samedi 28 août 2021

The new orbital station will be the prototype of modules for flights to other planets

 







ROSCOSMOS logo.


August 28, 2021

The Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will be the prototype of the modules that, with a large number of specialists, will go to other planets in decades. This was announced by the general director of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin.

ROSS - Russian Orbital Service Station

“In fact, the new station will be a prototype of modules that in the future, in decades, will reach other planets not just by crews, but by a large number of specialists that will be required to master these planets of the solar system,” Rogozin said, congratulating the Rocket and Space Corporation. Energy ”on its 75th anniversary.

According to the head of Roscosmos, the new station will be radically different from what exists today. She will exercise full control not only of what is under the station, but also of outer space.

Дмитрий Рогозин поздравил сотрудников РКК «Энергия»

“The task is extremely difficult. It will, of course, be associated with the training of fundamentally new specialists in the cosmonaut corps," he noted.

Rogozin in an interview with TASS said that he had sent a letter to Borisov with a detailed roadmap for the project and materials from the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos. He clarified that the inclination of the ROSS orbit (51.6 degrees or 97-98 degrees) will be determined during the preliminary design.

Related article:

Russia will launch its own orbital spaceport
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/russia-will-launch-its-own-orbital.html

Related links (in Russian):

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32344/

Russian orbital station: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/rossiyskaja-orbital_naja-stancija/

RSC Energia: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/rkk-ehnergija/

Image, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/RSC Energia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Poor Weather Pushes Cargo Dragon Launch to Aug. 29

 







SpaceX - Dragon CRS-23 Mission patch.


August 28, 2021


Image above: The Falcon 9 rocket form SpaceX with the Cargo Dragon spacecraft atop stands at the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image Credit: SpaceX.

Due to poor weather conditions in the area for today’s planned launch of SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX and NASA are now targeting liftoff for 3:14 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 29. Launch coverage will begin at 2:45 a.m. on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app.

SpaceX CRS-23 Falcon 9 aborted launch

A launch Sunday would lead to docking Monday, Aug. 30, for the Dragon to deliver important research, crew supplies and hardware to the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. Docking coverage will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the spacecraft planned to arrive at the space station around 11 a.m.

Related links:

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

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Exodus of civilization into space - The US decided to overtake China? "Plus the renewable electrification of the whole country?". Part 19.1

 








Humanity Space Expansion logo.


August 28, 2021

Preamble

Here the nineteen (19.1) article of a series of articles by Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich, expert in chronology and calendar systems, as well as space biology and medicine, Parliamentarian of Asgardia (AMP) the first space Nation.

Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant job losses in the United States. By one estimate, in May 2020, the pandemic led to the largest crisis of working-class and middle-class unemployment since the Great Depression (1929-1933).


By 2035-2050 US President Biden plans, through the American Jobs Plan (AJP), to achieve a total (80-100%) carbon-free electric power industry in the United States, which the United States is developing on the basis of NASA's technological achievements. The US and EU economies will no longer be strategically dependent on the flow of fuel hydrocarbons from abroad. For Russia, this is almost the same as for Ukraine the Nord Stream 2 project.

The $ 2 trillion American Jobs Plan infrastructure spending program, according to the White House, will create millions of jobs, restore the country's infrastructure and allow the United States to literally surpass China in social programs. The plan is designed to develop the domestic market for social consumption in the United States. Its main provisions are aimed at:

- Repair of highways, restoration of bridges, modernization of ports, airports and transport systems ($ 621 billion);

- Providing all Americans with clean drinking water, a renewed electricity grid and high-speed broadband Internet access ($ 300 billion);

- Construction and modernization of more than 2 million homes and commercial buildings, schools and childcare facilities, hospitals and federal buildings ($ 300 billion);

- Creating jobs and increasing wages and benefits for social workers caring for the elderly and people with disabilities ($ 400 billion);

- Investments in R&D, American manufacturing, research and development, as well as in vocational training, in semiconductors and clean energy ($ 580 billion).

In the future, the United States is not at all interested in the flow of gas through the GTS of Ukraine and through Russian pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the EU, or the flow of Russian oil and gas to China.

The End of the Russian Ideology of the "World Gas Station"? Global energy transition?

In a strategic perspective, supplies from Russia of fuel hydrocarbons (gas, oil and coal) to the EU countries and the United States by 2035-2050. will not be critically needed.

They will not be critically needed by China, which is intensively developing its electric power industry and solar energy.

Combined solar-wind power plant in China.

By the end of September 2017, the installed capacity of the Chinese wind energy reached 157 GW, solar energy - 120 GW. In total (277 GW = 157 + 120), this exceeds the installed capacity of the entire electric power industry in Russia (approximately 250 GW).


Image above: The largest solar power plant in the world (area - 1.4 sq. Km) is a Chinese solar farm with a capacity of 1.547 GW. The cost of this SPP was $ 2.1 billion.

The modern energy system of Russia has 846 large power plants with a total capacity of over 250 GW. Electricity generation in 2019 reached 1,096 billion kWh, which is 0.4% more than in 2018.

Taking into account hydroelectric power plants (339 GW) and bioenergy (14.23 GW), there are 630 GW of renewable energy capacities in China.

This is reported by Reuters with reference to the National Energy Administration (NEA).

In three quarters of 2017, 1.17 trillion kilowatt-hours were produced on the basis of renewable energy sources, or 25% of the country's electricity.

In general, the share of non-fuel generation of electricity, including nuclear power, in China will be about 78% by 2035, and by 2050 - 91%. By the end of 2060, the target is 100%.

The PRC currently accounts for half of the total capacity of all solar panels in the world. China is leading the way in installing solar panels, ahead of the rest of the world by a huge margin.

As of June-July 2017, their total capacity was 25 GW, and according to ASECEA forecasts, this figure will reach 50 GW by the end of this year. This is despite the fact that the total capacity of solar panels worldwide is currently 100 GW.

