Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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August 23rd, 2014
Mast Camera (Mastcam) (MSSS-MALIN) images for Sol 726. Evaluation of a pale, flat Martian rock as the potential next drilling target for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover determined that the rock was not stable enough for safe drilling.
Word from JPL: The rock, called “Bonanza King,” moved slightly during the mini-drill activity on Wednesday, at an early stage of this test, when the percussion drill impacted the rock a few times to make an indentation.
Instead of drilling that or any similar rock nearby, the team has decided that Curiosity will resume driving toward its long-term destination on the slopes of a layered mountain.
It now will take a route skirting the north side of a sandy-floored valley where it turned around two weeks ago.
The rover has driven about 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater in August 2012, and has about 2 miles (3 kilometers) remaining to reach an entry point to the slopes of Mount Sharp, in the middle of the crater.
Remote Micro-Imager (CHEMCAM_RMI) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 727 (2014-08-23 00:38:42 UTC).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
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Philae lander separating from Rosetta and descending to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Target: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Credit: ESA/DLR
Europe’s Rosetta lander will soon dispatch the Philae lander in the hopes of making a spot-on touchdown on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
But where to land?
The site needs to be at a level yet scientifically interesting location, with enough sunlight and the right conditions to ensure a long working life.
However, the rugged, unusually shaped comet is not making the choice easy for the lander team, a consortium of experts led by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR).
The group has until August 24 to choose up to five potential landing sites. Once that’s done, detailed appraisals of each site can be conducted.
The candidate sites will be announced on August 25.
First ever landing
On November 11, the lander component of the European Rosetta mission, which is controlled and operated by the DLR Lander Control Center (LCC), is scheduled to carry out the first ever landing on a comet.
According to the DLR, the initial selection of no more than five potential landing sites is hard enough.
The comet, which consists of two connected parts, offers only a limited number of level, uniform surfaces on which Philae could land safely.
The “landing ellipses”, within which the actual landing site lies, have a radius of around 500 meters:
“We cannot determine the landing site more precisely,” says DLR scientist Stephan Ulamec, Project Manager for the Philae lander.
As a control signal from Earth takes over 30 minutes to reach the lander, Philae must take care of the landing by itself, automatically, using a procedure pre-programmed by DLR and with no real-time corrective actions from the Control Center.
Therefore, the lander team is anxious to avoid regions with large boulders, rock or fissures, to reduce the risk for the Philae lander as much as possible, Ulamec said in a DLR press statement.
Check out this video of what the lander control team is facing:
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-11379/year-all/#/gallery/16031
Work is progressing on the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) mid-year 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration.
The BEAM is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX cargo resupply mission to the ISS.
Following the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the BEAM to the station, astronauts will use the station’s robotic arm to install the module on the aft port of the Tranquility node.
Built by private space firm, Bigelow Aerospace, the module is to be berthed to the Tranquility node. At that point, the station crew will activate a pressurization system to expand the structure to its full size using air stored within the packed module.
During the two-year test period, station crew members and ground-based engineers will gather performance data on the module, including its structural integrity and leak rate.
An assortment of instruments embedded within module also will provide important insights on its response to the space environment.
This includes radiation and temperature changes compared with traditional aluminum modules.
Back in January 2013, NASA awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide the BEAM.
Check out this new and informative video on BEAM, provided by Bigelow Aerospace.
Russian Angara booster moved to launch pad.
A new story from me up on Space.com:
Russia Reignites Its Rocket Industry with New Angara Booster
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
August 19, 2014 07:00am ET
http://www.space.com/26872-russia-angara-rocket-launch-vehicle-industry.html
Angara booster departs launch pad on suborbital test.
Credit: Khrunichev
Early space elevator story in August 1979 issue of Future Life magazine. Art by David Egge.
Courtesy: Robin Snelson
I am pleased to be taking part in the 2014 Space Elevator Conference, to be held August 22-24 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.
The theme of the 2014 conference is space elevator Architectures and Roadmaps with a focus on comparing the major space elevator architectures proposed to date.
Space elevators are a radical new way to access space less expensively than possible with chemical rocket technology.
Be advised that registration is open until end of day August 17, 2014.
For more information, go to:
InSight spacecraft on Mars – NASA’s next Red Planet landing probe.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Here’s a new one from me just up on Space.com:
NASA’s Next Mars Lander Will Peer Deep Into Red Planet’s History: Here’s How
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
August 15, 2014 04:01pm ET
http://www.space.com/26820-nasa-mars-insight-mission-planet-history.html
Mars is dotted with landers – InSight is next!
Credit: NASA/JPL
Back pain is experienced by astronauts as their spine elongates up to 2 inches while in the microgravity environment of space.
Credit: NASA
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) has funded a clinical study to test the Sustained Acoustic Medicine (sam®) device in patients suffering from lower back pain.Thanks to a partnership with the private sector, the idea is to accelerate the development of commercially promising products meeting a medical need in space…as well as on Earth.
Back pain is experienced by astronauts as their spine elongates up to 2 inches while in the microgravity environment of space.
The wearable sam® system enables delivery of one to four hours of therapeutic ultrasound treatment and could be used by astronauts in space.
ZetrOZ, Inc., of Trumbull, CT will receive a Space Medical and Related Technologies Commercialization Program (SMARTCAP) grant. SMARTCAP grants are administered by NSBRI’s Industry Forum.
Ultrasound
Back pain is experienced by astronauts as their spine elongates up to 2 inches while in the microgravity environment of space. sam® was developed for daily use and is prescribed by licensed healthcare practitioners such as orthopedists and physiotherapists for tendonitis and muscle injury recovery.
The wearable sam® system enables delivery of one to four hours of therapeutic ultrasound treatment and could be used by astronauts in space.
“Ultrasound is a great platform for spaceflight, delivering both diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities” said Dr. Dorit Donoviel, NSBRI’s Deputy Chief Scientist and Industry Forum Lead.
Established in 1997 through a NASA competition, NSBRI is headquartered in the Texas Medical Center and is a consortium of leading biomedical institutions.
Sustained acoustic medicine
Donoviel added that ultrasound is portable, wearable and does not deliver harmful radiation. NSBRI has supported the development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches involving ultrasound for kidney stones, bone, and brain health.
Sustained acoustic medicine holds great promise to accelerate the healing of muscles and tendons as well as possibly bone and cartilage.
“ZetrOZ has developed a disruptive technology and we are excited to fund this important clinical study,” Donoviel stated in an NSBRI press statement.
ZetrOZ, founded in March 2009, is a biomedical ultrasound technology designer and manufacturer.
Nasty NEOs – harmful to Earth – is a topic being wrestled with at the United Nations.
Courtesy: Texas A&M
Here’s a new story from me regarding the UN taking on NEOs:
How Will Earth’s Leaders Respond to a Real Asteroid Threat?
By Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider ColumnisT
August 13, 2014 08:01am ET
http://www.space.com/26811-dangerous-asteroid-earth-defense-plan.html
Credit: ULA
An Atlas V 401 booster is set to launch today DigitalGlobe’s super-powerful Earth observation satellite: WorldView-3.
It’s a melding of mile-high Colorado-based space technology.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V is provided by Denver’s Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, hurling into space the Boulder-headquartered Ball Aerospace-built WorldView-3 – a spacecraft to be operated by DigitalGlobe, based in Longmont, Colorado.
WorldView-3 will enhance DigitalGlobe’s satellite constellation and will further support customers across a variety of industries, such as agriculture, mining, and oil and gas.
Date/Site/Launch Time: Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
WorldView-3 will be the 10th of 15 planned missions ULA is slated to launch in 2014, and ULA’s 87th since the company formed in 2006.
DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3, built by Ball Aerospace, being encapsulated in nose cone shrouds prior to launch atop an Atlas V 401 booster.
Courtesy: Ball Aerospace
The 15-minute launch window opens at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).To view the launch by webcast: The live webcast will begin at 11:10 a.m. PDT.
NOTE: To view the launch, go to:
http://www.ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx
For more information about the WorldView-3 satellite, visit:
http://worldview3.digitalglobe.com/
To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at:
https://www.facebook.com/ulalaunch
and
twitter.com/ulalaunch; hashtag #WV3
The ISEE-3 Reboot Project logo.
Credit: ISEE-3 Reboot Project
Welcome home NASA’s International Sun/Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3)!
Today, Sunday, August 10th, ISEE-3 is on a trajectory that takes it close to the Moon.
Thanks to an effort led by Keith Cowing of NASAWatch and Dennis Wingo of Skycorp, the ISEE-3 Reboot Project was established. And with a dollar-assist from a crowdsourcing campaign, the creative juices were turned on to full-tap resulting in reestablishing a link to the venerable spacecraft – after more than three decades of space travel.
Now the ISEE-3 Reboot Project team – joined by Goggle – is to transform ISEE-3 into a citizen science project. Data from the spacecraft can be accessed and analyzed by all.
High-speed chats! Google Creative Lab, Pixel Corps, and ISEE-3 Reboot Team planning for today’s live webcast from McMoons – a former McDonald’s fast food eatery in Silicon Valley.
Credit: ISEE-3 Reboot Project
An invite by Cowing to everyone interested in the adventure requests you to join a special Google+ Hangout live event as the ISEE-3 spacecraft makes its long-awaited lunar flyby after 36 years in interplanetary space.
A “Live from ISEE-3 Reboot headquarters” will feature scientists and experts from around the world – all brought together for the historic event.
So tune into the Google Hangout “A Spacecraft for All: The Live ISEE-3 Lunar Flyby.”
The event is slated for Sunday, August 10th, from 10:30 am Pacific Time U.S. to noon PT.
Go to a newly launched website SpacecraftForAll at:
