Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 15th, 2017
Credit: Part-Time Scientists/Audi
This month’s release of the sci-fi film “Alien: Covenant” has a robotic guest star, the Audi lunar quattro – a Moon rover developed in cooperation with a German start-up – “Part-Time Scientists.”
The Audi lunar quattro celebrates its film debut in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi blockbuster “Alien: Covenant” which premieres worldwide this month. Audi experts have developed the Audi lunar quattro in cooperation with the German start-up “Part-Time Scientists”. It will soon embark on an actual mission to space.
Alien: Covenant/Audi lunar quattro.
Credit: Audi/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Dark and dangerous
The movie’s director Ridley Scott has integrated the Audi lunar quattro into the film that has a crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovery what they think is an uncharted paradise. The plot thickens and turns dark and dangerous.
The Audi lunar quattro is an integral part of the Covenant mission and is deployed to navigate and assess the challenging, strange landscape of a new planet.
Credit: Audi
All-wheel drive
The Audi lunar quattro is preparing for an actual mission to the Moon.
A team led by Robert Böhme, founder and CEO of “Part-Time Scientists” has been busily developing the lunar rover.
Audi experts have supported the Berlin-based start-up, in particular with Audi’s all-wheel drive expertise (quattro technology), know-how in lightweight construction, experience in developing vehicles with electric and plug-in hybrid motors (e-tron), and with design optimization.
Artistic look at ALINA soft-lander on the Moon.
Credit: Part-Time Scientists
Moon-bound mobility
The result is that the Audi lunar quattro is 85 percent aluminum, produced by the 3D metal printer at Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt. A pivoting solar panel supplies the rover with energy. According to the car manufacturer look for an advanced Audi lunar quattro setting its course for the Moon in the near future.
Taking part in the Google Lunar XPRIZE, the Part-Time Scientists have the goal to soft land two lunar rovers in travel distance to the Apollo 17 landing site using ALINA, a fully autonomous soft landing vehicle. The team consists of around 70 members contributing across 3 continents with a fixed staff of 35 based in Germany.
Credit: Part-Time Scientists
Resources
NOTE: There is a treasure-trove of photos, videos regarding the movie appearance of the Audi lunar quattro and the ongoing work of Part-Time Scientists.
Go to these websites for more information:
http://mission-to-the-moon.com/
http://www.audi.com/en/innovation/mttm/alien-covenant.html
Lastly, check out this link:
Mission to the Moon: from the human project to the humanity project
Best-selling author Frank Schätzing offers insight into 4 billion years of human history and demonstrates the evolutionary necessity of space travel. Now the time has come to head for new horizons – driven by cutting-edge technology and our ancient genetic heritage: the human pioneering spirit.
http://www.audi.com/en/innovation/mttm/frank-schaetzing.html
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Credit: NASA/Langley
On the Launchpad: Return to Deep Space is being staged by The Atlantic on Tuesday, May 16th.
The Atlantic will survey 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.
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?
Among the event speakers:
- 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
This event that will be aired live (also archived) and runs from 1:00-5:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 16 and is being held at the Newseum/Knight Conference Center in Washington, D.C.
For more information, go to:
https://www.theatlantic.com/live/events/on-the-launchpad/2017/
Mars – what is our future on the Red Planet.?
Credit: ESA/D. O’Donnell – CC BY-SA IGO
At the recent Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C. I was pleased to serve as moderator of an evening panel program: Risky Business – Risk Tolerance and Space Exploration.
Joining me in the discussion:
— Penny Boston (NASA: Astrobiology Institute)
— John Grunsfeld (former Astronaut; former NASA Associate Administrator)
— Tiffany Montague (former Manager, Google Space Projects; Explore Mars Board Member)
— Richard “Rick” M. Davis (NASA, Science Mission Directorate, Assistant Director).
Humans to Mars panel session on risk and space exploration featuring, left to right: Leonard David (moderator); astrobiologist Penny Boston; former astronaut John Grunsfeld; Tiffany Montague (former Manager, Google Space Projects; and Richard “Rick” Davis (NASA, Science Mission Directorate, Assistant Director).
Credit: Barbara David
Trashing Earth?
BTW: I kicked off that panel with moderator’s prerogative by showing a short clip:
New Rule: Make Earth Great Again on Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) – Stop Trashing Earth Because We’ve Got Mars as ‘Back-Up’ (Video).
Aired on April 21, 2017, in honor of Earth Day, Maher called on his fellow humans to save this planet instead of trying to colonize Mars. I felt it important to show the video clip as an example of a particular attitude regarding Mars – a public risk that should be heard by those advocating humans to Mars.
For viewing that Maher video, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrGFEW2Hb2g
Resources
For an overview of the Humans to Mars panel discussion, go to Elizabeth Howell’s Space.com story at:
Risky Business: At Mars Conference, Experts Discuss Threats to Space Travelers
http://www.space.com/36798-humans-to-mars-experts-discuss-risks.html
Credit: U.S. Air Force
The threat of space warfare was spotlighted in recent testimony by Daniel Coats, Director of National Intelligence in a May 11 hearing of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Coats reviewed the worldwide threat assessment of the U.S. intelligence community, noting an appraisal that “Russia and China perceive a need to offset any U.S. military advantage derived from military, civil, or commercial space systems and are increasingly considering attacks against satellite systems as part of their future warfare doctrine.”
Destructive systems
Coats reported that both countries “will continue to pursue a full range of antisatellite (ASAT) weapons as a means to reduce U.S. military effectiveness.”
Some new Russian and Chinese ASAT weapons, including destructive systems, Coats added “will probably complete development in the next several years. Russian military strategists likely view counterspace weapons as an integral part of broader aerospace defense rearmament and are very likely pursuing a diverse suite of capabilities to affect satellites in all orbital regimes.”
Directed energy weapons
China and Russia are also advancing directed energy weapons technologies for the purpose of fielding ASAT systems “that could blind or damage sensitive space-based optical sensors,” Coats pointed out. “Russia is developing an airborne laser weapon for use against U.S. satellites. Russia and China continue to conduct sophisticated on-orbit satellite activities, such as rendezvous and proximity operations, at least some of which are likely intended to test dual-use technologies with inherent counterspace functionality.”
Satellite servicing is being explored by multiple nations, including the United States. Shown here in this artist’s rendering is the NASA Restore-L servicer as it extends its robotic arm to grasp and refuel a client satellite on orbit.
Credit: NASA
Space robotics
Coats testified that space robotic technology research for satellite servicing and debris-removal might be used to damage satellites.
“Such missions will pose a particular challenge in the future, complicating the U.S. ability to characterize the space environment, decipher intent of space activity, and provide advance threat warning,” Coats said in written testimony.
Electronic warfare
Additionally, the global threat of electronic warfare (EW) attacks against space systems will expand in the coming years in both number and types of weapons, Coats noted.
“Development will very likely focus on jamming capabilities against dedicated military satellite communications (SATCOM), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging satellites, and enhanced capabilities against Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the US Global Positioning System (GPS),” Coats explained.
To read the Coats testimony — Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community – can be viewed here:
https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Newsroom/Testimonies/SSCI%20Unclassified%20SFR%20-%20Final.pdf
Collage of proposed DARPA XS-1 craft.
Credit: DARPA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) may soon award a contract for the XS-1 spaceplane.
According to Air Force Magazine, DARPA has entered the final stages of a “downselect” to choose one company to proceed into the flying phase of the spaceplane.
Three companies
In Phase 1 of XS-1, DARPA awarded prime contracts to three companies, each working in concert with a commercial launch provider: The Boeing Company (working with Blue Origin, LLC); Masten Space Systems (working with XCOR Aerospace); and Northrop Grumman Corporation (working with Virgin Galactic).
However, according to the Air Force Magazine posting, the Phase II contractor won’t necessarily be chosen from the three Phase I participants.
Aircraft-like frequency
“After downselect, a critical design review would take place in 2018 and a series of flights could be made as early as 2020. One of the program requirements is to fly 10 suborbital or orbital missions in as many days, achieving space operations with ‘aircraft-like’ frequency, DARPA said. If successful, a ‘public-private partnership’ model of operating the vehicles could be adopted, DARPA documents show,” Air Force Magazine’s John Tirpak reports.
Early DARPA artwork of the XS-1.
Credit: DARPA
Technical goals
According to the DARPA website, XS-1 has four primary technical goals:
- Fly 10 times in a 10-day period (not including weather, range and emergency delays) to demonstrate aircraft-like access to space and eliminate concerns about the cost-effectiveness and reliability of reusable launch.
- Achieve flight velocity sufficiently high to enable use of a small (and therefore low-cost) expendable upper stage.
- Launch a 900- to 1,500-pound representative payload to demonstrate an immediate responsive launch capability able to support both DoD and commercial missions. The same XS-1 vehicle could eventually also launch future 3,000+- pound payloads by using a larger expendable upper stage.
- Reduce the cost of access to space for 3,000+-pound payloads, with a goal of approximately $5 million per flight for the operational system, which would include a reusable booster and expendable upper stage(s).
One of three firms vying for XS-1.
Credit: Northrop Grumman
Low-cost, recurring flight capability
“Structures made of advanced materials, cryogenic tanks, durable thermal protection, and modular subsystems would make possible a vehicle able to launch, fly to high speeds and then land in a condition amenable to rapid turnaround and launch with the next payload. Reusable, reliable propulsion would also be essential for a low-cost and recurring flight capability,” adds the DARPA website.
Credit: Fight for Space
Where is your space program?
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed that NASA would send astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade. The “space race” inspired an entire generation to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering, creating the technological boom of the 1990s.
As the balance of world power shifted, interest in space exploration declined and NASA became old news.
In-depth interviews
Fight for Space lands in theaters and on demand May 19, a striking presentation that features such stellar notables as: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jim Lovell, Story Musgrave, Rick Tumlinson, James Muncy, Marcia S. Smith, Bill Nye, John Logsdon, Gene Kranz, and Jeff Greason.
Paul Hildebrandt is the Director, Writer, and Producer of Fight for Space.
Credit: Fight for Space
SkyMuse audio team.
Credit: Fight for Space
Fight for Space examines the past, present and future of the U.S. space program through in-depth interviews with the world’s leading experts on space travel, including astronauts Jim Lovell & Story Musgrave, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, engineers, space industry entrepreneurs and others.
Resources
Restored film footage from the National Archives and years of historical research take you on an exciting journey from the beginning of NASA, into the future, re-awakening our sense of wonder, discovery and desire to reach for the stars.
Following ad, go to this trailer at:
For more information on this important documentary film, go to:
Credit: James Vaughan
Explore Mars, Inc. has unleashed their new 2017 report written to advance the goal of sending humans to Mars within the next two decades.
Among a set of key recommendations:
Credit: James Vaughan
- Implement a next generation orbiter as soon as possible to prospect for resources (notably water) that will reduce the overall cost of missions to Mars while providing significant science gains. Even if use of on-the-spot Mars resourcs is not needed for the initial missions to Mars, this reconnaissance is needed to select the human landing site. Such an orbiter is also key to replace aging telecommunications infrastructure at Mars.
- Complete a round trip demo to the Martian system via a Mars Sample Return. The samples are needed not only for the revolutionary science that would be achieved but also to address significant toxicity and backward contamination concerns for human beings, including the first human explorers of Mars.
- Special emphasis should be made to inform the public that landing humans on Mars by 2033 is an achievable goal. While international and private lunar surface missions should be applauded, increased education needs to be undertaken to articulate why lunar surface operations are not the best path to Mars
The Humans To Mars Report 2017 can be viewed in its entirety at:
https://www.exploremars.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/H2MR_2017_Final_webv1.pdf
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1693, May 11, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars is now performing Sol 1694 science duties.
Rachel Kronyak, a planetary geologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, reports that two sols – 1693 and 1694 – involves the rover carrying out a suite of remote science observations before driving away and resuming its trek up Mount Sharp.
“These remote observations include a combination of atmospheric and bedrock measurements, giving us a really thorough dataset at this location,” Kronyak adds.
Passive sky scan
The robot is slated to make atmospheric observations, including a Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) passive sky scan, a Navcam zenith movie, as well as a suprahorizon movie, and a few Mastcam images that measure atmospheric scattering.
Dark bedrock target named “Bear Island” is seen in this Curiosity Mastcam Right image acquired on Sol 1692, May 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“For our bedrock observations, we will be conducting two ChemCam rasters and a Mastcam multispectral activity on the dark bedrock target named “Bear Island,” Kronyak adds. An initial look at Bear Island showed it to be interesting enough target to warrant further investigation by ChemCam and Mastcam.
Phobos imagery
Following a set of remote science observations, the plan calls for the robot to drive away and take some post-drive images in readiness for a busy weekend of contact and remote science.
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo acquired on Sol 1693, May 11, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
“After the drive, we will be taking our third round of Phobos transit images,” Kronyak concludes, with Mastcam as well as an automated ChemCam Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) observation.
