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Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

The NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has submitted its annual report for 2022 to the U.S. Congress and the NASA Administrator.

In its report, the ASAP has flagged a number of issues and concerns, as well as making recommendations to NASA.

One worrisome topic noted by the ASAP is that the orbital debris hazard persists and continues to grow exponentially as space becomes ever more congested.

“For example, CubeSats and other small satellites are being launched with increasing frequency, and several companies are now deploying mega-constellations with hundreds, or even thousands, of satellites,” the report explains. “Some of these satellites incorporate the use of electric propulsion and autonomous onboard maneuvers with very short turnaround times, increasing the difficulty of tracking and planning for collision avoidance.”

Close calls are not rare

The report underscores the importance to recognize the prevalence of the issue.

“Orbital debris events and close calls are not rare, but they are in fact becoming more and more frequent as space becomes more congested and as national and international space players—who rightfully seek to leverage the high ground of space for commerce, science, and national prestige—continue to populate the space domain with new satellites.”

The risks are growing, the ASAP feels, and a more strategic approach to the problem is now necessary to arrest the risks and to assure that the domain of space remains sustainable.

ISS: controlled deorbit

Another area flagged by the ASAP is the controlled deorbit of the International Space Station (ISS).

“Although discussions are ongoing between NASA and the Russian Space Agency to make the controlled deorbit plan more robust, the ASAP reiterates its concern first stated in 2012, about the lack of a well-defined, fully funded controlled re-entry and deorbit plan for the ISS that is available on a timeline that supports the planned ISS retirement,” the report notes.

Furthermore, the ASAP recognizes that the ISS partners are operating at risk, today, without the capability to deal with a contingency situation that would lead to a deorbit.

“The risk to public safety and space sustainability is increasing every year as the orbital altitudes in and around the ISS continue to become more densely populated by satellites, increasing the likelihood that an unplanned emergency ISS deorbit would also impact other resident space objects,” the report says.

Board of directors

The NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has recommended the space agency should create a “board of directors.”

“As a part of an overall risk management approach and in order to develop and execute its strategic vision for the future of space exploration, the ASAP says that NASA should establish and provide leadership through a ‘board of directors’ that includes the Center Directors and other key officials, “with the emphasis on providing benefit to the Agency’s mission as a cohesive whole, and not to the individual components of the Agency.”

In a January 23 transmittal letter of the report to NASA chief, Bill Nelson, a noteworthy risk area for Agency attention is namely the future of missions in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).

“While lunar and deep space exploration grow in prominence, the key role played by operations in LEO toward understanding and managing exploration risk cannot be discounted,” says Patricia Sanders, Chair of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.

To access the full 2022 ASAP report, go to:

https://oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap/documents/ASAP_2022_Annual_Report.pdf

China’s Shenzhou-15 space station crew has completed a set of what the country’s space officials tagged as “unprecedented” space walks outside their Tiangong orbiting complex.

Astronauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu performed extravehicular activities for about seven hours, exited the station’s Wentian module via an airlock cabin. Fei changed his position with the help of robotic arms while Zhang moved independently by holding railings outside the space station.

During their stint outside of Tiangong they installed “extension pumps” on the Mengtian lab module, and added restraint hardware onto the Tianhe core module.

The twosome also started the cargo out-of-cabin installation task, which will feature a coordinated operation of the devices such as load transfer equipment, cargo airlock module, inner and outer hatch doors, and robotic arms.

Operated by on-orbit astronauts or ground crew, the devices can be either moved outside or inside the cabin according to the requirements of the mission. This technology could improve the efficiency of cargo exchange inside and outside the cabin and reduce astronauts’ EVAs and workload.

Space colleague, Deng Qingming, worked inside the space station to support his crewmates, Fei and Zhang.

Fluid circulation

“Extension pumps have been installed on all the three modules of our space station. They are the pumps in the thermal control circuits, driving the fluid circulation, similar to what the human heart does. They dissipate the heat generated by equipment, just like how our cell phones get hot after being used too much. Then the fluid circulation would help cool the temperature down and dissipate the heat outside,” said Su Nan, the general mechanical designer of the space station extravehicular activity mission.

