Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

China’s plan to rocket to the Moon the Chang’E-4 mission this year is progressing. If successful, the mission will be the first exploration of the Moon’s far side – touching down at the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin.

One overall plan by China is to preliminarily emplace a research station (a set of probe platforms) on the Moon’s South Pole by way of three to four lander missions during the period of 2020-2030.

China’s growing Moon agenda is being outlined this week at the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference being held in The Woodlands, Texas.

Two-step mission

The Chang’E-4 mission will be carried out in two steps, reports Jun Huang, of the Planetary Science Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Jun is lead author of the paper that explains: Firstly, a relay satellite with two micro satellites will be launched by a CZ-4C rocket from Xichang, China. The relay satellite, equipped with a low-frequency radio spectrometer (developed in the Netherlands), will be sent to the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2 to make unique space physics measurements.

In addition, Jun reports, there will be laser reflectors used for orbital determination assistance. The two micro satellites will be equipped with Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) and micro visible cameras contributed from Saudi Arabia.

Six months later after the relay satellite launch, the second part of the Chang’E-4 mission — a lander and a rover — will be sent moonward by a CZ-3B rocket from Xichang, China.

Scientific payloads

Since the lander and rover were designed as the backup of the Chang’E-3 mission, Jun and colleagues note that there are several similar scientific payloads, including Landing Camera, Topographic Camera on the lander, and Panorama Camera, Visible/Near Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, Ground Penetrating Radar on the rover.

The additional instruments are Low-Frequency Radio Spectrometer, Lunar Neutron and Radiation Dose Detector (developed in Germany), and a Lunar Micro Ecosystem on the lander. A Neutral Atom Detector (developed in Sweden) is on the rover.

The candidate landing region for the Chang’E-4 mission  is 45°S-46°S 176.4°E-178.8°E, which is in the southern floor of the Von Kármán crater, within the SPA basin.

Sample return

The Chang’E-5 mission, China’s first lunar sample return mission, is now scheduled to launch in 2019 and is designed to bring back nearly 5 pounds (2 kilograms) of samples from the Moon’s surface. This mission was slated for launch in November 2017. However, it was delayed until 2019 due to a Long March 5 rocket failure.

In a paper led by Y. Qian of the Planetary Science Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), the reported landing site of the Chang’E-5 mission is designated between 41-45°N in latitude and 49-69°W in longitude within northern Oceanus Procellarum. This area is also called the Rümker region.

 

 

 

The Rümker region is located in the smooth plains in northern Oceanus Procellarum. Mons Rümker is a circular volcanic complex that is roughly 43 miles (70 kilometers) in diameter and some 1,640 feet (170 meters) higher than the surrounding mare surface. The Rümker region is covered by a variety of landforms, such as numbers of mare ridges and domes.

 

 

Research station

In another paper presented at the LPSC meeting, Lin Xu, Yongliao Zou and Jiang Wu review China’s Change’E Project. The authors of this paper are from the General Office of Lunar and Deepspace Exploration.

The Change’E Project is designed to implement and complete the following three stages: “circling around the Moon”, “landing on the Moon” and “returning from the Moon” before 2020.

A lunar research station is described as a set of probe platforms, with the overall scientific goals being:

(1) to detect and study the distribution, content and source of water and volatile components;

(2) to acquire the characteristics of the chemical composition of the deep part of the Moon;

(3) to study the age of the South Pole Aitken basin and the early impact history of the solar system;

(4) to explore the surface environment of the lunar south pole;

(5) to carry out lunar resource utilization tests;

(6) to carry out bio-scientific studies on the lunar surface;

(7) to carry out observation and research on macro-geological phenomena in the base of the moon; and

(8) to carry out the Earth-Moon Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) test and observation.

Technical support

Also on China’s Moon agenda, the team reports, a rare-gas extraction test in the lunar soil, a 3D-printing test in order to provide “technical support” for future manned Moon activities and lunar resource utilization.

