Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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January 7th, 2023
Worker Bee hardware on first asteroid mining flight mission.
Image credit: TransAstra
A cash flow cascading from the heavens is a provisionary but promising harvest from asteroid mining. It’s already a “claim jumping” enterprise with assertions that billions, trillions, even quadrillions of dollars are looming in deep space, ripe for the picking and up for grabs.
Experts gather at the Colorado School of Mines to attend a space resources roundtable, drawing together scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, mining and minerals industry specialists, legal experts, and policy makers.
Image credit: Colorado School of Mines
Several space mining groups, eager to dig into extraterrestrial excavation of asteroids, have already come and gone. Left behind are torn, tattered and beleaguered business plans.
Gobs of moolah?
The past, however, is prologue. But this time, step-by-step strategies are being fielded. By and large, the prospect of reaping gobs of moolah from off-Earth mining has become a tempered affair.
For more details, go to my new Space.com story – “Space mining startups see a rich future on asteroids and the moon – Nobody wants to think about a future in which humans don’t thrive. So it’s time for us to go into space” at:
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Work is progressing on scoping out a Moon-based radio telescope.
A Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) on the lunar farside, currently funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, is a proposed nearly 1,150 feet (350 meter) in diameter reflecting telescope on the farside of the Moon.
Candidate farside observatory site.
Image credit: NASA/Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay
Cosmology duties
As foreseen by Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory and colleagues, this off-world facility — perhaps installed by Artemis crew members — would enable scientific discoveries in the field of Dark Ages cosmology by observing the early Universe in a wavelength band that has not been explored by humans to date.
Image credit: Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay
Image credit: Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay
Special thanks to the Future In-Space Operations (FISO) group for spotlighting this work-in-progress.
Solar Cruiser’s sail is a whopping 17,800 square feet in size. Shown here is a recent unfurling of one quadrant (a test article) of Solar Cruiser’s huge sail.
Image credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
Solar sailing has been a slow-motion affair, but the concept is meant to be just that!
The idea is not to use classic and conventional “gas guzzling” propulsion. Rather, the notion is to employ ever-present and energetic solar photons to nudge you through space. Over time, this steady thrust from sunlight can move the spacecraft to very high speeds.
Last picture show. The Planetary Society’s publicly-funded LightSail 2 spacecraft returned this final image on October 24, 2022 before atmospheric reentry.
Image credit: The Planetary Society
Promising attributes
Harnessing this technology, now being pursued by multiple nations, is anticipated to permit a low-cost pathway to matchless exploration of the outer solar system and interstellar space.
Advocacy aside, the promising attributes of the scheme has been a work-in-progress for many years – and sometimes it hasn’t been smooth sailing.
For more information, got to my new Space.com story – “Solar-sailing probes may soon get their moment in the sun” – at:
https://www.space.com/solar-sail-spacecraft-development-progress
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3700. Distance driven at that time: 18.16 miles/29.23 kilometers
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3702 duties.
Reports Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada: “The team came into our first day of planning for 2023 to learn that all our holiday activities had executed as expected!”
Curiosity Sol 3700 Front Hazcam image showing rover’s current workspace, the thin, resistant Marker band outcrop in top right of the image and the buttes ahead to the south. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Thompson notes that, as Curiosity ages, Mars researchers are thankful that the robot continues to do amazing science on Mars, and the holiday plans were no exception.
Dark fragments
“We finished up our investigations at the Marker band (for now anyway), analyzed bright material revealed in a scuff just below the Marker band and drove to the south to continue our climb of Mount Sharp,” Thompson adds.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3701, January 3, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s recent view of its surroundings reveal dusty, in place bedrock with dark fragments scattered over the surface, which do not appear to be in place.
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“These dark fragments may be pieces of the Marker band or they may be associated with the in place bedrock just to the right of the rover,” Thompson points out. “Our activities are focused on documenting the chemistry, texture and context of the rocks in front of the rover, as well as looking further afield at the Marker band as it extends south, and the surrounding and distant buttes.”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3701, January 3, 2023.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bedrock chemistry
The rover’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) is analyzing two targets (“Uafaranda” and “Aliquelau”) with the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to document the chemistry of the bedrock at different distances from the nearby, overlying Marker band.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Do we see a change in the composition of the underlying bedrock as we get closer to the Marker band that might indicate alteration associated with the contact? To complement these observations, we are also investigating the “Uafaranda” bedrock target, after brushing to remove the ubiquitous dust cover, with APXS (chemistry) and MAHLI (close-up imaging).”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Look for lateral changes
The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) will also be used to examine the composition and texture of one of the dark-toned rocks (“Anarem”) that are strewn across the surface.