For a long time, China was only engaged in the export of solar panels, but after 10 years of serious investments, it has become one of the largest consumers of its own products: out of 80 GW of solar panels produced per year, 50 GW remains in the country.

China's electricity industry is the largest electricity producer in the world, surpassing the United States in 2011 after growing rapidly since the early 1990s.

In 2019, China produced more electricity than the next three countries - the United States, India and Russia combined. Electricity in China -

(https://ru.abcdef.wiki/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_China)

By the end of September 2020, the installed capacity of China's wind power was at least 157 GW out of 651 GW - the total wind power capacity in the world. 60% of new wind power capacity commissioned in 2020 was in China and the United States.

(https://www.rusnano.com/about/press-centre/media/20201130-inc-kak-razvivaetsya-vetryanaya-generatsiya-v-rossii-i-mire)

China ranks first in the world in terms of the size of installed wind farms. In 2020, the output was 466 TWh.

In 2021, the United States rushed to catch up with China, repeating the path that China has already gone. Is this the reason why President Trump was replaced by President Biden?

Has the United States abandoned Trump's plan to make the United States a "global gas station", displacing, in particular, from this role Russia in the supply of fuel hydrocarbons to the EU and China?

According to Biden's executive order and tweet, at least 50% of all-electric vehicles will be on US roads by 2030. This applies to both personal and commercial vehicles.

At the same time, he criticized the actions of the previous administration of the White House, which in every possible way hindered the development of the electric vehicle industry.

(https://zen.yandex.ru/media/iap_zts/prezident-ssha-djo-baiden-podpisyvaet-prigovor-benzinovym-i-dizelnym-avtomobiliam-610c17ca58af0b0302342351)

Isn't that why China, with its advanced space technologies in the energy sector, became the main political opponent of the United States, and not Russia with its ideology of a "global gas station", which is deadlocked in a strategic perspective?

WHY US AND ALLIES (UK FIRST) LEAVE AFGHANISTAN (AND EU) BY THEMSELVES? ELSE WILL THEY LOSE EVERYTHING IN CHINA?

Over 20 years (2001-2021), the United States spent about $ 2 trillion for the political transformation of Afghanistan into its protectorate. The USSR tried to do the same in its time.

This is money wasted, thousands of servicemen died in vain, disability benefits for the wounded. Funds plundered by collaborators who immediately betray the metropolises that stopped paying them, and they are the first to flee to these metropolises as "political refugees."

The USSR withdrew its troops from the countries of Eastern Europe. The USA is doing the same. They left Vietnam. We left Afghanistan.

Clever Chinese do not fight with anyone and do not send their troops anywhere. They are building a highly developed social state as a new, well-educated, healthy space nation (like the sixth OEF - the sixth socio-economic formation - according to the conventional philosophical category of "historical materialism"). They are developing their own state territory, space and new sources of renewable energy sources (renewable energy sources).  

The Chinese are ahead of everyone in this most productive direction - all who spend their strength, time and resources on unnecessary goals and "conquest" of protectorates, and breed enemies around the world.

Oil from Syria and Iraq is losing its meaning. While, in particular, they fought for it, China took the lead in creating renewable energy sources. depreciating oil production.

(https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-51687498)

THE CHINESE MODEL OF THE GOELRO PLAN - THE ENGINE OF WORLD PROGRESS? CHINA DICTES THE WORLD A GENERAL LINE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? IS CHINA BECOMING THE HEAD OF WORLD CIVILIZATION?

And communist China followed the model of the plan of the State Commission for the Electrification of Russia (GOELRO): "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the entire country" - V. I. Lenin.


Image above: Xi Jinping. In 2016, the party officially awarded him the title of "main" leader. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China since 2012, Chairman of the People's Republic of China since 2013, also Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the PRC (and the CPC).

“If Russia is covered with a dense network of power stations and powerful technical equipment, then our communist economic construction will become a model for the coming socialist Europe and Asia,” Lenin said.


Image above: December 22, 1920 delegates to the 8th All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopt the GOELRO plan.

Plan of the State Commission for the Electrification of Russia (GOELRO, - 1920

USSR electrification map

For 2020, the total installed capacity of all generating facilities in China is approximately 1,419 GW.

(Список всех электростанций в Китае - List of power stations in China - https://wiki2.wiki/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_China):

- Coal-fired TPPs - 801 GW
- HPP - 280 GW
- Wind power plants - 157 GW
- Thermal TPPs - 61 GW
- Solar power plants - 120 GW
- NPP - 15.7 GW

All power plants (793 units).

Thermal power plants (482 units).

Hydroelectric power plants (256).

Wind farms (28).

Nuclear power plants (17).

China, claiming a leading position in the world and the status of a great power, realizes the need for an early solution to energy problems and the formation of energy security based on the unity of the country's internal and external regional energy development strategy.

Most of China's electricity is generated from coal, which accounted for 65% of electricity production in 2019. However, the production of electricity from renewable sources is growing steadily, from 615,005 GWh (17.66% of the total) in 2008 to 2,082,800 GWh (27.32% of the total) in 2020.

With environmental pollution, rising imports and attempts to cut CO2 emissions, the Chinese government is trying to reduce the share of coal in energy production by switching to renewable energy sources and natural gas.

This is likely to be a lengthy process as coal remains a cheap and easy source of energy throughout China. It is estimated that an additional 450 GW of coal-fired power plants are expected to be operational by 2040, although many of these installations will be much more efficient and “cleaner” than current coal-fired power plants.

In an effort to move away from dirty fossil fuels, Beijing is pushing for more natural gas consumption to meet 10% of its energy needs from natural gas in 2020.

Since China itself has produced only about 161 billion cubic meters of natural gas, it is a net importer of gas and is likely to continue to import in the future.

https://beelead.com/energetika-kitaya/

China occupies a leading position in the world in the extraction of "hot ice".

