Space news topic and space related news

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I will not be drawn into such a debate.
Been there, done that, it's old.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

On 18th of April 2013 it was announced 2 newly discovered planets by the Kepler telescope around the sun-like star Kepler-69. It was stated that the Kepler-69b was a Super-Venus planet and Kepler-69c a Super-Earth planet. No this is possibly wrong, that there may only be 2 Super-Venus planets orbiting Kepler-69, that Kepler-69c is a Super-Venus planet rather than a Super-Earth.
This is official news right from NASA.
The reason why this changed, is because it was difficult to accurately determine the habitable zone to the star Kepler-69.
http://www.space.com/23209-super-earth-super-venus-nasa.html

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

There is a possibility that the comet C/2012 X1(LINEAR) will break apart any moment. Astronomers have detected an outburst. It is a bit weird when the comet is so far away from the Sun. The comet is 2.28 AU from the Sun, and 2.9 AU from Earth. There is not yet any information if the comet is intact or a big piece exploded of it.

"As noted by Spaceweather.com's Tony Phillips, this explosion does not necessarily mean the comet has been blown apart. A vein or cavern in the cometary nucleus may have been exposed to sunlight, causing rapid evaporation of the volatiles. The rapid sublimation of ices could be injecting gas and dust into the coma, generating its current appearance. Only followup observations over the coming weeks will confirm the outburst's true nature and whether the comet survived the eruption intact."

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/comet-explosion-observed-is-it-doomed-131022.htm

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Les Johnson discuss interstellar space travel at the EVE Online conference in Las Vegas. Les Johnson is a rocket-scientist, and also a physicist.

http://news.discovery.com/space/galaxies/want-a-starship-think-big-think-really-big-131029.htm

EVE Vegas 2013: Make EVE Real - Going Interstellar

[Taronyu Leleioae]

For those in the northeast US and central Africa...
Rare hybrid eclipse this Sunday 3 NOV 2013 at 06:30 (am) for the east coast.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/31/hybrid-solar-eclipse-2013-november-3-sunday_n_4178648.html

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

I hadn't heard of a hybrid eclipse before. I had to look it up. It starts as an annular eclipse at the beginning of its track (and a very thin annular eclipse at that), and ends as a total eclipse.

I have some really awesome pictures of the June 20, 2012 annular eclipse, whose path of annularity went right over where I live. However, they were shot on film and need to be scanned in. Our astronomy club (which I was president of at the time) was out in force with the local planetarium. A little under 1,000 people were expected. 3,000 people showed up!

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

India has now sent their first Mars probe to the Red Planet.

http://www.space.com/23464-india-launches-mars-orbiter-mission.html

India's first-ever mission to Mars launched into space today (Nov. 5), beginning the country's first interplanetary mission to explore the solar system.

With a thunderous roar, India's Mars Orbiter Mission rocketed into space at 4:08 a.m. EST (0908 GMT) from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, where the local time will be 2:38 p.m. in the afternoon. An ISRO Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched the probe on its 300-day trek into orbit around the Red Planet.

"The journey has only just begun," said ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan after the successful launch. [India's First Mars Mission (Photos)]


Less than an hour after liftoff,  Radhakrishnan reported that India's Mars probe successfully entered a staging orbit around Earth. Mars Orbiter Mission director Kunhi Krishnan describing the launch as a start to a "grand and glorious" mission.

If all goes well, India's first Mars orbiter — called Mangalyaan (Hindi for "Mars Craft") — will arrive at the Red Planet on Sept. 24, 2014, making India the fourth country to successfully deliver a spacecraft to Mars. The $73.5 million Mangalyaan spacecraft weighs 2,980 pounds (1,350 kilograms). Through the course of several orbits, the spacecraft will perform a series of maneuvers to place it on a path to Mars.



Once at Mars, the probe will explore the surface features of the Red Planet and probe its atmosphere for signs of nonbiological or microbe-emitted methane. The spacecraft is also designed to test technology used for navigation, communication and interplanetary space travel, ISRO officials have said.

"We have a lot to understand about the universe, the solar system where we live in, and it has been humankind's quest from the beginning," Radhakrishnan told the Associated Press before launch.

If the probe reaches Mars, it will make India the fourth country (or collaboration of countries) to reach the Red Planet after the former Soviet Union, the United States and Europe. Nearly two-thirds of the 51 missions ever launched to Mars have failed.

