Felix Baumgartner during a test flight. Credit: Red Bull Stratos
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The speed of sound — historically called the ‘sound barrier’ – has been broken by rockets, various jet-powered aircraft and rocket-boosted land vehicles. Felix Baumgartner wants to break the sound barrier with his body, in freefall from the edge of space. He will travel inside a capsule with a stratospheric balloon to 36,500 meters (120,000 feet) step out and attempt a freefall jump targeted to reach – for the first time in history – supersonic speeds.
“After years of training with my team of dedicated Red Bull Stratos experts, I’ll be going on a journey that no one has ever done,” Baumgartner told Universe Today in an email message. “If I succeed, I will be the first person to break the sound barrier, alone. That will be a record for all eternity. As such, a piece of me will become immortal. That excites me.”
Baumgartner, left with Joe Kittinger. Credit: Red Bull Stratos
Back in 1960, a US Air Force captain named Joe Kittinger made aerospace history by making a jump from 31,000 meters (102,800 feet). His jump contributed valuable data that provided ground work for spacesuit technology and knowledge about human physiology for the US space program. There have been several attempts to surpass Kittinger’s record, but none have succeeded, and people have given their lives for the quest.
Sometime during 2010, Baumgartner will make an attempt in his “Red Bull Stratos” mission — named after the energy drink company that co-created the program with the Austrian skydiver. Red Bull Stratos team members say the mission will explore the limits of the human body in one of the most hostile environments known to humankind, in the attempt to deliver valuable lessons in human endurance and high-altitude technology.
“This is the biggest goal I can dream of,” Baumgartner said. “If we can prove that you can break the speed of sound and stay alive I think that is a benefit for future space exploration.”
If Baumgartner is successful, the Red Bull Stratos mission will break four world records: the altitude record for freefall, the distance record for longest freefall, the speed record for fastest freefall by breaking the speed of sound with the human body, and the altitude record for the highest manned balloon flight. Baumgartner during a test flight. Credit: Red Bull Stratos
How fast will Baumgarter need to go to beat the speed of sound? Sound travels at different speeds through the atmosphere (as well as through different mediums), depending on atmospheric density and temperature. For example, at sea level, in average conditions of about 15 degrees C (59 degrees F), sound travels at around 1,223 kph (760 mph). But at higher altitudes, where the air is colder, sound travels more slowly.
Researchers with the Red Bull Stratos mission anticipate Baumgartner could break the sound barrier at about 30,480 meters (100,000 feet) above sea level, in temperatures of -23 to -40 C (-10 to -40 F) where sound travels at about 1,110 kph (690 mph) or roughly 304 meters per second (1,000 feet per second).
So, he’ll have to go faster than those speeds – or Mach 1 — to be supersonic.
While there is no literal “barrier,”the transition to supersonic speeds can cause problems for aircraft as transonic air movement creates disruptive shock waves and turbulence. Data obtained from Chuck Yeager’s first supersonic flight in 1947 allowed for changes in design of supersonic aircraft to avoid problems. Still, some aircraft still experience problems, and going supersonic has been attributed to some air disasters.
And the human body isn’t designed for supersonic speeds.
“Our biggest concern is that we don’t know how a human unencumbered by aircraft is going to transition through this,” said the project’s Medical Director Dr. Jonathan Clark, a flight surgeon for six space shuttle missions (and husband of astronaut Laurel Clark who died in the Columbia disaster in 2003), who has researched numerous aerospace disasters. “But it’s also exactly what we’re hoping to learn, for the benefit of future space flights.”
Documents provided by the Red Bull Stratos mission say that the data obtained from the mission will be shared with the scientific community, and Clark notes that he expects long-awaited medical protocols to be established as a result.
At the low temperatures and tenuous atmospheric conditions that Baumgartner will experience, he could suffer from hypothermia, the bends –if he gains altitude too fast during ascent –, or he could experience ebullism – the infamous condition where gas bubbles can form in the blood, and the blood basically “boils.” Baumgartner wearing the David Clark Company suit. Credit: Red Bull Statos
That’s why his spacesuit is so important.
“I have absolute confidence the suit is going to work,” said Daniel McCarter, Program Manager for the David Clark Company, the same company that made Kittinger’s suit back in 1960, as well as full pressure suits for NASA astronauts and military pilots flying in aircraft that can reach the edge of the atmosphere. “Every time someone jumps a suit system like this there is something to learn. We learn knowledge for future systems.”
Art Thompson, the mission’s Technical Project Director, added, “We are ultimately risking life. Felix realizes that his life is on the line. Our job is to do everything we can from an engineering and technical point of view to keep him safe.”
The suit Baumgartner will use is custom-made for him, so there should be no pressure points caused by the suit that would make him uncomfortable, but any pressure suit restricts mobility and dexterity. He will have to avoid movements that could cause him to go into an uncontrollable spin.
Baumgartner is not new to jumping. He owns several world records for B.A.S.E. jumping and is well known for skydiving across the English Channel in 2003. He is also a parachutist, stunt coordinator and a commercial helicopter pilot.
“I think I’ve always been one of those guys who wanted to be in the places where no one has been before. It’s inside your body or brain,” Baumgartner said in a video on the Red Bull Stratos website. “When I was a kid, I liked to climb up trees –I always wanted to be on top of something.”
This will definitely be an attempt to go where no one has gone before.