The samples were raised from a depth of more than 1.2 kilometers, the 200-meter underwater well itself was located 285 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong. In just eight days of work, 120 cubic meters of "hot ice" were mined, the methane content in it is 99.5 percent.

One cubic meter of hydrate is equivalent to 160 cubic meters of natural gas in a gaseous state (a car can travel 300 kilometers for 100 liters of gas, while 50 thousand kilometers for 100 liters of "combustible ice").

Other countries, in particular Canada and Japan, are also working on the extraction of the natural resource, but so far only China has managed to extract a sample of the hydrate from the bottom of the sea.

The Chinese government is investing heavily in nuclear power as a way to generate cleaner energy.

China is currently buying up uranium deposits and mines in all regions of the world where possible. This area is developing especially successfully in Africa and Kazakhstan. China is striving for a "uranium partnership" in all regions of the world where there are necessary resources that have not yet been "mastered" by the United States or France, for example, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Australia, Canada.

Nearly half of the types of reactors currently under construction in the world are in China, and nuclear power is expected to more than double.

China begins construction of a mini-nuclear power plant of its own design. The project has been fully approved by specialists and has already received all the permits from the IAEA. The first mini-nuclear power plant with ACP-100 reactor "Linglong" will soon be built on the island of Hainan.

The exact characteristics of the nuclear power plant are not reported, however, according to experts, its capacity may be about 100 MW - about 10 times less than that of a conventional nuclear power plant's reactor.

According to the plans of the Chinese authorities, while the mini-nuclear power plant will be used to provide electricity and heat to certain areas.

Incidentally, the ACP-100 Linglong is currently the first and only reactor to be approved by the IAEA.

According to the Chinese authorities, mini-nuclear power plants will come to replace coal-fired power plants. If the experiment on the island of Hainan is successful, similar projects will be built in all regions of the country.

They will be indispensable in space when people colonize the Moon and Mars.

By the end of 2019, China's installed renewable energy capacity was about 795 GW and coal capacity was 1,040 GW.

In 2020, China will add 48 GW of solar power, 71 GW of wind power and 13 GW of hydropower.

Renewable energy sources are hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass.

The world's largest floating solar power plant (FPS) is built in China. The power of the solar power plant is 40 megawatts. The structure is located in a former coal mine that was flooded.

In recent years, the Chinese authorities have been paying more and more attention to floating solar power plants. The point is that solar cells show great productivity when they get good cooling. And a large body of water is an ideal place where the availability of water makes the cooling process efficient and reasonably cheap.

In addition, the installation of a solar power plant on reservoirs saves large land areas. After all, as you know, solar power plants need vast and flat areas, which are in short supply in many regions of China.

China is the world leader in the production of renewable energy sources (RES).

Coal-fired electricity production declined from 2013 to 2016, coinciding with a significant boom in renewables.

The volume of coal consumption in China by 2050 should decrease to the level of 2016 by 3 - 5 times, depending on the scenario under consideration: from 2703 million tons of coal units (t.e.) in 2016 to 846 - 534 million tons cu in 2050

China has a long coastline that favors the development of offshore wind energy. The potential of China's offshore wind energy is estimated with a total capacity of 750 GW.

The China Climate Science Research Institute estimates the potential of all wind power in China is 3.22 million MW. The technical potential is estimated at 1 million MW, of which 253 thousand MW are land-based power plants and 750 thousand MW are offshore.

All of the world's largest wind power equipment manufacturers have factories or joint ventures in China. According to the 13th five-year plan (2016-2020), China has commissioned 100 GW of wind power.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_China).

In accordance with the thirteenth five-year plan and the Chinese energy development plan for the thirteenth five-year plan, the installed capacity of solar power in the country by 2020 should increase to 165 GW - 250 GW.

According to SO UES - the system operator of the unified electric power system of Russia - the total installed electric capacity of wind power plants of the UES of Russia as of January 1, 2020 is 184.12 MW, or only 0.08% of the installed total capacity of all power plants of the Russian power system (about 250 GW).

List of wind power plants in Russia - Wikipedia

ru.wikipedia.org ›List of wind power plants in Russia

Top 10 countries in terms of total wind energy in 2019 -

China: 236,402 MW (36.3%)

USA: 105,466 MW (16.2%)

Germany: 61,357 MW (9.4%)

India: 37,506 MW (5.8%)

Spain: 25,808 MW (4.0%)

United Kingdom: 23,515 MW (3.6%)

France: 16.643 MW (2.6%)

Brazil: 15,452 MW (2.4%)

Canada: 13,413 MW (2.1%)

Italy: 10,512 MW (1.6%)

Rest of the world: 104,684 MW (16.1%)

https://wikichi.ru/wiki/Wind_power_by_country

By comparison, there were 9,719 power plants in the US in 2019;

with a total capacity of 1,100.46 (GW) - 4.4 times more than in Russia (about 250 GW), and 1.3 times less than in China (1,419 GW) - which generated 4,157.09 (billion kWh ).

Russia has about 5.67 times less power plant capacity than China (1419/250 = 5.676 times).

Electric Power Monthly data for 2019. Wikipedia site: wikichi.ru

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has published the 15th edition of its annual Global Wind Energy Development Report.

According to GWEC, 60.4 GW of wind farms were installed in the world in 2019, which is 19% more than in 2018 and is the second result in the history of the industry (more was introduced only in 2015). More than half of the new installations (30.6 GW) are located in the Asia-Pacific region.

The total installed capacity of wind power in the world at the end of the year reached 651 GW. The five largest markets - China, the United States, Germany, India and Spain - together account for 73% of the total global wind power capacity.

(https://renen.ru/ustanovlennaya-moshhnost-mirovoj-vetroenergetiki-prevysila-650-gvt-po-itogam-2019-g/)

China and the United States remain the world's largest onshore wind power markets, accounting for over 60% of new capacity in this segment.

