Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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February 4th, 2017
Navcam Right B image from Curiosity of the south side of Ireson Hill, acquired on Sol 1596, February 1, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Now in Sol 1600 on Mars, the Curiosity rover has reached an exciting point in the traverse as the robot approaches the next segment of the Bagnold Dunes.
That’s the word from Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Ireson Hill imagery documents the bedding geometry and cap rock. Curisoity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSS
“Curiosity’s weekend plan includes more contact science and driving as we continue to investigate the Murray formation and prepare for observations at the active sand dunes,” Edgar notes.
Bedding geometry
Today, Saturday, is a soliday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up), Edgar explains, “so we’ll transition from a late slide sol today to early slide sols next week.”
NASA’s Curiosity rover has taken additional and stunning imagery of “Ireson Hill” to document the bedding geometry and cap rock from a different viewing position.
Curisoity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSS
On the science schedule is taking a “Mastcam tau.” That’s a way to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere by imaging the Sun.
Also on tap is making a Navcam dust devil movie, and a Mastcam image to monitor the rover deck.
Stratification and chemistry
Then Curiosity is slated to acquire Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images of two targets: “Whiskey” and “Rye.” with a short Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) integration on “Whiskey” and a longer overnight integration on “Rye.”
“Both targets were selected to study the stratification and chemistry of the Murray formation here,” Edgar adds.
Curisoity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSS
Drill diagnostics
On Sol 1601, Curiosity is slated to carry out some drill diagnostics, followed by a drive and post-drive imaging.
“We’ll also take a Mastcam 360-degree mosaic, which should be very scenic from this site – looking out over the dunes and capturing features like “Ireson Hill,” Edgar explains.
Curisoity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSS
Lastly, Curiosity will wake up early on Sol 1602 for a suite of environmental monitoring observations.
Edgar concludes: “Stay tuned for the second investigation of the Bagnold Dunes next week!”
Posted in 
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover continued its planetary prowling, driving roughly 70 feet (21 meters) to the southwest back on Sol 1598.
That drive yielded up-close imagery of “Ireson Hill”
The robot has entered Sol 1599 with scientists implementing a plan that includes Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) operation and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) of the target “Digdeguah” to investigate typical local bedrock with some exposed stratification.
Navcam Right B image from Curiosity of the south side of Ireson Hill, acquired on Sol 1596, February 1, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Hill imagery
Curiosity’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) is to continue its recovery activities and the rover’s Mastcam is to acquire a large mosaic of Ireson Hill to characterize the contact and color variations exposed on the south side of this feature.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fractured features
Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona reports that the Curiosity science team also planned a Mastcam mosaic of the “Allsbury” area to document the contact science target and fracture patterns, as well as a Mastcam tau to characterize atmospheric opacity.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 1598, February 3, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Drive to southwest
The plan calls for Curiosity to drive further to the southwest, and then take post-drive imaging to prepare for more contact science in the upcoming weekend plan.
Also scheduled, Edgar adds, is environmental monitoring and a Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite measurement of the Martian atmosphere.
Credit: SWF
The Secure World Foundation (SWF) has published an impressive handbook, intended to reach two categories of new actors in pioneering the space frontier:
- National governments engaged in developing national space policies and regulations, and
- Start-up companies, universities, and all other non-governmental entities beginning their first forays into space activities.
Changing face of space
In the handbook’s foreword, Michael Simpson, SWF’s Executive Director, points to the changing face of space.
“More than 70 states, commercial companies, and international organizations currently operate more than 1,500 satellites in Earth orbit. Driven largely by the commoditization of space technology and the lowering of barriers to participation, the number of space actors is growing,” Simpson writes. “This broadening of space has both advantages and disadvantages.”
Signing of the Outer Space Treaty. Soviet Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin,
UK Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean, US Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg, US President
Lyndon B. Johnson and others observe as US Secretary of State Dean Rusk signs the
Outer Space Treaty on January 27, 1967 in Washington, DC
Source: UNOOSA.
Accelerated growth
On one side, Simpson observes, this growth is leading to greatly increased technological innovation, lower costs, and greater access to the beneficial capabilities and services offered by satellites.
“However, the accelerated growth in space activities and the influx of new actors has the potential to exacerbate many of the current threats to the long-term sustainable use of space,” SWF’s Simpson writes. “These threats include on-orbit crowding, radio-frequency interference, and the chances of an incident in space sparking or escalating geopolitical tensions on Earth.”
Statistical representation of the
estimated 500,000 pieces of space debris one centimeter and larger in orbit.
Source: Analytical Graphic
Array of topics
The over 140-page handbook is both succinct and readable, rich in comment on a large number of topics, from space treaties, freedom of exploration and use of space, space traffic management, and orbital debris to use of nuclear power sources in space and protection of celestial bodies.
SWF’s stated intent of the volume is to provide new actors with a broad overview of the fundamental principles, laws, norms, and best practices for peaceful, safe, and responsible activities in space.
To access this highly informative handbook, go to:
https://swfound.org/media/205710/swf_handbook_for_new_actors_in_space_2017_edition.pdf
Book Review: Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos by Nancy Atkinson; Page Street Publishing Co.; 2016; Cost: $19.99
Nancy Atkinson is a veteran space journalist – and this book demonstrates her unique talent in crafting stories regarding robotic exploration – be it unlocking the secrets of faraway Pluto to up-close focus on the Moon via the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The book offers behind-the-scene tales of dozens of scientists and engineers who have opened our solar system to discovery and surprising revelation. Spotlighted in this volume, accompanied by beautiful color imagery, are engaging looks at the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, the Curiosity Mars rover, the celestial looks by the Hubble Space Telescope; Kepler, the exo-planet scouting spacecraft; the Cassini-Huygens probing of Saturn; Dawn’s multi-world investigation; the Sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, as well as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Each chapter serves up a well-written tale of how this select set of space missions has been transformative in our understanding of our solar system and surrounding universe. “As many space scientists have expressed,” Atkinson points out, “they never know what they’ll find and they’ve learned to expect the unexpected.”
Incredible Stories From Space also includes a look at upcoming missions yet to come, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and a mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The book ends with an excellent epilogue dedicated to the topic of why explore space?
“Looking both outward and inward — and living life with a sense of wonder – can help us create a better world right now and build a better world for future generations,” the author concludes.
For those already familiar with her reporting skillfulness as contributing editor and writer for Universe Today, a popular space and astronomy news website, you’ll find this volume a treasure of insight.
For more information on this book, go to:
http://www.pagestreetpublishing.com/copy-of-101-easy-homemade-products-1
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1596, February 1, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity rover is now carrying out Sol 1597 duties.
Last weekend, the rover drove roughly 85 feet (26 meters) to the southwest, as scientists prepare for another investigation of active sand dunes.
“We’re still a few more drives away from the dunes, but looking forward to the next campaign,” reports Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1596, February 1, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Sedimentary structures
In the plans, some contact science and Mastcam imaging and another drive.
That plan starts with a short Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
integration and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photography of “Isleboro” to characterize the composition, grain size, and sedimentary structures exposed in a typical block of the Murray formation.
Then the plan calls for use of the robot’s Mastcam to document some color variations and stratification at “Parker Bog,” and to assess fracture patterns at “Jim Pond.”
Also on the schedule is taking a Mastcam image to monitor the deck and characterize the movement of sand.
“Ireson Hill” as seen in this Curiosity Mastcam image taken on January 25, 2017, Sol 1590.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Still recovering
The Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) instrument continues its recovery activities with a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) observation of the titanium calibration target.
“Then Curiosity will drive further to the southwest,” Edgar adds, and acquire post-drive imaging for context and targeting, including an upper tier Navcam frame to prepare for more imaging of “Ireson Hill.”
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1596, January 31, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The second sol is devoted to environmental monitoring, with Mastcam and Navcam observations to assess dust in the atmosphere and search for dust devils, Edgar concludes.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1594, January 29, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Travel distance
From Sol 1591 to Sol 1594, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 84.39 feet (25.72 meters).
Since touching down in Bradbury Landing in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 9.55 miles (15.37 kilometers) as of January 30, 2017.
Curiosity rover’s location for Sol 1594.
The base image of this map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/University of Arizona
Credit: CCTV-Plus
Along with the booming sound of departing rockets, space tourism is booming in a south China city – at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.
The Wenchang launch center is China’s one-of-a-kind coastal launch site. This center will support the country’s space station construction activities in the 2020s, as well as hurling large exploration probes to the Moon – such as the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission later this year.
2016 launches
Construction of the site began in Sept 2009 and was completed in Nov 2014. The center has already seen the launch of the Long March-7 last June and the Long March-5 in November 2016.
Wenchang has two vertical assembly and testing plants, two launch towers, a command building and other facilities.
Visitors to the launch complex are shuttled to a launch tower with more areas reportedly opening to the public in the future.
Visitor increase
As reported on CCTV-Plus: “We’re averaging 100 to 200 tourists every day, consisting of locals, who live in Hainan, before November, and tourists who came here in the winter after November,” observed Wang Xiaojia, deputy manager of Wenchang Tourism Investment Holding Co., Ltd.
Credit: CCTV-Plus
The number of tourists in 2016 increased 15 percent year on year since the establishment of Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in 2014, according to the local tourism department.
Tourism town
Construction of a new “tourism town” is underway, reports CCTV-Plus, scheduled to be put into use in the first half of 2017.
In addition to a science and technology exhibit, the town will also use advanced technology — such as visual reality — to enable tourists to experience a realistic rocket launch space exploration missions.
To view a video clip on Wenchang tourism, go to:
http://cd-pv.news.cctvplus.com/2017/0130/8041988_Preview_2751.mp4
This artist’s rendering depicts NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, with its robotic arm extended.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
NASA’s next Mars rover – known as Mars 2020 – has fallen under the watchful eye of the space agency’s Office of Inspector General, or IG.
It’s the role of the IG to conduct objective oversight of NASA programs and operations and independently report to the Administrator, Congress, and the public to further the Agency’s accomplishment of its mission.
In a new IG report on the Mars 2020 effort, a number of concerns have been identified, such as design stability of some of the rover’s hardware and science instruments, the rover’s actuators, and growth in the mass of the rover.
These and other issues, the IG reports in a just-issued report, may affect Mars 2020 Project managers need to achieve the mission’s technical objectives, meet Project milestones, and control costs.
Overly optimistic
As noted in the IG document, since 1964, NASA has spent more than $21 billion on missions exploring Mars, including four robotic rovers on the Martian surface, five static landers, and numerous satellite missions orbiting the planet.
Now in development, the Mars 2020 rover has several schedule-related issues that could indicate the Project is “overly optimistic,” the IG report explains.
Caching hardware for Mars 2020 rover is depicted, but is a preliminary design that in December 2016 project personnel said was replaced with an alternative design.
Credit: NASA
Largest risk
According to the IG, the largest risk to the Mars 2020 schedule is the Project’s Sample and Caching Subsystem (Sampling System), which will collect core samples of Martian rocks and soil and place them on the planet’s surface for retrieval by a future robotic or human mission.
Three of the Sampling System’s critical technologies were below technology readiness level (TRL) 6 – meaning the prototype had not yet demonstrated the capability to perform all the functions required.
The report does note that by December 2016, Mars 2020 project personnel were showing all seven technologies as having reached TRL 6.
Other challenges
Several other challenges confront Mars 2020 project managers, the IG document reports, “including late delivery of actuators (the components responsible for moving and controlling parts and instruments on the rover); foregoing an engineering model of the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) designed to assess the feasibility of producing oxygen on Mars as a cost savings measure; ensuring the rover does not exceed its designed mass limit of 1,050 kilograms; and addressing foreign partner funding issues that may affect their ability to timely deliver components to the Project.”
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 1591, January 26, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mass monitoring
Within the IG report there’s note of a redesign of the rover’s wheels to minimize the premature wear and tear the now-on-Mars Curiosity rover has experienced.
The redesigned wheels are twice as thick as Curiosity’s and add 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of mass to the Mars 2020 rover. Mars 2020 engineers are considering software changes that could improve the rover’s ability to match wheel drive with the terrain.
Credit: NASA IG
Noted in the IG document, although project managers do not foresee further mass growth of the Mars 2020 rover, they are monitoring the mass and volume of the turret. They indicated that, if necessary, additional steps can be taken such as removing a proposed helicopter technology demonstration from the mission to keep the mass below 2,315 pounds (1,050 kilograms).
Proposed helicopter for Mars 2020 rover may be scrapped.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
Planned actions
NASA has concurred with IG recommendations and has described planned actions, as detailed in the report.
“We provided a draft of this report to NASA management who concurred with our recommendations and described planned actions to address them,” the IG report states.
To read the full OIG report – NASA’s Mars 2020 Project – issued January 30, 2017, go to:
https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY17/IG-17-009.pdf
If successful, the Axiom International Commercial Space Station is billed as a “historic shift” in human spaceflight.
Credit: Axiom Space
Work is underway to orbit the world’s first private, international commercial space station, a complex that would serve a global community of sovereign and private astronauts.
The Axiom International Commercial Space Station is being pursued to enlarge the landscape of low Earth orbit, to create what they view as a “historic shift” in human spaceflight.
The Axiom International Commercial Space Station is intended to serve as a complex for astronauts, research and manufacturing missions. It can also become a base for trial-running deep space systems.
Credit: Axiom Space
By making the microgravity of space available to nations, organizations and individuals, living and working in Earth orbit can become commonplace, Axiom believes, to not only cater to markets here on Earth but also support deep space exploration.
For more information on Axiom planning, I invite you to go to my new Space.com story:
Private Space Station Coming Soon? Company Aiming for 2020 Launch
http://www.space.com/35488-private-space-station-2020-axiom-space.html
Shackleton Crater located on the south pole of the Moon. The Lunar Temple visible as bright dot on the left side.
Credit: Jorge Mañes Rubio/DITISHOE
Serenity now!
Future lunar dwellers may find solace atop a near-perpetually sunlit peak close to the Moon’s south pole – in a temple to celebrate the Moon as a powerful symbol of unity for humankind.
The temple would be built on the sunlit rim of Shackleton Crater, which is bathed much of the time in sunlight while overlooking the crater’s deep interior of everlasting shadow.
Shackleton crater has a diameter of 13 miles (21 kilometers) and is over 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) deep. This site is a potential candidate for a future outpost on the Moon due to its unique lighting conditions.
Credit: Jorge Mañes Rubio/DITISHOE
Symbol of unity
While some of its peaks receive almost continuous sunlight, its interior (one of the coldest and darkest places in the Solar System) may have captured water ice, key for a self-sustainable lunar settlement, explains an ESA statement on the temple concept.
A European Space Agency’s Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) includes the artistic touches of Jorge Mañes Rubio – the group’s artist in residence. His “Peak of Eternal Light art project” involves a “Moon Temple.” It is a structure meant to be a symbol of unity for humankind, reflecting the pull that our natural satellite has always had on the human imagination.
“So this Temple is intended as a mythic and universal structure that can hopefully bring people together in this new environment in novel ways,” Rubio explains.
Credit: Jorge Mañes Rubio/DITISHOE
Abode architecture
The nearly 165 foot (50 meters) high domed structure is envisioned by ESA materials specialists as a possible structure put in place in one-sixth gravity by 3D printing of lunar soil. The result might resemble “abode” architecture, Rubio adds, an ancient method of building that is still made use to this day.
Leopold Summerer, head of the ACT explains that these contemplative ideas about future lunar facilities “have been very valuable and stimulating, since they lead us to consider aspects of human exploration that aren’t usually considered by scientists and engineers.”
The Temple’s free-standing dome would allow patrons to view Earth for two weeks at a time, Rubio points out, inspiring more independent thinking. One opening in the dome will look Earthwards, while another at the top will peer out into deep space.
Artist Jorge Mañes Rubio.
Photo credit: Bret Hartman
Next steps
As a next step, Rubio aims to create small sculptures and “artefacts” out of simulated lunar materials, inspired by the simulated lunar environment at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre near Cologne, Germany.
Meanwhile, Johann-Dietrich Woerner, ESA’s Director General, has been very vocal on establishing a “Moon Village” – a robotic and human presence on the Moon, given the eventual decommissioning in 2024 of the International Space Station.
Rubio continues to work on his Peak of Eternal Light art project. An interactive VR experience and digital app is being planned. This free app will allow anybody to virtually travel to the south pole of the Moon and explore Shackleton crater in all its glory.
Resources
Peak of Eternal Light and the Moon Temple is an art project created by Jorge Mañes Rubio as artist in residence at the European Space Agency (ESA). Spatial design and visualization in collaboration with DITISHOE.
Take a look at this engaging video regarding the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8xqyromeL8
or
Candidate and confirmed RSL sites in the hydrated sulfate layered deposits or in craters near the layered
deposits. Background map is Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) topography.
