Posted on by Ken Kremer

NASA’s RapidScat Ocean Wind Watcher Starts Earth Science Operations at Space Station

ISS-RapidScat data on a North Atlantic extratropical cyclone, as seen by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System used by weather forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Prediction Center. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NOAA

Barely two months after being launched to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA’s first science payload aimed at conducting Earth science from the station’s exterior has started its ocean wind monitoring operations two months ahead of schedule.

Data from the ISS Rapid Scatterometer, or ISS-RapidScat, payload is now available to the world’s weather and marine forecasting agencies following the successful completion of check out and calibration activities by the mission team.

Indeed it was already producing high quality, usable data following its power-on and activation at the station in late September and has monitored recent tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans prior to the end of the current hurricane season.

RapidScat is designed to monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions, and hurricane monitoring for a minimum mission duration of two years.

“RapidScat is a short mission by NASA standards,” said RapidScat Project Scientist Ernesto Rodriguez of JPL.

“Its data will be ready to help support U.S. weather forecasting needs during the tail end of the 2014 hurricane season. The dissemination of these data to the international operational weather and marine forecasting communities ensures that RapidScat’s benefits will be felt throughout the world.”

ISS-RapidScat instrument, shown in this artist's rendering, was launched to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX CRS-4 mission on Sept. 21, 2014 and attached at ESA’s Columbus module. It will measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center.
ISS-RapidScat instrument, shown in this artist’s rendering, was launched to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX CRS-4 mission on Sept. 21, 2014, and attached at ESA’s Columbus module. It will measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center.

The 1280 pound (580kilogram) experimental instrument was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It’s a cost-effective replacement to NASA’s former QuikScat satellite.

The $26 million remote sensing instrument uses radar pulses reflected from the ocean’s surface at different angles to calculate the speed and direction of winds over the ocean for the improvement of weather and marine forecasting and hurricane monitoring.

The RapidScat, payload was hauled up to the station as part of the science cargo launched aboard the commercial SpaceX Dragon CRS-4 cargo resupply mission that thundered to space on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 21.

ISS-RapidScat is NASA’s first research payload aimed at conducting near global Earth science from the station’s exterior and will be augmented with others in coming years.

ISS-RapidScat viewed the winds within post-tropical cyclone Nuri as it moved parallel to Japan on Nov. 6, 2014 05:30 UTC. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
ISS-RapidScat viewed the winds within post-tropical cyclone Nuri as it moved parallel to Japan on Nov. 6, 2014, 05:30 UTC. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It was robotically assembled and attached to the exterior of the station’s Columbus module using the station’s robotic arm and DEXTRE manipulator over a two day period on Sept 29 and 30.

Ground controllers at Johnson Space Center intricately maneuvered DEXTRE to pluck RapidScat and its nadir adapter from the unpressurized trunk section of the Dragon cargo ship and attached it to a vacant external mounting platform on the Columbus module holding mechanical and electrical connections.

The nadir adapter orients the instrument to point its antennae at Earth.

The couch sized instrument and adapter together measure about 49 x 46 x 83 inches (124 x 117 x 211 centimeters).

“The initial quality of the RapidScat wind data and the timely availability of products so soon after launch are remarkable,” said Paul Chang, ocean vector winds science team lead at NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS)/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), Silver Spring, Maryland.

“NOAA is looking forward to using RapidScat data to help support marine wind and wave forecasting and warning, and to exploring the unique sampling of the ocean wind fields provided by the space station’s orbit.”

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule packed with science experiments and station supplies blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 1:52 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21, 2014 bound for the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule packed with science experiments and station supplies blasts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 1:52 a.m. EDT on Sept. 21, 2014, bound for the ISS. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

This has been a banner year for NASA’s Earth science missions. At least five missions will be launched to space within a 12 month period, the most new Earth-observing mission launches in one year in more than a decade.

ISS-RapidScat is the third of five NASA Earth science missions scheduled to launch over a year.