Offshore wind power plays an increasingly important role. In 2019, 6.1 GW of offshore wind farms were commissioned, or 10% of all new installations. Record result.

The GWEC report identifies two main instruments to accelerate wind energy growth.

Nuclear fusion, the energy of the future? (Project ITER)

Firstly, this is a new market design, in which, in addition to the cost of energy (LCOE), the long-term (market and public) value of renewable energy sources would be taken into account.

Secondly, we are talking about expanding opportunities for the development of wind energy in new technological areas, such as hybridization (the construction of hybrid power plants is gaining popularity) and green hydrogen (access through hydrogen to new sectors).

GWEC expects 2020 to be a record year for wind power and forecasts 76 GW of new capacity. However, the forecast is likely to be revised due to the current coronavirus problem.

Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie expects 73 GW of new wind power capacity to be commissioned this year.

GDP of the USA, CHINA AND RUSSIA

2018 - $ 20,611.875 trillion (US);

     - $ 13,841.901 trillion (China);

     - $ 1,665.228 trillion (Russia).

2021 - $ 21,921.585 trillion (USA);

     - $ 16,492.813 trillion (China);

     - $ 1,584.216 trillion (Russia).

(https://basetop.ru/rejting-ekonomik-mira-2021-tablitsa-vvp-stran-mira/)

By 2050, China's GDP will grow 4.2 times compared to 2018 and will amount to approximately $ 58.13 trillion. At the same time, the population of the country will also grow in 2050 and will amount to at least 1 billion 380 million people. US GDP and US population are growing dynamically.

Russia's GDP, with its ideology of a "global gas station", is not growing, but decreasing. The population of Russia is also declining. 

Coming soon: Part 19.2

Related articles (archives):

Exodus of civilization into space - Selenic Strategy - UN Ideology in the XXI Century? Part 18.1.2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Homeostatic Ark & Permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. Part 18.5
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/07/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - American Jobs Plan. Part 18.4
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/06/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - The space age of civilization began its new Third stage (civil). Part 18.3
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/06/exodus-of-civilization-into-space-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Selenic Strategy - Ideology of the UN in the XXI Century. Part 18.2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_31.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Selenic Strategy - UN Ideology in the XXI Century. Part 18.1
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_25.html

Space Toilet and Problems of Intestinal Stick Infection. Part 17.7
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/space-toilet-and-problems-of-intestinal.html

Three Historical Stages of Cosmonautics Development. Part 17.6
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/three-historical-stages-of-cosmonautics.html

Brief Background to Selenopolitics (Industrial Colonization of the Moon). Part 17.5
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/brief-background-to-selenopolitics.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Creation of the first ever mobile homeostatic ark (HA) in the USA. Part 16
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_5.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Apocalypse; View from the UK. Part 15
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_3.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Comparison of plans of NASA and Roscosmos. Part 14
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

The ideology of space expansion - The question of pregnancy and childbirth in zero gravity. Part 17.4
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-ideology-of-space-expansion.html

Colonization of the Moon - The source of the power, wealth and power of civilization in the Universe. Part 17.3
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/colonization-of-moon-source-of-power.html

Space manned industrialization of the XXI century - the golden age of civilization. Part 17.2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/space-manned-industrialization-of-xxi.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Humanity's strategy to create stationary and mobile Homeostatic arks. Part 17.1
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_21.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Tsiolkovsky Galactic State. Part 9
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_19.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Symbol of the End of the XXI century. Part 8
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_16.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Stopping the process of increasing value added. Part 7
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_14.html

Exodus of civilization into space - The sixth socio-economic formation of civilization. Part 6
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space-sixth.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Space man. Part 5
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space-space.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Biological End of the World. Part 4
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_7.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Geochronological Ice Ages, periods, eras. Part 3
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space_5.html

Exodus of civilization into space - Astrophysical End of the World. Part 2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/exodus-of-civilization-into-space.html

The ideology of space expansion - Space calendar. Part 1
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-ideology-of-space-expansion-space.html

Related links:

About Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich: https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5fbb90753e3ad265054f930a/ob-avtore-kanala-5fbd2bf80b4af80149fb12c2

Original article in Russian on Zen.Yandex:
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5fbb90753e3ad265054f930a/ishod-civilizacii-v-kosmos-chast-19-ssha-reshili-obognat-kitai-plius-vozobnovliaemaia-elektrifikaciia-vsei-strany-mks2-60eff49166960a55e1ad68bf

Asgardia website: https://asgardia.space/

Author: Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich / Zen.Yandex. Editor / Translation: Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

vendredi 27 août 2021

Russia will launch its own orbital spaceport

 







ROSCOSMOS logo.


August 27, 2021

The Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (part of the State Corporation Roscosmos) is working on the launch of the first ever Russian orbital station with the functions of a space port. This was announced on Thursday on the RSC Energia YouTube channel in a program dedicated to the corporation's activities.

ROSS - Russian Orbital Service Station. The next stage of Russia's space activities. (...) There will be no permanent crew at the station; ROSS will become a space port for small spacecraft ”, - reported on the air.

ROSS - Russian Orbital Service Station

According to representatives of RSC Energia, the cosmonauts will fly on ROSS on a rotational basis, and the station infrastructure will be able to serve the orbiters. ROSS is planned in the form of a cloud station, when the station contains not only a core, but also autonomous modules flying around it, which periodically approach the station for its maintenance.

“ROSS is a creatively rethought and technically more perfect return to the idea of the Mir-2 station. Placement of "Mira-2" was also assumed at high latitudes of the planet. This would allow to fully observe the territory of our country and especially interesting from the economic point of view areas of the Arctic, ”it was reported.

Первая космическая Корпорация

The general director of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin in an interview with TASS said that he had sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov with a detailed roadmap for the project and materials from the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos. He clarified that the inclination of the ROSS orbit (51.6 degrees or 97-98 degrees) will be determined during the preliminary design.

