samedi 1 août 2020

Endeavour Spacecraft Undocked from Station













NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 patch.

August 1, 2020


Image above: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft moments after undocking from the International Space Station on NASA TV.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley inside undocked from the forward end of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 7:35 p.m. EDT to complete a two-month mission. 

SpaceX Demo-2: Crew Dragon Hatch Closure

Two very small engine burns separated Crew Dragon from the station, and the spacecraft is slowly maneuvering away from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track that will return the astronaut crew and its cargo safely to Earth.

SpaceX Demo-2: Crew Dragon Undocking

Once flying free, Dragon Endeavour will autonomously execute four departure burns to move the spaceship away from the space station and begin the flight home. 

NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live

The return timeline with approximate times in EDT is:

August 1

7:35 p.m.             Departure burn 0

7:40 p.m.             Departure burn 1

8:27 p.m.             Departure burn 2

9:14 p.m.             Departure burn 3

August 2

1:44 p.m.             Trunk jettison

1:49 p.m.             Deorbit burn

2:41 p.m.             Crew Dragon splashdown

NASA will continue to provide live coverage until astronaut Behnken and Hurley splashdown off the coast of Florida and are recovered from the Gulf of Mexico.

The duo arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During their 63 days aboard station, Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours of time to supporting the orbiting laboratory’s investigations, participated in public engagement events, and supported four spacewalks with Behnken and Cassidy to install new batteries in the station’s power grid and upgrade other station hardware.

Related articles:

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Weather Remains ‘GO’ for Return, Live Coverage Today
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/08/nasas-spacex-demo-2-weather-remains-go.html

Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html

NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html

Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html

Related links:

Splashdown weather criteria fact sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ccp_splashdown.pdf

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image, Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Norah Moran/NASA TV/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Weather Remains ‘GO’ for Return, Live Coverage Today













NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 patch.

August 1, 2020

Teams from NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with preparations to bring NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley home to Earth on Sunday, Aug. 2, after receiving a weather briefing this evening from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron.

Conditions remain “Go” at several of the needed target locations for splashdown and recovery off the Florida coast on Sunday aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft. NASA and SpaceX will make a decision on a primary splashdown target approximately 6 hours before undocking Saturday.


Image above: On Monday, March 30, 2020 at a SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX successfully completed a fully integrated test of critical crew flight hardware ahead of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program; the first flight test with astronauts onboard the spacecraft. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participated in the test, which included flight suit leak checks, spacecraft sound verification, display panel and cargo bin inspections, seat hardware rotations, and more. Image Credit: NASA.

Teams continue to closely monitor Hurricane Isaias and evaluate impacts to the landing sites in the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida Panhandle. Teams have several weather decision milestones ahead of and after undocking to adjust the splashdown location and time based on the forecasted conditions for recovery.

Crew Dragon undocking. Animation Credit: NASA

Undocking remains scheduled for approximately 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, and splashdown at 2:42 p.m. EDT on Sunday. This will mark the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station, and it will wrap up NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission after more than two months at the International Space Station.

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Saturday, Aug. 1

9:10 a.m. – SpaceX Dragon Demo-2 Farewell Ceremony aboard the International Space Station (ceremony begins about 9:15 a.m.)

5:15 p.m. – NASA TV undocking coverage begins for the 7:34 p.m. undocking (NASA Television will have continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)

Sunday, Aug. 2

2:42 p.m. – Splashdown
5 p.m. – Administrator post-splashdown news conference from the Johnson

Crew Dragon splashdown. Animation Credit: NASA

Space Center, with the following participants:

        NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
        Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
        International Space Station representative
        Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer, SpaceX
        NASA Astronaut Office representative

Tuesday, Aug. 4

4:30 p.m. – Demo-2 crew news conference at Johnson, with the following participants:

        NASA astronaut Bob Behnken
        NASA astronaut Doug Hurley

The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Hurley and Behnken lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 and arrived at the space station the following day. The Demo-2 test flight is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.

Related articles:

Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html

NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html

Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html

Related links:

Splashdown weather criteria fact sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ccp_splashdown.pdf

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tori Mclendon.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

vendredi 31 juillet 2020

ATLAS result addresses long-standing tension in the Standard Model













CERN - ATLAS Experiment logo.

31 July, 2020

A new ATLAS measurement of a key feature of the Standard Model known as lepton flavour universality suggests that a previous discrepancy measured by the LEP collider in W boson decays may be due to a fluctuation
 
Standard Model survives stringent test of lepton universality at the ATLAS experiment

Video above: Researchers from the ATLAS collaboration explain their new measurement of "lepton flavour universality” – a unique property of the Standard Model of particle physics. (Video: CERN).

