Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 12th, 2023
Image credit: CCTV/CMSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Shenzhou-15 astronauts have entered the recently docked Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft to begin unloading goods and equipment that will enhance the country’s Tiangong space station program.
Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu began unpacking the supply craft on Friday.
The coupling of the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft with the station signals an “integrated flight phase.”
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China Central Television (CCTV) reports that the Tianzhou-6 hauled over 7 tons of goods, including around 5.8 tons of daily supplies for the six crew members of the upcoming Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 missions, and 1.75 tons of propellant, of which 700 kg is to refuel the space station.
Loading volume
“The configuration layout of Tianzhou-6 has been optimized, which expanded the loading volume by about 20 percent compared to Tianzhou-5,” said Feng Yong, chief commander of Tianzhou cargo spacecraft.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“After Tianzhou-6 forms a combination with the space station, for its long-term operations, it will continue to provide orbit control and attitude control support for the space station, as well as provide technical verification of new measurement technologies for the rendezvous and docking of the following manned missions,” Feng told CCTV.
International astronauts
Chen Jie, director of the Integrated Planning Department under the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) added: “We need to further reduce costs and improve capabilities, for which we will develop a new generation of reusable manned round-trip transportation systems.”
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Chen said that, according to the new mission plan, “the space station will operate for more than ten years. We will implement one or two cargo resupply missions each year, two manned missions and an astronaut in-orbit rotation, and we will also train international astronauts to participate in our joint flights.”
Stem cell research
Supplies on-board Tianzhou-6 include stem cell experimental units, which were loaded on the cargo craft five hours before the launch due to its specific requirements for time and temperature. They will be quickly moved to a biotechnology experiment cabinet inside the station’s Wentian lab module.
Tianzhou-6 also carried clothes, drinking water and food — including over 150 pounds (70 kilograms) of fresh fruits for the crew.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Move that refrigerator
“Next, we plan to send a large refrigerator to the space station, to ensure the supply of not only fruits but also some frozen food for the astronauts. For example, if they wish to have fried steak in the space station in the future, we will freeze the beef on the ground and deliver it to the space station,” said Wang Ran, chief designer of the cargo spacecraft system under the China Academy of Space Technology. “We will bolster our ability gradually in the future to ensure a better life for the astronauts.”
Go to these new videos focused on the newly arrived supply ship at:
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Image credit: GLOBALink/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
A China-launched cargo craft has docked with the country’s space station, the first link-up since the orbital facility entered the application and development stage.
The Tianzhou-6 supply ship was lofted by a Long March-7 Y7 carrier rocket on Wednesday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province.
With the cargo craft now attached to the station, the current three-person Shenzhou-15 crew will enter the supply ship and transfer just-arrived payloads.
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Packed with payloads
According to China news sources, there are roughly 260 packages with a combined weight of nearly 5.8 metric tons, including living necessities enough for a three-member crew for 280 days.
There are 98 packages of science payloads, with a combined weight of 1,574 pounds (714 kilograms), including new equipment, spare parts and experiment-related materials. These payloads are slated to be utilized in 29 scientific experiments and technological tests, from life sciences, biology and fluid physics in microgravity, to combustion and material sciences.
Shenzhou 15 crew.
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Tianzhou-6 also carries 1.7 tons of propellant, of which 1,543 pounds (700 kilograms) will be fed into the Tiangong space station enabling engine firings to maintain the outpost’s orbit.
Mini-satellite to be released
According to reports, the cargo craft will also release a mini-satellite, developed by Dalian University of Technology.
The satellite is reportedly a high-resolution Earth remote sensing CubeSat that weighs 37 pounds (17 kilograms). This CubeSat is to verify high-resolution remote sensing technologies, a domestic “OpenHarmony” operating system, advanced satellite components and “ultralight multiple satellite deployers.”
The experimental Dalian-1 CubeSat launched onboard the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft.
Image credit: Dalian University of Technology
“The main payload of the satellite is a high-resolution multispectral camera, capable of achieving low-cost sub-meter high-resolution observation on ocean and Earth in orbit,” one story notes, quoting professor Xia Guangqing, chief designer of the satellite told China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Re-docking older supply ship
Meanwhile, the in-space and loitering older cargo craft — Tianzhou-5 – is set to re-dock with the Earth-orbiting facility in the coming weeks for further use. It is to be filled with wastes from the current crewed mission, said Jia Dongyong, chief designer for the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft system under the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).
