Space News thread

[Takeovers]

Two fresh failures of russian space.

Another proton failed. It seems to have dropped somewhere in China. Launch video seems to show some problem immediately after launch. But worse news is that a Briz upper stage failed. That is the same family of upper stages that failed on the last Progress resupply mission for the ISS and is needed for Soyuz manned flights as well. The flight was carrying MexSat-1 a satellite built by Boeing for the mexican government.

ÔÅÄÅÐÀËÜÍÎÅ ÊÎÑÌÈ×ÅÑÊÎÅ ÀÃÅÍÒÑÒÂÎ (ÐÎÑÊÎÑÌÎÑ)|

Also a planned ISS reboost failed for yet unknown reasons.

Until they fix this unreliable upper stage the existence of ISS may be in jeopardy. The last sentence is my personal comment only.

[Takeovers]

The youtube video of the start. Look around 20s into the video for first indications of problems.



Proton launches have been put on halt as a consequence.

http://www.interfax.ru/russia/442018

[Necron99]

Their next 50 million dollar space tourist has also pulled out out their scheduled trip....

[Takeovers]

Their next 50 million dollar space tourist has also pulled out out their scheduled trip....

For family related reasons, she said.

Until today I would have flown on a Soyus capsule. Today I start having doubts. They need to fix their production and quality management systems. Failures can happen, space is hard. However they seem unable to identify and fix the root causes. Their failure rate is going up, not down.

They do have an escape system. However the conditions on escape are so harsh that it is survivable but barely and likely to cause lasting damage. The same is true for the old Apollo launch escape system though. SpaceShuttle did not have an escape system at all.

[Takeovers]

Found this on reddit.

This will be the 404th launch of proton! Please don't error!

People really shouldn't jinx it that way.

[harrybarracuda]

Their next 50 million dollar space tourist has also pulled out out their scheduled trip....

For family related reasons, she said.

Yes "I don't want to say goodbye to my family" would probably be the key one.

[harrybarracuda]

Planetary Society readies first test flight of solar sail technology
LightSail-1 will pave the way for future spacecraft to take advantage of cosmic solar winds for propulsion.
Tue, May 12, 2015 at 12:53 PM



Bill Nye holding the toaster-sized LightSail-1 solar sail spacecraft. (Photo: Planetary Society/Scott Schafer)

On May 20, a spacecraft roughly the size of a toaster will hitch a ride aboard an Atlas V rocket and soar to an altitude of 450 miles above Earth. Called the LightSail-1, the decades-in-the-making, privately funded $1.8 million mission from the Planetary Society will be the first step in testing a solar sail as a means of spacecraft propulsion.

"LightSail is technically wonderful, but it's also wonderfully romantic. We'll sail on sunbeams," Planetary Society CEO and "Science Guy" Bill Nye said in a statement earlier this year. "But wait, there’s more: this unique, remarkable spacecraft is funded entirely by private citizens, people who think spaceflight is cool."

I previously wrote about this mission in late January, but solar sail technology is back in the news thanks to a video posted by the Planetary Society featuring its co-founder, the late great astronomer Carl Sagan, appearing nearly 40 years ago on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson." In it, Sagan talks about solar sails and their potential to revolutionize space travel.

"There's a tremendously exciting prospect called solar sailing, which travels on the radiation and particles that come out of the sun — the wind from the sun," Sagan told Carson. "It works exactly as an ordinary sailboat does, so it can go out from the sun, it can tack inwards to the sun, and because it has a constant acceleration it can get you around the inner part of the solar system a lot faster and a lot more conveniently than the usual sorts of rocket propulsion."

While LightSail-1 won't achieve an orbit high enough to take advantage of solar radiation, it will unfurl its 344 square feet of Mylar sails as a proof of concept. Should all go well, the Planetary Society will prep the launch of LightSail-2 for a full-fledged solar sail flight in 2016.

"It's just an extraordinary idea," Sagan told Carson. "And there might be a time when we start doing it for planetary regattas. It's a whole new kind of idea."

We can't wait to see Sagan's vision come to life. You can check out a live stream of the May 20 launch event here.


Added: Is it me, or is Bill Nye obviously a Vulcan?

[Topper]

Does Bill look like an evil villain from a James Bond movie?

[Takeovers]

I would like to write a little more about the situation in russian space activities and my source for the informations.

Most of what I know is from a man who used to work in russian space industry during Soviet times. He is from a former Soviet Republic now independent. He still has contacts, is still a fan of space, russian and in general, and knows a lot even though he now lives in the West and no longer works in space industry. He is also extremely critical of Putins regime. Also many things he says I take with an appropriate grain of salt. He often talks about plans and developments of Roskosmos as if they are on the verge of realization, while in reality they are little more than drafts of ideas with little chance of realization.

The russian space industry and the russian counterpart to NASA, Roskosmos are in a deep crisis. However he says, that the structure is in a process of change. Very good people are now at the top. It will likely get better, but change so fundamental will need time, so still bad years ahead.

[Takeovers]

CNN on Chinas Space Program

CNN gains exclusive access to China's space city - CNN Video

I recommend clicking the link and looking the video.

Link to the article.

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2...d/china-space/

The sprawling complex in the north west of Beijing shares the same nondescript character of government compounds throughout China.
But look closer. Guard posts over here; military sentries checking IDs over there.
This is no ordinary facility. Space City is home to the Chinese government's most ambitious and expensive mega-project ever. They've dubbed it "Project 921," the manned-space program.
And foreign journalists are almost never let in.
After more than a year of phone calls and faxes, here we are, inside the simulation room of the astronaut training center.
The astronauts stride into the room according to rank: Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping.
They're three of China's best-known astronauts and the crew of the 2013 Shenzhou-10 mission, China's longest manned spaceflight yet.
They're roughly the same height and build in their blue jumpsuits and black military boots.
That's no accident. Chinese astronauts are all People's Liberation Army pilots and officers, they have university degrees, they are Communist Party members. And they need to be around the same height and under a certain weight.
You don't need to be superhuman to be an astronaut, says Commander Nie.
"We are just ordinary people," he says, "But, yes, certain aspects make us more suitable to fly space missions."
China's space program was first announced in the early 1970s, but the chaos of the Cultural Revolution stopped it in its tracks.
The program accelerated again in the early 1990s and space administrators picked two classes of astronauts in 1998 and 2010.
All of the crew of the 15-day Shenzhou-10 mission was passed over for missions at least once.
"When I wasn't selected for a mission, there was nothing I could do about it, so I just kept looking forward," says Zhang.
Zhang is the self-described joker of the group, able to lighten the mood during high-pressure situations. Still, he says he had to live through years of disappointments.
"I trained in this simulator for 15 years and I was in space for 15 days. So literally a day in space was a result of a year of training on the ground."
Perhaps the most famous of the group is Wang Yaping. She conducted a live space lecture for 60 million students across China during the mission.
"I remember, I watched the launch of the first Chinese astronaut into space with my fellow pilots," says Wang, who flew a transport plane for the PLA.
"I saw the fireball come out of the rocket and a thought just popped into my head: 'The first Chinese man just flew into space. When will the first female astronaut from China get there?'"
After years of training, you would think that it is all about the mission. But what happens when the space lectures and experiments are over?
"We really enjoyed the zero gravity situation in our spare time," says Wang. "It allowed us to practice tai chi upside down, it allowed us to float around like fish."

China's space program started late and is only now passing milestones the U.S. and Russia clocked years ago.
But, with the backing of the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party, it's going into space at a time when other world powers have scaled back on space exploration because of budget restraints or shifting priorities.
U.S. space technology is still "hands down the best in the world," says Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, but she says the U.S. lacks the political will to fund an ambitious manned spaceflight program, China's is the pride of the nation.
"It would cost the US $140 billion for a true moon and Mars exploration mission but sticker shock would kill it instantly," she says.
"In terms of perception, America has already ceded its leadership in exploration to China."
Inside Space City, Commander Nie -- who leads the manned space mission -- is more diplomatic.
"The United States and Russia started their programs early. They are the pioneers," he says.
"Our space development is not because of some space competition or trying to overtake anyone."
But the modern race to the stars is not just about money, it's driven by technological advances and cooperation.
The International Space Station (ISS) houses a veritable United Nations in space with 15 countries contributing including the U.S., Russia and Japan.
But not China.
China's 21 astronauts are locked out of the ISS, largely because of pressure from U.S. legislators.
In 2011, Congress banned NASA from working bilaterally with anyone from the Chinese space program on national security concerns.
But a recent exhaustive report for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says China's improving space capability "has negative sum consequences for U.S. military security."
"China is viewed as a foe, it is viewed as a government that seeks to take our intellectual property, national secrets and treasure and thus Congress is not willing to partner with them," says CNN space and aviation analyst Miles O'Brien.
"I think it is ultimately a mistake."
The Chinese government says its space program is peaceful and already cooperates with other nations.
The crew of the Shenzhou-10 seem keen to work with NASA.
"As an astronaut, I have a very strong desire to fly space missions with astronauts from other countries. And I look forward to the opportunity go to the International Space Station," says Nie.
He says foreign astronauts are welcome to visit China's own space station once it is launched.
The Chinese expect to finish their space station by 2022 -- around the time the International Space Station runs out of funding, potentially leaving China as the only country with a permanent presence in space.
"They are on a slow steady campaign. I think in the end, tortoise versus hare style, they will probably win," says O'Brien.

I too believe it is a grave mistake to keep China out of the ISS. It seems like the hobby horse of a single but influential US Senator. I don't think China is in a Space Race. But they are slowly but steadily building their program. Based on russian space tech but improving on it.

[Latindancer]

They're idiots. Only about 5 years ago, they shot down one of their own satellites as target practice, littering a huge orbit with debris.

[Takeovers]

They're idiots. Only about 5 years ago, they shot down one of their own satellites as target practice, littering a huge orbit with debris.

Yes, idiocy by their military, but they learned that it was a very bad idea. They won't do it again.

Edit: The US Airforce just littered space too. Had one of their spy satellites desintegrate by battery failure leaving many hundreds of debris pieces. Very bad design it seems.

[Takeovers]

You remember light mills?



A private organization, the Planetary Society has build a smallsat based on the principle that photons hitting a surface gives the object some thrust. The light sail project.

LightSail Team Prepares for Possible Tuesday Sail Deployment | The Planetary Society

Due to a software glitch contact to the satellite was lost. Their last hope was that some high energy particle of cosmic radiation would hit the computer in a way that it causes a reboot. This has now happened. The satellite started working again and contact was reestablished. They hope to unfurl the solar sails in a few days. There are still some problems but they are hopeful they can solve them.

The cubesat before launch.


This is how it will look, once the solar sail is opened.

[Takeovers]

A review of the Proton/Progress transporter has been completed. The translation of the statement of the russian Space Agency Roskosmos on Spacenews.

Russian Statement on Proton Failure Leaves Questions - SpaceNews.com

The Roscosmos Agency Commission investigating the failed launch of the Proton-M with the Centenario spacecraft May 16, 2015 from Baikonur Cosmodrome announced the outcomes of its work.
The commission members (representatives of the customer, Roscosmos and the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, heads of industry R&D institutes and production facilities) performed an analysis of the Proton-M and its components manufacturing process, the process of acceptance, transportation, testing and processing, as well as telemetry and ranging information.
Conclusion: Abnormal termination of the Proton-M flight was caused by the Stage 3 Steering Engine failure due to increased vibration loads occurring as a result of the imbalance of the turbo pump unit rotor caused by the degradation of its material properties at high temperatures, and improper balancing.
By the order of Roscosmos head Igor Komarov, Khrunichev Space Center and its subsidiaries are developing an action plan to address the causes of the accident, which includes:

• Changing materials used for the turbo pump rotor shaft manufacturing;
• Revision of the turbo pump rotor balancing techniques;
• Upgrade of the steering engine turbo pump mount to the main engine frame, and others.

The Commission also identified a number of deficiencies in the enterprises’ Quality Management System. An action plan to address these will be developed within a month.
The date of the Proton-M next launch will be announced by Roscosmos in June 2015.

The most worrying aspect is the "number of deficiencies in the enterprises' Quality Management System. It will take time to address them. There is also a blame game going on where responsibility is shifted on a few persons, not to say scapegoats. Firing them will NOT solve the problems.

I want to say again, that changes are already in the process but it will take years to stabilize the system and improve on present practice.

[Neo]

There's a couple of new innovations in solar sails, one is a new fabric construction that is stronger, lighter and expands in a more controlled motion, and the other is they found graphene when hit by a light particle gives back extra energy, which would add propulsion above that of the effect of sunlight alone. Don't know the details but they're out there.

[Neo]

Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank taken on June 4th 1965.


Alright it's old news but,...

[Takeovers]

There's a couple of new innovations in solar sails, one is a new fabric construction that is stronger, lighter and expands in a more controlled motion, and the other is they found graphene when hit by a light particle gives back extra energy, which would add propulsion above that of the effect of sunlight alone. Don't know the details but they're out there.

That grphene thing seems not accurate, there is serious doubt about the claim and feasibility. Serious problems with the physics behind it.

[Takeovers]

The latest video release by SpaceX. It is a payload fairing tumbling after separation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4_sLTe6-7SE

The story behind it. Someone found debris of a fairing in the sea at the Bahamas and it included a GoPro camera attached to it. Until that find it was unknown that there are cameras in the fairing. After it became known SpaceX released this video. A must see, just beautiful.

SpaceX had announced that they are working on recovering and reuse of the fairings. That's probably why the cameras are there.

[Takeovers]

New video released by NASA from images by the Dawn probe now orbiting this Dwarf Planet.

Mysterious are the bright spots. Speculation is they are water ice uncovered by recent impact of small meteorites. NASA scientists are declining to comment at this time before they have more data. Ceres is expected to have a very high amount of water.

It is computer animated but with real images from Dawn. This is only the beginning of a long science campaign while orbiting Ceres.

[Takeovers]

NASA is doing the second test of their LDSL - the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator. It will be tested in the high earth atmosphere. It may be used to decelerate probes for landing on Mars.



Here hanging on a crane the LDSL


The event is presently live on NASA TV. LDSL will be lifted into the stratosphere by a balloon, then accelerated by a small rocket to test its deceleration abilities.

During the live broadcast they talked about the balloon too. It is made of a very light but tough high tech material. Just the same as your shopping bag or garbage bag.

[Takeovers]

That NASA test failed, again. That LowDensitySupersonicDecelerator worked, but the parachute that should decelerate more after that failed. Just like on the first test a year ago. After that failure they redesigned the parachute and really expected it to work this time but it failed again. Problem is physics is against them. They are approaching the limits of what can be done with parachutes.

Probably they get this size to work in the end. But for any major Mars program they will need even much larger payloads and parachutes will not cut it. They will have to go for propulsive deceleration and landing.

To be clear, quite large loads can be landed using parachutes on earth. But this is supposed to work on Mars and the martian atmosphere is so thin that the effect of parachutes is very limited.

[Neo]

Over the weekend, the groundbreaking LightSail satellite unfurled its gigantic solar sail to help propel it through space.
Now, the first images to be beamed back from the satellite prove that it’s really up and running.

[Takeovers]

Over the weekend, the groundbreaking LightSail satellite unfurled its gigantic solar sail to help propel it through space. Now, the first images to be beamed back from the satellite prove that it’s really up and running.

Sweet success after many problems have been overcome. They can be proud. The sail will be stretched out more flat and smooth.

But to be correct. This is a technology demonstrator. It will go nowhere except burning up in the atmosphere any day now. Not by mistake, it was planned that way from the beginning. They have learned a lot and the next mission will hopefully work flawless when they send up the real thing that is then supposed to sail out on light.

[Takeovers]

The New Horizons mission.

The probe New Horizons is now closing in on its target after more than 9 years of flight. It launched on Jan. 19 2006. It will make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14 this year. Unfortunately it can make only a flyby. It is too fast to brake into orbit. But during the flyby it will collect a huge amount of scientific data. The data will be stored and then sent to earth over a period of more than a year. Transmission is slow due to limited power for transmission and the large distance. At the time these photos were taken it was still over 50 million km away from Pluto. But these images are alread very much better than anything the largest telescopes on earth or in orbit, like Hubble, can get.






After the flyby New Horizons will continue outward into the Kuiper Belt. A new target out there was selected and the exact trajectory of the flyby is being adjusted so it will be sent to that object by Pluto gravity. If everything goes well in many years another object out there can be observed and data and pictures will reach us.

I just checked. The date July 14 2015 for the flyby was already given directly after launch. That's impressive precision after such a long flight.

[Latindancer]

It seems that it is not a perfect sphere, by any means. Hadn't expected that.

Also, I see a mouth and 2 eyes, perhaps even a couple of ear bumps. Where's ENT when we really need him ???