Orbiter.ch Space News

lundi 3 juin 2019

HERA Mission XIX Departs for Mars Moon Phobos

NASA - HERA Mission XIX (C5M2) patch.

June 3, 2019

While NASA is planning a human mission to the Moon in 2024, researchers on the ground are preparing the most precious cargo that will be aboard: the human body and mind. By studying the effects of isolation and confinement in ground-based analogs, scientists are learning how to counter the hazards of human spaceflight without leaving Earth.

The 19th Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) analog mission “departed” on May 24 for a trip to Phobos, the larger of the two moons of Mars. HERA XIX, also known as C5M2 (Campaign 5, Mission 2), is the second of four planned missions in the mock spacecraft located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

Image above: The HERA XIX crew completed training and is ready for a 45-day mock mission to Phobos. Crewmembers are Barret Schlegelmilch, Christian Clark, Ana Mosquera and Julie Mason. Image Credit: NASA.

“Some of this research is conducted to look at their levels of autonomy,” Human Research Program’s Flight Analogs Project Manager, Lisa Spence said. In a real mission, the crew will be very far from Earth which will cause communications delays. The crew must work together with only sporadic input from Mission Control. These HERA simulations help provide research data for autonomous conditions.

NASA's Human Research Program requires the crews of all four C5 missions to conduct the same experiments, which enables researchers to identify patterns and variances in the research data. The C5 crewmembers will have less privacy in their crew quarters and in the hygiene module, and less “free volume” in which to work.

Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) module. Image Credit: NASA

The HERA Mission Control Center is just outside of the mock spacecraft in Building 220 of JSC. The crew will be monitored while in mission for physiological and psychological effects of extended isolation and confinement, team dynamics, and conflict resolution.

Crewmembers for C5M2 are Barret Schlegelmilch of Kent, Washington; Christian Clark of Honoloula, Hawaii; Ana Mosquera of Washington, D.C.; and Julie Mason of Huntsville, Alabama. Banumathi Cole of Charlottesville, Virginia trained with the crew as a backup member. The crewmembers will live in the HERA spacecraft for 45 days without actually leaving JSC.

“It's critically important we're able to find suitable volunteers, people who mimic or emulate the type of people that we select for astronauts. That's very important to us,” Spence said.

Image above: Ana Mosquera enters the HERA habitat ready for a 45-day mission followed by one of her four crewmates, Christian Clark. Image Credit: NASA.

Campaign 5 is the second campaign to utilize 45-day missions. Longer mission length allows for more mission-like crew effects and more data points relevant to longer duration spaceflight missions. The next two Campaign 5 missions are scheduled as follows: Mission 3 will begin in August 2019 and Mission 4 will begin in January 2020.

Analog missions like HERA allow researchers to gather more data on more test subjects, within the confines of Earth. One goal of these missions is to look for possible safeguards from the hazards of life in space, and contribute to sustained human presence on the Moon.

The NASA HRP Test Subject Screening group is accepting resumes for healthy, non-smoking volunteers, ages 30 to 55 for future missions. Volunteers will be compensated and must pass a physical and psychological assessment to qualify. Volunteers wishing to become test subjects should go to this website to fill out a quick survey and find further instructions: https://herastudy.jsc.nasa.gov

For more information on NASA’s Human Research Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hrp

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) is dedicated to discovering the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. HRP enables space exploration by reducing the risks to astronaut health and performance using ground research facilities, the International Space Station, and analog environments. This leads to the development and delivery of an exploration biomedical program focused on: informing human health, performance, and habitability standards; developing countermeasures and risk mitigation solutions; and advancing habitability and medical support technologies. HRP supports innovative, scientific human research by funding more than 300 research grants to respected universities, hospitals, and NASA centers to over 200 researchers in more than 30 states.

Related links:

Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA): http://www.nasa.gov/analogs/hera

Moon to Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moon2mars/

Humans in Space: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/humans-in-space

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Kelli Mars/Human Research Program Strategic Communications/Monica Edwards/Laurie Abadie.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Dragon Resupply Ship Leaves Station, Heads for Pacific Splashdown

SpaceX - Dragon CRS-17 Mission patch.

June 3, 2019

Dragon Resupply Ship Leaves Station, Heads for Pacific Splashdown

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft was released from the International Space Station at 12:01 p.m. EDT after flight controllers in Houston delivered remote commands to the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Expedition 59 Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency monitored Dragon’s systems as it departed the microgravity laboratory.