Image credit: Shujianyang Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Use of the older cargo vessel, re-docked after its separation, is not always done, Jia pointed out.
Tianzhou-5 will rendezvous and re-dock with the space station’s forward port after the departure of the Shenzhou-15 crew who will return to the Earth after their six-month space journey end later this month, Jia told China Central Television (CCTV).
Image credit: CMS
Launched on Nov. 12, 2022, Tianzhou-5’s lifespan is yet to end, Jia added. “Besides, the space inside the orbiting space station is limited and precious, and the Tianzhou-5 has not been filled. So it is going to dock with the forward port of the space station, and will be parked there in use for a period of time. The cargo craft will end up with being packed with wastes.”
Go to these new videos showcasing the supply ship arrival at:
There are many challenges the space sector faces in this era of enhanced commercial space activity.
The Aerospace Corporation has issued a 2022 Space Safety Compendium – Guiding the Future of Spaceflight, edited by Samira Patel and Josef S. Koller
The publication covers policy implications of issues within five core mission areas, as well as two crosscutting areas:
— space operations assurance
— space situational awareness
— satellite launch and reentry
— cyber and spectrum security
— human space flight safety
Dominate: commercial space
“The space sector is undergoing an unprecedented period of growth that expands the scope of what is possible in space and who is involved,” the report notes. We have shifted away from the 1960s and 70s model of centralized, government-led space activities to a new model that increasingly leverages the dominating commercial space market.”
Furthermore, the report points out that new actors in space represent a wide array of international actors, partnership and business models, and commercial entrants. “They have expanded the scope of missions and capabilities in space that include everything from commercial human spaceflight to growing industrial activity such as mining and pharmaceutical development.
Keeping space safe
The new report asks: How do we keep space safe so that Earth and its inhabitants continue to benefit?
“We are seeing increasing uncertainty in regulation and, in some cases, not even a clear picture of which U.S. government agencies bear the responsibility of handling which issues. There is also friction between regulators and new actors as regulations could become more burdensome for new
entrants, giving a competitive advantage to those who have long been in space,” the report states.
To access a copy of 2022 Space Safety Compendium – Guiding the Future of Spaceflight go to:
https://aerospace.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/SSI_Compendium_2022_v1-1_1.pdf
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China this week is expected to reach a new high point in outfitting its multi-modular space station as it moves from assembly in Earth orbit to on-going utilization.
For more information, go to my new Multiverse Media’s SpaceRef story – “China’s Space Station: Moving Towards Utilizing the Orbiting Outpost” – at:
https://spaceref.com/space-stations/chinas-space-station-utilizing-orbiting-outpos/
Also, go to this newly issued China Central Television (CCTV) video on China completing a site-wide final rehearsal before launching the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft at:
NASA’s venerable Hubble Space Telescope – still carrying out sightseeing observations thanks to several servicing missions.
Image credit: NASA
NASA has been on the lookout for a lift service – one that would place the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher, longer-lived orbit.
The revered space observatory is predicted to reach 310 miles (500 kilometers) in approximately 2025. At that point, the space agency notes, there is a risk that rendezvous with Hubble would be more difficult.
Bottom line: Unless the space scope is reboosted to a higher orbit before that time, the large, Earth-circling eye on the Universe is predicted to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere in the mid 2030’s.
Reboost request
Enter a new collaboration between the commercial space groups, Momentus and Astroscale, responding to a NASA Hubble reboost request for information.
Image credit: NASA
The proposed solution by the private space groups includes safe relocation of Hubble and removal of nearby threatening debris from the telescope’s new orbit. Reboost would extend the life of the iconic 33-year-old, billion-dollar space telescope, according to a Momentus statement.
Orbital stability
“Leveraging Momentus’ flight heritage with three orbital service vehicles on-orbit today and Astroscale’s expertise in RPOD (rendezvous, proximity operations and docking), we found our product suites to be synergistic in support of a major NASA mission,” said John Rood, Momentus Chief Executive Officer.
“Even at 33, Hubble is fully capable of continuing its mission; where it is aging is in its orbital stability,” Rood added, pointing to the collaboration as a cost-effective way to continue operating Hubble.