Expedition 23 crew members Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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The Russian built Soyuz space TMA-18 capsule blasted off today (Good Friday, April 2) at 12:04 AM EDT (8:04 AM Moscow time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with a Russian American crew for a 2 day trip through space that will carry them to the International Space Station (ISS) for a docking on Easter Sunday.
Soyuz TMA 18 launchOn board the capsule are an American female NASA astronaut on her 2nd trip to space, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and two male Russian rookies, cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko.
soyuz TMA 18 launch with russian american crew on April 2, 2010 bound for the ISSUpon arrival at the ISS, this new space crew will restore the ISS to its full complement of six residents to complete the on orbit staffing of ISS Expedition 23. There is currently only a crew of three space flyers on board comprising Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA’s T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. They arrived aboard their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft on Dec 22 as Santas helpers bearing Christmas gifts.
Expedition 23 launches aboard the Soyuz TMA-18. Credit: NASA TVLess than 10 minutes after launch, the Soyuz reached orbit and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed. The crew arrives at the ISS on Easter Sunday April 4, orbiting some 200 miles above Earth. They will dock at the Poisk module.
Soyuz TMA 18 launchIt was from this historic launch pad that Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted into space in 1961 on mankind’s first manned space flight. The Soyuz crew capsule has been in use by Russia since 1967.
This mosaic assembled from Phoenix images shows the spacecraft's three landing legs and patches of water ice exposed by the landing thrusters. Splotches of Martian material on the landing leg strut at left could be liquid saline-water. Larger version on Spaceflightnow.com .Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo, NASA/JPL/UA/Max Planck Institute and Spaceflightnow.com.
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Well my original thought for this piece was, “Last Chance for Phoenix”, since the third and final chance for NASA to reestablish radio contact with the long silent Phoenix Mars Lander was coming up soon on April 5 to 9.
Instead I was pleasantly surprised to just learn from the director of NASA’s Mars Program that NASA is seriously entertaining the idea of extending the listening campaign for Phoenix into May 2010. NASA’s first two listening campaigns in January and February 2010 failed to detect even a hint of a radio signal from the hugely successful Phoenix lander.
“NASA is considering the possibility of adding one final campaign, right around the summer solstice for the northern hemisphere of Mars, which occurs on May 13,” says Doug McCuistion, the director of Mars Exploration at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. “This would offer the best possible power/thermal conditions”, McCuistion told me in an interview.
“A final decision regarding this additional campaign will be made after completion of the April 5-9 campaign”, McCuistion said.
The 2010 listening campaign was timed to coincide with the onset of springtime and disappearance of ice at her location in the martian north polar regions. Theoretically the return of plentiful sunlight impinging onto the power producing solar arrays would reawaken the long dead robotic explorer.
“NASA has completed two campaigns of listening for the Phoenix Lander with the Odyssey orbiter – the first in January and the second in February”, McCuistion explained to me.
“During the five-day period of the second campaign of Feb 22-26, Odyssey passed over the Phoenix site 60 times, configuring its UHF relay radio to listen for any transmission from the surface”.
“In the unlikely event that the lander had returned to an operational, energy-positive condition after the Martian winter, it would have been in a state where it would awaken periodically and transmit to any orbiters in view, with a very high likelihood that one of those transmissions would have occurred during one or more of the 60 Odyssey overflights,” according to McCuistion.
“A third campaign is scheduled for early April (5-9), with improved power/thermal conditions as we approach summer in the northern hemisphere of Mars. For this third campaign, the sun will be continuously above the horizon at the high-latitude Phoenix site, corresponding to the solar illumination conditions just prior to Phoenix arrival at Mars as well as around sol 64 (within the primary 90-sol mission)” said McCuistion.
Phoenix set down successfully on the northern martian polar regions on May 25, 2008. During over five months of operations on top of the martian arctic plains, she made breakthrough science discoveries by finding patches of water and nutrients that could possibly sustain past or current martian life forms, if they exist.
Orion Crew Module Forward Cone Assembly of the Ground Test Article being transported at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. in the same factory that developed Apollo's Saturn launch vehicles and the external tank for the space shuttle fleet. The 5 meter diameter cone weighs about 650 lbs. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Orion crew module. Credit: NASA
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Just three crucial welds remain to complete the structural assembly of the very first pathfinder Orion manned capsule – the Crew Module – known as the Ground Test Article (GTA) at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
Yes, America’s Orion Crew Module program really is that close to achieving this key assembly milestone on the road to a US human spaceflight replacement and successor to the soon to be retired Space Shuttle. That fact is quite evident in the new NASA photos I obtained especially for this story. The GTA functions as a production pathfinder to validate production processes and tools for the actual human rated flight vehicle to follow.
Lockheed expects to complete the close out advanced technology welds for the GTA by May 2010 according to senior Lockheed officials I contacted. Structural proof testing of the Orion GTA vehicle will commence shortly thereafter.
Beyond that, John Karas, the Lockheed VP for Human Spaceflight told me in an interview that “Orion can be ready for crewed flights to low Earth orbit as early as 2013”.
Meanwhile, in the face of a rising chorus of harsh bipartisan Congressional criticism of the cancellation of Project Constellation and America’s Orion Crew Vehicle, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden continues to insist at multiple venues that, “There is no Plan B for Space Exploration. I strongly support the priorities and the direction for NASA that the President has put forward. I did not ask anybody for an alternative to the President’s plan and budget”.
The headline photo and others below illustrate the advanced status of the three major segments. The upper and lower module segments are to be robotically welded together by May 2010 using friction stir welding to create the structural framework of the first Orion pathfinder.