NASA has already launched the of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint mission with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in February and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) carbon observatory in July 2014.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Philae’s Incredible Comet-Landing Sequence Shows Up In Fresh Rosetta Images

Images from the Rosetta spacecraft show Philae drifting across the surface of its target comet during landing Nov. 12, 2014. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

Wow! New images released from the Rosetta spacecraft orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko show the spacecraft coming in for its (first) landing on Wednesday (Nov. 12). “The mosaic comprises a series of images captured by Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera over a 30 minute period spanning the first touchdown,” wrote the European Space Agency in a blog post today (Monday).

This is just the latest in a series of images coming from the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft showing the Philae lander coming in for its rendezvous with 67P. A major next step for the mission will be figuring out where the lander actually came for a rest, but there’s plenty of data from both Rosetta and Philae to comb through for this information, ESA said.

What’s known for sure is Philae made three touchdowns on the comet — making history as humanity’s first soft-lander on such an object — stopping in a shady area that will make recharging its solar panels difficult. The spacecraft is in hibernation as of Friday (Nov. 14) and scientists are really, really hoping it’s able to charge up for another science session soon. Rosetta, meanwhile, is hard at work above and will continue to follow the comet in 2015.

In case you missed it, below are some of the pictures over the last few days that could be used to help pinpoint the landing location.

Source: European Space Agency

A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Canania
A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014, at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Canania
Our last panorama from Philae? This image was taken with the CIVA camera; at center Philae has been added to show its orientation on the surface. Credit: ESA
Our last panorama from Philae? This image was taken with the CIVA camera; at center Philae has been added to show its orientation on the surface. Credit: ESA
The animated image below provides strong evidence that Philae touched down for the first time almost precisely where intended. The animation comprises images recorded by Rosetta's navigation camera as the orbiter flew over the (intended) Philae landing site on November 12th. The dark area is probably dust raised by the craft on touchdown. The boulder to the right of the circle is seen in detail in the photo below. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
The animated image below provides strong evidence that Philae touched down for the first time almost precisely where intended. The animation comprises images recorded by Rosetta’s navigation camera as the orbiter flew over the (intended) Philae landing site on November 12th. The dark area is probably dust raised by the craft on touchdown. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Infographic: The Rosetta Comet-Probing Mission Cost As Much As Four Jetliners

Artist's impression (not to scale) of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Credit: ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab.

What price do you put on scientific discovery? From the way Twitter lit up last week when the Philae spacecraft touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko — it was a top-trending topic for a while — it appears there’s a lot of discussion going on about the Rosetta mission and its value to humanity.

A recent infographic (which you can see below) points out that the Rosetta mission, which included the now-hibernating Philae lander, cost as much as about four Airbus 380 jetliners. Is US$1.75 billion (€1.4 billion) a bargain for letting us explore further into the universe, or could the money have been better-served elsewhere?

This is a question often brought up about the value of space exploration, or what is called “blue-sky” research in general. The first developers of lasers, for example, could not have predicted how consumers would use them millions of times over to watch DVDs and Blu-Rays. Or in a more practical use, how medical lasers are used today for surgeries.

An infographic of Rosetta spacecraft spending. Credit: Scienceogram.org (infographic), ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (comet image), ESA (Rosetta graphic), ESA/Airbus (data), Scienceogram.org (other data).
An infographic of Rosetta spacecraft spending. Credit: Scienceogram.org (infographic), ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM (comet image), ESA (Rosetta graphic), ESA/Airbus (data), Scienceogram.org (other data).

“Like a lot of blue-skies science, it’s very hard to put a value on the mission,” wrote Scienceogram.org, the organization that produced the infographic. “First, there are the immediate spin-offs like engineering know-how; then, the knowledge accrued, which could inform our understanding of our cosmic origins, amongst other things; and finally, the inspirational value of this audacious feat in which we can all share, including the next generation of scientists.”

To put the value of the Rosetta mission in more everyday terms, Scienceogram points out that the comet landing cost (per European citizen and per year between 1996 and 2015) was less than half the ticket price for Interstellar. That said, it appears that figure does not take into account inflation, so the actual cost per year may be higher.

The Rosetta spacecraft is still working well and is expected to observe its target comet through 2015. The Philae lander did perform the incredible feat of landing on 67P on Wednesday, but it ended up in a shadowy spot that prevented it from gathering sunlight to stay awake. The lander is now in hibernation, perhaps permanently, but scientists have reams of data from the lander mission to pore over.

