Iran launched its first functioning satellite into orbit late Monday using a modified long-range missile to place a home-produced research and telecommunications satellite into space. Iran now joins a small group of space-faring nations with the ability to build and launch their own satellites. In 2005, Iran used a Russian rocket to launch a satellite, and in August of 2008 Iran reported they launched a dummy satellite into orbit using their own Safir-2 rocket, but other sources said the rocket suffered a catastrophic failure. This most recent launch, however, was the country’s first success in using their own rocket and their own functional satellite, launched from Iranian territory. The launch coincided with a 10-day celebration of the 30th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, according to the Fars news agency. On Iranian television, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the satellite was a “step toward justice and peace.”
Watch video of the launch, which includes several replays:
The Mir space station hangs above the Earth in 1995 (photo by Atlantis STS-71, NASA)
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The Russian space agency (Roscosmos) has announced that it will lobby Moscow with a proposal that would see the construction of a new Russian space station in low-Earth orbit. Also, the agency has expressed a desire to extend the operational lifespan of the International Space Station (ISS) until 2020 (the outpost is set for retirement in 2015). Building a Russian space station will aid Russia’s desire to kick-start their lunar program, possibly acting as a staging post for future missions to Mars…
The ISS has been a hot topic over the last few months, but not always for the right reasons. Its construction is behind schedule by at least five years, primarily due to the Columbia disaster in early 2003 plus some funding problems in the Russian space agency. However, despite its problems, the ISS was 76% complete as of July 2008 and it is set for completion in 2010. This may be the case, but the station is scheduled to be retired in 2015, meaning science on the completed ISS only has a period of five years before it is de-orbited and sent the same way as Mir in 2001 (i.e. down).
The thought of disposing of the ISS so soon has led to some speculative “alternative uses” for the ISS; one of the most outlandish being the conversion of the ISS into some kind of International Space Ship, retrofitting the station with rockets and sending it to the Moon and/or Mars to act as a manned mothership for planetary activities. Although this excites my science fiction imagination, this possibility seems unlikely (it would be cool though…).
It seems that Roscosmos has made their feelings clear about the whole situation, making an announcement on Thursday wanting to drum up support for an ISS extension to 2020 and start the construction of a Russian replacement space station, forming the back bone of Roscosmos’ ambitions to set up a base on the Moon and then make a manned expedition to the Red Planet.
“We will soon propose to our government a project to construct a low-orbit complex, which could serve as a foundation for the implementation of the lunar program and later on – the Mars program,” Alexei Krasnov, director of manned flight programs at Roscosmos, said in a news conference in Moscow on January 29th. “These are our intentions, but we are working hard to ensure that these plans get adequate financial and legislative support from the government.”
The Russian space agency has often been criticised for having ambitions exceeding their budgets, but this is an interesting proposition. The biggest obstacle (apart from the funding bit) would be to convince the other ISS member states to continue funding the mission. “We are considering the extension of ISS service life at least until 2020, but this decision must be adopted by the governments of all 15 countries participating in the project,” Krasnov said.
The idea of having a Russian space station is not very hard to imagine, after all, Roscosmos has the experience of designing, constructing and living on the Mir space station (with the assistance of the Shuttle-Mir Program intended to forge a collaboration between the US and Russia in the run-up to “Phase 2” of the space relationship: constructing the ISS), and they have a very robust existing launch system. All this will be a valuable infrastructure toward supporting the construction of a new manned outpost.
Although this announcement sounds very exciting for Russia, the space agency is beset with financial woes of its own; the idea of embarking on an expensive space station project probably wont be entertained for very long…
A full-scale separation test of the forward skirt extension for the Ares I-X flight test at its facility in Utah (NASA/ATK)
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The successful test of NASA’s Ares I-X Forward Skirt Extension on Thursday represents a “major milestone” in the development of the launch system, according to Alliant Techsystems (ATK). The “skirt extension” in question is a solid ring of aluminium (or aluminum) connecting the first stage with the upper stages of the rocket.
