Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 24th, 2016
Credit: NASA
What’s the real right stuff needed to overcome the practical physical and psychological challenges astronauts will face on a protracted voyage to—and their stay on—the planet Mars?
That question and others were addressed today at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
Panel discussion
The May 24th event involved panelists:
Catherine “Cady” Coleman, Astronaut, NASA
Rudy deLeon, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Peter Juul, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress
NASA space traveler
NASA astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman has accumulated 4,330 hours in space, bringing firsthand experience with long duration space travel to her current position in NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist.
NASA astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman.
Credit: NASA
In addition to two space shuttle missions and a five and a half month stay aboard on the International Space Station, Coleman holds a Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and rose to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force before retiring in 2009.
Watch the video
To video view today’s discussion on the practical steps America will need to take in order to send astronauts to Mars and other destinations beyond the Moon, go to:
Posted in 
Astronaut investigates the boulder captured from an asteroid. Shown is an astronaut, anchored to a foot restraint, preparing to investigate the asteroid boulder.
Credit: NASA
The highly informative SpacePolicyOnline.com has a suite of new postings that are headline eye-catchers:
House Appropriators Urge FAA to Facilitate Private Lunar Development
House Appropriators Reject Asteroid Redirect Mission, Want Astronauts on Moon
House Appropriators Have Big Plans for NASA
Long distance interstellar sailing.
Credit: UCSB/Adrian Mann
Lunar, asteroid, Europa, interstellar
Marcia Smith, founder and editor of SpacePolicyOnline.com, notes:
— Moon Development: The House Appropriations Committee encourages the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enhance its processes to provide “security and predictability” to companies planning lunar development. It also urges the FAA to define “non-interference” in the context of such private sector activities. At the same time, it denies half of the requested increase for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) to hire more staff.
— Dis-ARMing: The House Appropriations Committee is recommending that no funds be provided for planning robotic or crewed missions to asteroids as envisioned by President Obama’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). Also under the heading “Mission to Mars,” the committee states that while there may be technological benefits to “asteroid redirect and retrieval missions” — an apparent reference to ARM, whose name has varied over the years — they do not “appreciably contribute” to the overall goal of sending humans to Mars.
This artist’s rendering shows NASA’s Europa mission spacecraft, which is being developed for a launch sometime in the 2020s. This view shows the spacecraft configuration, which could change before launch, as of early 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
— Europa Orbiter/Lander Missions: the House committee continues support for a robotic mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa — an orbiter to be launched in 2022 and a lander in 2024 — both launched by the Space Launch System (SLS). This committee has insisted that NASA proceed with a Europa mission even though NASA was not planning to build it because of budget constraints.
— Star Probe Propulsion: The House Appropriations Committee not only wants NASA to replace the Asteroid Redirect Mission with a focus on returning humans to the lunar surface, but it has other big plans for the agency. One is to develop interstellar propulsion to enable a probe to be sent to Alpha Centauri at one tenth the speed of light in 2069. The committee also directs NASA to submit a plan for developing interstellar propulsion to enable a scientific probe to be sent to Alpha Centauri at a cruising velocity of 0.1c (one tenth the speed of light) in 2069, the 100th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.
U.S.-China cooperation
Smith also notes that the committee continues to prohibit NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) from engaging in bilateral space activities with China unless certain conditions are met.
“One of those now is that the FBI must certify (in addition to NASA or OSTP) that no technology transfer will occur or that the activity involves knowing interactions with the officials involved in human rights violations,” Smith explains.
For more on these issues, all the dollar details, and attached documents, go to:
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/
Credit: ISRO
An experimental winged vehicle has been successfully flight tested by India.
The May 23rd flight of India’s Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) flew from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
An HS9 solid rocket booster was topped by the RLV-TD. The suborbital flight saw the unpiloted winged craft reach a height of about 184,000 feet (56 kilometers).
Credit: ISRO
At that altitude, the RLV-TD separated from the HS9 booster and further ascended to a height of about 213,000 feet (65 kilometers).
Landing spot-on
The 1.75 ton craft made an atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), successfully gliding down to the pre-ordained landing spot within the Bay of Bengal, at a distance of about 280 miles (450 kilometers) from Sriharikota.
Credit: Vikram Sarabhai Space Center
The vehicle’s Navigation, Guidance and Control system steered the vehicle during this flight phase for a safe descent.
Total flight duration from launch to landing of the delta winged RLV-TD lasted for about 770seconds, according to a press statement from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
“In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management have been successfully validated,” ISRO added.
Two-stage to orbit
ISRO is pushing forward on reusable launch vehicle technology.
Credit: ISRO
According to ISRO, the RLV-TD is a series of technology demonstration missions for realizing a two stage to orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle.
RLV-TD is viewed as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies: hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion.
Credit: ISRO
The first in the series of experimental flights, explains ISRO, is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).
Design leader
Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, led the RLV-TD development program and spearheaded its design, qualification, aerodynamic characterization and hardware development.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Center is the major centre of ISRO, where the design and development activities of satellite launch vehicles and sounding rockets are carried out and made ready for launch operations.
Credit: ALE Co., Ltd.
There’s a new sky-high idea floating about concerning the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo.
Perhaps the opening ceremony in that 2020 event will feature “Sky Canvas” – artificial shooting stars launched from a satellite.
Credit: Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Lab setting
The shooting stars on demand idea stems from Tokyo-based ALE Co., Ltd.
“In a laboratory setting, our artificial shooting stars have already achieved an apparent magnitude of -1. Even Sirius, the brightest star that can be observed in the night sky, has an apparent magnitude of -1.5,” the firm’s website explains. “There’s no doubt that artificial shooting stars by ALE can clearly be seen anywhere, even in the city.”
Credit: ALE Co., Ltd.
Color me bright
Turning an artificial shooting star into different colors is done by loading a satellite with various materials, thereby turning shooting stars into any color.
“Our shooting star travels slower and longer across the sky than a natural shooting star. This makes it possible for more people to enjoy the spectacle for a longer period of time,” adds the ALE website.
“In the ‘Sky Canvas Project,’ numerous source particles can be continuously emitted, which allows us to create not only a single shooting star, but a real meteor shower.”
Credit: ALE Co., Ltd.
Coming to a sky near you?
As noted in the company’s business plan, the Sky Canvas service can provide a shooting star in all parts of the world. The ground viewing area is 400 times wider than a fireworks bursting at an altitude of 1,640 feet (500 meters).
Credit: ALE Co., Ltd.
When the service is initially offered, ALE planners say there will be limitations on locations of the shooting stars. However, they may plan to launch multiple satellites in orbit. With more satellites, shooting stars can be freely created in different directions and locations.
Credit: ALE Co., Ltd.
Shooting stars
Any worry about artificial meteors hitting another space object?
The firm has developed software that calculates the probability of their particles colliding with other objects.
“The particles will not be discharged unless safety is confirmed. In a rare case that there remains a question in safety based on the simulation, we will abort the discharge to prevent a possible disaster,” the website explains.
A SkyCanvas Promotion Movie is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHvyz3h-rRo
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1347, May 20, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is now in Sol 1348.
The robot continues to measure the variations in silica abundance around large fractures, poking around in what’s been called “Fracture Town”.
Opposition party
BTW: Here’s how to visually celebrate Mars opposition on Sunday, May 22nd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ-qbykREXE&feature=youtu.be&t=1m15s
New Map
A new map shows the route driven by Curiosity through the 1346 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May, 20, 2016).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up.
From Sol 1344 to Sol 1346, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 31.55 feet (9.62 meters).
Since touching down in Bradbury Landing in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 7.95 miles (12.80 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1344, May 18, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1346, May 20, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image taken on May 18, 2016, Sol 1344.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image taken on May 19, 2016, Sol 1345.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Credit: NASA
A U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space Hearing — “Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats” — took place on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.
Witnesses at the hearing included Andy Weir, Author of The Martian, joined by a NASA spokesman and key commercial space players from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Orbital ATK.
To read the prepared testimony of the witnesses, go to:
- Jason Crusan, Director, Advanced Exploration Systems, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA
- John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager, Space Exploration, Boeing Defense, Space, and Security, The Boeing Company
- Wanda Sigur, Vice President and General Manager, Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Frank Culbertson, President, Space Systems Group, Orbital ATK
- Andy Weir, Author, The Martian
Note: The hearing was streamed live on May 18, 2016 from the location: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building and can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-22hUz2vI8
— Statement of Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats
Go to:
— Statement of Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas)
Next Steps to Mars: Deep Space Habitats
Go to:
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin has launched its campaign to establish a “Mars Base Camp” – a vision for sending humans to Mars by 2028.
The Mars Base Camp concept is to transport astronauts from Earth to a Mars-orbiting science laboratory where they can perform real-time scientific exploration, analyze Martian rock and soil samples, and confirm the ideal place to land humans on the surface.
This orbiting science station is envisioned to be launched in 2028, setting the stage for a human landing mission in the 2030s.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Key elements
The elements are:
- Orion: The deep-space crew capsule, built with deep space life support, communications and navigation.
- Space Launch System: Super heavy lift designed to send critical labs, habitats and supplies to Mars.
- Habitats: Deep space habitats will give astronauts room to live and work on the way to Mars.
- Solar Electric Propulsion: Based on technology already in place on satellites, this advanced propulsion will pre-position key supplies in Mars orbit.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Interplanetary ship
As detailed by Lockheed Martin, the major components of the architecture will be launched separately. Some are pre-positioned in Mars orbit ahead of time.
Other components are assembled in cis-lunar space for the journey to Mars.
Six astronauts would launch on Orion, which serves as the heart of the Mars Base Camp interplanetary ship.
For more information, go to:
Credit: NASA
For all you future settlers of Mars, a new technical report is now available to plan your stay on the Red Planet.
The technical paper, Frontier In-Situ Resource Utilization for Enabling Sustained Human Presence on Mars, has been written by Robert Moses and Dennis Bushnell of NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Massive resources
The currently known resources on Mars are massive, including extensive quantities of water and CO2 and therefore C, H2 and O2 for life support, fuels and plastics and many other items. The regolith is replete with all manner of minerals.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1301, April 3, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) applicable frontier technologies include robotics, machine intelligence, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, 3-D printing/additive manufacturing and autonomy. These technologies combined with the vast natural resources should enable serious, pre- and post-human arrival ISRU to greatly increase reliability and safety and reduce cost for human colonization of Mars.
Center of trade
Various system-level transportation concepts employing Mars produced fuel would enable Mars resources to evolve into a primary center of trade for the inner solar system for eventually nearly everything required for space faring and colonization.
Credit: Dan Durda
Mars resources and their exploitation via extensive ISRU is the key to a viable, safe and affordable, human presence beyond Earth.
Reshape thinking
The purpose of this paper is four-fold:
- To highlight the latest discoveries of water, minerals, and other materials on Mars that reshape thinking about the value and capabilities of Mars ISRU;
- To summarize the previous literature on Mars ISRU processes, equipment, and approaches;
- To point to frontier ISRU technologies and approaches that can lead to safe and affordable human missions to Mars; and
- To suggest an implementation strategy whereby the ISRU elements are phased into the mission campaign over time to enable a sustainable and increasing human presence on Mars.
To access this new and informative paper, go to:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160005963.pdf
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1344, May 18, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Mars Curiosity rover drive planned last weekend was completed successfully, moving MSL less than 20 feet (6 meters) into position for contact science on the rocks broken by the rover wheels.
That’s the word from Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Curiosity is just about to enter Sol 1345.
Touch and go
This week, planning is restricted for rover activities.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1342, May 16, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Plans called for Sol 1344 to include a “touch and go” that requires extra Rover Planner staffing, as both arm activities and a drive are planned.
“It’s great to be able to do so much in one plan, but we had to cram a lot of stuff into Sol 1344 because the drive has to be completed before the afternoon MRO communications relay to allow another drive to be planned on Wednesday,” Herkenhoff reports. “So we had to decide which scientific observations were most important and work to fit them into the plan.
Broken rocks
A target was selected for a Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) observation of “Impalila,” one of the freshly-exposed rock surfaces.
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 1344, May 17, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Mastcam was to acquire a multispectral observation of the broken rocks before the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) snapped pictures of “Stampriet,” Impalila, “Narubis,” and “Swartmodder.”
After MAHLI imaging is completed, the plan called for the robotic arm to be stowed. Curiosity was then slated to drive toward the west, “hopefully getting back to the Sol 1311 location, where the rover was before we decided to return to the Lubango area,” Herkenhoff adds.
Curiosity Rover’s Location for Sol 1342
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1342 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May, 16, 2016).
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. From Sol 1329 to Sol 1342, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 10.30 feet (3.14 meters). Since touching down in Bradbury Landing in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 7.92 miles (12.75 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Dates of planned rover activities described are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Credit: Paul Hudson/NASA
NASA’s quest to place boot prints on Mars in the 2030’s is advancing, bolstered by new studies on a multi-function next-generation Mars Orbiter and how best to use Red Planet resources to sustain expeditionary crews on the planet.
Last year, nearly 50 locations on Mars were proposed by scientists as future locales for human landings. Those landing zone sites also flag “regions of interest” that can be reached from touchdown spots.
Credit: NEX-SAG
Now the call is out for a multi-functional next-generation Mars Orbiter that carries advanced telecommunications gear and makes use of powerful radar to scout out and better classify Martian resources for human landing parties. If approved, the spacecraft might be headed for Mars as early as 2022.
For more information, go to my new Space.com story at:
Humans on Mars: Scouting Needed for Red Planet Resources
http://www.space.com/32882-nasa-crewed-mars-missions-resources-orbiter.html