Next up, Dragon will fire its thrusters to move a safe distance from the station and execute a deorbit burn around 4:56 p.m. to leave orbit. Splashdown down is targeted for approximately 5:55 p.m. EDT (2:55 p.m. PDT).

Dragon Resupply Ship Leaves Station, Heads for Pacific Splashdown

Dragon was detached from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module at 8:30 a.m. after flight controllers at mission control in Houston delivered remote commands to the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Expedition 59 Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency will back up the operation and monitor Dragon’s systems as it departs the orbital laboratory.

Image above: Dragon just being released from Canadarm2 robotic arm. Image Credits: NASA TV/ISS-HD Live/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

After firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station, Dragon will execute a deorbit burn around 4:56 p.m. to leave orbit, as it heads for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 202 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, at approximately 5:48 p.m. (2:48 p.m. PDT). There will be no live coverage of deorbit burn or splashdown.

Image above: Dragon leave from International Space Station (ISS). Image Credits: NASA TV/ISS-HD Live/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Dragon launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket May 4 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and arrived at the station two days later with almost 5,500 pounds of science, supplies and cargo on SpaceX’s 17th commercial resupply mission to the station for NASA.

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

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

Canadarm2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

SpaceX Dragon: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

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

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

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA TV), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of May 27, 2019

ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

June 3, 2019

Science experiments conducted on the International Space Station last week included installation of new monitoring tools, research on the immune system in space, and validating manual back-up navigation systems. These and many other investigations on the space station support NASA’s Moon to Mars program and its initial goal of returning humans to the Moon by 2024.

Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague exercises while astronaut Christina Koch works in the rodent habitat on an investigation examining the effects of spaceflight on the function of antibody production and immune memory using a mouse model. Image Credit: NASA.

Here are details on some of the scientific investigations that the members of Expedition 59 conducted during the week of May 27:

Testing immune response in real time

RR-12, Tetanus Antibody Response by B cells in Space (TARBIS), examines the effects of spaceflight on antibody production and immune memory. Previous research shows that spaceflight has a dramatic influence on immune response, but scientists have yet to determine how it affects an inflight challenge to the body’s immune system. This investigation may advance development of measures to counter such effects and help maintain crew health during future long-duration space missions. Last week, the crew stowed Habitat 1 for return on the SpaceX Dragon currently docked to the station.

Animation above: Preparations for the (MVP Cell-01) investigation on how spaceflight affects the biology of musculoskeletal disease. Developing therapeutics to prevent bone and cartilage degradation in space could help protect astronauts on future long-term missions. Animation Credit: NASA.

Navigating the old-fashioned way

The crew performed lunar sightings for the Sextant Navigation investigation, which tests using a hand-held sextant on a spacecraft, focusing on stability and star sighting opportunities. While not intended as a replacement for primary navigation systems, the sextant offers another option for crews to navigate a spacecraft home should radio communications and main spacecraft computers become compromised. The sextant sighting technique is flexible and independent of vehicle type. Results from this investigation support development of emergency navigation methods for future Orion exploration missions.

Growing crystals, inspiring the next generation

Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague works on the CASIS PCG 14 investigation, which teaches middle and high school students about the capabilities and constraints of conducting an experiment in microgravity and helps inspire the next generation of explorers. Image Credit: NASA.

A number of investigations have shown that crystals grow larger and with fewer imperfections in microgravity. One of the latest investigations, CASIS PCG 14, explores closed-system crystallization of inorganic salts from aqueous solutions using evaporation, and examines translation of a previously optimized thermal-gradient inorganic salt crystallization procedure to other systems. Middle and high school students competed to grow the highest-quality ground-based crystals, and experts in crystallography selected those with the fewest imperfections to fly on the space station. Such student-led investigations encourage and inspire the next generation of researchers and explorers for future missions. The crew disassembled the two PCG-14 sample jars last week to photograph crystal growth on the membrane interface.

New tool installed while another ends its mission

The crew recently installed an important new monitoring tool on the space station. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) on the Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) observes the complex dynamics of the Earth’s atmospheric carbon cycle. Its space-based measurements help to improve the understanding of surface carbon dioxide sources and sinks on a regional scale, as well as the processes controlling their seasonal variability.

Image above: The red circle indicates the location of the Space Communications and Navigation Testbed (SCAN Testbed) during its deployment on the outside of the space station. Image Credit: NASA.

The Space Communications and Navigation Testbed (SCAN Testbed) allowed mission planners to change radio functions post-launch, making it possible to adapt to increased data flow, potentially resolve problems with the communications system, and otherwise support an ongoing mission. Upon its completion, the crew packed the investigation into the Dragon capsule for disposal.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Rodent Research-12 (RR-12) examines the effects of spaceflight on the function of antibody production and immune memory using a mouse model: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7868

- At Home in Space assesses astronaut adaptation in order to support development of adaptive strategies to help crew members handle the isolated and confined environment of a space craft. Creating a sense of home in space could help improve astronaut health, well-being and performance on long-duration missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1727

- Residual Momentum and Tank Dynamics in Microgravity Environment (Furphy) tests the transfer of fluids from a rigid to a collapsible tank that expands as it fills. This capability supports future space exploration by making it possible to fuel small spacecraft in orbit instead of prior to launch, potentially saving launch mass and volume: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7842

- The ISS Experience documents daily life aboard the space station through a virtual reality film to educate a variety of audiences about life in the orbiting lab and science conducted there: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7877

- MicroAlgae studies the effects of microgravity on Haematococcus pluvialis. This tiny freshwater algae can produce astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that could be useful as a food supplement on long space missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7689

- Veggie PONDS uses a newly developed passive nutrient delivery system and the Veggie Cell plant growth facility to cultivate lettuce and greens on the space station for on-orbit consumption and analysis on Earth: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7581

- Micro-14 extends previous studies on the yeast Candida albicans, seeking to define mechanisms behind its cellular adaptation to spaceflight, potentially contributing to maintenance of crew member health during long-duration spaceflight: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7642

- Probiotics studies using beneficial bacteria or probiotics to improve the intestinal microbiota and immune function in crew members on long-duration space missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2047

Space to Ground: Saluting an Icon: 05/31/2019

ESO contributes to protecting Earth from dangerous asteroids

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

3 June 2019

VLT observes a passing double asteroid hurtling by Earth at 70 000 km/h

Side by side observation and artist's impression of Asteroid 1999 KW4

The unique capabilities of the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have enabled it to obtain the sharpest images of a double asteroid as it flew by Earth on 25 May. While this double asteroid was not itself a threatening object, scientists used the opportunity to rehearse the response to a hazardous Near-Earth Object (NEO), proving that ESO’s front-line technology could be critical in planetary defence.

The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) coordinated a cross-organisational observing campaign of the asteroid 1999 KW4 as it flew by Earth, reaching a minimum distance of 5.2 million km [1] on 25 May 2019. 1999 KW4 is about 1.3 km wide, and does not pose any risk to Earth. Since its orbit is well known, scientists were able to predict this fly-by and prepare the observing campaign.

ESO joined the campaign with its flagship facility, the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT is equipped with SPHERE — one of the very few instruments in the world capable of obtaining images sharp enough to distinguish the two components of the asteroid, which are separated by around 2.6 km.

Minimum Separation of Asteroid 1999 KW4 and Earth

SPHERE was designed to observe exoplanets; its state-of-the-art adaptive optics (AO) system corrects for the turbulence of the atmosphere, delivering images as sharp as if the telescope were in space. It is also equipped with coronagraphs to dim the glare of bright stars, exposing faint orbiting exoplanets.

Taking a break from its usual night job hunting exoplanets, SPHERE data helped astronomers characterise the double asteroid. In particular, it is now possible to measure whether the smaller satellite has the same composition as the larger object.

“These data, combined with all those that are obtained on other telescopes through the IAWN campaign, will be essential for evaluating effective deflection strategies in the event that an asteroid was found to be on a collision course with Earth,” explained ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut. “In the worst possible case, this knowledge is also essential to predict how an asteroid could interact with the atmosphere and Earth’s surface, allowing us to mitigate damage in the event of a collision.”

Artist’s Impression of Asteroid 1999 KW4

“The double asteroid was hurtling by the Earth at more than 70 000 km/h, making observing it with the VLT challenging,” said Diego Parraguez, who was piloting the telescope. He had to use all his expertise to lock on to the fast asteroid and capture it with SPHERE.

