Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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January 19th, 2016
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1227, January 18, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1228 and Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports the campaign to analyze the Bagnold dunes continues!
This dune field is along the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp.
Sand dune selfie
The plan for Sol 1228 involves extensive rover arm activity, starting with Curiosity taking a “selfie” in front of the sand dune, Anderson explains. That duty will be followed by scooping up and sieving a sample of sand.
The robot’s Mastcam and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) will both thoroughly document the scooping process. Mastcam also has a change detection observation of the target “Hebron,” Anderson adds.
Dump piles
Looking toward Sol 1229, Curiosity’s Mastcam will repeat that the previous change detection observation two more times.
Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) — located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm — snagged this image on January 19, 2016, Sol 1228.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mastcam also has observations of the dump piles from the scoop target “Gobabeb”, Anderson notes, plus a Mastcam and Navcam photometry experiment.
Curiosity’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) is slated to take passive spectra of the Gobabeb dump piles, followed by active analysis of dump pile A. That will be followed by atmospheric observations by Mastcam and Navcam.
In the afternoon on Sol 1229, Anderson says, ChemCam will analyze dump pile B, and Mastcam will take another change detection image of Hebron. The Mastcam and Navcam photometry experiment will also collect a few more images on sol 1229.
These planned rover activities, as always are all subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Posted in 
China’s Long March 5 engine test.
Credit: CMSE/CCTV
China is pushing the throttle forward in its 2016 space exploits, an agenda that includes a piloted space mission and the maiden flights of two new boosters.
According to state-run news agencies, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has spotlighted plans to launch this year the Tiangong 2 space laboratory and the Shenzhou 11 crewed spacecraft and to test-fly the Long March 5 and Long March 7 rockets.
In a statement on the company’s website: “This year will see more than 20 space launches, the most missions in a single year.”
Booster basics
Long March 5 has a payload capacity of 25 tons to low Earth orbit, or 14 tons to geostationary transfer orbit. This booster is on tap to carry the Chang’e-5 lunar probe around 2017. If successful, this robotic sample return mission would check off China’s last chapter in a three-step lunar program of orbiting, landing and returning.
Work has been underway on China’s new Long March boosters.
Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Long March 7 is a medium-sized booster able to carry up to 13.5 tones to low Earth orbit or 5.5 tons to sun-synchronous orbit at a height of 700 kilometers. This launcher is also assigned the task of carrying cargo to the planned space station.
Both boosters have been developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASC).
Space lab testing
The Tiangong 2 space laboratory is to be orbited in the first half of the year to test life support and space rendezvous technologies for the country’s future space station. The Shenzhou 11 piloted spacecraft is to follow, launched by a Long March 2F booster with the crew to rendezvous and latch up with the space laboratory.
China’s space planning calls for the country to loft the core module of its space station in 2018 to test related technologies and to research engineering issues. That larger space complex is to become fully operational about 2022, according to government sources.
Robot arm development
Meanwhile, new details regarding the Chinese Space Station Manipulator system (CSSM) are emerging.
Li Daming, a senior engineer at the Beijing Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space Robotic Systems Technology and Applications, reports the CSSM is designed for the missions of relocking spacecraft sections, docking assistance, installing equipment, and maintaining the space station.
Work on the CSSM system has been underway since 2007 and consists of two robotic arms.
Prototype Chinese Space Station Manipulator system (CSSM) undergoing testing.
Credit: Li Daming/Beijing Key Laboratory of Intelligent Space Robotic Systems Technology and Applications
“Compared with Russia and USA as well as some other developed countries, China has a big technology gap in materials, electronics, manufacturing, testing, etc. The CSSM provides the Chinese researchers and engineers a great opportunity for developing and advancing their space robotics technologies and experience,” Li and his colleagues noted last year in a paper delivered at Space 2015, a meeting of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Two arms
In a technical paper provided to Inside Outer Space, the CSSM system consists of two separate robotic arms: a Core Space Station Cabin’s Manipulator (CSSCM) and an Experimental Space Station Cabin’s Manipulator (ESSCM).
The CSSCM is nearly 35 feet long (10.5 meters). Max payload of the 7-jointed CSSCM is 55,116 pounds (25,000 kilograms).
The ESSCM is 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length. The two robot arms can work separately or combined as one robotic system.
China presses forward on its space station work.
Credit: CMSE
Major tasks
In terms of the overall Chinese space station program, the major tasks of the manipulators are:
— Cabin translocation and docking: The basic configuration of the space station consists of three individual cabins assembled through translocation and docking operations. First, the Experimental Space Station Cabin is docked to the axial port of the Core Space Station Cabin; and then, the side docking is achieved by separating, translocating and docking operation by the manipulator.
— Free-floating vehicle capture and docking: The manipulator can capture a free-floating vehicle and transfer it to berthing port of the Space Station for docking.
— Support an astronaut for extra-vehicular activities (EVA): With the support of the manipulator, an astronaut can be fixed to the tip of the manipulator using a foot stopper, to perform a large-scale movement task.
— Payload handling: Payloads can be transferred to different destinations by the manipulator.
— EVA status check: Regular inspection of China’s space station can be achieved by the manipulator’s moving and visual ability, and surface images can be transmitted back to the station for astronauts to determine the health status of the exteriors of the orbiting complex.
— Equipment installation, replacement or repair: The manipulator can be controlled by astronauts within the facility to install, replace or repair different equipment, such as a platform or payload.
According to Li and his associates, research results obtained so far indicate that the design of the Chinese Space Station Manipulator system “has been qualified to be manufactured and tested, which lays the foundation to support the construction of the space station of China.”
Curiosity rover image taken on Sol 1224 using Navcam Left B on January 15, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has entered Sol 1225.
The robot carried out a series of arm activities on Sols 1223-1224, “scuffing” up dune sand.
They all went well, explains Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona and a member of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) science team, “and we’re ready for even more contact science in the 3-sol weekend plan.”
Sharp-crested ripple
On the to do list and to kick things off, the rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) will analyze the composition of the wall of the scuff and will also document a sharp-crested ripple with the ChemCam Remote Microscopic Imager (RMI).
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on January 14, 2016, Sol 1223.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
As follow-on, Curiosity’s Mastcam is slated to document the ChemCam target and look for sand movement, Edgar adds.
Overnight, the rover’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will be used to measure the composition of the background undisturbed sand.
Fine and coarse-grained sand
Edgar explains that the weekend plan includes delivery of a fine-grained portion of sand to the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) for analysis.
On tap is dumping both the fine and coarse-grained portions of sand and analyze the fine-grained dump pile with Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and APXS.
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo taken on January 14, 2016, Sol 1223.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
This activity is to be followed by a Mastcam change-detection activity, followed by Navcam to monitor the deck of the rover to search for the movement of fines.
Overnight, CheMin will analyze the sample that was delivered the previous sol.
Given all that weekend work, Edgar concludes: “Phew! Sounds like a busy weekend for Curiosity!”
Credit: NEX-SAG
NASA is reviewing the idea of a multi-function next-generation Mars Orbiter.
If approved, this orbiter could be launched as early as 2022. One of the orbiter’s functions could be focused on the preparation for exploration by humans at Mars.
A Science Analysis Group (SAG) of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group dubbed NEX-SAG reports that a Mars Orbiter — utilizing Solar Electric Propulsion — and toting advanced telecommunications gear, could perform a 5-year mission in low Mars orbit.
New science
NEX-SAG suggests that the advanced Mars orbiter “could provide exciting new science and resource identification in addition to other programmatic functions,” such as:
- Replenish and advance the telecommunications and reconnaissance capability. Launched in 2022, this orbiter could back-up aging relay capabilities for a 2020 Mars rover in extended mission and for future spacecraft missions, whether for Mars sample return or in preparation for exploration by humans at Mars.
- Demonstrate progress in Mars orbit towards potential sample return, via release, rendezvous, and capture of a simulated orbiting container, or — if possible — the actual return of an orbiting sample cache from the surface of Mars to Earth vicinity.
- Conduct new science investigations motivated by discoveries about Mars over the last several years.
- Find resources on Mars for future missions, especially in support of human surface exploration, and address Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs).
Scouting for martian resources
Recurring slope lineae (RSL) move down Martian slopes suggestive that water is flowing on Mars today. Images of RSL in Palikir Crater in Newton Basin showing: (A) faded RSL on bright fans from the previous Mars year and a hint of new RSL in bedrock regions; (B) new RSL appear; (C) the RSL lengthen downslope in early southern summer; and (D) the RSL are fading by mid-summer.
The ability of radar to probe below the surface could be key to tracing the source of subsurface water flow related to these features.
Credit: MRO HiRISE /U. Arizona/JPL/NASA
NEX-SAG participants point to the advanced Mars orbiter locating such resources as finding and quantifying the extent of shallow ground ice within a few meters of the surface and characterize its ice-free overburden; identify deposits with hydrated minerals as a water resource, and potential contaminants within these deposits; and spot site-specific mineral resources and geotechnical properties.
Furthermore, the next-generation Mars orbiter would extend the atmospheric climatology data base about the Red Planet with diurnal coverage and wind measurements.
Lastly, given Solar Electric Propulsion, the orbiter could address gravity and surface characteristics of the Martian moons – Phobos and Deimos.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1222, January 13, 2016
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
On Mars, the Curiosity rover’s Sol 1221 drive went well, notes USGS’s Ken Herkenhoff at the Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
That drive included “a wheel scuff” in the dark sand dune, and the rover is in a good position for contact science,” he adds.
At this moment, the robot is engaged in activities during Sol 1223.
According to Herkenhoff, the Sol 1223-1224 plan calls for the robot to carry out arm activities, limited by the available power.
On tap is use of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to take pictures of a couple of locations on the dune surface that has not been disturbed by the wheels, and of sand that was disturbed by the wheel scuff.
Image from Curiosity’s Mastcam Left taken on Sol 1221, January 12, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Undisturbed sand sampling
From there, the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is slated to be placed as close as possible to the scuffed sand for an overnight integration.
On Sol 1224, the robot’s scoop will be used to acquire a sample of the undisturbed dune sand, Herkenhoff reports.
This sample will be sieved and the finest material, less than 0.15 mm diameter grains, will be dropped into Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument inlet. “SAM will then analyze the sample overnight, into the wee hours of Sol 1225,” Herkenhoff adds.
Curiosity’s Traverse Map Through Sol 1221. This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1221 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars as of January, 13, 2016.
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 1216 to Sol 1221, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 16.51 feet (5.03 meters).
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 are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Credit: SNC
NASA made a major Space Station cargo transport announcement today selecting the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) reusable Dream Chaser spacecraft, along with capsules provided by Orbital ATK and SpaceX.
NASA awarded the three cargo contracts to ensure the critical science, research and technology demonstrations that are informing the agency’s journey to Mars are delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) from 2019 through 2024.
The agency unveiled its selection of Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia; Sierra Nevada Corporation of Sparks, Nevada; and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California to continue building on the initial resupply partnerships with two American companies.
These Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contracts are designed to obtain cargo delivery services to the space station, disposal of unneeded cargo, and the return of research samples and other cargo from the station back to NASA.
Lifting-body
Dream Chaser is a multi-mission, commercial, lifting-body vehicle capable of transportation services to low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations, including the International Space Station (ISS).
SNC has developed one common Dream Chaser spacecraft airframe, which is dubbed their Space Utility Vehicle (SUV) due to its mission flexibility.
There are currently two Dream Chaser variants optimized specifically for either uncrewed or crewed missions, known as the Dream Chaser Cargo System and Dream Chaser Space System, respectively.
Credit: NASA
According to SNC, additional variants may be developed for future mission needs.
The announcement regarding CRS-2 was made today during a news conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Space Subcommittee Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas) released the following statement today after NASA announced awardees for the next phase of the Commercial Cargo program.
“Congratulations to SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and Sierra Nevada on their awards for the next round of Commercial Cargo Resupply Contracts, which also supports our human spaceflight program. These companies and the thousands they employ have a crucial task before them as they supply the International Space Station.”
Credit: Big Ear Radio Telescope
Back in 1977, the Big Ear Radio Telescope at Ohio State University detected a strong narrowband signal northwest of the globular star cluster M55 in the constellation Sagittarius.
At the time, that signal stirred up the juices of Jerry Ehman at Ohio State’s Big Ear effort, prompting him to write “Wow!” in the margin of a computer printout of the signal.
Interstellar beacon?
The Wow episode has turned up a volume of conversation over the past decades. Had an interstellar beacon been recorded, the best candidate ever seen by searches for radio signals from the stars?
This saga is well-documented in an excellent book written by Robert Gray: The Elusive Wow – Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Palmer Square Press, 2012).
Credit: Palmer Square Press
Cometary culprits
But now a new twist to the story stems from a paper authored by Antonio Paris of St. Petersburg College in Florida and Evan Davies of The Explorers Club in New York.
In a Washington Academy of Sciences paper they contend that a comet or perhaps two comets could be the source of the hydrogen line signal detected by the Ohio State University on August 15, 1977. Chemicals in comets emit radio waves, they note.
The cometary culprits they point to are 266P/Christensen and /2008 Y2 (Gibbs), suggesting that “their orbital period could account for why the ‘Wow’ signal was intermittent and not detected during subsequent searches of the area.
From July 27, 1977 to August 15, 1977 those two comets were transiting in the neighborhood of the Chi Sagittarii star group, Paris and Davies report in their paper. All that adds up, the researchers contend, to those comets being “strong candidates” for the origin of the 1977 “Wow” signal.
Wrong explanation
But not so fast, responds Robert Dixon. He was a key figure in bringing the Big Ear instrument to bear on the search for other star folk.
The Big Ear Observatory.
Courtesy of North American Astrophysical Observatory
Dixon told Inside Outer Space that SETI experts in his group are facing off on Facebook about the comet hypothesis.
“The proposed explanation is wrong,” Dixon said. “It ignores the fact that the signal turned on or off within a few minutes, and the comet surely could not have done that. We had two closely-spaced beams in the sky, and the signal appeared in only one of them,” he said.
Resources
To bone up on the discussion, go to the Paris and Davies paper:
“Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) are Candidates for the Source of the 1977 “WOW” Signal” at:
http://planetary-science.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Paris_Davies-H-I-Line-Signal.pdf
Meanwhile, keep your ears and eyes focused on follow-up SETI chat – even if it’s Earth-emitted.
London protest of Russia’s plan to send macaque monkeys to Mars.
Credit: PETA/UK
Russia’s interest in hurling four macaque monkeys to Mars in 2017 has sparked a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged the event today, underscored by a PETA supporter — Samantha Bentley – body painted as a monkey, wearing a space helmet, and lying in a pool of blood to become a “Bleeding Space Monkey.”
The protest site, the Russian Embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, also sported a sign next to a Russian flag: “Monkeys on Mars: One Giant Leap Backwards for Mankind.”
Other protesters called on Russia to use exclusively high-tech, 21st century space-exploration methods in its space program – not non-human primates.
Dark days of the space race
“If this experiment goes forward, Russia will return to the darkest days of the space race…a time when primates died horrifically from suffocation, overheating and impact,” explains Julia Baines, PETA Science Policy Advisor.
Credit: PETA/UK
“PETA is calling on the Russian Federal Space Agency,” Baines adds in a press statement, “to put a stop to this ill-advised suicide mission and be a true pioneer in modern-day space exploration.”
PETA has also sent a letter urging the Russian space agency to cancel the planned experiment.
For more information, go to:
Curiosity’s Navcam Right B took this image on Sol 1216, January 7, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
(Update)
The Curiosity rover has recovered from a motor controller anomaly, reports USGS Mars scientist, Ken Herkenhoff. Tactical operations are back on track, with a drive to the dune sampling area planned for Sol 1221.
Late last week, the rover encountered an anomaly, reports Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona and a member of the Mars Science Laboratory science team.
The problem prevented any use of motors during Sol 1217, putting off “bump and scuff” action by the robot. A bump is a short drive, with Curiosity turning its right front wheel to create a scuff in the sand.
“No motors meant no drive and no scuff, and most of our planned activities did not occur,” Edgar explains. So the day turned into a recovery day, “first trying to assess what happened and why it happened, and then figuring out how to proceed.”
“Ultimately we delivered some ChemCam and Mastcam activities that will help to assess the composition of the soil, and search for any wind-driven movement of fines,” Edgar adds.
A weekend plan provided an opportunity to do several coordinated change-detection observations using both the robot’s Mastcam and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) at multiple times throughout the day.
Looking ahead to this week, Edgar says, “we’re hoping to proceed with the bump and scuff to get back on track with the Namib Dune sampling activities!”
Rosetta’s Optical, Specroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) acquired this image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on December 20, 2015 from a distance of 57 miles (91.5 kilometers).
Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) comet lander bounced to full stop on November 12, 2015 atop Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The last clear sign of life from the probe was received on July 9, 2015. Since then mum’s been the word.
But now planned for January 10th, ground controllers will, for the first time, send a command to Philae to spin up its flywheel. The hope is to impart some angular momentum to the lander as it sits silently on the comet.
Time running out
“At best, the spacecraft might shake dust from its solar panels and better align itself with the Sun,” explains Technical Project Manager Koen Geurts.
In the worst case, the lander will not receive the commands sent by engineers and scientists at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR).
German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Cologne is home to the control center for the Philae comet lander.
Credit: DLR
DLR in Cologne is home to the control center for the Philae lander.
“Time is running out, so we want to explore all possibilities,” says DLR Project Leader Stephan Ulamec.
Lander-hostile
By the end of January things will become increasingly uncomfortable for Philae as the comet continues to move away from the Sun. Conditions on the comet will be “lander-hostile” and Philae’s mission is expected to come to a natural end, according to a DLR press statement.
“There is a small chance,” adds Cinzia Fantinati, an Operations Manager on the DLR control room team.
“We want to leave no stone unturned,” Fantinati explains. The communications unit on board Rosetta will remain active and continue to listen for a signal from Philae beyond mid-January.
ESA’s Rosetta orbiter that dispatched Philae will remain active until September 2016.
Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. Rosetta’s Philae lander is provided by a consortium headed by DLR, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