In addition, a series of small terrestrial ecosystem experiments on the lunar surface will provide theoretical and technological support for safeguarding future crewed missions.

Lastly, equipment is to be emplaced on the Moon to evaluate the energy difference of the Earth’s climate system. Doing so would reveal the dynamics of our planet’s magnetosphere, the plasma layer, and the ionosphere, they report.

Microsymposium

The Chinese lunar and deep space exploration program was spotlighted prior to the LPSC.

Microsymposium 59 was cosponsored by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and the Russian Academy of Sciences Vernadsky and Space Research institutes, a March 17-18 program dedicated to a focus on the lunar and deep space exploration activities of the People’s Republic of China.

“International exploration of the Solar System has grown significantly since the beginning of the Space Age, with missions launched by many nations, and participation by scientists worldwide in planning and data analysis,” explains James Head, a key microsymposium organizer at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Head said that of particular interest was the analysis of data for the Chang’E 1-3 missions and the concepts and landing site selection studies for the Chang’E-4 farside rover and Chang’E-5 nearside mare lunar sample return missions.

Microsymposium 59 heard reports from a wide range of Chinese university and Chinese Academy of Sciences scientific colleagues, along with their descriptions of both data analysis and results of previous missions to the Moon.  It also included informal and unofficial presentations on future mission plans and activities for the Moon, Mars, asteroids and beyond.

By the numbers, Microsymposium 59 had over 200 individuals and walk-in attendees registered from 15 nations.

 

 

Now available as the third installment of Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist, Jack Schmitt’s Apollo 17: Diary of the 12th Man.

The new addition is Chapter 9, “The 12th Man”, with other chapters to follow.

This chapter chronicles the moments after touchdown in December 1972 of the Challenger Lunar Module in the Valley of Taurus-Littrow; safing the spacecraft systems and preparing it for an extended stay; the first views of the surface from the windows; donning the space suits; and Schmitt’s recounting of becoming the 12th man to step out onto the lunar surface.

Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the Moon on July 20, 1969, followed by Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Al Shepherd, Ed Mitchell, Dave Scott, Jim Irwin, John Young, Charlie Duke, and, number 11, Gene Cernan.

To view Schmitt’s new chapter, Go to:

https://www.americasuncommonsense.com

Note: As with the previous installments, the chapter will be accessible from three areas of the website: On the main home page as a “Post” until replaced by the next installment; in the right sidebar under the listing “Recent Posts”; and in the right upper sidebar under the “Pages” heading “1. Apollo17: Diary of the 12th Man” as each chapter is uploaded. The new addition is Chapter 9, “The 12th Man.”

Special thanks to Ronald A. Wells, PI, Tranquillity Enterprises. (Latin cognate!)

Planetary defense specialists have taken a hard look at deflecting Earth-bound asteroids and scoping out the prospects to nudge a massive asteroid.

The effort is part of a national planetary defense collaboration between NASA, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which includes LLNL and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Nailed by HAMMER?

At the heart of the assessment is use of a 9-meter-tall, 8.8-ton spacecraft — dubbed HAMMER (Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response vehicle) — to serve as either a kinetic impactor, essentially a battering ram, or as a transport vehicle for a nuclear device.

A possible mission for HAMMER: deflect 101955 Bennu, a massive asteroid with a diameter more than five football fields), tipping the scales at roughly 79 billion kilograms (1,664 times as heavy as the Titanic), circling the sun at around 63,000 miles per hour.

Impact stats

More to the point. Based on observation data available, Bennu has a 1 in 2,700-chance of striking Earth on September 25, 2135, and it is estimated that the kinetic energy of this impact would be equivalent to 1,200 megatons (80,000 times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb).

“The chance of an impact appears slim now, but the consequences would be dire,” said Kirsten Howley, LLNL physicist and coauthor on a paper — Options and uncertainties in planetary defense: Mission planning and vehicle design for flexible response – published recently in the journal, Acta Astronautica.