Orion Crew Module Aft Assembly in the 5505 weld fixture. The 5 meter diameter Aft Assembly weighs 1,885 lbs. Credit: NASA
At the moment, Lockheed is pressing forward with the Orion capsule utilizing the Congressionally approved NASA funding still available in the current fiscal budget as well as hundreds of millions more dollars committed by Lockheed and its partners, Karas said to me. “Over 4000 people are working on the Orion Project. Those jobs are at risk.”
Soon, the Orion and Constellation contractors will face tough decisions on whether to continue with testing and development of new science and technology breakthroughs … or begin massive personnel layoffs and abandon the wide ranging work in progress in order to preserve the remaining funds for shutdown activities.
“All work on Orion is proceeding according to the current contract schedule,” said Lockheed spokesman Kevin Barre.
The three major components of the Orion Crew Module GTA to be mated together are comprised of the Forward Cone Assembly, the Aft Assembly and the Crew Module Forward Bay Assembly and Tunnel. “These structural elements comprising the Orion GTA have undergone the meticulous application of strain gauges in preparation for loads and development testing”, says Barre. Hundreds of gauges have been placed in various positions to measure the overall vehicle strain during GTA testing.
“Inside the GTA is a backbone which resembles a stringer on a boat. That backbone will be installed in April before initial testing of the GTA begins at Michoud in May,” Barre amplified.
Orion Crew Module Tunnel and Forward Bulkhead comprise the Forward Assembly, minus the outer thermal protection system. The tunnel is to be mated to the top of the Cone Assembly. Astronauts will enter the Space Station through the tunnel after docking. The Forward Assembly and Tunnel weighs 370 lbs. Credit: NASA
After the testing for structural integrity, the crew module will be outfitted with the thermal protection systems and internal components necessary for subsequent static vibration, acoustics and water landing loads testing in flight-like environments. Environmental support components – similar in mass and volume to the flight articles – will also be installed. These internal components are being built both at Michoud and at other contractor work sites around the country. The testing results will be used to correlate sizing models for all subsystems on the vehicle and finalize the design.
Lockheed achieved another key technology milestone when the fabrication of the Orion composite heat shield was completed in February 2010. The 5 meter (16.4 ft) diameter Orion heat shield is the world’s largest heat shield structure ever built, and larger in size than the Mars Science Lab (MSL) and Apollo heat shields. It will be attached to the GTA in June 2010 upon completion of acceptance testing.
The cutting edge heat shield is critical to the protection of the spacecraft and crew from the extreme temperatures experienced during re-entry. See photo below of the heat shield – which seems to hover like a flying saucer – after its removal from the mold where it was fabricated in Denver.
The Orion composite heat shield structure appears to hover above its layup mold during removal. It is the world’s largest heat shield ever built and is 5 meters in diameter. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Final testing of the Orion Ground Test Article at Michoud is set to begin in the September 2010 timeframe.
Work has not yet begun on the service module which supports the GTA with life support supplies.
Orion is a frustum shaped vehicle, dubbed “Apollo on Steroids” by the previous NASA Administrator Mike Griffin due to its obvious similarity to the Apollo Command Module. At a diameter of 5 meters and measuring 3.3 meters tall, Orion would have 2.5 times the interior volume of Apollo.
Of course the continuation of all this high technology work and the fate of thousands of US jobs associated with it, is threatened by President Obama’s decision to cancel Orion at this advanced stage of development after $9 Billion has already been spent by NASA and the taxpayers on Project Constellation since 2004. At least another $2.5 Billion will be required just to shut down the program. It’s quite possible that even more money will be required as contractors assess their full shutdown costs.
The Constellation program comprises the Orion Crew Vehicle and the Ares 1 and Ares 5 booster rockets designed to return humans to the Moon, Mars and Beyond for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
The debate on why humans should or should not return to the Moon has been ongoing for years. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear astronautRon Garan speak eloquently on a subject he is passionate about, water sustainability on planet Earth. Subsequently, I read an essay Garan wrote about the importance of returning to the Moon. Although Garan originally wrote this essay before the cancellation of the Constellation program was announced, he has amended his thoughts to reflect the likelihood that the US won’t be returning to the Moon anytime soon. With Garan’s permission, we are re-publishing his essay in its entirety.
The Importance of Returning to the Moon
(The 8th Continent)
By Ron Garan
NASA Astronaut
On May 10th, 1869, a golden spike joined two railways at Promontory Point, Utah, and the first transcontinental railroad was completed. On January 14th, 2004, a new vision for our Nation’s space exploration program was announced that committed the United States to a long-term human program to explore the solar system starting with a return to the moon. On February 1st 2010, those plans to return to the moon were put on hold. Although our Nation has decided to postpone a return to the moon it is still important to acknowledge the moon’s relevance to life on Earth.
There is no doubt that the railroad changed the world. It opened up frontiers to discovery, settlement, and commerce. The railroad was the backbone for the industrial revolution that provided the largest increase in life expectancy and improvement in quality of life in history. Just as the industrial revolution brought about unprecedented improvements in quality of life so can a new age of space exploration and development, but this time with a positive impact on the environment. To begin a period of sustainable space exploration, both the public and private sectors of our Nation must seize the opportunity and continue on a path to the moon. Artist impression of humans on the Moon. Credit: NASA
Since the Vision for Space Exploration was announced in 2004, there has been an on-going debate about the importance of taking the next step in space exploration, a return to the moon. The reasons for making this the next step include: fulfilling a compelling human need to explore; gaining a foothold on the moon to prepare for journeys to other worlds; easing the world’s energy problems; protecting the planet from disasters; creating moon-based commercial enterprises that will improve life on Earth, conducting scientific research; inspiring young people toward higher education, and utilizing space resources to help spread prosperity throughout the world.
