From Aviation Week: Shuttle Lessons Applied To Commercial Crew
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) and other companies developing commercial crew transportation for the International Space Station (ISS) are applying the hard-won lessons of the space shuttle era as they develop their new vehicles, according to John Shannon, NASA’s last shuttle program manager.
The reason, in part, is that the commercial companies have hired experienced shuttle engineers away from NASA to help with the new vehicles being developed under the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) seed-money effort.
“I’m very saddened, but I feel very comfortable,” Shannon told the 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC). “I’ve lost three of my most senior shuttle people that were in the program, that I would trust doing anything, to commercial companies.”
Shannon presented engineering lessons learned during the 30-year shuttle program in a special hour-long IAC session moderated by his boss, William Gerstenmaier, associate NASA administrator for human exploration and operations. Taking four examples from the shuttle program — the digital flight control system, space shuttle main engine, thermal protection system (TPS) and external tank — Shannon says the program had the best results in those areas where testing and the search for improvements were continuous.
Engineers working flight software and the main engine continued to probe for the edge of the engineering envelopes in their systems throughout the life of the program, he says, using real software in simulations run with real crews and flight controllers, and pushing the boundaries of engine operations in hot-fire tests at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
As a result, the engines and flight software got better and better, overcoming inevitable development glitches to become extremely reliable in the later years of shuttle operations. By contrast, the TPS and tank projects did not have that “stay hungry” approach, with tragic results in the Columbia accident.
“If you think you can just design a rocket system and walk away from it, you’re wrong,” says Shannon, who advised the Columbia Accident Investigation Board before overseeing the return-to-flight efforts to prevent the tank from shedding foam, and to develop TPS inspection and repair techniques.
Shannon says it is “a little unfair” to suggest that the commercial companies working on new vehicles under CCDev may let their hunger for profits overshadow the stay-hungry approach he advocated.
“I love the fact that SpaceX, for example, is testing at McGregor [Texas] daily,” Shannon says. “They are doing propulsion testing like you ought to do propulsion testing. . . They’ve got a very hungry attitude in that they want to have problems that they can go correct and make the system more robust.”
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. both plan to fly cargo to the ISS commercially as early as next year, under NASA’s $500 million commercial orbital transportation services development cost-sharing program. Orbital suffered a setback when a fuel leak damaged an AJ26 engine during a test in June. Testing has resumed, and Shannon says that company, too, is taking the right approach.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
On travel til Wednesday
I'm visiting elderly relatives in Box Elder, SD who do not have internet.
Will try to sneak out now and again to an internet cafe to post, but more than likely will not be posting until Wedneday.
Will try to sneak out now and again to an internet cafe to post, but more than likely will not be posting until Wedneday.
Friday, October 7, 2011
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
From NASA: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Supporting America’s Exploration of Space, Working to Improve Life on Earth The unique resources, facilities and expertise at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are critical to advancing NASA's mission of exploration and discovery. The Marshall Center’s engineering capabilities, extensive experience in human spaceflight system development and ability to perform cutting-edge research in Earth and space sciences are vital to the work of the U.S. space program, the long-term success of the nation and the quality of human life across the planet.
The Marshall Center manages a broad and diverse portfolio of programs and projects. The center leads NASA's development of advanced spacecraft and launch vehicles designed to take human and robotic explorers deeper into the solar system than ever before. The center also manages the Chandra X-ray Observatory; the Discovery, New Frontiers and Lunar Quest programs; the Technology Demonstration Missions program; the Centennial Challenges program; the SERVIR environmental imaging network; and numerous other Earth and space science activities. Marshall also is responsible for science operations aboard the International Space Station. All these endeavors contribute to and sustain Marshall's long history of accomplishment, which includes creating the Saturn V rocket that launched America’s astronauts to the moon; Skylab, the world's first space station; Spacelab; the space shuttle’s propulsion elements; and development of the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Marshall Center is an experienced developer and integrator of launch systems and a premier developer and integrator of space systems for science and exploration, possessing the engineering capabilities to take hardware from preliminary design to operation in space. The Center’s cross-cutting capabilities in science and engineering have led to a key role in managing the next generation of space exploration systems, the heavy-lift Space Launch System.
One of NASA’s largest field centers, Marshall employs approximately 6,000 people, including roughly 2,400 civil service and 3,600 contractor employees, and has an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion.
Space Launch System Development
The future of space travel is evolving as NASA creates new launch and spaceflight vehicles that will provide the capability for crewed exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.
The Marshall Center manages and will deliver the systems needed for the next generation Space Launch System, or SLS -- development of which began in earnest in September 2011. The SLS program is developing the nation’s next advanced, heavy-lift vehicle -- the most powerful rocket ever built. Its design maximizes efficiency and minimizes cost by leveraging investments already made in legacy launch hardware and systems, while also using evolutionary advancements in launch vehicle design.
The initial launch vehicle configuration will have a lifting capacity of 70 metric tons. The rocket will be evolvable to a 130-metric-ton lift capacity and will be built around a core stage 27.5 feet in diameter, which will share common avionics with its upper stages. It will use a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propulsion system, relying on the space shuttle's RS-25 engine for the core stage and the J-2X engine for the upper stage. Dual, five-segment solid rocket boosters mounted to the sides of the tank will provide added power. The design of the dual boosters on later flights will be determined through competition based on cost, performance and interface requirements.
The Space Launch System will carry NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, cargo, equipment and science experiments to space. It also will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Its mission is to provide a safe, affordable and sustainable means of sending explorers on high-value missions to the moon, asteroids and other destinations in the solar system. Additionally, the vehicle will serve as a backup for commercial and international partner transportation services to the International Space Station.
NASA intends to launch the first, full-scale test flight of the Space Launch System by late 2017.
Leading NASA in rocket propulsion technology, Marshall has been launching spacecraft and explorers into space since the beginning of the U.S. space program. From Apollo to space shuttle, the center has played a critical role in transporting people, supplies, and science experiments into low Earth orbit. Engineers at Marshall designed and developed the shuttle main engines, the external fuel tank, and the solid rocket boosters, and continued to advance these key propulsion technologies to maintain the shuttle’s safe operation until its retirement in 2011.
National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems
Founded in 2011, the National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems, or NIRPS, is intended to provide stewardship of our nation’s propulsion capabilities, recognizing their vital role in national security, economic competitiveness and the continued exploration of space. The Institute, situated at the Marshall Center, will support the preservation and advancement of government and industry propulsion capabilities to meet current and future aerospace needs for civil and federal agencies.
The Institute will serve as a go-to source for NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense and commercial spaceflight solutions, and will assist with development and operational challenges that may occur as new propulsion systems come online. The Institute will contribute to the success of these ventures by providing each partner organization in need with a full range of design, development, test and evaluation support and technical expertise.
The Institute further will serve in the role of steward and integrator, merging information and industry status with all parties related to the industrial base and providing policy recommendations to the U.S. government and its agencies.
Retiring Shuttle and Transition
The Marshall Center is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and execution of all transition and retirement activities associated with the Shuttle Propulsion Office, the Ares Projects Office and associated Marshall institutional organizations. This responsibility includes identification and disposition of all requirements and issues associated with strategic capabilities; real and personal property; flight and ground hardware; records and data management; facilities; information technology assets and databases; and associated work force.
International Space Station Support
The International Space Station – the largest and most complex international scientific project in history – continually orbits the Earth every 90 minutes with a crew of six aboard. The Marshall Center has an important role in developing and sustaining space station hardware and science operations.
The Payload Operations Center at Marshall is NASA’s primary space station science command post, coordinating all U.S. scientific and commercial experiments on the station, as well as Earth-to-station science communications – 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The Marshall team also trains station crew members on experiments and ground controllers on monitoring those experiments. It also coordinates the payload activities of NASA’s international partners, including the Russian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Canadian Space Agency. The Payload Operations Center partners with control centers worldwide to plan, synchronize and monitor science activities and optimize the use of valuable on-orbit resources.
As the life of the International Space Station has been extended to 2020 and possibly beyond, Marshall continues to play an important role in station hardware development. Marshall manages development and design of the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which eliminates the need for constant resupply of water and oxygen from Earth.
Marshall also developed and manages Nodes 1, 2 and 3 -- modules which interconnect the station's laboratories, living quarters and other facilities -- and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, pressurized "moving vans" designed to transfer experiments and supplies to and from the station. The MPLM dubbed "Leonardo" is now a Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM. It is permanently attached to the space station to provide more room for supply storage.
A new Earth science observatory rack is providing the International Space Station with an eye in space, helping researchers keep watch over the Earth. The Window Observational Research Facility, or WORF, is helping NASA capture some of the most detailed images and information about our planet ever documented from an orbiting spacecraft. The WORF rack is designed to make the best possible use of the highest-quality optical science window ever flown on a crewed spacecraft. Meticulously calibrated before its installation, the window has been used by station astronauts since the American Destiny laboratory module became the keystone of space station research facilities in 2011.
Marshall designed and built the Microgravity Science Glovebox, an enclosed experiment facility over 7 feet tall, accessible through airtight "glovedoors," and delivered a standardized payload rack system for transporting, storing and supporting experiments on the station. The "EXPRESS" Rack -- Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station -- enables quick integration of multiple payloads in a streamlined approach.
The most recent rack delivered to the station is the Materials Science Research Rack-1, put into place in 2009 to enable researchers to study a variety of materials in pursuit of new and improved Earth and space applications. The rack allows for the on-orbit study of a variety of materials, including metals, ceramics, semiconductor crystals and glasses. The first processed American sample consisted of an aluminum and silicon alloy that was melted and then directionally solidified. Similar processing of various alloys is typically used to produce commercially important hardware and components such as high temperature turbine blades.
Exploring the Solar System and the Universe
Marshall space scientists are conducting astronomy, space science, astrophysics and heliophysics research into the scientific mysteries of the cosmos, supporting exploration of the solar system and seeking new understanding of the universe beyond.
More than ten years after launch, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, continues to rewrite textbooks with discoveries about our own solar system and images of celestial objects as far as billions of light years away. The Marshall Center was responsible for design, development and construction of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, which was launched in 1999. Marshall continues to manage Chandra operations and science activities.
The X-ray & Cryogenic Facility at Marshall, where both Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope mirrors were tested for spaceflight, currently is being used to perform cryogenic testing of ultra-precise mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope, intended in coming years to enable high-powered study of the formation of the first stars and galaxies and their evolution.
Marshall solar physicists and engineers continue to design instruments to help us learn more about the heart of our solar system -- the sun. Marshall’s sounding rocket program seeks to determine the strength and direction of magnetic fields in a region of the sun where the magnetic field has never been measured. Marshall scientists also are developing instrument prototypes for the Solar Probe Plus mission, set to launch in 2018. These instruments will specifically count the most abundant particles in the solar wind -- electrons, protons and helium ions -- and measure their properties. The investigation also is designed to sweep up the solar wind in a special receptacle called a Faraday cup, to enable researchers to determine the speed and direction of solar particles.
Marshall also developed scientific instrumentation and manages science operations for the international Hinode mission to study the turbulent surface of the sun. A collaboration among the space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, Hinode was launched in 2006 to investigate the interaction between the sun's magnetic field and its corona. Marshall scientists collect and analyze data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, a joint U.S.-German instrument aboard the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, launched in 2008 to study high-energy gamma rays in deep space.
The Marshall Center also is home to NASA's Discovery, New Frontiers and Lunar Quest programs. The Discovery Program challenges scientists to find innovative ways to unlock the mysteries of the solar system with low-cost, highly focused planetary science investigations. New Frontiers sends cost-effective, mid-sized spacecraft on missions that enhance our understanding of the solar system. The program gives the science community an opportunity to propose full investigations to be conducted as a way to launch exploration missions in the solar system. Examples of program science missions include landing on an asteroid, a flight to investigate Mercury, capturing the essence of a comet and studying the structure of solar energy. Missions are led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Most recent is the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, with launch in September 2011. GRAIL makes detailed measurements of the moon’s gravity field, aiding scientific understanding of the moon’s structure and dynamics.
NASA's new Lunar Quest Program is a multi-element program consisting of flight missions; sophisticated instruments designed to serve lunar missions of opportunity; and associated research and analysis efforts. The Lunar Quest Program includes the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has returned a treasure trove of lunar data and the most detailed map to date of the moon's surface; and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, an upcoming mission to gather detailed information about conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. The program includes the Robotic Lander Development Project, which designed, built and is testing a small, smart, versatile robotic lander that could serve as a precursor to sending humans to explore or conduct scientific research on airless bodies across our solar system.
Marshall engineers and scientists have developed a new, small satellite capability with the design, development, test and successful mission operations of the Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT, microsatellite. FASTSAT demonstrated the ability to enable governmental, academic and industry researchers to conduct low-cost scientific and technology experiments on an autonomous satellite in space. The project was a joint activity between NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program, in partnership with the Von Braun Center for Science & Innovation and Dynetics Inc. of Huntsville. Dynetics provided key engineering, manufacturing and ground operations support for the new microsatellite. Thirteen North Alabama firms and the University of Alabama in Huntsville also were part of the project team.
NanoSail-D is a small satellite technology demonstration experiment developed by engineers at Marshall in collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. NanoSail-D was designed to demonstrate the capability to eject from FASTSAT and deploy a large solar sail structure from a highly compacted volume without re-contacting the microsatellite. This demonstration can be applied to deploy future communication antennas, satellite deorbit systems, sensor arrays or thin film solar arrays to power spacecraft.
Space optics technologists and researchers at Marshall continue to develop ultra-lightweight optics materials and fabrication technologies, and manage state-of-the-art test facilities for NASA, where our teams are testing advanced optics technologies for future space observatories to replace the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra Observatory.
Protecting and Improving Life on Earth
Marshall scientists work to improve our quality of life through discoveries in Earth science. Researchers here focus on studying the atmosphere, water vapor, winds, temperatures at different altitudes, lightning and aerosols -- minute particles in the air. Marshall scientists use advanced technologies to observe and understand these aspects of the global climate system to improve agriculture, urban planning, response to severe weather, and water resource management. Earth science researchers use advanced technologies to observe and understand the Earth’s global water cycle as it relates to global and regional climate.
A key Earth science project called SERVIR (Spanish for "to serve"), developed and managed for NASA by the Marshall Center, uses a high-tech satellite visualization system to monitor the environment of Central America and other regions. Principally supported by NASA and the U.S. Agency of International Development, SERVIR integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improve response to natural disasters in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Himalayas. It helps inform science-based decision-making in the areas of climate change, health, agriculture environment, water and weather.
Marshall researchers also manage the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center, or SPoRT, which provides real-time NASA satellite data and products to the National Weather Service to help improve forecasting and save lives.
Another way Marshall is using technology to improve life on Earth is through a new initiative called Observing Microwave Emissions for Geospatial Applications, or OMEGA. The project uses small, special-focus satellites to retrieve global soil moisture data, enabling scientists to analyze the global water cycle and improve weather and flood forecasting. Marshall also is developing the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer, or HIRAD, through a partnership with three universities and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The radiometer produces imagery of ocean wind conditions during hurricanes by measuring microwave radiation emitted by the foamy froth whipped up as strong wind swirls across ocean waves.
A key extension of Marshall science endeavors is the National Space Science & Technology Center in Huntsville, where government, industry and academic researchers collaborate on research and education opportunities in the areas of Earth and space science, optics and information technology -- and help foster new generations of American scientists and engineers. It is the only site in the country that jointly houses NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, which partner to understand day-to-day forecast challenges and help design customized solutions to protect lives and property from the effects of changes in environment, weather and climate.
Engineering the Future
NASA’s diverse suite of flight missions, projects and programs continue to expand humanity's understanding of the universe. It is occasionally not possible, however, to accomplish the goals of a particular mission using currently available technologies. New capabilities and development of innovative new technologies may be needed. Marshall engineers and researchers provide a wide range of advanced technology development efforts to enable and enhance NASA's successful exploration mission. Technology work accomplished by Marshall engineers, scientists and researchers is diverse, ranging from new developments in the areas of space transportation and propulsion to key breakthroughs in space systems and science research.
Examples of technologies engineered at Marshall to support space transportation projects include the ability to use ionic liquids or microwave energy to extract -- from in-situ resources found on other solar system bodies -- critical liquids and gases that may be used for fuels or for life-support; the ability to automatically monitor sensors across a space vehicle platform and autonomously diagnose and troubleshoot issues; and the use of carbon nanotubes in development of high efficiency spacecraft radiators. Propulsion-related technology research includes development of a sophisticated cryogenic fuel tank using composite materials; and in-space propulsion technology research into alternative propulsion systems such as electro-dynamic tether propulsion, solar sails and nuclear-based propulsion systems.
New engineering breakthroughs supporting space systems research and development at Marshall include autonomous mobile systems used for crewed and uncrewed exploration tasks; air and water revitalization systems providing environmental life support; avionics and processors hardened to withstand deep-space environments and radiation during long missions; robotic lander capabilities; cryogenic fluid management, storage, and transfer; and new advances to protect human beings from the debilitating rigors of space travel. Science research at Marshall is supported by technology development studies in X-ray interferometry and telescope mirror development; space weather analysis, characterization and event prediction; advanced instrument and sensor development; and more comprehensive evaluation and definition of the space environment itself.
In support of these individual technology development efforts, the Marshall Center hosts a pair of technology program offices on behalf of NASA's Space Technology Program: the Centennial Challenges program and the Technology Demonstration Missions program.
Centennial Challenges
Centennial Challenges, NASA's technology prize competition program, was introduced in 2005 to honor the centennial of powered flight. In keeping with the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other American innovators who paved the way to space, the program encourages the participation of independent inventors -- small businesses, student groups and individuals -- who work without government support. NASA challenges these independent inventors to generate innovative solutions for technical problems of interest to NASA and the nation, and provides them with the opportunity to stimulate or create new business ventures.
The Marshall Center manages the program for the agency. Challenges are conducted through unfunded Space Act Agreement partnerships between NASA and nonprofit Allied Organizations. While NASA provides the prize purse for the competitions, each Allied Organization is responsible for planning and conducting the challenge. Prize challenges may require participants to deliver prototypes that perform according to certain standards; create new methods of solving old technical problems; or accomplish feats that involve the development of new technology or the unprecedented application of existing technology.
Technology Demonstration Missions The Technology Demonstration Missions program exists to mature revolutionary, crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status through projects that perform relevant environment testing. Once a technology has been proven in the laboratory environment, the program allows an opportunity to "bridge the gap" from laboratory to flight -- providing an opportunity for system-level technology solutions to operate in a realistic space environment, where they will gain operational heritage and reduce risks to future missions by eliminating the need to fly unproven technology solutions.
Marshall team members participated in the development of the Space Technology Roadmaps, a set of 15 documents that chart the development of multiple technology areas. These roadmaps will help NASA identify new technology development opportunities, enable planners to integrate new and innovative technologies into future flight programs, and prioritize the agency's technology development investments for years to come.
Engineers and technologists at the Marshall Center deliver highly skilled, crosscutting engineering services -- the backbone to mission success -- in support of Marshall programs and projects across the center and NASA. Their work serves both the current and near-term planned agency missions and far-flung efforts still on the drawing board, awaiting the necessary development and maturation to support NASA’s future exploration goals.
The center’s capabilities include integrated modeling and simulation; developing, testing and integrating launch vehicle systems; developing propulsion systems and components; developing propellant management, storage and delivery systems; and designing automated rendezvous and capture systems. With these capabilities, Marshall is poised to support a broad range of space programs.
Marshall Center researchers and engineers develop products for science investigations, conduct verification and integration of state-of-the-art spacecraft and vehicle systems and research and develop propulsion elements for space transportation systems. They provide research, technology and engineering support in materials, processes and products to be used in space exploration and manufacturing; and perform materials diagnostics and failure analysis for NASA and other customers. They manage the functions, resources, services and facilities necessary for simulation of aerospace environments and flight-like conditions; perform research, development, qualification and acceptance testing of flight and non-flight aerospace hardware; analyze and develop requirements for flight and ground systems; and manage ground and flight operations, including day-to-day science operations on the International Space Station.
To benefit this technology development effort and other research and program/project work across NASA, the Marshall Center will deepen and expand its focus on value-added partnerships across government, industry and academia. A new organization at the center will be responsible for undertaking new work building upon the center's 50 years of knowledge, experience and specialized facilities. It will work closely with administrators, strategic planners, managers and teams across the center and its partner organizations to develop long-term center plans, focus Marshall's capabilities to propose and compete for new work, and evaluate new opportunities to ensure these efforts support the center's core capabilities.
Michoud Assembly Facility
The Marshall Space Flight Center also manages the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities, with 832 acres of infrastructure and more than 2,500 employees on-site. For nearly 40 years, Michoud workers manufactured and built the Space Shuttle Program's external tank. Now workers are positioning Michoud to play a key role in NASA's heavy-lift launch vehicle and other next-generation exploration efforts.
Providing Real-world Solutions
Over the decades, thousands of life-saving, life-improving technologies and applications have been derived from NASA and Marshall Center research and exploration missions: advanced breast cancer imaging systems, heart pumps, biohazard detectors, water filtration systems and LASIK eye surgery to correct vision are just a few innovations.
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, managed at the Marshall Center, works with industry partners to spinoff space technology and adapt it for new, innovative applications across the medical, communications, safety and transportation industries, among others. One innovative technology funded by the program, for example, has led to new medical breakthroughs in mitigating the painful side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Originally developed for plant growth experiments on space shuttle missions, a far red/near infrared light-emitting diode treatment was given to cancer patients undergoing bone marrow or stem cell transplants during a two-year trial. The treatment, known as High Emissivity Aluminiferous Luminescent Substrate, or HEALS, demonstrated a 96 percent chance that it decreased or diminished patients' pain. FDA premarket approval of devices using the treatment technology are under way.
Leveraging Marshall's unique capability to blend science and engineering, the center's Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program have contributed to technologies that make possible affordable drinking water throughout the world; improved wound healing and chronic pain alleviation for soldiers and civilians; and provided artificial intelligence-based technology to improve tutoring programs.
Education Initiatives
The Marshall Center leads and participates in numerous NASA education projects and activities to engage and inspire the next generation of explorers.
Marshall organizes the annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, a competition inspired by the Apollo-era lunar rovers. Since its start in 1994, the race has challenged more than 7,500 high school and college students worldwide to design, build and race human-powered moonbuggies on simulated lunar terrain. Marshall also leads the annual NASA Student Launch Projects rocketry challenge, founded in 2001. Since then, more than 1,500 American students from middle schools, high schools, college and universities have designed, built and launched working rockets, complete with scientific payloads.
These and other initiatives, geared toward students and educators alike, enable K-12 and college students to apply their learning to science and engineering projects, and help them gain relevant experience and critical skills and capabilities needed to achieve NASA's continuing space exploration missions.
More About NASA
With its rich history of unique scientific and technological achievements in human spaceflight, aeronautics, science and space applications, NASA inspires new generations of Americans to ask questions and search for answers as the nation blazes new trails through space. The agency's knowledge and experience accelerates innovation with a return on investment that includes further opportunities for exploration, a better understanding of our solar system and improvements to everyday life on Earth.
The Marshall Center pursues NASA's mission by partnering with and supporting the work of the other NASA field centers. The Marshall Center also works closely with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other government agencies, and with leading academic institutions and industry partners around the world.
For more information about the Marshall Center, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Supporting America’s Exploration of Space, Working to Improve Life on Earth The unique resources, facilities and expertise at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are critical to advancing NASA's mission of exploration and discovery. The Marshall Center’s engineering capabilities, extensive experience in human spaceflight system development and ability to perform cutting-edge research in Earth and space sciences are vital to the work of the U.S. space program, the long-term success of the nation and the quality of human life across the planet.
The Marshall Center manages a broad and diverse portfolio of programs and projects. The center leads NASA's development of advanced spacecraft and launch vehicles designed to take human and robotic explorers deeper into the solar system than ever before. The center also manages the Chandra X-ray Observatory; the Discovery, New Frontiers and Lunar Quest programs; the Technology Demonstration Missions program; the Centennial Challenges program; the SERVIR environmental imaging network; and numerous other Earth and space science activities. Marshall also is responsible for science operations aboard the International Space Station. All these endeavors contribute to and sustain Marshall's long history of accomplishment, which includes creating the Saturn V rocket that launched America’s astronauts to the moon; Skylab, the world's first space station; Spacelab; the space shuttle’s propulsion elements; and development of the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Marshall Center is an experienced developer and integrator of launch systems and a premier developer and integrator of space systems for science and exploration, possessing the engineering capabilities to take hardware from preliminary design to operation in space. The Center’s cross-cutting capabilities in science and engineering have led to a key role in managing the next generation of space exploration systems, the heavy-lift Space Launch System.
One of NASA’s largest field centers, Marshall employs approximately 6,000 people, including roughly 2,400 civil service and 3,600 contractor employees, and has an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion.
Space Launch System Development
The future of space travel is evolving as NASA creates new launch and spaceflight vehicles that will provide the capability for crewed exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit.
The Marshall Center manages and will deliver the systems needed for the next generation Space Launch System, or SLS -- development of which began in earnest in September 2011. The SLS program is developing the nation’s next advanced, heavy-lift vehicle -- the most powerful rocket ever built. Its design maximizes efficiency and minimizes cost by leveraging investments already made in legacy launch hardware and systems, while also using evolutionary advancements in launch vehicle design.
The initial launch vehicle configuration will have a lifting capacity of 70 metric tons. The rocket will be evolvable to a 130-metric-ton lift capacity and will be built around a core stage 27.5 feet in diameter, which will share common avionics with its upper stages. It will use a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propulsion system, relying on the space shuttle's RS-25 engine for the core stage and the J-2X engine for the upper stage. Dual, five-segment solid rocket boosters mounted to the sides of the tank will provide added power. The design of the dual boosters on later flights will be determined through competition based on cost, performance and interface requirements.
The Space Launch System will carry NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, cargo, equipment and science experiments to space. It also will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Its mission is to provide a safe, affordable and sustainable means of sending explorers on high-value missions to the moon, asteroids and other destinations in the solar system. Additionally, the vehicle will serve as a backup for commercial and international partner transportation services to the International Space Station.
NASA intends to launch the first, full-scale test flight of the Space Launch System by late 2017.
Leading NASA in rocket propulsion technology, Marshall has been launching spacecraft and explorers into space since the beginning of the U.S. space program. From Apollo to space shuttle, the center has played a critical role in transporting people, supplies, and science experiments into low Earth orbit. Engineers at Marshall designed and developed the shuttle main engines, the external fuel tank, and the solid rocket boosters, and continued to advance these key propulsion technologies to maintain the shuttle’s safe operation until its retirement in 2011.
National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems
Founded in 2011, the National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems, or NIRPS, is intended to provide stewardship of our nation’s propulsion capabilities, recognizing their vital role in national security, economic competitiveness and the continued exploration of space. The Institute, situated at the Marshall Center, will support the preservation and advancement of government and industry propulsion capabilities to meet current and future aerospace needs for civil and federal agencies.
The Institute will serve as a go-to source for NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense and commercial spaceflight solutions, and will assist with development and operational challenges that may occur as new propulsion systems come online. The Institute will contribute to the success of these ventures by providing each partner organization in need with a full range of design, development, test and evaluation support and technical expertise.
The Institute further will serve in the role of steward and integrator, merging information and industry status with all parties related to the industrial base and providing policy recommendations to the U.S. government and its agencies.
Retiring Shuttle and Transition
The Marshall Center is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and execution of all transition and retirement activities associated with the Shuttle Propulsion Office, the Ares Projects Office and associated Marshall institutional organizations. This responsibility includes identification and disposition of all requirements and issues associated with strategic capabilities; real and personal property; flight and ground hardware; records and data management; facilities; information technology assets and databases; and associated work force.
International Space Station Support
The International Space Station – the largest and most complex international scientific project in history – continually orbits the Earth every 90 minutes with a crew of six aboard. The Marshall Center has an important role in developing and sustaining space station hardware and science operations.
The Payload Operations Center at Marshall is NASA’s primary space station science command post, coordinating all U.S. scientific and commercial experiments on the station, as well as Earth-to-station science communications – 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The Marshall team also trains station crew members on experiments and ground controllers on monitoring those experiments. It also coordinates the payload activities of NASA’s international partners, including the Russian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Canadian Space Agency. The Payload Operations Center partners with control centers worldwide to plan, synchronize and monitor science activities and optimize the use of valuable on-orbit resources.
As the life of the International Space Station has been extended to 2020 and possibly beyond, Marshall continues to play an important role in station hardware development. Marshall manages development and design of the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which eliminates the need for constant resupply of water and oxygen from Earth.
Marshall also developed and manages Nodes 1, 2 and 3 -- modules which interconnect the station's laboratories, living quarters and other facilities -- and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, pressurized "moving vans" designed to transfer experiments and supplies to and from the station. The MPLM dubbed "Leonardo" is now a Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM. It is permanently attached to the space station to provide more room for supply storage.
A new Earth science observatory rack is providing the International Space Station with an eye in space, helping researchers keep watch over the Earth. The Window Observational Research Facility, or WORF, is helping NASA capture some of the most detailed images and information about our planet ever documented from an orbiting spacecraft. The WORF rack is designed to make the best possible use of the highest-quality optical science window ever flown on a crewed spacecraft. Meticulously calibrated before its installation, the window has been used by station astronauts since the American Destiny laboratory module became the keystone of space station research facilities in 2011.
Marshall designed and built the Microgravity Science Glovebox, an enclosed experiment facility over 7 feet tall, accessible through airtight "glovedoors," and delivered a standardized payload rack system for transporting, storing and supporting experiments on the station. The "EXPRESS" Rack -- Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station -- enables quick integration of multiple payloads in a streamlined approach.
The most recent rack delivered to the station is the Materials Science Research Rack-1, put into place in 2009 to enable researchers to study a variety of materials in pursuit of new and improved Earth and space applications. The rack allows for the on-orbit study of a variety of materials, including metals, ceramics, semiconductor crystals and glasses. The first processed American sample consisted of an aluminum and silicon alloy that was melted and then directionally solidified. Similar processing of various alloys is typically used to produce commercially important hardware and components such as high temperature turbine blades.
Exploring the Solar System and the Universe
Marshall space scientists are conducting astronomy, space science, astrophysics and heliophysics research into the scientific mysteries of the cosmos, supporting exploration of the solar system and seeking new understanding of the universe beyond.
More than ten years after launch, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, continues to rewrite textbooks with discoveries about our own solar system and images of celestial objects as far as billions of light years away. The Marshall Center was responsible for design, development and construction of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, which was launched in 1999. Marshall continues to manage Chandra operations and science activities.
The X-ray & Cryogenic Facility at Marshall, where both Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope mirrors were tested for spaceflight, currently is being used to perform cryogenic testing of ultra-precise mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope, intended in coming years to enable high-powered study of the formation of the first stars and galaxies and their evolution.
Marshall solar physicists and engineers continue to design instruments to help us learn more about the heart of our solar system -- the sun. Marshall’s sounding rocket program seeks to determine the strength and direction of magnetic fields in a region of the sun where the magnetic field has never been measured. Marshall scientists also are developing instrument prototypes for the Solar Probe Plus mission, set to launch in 2018. These instruments will specifically count the most abundant particles in the solar wind -- electrons, protons and helium ions -- and measure their properties. The investigation also is designed to sweep up the solar wind in a special receptacle called a Faraday cup, to enable researchers to determine the speed and direction of solar particles.
Marshall also developed scientific instrumentation and manages science operations for the international Hinode mission to study the turbulent surface of the sun. A collaboration among the space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, Hinode was launched in 2006 to investigate the interaction between the sun's magnetic field and its corona. Marshall scientists collect and analyze data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, a joint U.S.-German instrument aboard the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, launched in 2008 to study high-energy gamma rays in deep space.
The Marshall Center also is home to NASA's Discovery, New Frontiers and Lunar Quest programs. The Discovery Program challenges scientists to find innovative ways to unlock the mysteries of the solar system with low-cost, highly focused planetary science investigations. New Frontiers sends cost-effective, mid-sized spacecraft on missions that enhance our understanding of the solar system. The program gives the science community an opportunity to propose full investigations to be conducted as a way to launch exploration missions in the solar system. Examples of program science missions include landing on an asteroid, a flight to investigate Mercury, capturing the essence of a comet and studying the structure of solar energy. Missions are led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Most recent is the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, with launch in September 2011. GRAIL makes detailed measurements of the moon’s gravity field, aiding scientific understanding of the moon’s structure and dynamics.
NASA's new Lunar Quest Program is a multi-element program consisting of flight missions; sophisticated instruments designed to serve lunar missions of opportunity; and associated research and analysis efforts. The Lunar Quest Program includes the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has returned a treasure trove of lunar data and the most detailed map to date of the moon's surface; and the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, an upcoming mission to gather detailed information about conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. The program includes the Robotic Lander Development Project, which designed, built and is testing a small, smart, versatile robotic lander that could serve as a precursor to sending humans to explore or conduct scientific research on airless bodies across our solar system.
Marshall engineers and scientists have developed a new, small satellite capability with the design, development, test and successful mission operations of the Fast, Affordable Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT, microsatellite. FASTSAT demonstrated the ability to enable governmental, academic and industry researchers to conduct low-cost scientific and technology experiments on an autonomous satellite in space. The project was a joint activity between NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program, in partnership with the Von Braun Center for Science & Innovation and Dynetics Inc. of Huntsville. Dynetics provided key engineering, manufacturing and ground operations support for the new microsatellite. Thirteen North Alabama firms and the University of Alabama in Huntsville also were part of the project team.
NanoSail-D is a small satellite technology demonstration experiment developed by engineers at Marshall in collaboration with NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. NanoSail-D was designed to demonstrate the capability to eject from FASTSAT and deploy a large solar sail structure from a highly compacted volume without re-contacting the microsatellite. This demonstration can be applied to deploy future communication antennas, satellite deorbit systems, sensor arrays or thin film solar arrays to power spacecraft.
Space optics technologists and researchers at Marshall continue to develop ultra-lightweight optics materials and fabrication technologies, and manage state-of-the-art test facilities for NASA, where our teams are testing advanced optics technologies for future space observatories to replace the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra Observatory.
Protecting and Improving Life on Earth
Marshall scientists work to improve our quality of life through discoveries in Earth science. Researchers here focus on studying the atmosphere, water vapor, winds, temperatures at different altitudes, lightning and aerosols -- minute particles in the air. Marshall scientists use advanced technologies to observe and understand these aspects of the global climate system to improve agriculture, urban planning, response to severe weather, and water resource management. Earth science researchers use advanced technologies to observe and understand the Earth’s global water cycle as it relates to global and regional climate.
A key Earth science project called SERVIR (Spanish for "to serve"), developed and managed for NASA by the Marshall Center, uses a high-tech satellite visualization system to monitor the environment of Central America and other regions. Principally supported by NASA and the U.S. Agency of International Development, SERVIR integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improve response to natural disasters in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Himalayas. It helps inform science-based decision-making in the areas of climate change, health, agriculture environment, water and weather.
Marshall researchers also manage the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center, or SPoRT, which provides real-time NASA satellite data and products to the National Weather Service to help improve forecasting and save lives.
Another way Marshall is using technology to improve life on Earth is through a new initiative called Observing Microwave Emissions for Geospatial Applications, or OMEGA. The project uses small, special-focus satellites to retrieve global soil moisture data, enabling scientists to analyze the global water cycle and improve weather and flood forecasting. Marshall also is developing the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer, or HIRAD, through a partnership with three universities and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The radiometer produces imagery of ocean wind conditions during hurricanes by measuring microwave radiation emitted by the foamy froth whipped up as strong wind swirls across ocean waves.
A key extension of Marshall science endeavors is the National Space Science & Technology Center in Huntsville, where government, industry and academic researchers collaborate on research and education opportunities in the areas of Earth and space science, optics and information technology -- and help foster new generations of American scientists and engineers. It is the only site in the country that jointly houses NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, which partner to understand day-to-day forecast challenges and help design customized solutions to protect lives and property from the effects of changes in environment, weather and climate.
Engineering the Future
NASA’s diverse suite of flight missions, projects and programs continue to expand humanity's understanding of the universe. It is occasionally not possible, however, to accomplish the goals of a particular mission using currently available technologies. New capabilities and development of innovative new technologies may be needed. Marshall engineers and researchers provide a wide range of advanced technology development efforts to enable and enhance NASA's successful exploration mission. Technology work accomplished by Marshall engineers, scientists and researchers is diverse, ranging from new developments in the areas of space transportation and propulsion to key breakthroughs in space systems and science research.
Examples of technologies engineered at Marshall to support space transportation projects include the ability to use ionic liquids or microwave energy to extract -- from in-situ resources found on other solar system bodies -- critical liquids and gases that may be used for fuels or for life-support; the ability to automatically monitor sensors across a space vehicle platform and autonomously diagnose and troubleshoot issues; and the use of carbon nanotubes in development of high efficiency spacecraft radiators. Propulsion-related technology research includes development of a sophisticated cryogenic fuel tank using composite materials; and in-space propulsion technology research into alternative propulsion systems such as electro-dynamic tether propulsion, solar sails and nuclear-based propulsion systems.
New engineering breakthroughs supporting space systems research and development at Marshall include autonomous mobile systems used for crewed and uncrewed exploration tasks; air and water revitalization systems providing environmental life support; avionics and processors hardened to withstand deep-space environments and radiation during long missions; robotic lander capabilities; cryogenic fluid management, storage, and transfer; and new advances to protect human beings from the debilitating rigors of space travel. Science research at Marshall is supported by technology development studies in X-ray interferometry and telescope mirror development; space weather analysis, characterization and event prediction; advanced instrument and sensor development; and more comprehensive evaluation and definition of the space environment itself.
In support of these individual technology development efforts, the Marshall Center hosts a pair of technology program offices on behalf of NASA's Space Technology Program: the Centennial Challenges program and the Technology Demonstration Missions program.
Centennial Challenges
Centennial Challenges, NASA's technology prize competition program, was introduced in 2005 to honor the centennial of powered flight. In keeping with the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other American innovators who paved the way to space, the program encourages the participation of independent inventors -- small businesses, student groups and individuals -- who work without government support. NASA challenges these independent inventors to generate innovative solutions for technical problems of interest to NASA and the nation, and provides them with the opportunity to stimulate or create new business ventures.
The Marshall Center manages the program for the agency. Challenges are conducted through unfunded Space Act Agreement partnerships between NASA and nonprofit Allied Organizations. While NASA provides the prize purse for the competitions, each Allied Organization is responsible for planning and conducting the challenge. Prize challenges may require participants to deliver prototypes that perform according to certain standards; create new methods of solving old technical problems; or accomplish feats that involve the development of new technology or the unprecedented application of existing technology.
Technology Demonstration Missions The Technology Demonstration Missions program exists to mature revolutionary, crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status through projects that perform relevant environment testing. Once a technology has been proven in the laboratory environment, the program allows an opportunity to "bridge the gap" from laboratory to flight -- providing an opportunity for system-level technology solutions to operate in a realistic space environment, where they will gain operational heritage and reduce risks to future missions by eliminating the need to fly unproven technology solutions.
Marshall team members participated in the development of the Space Technology Roadmaps, a set of 15 documents that chart the development of multiple technology areas. These roadmaps will help NASA identify new technology development opportunities, enable planners to integrate new and innovative technologies into future flight programs, and prioritize the agency's technology development investments for years to come.
Engineers and technologists at the Marshall Center deliver highly skilled, crosscutting engineering services -- the backbone to mission success -- in support of Marshall programs and projects across the center and NASA. Their work serves both the current and near-term planned agency missions and far-flung efforts still on the drawing board, awaiting the necessary development and maturation to support NASA’s future exploration goals.
The center’s capabilities include integrated modeling and simulation; developing, testing and integrating launch vehicle systems; developing propulsion systems and components; developing propellant management, storage and delivery systems; and designing automated rendezvous and capture systems. With these capabilities, Marshall is poised to support a broad range of space programs.
Marshall Center researchers and engineers develop products for science investigations, conduct verification and integration of state-of-the-art spacecraft and vehicle systems and research and develop propulsion elements for space transportation systems. They provide research, technology and engineering support in materials, processes and products to be used in space exploration and manufacturing; and perform materials diagnostics and failure analysis for NASA and other customers. They manage the functions, resources, services and facilities necessary for simulation of aerospace environments and flight-like conditions; perform research, development, qualification and acceptance testing of flight and non-flight aerospace hardware; analyze and develop requirements for flight and ground systems; and manage ground and flight operations, including day-to-day science operations on the International Space Station.
To benefit this technology development effort and other research and program/project work across NASA, the Marshall Center will deepen and expand its focus on value-added partnerships across government, industry and academia. A new organization at the center will be responsible for undertaking new work building upon the center's 50 years of knowledge, experience and specialized facilities. It will work closely with administrators, strategic planners, managers and teams across the center and its partner organizations to develop long-term center plans, focus Marshall's capabilities to propose and compete for new work, and evaluate new opportunities to ensure these efforts support the center's core capabilities.
Michoud Assembly Facility
The Marshall Space Flight Center also manages the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities, with 832 acres of infrastructure and more than 2,500 employees on-site. For nearly 40 years, Michoud workers manufactured and built the Space Shuttle Program's external tank. Now workers are positioning Michoud to play a key role in NASA's heavy-lift launch vehicle and other next-generation exploration efforts.
Providing Real-world Solutions
Over the decades, thousands of life-saving, life-improving technologies and applications have been derived from NASA and Marshall Center research and exploration missions: advanced breast cancer imaging systems, heart pumps, biohazard detectors, water filtration systems and LASIK eye surgery to correct vision are just a few innovations.
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, managed at the Marshall Center, works with industry partners to spinoff space technology and adapt it for new, innovative applications across the medical, communications, safety and transportation industries, among others. One innovative technology funded by the program, for example, has led to new medical breakthroughs in mitigating the painful side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Originally developed for plant growth experiments on space shuttle missions, a far red/near infrared light-emitting diode treatment was given to cancer patients undergoing bone marrow or stem cell transplants during a two-year trial. The treatment, known as High Emissivity Aluminiferous Luminescent Substrate, or HEALS, demonstrated a 96 percent chance that it decreased or diminished patients' pain. FDA premarket approval of devices using the treatment technology are under way.
Leveraging Marshall's unique capability to blend science and engineering, the center's Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Program have contributed to technologies that make possible affordable drinking water throughout the world; improved wound healing and chronic pain alleviation for soldiers and civilians; and provided artificial intelligence-based technology to improve tutoring programs.
Education Initiatives
The Marshall Center leads and participates in numerous NASA education projects and activities to engage and inspire the next generation of explorers.
Marshall organizes the annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, a competition inspired by the Apollo-era lunar rovers. Since its start in 1994, the race has challenged more than 7,500 high school and college students worldwide to design, build and race human-powered moonbuggies on simulated lunar terrain. Marshall also leads the annual NASA Student Launch Projects rocketry challenge, founded in 2001. Since then, more than 1,500 American students from middle schools, high schools, college and universities have designed, built and launched working rockets, complete with scientific payloads.
These and other initiatives, geared toward students and educators alike, enable K-12 and college students to apply their learning to science and engineering projects, and help them gain relevant experience and critical skills and capabilities needed to achieve NASA's continuing space exploration missions.
More About NASA
With its rich history of unique scientific and technological achievements in human spaceflight, aeronautics, science and space applications, NASA inspires new generations of Americans to ask questions and search for answers as the nation blazes new trails through space. The agency's knowledge and experience accelerates innovation with a return on investment that includes further opportunities for exploration, a better understanding of our solar system and improvements to everyday life on Earth.
The Marshall Center pursues NASA's mission by partnering with and supporting the work of the other NASA field centers. The Marshall Center also works closely with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other government agencies, and with leading academic institutions and industry partners around the world.
For more information about the Marshall Center, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
National Space Strategy: proactive or reactive?
From The Space Review: National Space Strategy: proactive or reactive?
Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18
“…space preeminence is essential if the US is to be a great power and continue to be a great power.” – Major General James Armor, USAF (Retired)
Throughout its history, America has notoriously been reactive when it comes to its national strategy. The United States was the nation to invent the powered airplane, but was slow to realize its potential until European powers seized the opportunity. When it came to space, some historians argue that had the Soviet Union not orbited a satellite and later a cosmonaut, there would have been no Apollo program or human space program of the kind we think of when the phrase “spacepower” is bandied about. In those situations, America had the industrial might and political fortitude to see the threats at hand to their global influence as a superpower on the world stage. However, recently some events have been occurring in the space frontier that seems to indicate a lack of vision and highlights the need for a national space strategy: space based solar power (SBSP) in China.
Recently, the Chinese have committed to the development and deployment of SBSP architectures as a vital part of the nation’s “future direction”, according to a paper by three space scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology.
Many may read that last sentence and wonder, “What’s the big deal about the Chinese experimenting with SBSP?” As many in the United States government and elsewhere believe, SBSP is the stuff of science fiction; pipe dreams of space advocacy groups that aren’t found in the real world. However, since the publication of the National Security Space Office’s analysis of the security implications of SBSP, the Chinese have seen that SBSP is not necessarily a pipe dream, has economic and political merit, and is important to China in the future.
Recently, the Chinese have committed to the development and deployment of SBSP architectures in low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) as a vital part of the nation’s “future direction”, according to a paper by three space scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). This new effort demonstrates Chinese resolve toward a sustainable and long-term strategy for their nation that sees space as the vital national interest and instrument of power that it is. It enables positive advantages in several areas of global power and influence, three of which are economic power, technological prowess, and innovation. All of these enable their planned achievement of global leadership and preeminence in space.
Why this push for SBSP in China? Their global interests are increasing due to their economic growth and reach on several continents. As a result, natural resources and energy will become increasingly critical to their goals. With their growing dominance of vital space- and weapons-related resources like rare earth metals, and other natural resources such as oil, the Chinese see themselves as a leading economic power in the world. This increased economic power has helped increase their role in international financial and diplomatic institutions. Because of this increasing need for energy resources to advance their economic growth and power, the Chinese government has been exploring new options for future resources “inside earth” but acknowledge their needs might surpass the natural resources they have access to. This has prompted the Chinese government to look to space.
According to the paper by CAST, “the state has decided that power from outside the earth, such as solar power and the development of other space energy resources is to be China’s future direction.” This is not a mere statement of desire as is the case in many circles of the United States space advocacy arena; rather it is a real program that is “currently under development in China”.
Having the necessary access to space-based energy resources will enable the Chinese to “sustainably develop” and meet the “thirst for energy to water its blooming industries” that have created it as “one of the principal economies in the world. “ To achieve this goal of power and influence economically, the Chinese have developed a national strategy that explores three advantages of SBSP: sustainable economic and social development, disaster prevention and mitigation, and cultivating innovative talents through an increased space effort the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Apollo program. This would require technological innovation on a grand strategic scale.
According to the CAST paper, “The acquisition of space solar power will require development of fundamental new aerospace technologies, such as revolutionary launch approaches, ultra-thin solar arrays, on-orbit manufacture/assembly/integration (MAI), precise attitude control, in-situ resource utilization for deep space exploration and space colonial expansion.” This demonstrates that SBSP is not just one project for economic leadership of China, but part of a grand strategy of space power expansion and a desire to be the leading space power on Earth. They acknowledge this through the comparison of the Apollo project and its benefits for the United States. “In the last century, America’s leading position in science and technology worldwide was inextricably linked with technological advances associated with implementation of the Apollo program. Likewise, China’s current achievements in aerospace technology are built upon with its successive generations of satellite projects in space, China will use its capabilities in space science to assure…” the Chinese development of space development and energy in space.
While this is a long-range plan, the fact that the Chinese are proceeding with its development in conjunction with their efforts in the economic and military/human spaceflight spheres shows a resolve and foresighted strategy.
As mentioned previously, China’s desire is to be recognized as the leader in space. To do this, and to support their future economic power and influence worldwide, energy development and the applications of space resources are the way forward. Their human spaceflight program, including the recent launch of Tiangong 1 and the autonomous rendezvous and docking technologies they are developing, will enable the new technologies needed for this SBSP architecture as well as Chinese long-range plans for deep space exploration and “colonial expansion”.
This plan for space includes the following five-step plan to achieve their SBSP plans (concurrently with their space station development and other programs):
2010: CAST finished their concept design
2020: Finish the industrial level testing of in-orbit construction and wireless transmissions
2025: Complete the first 100kW SBSP demonstration in LEO
2050: The first operational level SBSP system will be deployed in GEO.
While this is a long-range plan, the fact that the Chinese are proceeding with its development in conjunction with their efforts in the economic and military/human spaceflight spheres shows a resolve and foresighted strategy that understands the need and strategic impact that space power has on the balance of power and influence in the world. Even if many in America and elsewhere believe that the United States is the undisputed leader in space exploration and development, one need only look at the America’s current space strategy to find the difference in the visions for national space leadership in the two nations. Compared with the Chinese, the United States does not have a long-range national space strategy or direction, and desperately needs one.
Leadership in space should not be assumed: it requires hard, continued work to assure its existence into the future.
What is the United States doing about this challenge to its global leadership in space and economic matters? Not much. In March 2011, the Obama Administration released its “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future”, but that document doesn’t mention SBSP at all, even as something worthy of consideration. In the National Space Policy of 2010, the Obama Administration mentions space nuclear power—as past policies have—but does not mention any effort to develop SBSP for the United States or its allies, much less the “colonial expansion” that the Chinese are advocating and planning for.
While many in the United States government see SBSP as a pipe dream, many other nations, friendly and otherwise, see our lack of initiative and vision as an opportunity to become the world leaders in space and seize its strategic effects for their countries’ economic, diplomatic, and military power worldwide. If the United States does not craft a similarly far-reaching national space strategy, it may be left in a situation where it cannot compete globally in the new markets of space resources and on-orbit energy applications. This could adversely affect US influence abroad and at home.
The National Space Society, in addition to the previously mentioned National Security Space Office report, has explored the security and economic benefits of SBSP in the last decade. Our friends in Japan and India are also exploring this potential opportunity. It’s time the US government examined the current strategic situation and proactively explored the development and deployment of SBSP as one step in our quest to push America out into the solar system for the development and “colonial expansion” of our society. Leadership in space should not be assumed: it requires hard, continued work to assure its existence into the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Stone (B.A., M.A.) is a space policy analyst and strategist near Washington DC.
Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18
“…space preeminence is essential if the US is to be a great power and continue to be a great power.” – Major General James Armor, USAF (Retired)
Throughout its history, America has notoriously been reactive when it comes to its national strategy. The United States was the nation to invent the powered airplane, but was slow to realize its potential until European powers seized the opportunity. When it came to space, some historians argue that had the Soviet Union not orbited a satellite and later a cosmonaut, there would have been no Apollo program or human space program of the kind we think of when the phrase “spacepower” is bandied about. In those situations, America had the industrial might and political fortitude to see the threats at hand to their global influence as a superpower on the world stage. However, recently some events have been occurring in the space frontier that seems to indicate a lack of vision and highlights the need for a national space strategy: space based solar power (SBSP) in China.
Recently, the Chinese have committed to the development and deployment of SBSP architectures as a vital part of the nation’s “future direction”, according to a paper by three space scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology.
Many may read that last sentence and wonder, “What’s the big deal about the Chinese experimenting with SBSP?” As many in the United States government and elsewhere believe, SBSP is the stuff of science fiction; pipe dreams of space advocacy groups that aren’t found in the real world. However, since the publication of the National Security Space Office’s analysis of the security implications of SBSP, the Chinese have seen that SBSP is not necessarily a pipe dream, has economic and political merit, and is important to China in the future.
Recently, the Chinese have committed to the development and deployment of SBSP architectures in low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) as a vital part of the nation’s “future direction”, according to a paper by three space scientists from the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). This new effort demonstrates Chinese resolve toward a sustainable and long-term strategy for their nation that sees space as the vital national interest and instrument of power that it is. It enables positive advantages in several areas of global power and influence, three of which are economic power, technological prowess, and innovation. All of these enable their planned achievement of global leadership and preeminence in space.
Why this push for SBSP in China? Their global interests are increasing due to their economic growth and reach on several continents. As a result, natural resources and energy will become increasingly critical to their goals. With their growing dominance of vital space- and weapons-related resources like rare earth metals, and other natural resources such as oil, the Chinese see themselves as a leading economic power in the world. This increased economic power has helped increase their role in international financial and diplomatic institutions. Because of this increasing need for energy resources to advance their economic growth and power, the Chinese government has been exploring new options for future resources “inside earth” but acknowledge their needs might surpass the natural resources they have access to. This has prompted the Chinese government to look to space.
According to the paper by CAST, “the state has decided that power from outside the earth, such as solar power and the development of other space energy resources is to be China’s future direction.” This is not a mere statement of desire as is the case in many circles of the United States space advocacy arena; rather it is a real program that is “currently under development in China”.
Having the necessary access to space-based energy resources will enable the Chinese to “sustainably develop” and meet the “thirst for energy to water its blooming industries” that have created it as “one of the principal economies in the world. “ To achieve this goal of power and influence economically, the Chinese have developed a national strategy that explores three advantages of SBSP: sustainable economic and social development, disaster prevention and mitigation, and cultivating innovative talents through an increased space effort the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Apollo program. This would require technological innovation on a grand strategic scale.
According to the CAST paper, “The acquisition of space solar power will require development of fundamental new aerospace technologies, such as revolutionary launch approaches, ultra-thin solar arrays, on-orbit manufacture/assembly/integration (MAI), precise attitude control, in-situ resource utilization for deep space exploration and space colonial expansion.” This demonstrates that SBSP is not just one project for economic leadership of China, but part of a grand strategy of space power expansion and a desire to be the leading space power on Earth. They acknowledge this through the comparison of the Apollo project and its benefits for the United States. “In the last century, America’s leading position in science and technology worldwide was inextricably linked with technological advances associated with implementation of the Apollo program. Likewise, China’s current achievements in aerospace technology are built upon with its successive generations of satellite projects in space, China will use its capabilities in space science to assure…” the Chinese development of space development and energy in space.
While this is a long-range plan, the fact that the Chinese are proceeding with its development in conjunction with their efforts in the economic and military/human spaceflight spheres shows a resolve and foresighted strategy.
As mentioned previously, China’s desire is to be recognized as the leader in space. To do this, and to support their future economic power and influence worldwide, energy development and the applications of space resources are the way forward. Their human spaceflight program, including the recent launch of Tiangong 1 and the autonomous rendezvous and docking technologies they are developing, will enable the new technologies needed for this SBSP architecture as well as Chinese long-range plans for deep space exploration and “colonial expansion”.
This plan for space includes the following five-step plan to achieve their SBSP plans (concurrently with their space station development and other programs):
2010: CAST finished their concept design
2020: Finish the industrial level testing of in-orbit construction and wireless transmissions
2025: Complete the first 100kW SBSP demonstration in LEO
2050: The first operational level SBSP system will be deployed in GEO.
While this is a long-range plan, the fact that the Chinese are proceeding with its development in conjunction with their efforts in the economic and military/human spaceflight spheres shows a resolve and foresighted strategy that understands the need and strategic impact that space power has on the balance of power and influence in the world. Even if many in America and elsewhere believe that the United States is the undisputed leader in space exploration and development, one need only look at the America’s current space strategy to find the difference in the visions for national space leadership in the two nations. Compared with the Chinese, the United States does not have a long-range national space strategy or direction, and desperately needs one.
Leadership in space should not be assumed: it requires hard, continued work to assure its existence into the future.
What is the United States doing about this challenge to its global leadership in space and economic matters? Not much. In March 2011, the Obama Administration released its “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future”, but that document doesn’t mention SBSP at all, even as something worthy of consideration. In the National Space Policy of 2010, the Obama Administration mentions space nuclear power—as past policies have—but does not mention any effort to develop SBSP for the United States or its allies, much less the “colonial expansion” that the Chinese are advocating and planning for.
While many in the United States government see SBSP as a pipe dream, many other nations, friendly and otherwise, see our lack of initiative and vision as an opportunity to become the world leaders in space and seize its strategic effects for their countries’ economic, diplomatic, and military power worldwide. If the United States does not craft a similarly far-reaching national space strategy, it may be left in a situation where it cannot compete globally in the new markets of space resources and on-orbit energy applications. This could adversely affect US influence abroad and at home.
The National Space Society, in addition to the previously mentioned National Security Space Office report, has explored the security and economic benefits of SBSP in the last decade. Our friends in Japan and India are also exploring this potential opportunity. It’s time the US government examined the current strategic situation and proactively explored the development and deployment of SBSP as one step in our quest to push America out into the solar system for the development and “colonial expansion” of our society. Leadership in space should not be assumed: it requires hard, continued work to assure its existence into the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Stone (B.A., M.A.) is a space policy analyst and strategist near Washington DC.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Creating near-term results in US human space exploration
From The Space Review: Creating near-term results in US human space exploration
Next January will see the eighth anniversary of President Bush’s announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), which set the nation on a renewed course to send Americans to explore beyond Earth orbit.
Eight years: that’s about how long it took from John F. Kennedy’s lunar landing challenge in 1961 to the accomplishment of that goal in 1969. Yet, eight years after the 2004 VSE announcement—by a president, no less—we are hardly closer to venturing beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) with humans than we were when these goals were first announced.
The reasons for the lack of quicker progress are many, as are those who share the blame. But identifying either those reasons or their culprits isn’t what is most important. What is important, in our estimation, is to avoid the mistakes of the recent past and accelerating progress in order to capture public and political imaginations. More specifically, we believe it is necessary to find a way for human exploration beyond LEO to begin in this very decade.
Unfortunately, the just-announced Space Launch System (SLS)’s first crew flight date goal is 2021, ten years from now. And that’s the best case. We hope the noble goals and intended timetable set by lawmakers and NASA for SLS can be met, but we believe that 2021 for the first crewed flight is simply too distant to ensure exploration sustainability, and can therefore ultimately lead us away from the exploration actually intended.
Since accelerating SLS itself is not fiscally feasible, one is led to ask: What can be done? We believe the solution boils down to one word: Pragmatism. This means exchanging more perfect solutions for more practical ones by using existing systems, modified to the least extent practical, to accelerate the pace of exploration.
We therefore urge an approach that obtains near-term results—i.e., human exploration beyond LEO—as quickly and as pragmatically as possible. In an era when budgets are shrinking, as are both public and political attention spans, we believe this course is a must for human space exploration in the United States.
Specifically what does this course imply? It means two things:
1. Establishing a commercial crew capability to LEO and International Space Station as rapidly as possible, in order to expeditiously free up resources within the human spaceflight budget for exploration, rather than expensive Soyuz seats.
2. Using the savings accrued by adopting commercial crew to jump start human exploration beyond LEO before SLS is ready. This can be accomplished by developing orbital refueling for, and then human-rating, one or more existing rockets to carry out simple exploration missions—such as lunar/near Earth object flybys and orbiters—using the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or other crewed spacecraft that can be ready by mid-decade.
Studies we—and others—have been involved in over the past 18 months have shown that this kind of pragmatic approach is feasible. We believe that as soon as actual human visits to nearby worlds begin, the public excitement, scientific results, and other benefits of this exploration strengthen the desire for more of it, sustaining both SLS itself and NASA’s exploration objectives set in the 2020s and beyond.
There is no need for us to begin political games. Nor is there a need for new mandates, visions, or elections. But we must find ways to provide nearer-term exploration.
So let’s accelerate and invigorate human space exploration with human missions launched before this decade is out. In doing so, the exploration community can achieve the sustainability that has eluded us so far, and show a nation and the world just how creative and productive Americans of this generation can be in human space exploration.
Alan Stern is a planetary scientist and aerospace consultant. He is NASA’s former Associate Administrator in charge of Science, and he serves as the chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group. Gerry Griffin is an aerospace engineer, an Apollo flight director, and the former Director of the Johnson Space Center. He also served as the Associate Administrator for External Relations and Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs at NASA Headquarters. A version of this essay appeared in the September 26 issue of Space News.
Next January will see the eighth anniversary of President Bush’s announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), which set the nation on a renewed course to send Americans to explore beyond Earth orbit.
Eight years: that’s about how long it took from John F. Kennedy’s lunar landing challenge in 1961 to the accomplishment of that goal in 1969. Yet, eight years after the 2004 VSE announcement—by a president, no less—we are hardly closer to venturing beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) with humans than we were when these goals were first announced.
The reasons for the lack of quicker progress are many, as are those who share the blame. But identifying either those reasons or their culprits isn’t what is most important. What is important, in our estimation, is to avoid the mistakes of the recent past and accelerating progress in order to capture public and political imaginations. More specifically, we believe it is necessary to find a way for human exploration beyond LEO to begin in this very decade.
Unfortunately, the just-announced Space Launch System (SLS)’s first crew flight date goal is 2021, ten years from now. And that’s the best case. We hope the noble goals and intended timetable set by lawmakers and NASA for SLS can be met, but we believe that 2021 for the first crewed flight is simply too distant to ensure exploration sustainability, and can therefore ultimately lead us away from the exploration actually intended.
Since accelerating SLS itself is not fiscally feasible, one is led to ask: What can be done? We believe the solution boils down to one word: Pragmatism. This means exchanging more perfect solutions for more practical ones by using existing systems, modified to the least extent practical, to accelerate the pace of exploration.
We therefore urge an approach that obtains near-term results—i.e., human exploration beyond LEO—as quickly and as pragmatically as possible. In an era when budgets are shrinking, as are both public and political attention spans, we believe this course is a must for human space exploration in the United States.
Specifically what does this course imply? It means two things:
1. Establishing a commercial crew capability to LEO and International Space Station as rapidly as possible, in order to expeditiously free up resources within the human spaceflight budget for exploration, rather than expensive Soyuz seats.
2. Using the savings accrued by adopting commercial crew to jump start human exploration beyond LEO before SLS is ready. This can be accomplished by developing orbital refueling for, and then human-rating, one or more existing rockets to carry out simple exploration missions—such as lunar/near Earth object flybys and orbiters—using the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or other crewed spacecraft that can be ready by mid-decade.
Studies we—and others—have been involved in over the past 18 months have shown that this kind of pragmatic approach is feasible. We believe that as soon as actual human visits to nearby worlds begin, the public excitement, scientific results, and other benefits of this exploration strengthen the desire for more of it, sustaining both SLS itself and NASA’s exploration objectives set in the 2020s and beyond.
There is no need for us to begin political games. Nor is there a need for new mandates, visions, or elections. But we must find ways to provide nearer-term exploration.
So let’s accelerate and invigorate human space exploration with human missions launched before this decade is out. In doing so, the exploration community can achieve the sustainability that has eluded us so far, and show a nation and the world just how creative and productive Americans of this generation can be in human space exploration.
Alan Stern is a planetary scientist and aerospace consultant. He is NASA’s former Associate Administrator in charge of Science, and he serves as the chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group. Gerry Griffin is an aerospace engineer, an Apollo flight director, and the former Director of the Johnson Space Center. He also served as the Associate Administrator for External Relations and Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs at NASA Headquarters. A version of this essay appeared in the September 26 issue of Space News.
International cooperation key to making space affordable - Nasa
From Engineering News.co.za: International cooperation key to making space affordable - Nasa
Keeping space projects affordable was currently the key challenge for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and probably most other space agencies in the world, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden said at the International Astronautical Congress, in Cape Town, on Monday.
Addressing the gathering together with the heads of a number of international space agencies, Bolden said that while the US government remained supportive of the space programme, more value was being demanded for the money spent.
“The public sector is demanding that we produce affordable systems with very sound plans that are sustainable and that will last over multiple administrations in the United States,” said Bolden.
The only way to achieve this, in Bolden’s opinion, was through international cooperation. “It’s important for as many nations as possible to join in the exploration effort. No one nation is going to be able to do the things that we all want to do alone, so it’s very important for every nation to participate.”
He echoed these sentiments even when asked about whether China’s participation in the space sector is a threat to the US, though confirmed that Nasa was currently prohibited by law from being involved in bilateral relationships with China.
According to Bolden, cooperation would also be extended to commercial entities and he predicted that, within months, and not years, private companies would be carrying cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).
He said that already two companies, Orbital Sciences and SpaceX, were preparing to fly their final demonstration missions before they were cleared to deliver cargo to the ISS.
With Russia still being a dominant force in the space industry, having about 40% of all space launches, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Vladmir Popovkin, also confirmed that international cooperation was vital. “Current large space exploration programmes are unthinkable without broader international cooperation.”
Russia already had numerous cooperative programmes with many other countries for which it carried out space launches. But it has experienced some problems during the last year in meeting its obligations. “Some failures have shown us again that space activities are very technologically advanced and difficult activities, so we must be very accurate and work carefully during the preflight preparations phase and launch phase,” he said.
While Nasa, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the European Space Agency were still looking at programmes of space exploration, including manned missions to Mars, the focus of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) had now turned to using its space programme for launching satellites for disaster management and environmental observation.
According to Jaxa President, Keiji Tachikawa, the importance of space exploration and international cooperation in this area became important in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earth quake and tsunami that rocked Japan. “Satellite images of the affected areas from many organisations through international cooperation frameworks . . . were critical for our countermeasures after the earthquake,” said Tachikawa.
Similarly, India was using its space programme for environmental efforts and as a developing country is especially looking at using its programme to promote societal benefits. One of India’s latest satellite projects, in which is involved in with Jaxa and Nasa, would be collecting data on cloud formation and precipitation in the tropics which should contribute to learning more about climate change.
The vice chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Ranganath Navalgund, said that it was intended that the data would become freely available to the international community after the initial phase of the project of approximately nine months.
“It will be very important to have this particular data set in terms of climate change as well as societal benefits of many of the countries along the tropics,” said Navalgund.
Keeping space projects affordable was currently the key challenge for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and probably most other space agencies in the world, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden said at the International Astronautical Congress, in Cape Town, on Monday.
Addressing the gathering together with the heads of a number of international space agencies, Bolden said that while the US government remained supportive of the space programme, more value was being demanded for the money spent.
“The public sector is demanding that we produce affordable systems with very sound plans that are sustainable and that will last over multiple administrations in the United States,” said Bolden.
The only way to achieve this, in Bolden’s opinion, was through international cooperation. “It’s important for as many nations as possible to join in the exploration effort. No one nation is going to be able to do the things that we all want to do alone, so it’s very important for every nation to participate.”
He echoed these sentiments even when asked about whether China’s participation in the space sector is a threat to the US, though confirmed that Nasa was currently prohibited by law from being involved in bilateral relationships with China.
According to Bolden, cooperation would also be extended to commercial entities and he predicted that, within months, and not years, private companies would be carrying cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).
He said that already two companies, Orbital Sciences and SpaceX, were preparing to fly their final demonstration missions before they were cleared to deliver cargo to the ISS.
With Russia still being a dominant force in the space industry, having about 40% of all space launches, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Vladmir Popovkin, also confirmed that international cooperation was vital. “Current large space exploration programmes are unthinkable without broader international cooperation.”
Russia already had numerous cooperative programmes with many other countries for which it carried out space launches. But it has experienced some problems during the last year in meeting its obligations. “Some failures have shown us again that space activities are very technologically advanced and difficult activities, so we must be very accurate and work carefully during the preflight preparations phase and launch phase,” he said.
While Nasa, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the European Space Agency were still looking at programmes of space exploration, including manned missions to Mars, the focus of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) had now turned to using its space programme for launching satellites for disaster management and environmental observation.
According to Jaxa President, Keiji Tachikawa, the importance of space exploration and international cooperation in this area became important in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 earth quake and tsunami that rocked Japan. “Satellite images of the affected areas from many organisations through international cooperation frameworks . . . were critical for our countermeasures after the earthquake,” said Tachikawa.
Similarly, India was using its space programme for environmental efforts and as a developing country is especially looking at using its programme to promote societal benefits. One of India’s latest satellite projects, in which is involved in with Jaxa and Nasa, would be collecting data on cloud formation and precipitation in the tropics which should contribute to learning more about climate change.
The vice chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Ranganath Navalgund, said that it was intended that the data would become freely available to the international community after the initial phase of the project of approximately nine months.
“It will be very important to have this particular data set in terms of climate change as well as societal benefits of many of the countries along the tropics,” said Navalgund.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Planet Mars: An Overall History of Our Discoveries About that Planet
Dozens of spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been sent to Mars by the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan to study the planet's surface, climate, and geology. As of 2008, the price of transporting material from the surface of Earth to the surface of Mars is approximately US$309,000 per kilogram.
Active probes at the Martian system as of 2011 include the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (since 2006), Mars Express (since 2003), 2001 Mars Odyssey (since 2001), and on the surface, Opportunity Rover (since 2004). More recently concluded missions include Mars Global Surveyor (1997–2006) and Spirit Rover (2004–2010).
Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars have failed in one manner or another before completing or even beginning their missions, including the difficult late 20th century period of early pioneers and first-timers.
In the 21st century failures are much less common. Mission failures are typically ascribed to technical problems, such as failed or lost communications or design errors, often due to inadequate funding or incompetence for a given mission.
Such failures have given rise to a satirical counter-culture blaming the failures on an Earth-Mars "Bermuda Triangle", a Mars "Curse", or the "Great Galactic Ghoul" that feeds on Martian spacecraft. Some of the latest failures include Beagle 2 (2003), Mars Climate Orbiter (1999), and Mars 96 (1996).
Past missions
The first successful fly-by of Mars was on July 14–15, 1965, by NASA's Mariner 4. On November 14, 1971 Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit another planet when it entered into orbit around Mars.
The first objects to successfully land on the surface were two Soviet probes: Mars 2 on November 27 and Mars 3 on December 2, 1971, but both ceased communicating within seconds of landing. The 1975 NASA launches of the Viking program consisted of two orbiters, each having a lander; both landers successfully touched down in 1976. Viking 1 remained operational for six years, Viking 2 for three. The Viking landers relayed color panoramas of Mars and the orbiters mapped the surface so well that the images remain in use.
The Soviet probes Phobos 1 and 2 were sent to Mars in 1988 to study Mars and its two moons. Phobos 1 lost contact on the way to Mars. Phobos 2, while successfully photographing Mars and Phobos, failed just before it was set to release two landers to the surface of Phobos.
Following the 1992 failure of the Mars Observer orbiter, the NASA Mars Global Surveyor achieved Mars orbit in 1997. This mission was a complete success, having finished its primary mapping mission in early 2001. Contact was lost with the probe in November 2006 during its third extended program, spending exactly 10 operational years in space. The NASA Mars Pathfinder, carrying a robotic exploration vehicle Sojourner, landed in the Ares Vallis on Mars in the summer of 1997, returning many images.
The NASA Phoenix Mars lander arrived on the north polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. Its robotic arm was used to dig into the Martian soil and the presence of water ice was confirmed on June 20. The mission concluded on November 10, 2008 after contact was lost.
Current missions
The NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter entered Mars orbit in 2001. Odyssey's Gamma Ray Spectrometer detected significant amounts of hydrogen in the upper metre or so of regolith on Mars. This hydrogen is thought to be contained in large deposits of water ice.
The Mars Express mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) reached Mars in 2003. It carried the Beagle 2 lander, which failed during descent and was declared lost in February, 2004.
In early 2004 the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer team announced the orbiter had detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. ESA announced in June 2006 the discovery of aurorae on Mars.
In January 2004, the NASA twin Mars Exploration Rovers named Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B) landed on the surface of Mars. Both have met or exceeded all their targets. Among the most significant scientific returns has been conclusive evidence that liquid water existed at some time in the past at both landing sites. Martian dust devils and windstorms have occasionally cleaned both rovers' solar panels, and thus increased their lifespan.
On March 10, 2006, the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe arrived in orbit to conduct a two-year science survey. The orbiter will map the Martian terrain and weather to find suitable landing sites for upcoming lander missions. The MRO snapped the first image of a series of active avalanches near the planet's north pole, scientists said March 3, 2008.
The Dawn spacecraft flew by Mars in February 2009 for a gravity assist on its way to investigate Vesta and then Ceres.
Future missions
The Mars Science Laboratory, named Curiosity, will be launched in 2011. It is a larger and more advanced version of the Mars Exploration Rovers, with a movement rate of 90 m/h. Experiments include a laser chemical sampler that can deduce the make-up of rocks at a distance of 13 m.
The joint Russian and Chinese Phobos-Grunt mission to return samples of the Martian moon, Phobos, is scheduled for launch in 2011. In 2008, NASA announced MAVEN, a robotic mission in 2013 to provide information about the atmosphere of Mars. In 2018 the ESA plans to launch its first Rover to Mars; the ExoMars rover will be capable of drilling 2 m into the soil in search of organic molecules.
The Finnish-Russian MetNet mission will land multiple small vehicles on Mars to establish a widespread observation network to investigate the planet's atmospheric structure, physics and meteorology. A precursor mission using one or a few landers is scheduled for launch in 2009 or 2011. One possibility is a piggyback launch on the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission.
Manned mission plans
The ESA hopes to land humans on Mars between 2030 and 2035. This will be preceded by successively larger probes, starting with the launch of the ExoMars probe and a joint NASA-ESA Mars sample return mission.
Manned exploration by the United States was identified as a long-term goal in the Vision for Space Exploration announced in 2004 by then US President George W. Bush. The planned Orion spacecraft would be used to send a human expedition to Earth's moon by 2020 as a stepping stone to a Mars expedition. On September 28, 2007, NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin stated that NASA aims to put a man on Mars by 2037.
Mars Direct, a low-cost human mission proposed by Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, would use heavy-lift Saturn V class rockets, such as the Space X Falcon X, or, the Ares V, to skip orbital construction, LEO rendezvous, and lunar fuel depots. A modified proposal, called "Mars to Stay", involves not returning the first immigrant explorers immediately, if ever (see Colonization of Mars).
Astronomy on Mars
With the existence of various orbiters, landers, and rovers, it is now possible to study astronomy from the Martian skies. While Mars’ moon Phobos appears about one third the angular diameter of the full Moon as it appears from Earth, Deimos appears more or less star-like, and appears only slightly brighter than Venus does from Earth.
There are also various phenomena well-known on Earth that have now been observed on Mars, such as meteors and auroras. A transit of the Earth as seen from Mars will occur on November 10, 2084.
There are also transits of Mercury and transits of Venus, and the moons Phobos and Deimos are of sufficiently small angular diameter that their partial "eclipses" of the Sun are best considered transits (see Transit of Deimos from Mars).
Viewing
Because the orbit of Mars is eccentric its apparent magnitude at opposition from the Sun can range from −3.0 to −1.4. The minimum brightness is magnitude +1.6 when the planet is in conjunction with the Sun.
Mars usually appears a distinct yellow, orange, or reddish color; the actual color of Mars is closer to butterscotch, and the redness seen is just dust in the planet's atmosphere; considering this NASA's Spirit rover has taken pictures of a greenish-brown, mud-colored landscape with blue-grey rocks and patches of light red colored sand.
When farthest away from the Earth, it is more than seven times as far from the latter as when it is closest. When least favorably positioned, it can be lost in the Sun's glare for months at a time. At its most favorable times—at 15- or 17-year intervals, and always between late July and late September—Mars shows a wealth of surface detail to a telescope. Especially noticeable, even at low magnification, are the polar ice caps.
As Mars approaches opposition it begins a period of retrograde motion, which means it will appear to move backwards in a looping motion with respect to the background stars. The duration of this retrograde motion lasts for about 72 days, and Mars reaches its peak luminosity in the middle of this motion.
Historical observations
The history of observations of Mars is marked by the oppositions of Mars, when the planet is closest to Earth and hence is most easily visible, which occur every couple of years. Even more notable are the perihelic oppositions of Mars which occur every 15 or 17 years, and are distinguished because Mars is close to perihelion, making it even closer to Earth.
The existence of Mars as a wandering object in the night sky was recorded by the ancient Egyptian astronomers and by 1534 BCE they were familiar with the retrograde motion of the planet. By the period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Babylonian astronomers were making regular records of the positions of the planets and systematic observations of their behavior. For Mars, they knew that the planet made 37 synodic periods, or 42 circuits of the zodiac, every 79 years. They also invented arithmetic methods for making minor corrections to the predicted positions of the planets.
In the fourth century BCE, Aristotle noted that Mars disappeared behind the Moon during an occultation, indicating the planet was farther away. Ptolemy, a Greek living in Alexandria, attempted to address the problem of the orbital motion of Mars. Ptolemy's model and his collective work on astronomy was presented in the multi-volume collection Almagest, which became the authoritative treatise on Western astronomy for the next fourteen centuries.
Literature from ancient China confirms that Mars was known by Chinese astronomers by no later than the fourth century BCE. In the fifth century CE, the Indian astronomical text Surya Siddhanta estimated the diameter of Mars.
During the seventeenth century, Tycho Brahe measured the diurnal parallax of Mars that Johannes Kepler used to make a preliminary calculation of the relative distance to the planet. When the telescope became available, the diurnal parallax of Mars was again measured in an effort to determine the Sun-Earth distance. This was first performed by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672. The early parallax measurements were hampered by the quality of the instruments.
The only occultation of Mars by Venus observed was that of October 13, 1590, seen by Michael Maestlin at Heidelberg. In 1610, Mars was viewed by Galileo Galilei, who was first to see it via telescope. The first person to draw a map of Mars that displayed any terrain features was the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
Martian "canals"
By the 19th century, the resolution of telescopes reached a level sufficient for surface features to be identified. In September 1877, a perihelic opposition of Mars occurred on September 5. In that year, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli used a 22 cm telescope in Milan to help produce the first detailed map of Mars. These maps notably contained features he called canali, which were later shown to be an optical illusion.
These canali were supposedly long straight lines on the surface of Mars to which he gave names of famous rivers on Earth. His term, which means "channels" or "grooves", was popularly mistranslated in English as "canals".
Influenced by the observations, the orientalist Percival Lowell founded an observatory which had a 300 and 450 mm telescope. The observatory was used for the exploration of Mars during the last good opportunity in 1894 and the following less favorable oppositions. He published several books on Mars and life on the planet, which had a great influence on the public. The canali were also found by other astronomers, like Henri Joseph Perrotin and Louis Thollon in Nice, using one of the largest telescopes of that time.
The seasonal changes (consisting of the diminishing of the polar caps and the dark areas formed during Martian summer) in combination with the canals lead to speculation about life on Mars, and it was a long held belief that Mars contained vast seas and vegetation. The telescope never reached the resolution required to give proof to any speculations. As bigger telescopes were used, fewer long, straight canali were observed. During an observation in 1909 by Flammarion with a 840 mm telescope, irregular patterns were observed, but no canali were seen.
Even in the 1960s articles were published on Martian biology, putting aside explanations other than life for the seasonal changes on Mars. Detailed scenarios for the metabolism and chemical cycles for a functional ecosystem have been published.
It was not until spacecraft visited the planet during NASA's Mariner missions in the 1960s that these myths were dispelled. The results of the Viking life-detection experiments started an intermission in which the hypothesis of a hostile, dead planet was generally accepted.
Some maps of Mars were made using the data from these missions, but it was not until the Mars Global Surveyor mission, launched in 1996 and operated until late 2006, that complete, extremely detailed maps of the martian topography, magnetic field and surface minerals were obtained. These maps are now available online, for example, at Google Mars.
Active probes at the Martian system as of 2011 include the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (since 2006), Mars Express (since 2003), 2001 Mars Odyssey (since 2001), and on the surface, Opportunity Rover (since 2004). More recently concluded missions include Mars Global Surveyor (1997–2006) and Spirit Rover (2004–2010).
Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars have failed in one manner or another before completing or even beginning their missions, including the difficult late 20th century period of early pioneers and first-timers.
In the 21st century failures are much less common. Mission failures are typically ascribed to technical problems, such as failed or lost communications or design errors, often due to inadequate funding or incompetence for a given mission.
Such failures have given rise to a satirical counter-culture blaming the failures on an Earth-Mars "Bermuda Triangle", a Mars "Curse", or the "Great Galactic Ghoul" that feeds on Martian spacecraft. Some of the latest failures include Beagle 2 (2003), Mars Climate Orbiter (1999), and Mars 96 (1996).
Past missions
The first successful fly-by of Mars was on July 14–15, 1965, by NASA's Mariner 4. On November 14, 1971 Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit another planet when it entered into orbit around Mars.
The first objects to successfully land on the surface were two Soviet probes: Mars 2 on November 27 and Mars 3 on December 2, 1971, but both ceased communicating within seconds of landing. The 1975 NASA launches of the Viking program consisted of two orbiters, each having a lander; both landers successfully touched down in 1976. Viking 1 remained operational for six years, Viking 2 for three. The Viking landers relayed color panoramas of Mars and the orbiters mapped the surface so well that the images remain in use.
The Soviet probes Phobos 1 and 2 were sent to Mars in 1988 to study Mars and its two moons. Phobos 1 lost contact on the way to Mars. Phobos 2, while successfully photographing Mars and Phobos, failed just before it was set to release two landers to the surface of Phobos.
Following the 1992 failure of the Mars Observer orbiter, the NASA Mars Global Surveyor achieved Mars orbit in 1997. This mission was a complete success, having finished its primary mapping mission in early 2001. Contact was lost with the probe in November 2006 during its third extended program, spending exactly 10 operational years in space. The NASA Mars Pathfinder, carrying a robotic exploration vehicle Sojourner, landed in the Ares Vallis on Mars in the summer of 1997, returning many images.
The NASA Phoenix Mars lander arrived on the north polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. Its robotic arm was used to dig into the Martian soil and the presence of water ice was confirmed on June 20. The mission concluded on November 10, 2008 after contact was lost.
Current missions
The NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter entered Mars orbit in 2001. Odyssey's Gamma Ray Spectrometer detected significant amounts of hydrogen in the upper metre or so of regolith on Mars. This hydrogen is thought to be contained in large deposits of water ice.
The Mars Express mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) reached Mars in 2003. It carried the Beagle 2 lander, which failed during descent and was declared lost in February, 2004.
In early 2004 the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer team announced the orbiter had detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. ESA announced in June 2006 the discovery of aurorae on Mars.
In January 2004, the NASA twin Mars Exploration Rovers named Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B) landed on the surface of Mars. Both have met or exceeded all their targets. Among the most significant scientific returns has been conclusive evidence that liquid water existed at some time in the past at both landing sites. Martian dust devils and windstorms have occasionally cleaned both rovers' solar panels, and thus increased their lifespan.
On March 10, 2006, the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe arrived in orbit to conduct a two-year science survey. The orbiter will map the Martian terrain and weather to find suitable landing sites for upcoming lander missions. The MRO snapped the first image of a series of active avalanches near the planet's north pole, scientists said March 3, 2008.
The Dawn spacecraft flew by Mars in February 2009 for a gravity assist on its way to investigate Vesta and then Ceres.
Future missions
The Mars Science Laboratory, named Curiosity, will be launched in 2011. It is a larger and more advanced version of the Mars Exploration Rovers, with a movement rate of 90 m/h. Experiments include a laser chemical sampler that can deduce the make-up of rocks at a distance of 13 m.
The joint Russian and Chinese Phobos-Grunt mission to return samples of the Martian moon, Phobos, is scheduled for launch in 2011. In 2008, NASA announced MAVEN, a robotic mission in 2013 to provide information about the atmosphere of Mars. In 2018 the ESA plans to launch its first Rover to Mars; the ExoMars rover will be capable of drilling 2 m into the soil in search of organic molecules.
The Finnish-Russian MetNet mission will land multiple small vehicles on Mars to establish a widespread observation network to investigate the planet's atmospheric structure, physics and meteorology. A precursor mission using one or a few landers is scheduled for launch in 2009 or 2011. One possibility is a piggyback launch on the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission.
Manned mission plans
The ESA hopes to land humans on Mars between 2030 and 2035. This will be preceded by successively larger probes, starting with the launch of the ExoMars probe and a joint NASA-ESA Mars sample return mission.
Manned exploration by the United States was identified as a long-term goal in the Vision for Space Exploration announced in 2004 by then US President George W. Bush. The planned Orion spacecraft would be used to send a human expedition to Earth's moon by 2020 as a stepping stone to a Mars expedition. On September 28, 2007, NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin stated that NASA aims to put a man on Mars by 2037.
Mars Direct, a low-cost human mission proposed by Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, would use heavy-lift Saturn V class rockets, such as the Space X Falcon X, or, the Ares V, to skip orbital construction, LEO rendezvous, and lunar fuel depots. A modified proposal, called "Mars to Stay", involves not returning the first immigrant explorers immediately, if ever (see Colonization of Mars).
Astronomy on Mars
With the existence of various orbiters, landers, and rovers, it is now possible to study astronomy from the Martian skies. While Mars’ moon Phobos appears about one third the angular diameter of the full Moon as it appears from Earth, Deimos appears more or less star-like, and appears only slightly brighter than Venus does from Earth.
There are also various phenomena well-known on Earth that have now been observed on Mars, such as meteors and auroras. A transit of the Earth as seen from Mars will occur on November 10, 2084.
There are also transits of Mercury and transits of Venus, and the moons Phobos and Deimos are of sufficiently small angular diameter that their partial "eclipses" of the Sun are best considered transits (see Transit of Deimos from Mars).
Viewing
Because the orbit of Mars is eccentric its apparent magnitude at opposition from the Sun can range from −3.0 to −1.4. The minimum brightness is magnitude +1.6 when the planet is in conjunction with the Sun.
Mars usually appears a distinct yellow, orange, or reddish color; the actual color of Mars is closer to butterscotch, and the redness seen is just dust in the planet's atmosphere; considering this NASA's Spirit rover has taken pictures of a greenish-brown, mud-colored landscape with blue-grey rocks and patches of light red colored sand.
When farthest away from the Earth, it is more than seven times as far from the latter as when it is closest. When least favorably positioned, it can be lost in the Sun's glare for months at a time. At its most favorable times—at 15- or 17-year intervals, and always between late July and late September—Mars shows a wealth of surface detail to a telescope. Especially noticeable, even at low magnification, are the polar ice caps.
As Mars approaches opposition it begins a period of retrograde motion, which means it will appear to move backwards in a looping motion with respect to the background stars. The duration of this retrograde motion lasts for about 72 days, and Mars reaches its peak luminosity in the middle of this motion.
Historical observations
The history of observations of Mars is marked by the oppositions of Mars, when the planet is closest to Earth and hence is most easily visible, which occur every couple of years. Even more notable are the perihelic oppositions of Mars which occur every 15 or 17 years, and are distinguished because Mars is close to perihelion, making it even closer to Earth.
The existence of Mars as a wandering object in the night sky was recorded by the ancient Egyptian astronomers and by 1534 BCE they were familiar with the retrograde motion of the planet. By the period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Babylonian astronomers were making regular records of the positions of the planets and systematic observations of their behavior. For Mars, they knew that the planet made 37 synodic periods, or 42 circuits of the zodiac, every 79 years. They also invented arithmetic methods for making minor corrections to the predicted positions of the planets.
In the fourth century BCE, Aristotle noted that Mars disappeared behind the Moon during an occultation, indicating the planet was farther away. Ptolemy, a Greek living in Alexandria, attempted to address the problem of the orbital motion of Mars. Ptolemy's model and his collective work on astronomy was presented in the multi-volume collection Almagest, which became the authoritative treatise on Western astronomy for the next fourteen centuries.
Literature from ancient China confirms that Mars was known by Chinese astronomers by no later than the fourth century BCE. In the fifth century CE, the Indian astronomical text Surya Siddhanta estimated the diameter of Mars.
During the seventeenth century, Tycho Brahe measured the diurnal parallax of Mars that Johannes Kepler used to make a preliminary calculation of the relative distance to the planet. When the telescope became available, the diurnal parallax of Mars was again measured in an effort to determine the Sun-Earth distance. This was first performed by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672. The early parallax measurements were hampered by the quality of the instruments.
The only occultation of Mars by Venus observed was that of October 13, 1590, seen by Michael Maestlin at Heidelberg. In 1610, Mars was viewed by Galileo Galilei, who was first to see it via telescope. The first person to draw a map of Mars that displayed any terrain features was the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
Martian "canals"
By the 19th century, the resolution of telescopes reached a level sufficient for surface features to be identified. In September 1877, a perihelic opposition of Mars occurred on September 5. In that year, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli used a 22 cm telescope in Milan to help produce the first detailed map of Mars. These maps notably contained features he called canali, which were later shown to be an optical illusion.
These canali were supposedly long straight lines on the surface of Mars to which he gave names of famous rivers on Earth. His term, which means "channels" or "grooves", was popularly mistranslated in English as "canals".
Influenced by the observations, the orientalist Percival Lowell founded an observatory which had a 300 and 450 mm telescope. The observatory was used for the exploration of Mars during the last good opportunity in 1894 and the following less favorable oppositions. He published several books on Mars and life on the planet, which had a great influence on the public. The canali were also found by other astronomers, like Henri Joseph Perrotin and Louis Thollon in Nice, using one of the largest telescopes of that time.
The seasonal changes (consisting of the diminishing of the polar caps and the dark areas formed during Martian summer) in combination with the canals lead to speculation about life on Mars, and it was a long held belief that Mars contained vast seas and vegetation. The telescope never reached the resolution required to give proof to any speculations. As bigger telescopes were used, fewer long, straight canali were observed. During an observation in 1909 by Flammarion with a 840 mm telescope, irregular patterns were observed, but no canali were seen.
Even in the 1960s articles were published on Martian biology, putting aside explanations other than life for the seasonal changes on Mars. Detailed scenarios for the metabolism and chemical cycles for a functional ecosystem have been published.
It was not until spacecraft visited the planet during NASA's Mariner missions in the 1960s that these myths were dispelled. The results of the Viking life-detection experiments started an intermission in which the hypothesis of a hostile, dead planet was generally accepted.
Some maps of Mars were made using the data from these missions, but it was not until the Mars Global Surveyor mission, launched in 1996 and operated until late 2006, that complete, extremely detailed maps of the martian topography, magnetic field and surface minerals were obtained. These maps are now available online, for example, at Google Mars.
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