Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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September 7th, 2016
Credit: U.S. Postal Service
Nearly 50 years to the day of the original airing of “Star Trek,” the U.S. Postal Service dedicated the Star Trek Forever stamps.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, these stamps will “live long and prosper,” because as Forever stamps they are good for mailing a 1-ounce First-Class letter anytime in the future — regardless of star date.
Digital illustrations
The stamps, under license by CBS Consumer Products, showcase four digital illustrations inspired by classic elements of the television program:
- The Starship Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia against a gold background;
- The silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background;
- The silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background; and,
- The Enterprise inside the outline of the Vulcan salute (Spock’s iconic hand gesture) against a blue background.
The words “SPACE… THE FINAL FRONTIER,” from Captain Kirk’s famous voice-over appears beneath the stamps against a background of stars.
For detailed information on the stamps, go to:
http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2016/pr16_068.htm
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Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1450, September 4, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is gearing up for Sol 1454 duties.
A four-sol plan over the holiday weekend went well, and Curiosity drove roughly 130 feet (40 meters) to the south, reports Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
“We’re currently just to the east of a butte that we’re planning to approach as our next potential drill site,” Edgar adds.
Local bedrock
On the rover’s agenda has been use of the robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) of the target “Eheke,” to characterize the local bedrock. Then scientists are to utilize Mastcam and Navcam to assess atmospheric opacity.
That would be followed by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) observations of the targets “Diyogha,” and “Donkerbos.”
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1450, September 4, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Next drill site
On tap is having the rover acquire a Mastcam mosaic of the “Karasburg” area to observe the contact between the Murray and Stimson formations, and another mosaic to document the stratigraphy in the buttes, Edgar notes. “Then we’ll drive to start approaching the next drill site.”
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1450, September 3, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
After Curiosity’s drive the plan calls for taking post-drive imaging for context and targeting.
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.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1452, September 6, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Credit: NAS
The National Academy of Sciences has released National Security Space Defense and Protection: Public Report (2016).
At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produced two classified reports that assess currently available options for addressing threats to space systems and recommend strategies for increasing resiliency.
The public report is an unclassified summary that discusses key background and policy issues featured in the reports.
Shaping the future
Highlighted in the report, a set of priorities:
- Develop a clear vision—or perhaps alternative options—of what the United States wants the future in space to be.
- Understand the extent to which the United States can shape that future, and the extent to which the future is subject to actions and activities beyond the control of the U.S. government and its allies.
- Identify and develop prudent methods to counter existing, evolving, and emerging threats to U.S. interests in space.
- Assess those methods in terms of how they affect the future in space and the ability and the commitment of the United States to shaping that future.
The study is available as a free download here:
https://www.nap.edu/download/23594
NOTE:
Also, another report has caught my eye regarding civilian use of classified assets:
Credit: NAS
ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
The European Space Agency announced today that the Philae comet lander has been found!
Images taken by ESA’s Rosetta spotted the lander, wedged into a dark crack on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
Imagery clearly shows the main body of the lander, along with two of its three legs.
This series of 19 images, acquired by the Rosetta orbiter’s Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) on November 12, 2014, shows the Philae lander during its descent towards Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Ballistic bounces
Back in November 2014, Philae was last seen when it first touched down at Agilkia, bounced and then flew for another two hours before ending up at a location later named Abydos, on the comet’s smaller lobe.
After three days, Philae’s primary battery was exhausted and the lander went into hibernation, only to wake up again and communicate briefly with the Rosetta orbiter in June and July 2015 as the comet came closer to the Sun and more power was available.
Artist view of the Philae lander that made historic landing.
Credit: ESA
Orbiter finale
The discovery comes less than a month before Rosetta descends to the comet’s surface. On September 30, the orbiter will be sent on a final one-way mission to investigate the comet from close up.
The images also provide proof of Philae’s orientation, making it clear why establishing communications was so difficult following its landing on November 12, 2014.
ESA scientists are keen on taking more images of the lost and now found Philae, with more details forthcoming about spotting the lander.
Main image and lander inset: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA; context: ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1447, September 1, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Now in Sol 1451 on Mars, the Curiosity rover has a Labor Day of duties, but has recently been stymied by communication challenges.
Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that a Deep Space Network issue led to an entire Odyssey Mars orbiter pass to be lost.
“So we didn’t receive the workspace images that we would have needed to do contact science. Without those images we didn’t feel safe moving the arm. But the team did a great job putting together a full weekend plan,” Edgar adds.
Long weekend
Curiosity did wheel itself across Mars on a drive of roughly 255 feet (78 meters) on Sol 1448, Edgar notes, “which set us up for a lot of great science over the long (4-sol) weekend.”
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1448, September 2, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The Mars robot was slated to carry out several Navcam observations to search for dust devils and monitor the atmosphere. Also scheduled was acquisition of a Mastcam mosaic “to document the beautiful buttes that we’ve been driving through,” followed by Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of the targets “Benguela” and “Gabela” to assess the composition of the local bedrock, Edgar says.
Buttes: better lighting conditions
Also on tap for Curiosity were more Mastcam mosaics of the buttes under better lighting conditions. Then the rover was to carry out a Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) methane experiment.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1448, September 1, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
A 360-degree Mastcam mosaic to document the geology as the robot drives through the Murray Buttes is also on the to-do list, followed by standard post-drive imaging for targeting and context.
Edgar says that after a busy weekend, the fourth sol is devoted entirely to Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) observations.
Gorgeous view
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1449, September 2, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“While the buttes are beautiful, they pose a challenge to communications, because they are partially occluding communications between the rover and the satellites we use to relay data,” Edgar points out. Those orbiting assets are the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Odyssey spacecraft.
“So sometimes the data volume that we can relay is pretty low,” Edgar remarks. “But it’s a small price to pay for the great stratigraphic exposures and gorgeous view!”
Courtesy: Goonhilly Earth Station
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and Goonhilly Earth Station are looking for CubeSat passenger payloads on a lunar mission. They are teaming up with the European Space Agency to create “the world’s first commercial deep space mission” for 2019.
Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large radio communication site located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK.
The plan is to carry customer payload in the form of CubeSats into lunar orbit and provide the relay link back to Earth via Goonhilly. “Our plan is to take a payload of scientific research nano-satellites as our paying customers into lunar orbit then provide the communications link back to Earth,” explains a press statement on the concept.
Relay satellite
The nano-satellites will use the standard CubeSat format and will be provided with a Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) compliant radio communications card which will communicate via the Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) relay satellite in lunar orbit.
Lunar Pathfinder.
Courtesy: Goonhilly Earth Station
Given the growth in commercial space missions there’s interest in adding large antennas to the Goonhilly site’s Deep Space Inventory. There’s also a plan to expand the commercial Deep Space network to provide global coverage.
Lunar pathfinder
This new era in low cost space exploration is planned for 2019 – marking the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon.
The announced plan involves launch of a “Lunar Pathfinder,” built in the UK by SSTL and tracked and operated by Goonhilly.
Lunar Pathfinder will carry a payload of customer owned and built nano-satellites to lunar orbit. Once in orbit, Lunar Pathfinder will release the nano-satellites, some of which will remain in orbit and some may land on the lunar surface.
For more information, download related documents from this site:
http://www.goonhilly.org/lunar
China is building upon a heritage of Long March boosters.
Credit: CALT
China is preparing to stage the maiden liftoff of the powerful Long March-5 booster.
Rocket components are transported from northern China’s Tianjin Port for the launch base in southern Hainan. The booster is expected to be launched by year’s end.
Long March-5 is central to carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar probe in 2017 and will be used to launch elements of China’s multi-modular space station and Mars-bound spacecraft.
China’s Long March 5 engine test.
Credit: CMSE/CCTV
Chinese news services are underscoring that the country has made “major breakthroughs” in designing and fabricating the booster.
Rocket building techniques
According to Cui Yun, deputy director of assembly shop of Long March-5 rocket:
“Expanding the diameter from 3.35 meters to 5 meters is not simply a change in numbers, but a breakthrough in rocket building techniques,” Cui says. “We cannot touch anywhere when standing inside the rocket. So we must rotate it to ensure installation is complete.”
He Wei, general designer of Long March-5 carrier rocket, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation adds in a report from CCTV-Plus:
“We can share the technology, lower research cost, and quickly develop a series of rockets that have various payload capacities and can operate in low, medium, and high Earth orbits.”
China’s human spaceflight program is moving forward on a multimodule space station in the 2020s.
Courtesy: CMSE
Modularized approach
He Wei, general designer of Long March-5 carrier rocket, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation also notes that “the design and building of the Long March-5 rocket is a great leap forward in terms of design technique, design tool and manufacturing mechanism, which lays a solid foundation for the future design of larger rockets for our country.”
Rocket designers in China say they have modularized the rocket to lower cost and facilitate future rocket design.
New technologies
According to CCTV, China has the intellectual property rights over all technologies used to build the Long March-5 rocket, including 247 key new technologies.
New technologies accounted for 100 percent of the total used for the rocket, much higher than the global average of 30 percent, explains CCTV.
The Long March-5 is the country’s most powerful carrier rocket, sporting a payload capacity of 25 tons in low Earth orbit and placing 14 tons into geostationary orbit.
To view the CCTV-Plus report, go to:
http://cd-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2016/0826/8030677_Preview_1472213773593.mp4
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
The Curiosity Mars rover has just entered Sol 1448, continuing to investigate the surrounding scenery of buttes and distant features.
A new map has been released showing the NASA robot’s location through the 1446 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (August, 31, 2016).
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1446, August 31, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up.
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1446, August 31, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
From Sol 1439 to Sol 1446, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 167.19 feet (50.96 meters).
Since touching down in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 8.69 miles (13.98 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
In a newly posted report from Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, he notes that the rover roved – almost 175 feet (53 meters), ending up in an area with nice exposures of bedrock.
Laser cleaning
“We were interested in taking MAHLI [Mars Hand Lens Imager] close-up images of the bedrock but were concerned that they would not be very useful if the surface as dusty as it typically is,” Herkenhoff explains. “We therefore considered using the ChemCam laser to clean off some of the dust and get chemical information before deploying the arm, but recognized that the MAHLI targets would be partly shadowed by the arm turret, which would make the MAHLI images more difficult to interpret.”
Maximize drive distance
A decision was made not to include the MAHLI images in the plan, and focus instead on Mastcam imaging of the nearby buttes and maximizing the drive distance.
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo taken on August 28, 2016, Sol 1444.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Science team members for the robot were able to fit ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the “Luxilo” bedrock target into the plan, along with Right Mastcam images of “Caxito.”
After the drive and usual post-drive imaging, the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) scrubber was to be cleaned overnight.
On Sol 1449, Mastcam was to again measure the amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere.
Sentinel-1A.
Credit: ESA
European Space Agency engineers reported today that a solar panel on the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite was hit by a millimeter-size particle in orbit on August 23.
The strike produced a sudden small power reduction and slight changes in the orientation and the orbit of the satellite.
Preliminary investigation
“Following a preliminary investigation, the operations team at ESA’s control center in Darmstadt, Germany suspected a possible impact by space debris or micrometeoroid on the solar wing,” according to a ESA statement.
Engineers decided to activate the board cameras on the spacecraft to acquire pictures of the array. These cameras were originally carried to monitor the deployment of the satellite’s solar wings just a few hours after launch in April 2014, and were not intended to be used afterwards.
Sentinel-1A’s solar array before and after the impact of a millimeter-size particle on the second panel. The damaged area has a diameter of about 40 centimeters, which is consistent on this structure with the impact of a fragment of less than 5 millimeters in size.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Solar panel strike
Following their switch-on, one camera provided a picture that clearly shows the strike on the solar panel.
This event has no effect on the satellite’s routine operations, which continue normally, ESA stated.
The Sentinel-1 satellites, part of the European Union’s Copernicus Program, are operated by ESA on behalf of the European Commission.
China’s soon-to-be-lofted space lab module – Tiangong-2.
Credit: CCTV
China is in final checkout mode for its next piloted space mission – a multi-faceted undertaking that lays the foundation for the country to construct in Earth orbit a multi-modular space station in the 2020s.
Both the Tiangong-2 (meaning “Heavenly Palace”) and the piloted Shenzhou-11 spacecraft are now undergoing checkout at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
To be rocketed spaceward in mid-September, China’s Tiangong-2 is a true “space lab” that will verify key technologies for building China’s space station, explains its chief designer, Zhu Zongpeng.
For more information on China’s next space traveling step, go to my new Space.com story at:
China Readies Next ‘Heavenly Palace’ for Mid-September Launch
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
August 31, 2016 07:00am ET
http://www.space.com/33911-china-readies-tiangong-2-human-spaceflight-mission.html
Also, take a look at this set of YouTube videos on China preparations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7McgnMuWUKo