We should not return to the moon for any one of these reasons, but for all of them and more. By first establishing the basic infrastructure for a transportation system between the Earth and the moon and a sustainable, semi-autonomous, permanent human settlement, we will open the door to significant benefits for all. Of course, any permanent lunar base must be economically and politically sustainable and therefore must provide tangible benefits and a return on investment. Ron Garan ready for an EVA in June 2008. Credit: NASA Exploration: Great nations accomplish extraordinary endeavors that help to maintain their leadership in the world. America’s history is built on a desire to open new frontiers and to seek new discoveries. NASA’s vision for space exploration acknowledges that, “Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national spirit.”
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Establishing a lunar infrastructure will challenge us to improve the reliability of space transportation and allow us to demonstrate exploration systems and concepts without leaving the relative safety of near-Earth space. Testing systems and concepts at a location that’s a three-day journey from Earth is a logical step before we make the leap of a six-month journey to Mars. Establishing a permanently occupied lunar base also will open the way to detailed study and use of lunar resources, which likely are significantly more economical than lifting all required exploration resources from the Earth’s surface.
Energy: Today, about 1.6 billion people on the Earth don’t have access to electricity. The World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty which leads to 8 million premature deaths every year. In developed countries, higher quality of life is achieved only through a high rate of energy use. Increased energy supply is needed for economic and social development, improved quality of life, and to grow enough food to provide for the citizens of the developing world.
Unless something is done soon, the world will be faced with a crisis of enormous proportions. The United Nations estimates that world population will be approximately 9.1 billion by 2050 with virtually all growth in the 50 poorest countries. The choices that the global society makes to provide for future energy needs will have a profound effect on humanity and the environment.
The moon can supplement Earth-based renewable energy systems to meet future energy demand. Ample energy from the Sun reaches the moon and is not interrupted by weather, pollution or volcanic ash. Solar energy farms on the moon can “beam” limitless clean energy down to where it is needed on Earth or to satellites for relay to the Earth. There are also other potential sources of energy including platinum for fuel cells and an isotope called helium-3, which could be used in fusion reactors of the future.
Supplying energy from the moon will enable us to help provide the Earth’s energy needs without destroying our environment. Artists impression of an asteroid flying by Earth. Credit: NASA Protect the Planet from Disasters: There is a real risk to the Earth’s inhabitants from asteroid impacts and super-volcano eruptions. If a large object the size of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that recently slammed into Jupiter were to hit the Earth, civilization could be destroyed. Much smaller asteroids could cause tremendous damage and loss of life. The moon is a superb location for early detection systems.
A super-volcano eruption is a geologic event of enormous explosive power to affect the global climate for years. Scientists estimate the last such eruption happened 74,000 years ago, and was 10,000 times more powerful than Mount St. Helens. Tremendous amounts of rock and ash were ejected into the air causing a six year long volcanic winter and a 1,000-year instant Ice Age, massive deforestation, disastrous famine, and near extinction of humankind. Scientists estimate that such a super-eruption will occur about once every 100,000 years.
The systems and technology that will be developed for life and work on the moon can be used to develop habitats and systems that could preserve Earth’s inhabitants in the event of a devastating eruption. These systems will also improve our ability to live in extreme environments and can be used to learn how to overcome limited resources and other environmental issues. Astronaut Ron Garan takes a moment to pose for a picture during training for his April 3-20 stay inside the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. Credit: NASA Moon-Based Commercial Enterprises: When the early pioneers headed west and expanded our Nation, they did not carry everything with them that they would need for their journey. They “lived off the land” and we will also need to use those resources available to us along our journey, starting with the moon.
There are numerous moon-based commercial activities that could significantly offset the cost of a moon base. Just a few of these are lunar refueling or servicing stations for satellites, lunar mining and space tourism. These commercial activities would allow us to return national treasures from space and provide a significant return on our space investment.
Scientific research: The moon offers an incredible opportunity to further human understanding and discovery. Since the moon’s ancient surface is relatively undisturbed, study of its geology can help us better understand the geological history of Earth. Further, the moon’s vacuum environment can’t be duplicated on the Earth or in low-Earth orbit, and could lead to new materials, advanced alloys, medicines and innovative ways to deal with limited resources on Earth. Radio telescopes on the far side of the moon would be shielded from all radio signals (noise pollution) from Earth, allowing tremendous sensitivity increases and telescopes pointed at the Earth could identify and predict weather and climate changes.
If we return to the moon just for science and exploration then activities will be limited by the amount of money our nation is willing to devote. But, if we establish a sustainable, economically viable lunar base then our science and exploration will be limited only by our imagination.
Education: Our children are our best investment for the future, and our space program is a tremendous motivator. Our Nation has seen a steady decline in the number of students studying math and science. The space program can help turn this trend around. I can personally attest to the ability of the space program to encourage students based on the fact that I enrolled in math and science courses and began the pursuit of an engineering degree the day after the first space shuttle mission landed. The creation of a permanent lunar base will inspire millions of young people toward higher education and help maintain our Nation’s technological leadership. Astronaut Ron Garan, STS-124 mission specialist, participates in the mission's first EVA in June 2008. Credit: NASA Resources and Other Benefits: Since we live in a world of finite resources and the global population continues to grow, at some point the human race must utilize resources from space in order to survive. We are already constrained by our limited resources, and the decisions we make today will have a profound affect on the future of humanity.
Using resources and energy from space will enable continued growth and the spread of prosperity to the developing world without destroying our planet. Our minimal investment in space exploration (less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget) reaps tremendous intangible benefits in almost every aspect of society, from technology development to high-tech jobs. When we reach the point of sustainable space operations we will be able to transform the world from a place where nations quarrel over scarce resources to one where the basic needs of all people are met and we unite in the common adventure of exploration. The first step is a sustainable permanent human lunar settlement. Artist concept of the Orion capsule in orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASA
How should we go about this important undertaking? A good analogy to look at is the U.S. railroad system. The greatest obstacle for the first railroad developers was financial risk. Purchasing right of way, paying wages for large workforces and buying materials and equipment were prohibitively expensive. But the federal government stepped in, orchestrating massive land grants and other incentives. Once initial government investment was assured, enterprising developers invested enormous sums to bridge vast valleys and tunnel through enormous mountains.
Today we are faced with similar obstacles in the development and use of space for the benefit of humanity. Potential space developers face enormous up-front costs for high-risk, long-term returns on investment. To capitalize on the tremendous moon-based opportunities, our nation should establish the basic infrastructure for a transportation system between the Earth and the moon and a sustainable human settlement on the moon. Once this initial investment is made, commercial revenue-generating activities can be established. Just as our investment in the railroad, interstate road system, hydro-electric dams and other large federal projects have been paid back many times over by increased productivity and quality of life, so will our investment in lunar infrastructure.
We are poised on the doorstep of an incredible opportunity to benefit all of humanity. We have the technology and the ability to make this a reality — we need only the will to see it through. We need to choose a course toward the utilization of space to increase our available resources, global prosperity, quality of life, technological advancement, and environmental stewardship. Just as we look back and thank those before us for developing things most of us take for granted such as railroads and highways, the generations to come should be able to look back and thank us for committing to sustainable space exploration.
Illustration of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station. ISS astronauts will command Dragon via the SpaceX-developed communications hardware recently installed aboard the ISS. Credit: NASA
Start up of the new Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Communication Unit will allow ISS crewmembers to monitor and command approaching or departing Dragon spacecraft during cargo delivery missions to the massive 800,000 pound orbiting laboratory.
The communications hardware was delivered to the ISS aboard the STS 129 mission which blasted off in November 2009. The on-orbit checkout began in January 2010, when astronaut Jeff Williams, ISS Expedition 22 Commander, worked with ground-based team members at SpaceX headquarters and ISS mission control in Houston to power-up and check out the new system.
Astronaut Jeff Williams, Expedition 22 Commander, aboard the International Space Station with the SpaceX-developed controller for the Dragon spacecraft communications system. Credit: NASA
An additional series of tests was performed in March by SpaceX and NASA Houston using the new system to send communications between the ISS and the NASA Dryden ground station. This provided a baseline of the radio frequency performance and confirmed the first set of antennas performed as expected and is ready for mission operations.
The tests employed live video and telemetry links from the ISS to verify the hardware’s functionality, broadcast and reception signal strengths, and the system’s stability over long-duration operations.
SpaceX won a $1.6 Billion commercial contract from NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program to conduct a minimum of 12 cargo flights aimed at delivering at least 20,000 kg of cargo to the ISS using the Dragon spacecraft. The first commercial resupply flights are set to start in 2011 after a series of three test flights start around May 2010.
Astronaut Jeff Williams, Expedition 22 Commander (top) aboard the International Space Station, and engineers at SpaceX Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, perform activation and testing of SpaceX's new communications system for operations with upcoming Dragon spacecraft resupply missions to the ISS. Credit: Roger Gilbertson / SpaceX
NASA is counting on the Dragon spacecraft to fill the giant cargo resupply void that will be created once the Space Shuttle program is retired later this year. Without a constant and reliable resupply train of food, spare parts and science equipment the ISS cannot fulfill its role as a world class science research facility. The massive orbiting outpost is nearing completion of its assembly phase and is rapidly transitioning to the science research phase for which it was constructed.
ISS as seen by the departing Endeavour crew on STS-130. Credit: NASA
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How long can the International Space Station really operate – until 2020, or 2028 or beyond? I recently had the chance to talk with Mark Uhran, NASA’s Assistant Associate Administrator of the ISS. We were both attending a conference on water sustainability at Kennedy Space Center, but Uhran took the time to talk with me about the state of our space station, NASA’s new budget and how that might affect ISS operations, and — speaking of water — how is the urine recycling system working these days?
Universe Today: How are things going as far the extension of the ISS? I heard there was recently a meeting with the international partners where they said it could be extended to 2028 if need be. Mark Uhran. Credit: NASA
Mark Uhran: We’ve made the decision in the United States as part of the President’s budget proposal to Congress, so we’re over the hump here in the US. And then we began a series of meetings with the partners starting in Japan last week. Of course each of the partners has been working with us for the past 12-18 months, but they are fully prepared to approach their governments and ask for an extension. There are no technical obstacles to extending to at least 2020, and we’re also going to be doing an evaluation to what the ultimate lifetime of the ISS might be. That evaluation is in process. So we’re looking at whether we can go as long as 2028, but that remains to be seen.