The best-known particle in the lepton family is the electron, a key building block of matter and central to our understanding of electricity. But the electron is not an only child. It has two heavier siblings, the muon and the tau lepton, and together they are known as the three lepton flavours. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, the only difference between the siblings should be their mass: the muon is about 200 times heavier than the electron, and the tau-lepton is about 17 times heavier than the muon. It is a remarkable feature of the Standard Model that each flavour is equally likely to interact with a W boson, which results from the so-called lepton flavour universality. Lepton flavour universality has been probed in different processes and energy regimes to high precision.

In a new study, described in a paper posted today on the arXiv and first presented at the LHCP 2020 conference, the ATLAS collaboration presents a precise measurement of lepton flavour universality using a brand-new technique.

ATLAS physicists examined collision events where pairs of top quarks decay to pairs of W bosons, and subsequently into leptons. “The LHC is a top-quark factory, and produced 100 million top-quark pairs during Run 2,” says Klaus Moenig, ATLAS Physics Coordinator. “This gave us a large unbiased sample of W bosons decaying to muons and tau leptons, which was essential for this high-precision measurement.”

They then measured the relative probability that the lepton resulting from a W-boson decay is a muon or a tau-lepton – a ratio known as R(τ/μ). According to the Standard Model, R(τ/μ) should be unity, as the strength of the interaction with a W boson should be the same for a tau-lepton and a muon. But there has been tension about this ever since the 1990s when experiments at the Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider measured R(τ/μ) to be 1.070 ± 0.026, deviating from the Standard Model expectation by 2.7 standard deviations.

The new ATLAS measurement gives a value of R(τ/μ) = 0.992 ± 0.013. This is the most precise measurement of the ratio to date, with an uncertainty half the size of that from the combination of LEP results. The ATLAS measurement is in agreement with the Standard Model expectation and suggests that the previous LEP discrepancy may be due to a fluctuation.

“The LHC was designed as a discovery machine for the Higgs boson and heavy new physics,” says ATLAS Spokesperson Karl Jakobs. “But this result further demonstrates that the ATLAS experiment is also capable of measurements at the precision frontier. Our capacity for these types of precision measurements will only improve as we take more data in Run 3 and beyond.”

Although it has survived this latest test, the principle of lepton flavour universality will not be completely out of the woods until the anomalies in B-meson decays recorded by the LHCb experiment have also been definitively probed.

Read more on the ATLAS website and the Courier website:

http://atlas.cern/updates/physics-briefing/addressing-long-standing-tension-standard-model

https://cerncourier.com/a/lep-era-universality-discrepancy-unravelled/

Note:

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 Member States.

Related links:

Standard Model: https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model

W boson: https://home.cern/tags/w-boson

ATLAS collaboration study paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.14040

LHCP 2020 conference: https://cerncourier.com/a/lhc-physics-shines-amid-covid-19-crisis/

Large Electron-Positron (LEP): https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-electron-positron-collider

Anomalies in B-meson decays recorded by the LHCb experiment: https://cerncourier.com/a/anomalies-persist-in-flavour-changing-b-decays/

For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/

Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NA62 sees first significant evidence of rare process













CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.

31 July, 2020

The result paves the way for searching for signs of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics


Image above: The experimental hall where NA62 is located (Image: Julien Ordan/CERN).

Physicists look for new physics phenomena in many ways. One is by observing and measuring processes that are predicted to be extremely rare and looking for differences between data and theoretical predictions. The NA62 detector – the 62nd experiment located in CERN’s North Area – is designed to observe with high precision one such process, in which a positively charged particle known as a kaon transforms into a positively charged pion and a neutrino–antineutrino pair (denoted by K+→π+νν). Yesterday, at the 40th International Conference on High Energy Physics, the NA62 collaboration reported recording 17 candidate events for this particular transformation in data they collected in 2018. By combining the data they collected in 2016 and 2017, NA62 can claim the first evidence for this ultra-rare process, with a statistical significance of three-and-a-half sigma (3.5σ).

Colliding particles – into other particle beams or into fixed targets – at sufficiently high energies can produce heavy, unstable particles, like the kaons sought by NA62. These heavy particles transform (or “decay”) almost instantaneously into lighter particles in various combinations. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts how often a given particle will undergo all possible transformations. In the case of the kaon, only around one in every ten billion are expected to transform into a pion and a neutrino–antineutrino pair, with an uncertainty of about 10%. It is thus one of the rarest processes that can be observed by physicists.