The pumps need to operate at high speed for a long time, and have to be installed both inside and outside the modules to ensure stable operation of the space station, Su told China Central Television (CCTV).

There is a set of pumps which were [installed inside the module and] launched into space with the module. They had been working before the astronauts installed the extension pumps. If the ones inside stop working in the future, we still have the extension pumps to work. Also, the extension pumps can start operation immediately after installation, and they can also be replaced with new ones,” Su said.

Stable platform

The foot restraints will offer a stable platform for taikonauts to stand on during their follow-up work.

“Foot restraints, with their position fixed on the cabin, are needed when the astronauts work on the outer wall of the cabin. The transfer of the foot restraints is aimed at facilitating work in the future. Two of the foot restraints will be anchored on the outer wall of the cabin, thus they need to be set up in advance,” Su said.

The entire space station is equipped with four foot restraints, Su added, which are usually stored at the exit hatches of the airlock cabin and the node cabin. The astronauts will determine where to install the foot restraints when exiting the capsule based on the needs of the mission.

“There are two foot restraints at the exit hatch of the airlock cabin, which will be installed onto a robotic arm when the astronauts exit the capsule, so they need to be stored there permanently. The other foot restraints are stored at the node cabin. During the space station construction phase, astronauts need to get out the capsule from the node cabin, and the node cabin nears the central position of the space station with three modules, so we made there another permanent storage site,” said Su.

Armrests

“One of the significant features of this extravehicular task is that the astronauts had to move an unprecedented long way, especially for astronaut No. 3, Zhang. He used about 140 armrests during his EVAs, which is pretty challenging,” said Liu Liang, chief designer of the ergonomic subsystem at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, during a CCTV interview.

During the mission, the other spacewalker, Fei, used robotic arms to move between the modules.

“We reminded him to warm the liquid cooling suit up before the robotic arms transfer, so that he could stay in a relatively comfortable condition. If he only started to adjust the temperature when he felt cold, it would be too late,” said Li Pengwei, chief designer of the extravehicular spacesuit information management and power supply subsystem at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.

Tracking system

The wide movement range of the mission’s first space walk also required a tracking system that can cover a larger volume of space for longer hours to ensure smooth communications between the astronauts in space and the ground control team.

The second generation of China-made spacesuits is called Feitian, and three sets of extravehicular spacesuits are used in rotation for their EVAs, and can be adjusted in accordance with human parameters like heights and weights.

“Taikonauts are mainly to adjust the size of the upper and lower limbs of the extravehicular spacesuit, particularly adjusting with regarding to their personal height to ensure that the extravehicular suits fit them well,” said Li.

“We chose the extravehicular spacesuits A and B for this round of EVA. Judged from the previous use, Suit B is used the most. We will maximize Suit B’s service life by using it repeatedly,” Li told CCTV. “All our extravehicular spacesuits are in good working condition. According to the overall plan, Suit B will be used to reach its service life to accumulate how many times it is used and how long its service life is, so as to accumulate data for the follow-up development of our products.”

Relay satellites

“We deployed three relay satellites to monitor the three cabins our astronauts used for EVAs. We did that to ensure the largest range and longest period of control and tracking, so that the ground control team could keep communications with the astronauts as much as possible to support their operation at any time,” said Xie Yuan, an engineer at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

“Our astronauts completed all the procedures correctly and their operation is perfect. They’ve demonstrated strong operating and coordination capacity. Overall, the three astronauts worked closely and fulfilled these EVAs successfully,” Huang Weifen, astronaut system chief designer of China’s manned space program, told CCTV/China Global Television Network (CGTN).

These were the first EVAs conducted after the completion of the Chinese space station, and also the first spacewalks for Fei and Zhang.

First large-scale space walks

“This is the first large scale EVA mission involving all the three modules after the completion of the space station complex,” said Zhu Guangchen, deputy chief designer of space station system at China Academy of Space Technology.

 

“The astronauts need to pass through the interspace between solar panels and the module while carrying large objects. To ensure the whole mission is completed safely and smoothly, we conducted repeated simulation demos and analysis. Up to now everything is normal and all tasks have been completed as planned,” Zhu told CCTV.