“This study aims to help us shorten the response timeline when we do see a clear and present danger so we can have more options to deflect it. The ultimate goal is to be ready to protect life on Earth,” Howley explains in a LLNL press statement.

Gentle nudge

The preferred approach to mitigating an asteroid threat would be to deflect it by ramming a kinetic impactor into it, delivering a gentle nudge large enough and soon enough to slow it down and change its collision course with Earth, but not so large that the object breaks apart.

The new study helped quantify the threshold where a kinetic impactor would no longer be an effective deflection option. To evaluate this threshold, researchers focused on determining how many HAMMER impactors it would take to deflect Bennu.

Study results

The paper concluded that using a single HAMMER spacecraft as a battering ram would prove inadequate for deflecting an object like Bennu.

While recent simulations of nuclear deflection scenarios are not included in this paper – they will be included in a companion paper to be submitted for publication in the near future – the findings suggest that the nuclear option may be required with larger objects like Bennu.

The nuclear approach carries the potential to deposit much more energy into an object like Bennu, causing a greater change in speed and trajectory.

Bound for Bennu

If asteroid Bennu rings a bell, it’s the target of NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer, mercifully shortened to OSIRIS-Rex. It is the space agency’s first asteroid sample return mission.

Bennu is a rare B-type asteroid (primitive and carbon-rich), which is expected to have organic compounds and water-bearing minerals like clays.

OSIRIS-REx launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral, Florida and will arrive at Bennu on December 3 of this year. In March 2021, the window for departure from the asteroid will open, and OSIRIS-REx will begin its return journey to Earth, arriving two and a half years later on Sept. 24, 2023. The sample return capsule will separate from the spacecraft and enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule containing the sample will be collected at the Utah Test and Training Range.

For more information on HAMMER and the new appraisal of planetary defense techniques — Options and uncertainties in planetary defense: Mission planning and vehicle design for flexible response – go to:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576517307919#fig1

 

NASA’s Curiosity rover has just begun Sol 1995 operations on the Red Planet.

In a new report from Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “The science team gave Curiosity a workout in this plan, using just about every watt of power available to carry out a full slate of activities.”

Minitti adds that Sol 1995 is scheduled to start off with a bang – three Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) rasters and a Mastcam 360 mosaic!

Wind sculpted slab

ChemCam will first shoot “Durness,” a flat, gray, apparently wind sculpted slab of bedrock in the workspace.

Next up for ChemCam is “Paisley,” a faceted cobble of bedrock cut by sulfate veins, and last is “Fingals Cave,” a bright white exposure of sulfate vein.

“The arm instruments get to work next,” Minitti notes.

Target brushing

The robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) will image Durness, which will show the ChemCam laser shots across the target, followed by a Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushing of the target.

Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will analyze Durness and Paisley overnight, and then early in the morning of Sol 1996, MAHLI will return to Durness for more imaging on its now dust-cleared surface, Minitti points out.

MAHLI imaging of Paisley ends the arm work, and will capture the ChemCam raster spots and the areas cleared of dust by the ChemCam laser.

Hematite signal

“Before we drive on Sol 1996,” Minitti reports, “the rover will acquire Mastcam multispectral observations of the DRT spot on Durness and across the Vera Rubin Ridge in the direction of a particularly strong hematite signal seen from orbit that we are driving toward.”

After the drive, Curiosity will acquire two ChemCam observations using the Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) automated targeting algorithm, and spend time observing the atmosphere.

Dust devils and clouds

Use of the robot’s Mastcam and Navcam is slated to produce images and movies that measure dust in the atmosphere and look for dust devils and clouds. Those activities are to take place both early in the morning and in the afternoon of Sol 1997.

APXS will acquire another Argon atmospheric measurement overnight on Sol 1997.

Regular Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) measurements, Minitti concludes, “keep the rover working in those small windows where nothing else is going on!”

Note that dates of planned rover activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

 

New map

Meanwhile, a new Curiosity traverse map through Sol 1993 has been issued.

The map shows the route driven by Curiosity through the 1993 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (March 16, 2018).

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 1991 to Sol 1993, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 109.86 feet (33.48 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 11.44 miles (18.40 kilometers).

The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

 

The European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office in Darmstadt, Germany has issued a new update on the expected reentry of China’s Tiangong-1 space lab.

In a March 15 issued forecast, the current estimated window is roughly March 30 to roughly April 6, noting that the prediction of the 8.5 ton spacecraft’s fall is highly variable.

 

 

 

 

Reentry of the Chinese hardware will take place anywhere between 43ºN and 43ºS (which includes, e.g. Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, etc., as well as many other regions and continents.

Areas above or below these latitudes can be excluded.

 

 

“At no time will a precise time/location prediction from ESA be possible,” the Space Debris Office explains.

 

 

Tiangong-1 is the first space station built by China and 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.

 

A new film focused on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 is set to arrive on Earth Day 2018.

The world premier of Earthrise tells the story of the first image captured of the Earth from space in 1968.

Told solely by the Apollo 8 astronauts – Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders — the film recounts their experiences and memories and explores the beauty, awe, and grandeur of the Earth against the blackness of space.

Iconic imagery

The iconic image from Apollo 8 had a powerful impact on the astronauts and the world, offering a perspective that transcended national, political, and religious boundaries.

Told 50 years later, Earthrise compels us to remember this shift and to reflect on the Earth as a shared home.

Public screenings

Public Screenings of the 29-minute Earthrise are slated April 21, 24, 25, 28 during the Tribeca Film Festival 2018 being held in New York.

Go Project Films is the film production arm of the Global Oneness Project–the award-winning online multi-media educational platform.

Director of Earthrise is Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, an award-winning filmmaker, musician and composer. His work has been featured on National Geographic, PBS, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Outside Magazine, exhibited at The Smithsonian and screened at festivals worldwide.

Resources

To view a trailer of Earthrise, go to:

http://www.earthrisefilm.com/

The festival’s page dedicated to Earthrise is available at:

www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/earthrise-2018

For detailed information about the New York-based festival, go to:

https://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/faq

 

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 1994 science tasks.

Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist for Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “As we drive east across the top of Vera Rubin Ridge – backwards no less! – we encountered another nice patch of bedrock in Curiosity’s workspace.”

That encounter motivated multiple observations before the robot hits the road once again.

 

Small crystals

The bedrock in front of Curiosity resembled that which was studied on Sol 1991 where the rover imaged the target “Seaforth Head” – that target exhibits small crystals like the ones found at the “Jura” outcrop, “and we hoped that today’s workspace might turn up more crystals,” Minitti adds. “To look for them, we planned a Mastcam M100 mosaic over a wide swath of the workspace.”

Coordinated observations

A more detailed assessment of the bedrock will include coordinated observations of the gray bedrock target “Stirling Castle” with the robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), and its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.

This target’s name also gave team members a chance to honor one of the rover planners operating the rover: Stirling Algermissen!

ChemCam was on tap to acquire a second raster on “Dunottar,” bedrock that is rough and reddish at its base and smooth and gray at its top, Minitti explains.

 

Far away targets

ChemCam will be kept very busy imaging far away targets and the sky using overlapping Remote Micro Imager (RMI) photos of Peace Vallis. They will be acquired in an effort to combine them into a single image of higher resolution.

As was done on Sols 1986-1987, the rover will image the yardang unit on the flank of Mt. Sharp with two long distance RMI mosaics. “These mosaics will help us increase our understanding of the internal structure of this unit. Just as we often use ChemCam in passive mode to look at the spectroscopic signature of rocks around us, in this plan we will use that same mode to look at the sky,” Minitti points out.

Aerosols and trace gases

ChemCam passive observations of the sky allow Mars researchers to estimate concentrations of aerosols and trace gases in the atmosphere. To ensure the passive sky observation is well-calibrated, ChemCam will acquire passive spectra from the ChemCam calibration targets both before and after the sky observation.

 

 

The atmosphere will get more attention after the rover drives roughly 115 feet (35 meters), with images to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere and movies that seek out clouds.

Curiosity’s APXS will also get its turn, measuring the amount of atmospheric Argon as the turret remains stowed on the night of Sol 1994, Minitti concludes.

 

NASA is pressing forward on a Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a human-tended facility positioned near Earth’s moon.

Several hundred scientists in Denver February 27-March 1, taking part in a Deep Space Gateway Concept Science Workshop, proposing how best to utilize a strategic presence in cislunar space.

Making use of a suite of instruments housed within and on the structure itself, or free-flying equipment stationed near the mini-complex, researchers foresee a host of uses for the Gateway: from performing Earth and solar observations to carrying out astrophysics and fundamental physics experiments as well as doing human physiology and space biology studies. Moreover, the Gateway is viewed as not only a place to live, learn and work around the moon but to also support an array of missions to the lunar surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more on the Gateway, go to my newly posted Space.com story:

NASA Shapes Science Plan for Deep-Space Outpost Near the Moon

https://www.space.com/39985-nasa-lunar-orbital-platform-gateway-science-plan.html

Space Warfighting Readiness: Policies, Authorities, and Capabilities is a March 14 hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee.

In opening remarks, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee noted: “First, space is a domain of warfare, not just an enabler.  Second, we are falling behind where we should be when it comes to space.  Today’s hearing will discuss how we can catch up.”

Thornberry added that “as we refocus our defense efforts on strategic rivals, it is clear that they are putting significant effort into space.  I believe that the American people still do not fully realize how dependent our country is on space, not just for military and intelligence purposes, but in our every day lives as well.  That dependence creates a vulnerability, which, like in the other domains, we must count on the American military to protect.”

Video of hearing: https://youtu.be/JRUgnT_EXCc

 

 

 

 

Witnesses

The witnesses and their written testimony:

• General Robert Kehler

Former Commander, U.S. Strategic Command

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS00/20180314/107973/HHRG-115-AS00-Wstate-KehlerR-20180314.pdf

• Doug Loverro

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Department of Defense

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS00/20180314/107973/HHRG-115-AS00-Wstate-LoverroD-20180314.pdf

• Todd Harrison

Director of Aerospace Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS00/20180314/107973/HHRG-115-AS00-Wstate-HarrisonT-20180314.pdf

A new Start-Up Space report has been issued by Bryce Space Tech of Alexandria, Virginia.

This update on commercial space ventures in 2018 examines space investment in the 21st century and analyzes investment trends, focusing on investors in new companies that have acquired private financing.

A few highlights:

$2.5 billion in 2017: historic number of companies reporting investment, more investors, and no billion dollar deals. Investors provided $2.5 billion of financing to start-up space companies in 2017, about $500 million less than in 2016.

Venture capital strong, growing VC interest in space. Total venture investment, nearly $1.6 billion, was about the same in 2017 as 2016.

Investors focus on valuations and exits. SpaceX is an undisputed space unicorn (a private company with a valuation of $1 billion or more); after a $450 million Series H, SpaceX’s valuation was reported at more than $20 billion.

Non-U.S. activity in a U.S. dominated sector. U.S. space start-ups continue to dominate start-up space, with about 75 percent of all investment (and 90 percent of seed and angel investment) from U.S. investors since 2015.

After a 10x increase in venture capital and seed investment in space start-ups from 2014 to 2015, investment has remained relatively steady from 2015 to 2017, totaling between $2.5 and $3 billion annually. In 2018, we will see milestones including smallsat launchers and human spaceflight.

The full report – and a host of previous reports –can be found on the Bryce website. Go to:

https://brycetech.com/reports.html