Related links (in Russian):

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/32343/

Russian orbital station: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/rossiyskaja-orbital_naja-stancija/

RSC Energia: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/rkk-ehnergija/

Image, Video, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/RSC Energia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Two-trap cooling promises antimatter precision

 







CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.


August 27, 2021

The BASE collaboration has performed the first demonstration of two-trap sympathetic cooling, promising substantial improvements to studies of antiprotons.


Image above: Cool experiment — Matthew Bohman (left) and Christian Smorra point out the location of the Penning trap where individual protons are cooled in the new two-trap cooling apparatus at the University of Mainz (Image: Stefan F. Sämmer/JGU).

Picture two children playing on swings in a playground. One is a daredevil, launching themselves high off the ground in big arcs. The other daydreams, swinging gently.

Now picture the children holding either end of a long spring. Tension in the spring now accelerates the daydreaming child forwards and backwards to follow their friend, whose swings are slowed and shortened.

This is the principle behind a groundbreaking new technological demonstration reported today in Nature by the BASE collaboration – an international particle-physics collaboration based at CERN’s antimatter factory. The energetic child represents a single proton oscillating inside the magnetic and electric fields of a Penning trap. The daydreamer represents a laser-cooled cloud of beryllium ions inside a second trap. The spring represents a unique innovation by the BASE collaboration: a superconducting resonant electric circuit that transfers energy from the proton to the ions, just as the spring transfers energy from one swing to the other. Smaller swings mean a lower temperature proton and greater precision in experimental studies.

“This is an important milestone in precision Penning trap spectroscopy,” says BASE deputy spokesperson Christian Smorra of RIKEN and the University of Mainz, where the demonstration was performed. “With optimised procedures we should be able to reach particle temperatures of the order of 20 to 50 mK, ideally in cooling times of the order of 10 seconds. Previous methods allowed us to reach 100 mK in 10 hours.”

The speedy new two-trap cooling procedure promises a huge increase in the statistics that are available to experimenters. It is also a game-changing development for the study of BASE’s main particle of interest: the antiproton. Conventional cooling techniques are difficult to apply to antimatter because it is highly challenging to put matter and antimatter in the same trap. Applying the new technique should allow a significant improvement on BASE’s already world-leading measurements of fundamental properties of antiprotons. Such measurements have the potential to shed light on one of the biggest unanswered questions in fundamental physics: the unexplained surfeit of matter over antimatter in the universe.


“Our vision is to continually improve the precision of our matter–antimatter comparisons to develop a better understanding of the cosmological matter–antimatter asymmetry,” says BASE spokesperson Stefan Ulmer of RIKEN. “The newly developed technique will become a key method in these experiments, which aim to measure fundamental antimatter constants at the sub-parts-per-trillion level.”

For more details check out the full report in CERN Courier magazine:
https://cerncourier.com/a/base-demonstrates-two-trap-cooling/

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.

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

Images, Text, Credits: CERN/By Mark Rayner.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Time Research, Spacewalk Preps as Cargo Dragon Gets Ready for Launch

 







ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.


August 27, 2021

A U.S. cargo craft stands at its Florida launch pad less than 24 hours from a mission to resupply the International Space Station. Back in space, the Expedition 65 crew stayed focused on human research and while moving headlong toward upcoming spacewalks.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Cargo Dragon vehicle atop is counting down to a liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday at 3:37 a.m. It will arrive at the station on Sunday for an autonomous docking at 11 a.m. packed with over 4,800 pounds of new science experiments, crew supplies and lab hardware. The launch and docking will be broadcast live on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.


Image above: Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will monitor the SpaceX Cargo Dragon’s arrival on Sunday. Image Credit: NASA.

Flight Engineers Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough will be on deck Sunday morning monitoring the Cargo Dragon’s approach and rendezvous as it targets the Harmony module’s forward international docking adapter. The duo was joined Friday afternoon by Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Thomas Pesquet and Commander Akihiko Hoshide to review Dragon’s cargo manifest and upcoming transfer activities.

Continuing ongoing space research, Pesquet and Hoshide started Friday morning taking turns on an ESA (European Space Agency) experiment to understand how living in space affects time perception and cognitive performance. They each wore virtual reality goggles and clicked on a track ball to measure their time reaction and how they estimate time duration.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

In the orbiting lab’s Russian segment, cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov are getting ready for two spacewalks to configure the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module for upcoming science operations. First on Friday’s schedule, the duo had a cardiovascular exam to monitor their physical fitness ahead of the excursions scheduled for Sept. 3 and 9. Next, the Roscosmos Flight Engineers were joined by Vande Hei in the afternoon installing lights and cameras on the Orlan spacesuit helmets.

The spacewalk that had been scheduled for Aug. 24 is being moved to Sept. 12. This is the earliest opportunity to accomplish U.S. EVA 77 after arrival of the SpaceX CRS-23 cargo Dragon spacecraft and the first two Russian spacewalks to begin outfitting the newly arrived Nauka laboratory. Mark Vande Hei will provide internal support for spacewalkers Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) while Vande Hei continues to recover from a minor medical issue. All spacewalkers are trained in a variety of tasks they may need to perform, and Pesquet has performed similar tasks in previous spacewalks. This will be the first spacewalk conducted out of the Quest airlock by two international partner astronauts at the space station.

Related links:

Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

Time perception: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7504

Quest airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/joint-quest-airlock

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

Hubble Sees Cosmic Quintuple

 







NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.


Aug 27, 2021


Clustered at the center of this image are six brilliant spots of light, four of them creating a circle around a central pair. Appearances can be deceiving, however, as this formation is not composed of six individual galaxies, but is actually two separate galaxies and one distant quasar imaged four times. Data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope also indicates that there is a seventh spot of light in the very center, which is a rare fifth image of the distant quasar. This rare phenomenon is the result of the two central galaxies, which are in the foreground, acting as a lens.