Credit: Stillman, et al.
One of the more intriguing findings on Mars of late has been spotting recurring slope lineae in certain areas of the Red Planet.
These dark fingers of mystery – RSL in Mars shorthand — emerge from steep, rocky exposures. They incrementally grow, fade, and reform on a seasonal basis.
But what RSL truly represent is controversial. Some researchers say they are suggestive that liquid water occurs on or near the surface of Mars today.
More to the point are RSL created via brine or just small rock/debris falls?
Opportunity rover observation
The upcoming 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), to be held March 20-24 in The Woodlands, Texas, promises to be a meeting of the minds on enigmatic RSL.
(Left) This HiRISE image shows the darkest and longest candidate RSL at Cape Victory on the SW rim of Victoria crater. Other HiRISE images show these candidate RSL recurring and fading.
(Right) False color Pancam image from Opportunity (MER-B) at Cape Verde on 04 November 4, 2006. This image shows the candidate RSL beneath Cape Victory as viewed by the rover. The arrow points to the same candidate RSL in (a) and (b).
Credit: Stillman, et al.
For example, new research is being presented that NASA’s Opportunity rover has detected candidate RSL sites in Cape Victory on the southwest side of Victoria crater and on the east side of Endeavour Crater.
Opportunity is a true veteran of Mars exploration. The wheeled robot just cruised past 13 years of service on the Red Planet; it landed on Mars on January 24, 2004.
Superimposed Opportunity rover on Rim of Victoria Crater (Artist Concept).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Solar System Visualization Team
The rover is now heading south, across rough and steep terrain, along the rim of Endeavour Crater. Its current scientific objective is to investigate a gully about a kilometer south of its current location.
As of Sol 4623 (Jan. 24, 2017, the total odometry for Opportunity since landing is 27.26 miles (43.87 kilometers).
Opportunity traverse map.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Serendipitously imaged
Research led by David Stillman of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, is to be presented at the LPSC – including a look at the first image of a candidate RSL recorded from the surface of Mars.
This feature was serendipitously imaged via the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) on Opportunity at Cape Verde back in November 2006, Stillman and his colleagues report.
The candidate RSL in Cape Victory is roughly 40 feet (12 meters) long and has been seen in over a dozen Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) images. Those images show recurrence and fading of the feature, but no incremental lengthening.
Confirmed, candidate sites
In introducing their research, Stillman and his fellow researchers note: “To gain insight into the formation and recharge mechanism(s) of recurring slope lineae (RSL), we have been using HiRISE images to search for candidate RSL sites. As of the December 2016 HiRISE release, we have cataloged 577 candidate RSL sites, of which 74 have been confirmed to exhibit RSL.”
Built by Ball Aerospace, the HiRISE camera system on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter yields unmatched views of layered materials, gullies, channels, and other science targets and also characterizes possible future landing sites for robotic and human missions.
Credit: NASA
Confirmed sites show recurrence, incremental lengthening, and fading of dark lineae, the researchers explain, while candidate RSL sites have dark lineae that look like RSL but do not possess all three of the characteristics in available imagery.
Close to Curiosity
Stillman and his research colleagues also note in their LPSC research – “Dark Lineae on the Equatorial Layered Deposits; Are these Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) or Small Debris Flows?” — that candidate RSL near the Curiosity Mars rover have been detected to fade and recur.
This site is roughly 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Curiosity’s current locale, with plans for the rover to drive much closer to the feature, enabling future imaging of the candidate RSL.
In their research, Stillman adds that candidate RSL are detected in most HiRISE images covering layered deposits with hydrated sulfates.
Self image taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover.
Can it probe makeup of RSL? Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Exploration implications
“If additional HiRISE images are able to confirm that RSL are being formed at locations where groundwater reached and altered the surface billions of years ago, this finding would support the hypothesis that RSL are formed and recharged via groundwater and that discharge groundwater is accessible to search or extant life or to be used as a resource for human exploration,” the researchers conclude.
Alternatively, the research team adds, “if these dark lineae never show incremental lengthening, fading, and recurrence, then we conclude that dark lineae in the hydrated sulfate layered deposits are debris flows. This would suggest these layered deposits are weak and could be used to chemically extract water from as a resource for human exploration.”