This summer, the first flight of the Constellation Program is scheduled to blast off from a Cape Canaveral launch pad. The ATK pyrotechnics deep in the Utah Desert has proven to NASA that a key portion of this test flight will go as planned, allowing the reusable portion of the Ares I to return to Earth for recovery…
To say 2008 was a turbulent year for the Constellation program is an understatement. Although there have been a number of successful tests (including the test firing of the jettison motor, launch abort system and an old Shuttle engine; plus parachute tests), political tensions, criticism of the technology and budget uncertainty have all taken their toll. The future of the Constellation Program is in doubt (or shaky at best) and there’s not many media headlines with anything positive to say. So, when there is a successful test of any Ares component, it is certainly worth reporting, in an attempt to redress the good-news/bad-news balance and give credit where credit is due.
Artist impression of the Ares I-X at the launchpad, plus labelled sections of the rocket (NASA)So, last week, ATK successfully tested the explosive charges that will perform the most important task of the test launch of the Ares I-X. The Forward Skirt Extension is located between the first and second stages of the rocket (pictured left). This 1.8 metre (6 ft) long by 3.7 metre (12 ft) diameter aluminium cylinder will allow the first stage booster to separate at the frustum (a cone-shaped connector that attaches the first stage to the larger diameter upper stage). During the launch, separation will occur at an altitude of around 40 km (130,000 ft).
This section will also be important as it will need to store the recovery parachutes for the first stage and it will need to support the mass of the upper stages (plus payload) during launch. It is for this reason that the skirt is forged from one solid lump of aluminium and reinforced with a unique internal support structure, housing three main parachutes.
Data from the charge detonation will be used to measure the shock generated, understanding how this might affect the Ares I-X mission and future Ares I launches. Thursday’s test appears to have achieved this as well as severing the forward skirt extension.
Roll on summer, I’m looking forward to seeing the Ares X-I first stage parachute to Earth…
Artist impression of the SpaceX Dragon approaching the space station (SpaceX)
[/caption]A Chicago-based space launch partnership has formally lodged a complaint against NASA’s decision to give space station supply contracts to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences late last year. PlanetSpace, a joint effort by space contractors Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co. and Alliant Techsystems Inc., has formally filed a complaint with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). PlanetSpace is angry with the US space agency as they believe they presented NASA with a better resupply deal than SpaceX and Orbital.
NASA has been given 30 days to respond to the complaint and the GAO has said it won’t make a ruling until April 29th. Unfortunately this means NASA will have to halt drawing up the ISS supply contracts until the matter has been resolved.
Just when we thought it was going so well…
At a time when the burgeoning commercial space flight industry thought it was beginning to build up some serious momentum, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences have suffered a bump in the road. On December 23rd, 2008 the two companies were celebrating the fact they had secured the largest supply contracts available. NASA agreed to buy 12 flights from SpaceX (for $1.6 billion) and eight flights from Orbital Sciences ($1.9 billion). However, according to PlanetSpace, the partnership offered NASA a better deal than one of the two companies awarded, saying they could do the same job for cheaper.
“The PlanetSpace proposal represented better value to the government. We believe that the GAO will find that flaws in the procurement justify award to PlanetSpace. We look forward to the GAO’s review of this case,” PlanetSpace said in a statement on Thursday.
So far, the GAO has declined to comment on the situation, just stating that NASA had 30 days to respond to the complaint. It won’t be until the end of April that a decision will be made.
NASA decided to use US-based commercial spaceflight companies instead of depending on the Russian Progress vehicle to launch cargo to the International Space Station after the Shuttle is retired in 2010.
Of the two companies, it seems likely that PlanetSpace may be contesting the $1.9 billion contract awarded to Orbital Sciences (in my opinion). Orbital, although a well-established space flight company, is offering less flights for more money than SpaceX (also, the Cygnus space vehicle can carry less cargo than the SpaceX Dragon capsule). However, it is difficult to know where the problem is at this stage.
We’ll just have to wait and see. On a positive note, at least we have several private spaceflight companies wrangling for NASA contracts. Already, business is seeing the advantages (and profitability) of pushing into space, if contracts have to be disputed along the way, so be it.
The Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, or CECE. Image Credit: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
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Yes, you’re seeing this image correctly. There are icicles forming at the rim of this rocket engine bell, and this particular engine generates a scalding 2,760 C (5,000 F) degree steam and a whopping 13,000 lbs of thrust. How can that happen? Cryogenics. NASA is developing the engines that will be used for the next generation lunar lander, the Altair. These engines are called the Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE). CECE is fueled by a mixture of -182 C (-297 F) liquid oxygen and -253 C (-423 F) liquid hydrogen. The engine components are super-cooled to similar low temperatures–and that’s where the icicles come from. As CECE burns its frigid fuels, hot steam and other gases are propelled out the nozzle. The steam is cooled by the cold nozzle, condensing and eventually freezing to form icicles around the rim. Watch the video.
More about the engine.
CECE, is a deep-throttling engine, which means it has the flexibility to reduce thrust from 100 percent down to 10 percent — allowing a spacecraft to gently land on the lunar surface. During the test, the engine was successfully throttled from a high of 104 percent of the engine’s potential down to eight percent, a record for an engine of this type. A cryogenic engine is needed to provide high performance and put more payload on the surface of the moon. The CECE demonstrator has evaluated two engine configurations during three rounds of hot-fire testing.
The tests are being done by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach, Florida. This was the third test for these engines. Previous tests in 2006 and 2007 showed the engines needed some fine tuning. Tony Kim, Deep Throttling Engine project manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala, said, “Testing in 2007 provided an in-depth examination of low-power-level throttling and engine performance characteristics. This third cycle we actively addressed and found solutions to the challenges we faced.”
The team carefully assessed test results that showed pressure oscillations in the engine at lower throttle levels called “chugging.” Chugging may not be a concern for the engine itself, but the resulting vibrations could have the potential to resonate with the structure of the rocket and cause problems for the lander or crew.
Injector and propellant feed system modifications successfully eliminated engine chugging by controlling liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flow to the combustion chamber. The latest engine configuration incorporates a new injector design and propellant feed system that carefully manages the pressure, temperature and flow of propellants. And it seemed to work quite well.
Falcon 9, plus lightning towers, stand proud, for the first time, over the Cape (SpaceX)
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Yesterday (Jan. 10th) was a huge day for SpaceX. For the first time ever, one of their rockets (the mighty Falcon 9) was hoisted vertically in preparation for the Falcon 9 maiden launch (presumably) in the next few weeks. No launch window has been announced as yet, but I am sure SpaceX will be working hard to ignite the nine Merlin-1C engines as soon as possible. Static tests have proven the launch system works, and the successful Falcon 1 flight in September proved SpaceX technology was a reality, so all that is needed is for the largest Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) in the SpaceX fleet to take to the skies, showing the world SpaceX is extending its lead in the commercial space race…
Falcon 9 vertical on the launch pad (SpaceX)It is strange to think back to October when I saw a huge aluminium tube sitting on the SpaceX rocket workshop floor, pre-paint job. Before I realised it, that aluminium first stage shell was painted, branded, and shipped from Hawthorn (CA) to Cape Canaveral (FL) late last year. On December 30th, the Falcon 9 was fully integrated, and yesterday, the whole thing was hoisted upright between four launch pad lightning rods.
Having only just checked out the SpaceX website, I’ve realised the space launch company has released loads of great photos of the progress being made at the new Falcon 9 home, so I thought I’d post a preview of some of these images at the end of this short news update.
Falcon 9 is now vertical at the Cape!
