Space Flight Archives

September 30, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

ATV Re-entry Video

ATV's initial flash as it broke apart in Earth's atmosphere. Credit: ESA

A spectacular video recorded on September 29 shows the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (A T V)plunging through Earth’s atmosphere and breaking apart. It doesn’t take long for the action to start — about 7 seconds into the video, there’s a bright flash — which portrays the demise of the first and very successful space station freighter ship built by the European Space Agency. Two observation teams were chasing Jules Verne, in two separate aircraft, taking video and images. This video shows the spacecraft breaking up over the Pacific Ocean beginning at about 15:36 CEST. Below are more images, too:

Jules Verne launched on March 9, 2008 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The ATV delivered 6 tonnes of cargo to the International Space Station, and remained docked to the ISS for five months. During docked operations, it also performed a maneuver to help the ISS avoid a piece of space debris. For more info on Jules Verne see some of our past articles here (yesterday’s article about the deorbit), or here, describing about how great it was, and here, when it pulled into port at the ISS.

Here’s a few images of the breakup, and farther below is an image of the interior of Jules Verne as it was docked to the ISS, and finally, an image of the ATV as it undocked from the station on Sept. 5. Au revoir Jules Verne!
[/caption]

A shower of debris results as the ATV continues its plunge through the atmosphere. Credit: ESA

Expedition 16 and 17 crewmembers inside Jules Verne ATV. Jules Verne is Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle. Jules Verne docked with the International Space Station on 3 April 2008. Credit: NASA

ATV after it undocked from the ISS on Sept. 5. Credit: NASA

Source: ESA

September 29, 2008April 26, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

Bye Bye Jules Verne

ESA's ATV Control Room following de-orbit burn. Credit: ESA

[/caption]
Europe’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) successfully completed its six-month mission today with a controlled destructive re-entry over the South Pacific. Following a final de-orbit burn at 14:58 CEST which slowed its velocity by 70 m/s, the ATV entered the upper atmosphere at an altitude of 120 km at 15:31 CEST. It broke up at an altitude of 75 km with the remaining fragments falling into the Pacific some 12 minutes later. The break-up was monitored by two aircraft, a Gulfstream V, and a NASA DC-8. “The operations went perfectly; there was no hiccup at all.” said ESA’s mission director Alberto Novelli. “There is a very big feeling of accomplishment because the mission went perfectly from end to end. At the same time we are a little bit sad. The six months (of operation) were very intense and demanding, so there is a mixed feeling. But we are looking forward to start preparing for the following mission.”
Update: the first images from the re-entry have just been posted:

Composite of the ISS and ATV as seen from Earth. Credit: Ralf Vandebergh

This first ATV launched on March 9, 2008 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Named the Jules Verne, it delivered 6 tonnes of cargo to the International Space Station, and remained docked to the ISS for five months. During docked operations, it also performed a maneuver to help the ISS avoid a piece of space debris. The crew was able to offload 12 tonnes of waste into the Jules Verne, most of which should have been destroyed in the re-entry.

Another image of the ATV re-entry. Credit: ESA

A group of researchers used imaging instruments and spectrographs on board the two aircraft to document the re-entry. Both aircraft are suited to flying at the high altitude needed to perform the observations (12 to 14 km). They measured the brightness of the fragments, obtained positional information and saw how the brightness of the vehicle changes over time, giving an indication of how the spacecraft is tumbling. The spectrograph measures emissions from the atmosphere as the re-entry occurs, which provides information of the flow of the atmosphere around the vehicle. As they analyze their data, they will also be able to see emissions from the vehicle and contents as they break apart, give a detailed understanding of what’s happening to the ATV as it re-entered the atmosphere.

Researchers monitored the ATV's re-entry from two aircraft. Credit: ESA

“Credit has to go to everyone involved in such a flawless mission.” said John Ellwood, ESA’s ATV Project Manager. “Not only to the ESA and industrial teams that brought the project to fruition, but also to the teams at the ATV Control Centre and around the world who have done a superb job while the spacecraft has been in orbit. This is truly a wonderful spacecraft, and vital to the continued service of the ISS following Shuttle retirement in 2010. I look forward to the launch of the next ATV, which is currently under production at EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany.”

Sources: ESA, ATV Blog

September 28, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Space X Falcon 1 Successfully In Orbit

The face of future NASA launches? The SpaceX Falcon 1 blasts off (SpaceX)

The commercial spaceflight company Space X successfully launched its Falcon 1 unmanned booster, becoming the first private company to send a rocket into orbit. The two-stage rocket lifted off at 7:16 p.m. EDT (23:16 GMT) from the the launch site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) southwest of Hawaii. This successful launch comes almost two months after an engine timing error during stage separation caused the failure of Space X’s third Falcon 1 test. If you missed watching the live webcast, below is the video. Watching the live webcast was wonderful; the people who actually built this rocket could be heard cheering in the background as each milestone in the climb to orbit was reached. Congratulations to everyone at Space X!

After the Falcon 1 reached orbit, an elated Elon Musk, Space X CEO told his cheering employees, “As the saying goes, the fourth time’s the charm.” He said this is just the first step for Space X, and added “This is one of the best days of my life.”

SpaceX’s first three attempts to launch the Falcon 1 all failed, with different problems occurring on each try. But today, after a uneventful countdown, the two-stage rocket operated flawlessly, bringing a dummy payload to Earth orbit. “This was the smoothest launch countdown of all,” Musk said. “It just shows the team is getting more and more practice at this.”

The Falcon 1 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle. It is designed from the ground up by Space X, with no government assistance. Space X has about 500 employees.

As winner of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competition, SpaceX is designing and building the Falcon 9 human-rated launch vehicle and Dragon spaceship to transport cargo and then astronauts to the International Space Station.

Space X’s mission is to provide launch vehicles at low cost and high reliability. This success could be the beginning of a new era in spaceflight.

Source: Space X

September 27, 2008December 24, 2015 by Tammy Plotner

Russian “Space Junk” – Caught In The Act

[/caption]

While imaging the Large Magellanic Cloud, astrophotographer Doug Robertson got a real surprise when he went to process his data…. He’d accidentally recorded the uncontrolled return of the intermediate stage of a recent Russian rocket launch that just put three GLOSNASS satellites into orbit.

Eyewitnesses in Adelaide, Australia were astounded when a huge fireball lit up the skies shortly after midnight local time. The initial response was believed to be attributed to meteoric activity, but the 45 second event broke into several pieces and traveled along a parallel trajectory. Hearing the news, Robertson checked his photographic data and sure enough, during the time stamp of 12:12:38am, he’d caught the event. Like all good astronomers, the initial reaction is to immediately report and wait for an answer.

According to the Publicity Officer of the Astronomical Society of South Australia, Tony Beresford: “Last night at around 00:18CST sept 27 or 14:48 UT Sept. 26, an intermediate stage of a recent Russian launch that put 3 GLOSNASS satellites into orbit, re-entered the atmosphere and became visible travelling N-S over Adelaide. I had a full report from a person who saw the pass from Hallett Cove immediately after the event. It was an expected uncontrolled re-entry. The rocket stage had broken into several pieces. This aspect seems similar to other re-entries reported to me over the years. It took nearly a minute to pass over. A Sunday Mail reporter who rang this morning said they had a least a dozen reports. Some of the reports incorrectly used the term “meteor shower” to describe what they saw. Some meteors could give the same phenomena of multiple bodies on parallel paths, but that is not a meteor shower!!”

Is returning “space junk” a problem? You bet. In a very comprehensive article done by Nancy a few months ago called Space Debris Illustrated: The Problem in Pictures, she clearly illustrated how spent booster stages and discards from spacecraft could turn into a serious problem for future spaceflight if left unmonitored and uncontrolled. While the Russian return was expected, it’s still just another indicator of a mounting problem – inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth .

According to NASA Shuttle program director John Shannon, “Next month’s shuttle flight to the Hubble Space Telescope faces an increased risk of getting hit by space junk because it will be in a higher, more littered orbit than usual. New number-crunching puts the odds of a catastrophic strike by orbital debris including bits of space junk at about 1-in-185 during Atlantis’ upcoming mission to Hubble. That compares to 1-in-300 odds for a shuttle flight to the International Space Station.”