Momentus Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV) undergoes vibration testing.
Image credit: Momentus
Saving Hubble scenario
The proposed mission concept makes use of a Momentus Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV), rocketed into low-Earth orbit on a small launch vehicle.
Once on orbit, Astroscale’s RPOD technology built into the OSV would be used to safely rendezvous, approach and then complete a robotic capture of the telescope.
Once mated, the OSV would perform a series of maneuvers to raise the Hubble altitude by over 30 miles (50 kilometers).
Lastly, according to the Momentus statement, removal of surrounding and threatening space debris in Hubble’s new orbit would also use the Vigoride and Astroscale’s RPOD capabilities, a prioritized task after the completion of the primary reboost mission.
Wake-up call
“The Hubble’s need for a reboost should be an important wake-up call as to why the space industry needs dynamic and responsive in-space infrastructure, and in this case, to extend opportunities to explore our universe,” said Ron Lopez, President and Managing Director of Astroscale U.S. in a statement.
Image credit: Astroscale
“The proliferation of in-space servicing and assembly allows us to reimagine how our investments are managed in space; it is the foundation on which the new space age is being built,” Lopez added. “What we’ve proposed to NASA are options—options that were not available during the five previous crewed servicing missions and that leverage the best of in-space servicing to achieve mission objectives and advance U.S. leadership in space.”
Polaris program
Late last year, NASA and SpaceX signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement to study the feasibility of a SpaceX and Polaris Program idea to boost the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit with a Dragon spacecraft – at no cost to the government.
The Polaris Program is a human spaceflight program organized by Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur, who commanded the first all-civilian Inspiration4 spaceflight in September 2021. Subsequently, he purchased flights from SpaceX in order to create the Polaris Program.
At the time of that NASA/SpaceX signing, NASA underscored that there is no formal go-ahead on such an uplifting idea for Hubble, but is exploring the prospect of commercial possibilities.
New Horizons was built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratotry.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Steve Gribben/Alex Parker
OPEN LETTER ON HELIOPHYSICS INVESTIGATIONS FROM NEW HORIZONS
We are heliophysicists on or benefiting from data from the NASA New Horizons mission.
New Horizons has enabled uninterrupted heliophysics measurements throughout the heliosphere for over a decade, alongside its groundbreaking Kuiper Belt and other planetary observations. Three of its instruments have provided unique, essentially continuous, in-situ measurements of solar wind and interstellar pick-up ions, energetic particles, Galactic Cosmic Rays and dust. Additionally, New Horizons’ UV spectrograph is obtaining regular, unparalleled remote measurements of interplanetary hydrogen and all-sky mapping of the heliospheric boundary and nearby interstellar clouds.
The conduct of the mission’s heliophysics observations is both synoptic and in no way in competition with its planetary science observations of the Kuiper Belt and Kuiper Belt Objects.
Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) Arrokoth as viewed by New Horizons.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/SwRI
In the coming years New Horizons can perform unparalleled planetary science and important astrophysical observations from its unique, distant position in the Kuiper Belt. And, over the next two decades of its expected operational lifetime, it can also carry out unprecedented, nearly-continuous heliophysics measurements during the traversal of the outer heliosphere out into the Very Local Interstellar Medium that Voyager could not make, offering insight into how the entire heliosphere is upheld.
The Interstellar Probe, a mission to provide a unified view of our heliosphere, out into nearby interstellar space.
Credit: Johns Hopkins/APL
Therefore, New Horizons continues to be a powerful cross-divisional tool that should continue to explore the heliosphere alongside its important studies of the Kuiper Belt, and to be a pathfinder scientifically, technically and even programmatically for future candidate missions such as an Interstellar Probe.