After a very smooth vehicle mating operation yesterday, we began the process of raising Falcon 9 at 12:45pm EST and approximately 30 minutes later, Falcon 9 was vertical at the Cape. The process of taking Falcon 9 vertical was a critical step in preparation for our first Falcon 9 launch later this year. This accomplishment culminates several months of rapid progress, made possible only through the hard work and dedication of the entire SpaceX team. –SpaceX Updates (Jan. 10th, 2009)
Musk standing next to the nine Merlin-1C engines of the Falcon 9 on Jan. 7th (SpaceX)Shortly after the fairing was attached to the booster stages on Dec. 30th 2008 (SpaceX)Before and after: The first stage of the Falcon 9 back in Oct. 2008 at the SpaceX Hawthorn HQ (left) and the same first stage arriving in Cape Canaveral in Dec. 2008 (right). Credit: Ian O'Neill/SpaceX
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High altitude balloons are an inexpensive means of getting payloads to the brink of space, where all sorts of great science and astronomy can be done. A new prototype of balloon that uses material as thin as plastic food wrap was successfully checked out in an 11-day test flight, and this new design may usher in a new era of high altitude flight. NASA and the National Science Foundation sponsored the test, which was launched from McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The balloon reached a float altitude of more than 111,000 feet and maintained it for the entire 11 days of flight. It’s hoped that the super-pressure balloon ultimately will carry large scientific experiments to the edge of space for 100 days or more.
The flight tested the durability and functionality of the scientific balloon’s novel globe-shaped design and the unique lightweight and thin polyethylene film. It launched on December 28, 2008 and returned on January 8, 2009.
“Our balloon development team is very proud of the tremendous success of the test flight and is focused on continued development of this new capability to fly balloons for months at a time in support of scientific investigations,” said David Pierce, chief of the Balloon Program Office at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va. “The test flight has demonstrated that 100 day flights of large, heavy payloads is a realistic goal.”
This seven-million-cubic-foot super-pressure balloon is the largest single-cell, super-pressure, fully-sealed balloon ever flown. When development concludes, NASA will have a 22 million-cubic-foot balloon that can carry a one-ton instrument to an altitude of more than 110,000 feet, which is three to four times higher than passenger planes fly. Ultra-long duration missions using the super pressure balloon cost considerably less than a satellite and the scientific instruments flown can be retrieved and launched again, making them ideal very-high altitude research platforms.
CREAM team. Credit: CREAM
In addition to the super pressure test flight, two additional long-duration balloons were launched from McMurdo during the 2008-2009 campaign. The University of Maryland’s Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass, or CREAM IV, experiment launched December 19, 2008, and landed January 6, 2009. The CREAM investigation was used to directly measure high energy cosmic-ray particles arriving at Earth after originating from distant supernova explosions elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. The payload for this experiment was refurbished from an earlier flight. The team released data and their findings from their first flight in August 2008.
The University of Hawaii Manoa’s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna launched December 21, 2008, and is still aloft. Its radio telescope is searching for indirect evidence of extremely high-energy neutrino particles possibly coming from outside our Milky Way galaxy.
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The International Space Station’s toilet has had its troubles, and Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has decided they want to “eliminate” this problem for future astronauts and procure a new way to deal with human waste in space. They formed a space toilet research group and came up with an idea that is sure to revolutionize space travel. The wearable toilet. “Clean and easy to use, the envisioned space toilet is designed to be worn like a diaper around the astronaut’s waist at all times,” says an article on Pink Tentacle. Engineers hope to have this next-generation space toilet available to use in space within the next five years.
How does it work?
“Sensors detect when the user relieves him or herself, automatically activating a rear-mounted suction unit that draws the waste away from the body through tubes into a separate container,” the article says. It’s also a full feature toilet/shower almost like a bidet, as well as eliminating potential embarrassing situations in space. “In addition to washing and drying the wearer after each use, the next-generation space toilet will incorporate features that eliminate unwanted sound and odor.”
Plans are to test working prototypes of the space toilet in Japan’s Kibo lab aboard the ISS. The developers indicate their next-generation space toilet may also prove useful on Earth as well, such as in hospitals with bedridden patients.
The current ISS toilet sucks waste away like a vacuum cleaner. Use of that toilet requires practice before heading to space, particularly because an improperly seated user has the potential to create a messy situation.
Chiaki Mukai, head of JAXA’s Space Biomedical Research Office, is looking forward to the development of the new toilet. “Long-term stays in space place significant stress on the mind and body,” Mukai says. “The toilet plays a crucial role in maintaining good health in space.”
Two shuttles on the pads in September 2008.Credit: NASA
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The space shuttles are slated to be retired in September of 2010. NASA put out a call recently to ask what should be done with the shuttles post-retirement, and many think they should be put in museums or on display in rocket parks. But futurist and entrepreneur Eric Knight, (founder of UP Aerospace and Remarkable Technologies) has a somewhat novel idea of what to do with the shuttles after they are done with their current duties: Send them to Mars. He says his formula is simple and will allow humans to travel to Mars in years, not decades.
Knight’s proposal, which he calls “Mars on a Shoestring,” outlines two shuttles going into Earth orbit, hooking them together with a truss and strapping on a powerful enough propulsion system. And that’s pretty much it. A pressurized inflatable conduit would connect the two orbiters so the astronauts could go back and forth between the two shuttles.
Then comes the really cool part; a way to provide artificial gravity during the trip to Mars. From Knight’s webpage:
• Once the propulsion stage has accelerated this entire system on its trek to Mars, the truss is detached from the two orbiters and the truss-propulsion assembly is jettisoned.
• The two orbiters then separate to a distance of a few hundred feet, but remain connected — top to top — by a tether cable that is spooled out.
• During the separation, the accordion-style inflatable crew-transfer conduit equally elongates.
• Once the orbiters are at their maximum fixed distance apart, they would simultaneously fire their reaction control systems to set the pair into an elegant pirouette — creating a comfortable level of artificial gravity for the crew’s voyage to the red planet.
However, in an interview we did with JPL’s Rob Manning for a previous article on Universe Today (see “The Mars Landing Approach: Getting Large Payloads to the Surface of the Red Planet), Manning says there’s currently no way and there’s not a parachute big enough to allow a big spacecraft, even a high lift vehicle like a shuttle to land successfully on Mars. The atmosphere is too thin to provide any drag.
From our earlier article:
“Well, on Mars, when you use a very high lift to weight to drag ratio like the shuttle,” said Manning, “in order to get good deceleration and use the lift properly, you’d need to cut low into the atmosphere. You’d still be going at Mach 2 or 3 fairly close to the ground. If you had a good control system you could spread out your deceleration to lengthen the time you are in the air. You’d eventually slow down to under Mach 2 to open a parachute, but you’d be too close to the ground and even an ultra large supersonic parachute would not save you.”
Supersonic parachute experts have concluded that to sufficiently slow a large shuttle-type vehicle on Mars and reach the ground at reasonable speeds would require a parachute one hundred meters in diameter.
“That’s a good fraction of the Rose Bowl. That’s huge,” said Manning. “We believe there’s no way to make a 100-meter parachute that can be opened safely supersonically, not to mention the time it takes to inflate something that large. You’d be on the ground before it was fully inflated. It would not be a good outcome.”
So, while Knight’s proposal is interesting and perhaps forward-thinking, it would need quite a bit of work to actually be feasible. He admits as much, saying “This thought paper is certainly not meant to be the technical be all, end all on the topic — but merely a springboard to new thought. The science and topics touched on herein are superficial; the concepts are simply provided to fuel the imagination and promote discussion.”
“In all, I hope that my thought paper provides a catalyst for additional thinking as we ponder our place in the universe — and the methods to transport us to new frontiers.”
Who knows? Many successful endeavors start out as crazy ideas. But first, someone has to have the idea.
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NASA released a detailed and sometimes graphic new report outlining what happened during the break-up of the Columbia space shuttle on Feb. 1, 2003. The purpose of the report is to specify what was learned from the Columbia accident in regards to crew safety and survivability for future spaceflight. The extensive 400 page report contains information that had already been released over the years, but also includes a new minute-by-minute timeline describing what happened to the vehicle as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, and revealing the commander and pilot attempted to troubleshoot a cascade of problems in the final moments before the shuttle went out of control. As the report states, “This report is the first comprehensive, publicly available accident investigation report addressing crew survival for a human spacecraft mishap, and it provides key information for future crew survival investigations. The results of this investigation are intended to add meaning to the sacrifice of the crew’s lives by making space flight safer for all future generations.”
The report is actually quite interesting to read, and it vividly brings back the events of the Columbia accident which happened almost six years ago.
The key information in the report reveals what actually killed the astronauts and how future vehicles and flight should be approached as far as astronaut suits, helmets and body restraints. The facts are that the astronauts were not properly restrained. The lower body restraints held the astronauts in their seats, but the upper body restraints did not hold the astronauts bodies in place, and as the vehicle lost control and was spinning — which the report calls a dynamic rotating load environment — the astronauts’ upper bodies were thrown around, and were subject to blunt force trauma. The helmets also did not protect their heads properly.
However, the forces acting on the shuttle’s crew module in the final minute or so before it broke apart subjected the astronauts to a sudden loss of air pressure that occurred so rapidly they did not have time to close their helmet visors. One astronaut had not yet put on their helmet, and three were not wearing gloves.
The timeline shows that at about 227,000 feet above Earth, hot gases entered a hole in Columbia’s left, created by foam from the external fuel tank striking the wing during launch. Alarms started going off, such as in the wheel well, and then pieces of debris started coming off the shuttle. When the wing had broken up enough that it was no longer functional and the ship’s computers could no longer compensate for the unequal forces on the vehicle, Columbia went out of control.
At 180,000 feet, the crew compartment was disengaged from the shuttle, and the module broke apart within a few moments due to thermal stress and aerodynamic forces. The crew died from hypoxia and blunt force trauma.
With current technology available, the breakup would not have been survivable.
Ground based images of the break-up of Columbia.
But had the crew been able to survive, and were merely unconscious, they were wearing parachutes. However, the problem with these parachutes is that they require manual activation. The report recommends new parachutes which would be deployed automatically in the event an astronaut was thrown from the vehicle. Additionally, the current ACES (Advanced Crew Espace Suit) suits worn by the astronauts are certified to operate at a maximum altitude of 100,000 feet, and certified to survive exposure to a maximum velocity of 560 knots equivalent air speed. The operating envelope of the orbiter is much greater than this. The recommendation to strengthen the weak areas of the suit system will increase the probability of survival.
Those are just a couple of examples of recommendations in the report of what could be done in the future when a vehicle is not savable, but how the lives of the astronauts could possibly be saved. NASA has already made some changes to harnesses and restraints, and they want to incorporate those changes in the next vehicle, to make space travel safer and more survivable in the future.
Other recommendations from the report:
“Future spacecraft suits and seat restraints should use state-of-the-art technology in an integrated solution to minimize crew injury and maximize crew survival in off-nominal acceleration environments. Inertial reels should be evaluated for appropriateness of design for off-nominal scenarios.
• Helmets should provide head and neck protection in off-nominal dynamic load conditions. The current space shuttle inertial reels should be manually locked at the first sign of an off-nominal situation.
• Future spacecraft should be evaluated while still in the design phase for dynamics and entry thermal and aerodynamic loads during a vehicle LOC for adequate integration into development, design, and crew training.
• Future crewed spacecraft vehicle design should account for vehicle LOC contingencies to maximize the probability of crew survival.” Recovered flight deck video from Columbia.
The report also includes images taken from a middeck and flight deck video recovered from the accident, as well as from infrared images taken from the ground during the shuttle’s rentry.
The loss of the shuttle occurred rapidly, and there was nothing the crew could have done. A detailed moment by moment timeline shows that at GMT 13:58:48, a partial transmission was received, which the Commander Rick Husband said, “And, uh, Hou…” At that point the vehicle and crew were still performing nominally.
The last audio transmission from Columbia, “Roger, …” was cut off at 13:59:32.
Complete loss of control of the vehicle is listed as no earlier than 13:59:37.
The report lists several courses of action for more study in the future including completing an analysis on the Challenger debris to compare and contrast with the Columbia findings.
A teleconference to discuss the study is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. This post will be updated with any pertinent information.