It’s been said that Rosetta, in following 67P as it gets closer to the Sun, will teach us more about cometary behavior and the origins of our Solar System. Is the mission and its social-media-sensation pictures worth the price? Let us know in the comments. More information on the infographic (and the spreadsheet of data) are available here.

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Comet-Bouncing Philae Spacecraft Caught On Camera In Newly Enhanced Images

A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Canania

When the Philae lander arrived at its target comet last week, the little spacecraft landed three times in two hours before coming to a rest. While controllers could see this information from data coming in, they didn’t have any photographic proof — until now.

The animation above, an enhancement of images from the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft released late last week, show Philae and its shadow –mid-bounce! — very shortly after landing on Wednesday (Nov. 12). Philae’s first jump lasted nearly two hours before it took off again, flew for another few minutes, and landed in a shady spot where its batteries drained on Friday.

Here’s another cool thing about these images — some of the credit to Philae’s discovery comes through crowdsourcing! This is what the European Space Agency’s Rosetta blog said about who found this:

Credit for the first discovery goes to Gabriele Bellei, from the interplanetary division of Flight Dynamics, who spent hours searching the NAVCAM images for evidence of the landing.

Once the images were published, blog reader John Broughton posted a comment to report that he had spotted the lander in them (thank you, John). There was also quite some speculation by Rosetta blog readers in the comments section, wondering which features might be attributable to the lander. Martin Esser, Henning, and Kasuha in particular were among the first to make insightful observations on the topic, although many others have since joined in.

Last but not least, a careful independent review of the images was made by Mikel Catania from the earth observation division of Flight Dynamics, with the same conclusion. He also made the annotated animation shown here.

This goes to show you that while there is disappointment that Philae is in a long (perhaps permanent) sleep sooner than scientists hoped, data from the spacecraft will continue to be analyzed in the coming months and years. And don’t forget that the orbiting Rosetta spacecraft is in good health and will continue to return data on 67P as it draws closer to the Sun through 2015.

A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: SA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Catania
A still of the Philae spacecraft bouncing off Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in an animation of Rosetta spacecraft images. The image was taken Nov. 12, 2014 at 10:35 a.m. EDT (3:35 p.m. UTC). Credit: SA/Rosetta/NAVCAM; pre-processed by Mikel Catania
Posted on by Morgan Rehnberg

Alone and Confused, Philae Breaks our Hearts

The Philae that could! The lander photographed during its descent by Rosetta. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for Rosetta Team/

I was twelve years old when Columbia disintegrated. Space exploration was not even a particular interest of mine at the time, but I remember exactly where I was when the news came.  My dad and I were sitting in the living room of my childhood home, listening to NPR. I don’t really recall how I felt when they broke into our program with the news, but I remember well the two emotions that seemed to permeate the coverage that soon become constant: confusion and sadness. As I watched the almost surreal saga of ESA’s Philae this week, I found my mind wandering back to that day eleven years ago. That confusion rang out was hardly surprising; after all, things weren’t going right and we didn’t know why. But it was the sadness, I think, that drew my mind into the past. Many of the countless people watching Philae’s distress unfold before us weren’t merely disappointed that a decades-in-the-making experiment wasn’t going as planned. The word heartbroken kept springing to mind.

Let me be unequivocal: the loss of a machine, no matter how valuable or beloved, pales in comparison to the forfeit of human life. The astronauts lost on Columbia, like those snatched from us before and since, left behind families, friends, and a grateful world. But, why, then, did it seem to feel so similar to so many people?

 “This is legitimately upsetting” a friend and colleague texted me on Friday as it became clear that the tiny lander’s batteries were beginning to run dry. She was far from alone in her sentiment. Across Twitter, people from around the world seemed to be lashing out against the helplessness of the situation.

https://twitter.com/asamsaktha/status/533700062673928193

And, in conversations I had with other scientists at the 46th annual Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Tucson, AZ this week, people seemed almost mournful at the prospect of the lander’s loss. These same researchers had laughed and cheered just days earlier when shown the crater made by NASA’s LADEE spacecraft upon its crash into the lunar surface.

 The questions in my mind are numerous. What’s the cause of this inequity? Why do we seem to latch onto certain spacecraft and blithely ignore others? What is it that makes us become emotionally attached to machines in the first place? 

In part, I think, our attachment comes from the unprecedented view offered to us by social media. In 1990, an event not so dissimilar from this one beset NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. Flying by the Earth on its way to Jupiter, Galileo had just attempted to unfurl its main antenna, a maneuver critical to the mission’s success.  In mission control, they received the bad news: the antenna was stuck. But, the world did not break down in despair. In the days to come, stories would appear in newspapers and on the nightly news, but a world where even email was in its infancy lacked a means for the average citizen to follow along with every detail. 

Nineteen years later, this would not be the case. As soon as it became clear to those in ESA headquarters that something had gone very wrong during Philae’s descent, we all knew. And, as data began to trickle in about one bounce off the surface and then another, we all cringed. When the last power drained from the lander’s batteries, we followed along, one volt after another. Philae may have been the pride of the ESA scientists and engineers who designed it, but it felt like it was ours. 

But, it didn’t feel like ours in the way that a car or a plane or even a space station does. It felt like our friend. No doubt, this can be directly linked to the first person point of view employed for its Twitter account. Instead of the @Phillae2014 account reporting “the Ptolemy instrument has made a measurement,” we get “I just completed a @Philae_Ptolemy measurement!!” It seems like a small change, but it opens up a whole new world of connection with this distant traveler. At no time was this clearer than when things started to go wrong.

 How poignant is that? Two travelers talking to one another from across the solar system. But, as Philae’s time began to wind down, the messages tugged even more urgently on our heartstrings.

And, it all pales in comparison to the way China’s Yutu rover signed off when it looked like a malfunction might cause it to freeze to death on the Moon (original Chinese, CNN translation):

… my masters discovered something abnormal with my mechanical control system. …I’m aware that I might not survive this lunar night…

The sun has fallen, and the temperature is dropping so quickly… to tell you all a secret, I don’t feel that sad. I was just in my own adventure story – and like every hero, I encountered a small problem.

Goodnight, Earth. Goodnight, humanity.

Talk about heartbreaking.

This personal point of view combines particularly effectively with landers and rovers. These craft seem more human than ships like Cassini or Galileo, with their silent glide through deep space. When something goes wrong with a surface explorer, as it did with Philae or Yutu, it plays on our deepest fears. Every time we’re lost, the little voice of panic begins to creep into our thoughts: “what if this is the time that I can’t get back?” Reading the “thoughts” of a tiny spacecraft, lost and alone and confused, puts us right there ourselves. As mission controllers edged towards desperation in their attempts to save the stricken explorer, we knew how that delirious urgency felt. Our attachment becomes almost unavoidable. 

So, what does this all mean? I think it’s a clear signal that people are engaged by the exploration of space. When it comes to us in the right way, on our terms, it’s a big hit. By anthropomorphizing these robots, we humanize the science that they do. Suddenly a machine more than 500 million kilometers away becomes more relatable than the scientists next door who control it. Perhaps ESA, NASA, and other space agencies can extend this relationship even further. Rather than springing to “life” upon liftoff, spacecraft can share with us their view of the entire process, starting not from space, but from the first drawings on an engineer’s blackboard.

One thing’s for sure, though. A relationship like that won’t make times like these any easier to handle.

Posted on by Bob King

Philae Idled, Batteries Drained; Needs Luck, Sunshine to Awake

The animated image below provides strong evidence that Philae touched down for the first time almost precisely where intended. The animation comprises images recorded by Rosetta's navigation camera as the orbiter flew over the (intended) Philae landing site on November 12th. The dark area is probably dust raised by the craft on touchdown. The boulder to the right of the circle is seen in detail in the photo below. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Contact with the Philae lander was lost at 6:36 p.m. (CST) this evening, November 14th, before the normal loss of signal when Rosetta orbits below the lander’s horizon. Without sunlight to juice up its solar panels and recharge the its batteries, the craft will remain in “idle mode” – maybe for a long time. All its instruments and most systems on board have been shut down. 

“Prior to falling silent, the lander was able to transmit all science data gathered during the First Science Sequence,” says DLR’s Stephan Ulamec, Lander manager. All of the science instruments were deployed, including the instruments that required mechanical movement, such as APXS, MUPUS, and the drill, which is designed to deliver samples to the PTOLEMY and COSAC instruments inside the lander.

This image was taken by Philae's down-looking descent ROLIS imager when it was about 131 feet (40 meters) above the surface of the comet. The surface is covered by dust and debris ranging from millimeter to meter sizes. The large block in the top right corner is 16.4 feet (5 m) in size. In the same corner the structure of the Philae landing gear is visible. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR
This image was taken by Philae’s down-looking descent ROLIS imager when it was about 131 feet (40 meters) above the surface of the comet. The surface is covered by dust and debris ranging from millimeter to meter sizes. The large block in the top right corner is 16.4 feet (5 m) in size. In the same corner the structure of the Philae landing gear is visible. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR

No contact will be possible unless maneuvers by controllers on the ground nudge Philae back into a sunnier spot. On its third and final landing, it unfortunately came to rest in the shadow of one of the comet’s many cliffs. Contrary to earlier reports (or speculations), Valentina Lommatsch from the German Aerospace Center explained that all three of Philae’s legs are on the ground. But the lander appears to be tipped up at an angle because one of the scenes from the panorama (below) shows mostly sky.

Jagged cliffs and prominent boulders are visible in this color image taken by OSIRIS, the Rosetta spacecraft’s scientific imaging system, on September 5, 2014 from a distance of 38.5 miles (62 km). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS team
Jagged cliffs and prominent boulders are visible in this photo taken by OSIRIS on September 5, 2014 from a distance of 38.5 miles (62 km) and processed/colorized by Marco Faccin and Elisabetta Bonora. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS team

This evening, mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander’s main body to which the solar panels are fixed. This may have exposed more panel area to sunlight, but we won’t know until Saturday morning (Nov. 15) at 4 a.m. (CST) when the Rosetta orbiter has another opportunity to listen for Philae’s signal.

Our last panorama from Philae? This image was taken with the CIVA camera; at center Philae has been added to show its orientation on the surface. Credit: ESA
Our last panorama from Philae? This image was taken with the CIVA camera; at center Philae has been added to show its orientation on the surface. Credit: ESA

The batteries were designed to power the probe for about 55 hours. Had Philae landed upright in the targeted region, its solar panels would have been out in the open and soaking up the sunlight needed for multiple recharges. There’s also the possibility that months from now, as seasons progress and illumination changes on the comet, that the Sun will rise again over the probe.

We may hear from the lander again or not. But if not, all the science instruments were deployed in the first two days of landing and data has been received.

* Update 7 a.m. (CST) November 15: A bit of good news! Rosetta has regained contact with Philae during the overnight communication pass, confirming that the lander still has power. The bad news is that the batteries will be completely drained sometime today.

Philae regained mission control
Deputy flight director Elsa Montagnon watches data flow from Philae on the surface of comet 67P/C-G Credit: ESA
Science data transmitted by Philae on November 14th. Credit: ESA
Science data transmitted by Philae on November 14th. Credit: ESA
Posted on by Ken Kremer

Cool Infographics Explain 8 Key Events on Orion’s EFT-1 Test Flight

Orion flight test profile for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) launching on Dec. 4, 2014. Credit: NASA

After moving out to the launch pad earlier this week, NASA’s first Orion spacecraft was hoisted atop the most powerful rocket in the world and awaits blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in early December on a critical test flight that will pave the way for human missions to deep space for the first time in more than four decades since NASA’s Apollo moon landing missions ended in 1972.

NASA’s cool new set of infographics above and below explain 8 key events on Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission and its first trip to orbit and back.

Orion will lift off on a Delta IV Heavy rocket on its inaugural test flight to space on the uncrewed EFT-1 mission at 7:05 a.m. EST on December 4, 2014, from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The two-orbit, four and a half hour Orion EFT-1 flight around Earth will lift the Orion spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) – and farther than any human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.

Launch - It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be bright. It’s going to be smoky. Engines are fired, the countdown ends and Orion lifts off into space atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Credit: NASA
Launch – It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be bright. It’s going to be smoky. Engines are fired, the countdown ends, and Orion lifts off into space atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Credit: NASA

EFT-1 will test the rocket, second stage, jettison mechanisms, as well as avionics, attitude control, computers, and electronic systems inside the Orion spacecraft.

Then the spacecraft will carry out a high speed re-entry through the atmosphere at speeds approaching 20,000 mph and scorching temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit to test the heat shield, before splashing down for a parachute assisted landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Exposure - It’s time to fly! The protective panels surrounding the service module are jettisoned and the launch abort system separates from the spacecraft. Credit: NASA
Exposure – It’s time to fly! The protective panels surrounding the service module are jettisoned and the launch abort system separates from the spacecraft. Credit: NASA
Re-ignition - Orbit 1 is complete! The upper stage will now fire up again to propel Orion to an altitude of 3,600 miles during its second trip around Earth. Credit: NASA
Re-ignition – Orbit 1 is complete! The upper stage will now fire up again to propel Orion to an altitude of 3,600 miles during its second trip around Earth. Credit: NASA
Separation - It’s now time to prepare for reentry. The service module and upper stage separate so that only the crew module will return to Earth. Credit: NASA
Separation – It’s now time to prepare for reentry. The service module and upper stage separate so that only the crew module will return to Earth. Credit: NASA
Orientation - Orion’s first flight will be uncrewed, but that doesn’t mean we can allow Orion to return to Earth upside down. This test flight will help us test the control jets to ensure that they can orient the capsule in the correct reentry position. Credit: NASA
Orientation – Orion’s first flight will be uncrewed, but that doesn’t mean we can allow Orion to return to Earth upside down. This test flight will help us test the control jets to ensure that they can orient the capsule in the correct reentry position. Credit: NASA
Heating - Things are heating up as Orion slams into the atmosphere at almost 20,000 mph and encounters temperatures near 4,000 degrees F. Credit: NASA
Heating – Things are heating up as Orion slams into the atmosphere at almost 20,000 mph and encounters temperatures near 4,000 degrees F. Credit: NASA
Deploy - After initial air friction slows the capsule from 20,000 mph, Orion will still be descending at 300 mph—too fast for a safe splashdown. A sequence of parachute deployments will create drag to further slow the spacecraft to a comfortable 20 mph. Credit: NASA
Deploy – After initial air friction slows the capsule from 20,000 mph, Orion will still be descending at 300 mph—too fast for a safe splashdown. A sequence of parachute deployments will create drag to further slow the spacecraft to a comfortable 20 mph. Credit: NASA
Landing = Orion will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, where it will be recovered with help from the United States Navy. Credit: NASA
Landing – Orion will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, where it will be recovered with help from the United States Navy. Credit: NASA

Here’s what Orion’s ocean splashdown and recovery by Navy divers will look like:

US Navy divers on four boats attached tow lines and to the Orion test capsule and guide it to the well deck on the USS Arlington during Aug. 15 recovery test Norfolk Naval Base, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
US Navy divers on four boats attached tow lines to the Orion test capsule and guide it to the well deck on the USS Arlington during Aug. 15, 2013, recovery test at Norfolk Naval Base, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Orion is NASA’s next generation human rated vehicle that will carry America’s astronauts beyond Earth on voyages venturing farther into deep space than ever before – beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars, and other destinations in our Solar System.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is the world’s most powerful rocket. The triple barreled Delta IV Heavy booster is the only rocket sufficiently powerful to launch the 50,000 pound Orion EFT-1 spacecraft to orbit.

The first stage of the mammoth Delta IV Heavy generates some 2 million pounds of liftoff thrust.

Watch for Ken’s Orion coverage, and he’ll be at KSC for the historic launch on Dec. 4.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Orion and Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

This is How Orion’s Dramatic Flight Test Will Look Next Month

NASA’s Orion Program manager Mark Geyer discusses Orion EFT-1 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com

A ride into space, a high-speed re-entry and a safe parachute deployment. That’s what NASA is hoping for when the Orion vehicle soars into space for a planned flight test next month. Eventually, this spacecraft will carry humans on journeys around the solar system, if all goes to plan.

The dramatic video above shows some of the testing Orion has passed so far, culminating in an animation showing the plans for the flight test. For more details on what to expect, check out Universe Today’s Ken Kremer’s article from a few days ago. Below is a gallery of Orion images from over the past couple of years.

