Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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March 26th, 2018
Artist’s view of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in space, up and operating tackling a full agenda of space science conquests.
Credit: Northrop Grumman
NASA is hosting a media teleconference on the status of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at 11:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 27.
This update is expected to provide new information regarding delays in launching JWST – what will be the world’s premier infrared space observatory and the largest astronomical science telescope ever built for in-space duties. It is slated to be lofted by Europe’s Ariane-5 booster.
Audio of the call will stream live at this site:
Integration delays
NASA has previously announced that JWST’s launch would be delayed several months, from October 2018 to no later than June 2019, because components of the telescope are taking longer to integrate than planned.
JWST’s combined science instruments and optical element recently completed 100 days of thermal vacuum testing inside NASA Johnson Space Center’s Chamber A. Engineers are seen by the hardware shortly after it emerged from the huge test facility on December 1, 2017.
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Based on the amount of work NASA has to complete before JWST is ready to launch, it’s likely the launch date will be delayed again. If that happens, the project will be at risk of exceeding the $8 billion cost cap set by Congress.
The project’s Standing Review Board recently conducted an independent review of JWST’s schedule status in early 2018 to determine if the June 2019 launch window can be met.
Briefing participants
The briefing participants are:
Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot; Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Thomas Zurbuchen; and Deputy Associate Administrator of SMD, Dennis Andrucyk.
Background resources
To read a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of JWST, go to this Highlights Page at:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690412.pdf
The Full Report can be found at:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690413.pdf
Also, take a look at my Scientific American story for details about the JWST:
Is the James Webb Space Telescope “Too Big to Fail?” – Backers of NASA’s next great observatory contemplate its worst-case scenarios
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-james-webb-space-telescope-too-big-to-fail/
For a video look at JWST, go to the Northrop Grumman overview published on Jan 24, 2017 at:
Posted in 
Vehicle overview: Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and BFR.
Credit: SpaceX
Elon Musk, CEO and Lead Designer at SpaceX, presents the updated design for the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), in a summary article published in New Space, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
The article is available free on the New Space website.
The article is a summary of Musk’s presentation at the 68th International Astronautical Congress.
Business case
Musk not only provides details on the BFR’s updated design but, importantly, presents a plan for how to pay for it. He describes the development of a huge carbon fiber tank that is capable of holding the cryogenic liquid oxygen needed to fuel the rocket, and the key to the SpaceX business case, how on orbit refueling will take place.
Deep cryo liquid oxygen tank developed by SpaceX.
Credit: SpaceX
The article also reports on progress toward perfecting propulsive landing and achieving rendezvous and docking. Included is information on the changes to the vehicle as its design has evolved, and the dramatic differences in payload capabilities between previous and current versions of the vehicle and BFR designs.
Near-term science goals
BFR engines.
Credit: SpaceX
“Elon’s description of the Big Falcon Rocket, along with the stunning recent success of the Falcon 9 Heavy indicates just how far SpaceX has come in establishing the elements needed to dramatically lower the cost for deep space exploration,” says Editor-in-Chief Scott Hubbard, Stanford University.
“I look forward to seeing SpaceX contribute to human exploration as well as near-term science goals like the Mars Sample Return,” Hubbard adds in a statement.
To read “Making Life Multi-Planetary,” go to:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/space.2018.29013.emu
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
President Donald J. Trump has unveiled an “America First” National Space Strategy.
Under the rubric of “Infrastructure and Technology” the Fact Sheet was issued on: March 23, 2018.
“Our travels beyond the Earth propel scientific discoveries that improve our lives in countless ways here, right here, at home: powering vast new industry, spurring incredible new technology, and providing the space security we need to protect the American people.” – President Donald J. Trump
As outlined in the Fact Sheet, there are four pillars for a unified approach. “President Donald J. Trump’s new National Space Strategy drives a whole-of-government approach to United States leadership in space, in close partnership with the private sector and our allies, and is based on four essential pillars.
To read the White House Fact Sheet, go to:
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image acquired on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is wrapping up Sol 2001 duties.
Controllers operating the robot put together Sol 2001 activities listening to a rousing rendition of “Also sprach Zarathustra” – the signature song from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Reports Abigail Fraeman, planetary geologist at NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, that inspirational music motivated them to pick two new target names that were as close to A Space Odyssey as they could get: “Boddam” for David Bowman (the mission commander of the Discovery 1) and “Kirkcudbright” for the movie’s director, Stanley Kubrick.
Curioisty Navcam Left B photo acquired on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Steep outcrop
“Curiosity is currently sitting in front of a steep outcrop that shows some interesting geologic relationships between rocks in the Vera Rubin Ridge. We acquired some great images of these rocks,” Fraeman notes, so the focus has been on understanding the properties of those rocks.