The Shenzhou-15 crew, as planned, will carry out several more spacewalks in the future, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Unlocked, installed and tested

Reported Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA:

“With the completion of China’s space station, we have now entered the stage of application and development. In the past two months, the Shenzhou-15 crew has unlocked, installed and tested all experiment cabinets on Mengtian lab module. They have started scientific experiments one after the other. Also, the Shenzhou-15 crew has completed first exit of cargo from airlock cabin, which laid foundation for our follow-up tasks.”

The three-person crew has been living in orbit for 70 days since they entered the space station combination on Nov. 30, 2022. Their six-month mission is aimed at wrapping up the last stage of the space station construction and starting the first stage of its application and development.

 

For videos of this first space walk carried out by the Shenzhou-15 crew, go to:

https://youtu.be/y3DmyYFQE0g

https://youtu.be/Fauwz8mutyw

 

And here we thought that the dust on the Moon was a nuisance for future lunar expeditions.

It still is, but Moon dust launched from the lunar surface — or from a space station positioned between Earth and the Sun — could reduce enough solar radiation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

That’s the proposal from scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and the University of Utah exploring the potential of using dust to shield sunlight.

Endless supply

The research paper, published today in the journal PLOS Climate, describes different properties of dust particles, quantities of dust and the orbits that would be best suited for shading Earth.

There’s need for an endless supply of new dust batches to blast into orbit every few days after the initial spray dissipates.

Researchers found that launching dust from Earth to a way station at a Lagrange point between Earth and the Sun would be most effective – but would involve an astronomical price tag and substantial effort.

Casting a shadow

According to the team, a sunshield’s overall effectiveness would depend on its ability to sustain an orbit that casts a shadow on Earth.

Two scenarios were found to be promising: Use of a space station platform at the L1 Lagrange point and shooting lunar dust from a platform on the surface of the Moon towards the sun.

The team found that the inherent properties of lunar dust were just right to effectively work as a sunshield.

For detailed information on the proposal – “Dust as a solar shield” – go to:

https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000133

Russia’s pilotless Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is being prepared for its upcoming launch at Baikonur.

Refueling of the ship with fuel and compressed gases is being wrapped up, with liftoff of the “rescue” craft atop a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket set for February 20 at 04:57:53 Moscow time.

According to a Roscosmos Telegram posting, the Soyuz has been returned to the assembly and testing building of the 254th site of the cosmodrome and installed at the workplace for stowage of delivered cargo, checking the tightness of hatches, installing screen-vacuum thermal insulation on the surface of the compartments, control weighing and docking with the transitional compartment of the launch vehicle.

 

 

Uncrewed mode

The Soyuz MS-23 is flying in an uncrewed-mode as a replacement craft for a compromised Soyuz MS-22 craft now docked at the International Space Station. That vehicle suffered a coolant leak last December that prompted a fast-paced checkout and launch of the Soyuz MS-23.

 

 

Due to a possible meteoroid strike, the vehicle’s radiator pipeline discharged crucial coolant into free space, putting to question the overall integrity and safety of the craft to return crew members back to Earth.

NASA’s Moon mission mouthful, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is doing just fine.

Mercifully called CAPSTONE for short, the CubeSat has been operating in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) for 85 days – completing approximately 12.5 orbits since arrival November 13^th of last year.

The microwave oven–sized spacecraft, tipping the scales at a modest 55 pounds, is serving as the first spacecraft to test the unique, NRHO lunar orbit. Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado owns and operates the spacecraft for the entirety of its mission.

The spacecraft has operated successfully through two lunar eclipses, Advanced Space explains, which present a challenge for the spacecraft thermal and power systems. Other notable events include the successful execution of 2 maintenance maneuvers to keep CAPSTONE in its desired orbit.

New cadence

According to Advanced Space, mission operators had originally planned to execute an orbital maintenance maneuver each revolution of the orbit. A new cadence has been selected to help reduce operational risk and complexity.

“This updated operational approach maintains the required orbit phasing for the mission and demonstrates the robustness of the design strategy for these maneuvers,” Advanced Space adds. This design strategy has been developed by the NASA team supporting the space agency’s cislunar Gateway mini-space station project at the Johnson Space Center.

Cross-link attempt

In other CAPSTONE updates, the mission team successfully completed interface testing with the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) ground systems.