Universe Today: Since we’re here talking about water, how are things going with the recycling system up there on the station. I know there have been some glitches here and there.
Uhran: The station has been a real testbed for developing regenerative water and air technologies. We knew at the time deploying these systems they would be in a testbed mode, and it would probably take about a year to shakedown all the systems and we are making steady progress towards doing just that. All the systems are working today – that’s not to say they will be working tomorrow. We certainly do expect them to go up and down throughout the course of the year as we fine tune them and work out the details. By the end of this year we hope to add a Sabatier (carbon dioxide reduction system) reactor that will allow us produce yet further water on orbit. NASA"s Water Recovery System for the ISS. Credit: NASA
Hauling water is a very expensive proposition for us. Once the Sabatier is up there later this year, we’ll have basically the entire designed system deployed and I’m confident by this time next year we’ll have worked out all the filtration issues, the film formation issues, and precipitant issues and we’ll have this tuned so that it is basically available 90% of the time, which is an outstanding availability rate. So, this has been very worthwhile from our point of view not just because of the cost of hauling water to the space station but for the implications for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
Universe Today: The new NASA budget, which eliminates Constellation, how do you see that affecting space station operations?
Uhran: Well, space station is relatively small factor in that new budget. We’ve been extended, which is a major achievement from our point of view. But in terms of financial constraints, we are pretty well prepared now to go ahead and operate until the end of the decade, as well as to ramp up our research program on the station. With the assembly process being completed, the crew time now becomes available for supporting research. So most of our activities this year are geared towards repositioning our utilization program so that when the shuttle stops flying and the commercial cargo resupply services begin we are ready to ramp up that program aggressively, and that’s going very well.
Universe Today: I’ve been here at Kennedy Space Center for about a month and a half and a lot of the people here are talking about a possible extension for the space shuttle program. What are your thoughts on that?
Uhran: Well, the shuttle was certainly required for the assembly phase because we were hauling 20 metric ton elements up to orbit. It literally is the equivalent of a six-wheeler truck. But for the utilization phase, we can continue to maintain and operate the space station at much lower supply rates; typically 3 metric tons on a half a dozen to a dozen times a year. So there are other vehicles both that our international partners bring to the table as well as we’re hoping that the commercial US industry will demonstrate in the next 12-24 months that really will meet our needs once those are available. So although we’d all like to see the shuttles continue to fly forever, we really don’t have a requirement on space station for that kind of relatively heavy lift capability. A close-up look at the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. Credit: NASA
Universe Today: Another issue that has been sort of looming for the space station is the solar alpha rotary joints (SARJ). Any progress on understanding why they aren’t working as hoped?
Uhran: Well, they are working now. And the failure analysis has been completed. So we know the root causes of the problem. The most challenging mechanisms in any spacecraft system are rotating mechanisms. So the control moment gyros, the solar array rotary joints, the thermal radiator rotary joints – they are all rotating mechanisms. And we’re passing power through those mechanisms, which adds to the complexity. So we think that we have all these under control. It turned out with the SARJ that we have determined the cause of the failure, and we’re doing, really two things. We’re operating the system more gently – we ramp it up more slowly, we stop it more slowly. That doesn’t put as much load on the system. And we find that is applicable to all our systems. The more gently we can operate them the less loads they bear and the longer their lifetime. So we’ll be operating the system more gently and we’ll be lubricating them more regularly. So between those two approaches, we’re pretty confident we won’t have any more problems with the SARJ. We do have a couple of tricks in our pocket in the case that we do see further problems but we think we can get there with the two remedial actions we’ve got now.
Universe Today: To do the lubrication requires a spacewalk?
Uhran: It’s an EVA based activity, yes. It is relatively simple. And not even that time consuming. We were lubricating before, we’ll just increase the frequency.
Thanks to Mark Uhran for taking the time to talk with Universe Today. For more information on the International Space station, visit www.nasa.gov/station.
Spirit: Last Picture Show for now. Spirit’s last panorama taken on Sol 2175 from Gusev Crater at the sand trap called Troy adjacent to the Home Plate volcanic feature before the onset of her 4th winter on Mars. Will she survive extremely low power levels and harsh freezing temperatures ? Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Kenneth Kremer NASA/JPL/Cornell
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“Spirit is hanging in there … remarkably good, all things considered”, Steve Squyres told me in a rover update this week. Squyres is the Scientific Principal Investigator for the twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
I asked Squyres whether the rover team would give extrication efforts a top priority if Spirit survives the harsh freezing temperatures of the looming winter season ?
Squyres replied that, “If Spirit survives the winter then we’ll start turning wheels again when there’s enough power to do so, and we’ll see what happens. Even if we only get tens of centimeters of motion, there’s great scientific value in doing so”.
See our new mosaic above of the final panorama taken by Spirit on Sol 2175 before the onset of winter. See our mosac below of the Troy sand trap and the final positional placement of the robotic arm (IDD) on Sol 2174.
With Martian winter in the southern hemisphere fast approaching and power declining as the sun rises lower in the martain skies, Spirit’s rover electronics module (REM) has now reached a new record low temperature of minus 41.5 degrees Celsius (minus 42.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
As of today, Spirit has survived for 2217 Sols, or martian days, compared to the 90 Sol “Warranty” stipulated at launch. If she survives for approximately three more weeks, she’ll smash the record for longevity of any human made robot on Mars. Viking 1 is the longest lived surface mission and sent her last signal on Sol 2245 on November 11, 1982 for a total operating time of 6 Year and 116 days.
