Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category

Both China’s Chang’e 3 lunar lander and Yutu rover are now in Selene slumber, entering their dormancy Feb. 22-23.

The overall condition of the hardware is sketchy at best, with little word or imagery being released by Chinese space officials and state-run media networks.

A couple of new images taken by the mechanically-challenged Yutu moon rover showing the large lander have surfaced on several Chinese news sites. The images are undated so when they were snapped is unclear.

But in a Xinhua news agency story, it says one of the recent photos that went viral on Chinese social media networks “featured a picture of the Chang’e-3 probe taken by Yutu during its third lunar day.”

Fixed point science

According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), Yutu did carry out “fixed point” observations during its third lunar day – a period of time equivalent to about two weeks on Earth.

SASTIND did note that Yutu’s radar, panorama camera and infrared imaging equipment are functioning normally. Still, the control issues that have troubled the rover since January persist, they added.

The Xinhua news agency noted that mechanical control issues that might cripple the vehicle are “still unresolved.”

Power-off mode

The Yutu rover went to sleep mode on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22.

During the lunar night, there is no sunlight to power the rover’s solar panels. In this period the rover is to remain in a power-off mode and communication with Earth is cut, Xinhua reported.

The Chang’e 3 lander made its lunar touchdown in mid-December then dispatched the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) robot to being a projected minimum three months of exploration. Pre-launch, the lander was given a one year of life warranty.

But Yutu ran into unexpected problems as it entered its second dormancy on the Moon on Jan. 25. As the lunar night fell, concern was raised that the robot was crippled, so much so, that it might not “wake up.”

SASTIND said that the mechanic control abnormality occurred due to the “complicated lunar surface.”

The reawakening

But Yutu regained some sort of operable status on Feb. 12, with SASTIND noting that the reawakening was two days behind schedule.

Meanwhile, Xinhua said that the Chang’e 3 lander entered dormancy in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Feb. 23.

It did so “after carrying out observations of celestial bodies and the Earth’s plasmasphere using its optical telescope and extreme ultraviolet camera.” So these words indicate that the instrument-carrying lander is in fairly good shape.

 

A true “elevator pitch” – my new SPACE.com story up today. I hope you find it of interest:
 
Can Quiet, Efficient ‘Space Elevators’ Really Work?
 

http://www.space.com/24739-space-elevator-tether-technology.html

 

 

 

 

 No doubt that the hit movie “Gravity” struck a chord with moviegoers – and made an impact in the public mind about the threat of human-made orbital debris.

A team of University of Leicester students have taken a hard look at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Envisat that lost contact with Earth in April 2012. Envisat is ESA’s largest Earth observation satellite.

Their appraisal: The huge spacecraft could potentially pose a threat similar to the events which plagued Sandra Bullock in the Oscar-nominated sci-fi/fact thriller.

What’s more, the task of bringing the satellite back to Earth may be too costly and complex to be feasible, according to the final year paper written by the students for the Journal of Physics Special Topics, a peer-reviewed student journal run by the University’s School of Physics and Astronomy.

Congested region

ESA’s Envisat now orbits the Earth out of human control at an altitude of some 490 miles (790 kilometers). That’s where the amount of space debris around the planet is greatest.

This means there is a chance of collision with other satellites and debris during the 150 years it is expected to remain in space, according to a news release from the University of Leicester Press Office.

Each year, two objects are expected to pass Envisat to within about 656 feet (200 meters). Other spacecraft have already had to move out of Envisat’s path.

According to the student research, it is possible — though unlikely — that a collision with Envisat could lead to a chain reaction effect, known as the “Kessler Syndrome.” That’s where fast-moving debris runs into other space junk and creates more clutter.

The result: It could make it difficult for future space missions to pass through the region of Envisat’s altitude, if the region becomes congested with space debris.

Tall order

De-orbiting Envisat, the student study suggests that around 308 pounds (140 kilograms) of fuel would be required to move the satellite to a point where it would naturally return to Earth within 25 years.

This could be quite feasible, according to the students, if two of the craft’s four fuel tanks were replaced.

 But actually getting this fuel to the satellite in orbit would be a pretty tall order due to the costs involved of such a mission – which has never been attempted for a satellite which wasn’t designed to be refueled.

De-orbiting Envisat

So although it is unlikely to happen, de-orbiting Envisat is certainly worth considering.

“Unfortunately, it would be very unlikely we could move Envisat to the right altitude due to how much it would cost,” said physics student Katie Raymer, 22, from Whitstable. “Envisat was not designed to be refueled, so another method of de-orbiting Envisat may be a better option.”

The students suggest it may be possible to use NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) which has been designed to refuel and repair non-operational satellites. But that hardware is still in its earliest stages of testing.

Major risk factors

There’s one cosmic caveat to the student research work: The team stressed that the calculations used in the paper should be taken as an estimate, as a full treatment would be very complicated and beyond the scope of a Journal of Physics Special Topics paper.

George Fraser, Director of the University’s Space Research Center, commented:

“The Special Projects paper highlights the huge area and mass of Envisat as the major risk factors for space debris,” Fraser said. “The fact that Envisat is in a near-polar orbit doesn’t help either, since its path intersects most satellites’ orbits nearly at right angles. Imagine driving down the motorway and every so often a large truck cuts right across all four lanes right in front of you!”

Note: The full paper can be found at:

http://physics.le.ac.uk/journals/index.php/pst/article/viewFile/621/424

 

Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh has been contracted to send the “Lunar Dream” time capsule on its October 2015 private lunar mission.

The deal has been struck between the robotic spacecraft builder and Astroscale PTE. Ltd. – a Singapore-based space industry company.

The time capsule would contain the popular Japanese sports drink, Pocari Sweat, which is sold across Asia and in much of the Middle East.

The electrolyte drink is a mild tasting liquid that replenishes body fluids lost through perspiration. It is quickly absorbed into the body and is recommended by its maker as a beverage for physical activities such as sports and exercise.

Griffin lander

Billed as “the first commercial beverage to be delivered to the Moon’s surface,” the Lunar Dream time capsule will be placed on the lunar surface by Astrobotic’s Griffin lander after it touches down in the Lacus Mortis region of the Moon. 

In a press statement, John Thornton, Astrobotic’s CEO said: “Our services are optimized for customers seeking the simplicity of point-to-point delivery… establishing affordable lunar access for companies, universities, and governments.”

Astroscale’s corporate mission is to address the growing threat of space debris by incubating removal technologies while arousing a passion and excitement for space exploration among people around the world.

In order to make the space more approachable for people, Astroscale provides technology support as well as the global alliance necessary for private companies to be involved in space missions, according to the firm.

 

It has been over a year since the space rock explosion over Chelyabinsk, Russia.

That February 15, 2013 event damaged thousands of houses and other structures, shattered windows, and injured many people due to flying broken glass caused by the powerful atmospheric blast.

The celestial encounter of the near Earth object (NEO) kind has served as a wake-up call. Earth can be on the receiving end of objects from outer space.

There is new news on the NEO front.

Networking

In December of last year, the UN General Assembly moved forward on establishing an International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and a Space Missions Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG).

Earlier this year, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the UN Action Team – 14 on NEOs that was established in 2001, each organized a meeting to formally establish the network and the space agency group. Both meetings advanced significantly the formal establishment of the IAWN and SMPAG.

The role of IAWN is to interface with the relevant international organizations and programs to establish linkages with existing national and international disaster response agencies in order to study and plan response activities for potential NEO impact events

SMPAG is being established by States Members of the United Nations that have space agencies. The group includes representatives of spacefaring nations to lay out the framework, timeline and options for initiating and executing space mission response activities to an Earth-threatening NEO.

Meetings held

On January 13-14 the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the IAWN was hosted by the Minor Planet Center (MPC), at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.

At that meeting, the core membership of an ad hoc Steering Committee was established, and it includes individuals and institutions from: Russia (Institute of Astronomy/Russian Academy of Sciences , France (French National Centre for Scientific Research ), United States (NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the MPC), Germany (German Aerospace Center) , ESA and its Space Situational Awareness program; the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Italy (Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology), the International Astronomical Union and the Chair of the Action Team on NEOs.

Following that Massachusetts meeting, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute indicated its intention to join the IAWN.

On February 6-7, in collaboration with the Action Team on Near-Earth Objects, the European Space Agency hosted the first Meeting of the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) at its European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

Attending that meeting: AEM(Mexico), ASI  (Italy), CNES (France), CSA (Canada), Chile, DLR (Germany), ESA, Ghana, JAXA (Japan), NASA (USA), ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federation), SSAU (Ukraine), UK Space Agency (UK). In addition, representatives of the AT-14 and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) were present.

After the meeting the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) requested membership and announced its delegation to the SMPAG.

Enhance NEO discovery

For its part, IAWN is to enhance NEO discovery and follow-up observations (e.g. astrometry, photometry and spectroscopy), especially in the Southern Hemisphere, through further international cooperation and coordination. 

Specifically, the IAWN should encourage the coordinated use of ground-based telescopes for NEO follow-up observations; incorporate existing assets to bridge gaps in global sky coverage; and, identify and facilitate the coordination of existing capabilities of members that could be utilized more effectively.

Through further international collaboration, the IAWN is designed to establish an international rapid all-sky search capability that is focused on discovering smaller, imminent impactors (e.g., Chelyabinsk event or larger) and the development and operation of a space-based NEO infrared survey telescope to  increase the rate of discovery of NEOs by at least an order of magnitude.

Special thanks to Sergio Camacho, head of the UN’s Action Team – 14, for providing detailed information used in this article.

Just in time to remember last year’s space rock event over Russia.

I hope you find my new SPACE.com story of interest:

United Nations Focuses on Asteroid Threat to Earth

http://www.space.com/24671-asteroid-threat-united-nations.html

NOTE: Photo info/credit:

The asteroid that exploded near Chelyabinsk, Russia on Feb. 15, 2013 has provided scientists new insights into the risks of smaller asteroid impacts. This 3D simulation of the Chelyabinsk meteor explosion by Mark Boslough was rendered by Brad Carvey using the CTH code on Sandia National Laboratories’ Red Sky supercomputer. Andrea Carvey composited the wireframe tail. Photo by Olga Kruglova. Credit: Sandia National Laboratories

 

The good news from Beijing is that China’s Yutu (Jade Rabbit) lunar rover is indeed awake, apparently surviving its 14-days of low temp trauma.

However, ground controllers are still trying to find out the cause of its “mechanical control abnormality.”

“The rover stands a chance of being saved now that it is still alive,” said Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesman for the Chang’e 3 mission, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Still unknown is the state of the Chang’e 3 lander, although early reports indicated that it too survived the brutal lunar night cycle.

Sleep without protection

“Yesterday night, the Jade Rabbit lunar rover has sent us a good message from the Moon,” explained Yong-Chun Zheng, a scientist at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Yong-Chun said that, in the last lunar day at the landing site, the rover ran into trouble in its ability to move about on the surface. “The control structure of the rover can’t function as designed. The rabbit [went] into sleep without protection,” he said.

Thanks to the efforts of engineers, Yutu has awakened. “The instruments on the rover stood up to the challenge of the very low temperature in the lunar night. The rover can receive command [s] from the ground station. We have also received data from the rover,” Yong-Chun said.

Except for some sensitive components, most of the functions of the rover have been recovered, Yong-Chun told this reporter.

“The lunar and planetary missions are not easy for any country. They always give us joy mingled with surprise,” with the anticipation now that the Yutu rover will make new discoveries on the Moon, Yong-Chun concluded.

There’s a new entry in the air-launched rocket system business to hurl small satellites into Earth orbit.

Generation Orbit Launch Services, Inc. (GO) of Atlanta, Georgia signed an exclusive investment banking agreement with The Inman Company, an investment banking firm.

As part of the GO team, Inman will assist in raising capital to fund GO’s “GOLauncher” – an air-launched rocket system specifically designed for launching small satellite payloads.

The intent of the effort is to provide transportation services for nano and microsatellites, enabling developers and operators to unlock the full commercial and scientific potential of this rapidly growing market segment, according to a company press statement.

John Olds, CEO of GO, stated: “Now that we’ve passed many of the initial development milestones for GOLauncher, assembled a top-notch team of suppliers and partners, completed some early hardware ground testing, and sold the first flight to NASA, management believes that it is time to tap the equity markets to move our company into the next phase of its growth.”

To watch a video on the concept, go to:

http://www.generationorbit.com/videos.html

Obit for a frozen rabbit?

No official word as yet, although one Chinese news story states that China’s first lunar rover, Yutu (meaning Jade Rabbit), could not be restored to “full function” on Monday as expected, and “netizens” mourned it on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service.

For more details, go to:

Has China’s Ailing Moon Rover Survived 2nd Lunar Night?

http://www.space.com/24665-china-moon-rover-lunar-night-survival.html

Small satellites are growing… in popularity and utility.

That’s the message from a new study looking into trends and projections for the nano/microsatellite market.

The new assessment comes from SpaceWorks of Atlanta, Georgia and the study projects that more than 400 nano/micro satellites will need launches annually in the year 2020 and beyond.

SpaceWorks is currently tracking 650 future (2014 – 2016) nano/microsatellites with masses between 1 kilogram and 50 kilograms in various stages of planning or development.

“Small satellites continue to grow in popularity, as is evident by the sizable number of nano/microsatellites launched in 2013,” stated Elizabeth Buchen, Director of SpaceWorks’ Engineering Economics Group. “Our assessment confirms that the market is continuing its growth phase, which will remain in the coming years, especially in the commercial sector,” she said in a company press statement.

Commercial sector influence

Analysis of development trends by sector show that the civil sector (including academic) remains strong.

However, the commercial sector is growing significantly and will continue to influence the nano/microsatellite market.

Analysis of trends by purpose suggests that applications for nano/microsatellites are diversifying, with increased use in the future for Earth observation and remote sensing missions.

Projection database

Other study conclusions include:

– The nano/microsatellite market is growing tremendously with the continued use of the CubeSat standard, microelectronics and other technology development, government programs, and furthering of applications.

– Projections based on both announced and anticipated plans of developers indicate 2,000 – 2,750 nano/microsatellites will require a launch from 2014 through 2020.

– SpaceWorks’ Projection Dataset shows average growth of 23.8% per year over the next 6 years (2014 – 2020).

– Based on the announced launch data alone, 2014 will see a 52% increase in nano/microsatellites launched compared to 2013.

– Commercial companies will contribute over one-fourth of all nano/microsatellites launched in 2014.

NOTE: For more information from the SpaceWorks assessment, go to:

http://www.sei.aero/eng/papers/uploads/archive/SpaceWorks_Nano_Microsatellite_Market_Assessment_January_2014.pdf