View of rover’s workspace taken by Curioisty Mastcam Left on Sol 1999, March 22, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
In the first sol of the plan, sol 2001, the plan called for collecting Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos of a target named “Apin,” and doing Dust Removal Tool (DRT), MAHLI, and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) tasks on a target named “Brora.”
Vertical rocks
The second sol, sol 2002, will focus on remote sensing, with Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations on targets named Boddam, “Sgurr of Eigg,” and Kirkcudbright.
The ChemCam observations will be accompanied by Mastcam documentation images. Multispectral observation of the DRT targets from Brora and Sgurr of Eigg are to be done, some multispectral images of the landscape in front of the rover, and some additional color images of vertical rocks in front of Curiosity to complement previously collected data.
“We’ll top off the science block with a dust devil movie and dust devil survey. We’ll stay up after dark on sol 2002 to collect additional nighttime MAHLI images of Appin and Brora,” Fraeman explains.
Dust Removal Tool (DRT) is viewed by Curiosity Mastcam Right camera. Image taken on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Distant features
On sol 2003, the plans calls for taking dedicated environmental science measurements, including a tau to measure the dust in the atmosphere, a Navcam 360 sky survey, a Navcam zenith and suprahorizon movies, and a crater rim extinction image.
Also part of the plan is producing another ChemCam remote micro-imager (RMI) mosaic of distant features on Mt. Sharp.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image acquired on Sol 1999, March 22, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Spectral signatures
Sol 2003 will finish with the robot driving roughly 165 feet (50 meters) towards an area “where we see some of the strongest spectral signatures of hematite on the ridge in orbital data,” Fraeman points out.
A standard set of post-drive images will be taken over the weekend to set Mars researchers up to characterize the new location in the sol 2004 plan.
“It will be very exciting,” Fraeman concludes, “to see the exact rocks that are the source of the orbital signature which helped us realize the importance of Vera Rubin Ridge over five years ago!”
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
The reentry of China’s Tiangong-1’s is being closely monitored by The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Orbital and Debris Reentry Studies (CORDS).
Currently, the space station is predicted to reenter Earth’s atmosphere around April 1, 2018, plus or minus 4 days.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
However, due to the uncertainties involved, it is very difficult to predict the exact timing of any space object reentry.
Sources of uncertainty
According to CORDS, sources of uncertainty include:
- significant variation in the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere
- orientation of the spacecraft over time
- physical properties of the spacecraft, including the exact mass and material composition
- exact location and speed of the space station
“When aggregated, these factors translate into a reentry timing uncertainty that is roughly 20 percent of the “time to go”—the time remaining between the date of the prediction and the predicted date of reentry,” notes a CORDS update.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
Surviving debris
Tiangong-1 will reenter somewhere between the latitudes of 43° north and south, and any surviving reentry debris will most likely fall into an ocean.
“The odds of space debris hitting you are less than one in 1 trillion. Surviving debris from Tiangong-1 might be carrying or be comprised of toxic materials. CORDS experts advise that it is best to not touch any space debris or breathe in any vapors it may release,” according to the orbital debris and reentry study group.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
Visibility conditions
What can a ground observer see?
Incandescent objects during this reentry may be visible and will likely last up to a minute or more, depending on time of day, visibility conditions, and the observer’s location.
Go to this informative video regarding the upcoming reentry, made available by The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS.
Go to:
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image acquired on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity robot on Mars has reached 2000 Martian Days of Red Planet roving, reports Christopher Edwards, a planetary geologist at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
“Our trusty Martian rover has spent 2000 sols exploring Gale Crater helping to unravel the geologic history preserved in the rocks,” Edwards explains. “We’ve observed a huge variety of past environments ranging from conglomerate rocks that indicate flowing surface water to mudstones that document a time when Gale crater contained an ancient lake.”
Curiosity Navcam Left B photo taken on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Strong signature
Curiosity is continuing its exploration of past environments preserved within Gale crater, further examining the Vera Rubin Ridge. The rover is continuing to make its way to the location where the strongest orbital signature of hematite is observed, Edwards notes.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image acquired on Sol 1999, March 22, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
A recent plan has Curiosity carrying out remote sensing activities to examine layering in the rocks, as well as contact science on the target dubbed “Sgurr of Eigg” to characterize the unit’s chemistry and fine-scale morphology. “We’ll continue these types of activities over the weekend plan,” Edwards adds, “to refine our understanding of this workspace.”
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 2000, March 23, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Road map
A new traverse map has been issued showing the route driven by Curiosity through the 1999 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (March 22, 2018).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (~0.62 mile).
From Sol 1998 to Sol 1999, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 50.39 feet (15.36 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 11.48 miles (18.47 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Tiangong-1 altitude decay forecast as of March 21.
Credit: ESA
The latest reentry forecast for China’s Tiangong-1 space lab has been provided by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Debris Office in Darmstadt, Germany.