The four bright points around the galaxy pair, and the fainter one in the very center, are in fact five separate images of a single quasar (known as 2M1310-1714), an extremely luminous but distant object. The reason we see this quintuple effect is a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravitational lensing occurs when a celestial object with an enormous amount of mass – such as a pair of galaxies – causes the fabric of space to warp. When light from a distant object travels through that gravitationally warped space, it is magnified and bent around the huge mass. This allows humans here on Earth to observe multiple, magnified images of the far-away source. The quasar in this image actually lies farther away from Earth than the pair of galaxies. The galaxy pair’s enormous mass bent and magnified the light from the distant quasar, giving the incredible appearance that the galaxies are surrounded by four quasars – when in reality, a single quasar lies far beyond them!

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaged the trio in spectacular detail. It was installed on Hubble in 2009 during Hubble Servicing Mission 4, Hubble’s final servicing mission. WFC3 continues to provide both top-quality data and fantastic images 12 years after its installation.

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Text Credits: European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA/Lynn Jenner/Image, Animation Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Treu; Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of August 23, 2021

 







ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.


Aug 27, 2021

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of Aug. 23 that included demonstrating 3D printing using a regolith simulant, growing a plant for psychological benefits, demonstrating an optical fiber-based radiation dosimeter, and examining changes in muscle tissue.

The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 20 years, supporting many scientific breakthroughs. The orbiting lab provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space, experience that supports Artemis, NASA’s program to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.


Image above: Hurricane Henri off the eastern coast of the United States as seen from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. Image Credit: NASA.

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

Building with local materials

Redwire Regolith Print (RRP) demonstrates 3D printing on the space station using a material simulating regolith, or loose rock and soil that is found on the surfaces of planetary bodies such as the Moon. Using resources available on the Moon and Mars to build structures and habitats would allow future explorers to bring fewer materials along from Earth, significantly reducing launch mass and cost. Results of this investigation could help determine the feasibility of using regolith as the raw material and 3D printing as a technique for on-demand construction of habitats and other structures on future space exploration missions. During the week, crew members installed print trays in the Manufacturing Device in order to print samples.

Busy week for ESA studies

During the week, crew members conducted several investigations sponsored by ESA (European Space Agency), including two newly arrived studies.


Image above: A Marigold flower grown during lab testing at Toulouse, France for Eklosion, an ESA (European Space Agency) investigation. A crew member grows one of these flowers in a special vase to help study the process of plant growth in space and provide the crew member a psychological link to Earth. Image Credit: Eklo Association.

Eklosion grows a Marigold plant in a specially designed vase that contains messages and scents from Earth to provide potential psychological benefit to the crew member who conducts the investigation. The investigation gathers data on plant growth and the psychological benefits of tending the plant for the crew member. Eklosion merges two winning projects from France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) Generation ISS competition, held to raise student awareness of space. Crew members observed the flower, took photos, and read some of the message during the week.


Image above: The active fiber dosimeter for Lumina, an ESA investigation monitoring radiation dose using optical fibers that darken when exposed to radiation. The dosimeter provides reliable dose measurements in complex radiation environments. Image Credit: CNES.

Lumina demonstrates real-time monitoring of the radiation dose received by crew members using a dosimeter with optical fibers that darken when exposed to radiation. The demonstration seeks to measure the radiation environment under realistic space conditions as well as to examine behavior of fiber when exposed to an extended period of low radiation dose. Monitoring ionizing radiation is a key challenge for future longer-term space exploration and this dosimeter could help anticipate radiation flares and guide decisions in response to these dangerous events. A fiber-based dosimeter also has promising applications in the medical and nuclear industries on Earth. Crew members conducted transfer of data from the device during the week.

Maintaining muscles in microgravity


Image above: Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) services cell samples for Anti-Atrophy, an investigation testing the ability of certain biomaterials to inhibit muscle atrophy in microgravity. Image Credit: NASA.

Existing data suggest that spaceflight decreases muscle stiffness, particularly in those muscles important for postural support and movement such as walking and running. Another ESA investigation, Myotones, observes muscle properties such as tone, stiffness, and elasticity during long-term exposure to spaceflight. Results could provide a better understanding of the principles of human resting muscle tone and lead to new strategies for rehabilitation on Earth as well as on future space missions. During the week, crew members collected samples for the investigation.

Space to Ground: Inside Arm: 08/27/2021

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- NICER is mounted on the exterior of the space station to study the physics of neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas. The investigation includes SEXTANT, a demonstration for a GPS-like system for future spacecraft navigation using these stars, also known as pulsars, as natural beacons.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1705

- AMS-02 looks for evidence of dark matter and dark energy in the universe, along with very high-energy radiation from distant stars. Researchers recently published findings on the properties of sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al) cosmic rays in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.021101

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=729

- The Ring Sheared Drop investigation uses a device to create shear flow, or a difference in velocity between adjacent liquid layers, which previous research shows plays a role in the early stages of formation of protein aggregations called amyloid fibrils in the brain. Amyloids may be involved in development of Alzheimer’s disease, and results could contribute to a better understanding of this disease.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7383

- Butterfly IQ Ultrasound demonstrates use of a portable ultrasound and a mobile computing device in microgravity. This commercial off-the-shelf technology could provide important medical capabilities for future exploration missions where immediate ground support is not an option.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8211

- Anti-Atrophy, an investigation from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), tests the ability of biomaterials such as muscle atrophy inhibitors or muscle synthesis accelerators to inhibit muscle atrophy in microgravity. Results could advance development of pharmaceuticals to prevent muscle atrophy for astronauts in space and for people who experience the condition on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7336

- Cool Flames Investigation with Gases, part of the ACME series of studies, observes chemical reactions of cool flames, which burn at lower temperatures. Cool flames were first discovered aboard the space station in 2012 burning liquid fuel; more recently, the investigation created cool flames burning gaseous fuels. Studying these flames may improve understanding of combustion and fires on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8270
 
- Time Perception, an investigation from ESA, examines subjective changes in time perception that occur during and after long-duration exposure to microgravity. Astronauts need to accurately assess the passing of time in order to perform fine motor skills and control vehicles and other complex systems at a high level of cognitive function.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7504

- The ISS Experience is a virtual reality film series documenting life and research aboard the space station. Filmed over multiple months, it includes crew activities ranging from conducting science experiments to preparing for a spacewalk.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7877

Related links:

Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html

Redwire Regolith Print (RRP): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8429

Manufacturing Device: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1934

Eklosion: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8358

Lumina: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8444

Myotones: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7573

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/Ana Guzman/John Love, ISS Research Planning Integration Scientist Expedition 65.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Pens, Pencils, and How NASA Takes Notes in Space

 







NASA logo.


Aug 27, 2021

The Space Pen has captured the American imagination in more ways than one. It’s appeared repeatedly in pop culture and even worked as a plot device in a "Seinfeld" episode titled "The Pen," and in 2021 was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. It’s also the subject of a myth that the space agency spent millions to invent a pen that can write in zero gravity, while cosmonauts simply used a pencil.


Animation above: In one of the first live video transmissions from an American spacecraft, Apollo 7 mission commander Walter Schirra demonstrates zero gravity by blowing on a Space Pen. Animation Credit: NASA.

Let’s get to the facts about the Space Pen, pencils in space, and how NASA astronauts write aboard the space station.

Is the Space Pen a real thing?

Yes, it is. The Fisher Space Pen made its television debut in October 1968, as Apollo 7 mission commander Walter Schirra demonstrated weightlessness by blowing on a pen to control its movement as it floated about the capsule. It was one of the first live video transmissions from an American spacecraft. Since then, Space Pens have appeared in television shows from "Mad Men" and "Gilmore Girls" to "How it’s Made." The pens are on display in space museums and in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.


Image above: NASA astronaut Walter Cunningham writes with a Fisher Space Pen during the flight of Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo flight and the Space Pen’s first trip to space. The pens have been used on every NASA human spaceflight mission since. Image Credit: NASA.

In 2021, the technology was recognized by the Space Foundation as an innovation developed for space that now improves life on Earth, joining around 80 other technologies in the organization’s Hall of Fame.

Why not just use a pencil?

NASA wanted an alternative to pencils because the lead could easily break off and float away, creating a hazard to astronauts and sensitive electronics on the spacecraft. Cosmonauts also have been using Space Pens since 1969.

Чем пишут в космосе? // Writing in space

Did it cost taxpayers millions?

No. Paul Fisher at the Fisher Pen Company had already been working on a pressurized pen. That said, it likely would never have reached the heights it did, in orbit or in popularity, without NASA’s testing.

“The original ballpoints were terrible,” said Cary Fisher, Paul’s son, and current president of the company, which is now located in Boulder City, Nevada. He notes that the early ballpoints tended to leak, skip, and dry up.

To solve the problem, his father, who had already invented the first universal ink cartridge refill, was working on a sealed cartridge with pressurized nitrogen at the top pushing a tiny piston against the ink. But the pressure caused the pens to leak.

When NASA reached out to him looking for a pen that didn’t require gravity, he knew this pressurized ink cartridge could be just the thing – if he could solve the leaks. With NASA’s interest spurring him on, he finally succeeded when he added resin to the ink to make it “thixotropic” – almost solid until friction with the ball at the point of the pen liquefied it. He called the result the AG7, for anti-gravity, and sent several to NASA.


Image above: Fisher Pen Company founder Paul Fisher celebrates the company’s 50th anniversary, displaying various models of the Space Pen he invented. Image Credit: Fisher Pen Company.

NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center, now Johnson Space Center in Houston, tested the pens extensively. The space agency found the pens worked in all positions, in extreme heat and cold, and in atmospheres ranging from pure oxygen to vacuum. And they held enough ink to draw a solid line more than three miles long – well beyond NASA’s half-kilometer (.3-mile) ink requirement.

That testing accelerated the pen’s development from a prototype to a safe, reliable product.

Once it had flown in space, Paul decided on the name Space Pen. “I thought it was a terrible name,” his son recalled. “I said it’s going to sound like a toy. But my father was right, as he often was.”

The pens are known in part for their reliability, but they also came to symbolize American ingenuity: an inventor and small business owner stepped up and solved the pen problem while NASA focused on safely landing American astronauts on the Moon.

Paul and his son continued perfecting the technology and designing new models.

Do astronauts still use them?

The pens have been used on every crewed NASA mission since Apollo 7 – dozens are currently aboard the International Space Station.

Is it only for space?

The Space Pen line now comprises about 80 models.

While they are popular gift items, Cary said, they are especially in-demand among members of the military and law enforcement, as well as outdoor enthusiasts, plane manufacturers, and oil workers, all of whom, like astronauts, appreciate their ability to write in any conditions.


Image above: The AG7 model was the very first Fisher Space Pen. Image Credit: Fisher Pen Company.

Fisher Pen Company has distributors in 52 countries but still makes all its pens in Boulder City, where more than 60 employees turn out over a million pens a year.

NASA has a long history of transferring technology to the private sector. The agency’s Spinoff publication profiles NASA technologies that have transformed into commercial products and services, demonstrating the broader benefits of America’s investment in its space program. Spinoff is a publication of the Technology Transfer program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

For more information on how NASA brings space technology down to Earth, visit:
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/

Related links:

Space Technology Hall of Fame: https://www.spacefoundation.org/what-we-do/space-technology-hall-of-fame/

Space Pens: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20020090945

Space Tech: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video (ROSCOSMOS), Text, Credits: NASA/Loura Hall/NASA's Spinoff Publication/By Mike DiCicco and Naomi Seck.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

jeudi 26 août 2021

Cargo Dragon Nears Launch as Station Ramps Up for Russian Spacewalks

 







ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.


