Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 22nd, 2017
Flyability drone is unleashed in Cucchiara cave.
Credit: ESA
Cave divers have been utilizing a drone to explore caverns – a technology that could be a valuable plus in future exploration of lava tubes on Mars.
The drone was tested during the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills course (CAVES-X1) expedition. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano took part in the caving expedition.
The scientific outing was organized by La Venta Association and the Commissione Grotte Eugenio Boegan and took place in the La Cucchiara caves near Sciacca, Sicily.
Drone dives into icy crevasse.
Credit: Flyability
Hard-to-reach spaces
Using a Flyability drone, the hardware can probe hard-to-reach spaces. The drone deliberately bumped into walls to learn how to navigate and to map tight areas that are too dangerous for humans.
ESA’s course coordinator, Francesco Sauro, an experienced caver and field geologist, said the drone used its thermal camera to map how the cave continued all the way to an unexplored area featuring water, impossible to reach for humans. “These tests will help us understand which technologies can be used in future exploration of lava tubes on Mars, for example,” he added in an ESA press statement.
Credit: Flyability
ESA’s strategy sees humans and robots working together to explore and build settlements on planetary bodies.
Nine flights
Within the caverns of Sicily, temperatures can rise to 37°C, making the exploration in darkness even more difficult.
The drone was launched into a 100 m-high vertical tunnel.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano with the Flyability team flying the drone in the Cucchiara Cave.
Credit: ESA–N. Russo www.natalinorusso.it
Two operators — one for the cameras and one for the drone itself — searched deep into the tunnel for hot spots and mapping never-seen-before areas. The thermal camera allowed the operators to pinpoint areas where temperatures are estimated to be higher than 40°C – circular conduits that are now earmarked for future exploration.
Inside the abyss, hot and cold air currents mix and form condensation so high it resembles continuous rain in the shaft. Despite these difficult conditions, ESA reports that the drone performed flawlessly over its nine flights.
For more information on the Flyability drone technology, go to the company’s website at:
Posted in 
Close-calls in the cosmos. A new appraisal of civil traffic control is to be undertaken by the FAA and the Department of the Defense.
Credit: Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of the Defense are embarking on a pilot program to define the pathway forward on Space Traffic Management and what functions may be better suited for a civil agency.
This joint-appraisal is to start this summer, likely in the August time frame.
Funding details are expected in the forthcoming White House FY18 Defense budget request.
The pilot program was discussed during last week’s Fiscal Year 2018 Priorities and Posture of the National Security Space Enterprise before the House Committee on Armed Services’ Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
Air-centric
Lieutenant General David Buck, Commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, U.S. Strategic Command, testified May 19th that the military recognizes that some Space Traffic Management (STM) tasks are not central to their military mission. Those tasks include things like debris mitigation and providing conjunction data messages to satellite operators.
“As part of the pilot program, I anticipate a small footprint of FAA representatives working side-by-side with our space operators this year,” Buck noted in written testimony.
Earth orbit is a junkyard of human-made space clutter.
Credit: Space Junk 3D, LLC. Melrae Pictures
Buck said that the FAA sees this “as a real opportunity to do things that are more like air-centric,” he told lawmakers, such as establishing norms of behavior and establishing patterns of safety in space flight.
“They [the FAA] see some goodness in this and they are anxious to take on specific aspects of the Space Traffic Management mission,” Buck added.
Safe space operations
The FAA’s George Nield, Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, has previously outlined a Civil Space Traffic Management System (CSTMS).
The CSTMS would consist of the hardware, software, data and communications connectivity, and personnel that are needed to accept and process observations, create and maintain a catalog of space objects, perform safety-related analyses, and develop and distribute safety-related products and services.
The mission of the CSTMS would be to enhance the safety of space operations, and to preserve the space environment, Nield said March 30 during a Symposium on Space Situational Awareness, held in Washington, D.C. The meeting was organized by the Universities Space Research Association and the Space Policy Institute.
A CubeSat is deployed from the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
Congested space
During that March meeting, Nield defined the challenges ahead. “Space is becoming more congested. Cubesats and other small satellites are being launched with increasing frequency. There are near-term plans for ‘Mega-constellations,’ with hundreds or even thousands of satellites,” he pointed out.
The Department of the Defense attempts to keep track of objects in space, “but they would like to be able to focus on national security issues, rather than on the safety of civil and commercial space operations,” Nield said.
However, there are no universally-accepted “Rules of the Road” for space operations, Nield said. “An increase in the number of collisions in space,” he said, “could put astronauts and critical national security spacecraft at risk, and even make some orbital regimes unusable for future operators.”
The crowded space environment may look like this a decade from now, with proposed mega-constellations.
Credit: Center for Space Policy & Strategy
Safety services
In his remarks last March, Nield said that the joint FAA and Department of Defense pilot effort is designed to demonstrate the ability of the FAA to provide orbital safety services as part of a Civil Space Traffic Management System.
Key steps in the process include being able to:
- Accept and process observations
- Compute orbital parameters and generate at least a partial catalog of space objects
- Analyze and assess potential conjunctions
- Generate collision avoidance warnings as required
Data produced during the pilot program will be compared and validated with Department of Defense data.
Important questions
In carrying out a pilot program, the FAA’s Nield explained, it could answer a set of important questions:
- In terms of completeness, accuracy, and timeliness, how would the products and services from an FAA-managed Civil Space Traffic Management System compare to those currently available from the Department of Defense (DoD)?
- What are the potential benefits of using observations from non-DoD sources, either instead of, or in addition to, the data currently being used by the DoD?
- Can innovative analysis techniques be used to decrease uncertainty and cut down on “false alarms” for potential collisions?
- Is it possible to increase transparency of the data and the process, while still protecting classified and/or sensitive national security information?
Central to preparing for the early colonization of Mars, why not first take up a seat at the Waterville Opera House in central Maine? Not only that, there’s a casting call for future Martians.
“One Way Trip To Mars-a rock opera” premieres at the Waterville Opera House August 24-27.
Emotional rollercoaster
The show is rooted in contemporary science and features 21 original songs by Maine-based songwriters Peter Alexander and Johannah Harkness and is accompanied by an “Art & Science Fair.” This fair involves students using the arts to explore the many areas of science involved in space travel and establishing a human colony on Mars.
Those tunes tell a fictional story about Paolo, the first human chosen to fly a solo, one-way mission to establish a human colony on Mars.
According to the opera’s website: “The show takes audiences on an emotional rollercoaster, from Paolo’s exuberance at being chosen for the mission, to his coming to grips with the reality of forever leaving behind his wife and everything he loves on earth. When catastrophic events on Earth — from nuclear terrorism to climate change and global war, cause communication links with Mars to go down — Paolo is left alone in the universe.”
From there the story accelerates to its dramatic conclusion, the website adds.
First flight
“One Way Trip to Mars” has had first flight as a multi-media concert on the main stage of the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath during the fall of 2016.
The show has been re-worked by dramatist and director Dennis St. Pierre as a fully-realized piece for musical theater and opens in a world premiere at the Waterville Opera House in Waterville, Maine at the end of August.
Credit: Waterville Opera House
A second round of auditions to play leading parts in the opera’s premiere will be taking place May 26 & 27 in New York.
For more information on auditions, go to:
http://onewaytriptomars.us/audition-notice/
The Rock Opera is similar in style to Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Ziggy Stardust, Chess, The Great Comet.
More information about this innovative show can be found at:
Credit: Center for Space Policy & Strategy
Today’s House hearing on Fiscal Year 2018 Priorities and Posture of the National Security Space Enterprise was held by the House Committee on Armed Services’ Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
The witnesses and their prepared testimony:
- Lieutenant General David Buck, Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, U.S. Strategic Command
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20170519/105974/HHRG-115-AS29-Wstate-BuckD-20170519.pdf
- Robert Cardillo, Director, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20170519/105974/HHRG-115-AS29-Wstate-CardilloR-20170519.pdf
- John Hill, Performing the Duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20170519/105974/HHRG-115-AS29-Wstate-HillJ-20170519.pdf
- General John Raymond, Commander, Air Force Space Command
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20170519/105974/HHRG-115-AS29-Wstate-RaymondJ-20170519.pdf
- Betty Sapp, Director, National Reconnaissance Office
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS29/20170519/105974/HHRG-115-AS29-Wstate-SappB-20170519.pdf
To view this very informative hearing, go to:
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1699, May 17, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity continues towards Vera Rubin Ridge with a drive of 157 feet (48 meters), reports Michael Battalio, an atmospheric scientist from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
The NASA Mars rover is now in Sol 1700 and has been performing touch-and-go activities using its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on “Ripple Pond,” a typical member of the Murray formation, Battalio adds.
Mastcam and Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) is set to follow up with observations of Ripple Pond.
Titled layers
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1698, May 17, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity’s Mastcam will next target “Rhodes Cliff,” Battalio notes, “which is especially interesting as it is tilted to show the Murray formation layers.”
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1698, May 17, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Following these observations, Curiosity is slated to drive and capture standard imaging for targeting in the weekend plan.
After the drive, ChemCam will perform an automated Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) activity to measure bright patches of outcrop.
Dusty atmosphere
Two measurements of dust in the atmosphere of Mars are to be captured by Mastcam on Sol 1700.
Tau image taken by Curiosity’s Mastcam Left camera on Sol April 18, 2017 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
One measurement will determine the optical depth vertically (tau), and a second will determine the amount of dust towards the direction of the crater rim (line-of-sight).
Optical depth describes the amount of light attenuated (scattered or absorbed) above Curiosity, Battalio explains. An optical depth measurement, or tau, is defined as the logarithm of the ratio of the transmitted energy flux through some layer of the atmosphere to the received energy flux.
Atmospheric profile
“By looking directly at the Sun with Mastcam, the amount of energy reaching the surface can be determined. This is the transmitted flux through the entire atmosphere,” Battalio adds. Combined with an estimate of the incident energy from the Sun at the top of the Mars atmosphere from satellite observations (the received flux), he says, a reliable measurement of the optical depth for the entire atmosphere can be made.
The second dust measurement – a line-of-sight extinction (LOS), does a similar calculation to the tau, except horizontally instead of vertically.
Dust devil movie
On Sol 1701, the robot’s Navcam will capture a supra-horizon cloud movie and will perform an independent LOS measurement for comparison to the Mastcam measurement.
Finally, a dust devil movie will be taken around local noon. Normal Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) measurements as well as several Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) passive measurements and one DAN active will be captured, Battalio concludes.
Credit: U.S. Air Force
At the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Strategic Forces on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, the testimony and discussion centered on military space organization, policy, and programs.
The bottom line: “Space will be contested…it is now warfighting domain.”
Witness list
Hearing witnesses from the U.S. military were:
— Heather A. Wilson, Secretary Of The Air Force
— General David L. Goldfein, USAF Chief Of Staff Of The Air Force
— General John W. Raymond, USAF, Commander, Air Force Space Command
— Lieutenant General Samuel A. Greaves, USAF, Commander, Space And Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command
Key themes
In a prepared document, jointly authored by the key witnesses in the hearing, several themes were voiced:
Space is no longer a sanctuary. Most on-orbit capabilities are now vulnerable to America’s most challenging potential adversaries.
Credit: U.S. Air Force
- For decades the United States has enjoyed unimpeded freedom of action in space. This benign environment allowed us to operate satellites for intelligence collection, missile warning, weather monitoring, communications, and precision positioning, navigation, and timing in support of all military operations for all of the services, without thinking about how to protect these systems. That environment no longer exists.
- Space is no longer a sanctuary. Most on-orbit capabilities are now vulnerable to America’s most challenging potential adversaries.
- Space will be contested in any conflict. Potential adversaries understand the advantage derived from space and view U.S. reliance on space as a vulnerability they can exploit. Near-peer competitors will offset any U.S. military advantage derived from U.S. space systems and continue to pursue capabilities to degrade or destroy them.
- In response to increasing challenges in the space domain, the Air Force is fully committed to increasing resilience and deterrence as they retain a competitive advantage over strategic competitors. The Air Force has made tremendous advancements towards unifying efforts for efficiency as a resilient and responsive leader in the space domain—but much work remains.
- In 2017, the Air Force will finalize a family of space warfighting Concepts of Operations, identify capability gaps, continue a posture transition to increase deterrence, and ensure the U.S. can fight and win a conflict that either starts or extends into space, and strengthen support to Combatant Commanders.
- The Air Force must prepare to survive and fight in space so that other joint forces can deploy and achieve their objectives within a complex and dynamic battlespace.
To view the entire statement, go to:
https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wilson-Goldfein-Raymond-Greaves_05-17-17.pdf
Credit: NASA
On the Launchpad: Return to Deep Space was staged by The Atlantic on Tuesday, May 16th.
The Atlantic event surveyed a shifting landscape of new technologies, exploring the cosmos by gathering experts on the growing space industry and the future of space and extraterrestrial travel. This informative event was underwritten by Hewlett-Packard.
Where will the next space race take us, what are the challenges facing the mission and what do we need to know, build and create to get there?
Video postings
The Atlantic has posted a set of video presentations, showcasing the event speakers that included:
— Senator Ted Cruz, (R-TX); Chairman, US Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness
— Robert Lightfoot, Acting Administrator, NASA
— Mary Lynne Dittmar, Executive Director, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
— Michael Lopez-Alegria, Principal, MLA Space LLC; Former Astronaut, NASA
— Chris Carberry, CEO and Co-Founder, Explore Mars, Inc.
— Robert Zubrin, Founder, Mars Society
Launchpad segments
Welcome to On the Launchpad: Return to Deep Space by AtlanticLIVE
2:29
The Future for NASA / On the Launchpad
by AtlanticLIVE
26:11
Making the Checklist / On the Launchpad
by AtlanticLIVE
20:17
Making the Mission to Mars Compute: Underwriter Perspective
by AtlanticLIVE
13:17
The Tools for the Task / On the Launchpad
by AtlanticLIVE
29:48
The View From The Hill: Senator Ted Cruz / On The Launchpad
by AtlanticLIVE
26:53
Preparing the Body and Mind / On the Launchpad
by AtlanticLIVE
To view these seven videos, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7-9TRhjHyw&list=PLwj46yNDLyTU0_Mk58F72t0urwIjgrsw-
Credit: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab is about to open a 10-day launch attempt window from May 22, 2017 for the maiden launch of the firm’s Electron rocket.
The launch, titled ‘It’s a Test’, will take place from Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site, Launch Complex 1, on the Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand.
Learn and iterate
According to the group’s leader and chief rocketeer, Peter Beck, ‘It’s a Test’ is all about gathering data. “There are over 20,000 channels collected during the flight. We will use this information to learn and iterate,” he explains on the group’s website.
“As with any new rocket, there are a lot of factors that come together ahead of a test and we’re not going to fly unless we’re ready,” Beck adds. “It’s highly possible we will scrub multiple attempts as we fine tune and wait for favorable weather conditions.”
Rocket Lab’s private orbital launch site, Launch Complex 1, on the Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand.
Courtesy Spaceflight
Spaceflight purchase
Meanwhile, Spaceflight, announced today the purchase of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket to expand dedicated rideshare capacity. This is the second rocket purchase for Spaceflight, following the purchase of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the expansion of its launch services to include dedicated rideshare missions.
“There are numerous rideshare launches each year to Sun Synchronous Orbit, but getting to 45 to 60 degrees is hard to find, and can cost the equivalent of buying an entire rocket,” explains Curt Blake, President of Spaceflight’s launch business. “We are thrilled to be working with Rocket Lab to enable our customers’ remote sensing missions that require high revisit time over North America, Europe, and the Middle East,” Blake adds in a company press statement.
Resources
Tune into Rocket Lab’s website at:
For more information on Spaceflight, go to:
Credit: GAO
A just-released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report dives into the cost and schedule performance of NASA’s portfolio of major projects.
The overall finding is that NASA’s cost and schedule performance continued to improve, “but this trend may be difficult to sustain,” the GAO reports.
InSight Mars lander.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Current trend
According to the GAO, the current trend is driven by two main factors: (1) most projects are being executed within their cost and schedule baselines; and (2) new projects, which are less likely to have experienced cost and schedule growth, were added to the portfolio.
However, two projects—a Mars seismology instrument and lander and an upgrade to the NASA’s space communications network—experienced significant cost or schedule growth in 2016.
A third of the NASA projects that GAO appraised — including two of the most expensive ones (the Orion crew vehicle and Space Launch System) – “are at a stage when problems are most likely to occur.”
NASA’s Space Launch System.
Credit: NASA
Snapshot looks
The GAO report provides an annual snapshot for 2017 of how well NASA is planning and executing its major acquisition projects.
In March 2016, GAO found that projects continued a general positive trend of limiting cost and schedule growth, maturing technologies, and stabilizing designs, “but that NASA faced several challenges that could affect its ability to effectively manage its portfolio,” the GAO reported.
To read the full GAO report, and listen to a podcast regarding NASA: Assessments of Major Projects GAO-17-303SP (Published: May 16, 2017) – go to:
Curiosity Navcam Right B image acquired on Sol 1696, May 14, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is busy at work carrying out Sol 1697 duties.
Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland, Curiosity is continuing its detailed investigation of a suite of outcrops within the vicinity of the robot.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image acquired on Sol 1696, May 14, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Varied outcrop structures
“As we climb up Mount Sharp, recently over slopes of 4-6 degrees, we have seen more varied outcrop structures and chemistries than the rest of the Murray formation, and such changes catch the collective eye of the team,” Minitti notes.
One target in the robot’s workspace in particular is “Mason Point” receiving the “royal treatment” Minitti adds, with five separate science observations directed at this feature.
“The reason it will receive such attention is that it will be brushed by the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), removing the thin veneer of obscuring dust that has settled on the rock surface,” Minitti points out.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1696, May 14, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Texture and grain size
From the brushed Mason Point target, Curiosity will take Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos to study the target’s texture and grain size, the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam spectra of the light reflected off the surface to constrain mineralogy, and an Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) analysis to get chemistry.
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo acquired on Sol 1697, May 15, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
“We will also analyze the chemistry of Mason Point with a ChemCam raster, but before it is brushed. Why? ChemCam’s laser not only probes chemistry, it clears dust! The comprehensive and complementary datasets obtained from Mason Point will further our understanding of this target better than any single analysis would alone,” Minitti explains.
Prominent layering
Mason Point will get the most focused attention, but the analysis of many other targets will help the science team probe the overall variety of the rocks in this area.
MAHLI, APXS and ChemCam are slated to study “Mitchell Hill,” a bedrock target exhibiting prominent layering.
ChemCam will also shoot “Mount Gilboa” to gather not only chemistry but grain size data for this target. Mastcam mosaics centered on Mitchell Hill and “Manchester Point” will capture orientations of layers in these targets that might help reveal how the layers formed.
MAHLI monitoring
“In a change of pace from looking at rocks, Curiosity invested time in the plan acquiring images with MAHLI that monitor the health and performance of the instrument,” Minitti adds. “MAHLI imaged her calibration target, which contains well known color and geometric targets that offer a test of instrument performance.”
Minitti reports that MAHLI also imaged the APXS calibration target, a slab of finely polished basalt that serves as a chemistry standard for APXS.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1695, May 13, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Sky flats
“MAHLI then turned her eye to the sky, purposely acquiring images of featureless parts of the sky,” Minitti explains. “These images, called sky flats, help reveal the presence of dust on the MAHLI lens. Just like dentist appointments, calibration ‘checkups’ occur about every six months. Happily, MAHLI checkups are pain free.”
The plan calls for Curiosity’s drive over 164 feet (50 meters) along the rover’s strategic drive path, as Mastcam and Navcam obtain a number of images and movies used to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, scan the atmosphere for dust devils, and search the sky overhead and near the horizon for clouds.
These environmental observations will be complemented by Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) passive and active measurements that seek subsurface hydrogen; Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) measurements that monitor the radiation environment at the surface; and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) measurements used to produce regular Martian weather reports.
New map
A Curiosity traverse map through Sol 1696 has been issued.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF ARIZONA
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1696 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 14, 2017).
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 1693 to Sol 1696, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 148.52 feet (45.27 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.19 miles (16.40 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