Bin Yang, VLT astronomer, declared “When we saw the satellite in the AO-corrected images, we were extremely thrilled. At that moment, we felt that all the pain, all the efforts were worth it.” Mathias Jones, another VLT astronomer involved in these observations, elaborated on the difficulties. “During the observations the atmospheric conditions were a bit unstable. In addition, the asteroid was relatively faint and moving very fast in the sky, making these observations particularly challenging, and causing the AO system to crash several times. It was great to see our hard work pay off despite the difficulties!”

While 1999 KW4 is not an impact threat, it bears a striking resemblance to another binary asteroid system called Didymos which could pose a threat to Earth sometime in the distant future.

Didymos and its companion called “Didymoon” are the target of a future pioneering planetary defence experiment. NASA’s DART spacecraft will impact Didymoon in an attempt to change its orbit around its larger twin, in a test of the feasibility of deflecting asteroids. After the impact, ESA’s Hera mission will survey the Didymos asteroids in 2026 to gather key information, including Didymoon’s mass, its surface properties and the shape of the DART crater.

Artist’s Impression of Asteroid 1999 KW4

The success of such missions depends on collaborations between organisations, and tracking Near-Earth Objects is a major focus for the collaboration between ESO and ESA. This cooperative effort has been ongoing since their first successful tracking of a potentially hazardous NEO in early 2014.

“We are delighted to be playing a role in keeping Earth safe from asteroids,” said Xavier Barcons, ESO’s Director General. “As well as employing the sophisticated capabilities of the VLT, we are working with ESA to create prototypes for a large network to take asteroid detection, tracking and characterization to the next level.”

This recent close encounter with 1999 KW4 comes just a month before Asteroid Day, an official United Nations day of education and awareness about asteroids, to be celebrated on 30 June. Events will be held on five continents, and ESO will be among the major astronomical organisations taking part. The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre will host a range of activities on the theme of asteroids on the day, and members of the public are invited to join in the celebrations.

Notes:

[1] This distance is about 14 times the distance to the Moon — close enough to study, but not close enough to be threatening! Many small asteroids fly past the Earth much closer than 1999 KW4, occasionally closer than the Moon. Earth’s most recent encounter with an asteroid took place on 15 February 2013, when a previously unknown asteroid 18 metres across exploded as it entered Earth's atmosphere over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. The damage produced by the subsequent shockwave caused injuries to about 1,500 people.

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 202 Light: ESO helps protect Earth from dangerous asteroids: https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1910a/

ESO/ESA observations of Didymos: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety/Hera/World_s_best_telescopes_target_asteroids_for_ESA_s_Hera_mission

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

DART mission: https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/

Hera Mission: https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety/Hera

ESOblog on ESA-ESO collaboration: https://www.eso.org/public/blog/how-eso-collaborates-with-esa/

ESA's technical web portal for near-Earth objects: http://neo.ssa.esa.int/

Very Large Telescope (VLT): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/

SPHERE: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/

Asteroid Day: https://asteroidday.org/resources/asteroid-learning/press-release-asteroid-day-to-celebrate-fifth-anniversary-with-special-events-in-luxembourg-and-around-the-globe-24-30-june-2019/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ESO/Calum Turner/M. Kornmesser.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

vendredi 31 mai 2019

A Prehistoric Puzzle in the Kuiper Belt

NASA - New Horizons Mission patch.

May 31, 2019

NASA’s New Horizons Team Unravels the Many Mysteries of Ultima Thule

A Prehistoric Puzzle in the Kuiper Belt

The farthest object ever explored is slowly revealing its secrets, as scientists piece together the puzzles of Ultima Thule – the Kuiper Belt object NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year’s Day, four billion miles from Earth.

Analyzing the data New Horizons has been sending home since the flyby of Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69), mission scientists are learning more about the formation, geology and composition of this ancient relic of solar system formation. The team discussed those findings today at the 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ultima Thule is the first unquestionably primordial contact binary ever explored. Approach pictures of Ultima Thule hinted at a strange, snowman-like shape for the binary, but further analysis of images, taken near closest approach – New Horizons came to within just 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) – have uncovered just how unusual the KBO’s shape really is. At 22 miles (35 kilometers) long, Ultima Thule consists of a large, flat lobe (nicknamed “Ultima”) connected to a smaller, rounder lobe (nicknamed “Thule”).