“This might help us determine the origin of these rocks. We are also documenting all three of these targets with Mastcam, as well as some nearby regolith-filled troughs (“Aoiau” and “Arraia”),” Thompson adds.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“We will image the Marker band at this location with Mastcam to look for lateral changes in its texture and structure relative to our previous locations, and some nearby buttes (“Alto Alegre”) for context with the surrounding terrain,” Thompson explains.
ChemCam long distance Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaics will also be acquired of sections of two other buttes off in the distance.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Southward
On the second sol of a 3-sol [Sols 3702-3704] New Year plan, Thompson reports that researchers hope to continue the robot’s path south by roughly 165-feet (50 meters) to fully document the terrain below Curiosity, and any transitions that may occur as the rover drives. A Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) photo is planned for after the drive.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Left B Camera image taken on Sol 3700, January 2, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The environmental science team was also busy and planned several observations to continue monitoring changes in atmospheric conditions, Thompson notes. These include: a Navcam large dust devil survey, a dust devil movie and suprahorizon movie, and a Mastcam basic tau observation.
Standard Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) and Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) activities round out this plan.
As always, dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Image credit: Caltech/Space Solar Power Project
Updated: Momentus established contact with its Vigoride vehicle on its first orbital pass and confirmed that both solar arrays are deployed, and the vehicle is generating power and charging its batteries. Priorities for this flight include hosting Caltech’s Space-based Solar Power Project payload, deploying a satellite with the Qosmosys Zeus-1 payload, and testing Vigoride’s performance in space, including its Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) system.
Image credit: Momentus
Today’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of over a 100 payloads includes prototype gear of the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP).
The payload was successfully deployed. Given an operational status, this Space Solar Power Demonstrator will evaluate key components of how best to harvest solar power in space and beam that energy back to Earth.
According to Caltech, a Momentus Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle onboard the SpaceX rocket on the Transporter-6 mission carried the 110-pound (50-kilogram) prototype solar power tech demo to space.
DOLCE portion of the Space Solar Power Demonstrator is lowered onto the Vigoride spacecraft built by Momentus.
Image credit: Caltech/Space Solar Power Project
Main experiments
It consists of three main experiments, a Caltech statement explains, each tasked with testing a different key technology of the initiative:
- DOLCE (Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment): A structure measuring 6 feet by 6 feet that demonstrates the architecture, packaging scheme and deployment mechanisms of the modular spacecraft that would eventually make up a kilometer-scale constellation forming a power station;
- ALBA: A collection of 22 different types of photovoltaic cells, to enable an assessment of the types of cells that are the most effective in the punishing environment of space;
- MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment): An array of flexible lightweight microwave power transmitters with precise timing control focusing the power selectively on two different receivers to demonstrate wireless power transmission at distance in space.
A flexible prototype antenna sheet for Caltech’s power transmitter array. Each orange square on the yellow tile is an antenna driven by a single transmitter.
Credit: Lance Hayashida/Caltech
An additional fourth component of the solar power demo is a box of electronics that interfaces with the Momentus Vigoride spacecraft computer and controls the three experiments.
Image credit: Caltech/Space Solar Power Project
Go to this animated look at Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstrator at:
Wait a Minute!
A recent item caught my eye.
Late last month, the ocean-going cruise ship – Viking Orion – was not permitted to pull into dock in Australia.
Over 800 ocean goers have been stranded offshore for nearly a week due to “biofoul” – a condition in which marine growth, a fungus, was carried on the Viking Orion’s hull.
An Australian fisheries department labeled it a “potentially harmful” fungus. The worry was that by introducing this invasive species into a new habitat, that organism could hamper the local biological species thriving in the area.
Image credit: Viking Cruises
Ship-shape steps have been taken by Viking Cruises, although it’s not clear when passengers will set foot back on land.
But more to the point – a space exploration point of view about hauling back samples from Mars.
Extraterrestrial goodies
Now in the works is the multi-nation, multi-billion dollar Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign – a “cache and carry” project for the 2030’s to haul to Earth select specimens of Red Planet soil, rock and atmosphere.
Newly revised Mars Sample Return campaign makes use of a set of machines, including use of helicopters, to collect Martian soil, rock and atmospheric specimens for return to Earth.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The plan is for the Mars samples – roughly a pound of extraterrestrial goodies — to be plopped into the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) in west-central Utah.
The MSR campaign team is developing specific transportation, storage, and curation protocols for the Mars samples, including transportation from the UTTR point of recovery to the yet-to-be-determined site of an MSR sample receiving facility.