Thankfully for everyone concerned there was no impact on the Shenzhou-7 mission – just a little late night excitement. Said Robertson, “Unfortunately I didn’t witness this naked eye. But as you see that main fragment/track looks extremely bright. Although rough, the crop clearly shows the number of fragments/debris surrounding the brighter tracks – reminded me off the shuttle disaster a few years ago. Glad it wasn’t anything to do with the manned Chinese mission. Wish I had put down my coffee and stepped outside a bit earlier to see it!”

Many thanks to AORAIA member, Doug Roberston for this fine catch!

September 27, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

China’s First Spacewalk a Success (Video)

Zhai Zhigang exits the Shenzhou-7 capsule with Earth overhead (Xinhua/BBC)

[/caption]It’s official, China has become the third nation to successfully carry out a spacewalk in Earth orbit. Fighter pilot Zhai Zhigang was the first to exit the Shenzhou-7 module at 16:30 Beijing Time (08:30 GMT), as the Chinese space agency streamed live video of the event. Zhai lifted himself through the hatch and waved at the camera attached to the service module on the outside of the craft, with Earth looming overhead. Shortly after, crew mate Liu Boming emerged to hand Zhai a small Chinese flag which he waved enthusiastically. The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) lasted for about 15 minutes. At the start of the EVA, Zhai said, “I’m feeling quite well. I greet the Chinese people and the people of the world.”

Shenzhou-7 was launched by a Long March II-F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province of China on Thursday, carrying Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng into space on the three-day mission. The principal objective was to successfully complete a spacewalk, paving the way for a Chinese orbital outpost and eventual mission to the Moon within the decade. It would appear the mission was a success, allowing China into an exclusive club of only three nations ever to have carried out orbital activities in a space suit.

Watch China’s first ever space walk »

Zhai and Liu wore a Chinese-designed spacesuit called “Feitian” (which literally translates as “Fly in the Sky”), thought to cost between £5m and £20m ($10m-$40m) apiece. The third taikonaut (or “yuhangyuan”) Jing Haipeng, remained inside Shenzhou-7 wearing a Russian-made Orlan suit.

Whilst outside the craft, attached via an umbilical cable, Zhai retrieved a test sample of solid lubricant attached to the outside of the module before they were launched. He passed the sample to Liu. Once the handover was complete, 16 minutes into the EVA, both men re-entered the capsule.

Zhai, now China’s first man to ever carry out an EVA in Earth orbit, will celebrate his 42nd birthday next month. Prior to enrolling in China’s manned space programme, he was an air force pilot, and before then the official Chinese news agency was keen to highlight that Zhai “grew up in dirt-poor hardship with five siblings in the country’s far northeast,” and he “dreamed of flying into space when he was an impoverished teenager.”

This is an amazing achievement that will only boost the space-faring confidence of the Chinese. Perhaps the first Chinese Moon base isn’t that far off after all…

Sources: BBC, Xinhua

September 26, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Fusionman Flies Again, This Time Across the English Channel

Fusionman soars across the English Channel. Credit: Times Online

[/caption]

In May, Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy, who calls himself “Fusionman,” flew with a jetpack strapped to his back for just 5 minutes. Today he soared from France to England across the English Channel, becoming the first person to cross the 35 km (22 miles) body of water in such a way. Rossy, a pilot who normally flies an Airbus airliner, was dropped from an airplane over France and used his specially made jetpack, flying at speeds of up to 193 kph (120 mph) to make the crossing in 13 minutes. “Everything was perfect,” he said afterwards. “I showed that it is possible to fly a little bit like a bird.” See more images and video below.

The 22-mile flight from Calais to Dover took 10 minutes (National Geographic/BSkyB)

The 49-year-old Rossy, told the BBC the most tense moment was when he jumped from the aircraft “because I did have many problems during exits before.” He ignited the four kerosene-burning jets on the jetpack inside a plane before jumping out more than 2,440 meters (8,000 feet) above ground. He made a perfect exit and quickly set the correct course by aiming for the cliffs of Dover. After a period of free fall he opened the wing and soared across the water. With no steering controls, the only way to change direction was like a bird, moving his head and back.

About 15 minutes later Rossy parachuted towards his landing site near Dover after making the crossing (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty)

Rossy’s jet-powered wing, which spans eight feet, is made of lightweight carbon composite and weighs about 55 kg (120 lb) including fuel. Rossy has to wear a flameproof suit to help him withstand the jet exhaust around his legs.

When the white cliffs of Dover came into view, he opened a blue and yellow parachute and drifted down in light winds to land in a British field where he was mobbed by well-wishers.

The Swiss pilot Yves Rossy is sprayed with champagne near Dover after flying with jet-propelled wings across the Channel from France (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty)

Rossy celebrated his flight with a champagne shower. He had postponed the flight twice earlier this week due to poor weather.

His future plans include flying over the Grand Canyon, taking off from a standing position on the ground and performing acrobatics.

Watch a video of his landing here.

Previous Universe Today article on Fusionman.

Sources: Reuters, Times Online

September 25, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

China Launches Manned Spacecraft

[/caption]

China successfully launched its third manned spacecraft today with three astronauts on board. During the mission, they will attempt the country’s first-ever space walk. The Long March II-F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province at 9:10 p.m. local time. Onboard pilots Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are will orbit Earth for three days. The astronauts, called taikonauts, told the ground control center that they felt “physically sound” in the first few minutes of the flight.

Two of the taikonauts will conduct a spacewalk, wearing Chinese-made spacesuits called Feitian which literally means flying in the sky, and is the name of a legendary Buddhist goddess. They will retrieve test samples loaded on the outside of the spacecraft, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the country’s manned space project.

“We wish we could fly freely in space just like Feitian on the ancient Buddhist murals, so we gave this name to the homemade spacesuit,” said Zhou.

Chinese taikonauts inside Shenzou 7. Credit: Xinhuanet

The third taikonaut will remain inside the pressurized spacecraft, and will wear a Russian Orlan suit.

Other tasks of the Shenzhou-7 crew include the release of a small monitoring satellite and a trial of the data relay of the satellite Tianlian-I.

If successful, the mission would be of great significance to the country’s future plans to build a space lab and a space station, said Zhang Jianqi, deputy chief commander of the manned space project. “China pursues the principle of making peaceful use of space in its exploration and development,” Zhang said, adding the country was willing to carry out various forms of international cooperation in space exploration.

The taikonauts, all 42 years old, are scheduled to land in the central region of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in a re-entry module after their mission is completed

Source: Xinhuanet

September 18, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Flyby Anomalies Explained?

Artist impression of the Rosetta flyby of Earth. Credit: ESA

[/caption]
Several different spacecraft have exhibited unexplained changes in speed during gravity assists when flying by Earth. First there was Galileo in 1990 and 1992, NEAR, which flew by Earth in January 1998, and then Cassini in August of 1999. Rosetta — the ESA spacecraft that recently flew by an asteroid â€“ swung by the home planet in March 2005, followed by MESSENGER in August of the same year. All these probes showed an expected change in speed during the flyby. The largest anomaly was recorded for NEAR, whose velocity changed 13 millimeters per second more than it should have. Earlier this year, a group of JPL researchers that had been working on the problem for years basically threw up their hands, saying they hoped other physicists could come up with a solution. They had concluded the anomaly was too large to be explained by known effects related to Einstein’s general theory of relativity. But a new paper proposes that Special Relativity may explain everything.

The speed of the spacecraft is measured by the Doppler shift in radio signals from the spacecraft to the antennas of the Deep Space Network. In a very short and concise paper, (reading it is like watching Will Hunting solve the MIT professor’s equation), Jean Paul Mbelek from CEA-Saclay in France says that the relative motion of the spacecraft and the spinning Earth have not been properly accounted for. When a well known but overlooked effect of Special Relativity is taken into account, where the transverse Doppler effect of the Earthâ€™s spin and the velocity of the craft are factored in, there is no flyby anomaly. “Thus, GR (General Relativity) does not need to be questioned and the flyby anomaly is merely due to an incomplete analysis using conventional physics,” says Mbelek.

Other explanations had proposed dark matter or “Unruh radiation” could be the answer. But Mbelek says we just haven’t been doing the physics right. He concludes that spacecraft “flybys of heavenly bodies may be viewed as a new test of Special Relativity which has proven to be successful near the Earth.” He proposes a follow-up of tracking the spacecraft trajectories beyond just the probes’ closest approach to Earth to test this hypothesis further.