The rover team has projected that the temperature experienced by the critical electronics will likely drop down a bit further to perhaps minus 45 degrees Celsius as Spirit endeavors to endure an unprecedented 4th extreme winter at Gusev Crater on Mars while stuck in a sand trap at the place called Troy. “The temperature could go lower… but not by a great deal,” Squyres added.
Picture Caption: Spirit is parked for 4th martian winter in the embedded area called “Troy” on the west side of Home Plate in Gusev Crater. On Sol 2174 (Feb. 13, 2010), the robotic arm (IDD) was positioned to the most favorable orientation for winter. Documentary imaging was collected of the terrain and rover. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Kenneth Kremer NASA/JPL/Cornell
Energy output from the solar arrays likewise continues to drop at the same time as the energy required to run the survival heaters for the electronics continues to increase. This means that the power deficit gap between what is available and what is required will continue to widen and eventually could trigger a low power fault resulting in Spirit entering hibernation mode.
No one knows precisely when the low power fault will occur and the team has been working diligently to find new ways of shaving off power usage to stave off the day when Spirit enters hibernation because no one knows if her critical components will last intact so that she will reawaken at a later date as the climate improves.
Squyres commented regarding the potential trigger point for a low power fault by saying, “Our initial guess was 155 watt hours, and the latest number we’ve seen is 133 watt-hours (March 22). So I’m not even going to try to guess”.
Mars rover driver Scott Maxwell reports via recent Twitters that, “Spirit is still alive and talking to us. Feisty girl. Brilliant uplink team found way to shave Spirit’s energy needs; can get by with 120ish [watt-hours] now. Might stave off hibernation another couple weeks!
Spirit will continue to execute a single seven-sol plan each week, as long as power permits. The seven-sol plan contains a single X-band uplink and a single Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) downlink, according to an update by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which manages the rover project for NASA. The activity on each sol consists simply of a brief wakeup, an atmospheric opacity (tau) measurement, and then a shutdown for the rest of the day and night.
Back on January 26, 2010, NASA declared Spirit would henceforth be a “stationary lander” after exhaustive extrication efforts failed to ‘Free Spirit’. But in her last re-positioning movements to improve her tilt to the sun and thereby increase her solar energy output, Spirit actually moved about 13 inches.
At that time Squyres said that Spirit could continue to produce significant science as a “stationary lander”. He was most excited about the possibility to study tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the planet’s core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion with an accuracy of a few inches.
“If the final scientific feather in Spirit’s cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful — it’s so different from the other knowledge we’ve gained from Spirit,” said Squyres at the Jan 26, press briefing.
So I asked Squyres; What if Spirit can be moved a few meters to examine new soil, will that still permit the core determination experiment to go forward ?
“Yes”, Squyres responded. “As long as the motions can be characterized at the ~1 centimeter level — which we know how to do — then the geophysics experiment is not compromised by modest rover motions”.
Based on what we know about Mars so far, what is Squyres opinion on whether the Martian core is solid or even partially liquid ?
“My guess would be a solid core, based on the fact that Mars does not have an intrinsic magnetic field today”, Squyres said. “But as my friend Bill Nye likes to say, one test is worth a thousand expert opinions”.
Russian built Mini Research Module MRM-1 set to launch aboard US Space Shuttle Atlantis in May 2010 undergoes final prelaunch processing in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer
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Russian space managers unveiled a science beauty today (March 25) in Florida, namely the ‘Rassvet’ research room which serves as Russia’s newest contribution to the International Space Station. Although ‘Rassvet’ was built entirely in Russia, the module is hitching a ride aboard the American Space Shuttle Atlantis as the primary cargo for the STS 132 station assembly mission slated to blast off soon in May 2010. ‘Rassvet’ translates as ‘Dawn’.
I was quite fortunate to inspect ‘Rassvet’ up close today during a press briefing and photo op inside the clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Port Canaveral, FL and also speak with the top Russian space officials from RSC Energia who are responsible for her construction. Astrotech is situated a few miles south of the shuttle launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center from which she’ll depart Earth.
NASA is launching ‘Rassvet’, formally known as the Mini Research Module-1, or MRM 1, as part of a complex barter agreement among the partner nations of the ISS to share the costs of assembling and operating the massive orbiting outpost.
MRM-1 will be attached to the Earth- facing (nadir) port of the russian Zarya control module at the ISS. See diagram below showing location of MRM-1 and other components on the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS.
Side view of Russian built Mini Research Module MRM-1 set to launch aboard Shuttle Atlantis during STS 132 flight in May 2010. Russian Soyuz and Progress capsules will berth at the docking port at right. Sensitive surfaces on the docking mechanism are currently protected by red covers which will be removed before flight to space. Credit: Ken Kremer
“MRM 1 arrived in Florida on Dec 17, 2009 from Russia and will be utilized for scientific research, cargo stowage, and also to provide an additional docking port at the ISS,” said Mikhail Kashitsyn, the Deputy Technical Manager and Head of MRM 1 Prelaunch Processing for the Design Bureau division of RSC Energia. RSC Energia is the prime contractor to Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and is responsible for the design, development and processing of MRM 1.
