Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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December 12th, 2022
Wait a minute!
NASA is trying to get its lunar act together, mustering up what’s needed early for human exploration of the Moon via the ongoing and evolving Artemis program.
But later comes the hard part: to harness the skills for a sustained and “live off the land” approach for a lunar base encampment.
Image credit: NASA
Working definition
But the term “sustainable” seems to be up for grabs.
For instance, the April release of the National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 noted that NASA has used the word to describe one goal for human lunar exploration under the auspices of Artemis.
But sustainable has not yet been defined in this context, the Academies survey states. For that report, a working definition was crafted “that there are widely accepted reasons to continue human lunar exploration that justify the continued investment, commitment, and risk beyond a few missions.”
Artist’s view of two Artemis astronauts at work on the lunar surface.
Image credit: NASA
No mincing words
Meanwhile, the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) just published their findings from the group’s 2022 meeting. LEAG was established in 2004 to support NASA in providing analysis of scientific, technical, commercial, and operational issues in support of lunar exploration.
LEAG doesn’t mince words, but does so in a polite way.
“LEAG encourages NASA to clearly convey its plan for sustainable post-Artemis III exploration to the community forthwith and include specifically how it will result in an increase in the flight rate and extended human surface durations (i.e., Artemis Base Camp).”
Artistic depiction of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole carrying out early work to establish an Artemis Base Camp.
Image credit: NASA
Single location
The LEAG report cautions that Artemis will not be truly sustainable “unless it includes a robust surface infrastructure and development strategy at a single location on the Moon to catalyze and enable commercial and exploration activities.”
Furthermore, while progress to date on the Artemis III mission is encouraging, adds the LEAG report, details of the “sustained” phase of the Artemis campaign “are nebulous to the broader community.”
Credit: NASA
Annual cadence
NASA’s current lunar outlook suggests a roughly annual cadence of missions of short (less than 30 days) duration on the surface of the Moon with an emphasis on future mobility (i.e., not for Artemis III), but this does not adequately address the goals set forth in the Lunar Exploration Roadmap, the LEAG findings note.
“Accordingly, LEAG urges NASA to articulate plans to enable the construction of the Artemis Base Camp and establishment of large-scale resource production by 2030, thereby supporting a permanent human presence on the lunar surface and growth of a vigorous cislunar economy.”
Read the LEAG report here: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/leag/reports/LEAG2022AnnualMeetingFindings_FINAL.pdf
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A leading forecasting group anticipates than more 2,500 satellites will be launched by average every year over 2022-2031. That represents by average every day about 7 satellites or 3 tons lofted into orbit over this period.
Euroconsult collects, updates and assesses on a yearly basis detailed market, industry, policy, program and financial information in the international space sector.
According to the group, a handful of Non-Geo-Stationary Orbit (NGSO) broadband constellations concentrate the demand in satellite but not in manufacturing and launch revenues – that is still led by legacy customers, both governments and commercial operators.
Credit: SpaceX/StarLink
Largest market driver
In number of satellites, NGSO constellations are the largest market driver as 83% of all satellites to be launched over 2022-2031, are expected to be part of constellations whilst only accounting for 30% of the manufacturing and launch value.
On the commercial demand, for the first time, the emerging NGSO constellation broadband operators will account for half of the commercial demand in manufacturing and launch value: i.e $5.3 billion on a yearly average whilst GEO comsat will average $3.2 billion.
For more details on the Euroconsult assessment, go to:
https://digital-platform.euroconsult-ec.com/product/satellites-to-be-built-launched-new/
Illustration of Artwork of Ingenuity helicopter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars looks to have made flight 36 on December 10th.
A pre-flight projection of the airborne vehicle’s flight this time, as noted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
Flight number: 36
— Date of flight: No Earlier Than Dec. 10
— Flight duration: 60.82 seconds
— Horizontal flight distance: 361 feet (110 meters)
— Flight speed (horizontal): 12.3 mph (5.5 mps)
— Max flight altitude: 33 feet (10 meters)
— Flight goal: Reposition helicopter
New imagery
A new set of images from the flight have been posted, taken by the helicopter’s Navigation Camera mounted in the mini-craft’s fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. Images were acquired on Dec. 10, 2022 (Sol 642 of the Perseverance rover mission).
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Credit: GLOBALink/Inside Outer Space screengrab
What’s up with China’s multi-faceted space agenda?
I was pleased to discuss this issue with fellow space journalists Rod Pyle and Space.com’s Tariq Malik for an informative This Week In Space podcast. We discuss new developments in the Chinese space program, its trajectory moving ahead, and what that might mean for a rejuvenated human spaceflight program in the United States. Are we in a new space race?
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Go to this podcast at:
Image credit: ESA
The European Space Agency is looking for an observational assist.
An asteroid is approaching Earth, and to celebrate the release of ESA’s new asteroid toolkit they are calling on amateur astronomers to find the space rock.
No worries here. This Christmas asteroid, 2015 RN35, poses no threat, but like many middle-sized space rocks out there, trackers just don’t know that much about it.