[Signed]
Pontus C. Brandt (JHU APL, Deputy Project Scientist)
Fran Bagenal (U Col, Heliophysics Science Theme Team Lead)
Andrew Poppe (UC Berkeley, Deputy Heliophysics Science Theme Team Lead)
Ralph McNutt (JHU APL, PEPSSI Instrument Lead)
Matthew E. Hill (JHU APL, NH Co-I and PEPSSI Instrument Scientist)
Heather Elliott (SWRI, SWAP Deputy Instrument Lead)
Mihaly Horanyi (U Col, Student Dust Counter, Instrument Lead)
Zoltan Sternosky (U Col, Student Dust Counter, Instrument Lead)
Randy Gladstone (SWRI, Alice Team Member)
Tracy Becker (SWRI, Deputy Alice Instrument Lead)
Merav Opher (Boston U., Co-I and SHIELD Director)
John Richardson (MIT, SHIELD Co-I)
Resources
For more information on the future of New Horizons, go to:
“Dream Machine: New Horizons, New Opportunities – Bad Politics?”
https://www.leonarddavid.com/dream-machine-new-horizons-new-opportunities/
Also, go to:
“Hard feelings over mission change for NASA’s Pluto spacecraft – US space agency plans to shift the New Horizons planetary probe to studying heliophysics, and some scientists don’t agree,” by Alexandra Witze/Nature
Go to: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01530-y
Also, read these signature stories:
https://www.universetoday.com/160935/nasa-plans-threaten-new-horizons/
Possible design of China’s space plane.
Source: Homem do Espaco/Twitter
China’s small re-usable space plane returned to Earth Monday, touching down after 276 days of in-orbit operation.
China state media noted that “a reusable experimental spacecraft on Monday successfully returned to its scheduled landing site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.”
“The success of the experiment marks an important breakthrough in China’s research on reusable spacecraft technologies, which will provide more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future.”
Image credit: Robert Christy/Orbital Focus
Launch, landing technology
Reports space tracker Robert Christy of Orbital Focus, the vehicle is possibly associated with China’s space station program and might be intended for long duration missions.
“Vehicle used to test launch and landing technology and spacecraft materials. May be the same craft that flew an earlier mission in 2020. Released a companion satellite to conduct rendezvous and capture experiments during 2022 and 2023. Re-entered 2023 May 8 for landing on the runway at Lop Nor at about 00:20 UTC,” Christy tweets.
U.S. Space Force X-37B vehicle prior to flight, the program’s sixth long-duration mission.
Copycat craft?
Some experts liken the Chinese space plane to the Boeing-built, U.S. Space Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle.
On that program’s sixth mission, the unpiloted X-37B craft flew for a milestone making 908 days, landing November 12, 2022 at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility.
But what’s behind China’s space plane testing…and what next?
Captured companion
“I think they’ve simply advanced a further step towards whatever is their goal for that vehicle. And they’ve done it in the way China always does it – incrementally. First the test flight then this more-complex nine month flight,” Christy told Inside Outer Space. “I don’t know whether we’ve seen the same vehicle fly twice or two different vehicles, but my money would be on it being a re-flight.”
Christy adds that both missions of this type of Chinese craft have involved releasing satellites and rendezvousing with a second object.
Artwork depicts X-37B in Earth orbit.
Credit: Boeing
“On the second mission, both the space plane and the companion satellite made significant orbital maneuvers and the companion was captured at least two times before being taken onboard and brought back to Earth,” Christy adds.
Space plane roles
Trying to second guess a third mission would be foolhardy, Christy says, “but when it happens it will be an obvious evolution of this one.”
In contrasting China’s space plane with the U.S. X-37B endeavor, Christy says the Chinese vehicle is comparable with the U.S. X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) but the aims of the two programs are not necessarily identical, he senses.
“OTV’s role is to provide a platform to carry out long duration missions followed by return to Earth. China’s vehicle has already demonstrated a capability of launching and retrieving satellites,” Christy concludes.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s next milestone in outfitting the country’s space station is the upcoming launch of the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft atop a Long March-7 Y7 booster.
Lifftoff is to occur next week from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China’s southern island province of Hainan. Departure is reportedly on May 10.
The rocket topped by the uncrewed supply ship has been transferred to the launching area. Final tests are underway before carrying out the first spaceflight after China’s orbiting facility entered the stage of application and development.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Sunday that the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Launch conditions
“The Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft will receive checks and re-examinations on its power supply, the function and performance of its equipment, as well as the coordination among the equipment,” said Ren Liang, chief designer on overall responsibilities of cargo spacecraft with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).
“After that, we will implement a comprehensive assessment of the cargo spacecraft’s health condition, so as to ensure all the launch conditions are met,” Ren told China Central Television (CCTV).