In a March 21 update, the Tiangong-1 reentry window forecast is now roughly March 30 to roughly April 2, with the Space Debris Office noting that this is highly variable.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS
Tiangong-1 was lofted in late September 2011. The first Chinese orbital docking occurred between Tiangong-1 and an unpiloted Shenzhou spacecraft on November 2, 2011. Two piloted missions were completed to visit Tiangong-1: Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10.
Docking of China’s Shenzhou 10 spacecraft with the Tiangong-1 space station June 13, 2013.
Credit: CCTV
Test campaign
Meanwhile, ESA will serve as host and administrator of a test campaign regarding the reentry of China’s space lab, conducted by the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC).
IADC comprises space debris and other experts from 13 space agencies/organizations, including NASA, ESA, European national space agencies, Japan’s JAXA, India’s ISRO, Korea’s KARI, Russia’s Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration.
IADC members will use the fall of Tiangong-1 to conduct their annual reentry test campaign, during which participants will pool their predictions of the time window, as well as their respective tracking datasets obtained from radar and other sources. The aim is to cross-verify, cross-analyze and improve the prediction accuracy for all members.
Artist’s view of Tiangong space lab
Credit: CMSE
Two modules
There are two modules that compose Tiangong-1: A habitable experimental module and a resources module. It has a habitable volume of 15 cubic meters and is equipped with sleep stations for astronauts.
The space lab’s mass at launch was over 9 tons (18,740 pounds; 8,500 kilograms).Tiangong-1’s length is 34 feet (10.5 meters) and sports a diameter of 11 feet (3.4 meters) It is outfitted with two solar panels that are roughly 7 meters by 3 meters.
There is a chance that a small amount of Tiangong-1 debris may survive reentry and impact the Earth’s surface. Should this happen, any surviving debris would fall within a region that is a few hundred kilometers in size and centered along a point on the Earth that the station passes over. The map below shows the relative probabilities of debris landing within a given region. Yellow indicates locations that have a higher probability while green indicates areas of lower probability. Blue areas have zero probability of debris reentry since Tiangong-1 does not fly over these areas (north of 42.7° N latitude or south of 42.7° S latitude). These zero probability areas constitute about a third of the total Earth’s surface area.
Credit: The Aerospace Corporation’s CORDS
Where on Earth?
As to where on Earth Tiangong-1’s will reenter, that’s an unknown. But given the spacecraft’s inclination, this object will reenter somewhere between 43° North and 43° South latitudes.
Owing to the Chinese station’s mass and construction materials, there is a distinct possibility that some portions of Tiangong-1 will survive and reach the Earth’s surface.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1998, March 21, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is at the end of Sol 1999 activities.
“Curiosity is but one sol away from a major mission milestone, but work always comes before celebrations,” reports Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image acquired on Sol 1998, March 21, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Major decision
A recent major decision was whether to have Curiosity perform contact science at the current location and conduct a short drive, or make a longer drive toward stop #12 on the Vera Rubin Ridge campaign, Guzewich explains. The team has decided quickly to choose the latter option.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1998, March 21, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
But prior to the drive, scientists had room for a short science block that included Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam analysis of a bedrock target termed “Mangersta,” measurements of dust in the atmosphere, and a search for dust devils.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 1996, March 18, 2018.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Then Curiosity will boogie toward stop #12, and after getting there, conduct a ChemCam AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) activity,” Guzewich concludes.
Space Corps, Space-based Missile Defense, and other topics: General John E. Hyten, USAF, Commander, United States Strategic Command before Senate Committee on Armed Services, March 20, 2018.
Credit: Inside Outer Space/Screengrab
General John E. Hyten, USAF, Commander, United States Strategic Command before Senate Committee on Armed Services on March 20, 2018.
Testimony:
https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Hyten_03-20-18.pdf
Video:
https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/watch?hearingid=747E75AD-5056-A066-609C-D40E2956EA06
Apollo 17’s Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was the last man to set foot on the lunar surface, taking part in the 6th human landing on the Moon in December 1972.
Credit: NASA
A 45th Anniversary of Apollo 17 Panel was held at the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), being held this week in The Woodlands, Texas.
Taking place on Wednesday, March 21, the event was live streamed and captured the saga of Apollo 17.
This panel discussion featured Apollo 17 moonwalker, Harrison Schmitt (first geologist on the Moon), Gerry Griffin (Apollo 17 Flight Director), and James Head III (Apollo 17 backroom scientist).
Apollo 17 mission in December 1972 surveyed the Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area.
Credit: NASA
The panel was moderated by Carlé Pieters of Brown University.
Apollo 17 field observations and sampling in the valley of Taurus Littrow has produced a number of major conclusions and hypotheses.
Livestream
This 45th Anniversary of Apollo 17 Panel was streamed live on the LPSC Livestream page:
https://livestream.com/viewnow/lpsc2018/videos/172096372