During the first attempt to obtain cross-link measurements on January 18th, LRO received a signal from CAPSTONE. However, the CAPSTONE radio system did not collect crosslink ranging measurements from the returned signal.

This initial try using the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (CAPS) software is informing subsequent work that will be further evaluated on upcoming attempts.

CAPSTONE recovered from an anomaly on January 26^th that resulted in the spacecraft being unable to receive commands from ground operators. This issue was cleared by the on-board fault protection system as designed on February 6th and the system has returned to normal operations.

“Lessons learned from this anomaly will result in operational procedure changes to speed recovery from any future similar anomalies,” Advanced Space reports.

That troubled NASA Lunar Flashlight mission is facing an uphill battle in achieving its primary goals.

The Lunar Flashlight team decided to attempt lunar flybys using any remaining thrust that the probe’s out of kilter propulsion system can deliver.

This new attempt is designed to get the CubeSat into high Earth orbit, which includes periodic flybys of the lunar south pole once a month to collect data. The team plans to begin maneuvers on Thursday, and, if successful, the expected first science pass will now be in June.

Stretch science goal

The CubeSat launched on Dec. 11, 2022, to demonstrate several new technologies with what NASA is now characterizing as “a stretch science goal” of detecting surface ice at the Moon’s south pole.

Shortly into Lunar Flashlight’s journey, the mission operations team discovered three of its four thrusters were underperforming.

“The rest of the CubeSat’s onboard systems are fully functional, and the mission recently successfully tested its four-laser reflectometer,” a NASA posting explains. “This mini-instrument is the first of its kind and is designed and calibrated to seek out surface ice inside the permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s south pole.”

Which state has the most commercial space launches?

What launch site is the busiest?

How many companies are licensed to conduct launch and reentry operations?

You can find answers to all these questions and more by exploring the interactive commercial space data section of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Fact Book.

This data visualization went live today.

Have fun exploring!

 

 

 

 

Go to:

https://explore.dot.gov/t/FAA/views/FAAFactBookCommercialSpaceTransportation/Main?%3Aembed=yes#3

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at Jezero Crater acquired new imagery during its 42^nd flight on February 5 using its navigation camera mounted in the helicopter’s fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight.

Distance flown by the mini-chopper to date: roughly 27,688 feet (8,439 meters), chalking up roughly 70 minutes of total flight time to date.

Flight 42 saw the craft fly for 137.2 seconds, reaching an altitude of roughly 33 feet (10 meters), covering a distance of approximately 814 feet (248 meters), according to JPL stats.

 

 

China’s Shenzhou-15 taikonauts are preparing to carry out their first spacewalking tasks for outfitting the country’s Tiangong space station.

The extravehicular activities are to occur within the next few days, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

This current trio has been living in orbit for 70 days since they entered the space station combination on Nov. 30, 2022.

Last stage of construction

Since boarding the orbital complex, the three-person crew have completed various tasks, including in-orbit crew rotation with the Shenzhou-14 crew, tests of scientific experiment cabinets, and spacecraft equipment inspections. They also performed medical checks, weightlessness protection workouts and a series of space science experiments, according to China Central Television (CCTV).

The three Shenzhou-15 crew members are Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.

Their six-month mission is aimed at wrapping up the last stage of the space station construction and starting the first stage of its application and development, noted CCTV.

China’s space station features a basic three-module, T-configuration consisting of a core module and two lab modules: Wentian and Mengtian.

 

 

There’s an uptick in reports of people finding downed space junk on Earth. Over the years, some recovered wreckage from incoming rocket bodies and spacecraft has been trucked into research facilities for intensive scrutiny.

 

 

Up close inspection of the scraps from afar is aiding research into the fiery and destructive reentry process.

One research avenue is to establish design alternatives that would cause incoming space hardware to “disintegrate” during their plummet through Earth’s atmosphere – called “design for demise” in space rubbish vernacular.

 

 

 

For more information, go to my new Space.com story – “How fallen space junk could aid the fight against orbital debris – Up-close inspection of space debris here on Earth is helping scientists better understand the destructive reentry process” – at:

https://www.space.com/fallen-space-junk-help-fight-orbital-debris