On sol 1694, the planning script calls for producing a Navcam dust devil movie and calibrate the ChemCam instrument.
Route driven by Curiosity through the 1690 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 8, 2017).
Credit: NASA/JPL- Caltech/University of Arizona
New map
Meanwhile, a new map has been issued showing the route driven by Curiosity through the 1690 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 08, 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 1686 to Sol 1690, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 36.31 feet (11.07 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.14 miles (16.32 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: CCTV-Plus
A Chinese crew of eight is undertaking a year-long stint in the Lunar Palace 1 laboratory, called China’s first bioregenerative life support system.
The effort is dubbed “The Lunar Palace 365 Project and involves eight postgraduate students from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA). They will live inside the 160-square-meter, 500-cubic-meter Lunar Palace 1 capsule for the next 365 days.
Self-contained
The volunteers will be living and working inside the fully closed laboratory where they can simulate a long-duration, self-contained mission with no outside inputs, according to an interview carried by CCTV-Plus. “The project is aimed at laying the groundwork for China’s lunar surface missions in the future,” they report.
Inside look at one area of China’s Lunar Palace 1.
Credit: CMSE
Lunar Palace 1 was developed by researchers at BUAA, a shorthand version that stands for Integrative Experimental Facility for Permanent Astrobase Life-support Artificial Closed Ecosystem (PALACE) Research.
Four-level life support
According to Liu Hong, the chief designer of Lunar Palace 1 from Beihang University, the self-contained facility is more advanced than what Russia and the United States have built and utilized previously.
“Before Lunar Palace 1, Russia and the United States developed two-level bioregenerative systems which only involved plants and humans,” Liu says. “But what we have built is a four-level life-support system involving plants, animals, microorganisms and humans, which is much more stable in a fully closed condition. It is by far the first of its kind in the world,” the researcher noted in a CCTV-Plus posted interview.
Reports Beijing Daily, the eight volunteers are members of Liu’s research team.
Team rotation
The facility consists of two plant cultivation modules, and one integrated module that has a living room, a work room, a bathroom and a waste-disposal room.
China’s Lunar Palace 1 – an experimental biosphere here on Earth.
Credit: CMSE
A variety of experimental crops and vegetables will be grown for the duration of the project. Human waste will be handled within the place by a bio-fermentation process. Food residue and other byproducts will be treated by bio-techniques and used for plant cultivation.
The volunteers will carry out the experiment in rotation. Specifically, Team One will spend the first 60 days inside the capsule, after which Team Two will spend another 200 days. Lastly, Team One will spend the remaining 105 days, thus completing the 365-day research mission.
Construction on the Lunar Palace 1 capsule began in March 2013. The facility was unveiled in January 2014, and it was commissioned just prior to the first mission starting in February 2014.
The last mission involved three volunteers who spent 105 days inside the facility.
ESA’s Mars Express in orbit around the Red Planet.
Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab
A simulated overflight of the Martian North Pole reveals its permanent ice cap and Chasma Boreale. The images used to produce the video were acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) on board the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft.
The video shows the permanent ice cap at the Martian North Pole. It is also referred to as the summer ice cap and consists mainly of water ice.
Gigantic spiral
Mars’ north polar cap looks like a gigantic spiral of ice and snow. Dark troughs are interspersed with ice-clad hills. This simulated overflight of the North Pole reveals its permanent ice cap and large Chasma Boreale trough.
Boreale is carved into the polar cap. Its formation is still unclear.
During the six month Martian winter, an additional layer of carbon dioxide forms over the permanent water ice cap.
Mars Express image showing frost build-up near Mars north pole.
Credit: ESA/D. O’Donnell – CC BY-SA IGO
Dark troughs, in which dust and deposits carried by the wind have accumulated, alternate with white, ice-clad hills. Chasma Boreale is a particularly striking trough that can be seen halfway through the film.
Origin: unclear
The up to 100-kilometer wide and 500-kilometer long valley is carved into the north polar cap to a depth of two kilometers. Dark deposits are visible at the bottom of Chasma Boreale. These are mostly dunes of black sand that have been carried into the trough by the wind.
The origin of Chasma Boreale is still unclear: the structure could have been formed by non-uniform accumulation of ice and dust, melting processes or wind erosion.
To view this video, go to:
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/Portaldata/1/Resources/videos/2017/809-NorthPolarCap-movie_600.mp4