According to an ESA statement, 2015 RN35 will make a safe close approach of Earth at 08:12 UTC (09:12 CET) on December 15, zooming past our planet at 679,800 kilometers – that’s just 1.8 lunar distances measured from Earth.
Observers in the Southern hemisphere will get the best view during close approach, but Europe will get a chance over the following days until about December 19.
Telescopes 30 centimeters and larger should be able to detect this Christmas asteroid and ESA is looking forward to seeing any observations from well-equipped skywatchers.
Use the hashtag #ESAChristmasAsteroid on social media to share your results, which will be shared at @esaoperations channel.
Apollo 17 landing site.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State
A fascinating collection of featured Moon sites is available, based on some of the most requested images snagged by the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s LROC super-powerful imaging system.
Available for viewing are newly discovered lunar features to the closest images of the Apollo landing sites since astronauts departed the scene in 1972.
The impressive website features:
— 21st Century Spacecraft Impacts
— 21st Century Landing Sites
— New Impacts
— Apollo Landing Sites
— Apollo S-IVB Impact Sites
— Surveyor Landing Sites
— Ranger Impact Sites
— Luna Landing Sites
— Lunokhod Rover Sites
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
Special thanks to Mark Robinson and colleagues at Arizona State University ‘s School of Earth and Space Exploration. Robinson is the principal investigator for the LROC imaging system.
Take a look at:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/featured_sites
Artist’s view of two Artemis astronauts at work on the lunar surface. What new tools are necessary to maximize exploration output?
Image credit: NASA
When it comes to the NASA Artemis “rebooting” of the Moon plans, it’s not simply a 20th century rekindling of lunar remembrances. Work is in progress to develop a new tool kit for investigating Earth’s companion in gravitational lock.
While the tried-and-true geologist’s hammer remains on tap, fresh capabilities are being appraised to sharpen our next lunar look-see with first-time equipment.
Apollo moonwalker unfurls the American flag. In returning to the moon, this time to stay, what is the Artemis flag strategy?
Image credit: NASA
Experts are digging into gear that surmount challenges seen during Apollo, yet are user-friendly to future moonwalkers.
For more information, go to my new Space.com story – “NASA drawing on Apollo to design Artemis moonwalkers’ tools – Apollo’s considerable legacy is coming in handy” – at:
https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-moon-tools-apollo-lessons
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
That LunIR CubeSat deployed by NASA’s Space Launch System is lost to space. The radio signal received from the hitchhiking LunIR spacecraft was weaker than expected.
Ground control teams were able to downlink some data to help analyze the CubeSat’s issues.
However, as time passed, the ability to accurately predict the spacecraft’s location grew more challenging. Furthermore, there’s limited bandwidth available from deep space communications and networking resources – and the many missions that depend on those assets.
“So while we remain hopeful that a station will catch a signal from LunIR again one day, we are no longer conducting an active, dedicated search for the spacecraft,” said Lauren Duda, a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin.
Novel infrared camera
LunIR stands for Lunar InfraRed Imaging. It was a technology demonstration mission with a goal to prove out a novel type of infrared camera. The shoebox-sized spacecraft was built and integrated by Terran Orbital of Irvine, California. The CubeSat’s first-of-its-kind infrared sensor and unique micro-cryocooler were both developed by Lockheed Martin.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
Once deployed, the small satellite, LunIR was to perform a lunar flyby taking images of the Moon’s surface and its environment. It would have performed observations to help address Strategic Knowledge Gaps about the Moon, related to surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection observations.
Learning experience
“While we are disappointed LunIR was unable to complete its mission, we’ve learned so much through its unique design and development. Lockheed Martin will continue to build on lessons in sensors and cryocooler technology and their applications for our exploration of the Moon, and we look forward to future opportunities to continue supporting NASA on tech demonstrations,” Duda said.
Lockheed Martin has posted this Twitter thread about what was learned in developing the CubeSat mission.
Go to:
https://twitter.com/LMSpace/status/1600926003232182280?s=20&t=6Ad9eZ0kzCtpj5yBCivmFw
Completion of Avcoat block bonding on Artemis II heat shield. Image credit: NASA/Isaac Watson
NASA’s Artemis I/Orion capsule re-entry and splashdown are slated for the weekend – and it’s going to be a hot and telling time contrasted to old Apollo town technology.
Re-entering the atmosphere for its final descent into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on December 11, the craft faces nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, about half as hot at the Sun, as it plunges to Earth.
Courtesy: Lockheed Martin
Building process
To be sure, 20th century Apollo heat shield technology was the basis for the 21st century Orion’s heat shield, but the building process was altered.
Instead of having technicians fill 300,000 honeycomb cells individually with ablative material, then heat-cure the material and machine it to the proper shape, now Avcoat blocks are used. There are fewer than 200 of them that are pre-machined to fit into their positions and bonded in place on the heat shield’s carbon fiber skin.
Measuring 16.5 feet in diameter, Orion’s new heat shield is the largest of its kind developed for missions that will carry astronauts.
The heat shield was designed by the Lockheed Martin and NASA Orion team and built at the Lockheed Martin manufacturing facility near Denver.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Skipping stone approach
For the Artemis 1 mission, toss in for good measure, the Orion capsule is using a re-entry maneuver that no human-rated spacecraft steaming back from the Moon has yet attempted – a skip entry.
Orion will streak into the upper Earth atmosphere, then “skip” back out, influenced by atmospheric friction and the lift properties of the capsule. This technique slows the craft for its re-entry and final descent into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.
Use of skip-type re-entry is not new, but today’s guidance and navigation technology, coupled with computing power, has blossomed far beyond the Apollo age.
This technique was applied in the past, both by several of the former Soviet Union’s non-crewed Zond circumlunar spacecraft missions. China has also made use of this technique within its Chang’e robotic lunar exploration series.
NASA’s Landing and Recovery Team practices bringing a mock Orion capsule into the well deck of the USS Portland ahead of the Artemis I/Orion splashdown slated for Dec. 11.
Image credit: NASA/Kenneth Allen
Recovery teams
What are the pluses of skip entry?
- A more accurate and consistent landing site that does not depend on the date or departure point from the Moon.
- It decreases the g-forces that crew are subjected to during re-entry.
- It also divides the heat of re-entry into two events, thereby enhancing astronaut safety and setting up Orion for a precise entry and water landing.
Teams responsible for recovering Orion after its splashdown are continuing preparations ahead of Orion’s December 11 splashdown off the coast of California.
A mission management team will focus in on the landing site location on December 8.
For an informative Lockheed Martin video on Orion’s re-entry, go to:
Image credit: NASA
Those deep dives by astronauts into the permanently shaded regions at the Moon’s south pole means working in areas that are among the coldest places in our solar system.
The super-cold regions on the Moon represent a novel operational environment for spacesuits. What’s more, the thermal interactions between the lunar surface and a comparatively warm spacesuit in a permanently shadowed crater may be a problem.
Shown here is a rendering of 13 candidate landing regions for NASA’s Artemis III mission. Each region is approximately 9.3 by 9.3 miles (15 by 15 kilometers). A landing site is a location within those regions with an approximate 328-foot (100-meter) radius.
Image credit: NASA
New research suggests that the temperature change of the regolith due to the presence of a warm spacesuit is large enough to influence the entrapment of volatiles present within sunlight-shy craters. There is substantial scientific curiosity about the nature of volatiles that are cold trapped in permanently shaded regions, also known as PSRs in lunar lingo.
Protect science objectives
“The absolute temperature increase can be large enough to release volatiles from their entrapment, which in turn may necessitate a spacesuit design that radiates less heat to protect science objectives,” explains life support specialist Claas Olthoff at Airbus Defense and Space in Germany. He was also a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow embedded in the Advanced Portable Life Support System Development project located at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Artistic depiction of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole carrying out early work to establish an Artemis Base Camp.
Image credit: NASA
Olthoff is lead author of “Dynamic thermal interactions between spacesuits and lunar regolith in permanently shaded regions on the moon,” appearing in the journal, Acta Astronautica.
Thermal impact
Suited astronauts moving about on the Moon’s landscape will witness a changing environment from sunlight to shadow – within a few bootsteps.
“Extremely cold environmental temperatures create additional requirements in several areas of spacesuit and spacecraft design,” the paper explains. “For example, materials for the spacesuit soft goods must be selected that do not become stiff or brittle. If temperatures within the spacesuit cross the established thermal comfort or touch temperature limits, heaters may be required at strategic points within the pressure garment or the life support system.”
Astronauts explore lunar south pole crater. A water ice-rich resource ready for processing awaits?
Credit: NASA
Furthermore, as for the thermal impact of a warm object on the cold lunar regolith, small changes in surface temperature can cause volatile substances — like frozen water — to be released into the vacuum of space before they can be captured by a sample collection device, the research paper points out.
Thermal interaction
The research paper includes thermal analysis results from simulations using Virtual Spacesuit (V-SUIT), a MATLAB-based, dynamic thermal simulation tool that includes the Thermal Moon Simulator (TherMoS).
V-SUIT was created at the Technical University of Munich and consists of two major building blocks: A thermal simulation of the lunar environment and a simulation of the spacesuit itself and the human inside.
Spacesuit geometric model in V-SUIT.
Image courtesy of Claas Olthoff
From their results, it was concluded that there is significant thermal interaction between the spacesuit and the lunar surface. “The temperature change of the regolith due to the presence of the spacesuit is large enough to cause a noticeable change in effective sink temperature. However, the temperature change is not large enough to drive any design decisions on the spacesuit,” the research team concludes.
Further research
Olthoff and colleagues note there’s need for further research and experimentation to find out which lunar volatiles are most susceptible in specific surface compositions and at which temperatures.
By better appreciation of the thermal environment in these regions, that knowledge can inform the design process, the researchers observe, not only for spacesuits and rovers, but also help gauge the blueprinting of future moonwalking activities at the lunar south pole.
For more information on this research, go to – “Dynamic thermal interactions between spacesuits and lunar regolith in permanently shaded regions on the moon” at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576522006737?via%3Dihub