While CERN is famous for the Large Hadron Collider, other accelerators at the laboratory provide particle beams for smaller but highly specialised experiments. The NA62 detector gets its beam from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). Proton beams from the SPS, with an energy of 450 gigaelectronvolts, slam into a fixed target made of beryllium located upstream of NA62. Nearly a billion secondary particles are produced each second as a result and race towards the detector. Of these particles, around 6% are positively charged kaons. The kaons enter the detector, where a dedicated device identifies them before they undergo transformation into lighter particles. The physicists therefore have to first count the kaons produced and identify which of them transformed into a pion and a neutrino–antineutrino pair. Since neutrinos and their antiparticle counterparts leave no trace in the NA62 detector, their presence has to be deduced by calculating the angles between the parent kaon and the daughter pion and by measuring their speed and direction of motion.

In 2018, the NA62 detector collected data for 217 days, at the expense of around a billion billion (1018) protons. By sifting through these data, the collaboration was able to identify 17 new events that fit the K+→π+νν profile, in addition to the first candidate event observed in data from 2016 and the two candidates from 2017. Combining these data allowed NA62 to experimentally determine that the rate at which kaons undergo this rare transformation is around one in ten billion, with an uncertainty of about 35%. The experimental value is compatible with the Standard Model’s prediction at the current level of precision.

This is an important milestone for the experiment. NA62 is now on track to reach the threshold of 5σ statistical significance to claim observation of the process. The detector will receive new batches of kaons when the SPS resumes operations in 2021, following the second long shutdown of CERN’s accelerator complex.

Note:

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 23 Member States.

Related links:

NA62: https://home.cern/science/experiments/na62

40th International Conference on High Energy Physics: https://indico.cern.ch/event/868940/

Standard Model of particle physics: https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model

Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS): https://home.cern/science/accelerators/super-proton-synchrotron

First candidate event observed in data from 2016: https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/cern-experiment-sees-hints-rare-kaon-decay

Two candidates from 2017: https://home.cern/news/news/physics/na62-spots-two-potential-instances-rare-particle-decay

For more information about European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Visit: https://home.cern/

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: CERN/Achintya Rao.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Crew Dragon Go For Splashdown, Station Science Continues













ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

July 31, 2020

NASA and SpaceX mission managers met Thursday night and are proceeding, weather permitting, with the return to Earth of two astronauts. Meanwhile, space research to improve life for humans on and off the planet kept the Expedition 63 crew busy today.

NASA astronauts (from left) Bob Behnken, Chris Cassidy and Doug Hurley talk to journalists on Earth. The trio answered media questions before Behnken and Hurley return to Earth.

Expedition 63 Demo 2 In flight Crew News Conference - July 31, 2020

Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are packing up to end a two-month mission aboard the International Space Station. They are scheduled to board the Crew Dragon spacecraft and undock on Saturday evening from the Harmony module’s international docking adapter. The duo would splashdown on Sunday wrapping up NASA’s first crewed mission since 2011. NASA TV will provide continuous coverage of the departure and Earth return activities.

The veteran astronauts also completed their science assignments today that saw studies into unique fluids, biomedicine, autonomous robotics and more. However, Commander Chris Cassidy, who is staying in space until October, was busy all-day researching water droplets, observing extreme temperatures and sequencing microbial DNA.

International Space Station (ISS). Image Credit: NASA

Hurley serviced science freezers that preserve biological samples for later analysis. He finally powered down the Astrobee free-flying robots that will soon see students competing to create the best algorithms to control the devices. Behnken finalized his work observing microgravity’s effects on water droplets to improve conservation and pressure techniques.

The orbiting lab’s two cosmonauts from Roscosmos, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, continued their schedule of science and maintenance today. Ivanishin worked on a variety of communications gear during the morning before activating Russian radiation detectors in the afternoon. Vagner once again photographed Earth landmarks today then sampled the station’s air and surfaces to analyze and identify microbes.

Related articles:

Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html

NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html

Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html

Related links:

NASA : https://www.nasa.gov/

SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Water droplets: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7541

Extreme temperatures: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1853

Sequencing microbial DNA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1917

Astrobee: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1891

Photography Earth landmarks: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/study/all.html

Analyze and identify microbes: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/biology/02.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of July 27, 2020













ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

July 31, 2020

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific research the week of July 27, including studies on creating photonic materials, water droplet formation in microgravity, and using temperature to control crystal growth. Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley prepared for their scheduled Aug. 1 departure from the station, bringing to a close the SpaceX Demo-2 flight, the first to launch NASA astronauts from U.S. soil since 2011. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, once again launching astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil, increases the crew time available for science on the orbiting lab. Now in its 20th year of continuous human presence, the space station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space.