Russian MRM 1 managers: Mikhail Kashitsyn, Deputy Technical Manager Head of MRM 1 Prelaunch Processing and Sergey Saveliev, Deputy Project Manager for MRM1. from the Design Bureau division of RSC Energia at Astrotech for press briefing on March 25, 2010. Credit: Ken Kremer
The additional docking port provided by MRM -1 will greatly aid ISS mission planners in accommodating the busy manifest of berthings of incoming Soyuz, Progress and ATV vehicles on the Russian side of the station and alleviate the need to repark the ships as new vessels arrive.
“We have been working at a steady pace to complete the final check out and assembly of MRM 1for installation into the shuttle orbiter. Let me welcome you all here to view MRM 1 which was designed by RSC Energia, one of the leading corporations in Russia”.
“All preparations will be completed in about 1 week. It’s wonderful we have this cooperation with our American colleagues and I want to express my thanks to the US and NASA for their help and mutual understanding,” added Mr. Kashitsyn.
“MRM 1 will be the largest piece of Russian space hardware ever to launch on an American rocket,” Kashitsyn told me. “The last large piece of Russian space equipment to launch from the US was the Mir docking module for the Mir space station”.
“Several thousand people worked on MRM 1 in Russia and it took about 2 years to build. About 100 are involved in the pre launch preparations here at Port Canaveral”.
“Furthermore, the interior of the module will also be loaded with 1.5 tons of NASA cargo and supplies for the ISS, including items such as food, lithium hydroxide canisters, computers and printers”, according to Kashitsyn.
“This will be the last payload for Atlantis,” said Robert Ashley, the NASA ISS manager responsible for the STS 132 payload processing. “This will be my last mission as a station mission manager. It’s bittersweet. There will be a lot of lasts for a lot of people on these final shuttle missions”.
100 Russian scientists and engineers have spent several months working at Astrotech and have nearly completed preparing the Russian built Mini Research Module MRM-1 for launch aboard Atlantis to the ISS . Credit: Ken Kremer
“MRM 1 will be shipped to the NASA Space Station Processing Facility at KSC on April 2. After about three days of final integration and pressurization tests, it will be loaded into a shipping container on April 5 for delivery to the shuttle launch pad,” Ashley said.
The MRM-1 payload comprises the module itself, an airlock chamber, an exterior portable work station and replacement elbow joints for the European Robotic Arm. The total mass exceeds 17,000 pounds.
Integrated Cargo Carrier during prelaunch preparations at Astrotech facility in clean room adjacent to MRM 1. Credit Ken KremerAlso tucked in Atlantis payload bay will be the 8000 lb Integrated Logistics Carrier (ICC) carrying spare parts and Orbital Replacement Units (ORU’s) including six spare batteries, a boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension.
Location of MRM-1 and other components on the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS Russia MRM 1 Research Module and Ken Kremer at Astrotech Space Operation Facility in Port Canaveral, Florida for press briefing
Britain has created a new national space agency, with plans to build a multimillion-dollar space innovation center. Until now UK space policy has been split between government departments. “The new agency will be a focal point in order to coordinate in a much more streamlined and efficient manner, working both on national projects and alongside ESA for the wider industry as well” said the UK’s first astronaut Major Tim Peake, who was selected in 2009 to represent England in space.
The U.K. Space Agency (UKSA) will begin operation – and have a new website available — by April 1, 2010.
“The action we’re taking today shows that we’re really serious about space,” said Lord Paul Drayson, U.K. Minister for Science and Innovation. “The U.K. Space Agency will give the sector the muscle it needs to fulfill its ambition.”
Drayson and Peake both said that the British space industry has remained strong despite recession troubles elsewhere and could grow into a $60 billion-a-year industry and create more than 100,000 jobs over the next 20 years.
“Our industry is really a hidden success story,” said Peake speaking on the BBC, “even during economic downturn, the space sector has been one of the few industry that has shown steady growth. We are in the forefront of the robotics technology and manufacturing small satellites and telecommunications as well.”
Peake said the UK space industry currently add $6.5 billion pounds to the economy and employs 68,000 people.
No new money will be added to the UK space budget, and the 200 million pounds allocated for UKSA is a consolidation of existing funding.
Peake said this doesn’t mean that the UK will leave the ESA alliance. “It is not a case of forging our way on our own. Every country that is in ESA also has their own agency and space policy. The ESA allows us to get involved in projects that no single country could afford to.”
In reading reactions from some of the UK bloggers, however, most convey skepticism about the new organization.
In New Scientist, Dr.Stu Clark wonders where the science is among the allocations for buildings and new technology. Plus he’s not sure if the plan for the UKSA is sustainable. “So it’s all very well having a 20-year plan, but the big question is whether UKSA can survive the next six months.”
At Astronomyblog, Stuart Lowe expressed disappointment. “For me, the launch has been a let down. We were led to believe that UKSA would be a NASA for the UK. The reality is far from it… I want to have an fantastic, inspiring, space agency. I want us to invest in it like we mean it. I want a NASA. I feel as though we’ve got a refurbished, second-hand agency that might collapse as soon as it leaves the launchpad and never make it past the General Election. Come on UK. You can do so much better.”
The e-Astronomer isn’t too fond of the UKSA logo: We got an exciting new logo. Actually I hated it. Looks like something somebody invented for a fictional fascist party in a cheap TV drama. Modern and thrusting and all that. But I guess its memorable.
Still others ask the big question: How is UKSA going to be pronounced? “Uk-sah” or “You-Kay-Ess-Ay?”