"To visit another planet is a fantastic thing, the biggest thing," space scientist Yash Pal, a former chairman of India's University Grants Commission who was not involved in developing the Mars mission, told the Associated Press. "If you can afford airplanes and war machines, you can certainly spend something to fulfill the dreams of young people."

The Mangalyaan orbiter is carrying five instruments to Mars:

Lyman Alpha Photometer used to measure the loss process of water from the planet.
Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer to create a map of the Martian surface.
Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer to study Mars' atmosphere.
Mars Color Camera to take pictures of Mars' surfaces and Martian weather events. The camera will also take photos of moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos.
Methane Sensor for Mars will search for methane in the atmosphere of Mars.
India's Mars mission follows the country's Chandrayaan 1 moon orbiter mission, which helped detect evidence of water ice on the lunar surface. The ISRO is also developing Chandrayaan 2, a follow-up mission, to continue its lunar exploration.

India is not the only country launching a mission to Mars this month. In the United States, NASA is planning to launch its own Mars orbiter — called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (Maven) — on Nov. 18.

NASA's Maven mission to Mars is designed to study the Martian atmosphere in unprecedented detail. The $671 million mission is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Launch of PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Mission - Live from Sriharikota

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

NASA is prepping for the next mission to Mars which will start on monday next week. On monday next week, the MAVEN spacecraft-probe will be launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket 1:28 p.m. EST (1828 GMT) , heading towards the "Red Planet".

The spacecraft's launch window officially extends from Nov. 18 to Dec. 7, but if the mission doesn't lift off before Dec. 23, the team will have to wait until January 2016 before Mars and Earth are ideally aligned for another attempt, MAVEN mission managers said.
NASA's MAVEN mission will take about 10 months to reach Mars after launching from Florida. Once in orbit around the Red Planet, the spacecraft will study the planet's upper atmosphere to help scientists determine how Mars turned into the cold desert it is today.

Scientists think that Mars was once a warm, wet world billions of years ago, but at some point in the planet's evolution that changed. Mars' atmosphere was lost to space possibly due to the sun's influence and other factors, and NASA is sending the school bus-sized MAVEN to Mars to look into how the planet actually lost its atmosphere, mission scientists explained.
"If you look outside of the [science] community, there's quite an interest in this mission," Baez said. "You wouldn't think so in that it's not as sexy as the rovers going over the planet, [but] this is kind of like a weather satellite for Mars providing relay and it's real science."
The $671 million MAVEN mission will spend at least one Earth year investigating the Martian atmosphere, and will be the 10th orbiter NASA has launched to Mars. It will join three other probes currently active in orbit around Mars: Mars Odyssey, the European Space Agency's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

http://www.space.com/23610-mars-maven-mission-launch-ready.html

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

MAVEN on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Ready for monday's launch towards the "Red Planet" Mars.
MAVEN Rolls to the Launch Pad

[archaic]

Interesting to see they've finally retired the tracked crawlers, and taken up the Soviet system of railroad track!

It's a commie plot I tell you!

Actually it seems pretty sensible if you ask me, it's a mature technology, relatively cheap, if an engine fails you just unhitch that locomotive and hitch up a spare. Spareparts are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Just please don't let Amtrack run it!


Actually, Nasa's refurbing and upgrading them for the SLS and extending their operational status for the foreseeable future.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

The Path Toward Humans to Mars - Commercial Crew Program Briefing

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Damn, that's a lot of power from a rocket

Liftoff of the MAVEN spacecraft-probe on a Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. MAVEN is on it's way to Mars.
Liftoff of MAVEN
NASA Manager Discusses MAVEN Launch

MAVEN separates from Centaur Upper Stage. Successfull
MAVEN Separates from Centaur Upper Stage

NASA Administrator Congratulates MAVEN Launch Team


Link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Interesting to see they've finally retired the tracked crawlers, and taken up the Soviet system of railroad track!

It's a commie plot I tell you!

Actually it seems pretty sensible if you ask me, it's a mature technology, relatively cheap, if an engine fails you just unhitch that locomotive and hitch up a spare. Spareparts are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Just please don't let Amtrack run it!


Actually, Nasa's refurbing and upgrading them for the SLS and extending their operational status for the foreseeable future.

I checked that out as well, after seeing the locomotives, or whatever. Crawler-transporter 2 is about halfway through a major retrofit for the SLS. It will increase its capacity from approximately 12 million to 18 million pounds. As a test, they have been moving around one of the shuttle mobile launch platforms. No word, though on what is happening with crawler-transporter 1.  In any case, they are really cool vehicles, and I'm glad they are getting a new lease on life!

