NASA readies next-gen engines for deeper space missions

By IANS, Washington: NASA has successfully completed the first developmental test series on "super" engines that will power its mega Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on missions deeper into space than ever before, including Mars. The test series wrapped up with a seventh hot fire test of a developmental RS-25 engine at NASA s Stennis Space Center in Bay St Louis, Mississippi, on Thursday. The test ran for a full-duration of 535 seconds. "The completion of this test series is an important step in getting SLS ready for the journey to Mars," said Steve Wofford, engines manager at NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in a statement. The RS-25 engine gives 77-tonnes SLS a proven, high performance and affordable main propulsion system. "It is one of the most experienced large rocket engines in the world, with more than a million seconds of ground test and flight operations time," he added. The test series was designed to collect valuable data on performance of the RS-25 engine. Of particular interest is data that will aid in development of a new engine controller, or "brain" to monitor engine status and communicate programmed performance needs. "These are extremely reliable engines. We are testing them because we want to mitigate any risks on the ground before flight," Wofford noted. Four RS-25 engines will help power the SLS core stage during launch. Firing simultaneously at 109 percent of its operating level, the engines will provide approximately two million pounds of thrust. The engines will operate in conjunction with a pair of five-segment solid rocket boosters for a total of 8.4 million pounds of thrust to lift the SLS off the launch pad. The SLS eventually will evolve to a 143-tonnes configuration that will enable missions to such deep space destinations as an asteroid and Mars. Source: Article, Source: flickr.com

Read More........→September 01, 2015

Nasa's Messenger Spacecraft Slams Into Mercury

The Boeing Delta II rocket launched NASA's Messenger mission in 2004

Lee Kyung-HO: The first ever spacecraft to orbit Mercury plunges into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour. NASA's Messenger spacecraft has slammed into the surface of the planet Mercury, ending a successful 11-year-mission. The probe, the first ever to orbit Mercury, had run out of fuel and crashed into the planet's surface at a speed of 8,750 miles per hour. The impact from the crash carved out an estimated 52ft-wide crater. During its mission the spacecraft completed 4,104 orbits of Mercury and collected more than 277,000 images. "A NASA planetary exploration mission came to a planned, but nonetheless dramatic, end Thursday when it slammed into Mercury's surface at about 8,750 miles per hour and created a new crater on the planet's surface," NASA said in a statement. The space

The surface of Mercury in a combination image released by NASA in April 2015. The space probe is expected to end its orbit and make a crash landing into the planet on 30 April

agency added that the mission, which began in 2004, had achieved "unprecedented success". "Going out with a bang as it impacts the surface of Mercury, we are celebrating MESSENGER as more than a successful mission," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The MESSENGER mission will continue to provide scientists with a bonanza of new results as we begin the next phase of this mission - analysing the exciting data already in the archives, and unravelling the mysteries of Mercury."Source: Article

Read More........→August 22, 2015

Cost of human missions to the Moon and Mars could be shrunk by a factor of ten

Through private and international partnerships, the cost of colonising other worlds could be reduced by 90 percent, according to a joint study released by the National Space Society and the Space Frontier Foundation and reviewed by an independent team of NASA experts.

The National Space Society (NSS) and Space Frontier Foundation (SFF) have announced their support for NASA’s funding of the newly released NexGen Space study, illustrating how to cut the cost of human space exploration by a factor of 10. The study, “Economic Assessment and Systems Analysis of an Evolvable Lunar Architecture that Leverages Commercial Space Capabilities and Public – Private – Partnerships”, finds that public-private partnerships could return humans to the Moon for approximately 90% less than the previously estimated $100 billion, allowing the United States to ensure national security in a new space age. “The Space Frontier Foundation supports and recommends public-private partnerships in all proposed human spaceflight programs in order to reduce costs and enable these missions that were previously unaffordable,” said the Space Frontier Foundation’s Chairman of the Board, Jeff Feige. “This is the way that America will settle the final frontier, save taxpayers money and usher in a new era of economic growth and STEM innovation.” 

NSS and SFF call attention to these conclusions from the study:

• Through public-private partnerships, NASA could return humans to the surface of the Moon and develop a permanent lunar base with its currenthuman spaceflight budget.
• Mining fuel from lunar poles and transporting it to lunar orbit for use by other spacecraft reduces the cost of sending humans to Mars and other locations beyond low Earth orbit. These commercial fuel depots in lunar orbit have the potential to cut the cost of sending humans to Mars by more than $10 billion per year.

“NSS congratulates NASA for funding the team at NexGen that discovered how such cost reductions are possible,” said Mark Hopkins, the NSS Executive Committee Chair. “A factor of ten reduction in cost changes everything.” Recent contracts with Boeing and SpaceX are just one example of how partnerships can work and may help with more ambitious projects in the future. The latter spent only $440 million developing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule, where NASA would have spent $4 billion. SpaceX has also been developing areusable rocket that aims to dramatically cut launch costs. Extracting and refining resources on the Moon, rather than having them delivered up from Earth to the lunar surface, could save a great deal of money too. There are many other examples of cost-saving measures. Click here to read the executive summary andhere to download the full report.Source: Article

Read More........→August 06, 2015

Isro's PSLV-C28 successfully places 5 British satellites in orbit

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Friday successfully launched five British commercial satellites aboard its PSLV-C28 launch vehicle from its space port in Sriharikota, marking its heaviest commercial mission ever. ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C28, in its 13th flight, placed the five satellites, including three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites, in sun synchronous orbit about 20 minutes after lift-off at 9.58 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, were launched into a 647 km sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL). ''It's been a wonderful mission… an extremely successful mission,'' a beaming ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar said from the Mission Control Centre. The three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) of the United Kingdom. The PSLV-C28 also carried two auxiliary satellites from the UK, viz, CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology demonstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre. PSLV-C28 will be the ninth flight of the launch vehicle in 'XL' configuration. With the overall lift-off mass of 1,440 kg of the five satellites, this launch becomes the heaviest commercial mission till date undertaken by Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO . Accommodating the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3 metre within the existing payload fairing of PSLV was a challenge, according to Isro. To mount these satellites onto the launcher, Isro designed a circular launcher adaptor called L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2). These international customer satellites have been launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK and Isro's Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix). The DMC3 constellation, comprising of three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical earth observation. Launched into a single low-earth orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120° between them, these satellites can image any target on the Earth's surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters. CBNT-1, weighing 91 kg, is an optical earth observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL. The 7-kg De-orbitSail from Surrey Space Centre, is an experimental nano satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail. Source: Article 

Read More........→July 19, 2015

After Mars, Isro aims for Venus probe in 2-3 years

A top French astrophysicist will be working with Isro team: Venus beckons India’s space scientists after their successful outing to Mars, and if everything goes according to plan, a home-grown probe should be cruising towards the brightest and hottest planet in the solar system in about two-and-a-half years, in yet another shot at understanding the evolution of the world. This mission to Venus could have a French connection as Prof. Jacques Blamont, a renowned astrophysicist and a friend of the late Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who was awarded the Padma Shri this year, has offered to help the Indian Space Research Organisation with gigantic balloons carrying several instruments but designed to pop in and out of the extremely hot atmosphere of the planet after being unfettered from the orbiter. “It is possible to build and launch the spacecraft in about two-and-a-half years. Dr Adimurthy (who, incidentally, wrote the first feasibility report on the Mars Orbiter Mission) and a big team at VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram) are working out all the details like the ideal launch window, the best orbit for the orbiter and the instruments to go on board,” Prof U.R. Rao, former chairman of Isro and head of the space agency’s Advisory Committee for Space Sciences, told this newspaper. He said Isro could bank on its workhorse rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which hurled Chandrayaan-I and MOM into space for its outing to Venus as well. Source: The Asian Age, Image: flickr.com

Read More........→July 11, 2015