August 26, 2021

The SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle is standing at the launch pad counting down to its weekend mission to the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the Expedition 65 crew focused on robotics and biology while gearing up for a pair of Russian spacewalks.

The Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX with the Cargo Dragon spacecraft atop is standing vertical at its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida today. It is scheduled to launch on Saturday at 3:37 a.m. EDT and arrive at the station on Sunday for an autonomous docking at 11 a.m. Flight Engineers Megan McArthur and Thomas Pesquet will be on duty Sunday morning monitoring Dragon’s rendezvous and docking to the Harmony module’s forward international docking adapter. NASA TV will broadcast both launch and docking events live.


Image above: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Cargo Dragon atop stands at its Kennedy Space Center launch pad at in Florida. Image Creedit: SpaceX.

The two astronauts spent Thursday morning on science, however, working on the Myotones study observing the biochemical properties of muscles in space. The duo took turns marking and measuring their leg and arm muscles to better understand how weightlessness affects muscle tone, stiffness, and elasticity.

A pair of cube-shaped, toaster-sized Astrobee free-flying robotic helpers were turned on today for a mobility test inside the Kibo laboratory module. Commander Akihiko Hoshide activated the devices Thursday afternoon to test their ability to dynamically pass objects, such as cargo, to each other or a science rack robotic arm.

Astrobee. Animation Credit: NASA

Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough spent the day working inside the U.S. Quest airlock. He was assembling and installing a new stowage platform inside the module where spacewalks in U.S. spacesuits are staged.

The next two spacewalks taking place on the station will occur on Sept. 3 and 9. Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov are preparing for both spacewalks readying their Orlan spacesuits and tools inside the Poisk module. The duo will be exiting Poisk to configure the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module for upcoming science operations.

Related links:

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

Myotones: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7573

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

Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory

U.S. Quest airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/joint-quest-airlock

Poisk module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/poisk-mini-research-module-2

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.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

CASC - Long March-3B launches TJSW-7

 







CASC -  China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.


August 26, 2021

Long March-3B carrying TJSW-7 liftoff

A Long March-3B launch vehicle launched the Communication Technology Test Satellite 7 (TJSW-7) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 24 August 2021, at 15:41 UTC (23:41 local time).

Long March-3B launches TJSW-7

According to official sources, the satellite has successfully entered the planned orbit. TJSW-7 (通信技术试验卫星七号) will be “mainly used to carry out communication technology test missions”.

Communication Technology Test Satellite 7 or TJSW-7. (Illustration)

Related article:

CASC - Long March-3B launches TJSW-5
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/01/casc-long-march-3b-launches-tjsw-5.html

For more information about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC): http://english.spacechina.com/n16421/index.html

Images, Video, TexCredits: China Central Television (CCTV)/China Aerospace Science and Tt, echnology Corporation(CASC)/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s Perseverance Plans Next Sample Attempt

 







NASA - Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover logo.


August 26, 2021

The rover will abrade a rock this week, allowing scientists and engineers to decide whether that target would withstand its powerful drill.


Image above: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover will abrade the rock at the center of this image, allowing scientists and engineers to assess whether it would hold up to the rover’s more powerful sampling drill. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

In its search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is once again preparing to collect the first of many rock core samples that could eventually be brought to Earth for further study.

This week, a tool on the rover’s 7-foot-long (2-meter-long) robotic arm will abrade the surface of a rock nicknamed “Rochette,” allowing scientists to look inside and determine whether they want to capture a sample with the rover’s coring bit. Slightly thicker than a pencil, the sample would be sealed in one of the 42 remaining titanium tubes aboard the rover.

Should the team decide to acquire a core from this rock, the sampling process would be initiated next week.

The mission attempted to capture their first record of the crater floor on Aug. 6 from a rock that ultimately proved too crumbly, breaking into powder and fragments of material too small to be retained in the sample tube before it was sealed and stored within the rover.

Perseverance has since trucked 1,493 feet (455 meters) to a ridge nicknamed “Citadelle” – French for “castle,” a reference to how this craggy spot overlooks Jezero Crater’s floor. The ridge is capped with a layer of rock that appears to resist wind erosion, a sign that it’s more likely to hold up during drilling.


Image above: A close-up of the rock, nicknamed “Rochette,” that the Perseverance science team will examine in order to determine whether to take a rock core sample from it. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

“There are potentially older rocks in the ‘South Séítah’ region ahead of us, so having this younger sample can help us reconstruct the whole timeline of Jezero,” said Vivian Sun, one of the mission’s scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The team has added a step to the sampling process for this coming attempt: After using its Mastcam-Z camera system to peer inside the sample tube, the rover will pause the sampling sequence so the team can review the image to ensure a rock core is present. Once a sample is confirmed, they will command Perseverance to seal the tube.

Although the pulverized rock eluded capture in the initial sample-acquisition effort, the first sample tube still contains a sample of Martian atmosphere, which the mission had originally planned to acquire at a later time.

“By returning samples to Earth, we hope to answer a number of scientific questions, including the composition of Mars’ atmosphere,” said Ken Farley, Perseverance’s project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, California. “That’s why we’re interested in an atmospheric sample along with rock samples.”

While atop Citadelle, Perseverance will use its subsurface radar, called RIMFAX – short for Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment – to peer at rock layers below it. The top of the ridge will also provide a great vantage point for Mastcam-Z to look for other potential rock targets in the area.

More About the Mission

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

Perseverance Rover sampling operation. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and https://nasa.gov/perseverance

Related articles:

Why NASA’s Mars rover failed to collect its first rock core
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/why-nasas-mars-rover-failed-to-collect.html

NASA’s Perseverance Team Assessing First Mars Sampling Attempt
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/nasas-perseverance-team-assessing-first.html

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/Karen Fox/Alana Johnson/JPL/Andrew Good.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch