has two cargo crafts docked at the two ends and a manned spacecraft docked radially. The whole structure has changed a lot. Therefore, to prepare for the EVAs, we made special adjustment involving the flying attitude, solar wings, and tilt angle of communication antenna. The core module’s flying attitude was especially designed for this time’s EVAs. The operation was very precise and accurate,” Zhu Guangchen, deputy chief designer of the space station system at the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation told CCTV.
China launched the Shenzhou-13 crew on October 16, the trio of taikonauts on a six-month mission to construct its space station, expected to be completed by the end of next year.
China’s space station scheduled to be operational in 2020’s.
Photo credit: CMSA
New lab modules
China is preparing the launch of two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian. They will first dock with the space station’s core module in the forward direction and then the mechanical arm will move them to both sides of the core module.
Before this milestone, the Shenzhou-13 crew will use the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft to do a simulative test.
“Tianzhou-2 is now in front of our core module, and then will turn to the side of the core module by the mechanical arm to verify the process of transposition after Wentian module docks with the space station. This is a technique that we must master before the final ‘T’ shape was formed during the assembly phase of the space station,” said Li Xuedong, lead designer of the space station system with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The robotic arm of China’s Tiangong space station seen from Tianhe core module. Credit: Weibo via Twitter
The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft is expected to complete its mission and undock from the space station early next year. After that, the Shenzhou-13 crew will also complete their mission and return to Earth.
When the Shenzhou-14 crew enters the space station, the country will launch the Wentian module that is outfitted with a special airlock capsule, providing a better environment for crew members to carry out spacewalks. That airlock is larger than the one now being used in the core module. It also has more equipment to facilitate EVAs, Li told CCTV.
A number of videos have been issued documenting the recent spacewalk activities. Go to:
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now carrying out Sol 3290 tasks.
New imagery shows drilling operations on the Red Planet and details of its current surroundings:
New drill hole (center of image). Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo taken on Sol 3289, November 6, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B photo taken on Sol 3289, November 6, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B photo taken on Sol 3289, November 6, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image acquired on Sol 3288, November 5, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image acquired on Sol 3288, November 5, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image acquired on Sol 3288, November 5, 2021.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Credit: CCTV/CMSEO
China’s Shenzhou-13 crew are carrying out spacewalking duties on Sunday, using “Feitian” EVA suits for work outside the Tianhe space station core module.
Credit: CMS/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Chinese taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and female colleague Wang Yaping are performing the spacewalks with Ye Guangfu in the cabin supporting the EVAs.
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) the spacewalk will last for about 6 hours with Wang becoming the first female taikonaut of China’s space corps to conduct an EVA.
Credit: CCTV/CMSEO/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Emergency practice
Earlier, the three Chinese astronauts in the under-construction Tiangong space station carried out an emergency evacuation exercise on a scenario of a crash caused by space debris.
China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the exercise started with an alarm for the loss of pressure in the space station. Astronaut Zhai Zhigang made judgments about the data of the pressure, while Ye Guangfu responded by opening the emergency gas cylinder to ensure that the pressure in the cabin remained stable.
Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu soon closed the hatches of the two cargo crafts in a few minutes and evacuated to the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13.
China’s space station is projected to be completed in late 2022.
Credit: CAST
Astronaut safety
“We have data criteria for the emergency management, such as the cabin pressure and its decline rate. The astronauts will open the emergency gas cylinder at first, and check where the leakage happens. If the core module is not leaking, they will go to check the spaceship. The astronauts need to close the hatches after ensuring the spaceship is fine,” said Wang Chunhui, deputy chief designer of astronaut system of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
Shenzhou-13 crew conducts an emergency evacuation drill onboard the country’s space station, November 7. 2021. CCCTV/China Media Group
“The design of the space station has set the highest requirements for the astronauts’ safety. We have all emergency preparedness for the pressure loss in the cabin, fire and other situations to ensure the life safety of the astronauts,” Wang told CCTV.
The three Chinese astronauts have been working and living in orbit after entering the core module on October 16.
The combination of China’s space station is formed by the Shenzhou-13 spaceship, Tianhe core module, and cargo craft Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3.
Go to this just-released video via China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Media Group(CMG)/China Central Television (CCTV) at:
Credit: Roscosmos
Russia is ready to loft its Prichal nodal module to the International Space Station. The hardware is part of the Progress M-UM transport cargo vehicle, set for departure on November 24, 2021 from the Baikonur launch site.
The developer of the nodal module is the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia named after S.P. Queen (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation). Credit: RKK Energia
The Prichal module is designed to increase the technical and operational capabilities of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. This module is to be docked to the nadir unit of the multipurpose laboratory module “Science.”
Prichal is designed to provide docking of up to five objects, ensuring the possibility of re-docking of products equipped with a re-docking manipulator from the axial port to the side port and vice versa, according to Roscosmos.
Credit: Roscosmos
Credit: Roscosmos
Credit: Roscosmos
Credit: Ralf Vandebergh
Retro fire yourself back to the 1970’s.
It was a time of Soviet Union/United States Cold War, space race, one-upmanship histrionics.
In late March 1972, the Soviet Union’s Cosmos 482 was launched – an attempted Venus probe that ran afoul during its rocket-powered escape to that cloud-veiled world.
A big chunk of that failed craft remains in Earth orbit today as space junk.
Venera 8
Credit: NPO Lavochkin
Telescopic looks
Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands has been taking telescopic looks at the errant Cosmos 482 remains for numbers of years. He explains that, in late June 1972, a smaller object separated from the main spacecraft, thought to be the lander (descent craft), and catalogued as piece E.
Recently, Vandebergh re-appraised images he had taken of the spacecraft leftovers, stacking the best data he obtained from 2014 observations.
“I stacked data of 2 imaging sessions and I’m pretty sure now that there is a compact object – presumably the descent module as stated by experts,” Vandebergh told Inside Outer Space. “However the interesting thing is that there seems to be a fainter elongated part that seems attached to the compact object. It is just very hypothetical, but I thought it could be possible that what we see is the parachute that came out of the lander when it separated from the main spacecraft.”
Venera 8 descent probe.
Credit: Hall of Venus/NPO Lavochkin
Inevitable descent
The former Soviet Union’s Cosmos 482 was a sister probe to Venera 8. That spacecraft in July 1972 became the second craft to land successfully on the surface of Venus. It relayed data from Venus’ hellish surface for 50 minutes and 11 seconds before succumbing to the harsh planetary conditions.
Meanwhile, adrift around Earth and headed, eventually, for an Earth reentry is the lost-to-space Cosmos 482 wreckage.
One key question that intrigues satellite spotters is whether the out-of-action spacecraft still includes its Venus entry capsule.
That Soviet-style contraption was built to withstand the heat of diving into Venus’ cloud-veiled planet’s thick atmosphere. That Venus lander mass is pegged at 1,091 lbs. (495 kilograms) and carries significant thermal protection.
Credit: Hall of Venus/NPO Lavochkin
So could this piece of space junk survive its inevitable descent back to its home planet.
According to N2YO.com – a website dedicated to real time satellite tracking – the Cosmos 482 leftovers are circuiting Earth in an orbit that’s 129 miles (207.6 kilometers) by 1,284 miles (2,065.7 kilometers).
Exactly when and where the wayward hardware could plummet back to Earth is uncertain. Some analysts peg its reentry between 2023 and late 2026.
Shenzhou-13 crew.
Credit: CCTV/CMSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s trio of taikonauts — Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu – residing in the country’s space station Tianhe core module are preparing for the mission’s first extravehicular activity in the coming days.
All conditions for the crew’s first EVAs are in place, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Friday.
The combination of China’s under-construction space station is formed by the Shenzhou-13 spaceship, Tianhe core module, and cargo crafts Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3.
Credit: CMSA
Settling in settings
“The Shenzhou-13 taikonauts have finished their settling in settings. And they have unpacked the new extravehicular suit we just sent up with the Tianzhou-3 cargo craft and completed various tests to make sure the space suit is well set for extravehicular activities,” said Wu Hao, an assistant researcher of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, who specializes in training space crews for extravehicular activities.
The Shenzhou-13 team have successfully transferred supplies from the Tianzhou cargo crafts, maintained the space station combination in a good condition, unpacked and tested the new extravehicular spacesuit, conducted medical examinations, done weightless exercises, carried out some regular scientific experiments, and prepared for such emergency operations as evacuation and first aid, said the CMSA.
Target: new duration record
Launched on October 16, the crew will stay in orbit for six months, setting a new duration record for China’s crewed space missions.
A recently released set of videos spotlights life onboard the orbiting outpost, including the crew carrying out a microbiological analysis of their drinking water.
Go to:
Credit: Roscosmos/SIRIUS International Project
A 240-day isolation study is now underway with an international crew simulating voyage to the Moon.
Called the Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station (SIRIUS), 70 experiments will be carried out related to preparation for further space exploration by humans.
SIRIUS is underway at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Credit: Roscosmos/SIRIUS International Project
Credit: Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Mixed gender, nationalities
Representing a mixed gender and nationality of the crew, the international crew of the SIRIUS-21 mission are: Oleg Blinov (Russia), Victoria Kirichenko (Russia), Ekaterina Karjakina (Russia), William Brown (USA), Ashley Kowalski (USA) and Saleh Omar al Ameri (UAE).
During the experiment simulating a flight to the Moon, it is planned to collect scientific data on a number of problems expeditionary space crews will face, such as:
- sensory deprivation, monotony, limited social contacts, limited living space and managed habitat
- factors of autonomous interplanetary flight, including limiting the resources of the expedition and extravehicular activities on the planet’s surface
- professional activities of the crew (docking of transport ships, landing of the lunar module, control of robotic equipment)
- communication delay up to 5 minutes one way
Earlier stages
The previous two stages of the experiment – SIRIUS-17 and SIRIUS-19 – were carried out in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Credit: IBMP
Credit: IBMP
Beginning in 2017, this Russia/US partnership utilizes the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ ground experimental facility, or NEK, to carry out SIRIUS analog missions.
Credit: IBMP
SIRIUS analog missions assist NASA in gaining knowledge about the physiological and psychological “exploration stresses” of remoteness and confinement in humans – all in preparation for sustained Artemis expeditions to the Moon and on-the-horizon flight of crews to Mars.
Composition of the crew includes crew commander, flight engineer, crew doctor and three researchers. The activities of the crew during the experiment are based on the basic provisions of the Code of Professional Ethics of Cosmonauts of the Russian Federation and the Code of Conduct for the International Space Station crew.
Go to this just-issued video showing the SIRIUS crew prior to starting their isolation study at:
The Defense Department today released its annual report on military and security developments involving China, commonly referred to as the China Military Power Report.
This newly issued report discusses China’s space ambitions:
“The PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] space enterprise continues to mature rapidly and Beijing has devoted significant economic and political resources to growing all aspects of its space program, from military space applications to civil applications such as profit-generating launches, scientific endeavors, and space exploration.”
The report notes the inaugural launch of a reusable PRC Space Plane, explaining:
“In early September, the PRC became the third country to successfully launch and recover a space plane, after
the United States and the Soviet Union. The space plane spent about two days in space before releasing a second object, de-orbiting, and landing at an airfield in Western China. The second object remains on orbit. Beijing has not released any information on the mission beyond calling it a “reusable experimental spacecraft.”
To read the full report — Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China — go to:
https://media.defense.gov/2021/Nov/03/2002885874/-1/-1/0/2021-CMPR-FINAL.PDF?source=GovDelivery