This strange shape is the biggest surprise, so far, of the flyby. “We’ve never seen anything like this anywhere in the solar system,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “It is sending the planetary science community back to the drawing board to understand how planetesimals – the building blocks of the planets – form.”

Because it is so well preserved, Ultima Thule is offering our clearest look back to the era of planetesimal accretion and the earliest stages of planetary formation. Apparently Ultima Thule’s two lobes once orbited each other, like many so-called binary worlds in the Kuiper Belt, until something brought them together in a “gentle” merger.

“This fits with general ideas of the beginning of our solar system,” said William McKinnon, a New Horizons co-investigator from Washington University in St. Louis. “Much of the orbital momentum of the Ultima Thule binary must have been drained away for them to come together like this. But we don’t know yet what processes were most important in making that happen.”

That meeting may have left its mark on the surface. The “neck” connecting Ultima and Thule is bent, and could indicate shearing as the lobes combined, said Kirby Runyon, a New Horizons science team member from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

Image Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/National Optical Astronomy Observatory.

Runyon and fellow team geologists are describing and trying to understand Ultima Thule’s many surface features, from bright spots and patches, to hills and troughs, to craters and pits. The craters, while at first glance look like impact craters, could have other origins. Some may be pit craters, where material drains into underground cracks, or a result of sublimation, where ice went directly from solid to gas and left pits in its place. The largest depression is a 5-mile-wide (8 kilometer) feature the team has nicknamed Maryland crater. It could be an impact crater, or it could have formed in one of the other above-mentioned ways.

“We have our work cut out to understand Ultima Thule’s geology, that is for sure,” Runyon said.

In color and composition, New Horizons data revealed that Ultima Thule resembles many other objects found in its region of the Kuiper Belt. Consistent with pre-flyby observations from the Hubble Telescope, Ultima Thule is very red – redder even than Pluto, which New Horizons flew past on the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt in 2015 – and about the same color as many other so-called “cold classical” KBOs. (“Cold” referring not to temperature but to the circular, uninclined orbits of these objects; “classical” in that their orbits have changed little since forming, and represent a primordial sample of the primordial Kuiper Belt.)

“This is the first time one of these ‘ultra red’ objects has been explored, and our observations open all kinds of new questions,” said Carly Howett, a New Horizons science team member from SwRI. “The color imaging even reveals subtle differences in coloration across the surface, and we really want to know why.”

New Horizons scientists have also seen evidence for methanol, water ice and organic molecules on the surface. “The spectrum of Ultima Thule is similar to some of the most extreme objects we’ve seen in the outer solar system,” said Silvia Protopapa, a New Horizons co-investigator from SwRI. “So New Horizons is giving us an incredible opportunity to study one of these bodies up close.”

New Horizons Ultima Thule flyby. Image Credits: NASA/JHUAPL

The Ultima Thule data transmission continues, though all of the data from the flyby won’t be on the ground until late summer 2020. In the meantime, New Horizons continues to carry out distant observations of additional Kuiper Belt objects and mapping the charged-particle radiation and dust environment in the Kuiper Belt.

The New Horizons spacecraft is 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion kilometers) from Earth, operating normally and speeding deeper into the Kuiper Belt at nearly 33,000 miles (53,000 kilometers) per hour.

Related article:

NASA’s New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/05/nasas-new-horizons-team-publishes-first.html

New Horizons: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

Video, Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Bill Keeter.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Science Results Packed for Return to Earth Aboard Dragon Monday

ISS - Expedition 59 Mission patch.

May 31, 2019

The Expedition 59 crew is starting the weekend preparing the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft for its departure from the International Space Station on Monday. The space residents are also juggling a variety of research work and lab maintenance tasks today.

NASA TV is broadcasting the robotic release of Dragon from the station live on NASA TV beginning Monday at 11:45 a.m. EDT. Robotics controllers will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the space freighter around 12:09 p.m. while astronaut David Saint-Jacques monitors from the cupola. Dragon will splashdown in the Pacific about 5:48 p.m. and will not be seen on NASA TV.

Image above: The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft approaches the International Space Station on May 6, 2019, to deliver than 5,500 pounds of research, equipment, cargo and supplies to the Expedition 59 crew. Image Credit: NASA.

Several critical experiments have wrapped up aboard the orbiting lab with the completed results and hardware being packed inside the Dragon this weekend. After the space freighter splashes down Monday, it will be towed to shore where the finalized research will be distributed to labs around the world for analysis.

Astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques are cleaning up and inspecting the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) today. This comes after the crew completed a month-long study of the immune system’s response to weightlessness inside the LSG. Samples from that study will also return to Earth aboard Dragon Monday.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

The pair first joined Flight Engineer Nick Hague during the morning checking out space biology hardware and transferring more frozen research samples into Dragon’s science freezers. Hague and McClain then participated in regularly scheduled eye exams in the afternoon.

Christina Koch of NASA is helping cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Alexey Ovchinin clean up after the duo’s spacewalk on Wednesday. She stowed the U.S. tools they used back in the Quest airlock while the cosmonauts serviced their Russian Orlan spacesuits in the Pirs airlock.

Related article:

Two Cosmonauts Wrap Up the Fourth Spacewalk at the Station This Year
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/05/two-cosmonauts-wrap-up-fourth-spacewalk.html

Related links:

Expedition 59: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html

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

Canadarm2 robotic arm: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-servicing-system.html

Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7676

Immune system’s response to weightlessness: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7868

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

Pirs airlock: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment

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

NASA Selects First Commercial Moon Landing Services for Artemis Program

NASA logo.

May 31, 2019

Image above: Commercial landers will carry NASA-provided science and technology payloads to the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the Moon by 2024. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA has selected three commercial Moon landing service providers that will deliver science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program. Each commercial lander will carry NASA-provided payloads that will conduct science investigations and demonstrate advanced technologies on the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the lunar surface by 2024.

“Our selection of these U.S. commercial landing service providers represents America’s return to the Moon’s surface for the first time in decades, and it’s a huge step forward for our Artemis lunar exploration plans,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. ”Next year, our initial science and technology research will be on the lunar surface, which will help support sending the first woman and the next man to the Moon in five years. Investing in these commercial landing services also is another strong step to build a commercial space economy beyond low-Earth orbit.”

Image above: Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to a large crater on the near side of the Moon. Image Credit: Astrobotic.

As part of their submissions, each partner proposed flying specific NASA instruments to the lunar surface. By the end of the summer, NASA will determine which payloads will fly on each flight. The potential payloads include instruments that will conduct new lunar science, pinpoint lander position, measure the lunar radiation environment, assess how lander and astronaut activity affects the Moon, and assist with navigation precision, among other capabilities.

The selections are:

- Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has been awarded $79.5 million and has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the near side of the Moon, by July 2021.

- Intuitive Machines of Houston has been awarded $77 million. The company has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon, by July 2021.

- Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has been awarded $97 million and has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters, by September 2020.

“These landers are just the beginning of exciting commercial partnerships that will bring us closer to solving the many scientific mysteries of our Moon, our solar system, and beyond,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “What we learn will not only change our view of the universe, but also prepare our human missions to the Moon and eventually Mars.”

Image above: Intuitive Machines of Houston has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon. Image Credit: Intuitive Machines.

Each partner is providing end-to-end commercial payload delivery services to NASA, including payload integration and operations, launch from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. These early missions will enable important technology demonstrations that will inform the development of future landers and other exploration systems needed for humans to return to the lunar surface. They also will help prepare the agency to send astronauts to explore Mars.

Image above: Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters. Image Credit: Orbit Beyond.

“This announcement starts a significant step in NASA's collaboration with our commercial partners,” said Chris Culbert, CLPS program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA is committed to working with industry to enable the next round of lunar exploration. The companies we have selected represent a diverse community of exciting small American companies, each with their own unique, innovative approach to getting to the Moon. We look forward to working with them to have our payloads delivered and opening the door for returning humans to the Moon.”

As additional science, technology demonstration, and human exploration requirements for payloads develop, a request for task order bids will go to all current CLPS contractors. All nine companies initially selected in November 2018 for CLPS will be eligible to bid on subsequent task orders.

Our Next Lunar Landings

Video above: Introducing the first American companies who will deliver the science, technology and research that will set the stage for humanity’s return to the Moon by 2024. Video Credit: NASA.

Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon within five years, NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed – landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024 – while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. We will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare to send astronauts to Mars.

Related article:

Sending American Astronauts to Moon in 2024: NASA Accepts Challenge
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/04/sending-american-astronauts-to-moon-in.html

Related link:

Commercial Space: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/index.html

For more information about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration plans, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Sean Potter/Felicia Chou/JSC/Rachel Kraft.

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