[Taronyu Leleioae]

NASA will perform a unique launch from Virginia site (mid Atlantic / east coast US) at about 7:30pm today 11/19.

Sending up a rocket carrying 29 small satellites at once.  Cost effective, if it's successful.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/will-you-be-able-see-record-setting-rocket-launch-tonight-20131119

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The first was completed 1964, the second in 1965, they're almost fifty years old now, and when the rebuild is complete they'll be ready for maybe another fifty years.
So by the time they come to be finally retired, they could be one hundred years old?

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

As long as they are structurally intact, they could last longer than that.

I first got interested in the crawler-transporters when Road and Track magazine 'road-tested' them for an April issue sometime in the 1980's. Lacking any official model number, they dubbed them the 'KSC 554,756' for 'Kaiser Steamshovel Company (the builders) and 554,756 being the total displacement of all the engines on board. Besides being hilariously funny, the article was full of interesting facts about these unique vehicles.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Here is the first manned mission to Mars, which will start in about 4 years. This is a really exciting mission.

http://www.space.com/23671-inspiration-mars-manned-flyby-mission-details.html




A nonprofit space exploration group revealed today (Nov. 20) exactly how it plans to launch two married astronauts on an ambitious manned flyby mission to the Red Planet by early 2018, a scenario that would involve NASA and federal funding along with a healthy dose of the pioneering spirit.

The Inspiration Mars project — which is led by multimillionaire Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist — hopes to partner with NASA, using much of the space agency's equipment and expertise as well as an infusion of federal money to get off the launch pad by early January 2018.

"Perhaps several hundred million dollars in new federal spending can make this mission happen," Inspiration Mars officials wrote in a report, released today, that outlines the mission's proposed architecture. "We now call on our nation's leaders to seize this singular opportunity to begin human exploration of the solar system and affirm America's leadership throughout the world."

The proposed "Mission for America" would launch a married couple toward the Red Planet sometime between Dec. 25, 2017 and Jan. 5, 2018, to take advantage of a rare favorable alignment of Mars and Earth.

The two astronauts would not land on the Red Planet but would cruise within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of its surface before heading back home, eventually touching down on Earth in May 2019 after spending 501 days in space.

The flyby mission will help inspire the next generation of researchers and engineers, preserving America's competitive edge in science and technology, Inspiration Mars officials say. It should also lay the foundation for even more ambitious manned exploration of the solar system, they add.

"There'll be a lot of science return and techology return," Taber MacCallum, Inspiration Mars' chief technology officer, told reporters during a teleconference today. "We will, I think, sort of break the sound barrier for going to Mars and back, enabling a range of missions to occur in the future."

The current mission plan, as outlined in the report, calls for using NASA's Space Launch System mega-rocket (SLS), which is in development with a first flight slated for late 2017.
The flyby mission would require two launches in quick succession. In the first liftoff, an SLS would loft four payloads to Earth orbit: an SLS upper-stage rocket; a 600-cubic-foot habitat module derived from Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo vessel; a service module that would support the habitat module with power, propulsion and communications systems; and an Earth re-entry pod, which would be based on NASA's Orion capsule.

The second launch — this one likely using a commercial rocket — would deliver the two astronauts to orbit aboard a yet-to-be-selected private spaceship. The crewmembers would then transfer to the habitat module, and the SLS upper stage would propel them on toward Mars.

The married couple would spend virtually the entire mission in the habitat module, transferring to the re-entry pod in the last few hours of the mission.

Inspiration Mars officials acknowledge that making all of this happen will be challenging. The re-entry pod, for example, will have to protect the astronauts from the blazing heat generated when it slams into Earth's atmosphere at about 32,000 mph (51,500 km/h).

But it can be done, and the current plan — which emphasizes the use of technology already proven or in development whenever possible — gives the mission the best chance of success, Inspiration Mars officials say.

"We submit this report with unreserved faith in the men and women of NASA, with a singleminded commitment to surmounting every obstacle, and with complete confidence that this mission can be done," they write in the report.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Exciting news from NASA space fans.

NASA has officially revealed new space missions that will take us further out in the solarsystem, even beyond Mars. NASA has revealed a mission to the mysterious planet Uranus that will send a payload in orbit around Uranus and descend a probe to its atmosphere. Another mission is to send a spacecraft-probe very close to our Sun. Another mission is to send an advanced high-tech space-telescope in orbit between Earth and the Sun to search after exoplanets and find life anywhere else in the galaxy. The telescope has been named ATLAST Space Telescope. Another mission is to set up a new space station(outpost) in translunar orbit.

These are missions that Boeing and NASA will work together with.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/11/new-sls-options-new-large-upper-stage/


Translunar space station
Building off of NASA's recently announced initiative to use some of the opening missions of SLS to capture an asteroid and bring it Earth-local space, Boeing identifies the construction of a translunar outpost as critical to the success of this endeavor.

As stated by Boeing, "Building a translunar outpost is an important first step in retrieving an asteroid, returning to the moon or venturing to Mars."
Based on NASA's intention to use SLS in a "phased development plan" that will increase SLS's payload lift capability to increasingly larger payloads, Boeing notes that "The SLS will be ideally suited to deliver a variety of payloads to translunar space.

"A SLS/LUS could launch multiple translunar elements simultaneously, reducing the number of overall launches and decreasing the time required to assemble a translunar outpost."

Reducing the number of launches needed to loft a translunar outpost by the simple addition of the new LUS (machined from already-existing hardware) would add to the promised cost-effectiveness of the SLS rocket – something that has been seen in the initial design cycles of the rocket with the use of numerous Shuttle-Derived Technology components.
Furthermore, a translunar outpost could be used as "An Exploration Platform ... [that] would improve the science and technical return of the early missions while also increasing Orion capability through resource provision and providing an abort location and safe haven for vehicle contingencies," states the Boeing presentation.

This would allow for increased mission duration and safety as well as expanded mission options including sorties to the moon and use of the outpost as an exploration platform from which to commence travel to NEOs (Near Earth Objects) and NEAs (Near Earth Asteroids).

While the proposed configuration of this Exploration Platform in translunar space is just that, a proposal, Boeing has identified several preliminary characteristics of the platform.
These include input and construction assistance from the international space community, notably the Russian Federal Space Agency's prime contract company RSC Energia – with whom Boeing has already performed an initial proposal study.

According to Boeing, "Russian systems are well developed and ideal for these new uses, such as adapting current Russian Science Power Module (SPM) and node designs for translunar use."

However, RSC Energia, upon studying the initial proposal, identified a hybrid module as the best option for an Exploration Platform in translunar space.


New type of liftoff-vehicle
According to the Boeing report, this hybrid module would "shorten the pressurized section of the SPM and add a new node/docking ball section."

The proposal calls for this new node and docking ball section to be constructed from a Shuttle-salvaged Orbiter Docking System with added "flight-proven Boeing 702 satellite systems."
Together, this hybrid module and new node/docking ball section would "create an independent, fully functional vehicle with two NASA Docking Standard (NDS) systems for docking operations with visiting vehicles."
Following the launch and placement of the hybrid module and node/docking ball sections, the SLS with LUS would launch a crewed Orion spacecraft and habitat module (based off the remaining ISS Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules – MPLMs) in a single launch.

Following launch, the LUS would be used to conduct a translunar insertion burn to send Orion and the habitat module on their way to the proper location.

After departing Earth orbit, the Orion would detach from the main spacecraft, turn around 180 degrees (like Apollo used to during the moon landing missions), and then dock to the habitat module.
The combined Orion/habitat module vehicle would then separate from the expended LUS and fly to the SPM-derived core component of the Exploration Platform.
The modified MPLM habitat module would have its Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) replaced with an NDS and have its non-CBM end modified to include another NDS.

Its internal space would be modified to maximize habitable volume – something that wasn't possible with the MPLMs' use for transfer of removable racks to and from the ISS during Shuttle missions.

The new internal volume space would include: "crew living quarters, medical services, exercise equipment, a galley and payload facilities, as well as additional core systems hardware for redundancy."

According to the Boeing presentation, "these three elements ... form a very capable Exploration Platform that would enable and significantly enhance human operation in translunar space.

"Using the SLS/LUS would allow the Exploration Platform to be constructed and crewed in only two launches, as opposed to the four missions required using SLS/ICPS (interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage), thus saving cost and significantly shortening the time required to start accruing the benefits of a crewed Exploration Platform in translunar space."


Habitat module



Large Crew Habitat Emplacement
Aside from the translunar outpost and Exploration Platform, Boeing also outlines the SLS/LUS duo's launch ability for Bigelow's BA-2100 inflatable habitat module.

"SLS allows delivery of the BA-2100 via direct insertion to a low earth orbit and is the only launch vehicle capable of delivering a payload this large to LEO," notes the Boeing presentation.
Bigelow's BA-2100 inflatable module is considered a self-sufficient module for "long duration human habitation" capable of expanding, after launch, to 2100 cubic meters of pressurized volume.

The module itself would carry all the supplies and equipment needed for its mission, which can range from a commercial space hotel to a proving ground for independent scientific research modules.

For SLS/LUS's part, the BA-2100 could be inserted directly in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

Boeing further defines SLS as the only vehicle capable of launching BA-2100 into LEO because of the module's large nature.

According to Boeing, "SLS provides significant mass margin [for BA-2100] that could be used for additional crew consumables or water for radiation protection or additional payloads."


ATLAST Space Telescope
Moving beyond the immediate Earth area, Boeing also identifies several beyond Earth missions that SLS could accomplish easier and in a more cost-effective manner than already existing launchers can.

One of these missions is a proposed ATLAST Space Telescope mission.
Defined as a telescope to "Characterize Exoplanets and search for signs of life," Boeing states that SLS would be able to loft this 8m monolithic or 16m deployable ATLAST telescope to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point in a single launch.

The current crop of existing EELVs (Enhanced Expendable Launch Vehicles – e.g. Atlas V and Delta IV) would require multiple launches and in-space assembly of the same type of telescope.

As presented in the Boeing presentation, "A monolithic aperture is better than a segmented aperture."
The currently under development James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is using a segmented, deployed mirror architecture "only because it is the only way to launch a 6.5 meter aperture observatory with a 4.5 meter diameter rocket."

Since a monolithic mirror can "achieve diffraction-limited performance at a shorter wavelength than a segmented mirror with much difficulty, complexity, cost and risk," SLS is a more effective launcher for large-scale space telescopes.

Specifically, the Boeing presentation notes that the ATLAST telescope would be capable of observing "~85 stars 3 times each in a 5-year period, probe super massive black holes (SMBHs), conduct direct measurements of the mass of high redshift SMBHs, enable star formation histories to be reconstructed for hundreds of galaxies, track how and when galaxies assemble their present stars, and measure the mean density profile of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph).

This type of telescope would have 10 times the resolution of the coming JWST and 300 times the resolution power of the Hubble Space Telescope.



Solar probe, Earth-Sun orbit
Moving out ever further, Boeing identifies the SLS/LUS capabilities for a proposed Solar Probe 2 mission – the first probe capable of consistent and multiple close encounters with the sun.
For this particular mission, Boeing states that "Solar Probe 2 will provide researchers both in-situ measurements and imagery supporting corona heating and solar wind acceleration investigations."

The probe could also be used as part of a fleet of spacecraft to "develop critical forecasting capability of the space radiation environment in support of human and robotic exploration" of the solar system.

Specifically, the SLS/LUS duo would be capable of placing the Solar Probe 2 into a solar orbit with a low perihelion (minimum of 5 solar radii).


Spacecraft-probe to Uranus
Finally, Boeing outlines the 1.7mt payload delivery possibly of the SLS/LUS to planet Uranus.
According to the presentation, the SLS with the LUS would be able to "Deliver a small payload into orbit around Uranus and a shallow probe into the planet's atmosphere."

The Uranian mission would be able to study the ice giant's atmosphere and magnetic characteristics, identify the dispersal of heat emissions from Uranus's atmosphere, perform close and detailed fly-bys of the planet's moons (like Cassini currently does at Saturn), and improve our understanding of the "gravitational harmonics of the planet."

Boeing states that utilization of SLS/LUS for this mission would not only shorten the travel time between Earth and Uranus, but also provide for the incorporation of increased spacecraft mass, thereby allowing for the elimination of the need for a Solar Electric Power stage to the payload.

(Images: Via L2 content from L2′s SLS specific L2 section, which includes, presentations, videos, graphics and internal – interactive with actual SLS engineers – updates on the SLS and HLV, available on no other site. Other images via NASA, Boeing)

(L2 is – as it has been for the past several years – providing full exclusive SLS and Exploration Planning coverage.  To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

All way cool ideas, but where is the money going to come from?

For the private Mars mission, why do just a flyby? It seems like a waste of effort, although we did do Apollo 8 and 10 before actually landing on the moon.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

All way cool ideas, but where is the money going to come from?

For the private Mars mission, why do just a flyby? It seems like a waste of effort, although we did do Apollo 8 and 10 before actually landing on the moon.

I think Boeing will invest in some of the budget of the missions.