Sources: arXiv, arXiv blog

September 5, 2008April 26, 2016 by Ian O'Neill

Goodbye Jules Verne: ATV Undocks From Station

The scene inside ESA mission control as the ATV backs away from the station (ESA)

[/caption]
Europe’s most advanced robotic spaceship, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), has effectively ended its 6-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It successfully undocked today (Friday) at 21:29 GMT to begin its slow 3 week journey toward the Earth’s atmosphere where it is set for re-entry on September 29th. This was the first ever ATV to be launched and was named after the 19th Century novelist, Jules Verne; another four ATVs are scheduled for construction. Jules Verne’s re-entry is set for night time over an uninhabited region of the Pacific Ocean and NASA will use this opportunity to monitor the fireball so the characteristics of re-entering spacecraft can be studied…

It might seem like a waste – after all, the ATV cost 1.3 billion euros or 1.9 billion dollars to build – but Jules Verne was designed to be a single-use, disposable resupply ship for the space station. However, its duties as a supply ship weren’t restricted to grocery deliveries. After it was launched in March, the ATV underwent a series of tests in space to prepare it for arrival at the station on April 3rd. When attached to the station, the ATV surpassed all expectations and performed many tasks that hadn’t been considered by mission control. Although the ATV provided a valuable re-boost option for the station (four times in total), it also provided the thrust to slow the ISS down to avoid a chunk of satellite debris in August. The ship was also a welcome retreat for the crew of the station, giving them a roomy volume for recreation and cleaning chores. I think Jules Verne will be sorely missed.

So, like the Russian Progress 29 resupply ship that was dropped from the station on Wednesday, Jules Verne was packed up with several tonnes of trash and unwanted equipment from the ISS and jettisoned into space.

The ATV will now use its remaining fuel to park its 13.5 tonne mass in a new orbit for the following three weeks before it is commanded to drop from orbit and begin re-entry. Jules Verne’s fiery suicide will happen at night so scientists can gain an insight into how large objects behave when they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. To monitor the event, NASA will deploy two aircraft with radar, UV and other sensors to track the incoming ATV.

“Even though our schedule has been very busy at the ATV Control Centre, I couldn’t have wished for a better mission,” – Herve Come, ESA’s ATV lead mission director.

Sources: ESA, AFP

August 29, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

Countdown to the Final Burn: ATV Jules Verne will Undock on September 5th

The ATV on approach to the station in April. Mission will end next month (ESA/NASA)

[/caption]
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (A T V) Jules Verne will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on September 5th to begin three weeks of autonomous flight, setting it up for a suicidal re-entry on September 29th. The ATV has been loaded with refuse and unwanted equipment from the ISS set to burn up in the Earth’s upper atmosphere marking the end of the life of Europe’s most advanced space vehicle. To record the event, both NASA and the European Space Agency will be photographing and videoing the descent…

The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos announced the date for the end of the Jules Verne mission to the ISS on Thursday. This news comes after a highly successful period for the European ATV, proving the ATV can be used for extensive re-supply tasks and provide the station with a valuable re-boost and space debris avoidance options.

This first ATV, also known as “Jules Verne” (as it delivered two original manuscripts written by the 19th Century author to the station), was launched from French Guiana in South America on board an Ariane-5 heavy-lift rocket on March 5th. During this busy time for the Space Station, the ATV had to remain in a “parking orbit” for nearly a month before delivering supplies to the ISS crew on April 3th. Only when Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-123) had undocked and landed on March 26th could the ATV approach and dock.

Since then, the ATV has proven to be a valuable addition to the station, surpassing all expectations. The ISS crew will miss Jules Verne as the roomy temporary supply vessel has provided a great area for the crew to sleep and wash, plus one of its empty tanks has been used to store 110 litres of condensation water. These extra (unexpected) uses prompted mission control to extend the life of the mission for an extra month.

But all good things come to an end and the ATV will undock on September 5th to begin its journey back to Earth as a fireball at the end of September. The ATV will be dropping up to six tonnes of unwanted equipment and waste from the station into a pre-designated area of the Pacific Ocean. But ESA and NASA will be watching, photographing and videoing Jules Verne’s final service to the ISS crew…

Source: Red Orbit