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Cargo capacity
This cargo spacecraft has an increased cargo capacity contrasted to earlier missions – increased from 6.9 tons to 7.4 tons. The vehicle’s loading volume was raised from 18.1 cubic meters to 22.5 cubic meters, up about 20 percent.
Lofting daily supplies for the now orbiting Shenzhou-15 crew onboard the station, as well as the future Shenzhou-16 crew, Tianzhou-6 will carry 1.75 tons of propellant, over 1,540 pounds (700 kilograms) of which are meant for refueling the space station.
Imace credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Go to this video of the rocket rollout at:
Artistic view of launch from Scotland spaceport.
Image courtesy: Orbex
Construction has begun at Sutherland in Scotland, the UK mainland’s first vertical launch spaceport.
Located on the North coast of Scotland, the spaceport will be the “home” spaceport of Forres-based rocket and launch services company, Orbex, a UK-based spaceflight company with headquarters, production and testing facilities in Scotland, and design and testing facilities in Denmark.
In May 2022, Orbex unveiled its Prime rocket, a two-stage orbital micro-launcher that would toss small commercial satellites into Earth orbit.
In an Orbex statement, the company explains it will use the Sutherland Spaceport to launch up to 12 orbital rockets per year.
Groundbreaking ceremonies included Dorothy Pritchar, Chair, Melness Crofters’ Estate. Image courtesy: Orbex
“We’re starting to see the physical representation of a dream that began several years ago. This is our way of regenerating this community and reversing population decline, by giving families a reason to stay or come back to this area, said Dorothy Pritchar, Chair, Melness Crofters’ Estate.
“The fact that we’re doing this while safeguarding the environment is something we’re all very proud of. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this project, and I can’t wait to see the first launch,” Pritchar said in the Orbex press statement.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 3820, May 6, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now wrapping up Sol 3820 duties.
Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada reports that inspection of “Ubajara” as a potential drill site is underway.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3819, May 5, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“In the last plan, we brushed the surface and did some further investigation of Ubajara’s chemistry and structure,” O’Connell-Cooper adds, and that information gathered by the rover indicated that the target “appears to be representative of what we have been seeing recently, as we climbed up the Canyon from the Marker Band.”
Preload test
As recently scripted, the plan calls for rover planners scoping out a “preload” test, to get an idea of how the rock will behave when drilled. “This involves putting the target under some pressure to make sure the rock is stable and safe to drill,” O’Connell-Cooper notes.
The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the robot was scheduled to take two documentation images to document any changes.
Dust busting dust removal tool! Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 3819, May 5, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Curiosity won’t be sitting idly for the rest of the weekend,” O’Connell-Cooper says. The rover’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) are investigating a patch of darker material at “Ilha Grande” and some adjacent bedrock at “Ilha Grande offset” for comparison.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image acquired on Sol 3819, May 5, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dream list
MAHLI is also imaging the target “Bwesse Kiiki” which was analyzed by Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera’s Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument on sol 3818 (Tuesday of this past week).
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3820, May 6, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Meanwhile ChemCam will analyze some nodular bedrock just beyond the Ubajara bedrock block at ‘Carajas’ and will take a long distance image (‘LD RMI’), looking ahead to Gediz Vallis, a large ridge feature which has been high on our ‘dream list’ of places to go in Gale since before landing,” O’Connell-Cooper reports.
This ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) will focus on an area of large stones and boulders which were identified in previous images.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 3820, May 6, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Future drive direction
“We have been talking about the science we would do here for so many years, it’s hard to believe we are close enough to identify individual stones and boulders! Mastcam is acquiring a “9×3 mosaic” (3 rows of 9 images) of fractured light toned rocks ahead of us in our future drive direction,” O’Connell-Cooper adds. “These are close to some small impact craters, so we are interested to look at the fractures and see if they are related in any way to the craters.”
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 3820, May 6, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Also on tap is use of Mastcam to monitor dust with a “crater rim image” and two tau measurements. These help to quantify the abundance of dust in the atmosphere.
Several images are slated to be taken to characterize active environmental conditions in Gale, looking at clouds and searching for dust devils.
The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) investigation and the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) round out the environmental monitoring, O’Connell-Cooper concludes, measuring hydrogen concentrations (DAN) and temperatures (REMS).