Image above: This long-exposure photograph taken during an orbital night period reveals the Milky Way above a bright but exaggerated atmospheric glow that blankets the Earth's horizon. The station’s oxygen and nitrogen high-pressure tanks and one of the main solar arrays are visible in the upper foreground. Image Credit: NASA.

Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:

Forming photonic materials in space

JAXA Colloidal Clusters investigates the mechanism behind formation of tetrahedral clusters of negatively and positively charged particles suspended in liquid. These clusters may be useful as building blocks of future innovative light-manipulating or photonic materials (PMs). Tetrahedral colloidal clusters are key to creating diamond-lattice structures known to act as PMs. During the week, the crew initiated an experiment run that included exposure to ultraviolet illumination, then stowed samples for return to Earth for analysis and characterization.

Designing a better, more efficient shower


Image above: NASA astronaut Robert Behnken runs a session for the Droplet Formation investigation, a study of water droplet formation and water flow in microgravity. Image Credit: NASA.

During the week, the crew initiated multiple sessions for the Droplet Formation Studies in Microgravity (Droplet Formation Study) investigation, which evaluates water droplet formation and water flow of Delta Faucet’s H2Okinetic shower head technology. Reducing flow rates in shower devices conserves water, but lower flow rates also reduce the effectiveness of these devices and often causes consumers to take longer showers, undermining the goal of using less water. Gravity’s full effects on formation of water droplet size are unknown, and research in microgravity could help improve the technology, creating better performance and improved user experience while conserving water and energy.

Controlling crystal formation with temperature


Image above: NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy places samples into the Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for Food Physiology, which documents the effects of dietary improvements on astronaut immune function and the gut microbiome. Image Credit: NASA.

Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-4 (ACE-T-4) uses temperature to control the transition of an ordered crystal to a disordered glass in order to determine how increasing disorder affects the structural and dynamic properties. A better understanding of the microscopic process of this transition could lead to better control of the phenomenon and improved mechanical properties of glass-forming materials. ACE-T-4 also could provide insight into how increasing disorder in an initially crystalline material can affect melting, freezing, aging, and other structural and dynamic properties.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Robo-Pro Challenge, also known as Kibo-RPC, allows students to create programs to control an Astrobee free-flying robot aboard the space station. This activity is a partnership between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7979

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1891

- The BioMole Facility is a technology demonstration to conduct comparative analysis for possible replacement of current microbial monitoring systems. Its non-culture-based samples are capable of providing microbial identification on-orbit within days.

- Radi-N2, a Canadian Space Agency investigation, uses bubble detectors to better characterize the neutron environment on the space station, which could help define the risk this radiation source poses to crew members and provide data necessary to develop advanced protective measures for future spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=874

- ISS Ham gives students an opportunity to talk directly with crew members via ham radio when the space station passes over their schools. This interaction engages and educates students, teachers, parents, and other members of the community in science, technology, engineering, and math.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=337

- The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) investigation documents the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and the ability of those improvements to support adaptation to spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870

Space to Ground: #BecauseScience: 07/31/2020

Related links:

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

JAXA Colloidal Clusters: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7879

Droplet Formation Study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7541

Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature-4 (ACE-T-4): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7740

ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/John Love, ISS Research Planning Integration Scientist Expedition 63.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

JWST Will Study Jupiter, Its Rings, and Two Intriguing Moons













NASA / ESA / CSA-ASC - James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) patch.

July 31, 2020

Jupiter, named for the king of the ancient Roman gods, commands its own mini-version of our solar system of circling satellites; their movements convinced Galileo Galilei that Earth is not the center of the universe in the early 17th century. More than 400 years later, astronomers will use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to observe these famous subjects, pushing the observatory's instruments to their fullest capabilities and laying the groundwork for far-reaching scientific discovery.


Image above: The moon Io orbits Jupiter in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Jupiter and Io appear deceptively close in this image, when in fact the moon is orbiting 217,000 miles from the gas giant planet. Image Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

A diverse team of more than 40 researchers, led by astronomers Imke de Pater of the University of California, Berkeley and Thierry Fouchet of the Observatoire de Paris, have designed an ambitious observing program that will conduct some of Webb's first scientific observations in the solar system—studying Jupiter, its ring system, and two of its moons: Ganymede and Io.

"It will be a really challenging experiment," said de Pater. "Jupiter is so bright, and Webb's instruments are so sensitive, that observing both the bright planet and its fainter rings and moons will be an excellent test of how to get the most out of Webb's innovative technology."

Jupiter

In addition to calibrating Webb's instruments for Jupiter's brightness, astronomers must also take into account the planet's rotation, because Jupiter completes one day in only 10 hours. Several images must be stitched together in a mosaic to fully capture a certain area—the famous storm known as the Great Red Spot, for example—a task made more difficult when the object itself is moving. While many telescopes have studied Jupiter and its storms, Webb's large mirror and powerful instruments will provide new insights.


Image above: Cyclone storms encircle Jupiter's North Pole, captured in infrared light by NASA's Juno spacecraft. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM.

"We know that the immediate atmosphere above the Great Red Spot is colder than other areas of Jupiter, but at higher altitudes, in the mesosphere, the atmosphere appears to be warmer. We will use Webb to investigate this phenomenon," de Pater said.

Webb will also examine the atmosphere of the polar region, where NASA's Juno spacecraft discovered clusters of cyclones. Webb's spectroscopic data will provide much more detail than has been possible in past observations, measuring winds, cloud particles, gas composition, and temperature.

Future solar system observations of the giant planets with Webb will benefit from the lessons learned in these early observations of the Jovian system. The team is tasked with developing methods for working with Webb observations of solar system planets, which can be used later by other scientists.

Rings

All four of the gas giant planets of the solar system have rings, with Saturn's being the most prominent. Jupiter's ring system is composed of three parts: a flat main ring; a halo inside the main ring, shaped like a double-convex lens; and the gossamer ring, exterior to the main ring. Jupiter's ring system is exceptionally faint because the particles that make up the rings are so small and sparse that they do not reflect much light. Next to the brightness of the planet they practically disappear, presenting a challenge for astronomers.

"We are really pushing the capabilities of some of Webb's instruments to the limit to get a unique new set of observations," said co-investigator Michael Wong of the University of California, Berkeley. The team will test observing strategies to deal with Jupiter's scattered light, and build models for use by other astronomers, including those studying exoplanets orbiting bright stars.


Image above: NASA's Galileo spacecraft captured an image of Jupiter's ring system, including the diffuse outer gossamer ring. Image Credits: NASA/JPL/Cornell University.

The team will look to make new discoveries in the rings as well. De Pater noted that there may be undiscovered "ephemeral moonlets" in the dynamic ring system, and potential ripples in the ring from comet impacts, like those observed  and traced back to the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994.

Ganymede

Several features of icy Ganymede make it fascinating for astronomers. Aside from being the largest moon in the solar system, and larger even than the planet Mercury, it is the only moon known to have its own magnetic field. The team will investigate the very outer parts of Ganymede's atmosphere, its exosphere, to better understand the moon's interaction with particles in Jupiter's magnetic field.

There is also evidence that Ganymede may have a liquid saltwater ocean beneath its thick surface ice, which Webb will investigate with detailed spectroscopic study of surface salts and other compounds. The team's experience studying Ganymede's surface may be useful in the future study of other icy solar system moons suspected of having subsurface oceans, including Saturn's moon Enceladus and fellow Jovian satellite Europa.

Io

In dramatic contrast to Ganymede is the other moon the team will study, Io, the most volcanically active world in the solar system. The dynamic surface is covered with hundreds of huge volcanoes that would dwarf those on Earth, as well as lakes of molten lava and smooth floodplains of solidified lava. Astronomers plan to use Webb to learn more about the effects of Io's volcanos on its atmosphere.

"There is still much we don't know about Io's atmospheric temperature structure, because we haven't had the data to distinguish the temperature at different altitudes," said de Pater. "On Earth we take for granted that as you hike up a mountain, the air gets cooler—would it be the same on Io? Right now we don't know, but Webb may help us to find out."

Another mystery Webb will investigate on Io is the existence of "stealth volcanoes," which emit plumes of gas without the light-reflecting dust that can be detected by spacecraft like NASA's Voyager and Galileo missions, and so have thus far gone undetected. Webb's high spatial resolution will be able to isolate individual volcanoes that previously would have appeared as one large hotspot, allowing astronomers to gather detailed data on Io's geology.


Image above: NASA's Galileo spacecraft catches Io in the midst of a volcanic eruption. Image Credits: NASA/JPL/DLR.

Webb will also provide unprecedented data on the temperature of Io's hotspots, and determine if they are closer to volcanism on Earth today, or if they have a much higher temperature, similar to the environment on Earth in the early years after its formation. Previous observations by the Galileo mission and ground observatories have hinted at these high temperatures; Webb will follow up on that research and provide new evidence that may settle the question.

Team Effort

Webb's detailed observations will not supplant those of other observatories, but rather coordinate with them, Wong explained. "Webb's spectroscopic observations will cover just a small area of the planet, so global views from ground-based observatories can show how the detailed Webb data fit in with what's happening on a larger scale, similar to how Hubble and the Gemini Observatory provide context for Juno's narrow, close-up observations."

In turn, Webb's study of Jupiter's storms and atmosphere will complement Juno data, including radio signals from lightning, which Webb does not detect. "No one observatory or spacecraft can do it all," Wong said, "so we are very excited about combining data from multiple observatories to tell us much more than we could learn from only a single source."

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Animation Credit: ESA

This research is being conducted as part of a Webb Early Release Science (ERS) program. This program provides time to selected projects early in the observatory’s mission, allowing researchers to quickly learn how best to use Webb's capabilities, while also yielding robust science.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Related links:

Early Release Science (ERS): https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/observing-programs/approved-ers-programs

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):

NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html

CSA-ASC: https://asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/jwst/default.asp

ESA: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/JWST

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lynn Jenner/Space Telescope Science Institute/Leah Ramsay/Christine Pulliam.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Peeks at Stellar Treats













NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

July 31, 2020


Looking its best ever is the star cluster NGC 2203, here imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Aside from its dazzling good looks, this cluster of stars contains lots of astronomical treats that have helped astronomers puzzle together the lifetimes of stars.

A main-sequence star, like our Sun, is the term applied to a star during the longest period of its life, when it burns fuel steadily. Our Sun’s fuel will run out in approximately 6 billion years, and it will then move on to the next stage of its life when it will turn into a red giant. Astronomers studying NGC 2203, which contains stars that are roughly twice as massive as our Sun, found that rotation rates might be a factor as to why some of the stars stay longer than usual in this main-sequence phase of their life.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

- High-resolution view of NGC 2203 from ESA's (the European Spage Agency) website: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw2030a/

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Text Credits: ESA/NASA/Rob Garner/Image, Animation Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Girardi.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Rocket "Proton-M" successfully launched from Baikonur













ROSCOSMOS logo.

July 31, 2020


On July 31, 2020 at 00:25:19 Moscow time, the Proton-M carrier rocket with the Briz-M upper stage and the Russian telecommunications spacecraft Express-103 was launched from the launcher No. 39 of the launch pad No. 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. and "Express-80", manufactured in the company "Information Satellite Systems" named after Academician MF Reshetnev "(part of the State Corporation "Roscosmos"). All stages of the launch vehicle's flight took place as usual.

Proton-M launches Ekspress-80 and Ekspress-103

In accordance with the cyclogram, 587 seconds after the launch, the head unit (a combination of the upper stage and two spacecraft) separated from the third stage of the carrier in the normal mode. Further insertion of telecommunications vehicles into target orbits is carried out due to the operation of the main propulsion system of the upper stage. The total duration of the launch from the launch of the launch vehicle to the separation of the second satellite will be 18 hours 16 minutes 40 seconds.


The Proton-M launch vehicle has been serially manufactured at the Khrunichev Center (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) and has been used to launch payloads into specified orbits and departure trajectories within the framework of federal and commercial programs since 2001. Over the years of operation, the Proton-M rocket has gone through four phases of deep upgrades, which have significantly improved its energy-mass and environmental characteristics when removing heavy single and twin payloads.

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28895/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA and SpaceX Remain GO for Splashdown













NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 patch.

July 31, 2020

Following a comprehensive review of the latest weather forecast in the areas surrounding each of seven potential splashdown locations, NASA and SpaceX have decided to move forward with plans to bring NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley home to Earth with a splashdown off the Florida coast on Sunday, Aug. 2, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft.

Teams will continue to closely monitor Tropical Storm Isaias and evaluate impacts to weather around the Florida peninsula, including the potential splashdown sites in the Gulf of Mexico and along the state’s Atlantic coast. NASA and SpaceX will make a decision on a primary splashdown target approximately 6 hours before undocking Saturday.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Photo Credit: SpaceX

Undocking remains scheduled for approximately 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, and splashdown at 2:42 p.m. EDT on Sunday. This will mark the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station, and it will wrap up NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission after more than two months at the International Space Station.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Hurley and Behnken lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 and arrived at the space station the following day. The Demo-2 test flight is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.

Related articles:

Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html

NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html

Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html

Related links:

Splashdown weather criteria fact sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ccp_splashdown.pdf

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Marie Lewis.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

jeudi 30 juillet 2020

Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure













ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

July 30, 2020

Two Flight Engineers and the Expedition 63 Commander, all from NASA, will talk to journalists Friday morning before the SpaceX Crew Dragon completes its stay at the International Space Station.

Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, NASA’s first commercial crew, have been aboard the orbiting lab since May 31. They have been packing the Crew Dragon spacecraft and testing its systems to get ready for this weekend’s scheduled undocking and return to Earth. NASA TV will provide continuous live coverage of their departure and splashdown activities.


Image above: NASA astronauts (from left) Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley and Chris Cassidy are the U.S. members of the Expedition 63 crew. Image Credit: NASA.

The NASA station trio, including Commander Chris Cassidy, will answer questions Friday morning from a variety of reporters calling up to space. NASA TV will broadcast the Crew News Conference live beginning at 10:45 a.m. EDT.

Orbital science is still ongoing today amidst Hurley and Behnken’s departure preparations. Cassidy was observing how microgravity shapes water droplets possibly improving water conservation and water pressure techniques on Earth. Even the homebound duo put in some research time studying light-manipulating materials and starting up an experimental radiation detector.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Earth observations are part of the critical research program taking place onboard the station. First-time cosmonaut Ivan Vagner photographed Earth landmarks today to understand and forecast the effects of natural and man-made catastrophes. Veteran cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin continued unloading the new Progress 76 cargo craft while updating the station’s inventory system.

Related articles:

NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html

Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html

Related links:

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

Water droplets: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7541

Light-manipulating materials: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7879

Experimental radiation detector: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7434

Natural and man-made catastrophes: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/study/14.html

Progress 76: https://go.nasa.gov/2OPEKgb

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Stunning Space Butterfly Captured by ESO Telescope













ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

30 July 2020

New ESO’s VLT image of the NGC 2899 planetary nebula

Resembling a butterfly with its symmetrical structure, beautiful colours, and intricate patterns, this striking bubble of gas — known as NGC 2899 — appears to float and flutter across the sky in this new picture from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). This object has never before been imaged in such striking detail, with even the faint outer edges of the planetary nebula glowing over the background stars.

NGC 2899’s vast swathes of gas extend up to a maximum of two light-years from its centre, glowing brightly in front of the stars of the Milky Way as the gas reaches temperatures upwards of ten thousand degrees. The high temperatures are due to the large amount of radiation from the nebula’s parent star, which causes the hydrogen gas in the nebula to glow in a reddish halo around the oxygen gas, in blue.

NGC 2899 in the constellation of Vela

This object, located between 3000 and 6500 light-years away in the Southern constellation of Vela (The Sails), has two central stars, which are believed to give it its nearly symmetric appearance. After one star reached the end of its life and cast off its outer layers, the other star now interferes with the flow of gas, forming the two-lobed shape seen here. Only about 10–20% of planetary nebulae [1] display this type of bipolar shape.

Astronomers were able to capture this highly detailed image of NGC 2899 using the FORS instrument installed on UT1 (Antu), one of the four 8.2-metre telescopes that make up ESO’s VLT in Chile. Standing for FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph, this high-resolution instrument was one of the first to be installed on ESO’s VLT and is behind numerous beautiful images and discoveries from ESO. FORS has contributed to observations of light from a gravitational wave source, has researched the first known interstellar asteroid, and has been used to study in depth the physics behind the formation of complex planetary nebulae.

The sky around NGC 2899

This image was created under the ESO Cosmic Gems programme, an outreach initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and public outreach. The programme makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations. All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO’s science archive.

Zooming in on the planetary nebula NGC 2899

Notes

[1] Unlike what their common name suggests, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. The first astronomers to observe them merely described them as planet-like in appearance. They are instead formed when ancient stars with up to 6 times the mass of our Sun reach the end of their lives, collapse, and blow off expanding shells of gas, rich in heavy elements. Intense ultraviolet radiation energises and lights up these moving shells, causing them to shine brightly for thousands of years until they ultimately disperse slowly through space, making planetary nebulae relatively short-lived phenomena on astronomical timescales.
More information

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

Links:

ESOcast 227 Light: Stunning Space Butterfly Captured by ESO Telescope
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso2012a/

- ESO Cosmic Gems programme: https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/gems/

- Photos of the VLT: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/paranal/

- For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research: http://eso.org/sci/publications/announcements/sciann17277.html

Images, Text, Credits: ESO/Bárbara Ferreira/IAU and Sky & Telescope/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin/Video: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org). Music: Astral Electronic.

United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket Launches with NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover




















ULA - Atlas V / Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch poster.

July 30, 2020


Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, carrying NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. The rover is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The rover’s seven instruments will search for habitable conditions in the ancient past and signs of past microbial life on Mars. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. Photo Credit: NASA.


Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 30, 2020, at 7:50 a.m. EDT, carrying NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. Photo Credit: NASA.

Mars 2020 launch

Perseverance completes Successful Spacecraft Separation

Just over an hour into its flight, Perseverance is now officially on its way to Mars.

Perseverance completes Successful Spacecraft Separation. Image Credits: ULA/NASA TV

A key milestone — spacecraft separation — has taken place. The official call just came in: “And we have successful separation of Mars 2020 with the Perseverance rover.”

Mars 2020 spacecraft separation and acquisition of signal

Perseverance ‘Calls Home’ to Confirm Mars is the Next Stop

Today’s final critical milestone — acquisition of signal — has been achieved. In essence, Perseverance has phoned home to let us know it’s officially on the way to Mars.

“This signifies that JPL’s (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory) deep space network has locked on to the spacecraft, which is on its journey to Mars,” said NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez, from the agency’s Launch Services Program. “Everything appears to be going nominally. Today’s count went beautifully.”

Mars Perseverance Mission Overview


Image above: This artist's concept shows the sky-crane maneuver during the descent of NASA's Curiosity rover to the Martian surface. The Mars mission launching in 2020 would leverage the design of this landing system and other aspects of the Mars Science Laboratory architecture. Image Credits: NASA/JPL.

The Mars Perseverance rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The Mars Perseverance mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself.

 Mars Perseverance rover. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Mars Perseverance rover introduces a drill that can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a "cache" on the surface of Mars. The mission also provides opportunities to gather knowledge and demonstrate technologies that address the challenges of future human expeditions to Mars. These include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), improving landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.

Diagram Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The mission is timed for a launch opportunity in July/August 2020 when Earth and Mars are in good positions relative to each other for landing on Mars. That is, it takes less power to travel to Mars at this time, compared to other times when Earth and Mars are in different positions in their orbits. To keep mission costs and risks as low as possible, the Mars 2020 design is based on NASA's successful Mars Science Laboratory mission architecture, including its Curiosity rover and proven landing system.


Image above: In February 2021, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (shown in an artist's concept) will be the agency's two newest explorers on Mars. Both were named by students as part of an essay contest. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.


Image above: This illustration shows Ingenuity awaiting takeoff on Mars. NASA’s aviation experts in atmospheric flight shared their experience with the helicopter’s designers to help ensure the technology demonstration on the Red Planet will be a success. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Related articles:

Jezero Crater, Landing Site for the Mars Perseverance Rover
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/jezero-crater-landing-site-for-mars.html

A New Video Captures the Science of NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-new-video-captures-science-of-nasas.html

6 Things to Know About NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/6-things-to-know-about-nasas-ingenuity.html

7 Things to Know About the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/7-things-to-know-about-mars-2020.html

For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

Mars Perseverance Rover: http://www.nasa.gov/perseverance

Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Linda Herridge/James Cawley/NASA TV/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

mercredi 29 juillet 2020

ISS Orbit Correction











ROSCOSMOS - Russian Vehicles patch.

July 29, 2020

Today, July 29, 2020, the orbit of the International Space Station was corrected. The engines of the Progress MS-14 cargo vehicle, with the help of which the orbit correction was carried out, were turned on at 16:57 Moscow time for 336 seconds, as a result the ISS received an impulse of 0.65 m / s. After the corrective maneuver, the average altitude of the ISS orbit increased by 1.1 km.

ISS "reboost" by Progress MS-08. Image Credit: NASA

According to the data of the ballistic and navigation support service of the Flight Control Center of TsNIIMash (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), the station's orbit parameters after the correction were:

- Orbital period: 92.87 min;
- Orbital inclination: 51.66 degrees;
- Minimum height above the Earth's surface: 417.5 km;
- Maximum height above the Earth's surface: 436.2 km.

This operation was carried out in order to form ballistic conditions before the launch of the Soyuz MS-17 manned spacecraft.

Related articles:

Progress MS-14 will correct the ISS orbit
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/progress-ms-14-will-correct-iss-orbit.html

ISS orbit correction scheduled for July 11
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/iss-orbit-correction-scheduled-for-july.html

Unscheduled correction of the ISS orbit
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/unscheduled-correction-of-iss-orbit.html

Progress MS-14 will correct the orbit of the ISS
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/06/progress-ms-14-will-correct-orbit-of-iss.html

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28897/

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch