Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
Author: 
July 24th, 2019
Apollo 15 lunar module pilot Jim Irwin loads the lunar rover with tools and equipment in preparation for exploring the Hadley-Apennine landing site.
Credit: NASA
A partnership between the City of Kent, Washington and Kent Downtown have applied to receive historic landmark designation for the Lunar Roving Vehicles that were built at the Boeing Space Center.
A public hearing in front of the King County Landmarks Commission will be held on Thursday, July 25 at the Kent City Hall Council Chambers. If successful in achieving this designation at the local level, the region plans to pursue state recognition as well.
Astronaut John Young works at the mission’s Apollo 16 Moon buggie in April 1972.
Credit: NASA
As of now, California and New Mexico are the only states with lunar objects in their state historic registers.
Rich history
“Kent Valley is rooted in rich aerospace history due to Boeing’s early presence and a world-class, specialized workforce that continues to develop innovative technology,” said Michael Lombardi, historian for Boeing.
In December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours exploring the Moon’s Taurus-Littrow valley.
Credit: NASA
“This region’s impact on space exploration has global significance, and we’re ready to honor the achievements of these Lunar Roving Vehicles and their brilliant engineers,” Lombardi said in a press statement.
As a major subcontractor, the General Motors’ Defense Research Laboratories in Santa Barbara, California, furnished the mobility system (wheels, motors, and suspension) for the lunar rover design.
Apollo 15 landing site imaged by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera system, LROC. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) is parked to the far right, and the Lunar Module descent stage is in the center, LRV tracks indicated with arrows.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Trio of wheeled vehicles
Boeing crafted these, two-person, human-controlled “moon buggies” in only 17 months to become the mobile vessels for six astronauts to safely explore the Moon’s landscape. They were used in Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17 in 1971 and 1972 – and this hardware remained on the Moon.
Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 later reported: The Lunar Rover proved to be the reliable, safe and flexible lunar exploration vehicle we expected it to be. Without it, the major scientific discoveries of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 would not have been possible; and our current understanding of lunar evolution would not have been possible.”
Posted in 
The Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was created to research and investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) including numerous videos of reported encounters, three of which were released to the public in 2017.
Credit: U.S. Department of Defense/To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science
A new lawsuit has been filed to obtain records regarding unidentified flying objects (UFOs), in a fresh attempt to uncover the U.S. government’s purported role in covering up the existence of UFOs.
Larry Klayman, founder of both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch announced the move, suing the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Klayman is known for his strong public interest advocacy in furtherance of ethics in government and individual freedoms and liberties.
The saga stems back to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Freedom Watch to the Department of Defense back in December 22, 2011.
Credit: MUFON
That request involved the production of agency records related to extraterrestrial visits, UFO encounters, Area 51, the Roswell incident and extraterrestrial life information regarding the United Nations, Great Britain and the United States.
Bad faith obstruction
Eight years later, the public interest group’s Freedom of Information Act request did result in documents, with nearly all of them in Russian.
However, in a July 18, 2019 complaint to DoD from Freedom Watch, it explains:
“The great majority of the de minimus production of records was in Russian and was not responsive to the original request, filed about 8 years earlier.”
“This is tantamount to a denial and complete bad faith obstruction of justice, as it is clear that Defendant DoD is suppressing and illegally withholding relevant records as part of a cover-up,” the complaint explains. “Defendant DoD dishonestly produced non-responsive documents conveniently and overwhelmingly in Russian…”
Courtesy: CIA
Voluminous records
The complaint continues citing the fact that U.S. Senators recently received a classified briefing on confirmed sightings UFOs by our military pilots and others, “and it is now widely accepted that the U.S. government possesses voluminous records and information about the existence of UFO’s and related matters as set forth in Plaintiff’s FOIA request.”
For access to the Freedom Watch complaint, go to:
https://www.freedomwatchusa.org/pdf/190722-FIled%20UFO%20FOIA.pdf
Also, go to this recent article on the topic at Space.com:
Decades of Studying UFOs: What’s the Truth?
https://www.leonarddavid.com/decades-of-studying-ufos-whats-the-truth/
Lastly, read:
Spot a UFO – Best Viewing
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B photo acquired on Sol 2475, July 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just started Sol 2476 duties.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B photo acquired on Sol 2475, July 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The rover has been busily carrying out both remote science and contact science, reports Kristen Bennett, a planetary geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Recently planned was a large Mastcam mosaic of the outcrop located to the south of Curiosity.
Vertical exposure
“When we see outcrops like this one that show a vertical exposure of laminated rocks, we capture it in high resolution Mastcam images so that scientists can look for sedimentary structures that give us clues as to how the rock formed,” Bennett reports.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2475, July 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s workspace exhibits a lot of pebbles, plus a few small blocks. Two of the blocks, “Moine” and “Mither Tap,” were targeted by the robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), and the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 2475, July 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Rear Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2475, July 24, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 2475. July 23, 2019. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Bennett added that Curiosity is slated to again wheel itself to a new exploration spot.
Courtesy of NASA/JPL/USGS
We’re Heading Back to the Moon and Then On to Mars
By Michael R. Pence, Vice President of the United States
Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, when “one small step for man” became “one giant leap for mankind.”
In that moment, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins helped our nation win the “space race,” answering the call made by President John F. Kennedy just eight years before to “put a man on the moon” before the decade was out.
But when President Kennedy issued that challenge, our nation was not yet prepared to meet it. We didn’t have the rockets, launch pads, spacesuits, or so many other vital technologies to get there safely – or, just as importantly, to return home.
In fact, history records that President Richard Nixon prepared a speech in the event of a tragedy, explaining to the nation that the mission had failed.
But thanks to the courage, grit and determination of the three space pioneers of Apollo 11 – and the hard work of the men and women behind their mission at NASA – that speech was never delivered.
Instead, the United States did the impossible by placing the first man on the surface of the moon. The snowy images of Armstrong and Aldrin walking across the lunar surface left an indelible mark on the imaginations of the 600 million people across the Earth who waited with fear and wonder.
Apollo 11 landing site.
Credit: NASA
The crew of Apollo 11 did more than plant a flag and leave a footprint – they brought our world together.
Unity is the true legacy of Apollo 11 – and we must capture that same unity in our own day by renewing our commitment to American leadership in space.
The United States will lead the creation of a base at the moon’s South Pole where astronauts could reside for weeks and months. And from what we learn there, we will become the first nation in the history of mankind to set foot on the red planet of Mars.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the Space Policy Directive – 1 after signing it, directing NASA to return to the Moon, alongside members of the Senate, Congress, NASA, and commercial space companies in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Dec. 11, 2017.
Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Under President Trump, we are doing just that.
In our first year in office, after it had laid dormant for nearly a quarter-century, President Trump revived the National Space Council to coordinate our nation’s space activities and bring the full force of our national interest to bear on decisions driving our space enterprise.
President Trump also recognizes that in this new era of opportunity, we will not fully unlock the mysteries of space unless we look beyond the halls of government for input, guidance and innovation.
That’s why we’ve unleashed American companies that are on the cutting edge of the space industry – developing the rockets, spaceships, and technologies that will take us further into space, faster than ever before.
And thanks to our administration’s decisive actions, America’s pioneering space companies are creating the American jobs of the future and blazing new trails into the skies above.
From the cargo ships that are resupplying the International Space Station, to the reusable lunar landers that will help put Americans back on the moon and the Space Launch System that will carry us deeper into space than ever before, America’s space industry is helping forge our future in the heavens above.
We know what the men and women of Apollo knew: The rules and values of space are written by those who have the courage to get there first and the commitment to stay.
Credit: ESA/NASA
So to continue the proud tradition established in the Apollo program, and to ensure that our most cherished values prevail in the skies above, President Trump has made it our national policy to return to the moon in the next five years – and this time, we will stay.
The first woman and the next man on the moon will both be American astronauts, launched by American rockets, from American soil. The United States will lead the creation of a base at the moon’s South Pole where astronauts could reside for weeks and months. And from what we learn there, we will become the first nation in the history of mankind to set foot on the red planet of Mars.
Credit: NASA
Under President Trump’s strong leadership, we’ve already signed into law one of the largest NASA budgets since the days of the Apollo program. And I am proud to announce that the crew vehicle for the Artemis I mission – our first step back to the moon – is officially “capsule complete.”
The tasks before us will involve hardship and hazard, sacrifice and determination. But we shall go forth – not in spite of the difficulties, but because of them.
Just as Apollo 11 united the world 50 years ago, so too will the United States astonish the world with the heights we reach and the wonders we achieve in our own age.
And under President Trump, we will lead the world into space once again.
This op-ed appeared at Fox News on July 20, 2019.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 2469, July 18, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2470 duties.
Reports Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Curiosity finds itself parked in front of a fascinating area of martian bedrock with clearly lighter and darker colored areas next to each other.
Curiosity Navcam Left B photo taken on Sol 2468, July 17, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“This will be a ‘full’ contact science location and the rover will spend the next few sols examining the rocks in this immediate area just in front of the Southern Outcrop,” Guzewich adds.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2468, July 17, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Full dust-removal treatment
A target on the lighter-colored bedrock was termed “Solway Firth” and is a Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) target and the full dust-removal tool treatment before Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) observations.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 2468, July 17, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The second contact science location (without the dust removal) will be “Nith” on the darker-colored bedrock.
Drill inspection
A second sol plan is slated to include a rare ChemCam image of the rover’s drill bit, Guzewich notes, “to examine how it has been worn during our years on Mars.”
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 2469, July 18, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“We are into the cloudy season on Mars and included two Navcam movies to study the water ice clouds that frequent the skies above Gale Crater in the afternoons and evenings this time of year,” Guzewich adds. “Lastly, Mastcam will take a large, and sure to be spectacular, mosaic of the nearby Southern Outcrop.”
I am pleased to take part in the Griffith Observatory celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, with events on multiple days.
Check out the full schedule of activities and watch some programs live online!
As part of the Los Angeles Griffith Observatory Golden Moon Festival, I’ll be detailing my new book:
Moon Rush: The New Space Race on July 21st.
Veteran space journalist Leonard David returns to Griffith Observatory to tell the story of the path for our return to the Moon. This time, however, it’s not just NASA that’s going. Nations from all over the world and private industry have big plans. Mr. David shares highlights from his new book.
A book signing follows the talk.
For detailed information, go to:
http://www.griffithobservatory.org/events/rememberingapollo11.html
Image snagged by the Banxing-2 microsatellite that was deployed from the Tiangong-2 shows Shenzhou-11 (above) and Tiangong-2 docked in orbit on October 23, 2016.
Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences via GBTimes
China’s Tiangong -2 space lab is scheduled on Friday to make a controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
The space lab is 10.4 meters long, with the maximum diameter of 3.35 meters and a takeoff weight of 8.6 tons. With its solar panels unfolded, its wingspan is about 18.4 meters wide.
Taking the plunge
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), the space hardware will leave its orbit and re-enter on July 19 (Beijing time). Most of the spacecraft will be destroyed in the heated plunge through the atmosphere, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall in the safe sea area in the South Pacific (160-90 degrees west longitude and 30-45 degrees south latitude), according to the CMSEO.
Tiangong-2 space lab being readied for flight.
Credit: CAST
Key technologies tested
Tiangong-2 was lofted on September 15, 2016, with the space lab operating in orbit over 1,000 days, much longer than its two-year designed life.
Tiangong-2 hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest human space mission so far. China carried out a series of scientific and technological space experiments, and tested the in-orbit propellant refueling technology on Tiangong-2.
Back in early April 2018, an uncontrolled Tiangong-1 re-entered the atmosphere with the re -entry point located in the central region of the South Pacific Ocean, and most parts of that space lab were destroyed during its re-entry into the atmosphere.
China’s Tianzhou-1 resupply craft completed docking and refueling tasks with uncrewed Tiangong-2 space lab.
Credit: CCTV
Vital elements
These early space labs were vital elements of China’s human spaceflight program, one that is leading to assembling a larger space station in Earth orbit in the 2020’s.
Tiangong-1 reentry. Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
China’s space station will be capable of hosting three astronauts for long durations and up to six during a change of astronauts. It is due to have two experiment modules and will be accompanied by a co-orbiting space telescope that can dock for maintenance and repairs.
Credit: CMSA
Credit: Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s third annual Space Exploration auction will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.
The live auction begins in New York on July 20, 2019 at 9:00 AM MDT.
The sale is highlighted by the earliest, sharpest and most accurate surviving video images of man’s first steps on the moon: the only surviving original first-generation NASA recording of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. At a combined runtime of 2 hours and 24 minutes, the recording captures everything, from the historic moment that Commander Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on another world, to the “long distance phone call” with then-President Richard Nixon of the United States, to the planting of the American flag.
Videotape
Three metal reels (each 10 1/2 in. diameter) of Ampex 148 High Band 2-inch Quadruplex videotape, the tapes with video of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA recorded on July 20, 1969 at Mission Control, Manned Spaceflight Center, Houston, Texas, directly from narrow-band slow scan videotape converted to NTSC for network broadcast using Ampex VR-2000 video recorders.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The three tapes with running times of 45:04, 49:00, and 50:15 minutes, respectively, covering virtually the entire period of the EVA and including about 9 minutes at the beginning of reel 1 of Mission Control waiting for the lunar-surface camera to be deployed; the audio quality of all of the tapes is excellent. Each reel of videotape is housed in its original red-and-black manufacturer’s box with hinged lid (11 3/8 x 11 3/8 x 2 3/4 in.), the boxes also with printed adhesive labels reading “APOLLO 11 EVA | July 20, 1969.
Impressive collection
The sale also features a wide variety of material from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, featuring direct consignments from astronauts including: Apollo 9 Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart, Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 13 Mission Commander James Lovell, and the Estate of Apollo 16 Mission Commander John Young.
Credit: Sotheby’s
The sale also offers an impressive collection of flown mission artifacts, the finest single owner collection of flown Robbins medallions, early contractor’s models, spacesuits, photography, charts and much more.
To view the catalog, go to:
Credit: University of Michigan
A new national survey has taken the pulse of Americans as they reflect on Apollo 11 and the space program.
The survey was carried out by Jon D. Miller, Director of the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy, Institute for Social Research, based at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Landmark achievement
According to the survey: “This brief examination of national survey data from 1988 and 2018 indicates that American adult tend to recall the first Apollo lunar landing as a landmark achievement of the space program, citing it more often than any other activity as the best achievement of the space program, the survey notes.
Credit: NEON/CNN
“Parallel national survey data indicate that a majority of American adults think that the space program has paid for itself through the development of new technologies and new scientific discoveries. The proportion of American adults holding this belief has increased steadily over the last 30 years.”
Broadly shared
In looking to the future, the survey concludes: “a substantial majority of American adults continue to believe that today’s space exploration should be viewed as similar to the earlier European explorations of this planet.”
Lastly, “the proportion of adults holding this view has increased over the last 30 years,” the survey concludes, and is broadly shared by American adults.
“This level of public recall and recognition reflect the deep-seated impact of the first moon landing in American culture,” notes Jon Miller in a University of Michigan press statement.
This report was submitted to NASA under a cooperative agreement.
To view the full report — Americans reflect on Apollo 11 and the space program — go to:
Simulated view of what Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong saw as the Lunar Module Eagle approached the aim point on the northeast flank of West crater (190 meters diameter). The odd shape of the image area is due to the small windows in the Eagle. North is to the right.
Credit: NAC M131494509L/NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
“Most people are familiar with the 16mm movie of the Apollo 11 landing,” explains Mark Robinson, leader of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) at Arizona State University.
“However that viewpoint was looking out the right window, entirely missing the hazards that Armstrong saw as the Eagle approached the surface. The LROC team simulated what Armstrong saw out his window,” Robinson adds.
Visual record
As the LROC team explains:
The only visual record of the historic Apollo 11 landing is from a 16mm time-lapse (6 frames per second) movie camera mounted in Buzz Aldrin’s window (right side of Lunar Module Eagle or LM).
Due to the small size of the LM windows and the angle at which the movie camera was mounted, what mission commander Neil Armstrong saw as he flew and landed the LM was not recorded.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has used its LROC system to provide looks at the Apollo 11 landing site. The remnants of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic first steps on the surface are seen as dark paths around the Lunar Module (LM), Lunar Ranging RetroReflector (LRRR) and Passive Seismic Experiment Package (PSEP), as well as leading to and from Little West crater.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Landing trajectory
The LROC team reconstructed the last three minutes of the landing trajectory (latitude, longitude, orientation, velocity, altitude) using landmark navigation and altitude call outs from the voice recording.
From this trajectory information, and high resolution LROC NAC images and topography, we simulated what Armstrong saw in those final minutes as he guided the LM down to the surface of the Moon.
Manual control
As the video begins, Armstrong could see the aim point was on the rocky northeastern flank of West crater over 620 feet (190 meters) in diameter, causing him to take manual control and fly horizontally, searching for a safe landing spot.
Apollo 11 moonwalkers, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Credit: NASA
At the time, only Armstrong saw the hazard; he was too busy flying the LM to discuss the situation with mission control.
Side-by-side reconstruction
The LROC team acknowledges use of a time-synchronized version of the original 16mm film (Apollo Flight Journal) and the First Men on the Moon website, which synchronizes the air-to-ground voice transmission with the original 16mm film – resources that greatly aided the production of this work.
These sources were played side-by-side with our reconstruction during its production, allowing the LROC team to better match the reconstruction to the 16mm film and altitude callouts.
Go to this impressive video at:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1115
Note: “Be sure and check out the three alternate versions of the video
posted at the bottom of the Featured Image,” Robinson adds, “especially the two astronaut version: ‘What Armstrong and Aldrin Saw: Simulation vs.
Original Film.’