NASA’s completed Orion EFT 1 crew module loaded on wheeled transporter during move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHFS) on Sept. 11, 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
NASA’s completed Orion EFT 1 crew module loaded on wheeled transporter during move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHFS) on Sept. 11, 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden discusses NASA’s human spaceflight initiatives backdropped by the service module for the Orion crew capsule being assembled at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden discusses NASA’s human spaceflight initiatives backdropped by the service module for the Orion crew capsule being assembled at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Dive teams attach tow lines to Orion test capsule during Aug. 15 recovery test at Norfolk Naval Base, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Dive teams attach tow lines to Orion test capsule during Aug. 15 recovery test at Norfolk Naval Base, VA. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Orion EFT-1 crew cabin and full scale mural showing Orion Crew Module atop Service Module inside the O & C Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Orion EFT-1 crew cabin and full scale mural showing Orion Crew Module atop Service Module inside the O & C Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

Can Philae Power Up After Doing A Triple Comet Landing Into Shadowy Spot?

First photo released of Comet 67P/C-G taken by Philae during its descent. The view is just 1.8 miles above the comet. Credit: ESA

Update, 10 p.m. EST: Philae is now asleep, according to the European Space Agency, for what could prove to be a long nap (at the least). It’s in “idle mode” with depleted batteries, and little sunlight to gain energy. For more information, check out this ESA blog post.

There’s power problems looming for the Philae probe after it made not one, not two, but three landings on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko this Wednesday. The primary battery that the lander is using right now for its primary mission (a few days) is expected to run out in less than a day. As for surface comet observations for the next several months … that’s now in doubt.

Philae was supposed to touch down in a spot that provided seven hours of illumination per day on the comet (with a “day” there being 12.4 hours). But after doing a hop, skip and leap on the surface, the lander is now nestled in a spot that provides only 1.5 hours of sunlight daily to recharge the solar panels. “There is an impact on the energy budget to conduct science for a longer period of time,” the European Space Agency warned in a blog post.

Philae (and its parent craft Rosetta, which is in good health and will observe the comet from orbit through at least part of 2015) went sailing through space for more than a decade before Philae successfully touched down on the surface. After early telemetry came through showing harpoons had fired to secure the lander on 67P, more detailed information showed the harpoons had failed to fire. And this led to an incredible journey.

After touching down about where it was supposed to — controllers know this based on its descent camera and previous images from the Rosetta spacecraft — Philae then lifted off again and floated for nearly two hours. This is possible due to the extremely low gravity field on the comet, which had it drifting gently for one hour and 50 minutes.

First panorama sent by Philae from the surface of the comet. At upper right we see the reflection of the Sun and the top of the CONSERT instrument antenna. Credit: ESA
First panorama sent by Philae from the surface of the comet. At upper right we see the reflection of the Sun and the top of the CONSERT instrument antenna. Credit: ESA

Philae travelled about one kilometer (0.62 miles) in this time before brushing the surface. Then it began another seven-minute journey before settling down in its current location. Exactly where is not known.

“Preliminary data from the CONSERT experiment suggest that Philae could have travelled closer to the large depression known as Site B, perhaps sitting on its rim. High-resolution orbiter images, some of which are still stored on Rosetta, have yet to confirm the location,” the European Space Agency wrote in a blog post.

“The lander remains unanchored to the surface at an as-yet undetermined orientation. The science instruments are running and are delivering images and data, helping the team to learn more about the final landing site.”

So far, the team knows that the area has dust and other stuff covering the surface, and a panoramic image released yesterday suggests that at least one of the lander’s three feet is “in open space.”

Source: European Space Agency

Posted on by Bob King

Music to Celebrate the Rosetta Mission

We report on the Rosetta mission to share the news and follow the progress of the precarious-perched Philae. But sometimes it takes another form of communication to dig down deep and release the wonder we all feel inside at the amazing images that daily light up our monitors. Music. Inspired by the Rosetta mission and in celebration of it, Vangelis composed three pieces of music set to slide shows featuring beautiful imagery of comet 67P/C-G and Philae.  Continue reading “Music to Celebrate the Rosetta Mission”