Public comment
For its part, NASA recently posted for public comment a draft MSR “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” or PEIS for short. A 45-day public comment period began on November 4, 2022 and ended on December 19, 2022.
Proposed Utah landing zone (red ellipse) for the Mars sample return mission.
Image credit: NASA
As a result, the PEIS spurred nearly 75 comments.
There’s a mixed bag of support for rocketing back Mars collectibles to our planetary home, and a goodly number of those comments urged not bringing samples back to our home base before testing or studying them on Mars itself.
Others responded by being supportive of using an off-Earth lab, perhaps on the International Space Station, to use “protocols similar to ones described in the Andromeda Strain, minus the nuclear device.”
Another comment remarks: “The arrogance of scientists thinking their containment system is unbreakable reminds me of how the Titanic was supposedly unsinkable. The difference is that at least the Titanic had some lifeboats when it sank; the Earth has none.”
The Andromeda Strain – the 1971 movie, but how real for a 21st century return to Earth of Mars samples?
Credit: Universal Pictures
Miniscule risk
On the other hand, there were those supportive of the MSR endeavor.
“Risk is so small it is not worth it to go about this in a different way that wouldn’t be incredibly expensive. The entire point of this mission is to get the samples back to our state of the art labs, not some makeshift lab in LEO or cis-lunar space,” wrote one commenter.
“I am good with the miniscule risk in the name of science,” continued the person’s remark, “for anything to go wrong there would A) need to be dangerous live pathogens B) could interact with us and C) need to get through all containment protocols. The chances of all that happening is one tick above zero, we have found no life on Mars so the idea these samples would contain dangerous life that can infect species from another planet (Earth) is a bit absurd. Let’s go get them!”
Image credit: NASA/PEIS
Ongoing work
Chiming in on the draft environmental impact statement is the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“Based on the review of the draft PEIS, EPA did not identify significant environmental concerns to be addressed in the Final EIS,” the December 7, 2022 EPA comment explains.
However, the EPA does note that the draft PEIS references in multiple places that studies regarding burnup/breakup, atmospheric release, contingency planning, and the possibility that Mars material will be distributed outside of the landing site radius are ongoing, and actions to recover MSR Earth Entry System (EES) fragments, if it is damaged upon reentry and landing, are still being worked.
Perseverance rover deposits select rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on Mars’s surface for future missions to retrieve and bring back to Earth for detailed study.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Ship-to-shore signal?
In summary, observes the EPA, more work is to be done.
“We welcome the opportunity to discuss appropriate response authorities with NASA and are available to assist with additional information if required,” the EPA communiqué to NASA concludes.
In the meantime, NASA’s Perseverance rover is busy at work on Mars, scouting about for primo samples that are being cached for eventual pick-up and delivery to Earth-situated labs for intensive scientific inquiry.
Harkening back to the good ship Viking Orion, one wonders whether there’s a strong ship-to-shore signal.
What’s your view?
For more information on the Mars Sample Return and environmental impact comments/studies, go to:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nepa-mars-sample-return-campaign/
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in the southern Hainan Province is set for an increase in launch rate.
Zhong Wen’an, chief engineer of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center that oversees operations at Wenchang, told China Central Television (CCTV):
“In the near future, Wenchang will see its launch frequency go from between six to eight times a year, to 20 or 30 times a year,” Zhong said. “This is not only a change in quantity but also one in quality. We are also going to add more sites for [the launch of] manned moon-landing missions, heavy rockets and commercial ones. The future of Wenchang is worth looking forward to,” he added.
A Long March-5 booster departs Wenchang launch site.
Credit: CASC
China launched 12 missions related to the building of the space station, with eight of these carried out at Wenchang.
Zhong said that in the future, the launch center is expected to play host to more critical missions on a more frequent scale.
Three-step program
The successful building of the space station is the final goal of China’s “three-step” human space program initiated 30 years ago.
CCTV notes that China’s space station project has completed two phases of the mission objectives: key technology verification and in-orbit construction.
Image credit: Shujianyang Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
During that period of time, the country achieved breakthroughs in regenerative environmental control and life support technology, harnessed flexible solar cell wing driving technology, as well as carry out robotic arm auxiliary module rotation, large assembly control and other technologies.
“I think one of the most important things is that I was determined to make the Chinese space station the most economical space station with advanced technology,” Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, told CCTV.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Station economics
“With respect to the economics of our space station, undoubtedly, it’s the most advanced of all the space stations,” Zhou said. “Thanks to technological advancement, we can dramatically reduce the cost of future supplies to the space station, which is a model of high-quality development.”
The space station is viewed as a new starting point for further space development.
“Our space station will enter the full application stage. It’s safe to say that it is a very important space science research and experiment platform for us to build an innovative country. Our next goal is to conduct manned moon landing in the near future,” Zhou concluded.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Guy explains that after four years of operation, the NASA InSight lander succumbed to dust accumulation on its solar panels in December.
Image credit: NASA
Here’s why this matters for humans going to Mars and doesn’t matter for samples awaiting return to Earth.
Video at: https://youtu.be/U4ASrml5BjU
SpaceX is targeting 9:56 a.m. ET (14:56 UTC) on Tuesday, January 3 for Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-6 mission.
Image credit: SpaceX
Early next week, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will depart Florida – nothing too unusual.
However, this flight – the SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission – is the company’s sixth dedicated smallsat rideshare mission.
There will be 114 payloads on this flight, including CubeSats, microsats, picosats, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.
A Planet SuperDove with the Boldly Go Campaign artwork laser etched onto its side panels.
Image credit: Planet Labs PBC
Among the payloads are Planet SuperDove satellites – 36 of them. Each satellite is equipped with eight spectral-bands and improved on-orbit capacity to reconnoiter the Earth for both civil and intelligence needs.
Artwork
A select number of the SuperDoves will be adorned with artwork and quotes that celebrate the legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
Image credit: Roddenberry Estate
According to Planet, thanks to collaboration with The Roddenberry Foundation’s Boldly Go Campaign, five of the SuperDoves on this mission will have artwork laser-etched onto their side panels. The artwork was inspired by over 1,500 submissions to the Boldly Go campaign, which asked the world to share what gives them hope for humanity’s future.
To learn more, go to this video — Boldly Going: Planet and The Roddenberry Foundation Collaboration – at:
Image credit: CCTV Video News Agency/CMSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s space station has undergone rigorous in-orbit testing as the country prepares its off-world outpost for a long-term operational stage.
Now onboard the facility and busy at work on a six-month voyage, Shenzhou-15 crew members: Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu. This trio of taikonauts entered the space station on November 30.
If all goes according to schedule, the Shenzhou-15 mission will wrap up the last period of space station construction and kick off the first stage of its application and development, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
Now entering that key application and development milestone, the station is expected to see more than 10 years of operation.
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Basic configuration
The station’s two lab modules, Mengtian and Wentian, are in position on each side of the Tianhe core module, forming the Tiangong space station’s basic T-shape configuration.
China’s space station now moves to a new phase said Li Dafei, a Beijing Aerospace Control Center’s designer of the Tianhe core module.
“We’ve set the state of the three modules in terms of information systems, energy, heating control, environmental control and life support to establish the basic configuration of three-module operation,” Li told CCTV.
Shenzhou-14, Shenzhou-15 crew members in handover ceremony.
Credit: CMS/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“We have many overlapping designs for the three modules,” Li added. “In order to ensure normal operations after we shift to any spare piece of equipment, we need to conduct regular inspections of the key equipment. Some inspections require cooperation from the in-orbit astronauts and can only be completed through ground-space coordination. Others can be done remotely from Earth and monitored and checked by the ground crew independently.”
Image credit: CCTVCCTV Video News Agency/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Unpacking and installing
Over the past month, the Shenzhou-15 crew members have been unpacking and installing experiment payloads in the Mengtian lab module and carrying out tests as scheduled.
The current crew is also carrying out daily physical fitness training as planned.
“The exercises are tailored. The astronauts have specific exercise plans designed in accordance with their physical conditions and characteristics,” Zhong Weiwei, an associate research fellow at the Astronaut Center of China, told CCTV.
“So far, the nine exercise facilities have all been installed, and the three astronauts are making good use of them. The most frequently used ones include the bike, the treadmill, the facility for resistance training, the chest expander and the penguin suits,” Zhong said.
Image credit: Shujianyang Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Sleep zones
Zhong said that two of the space travelers live in the sleep zone in Wentian, and the third crew member rests in the sleep zone of the core module.
“This adjustment is made according to their subjective requirements. All of them have meal in Wentian currently, and personal hygiene issues are handled in the core module,” Zhong noted.
During the past month, the crew has adapted to the in-orbit living and working environment and have undergone medical examinations.
“So far, all the work and life in orbit are going normally, and the astronauts’ physical signs are also normal,” Zhong said.
For a newly-issued video of the Shenzhou-15 crew onboard the station, go to:
