Orbiter.ch Space News

vendredi 19 juillet 2019

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of July 15, 2019

ISS - Expedition 60 Mission patch.

July 19, 2019

Scientific investigations conducted aboard the International Space Station last week included work on muscle health, changes to the body, and growing moss in space as well as other research. The Expedition 60 crew reached its full complement with the arrival of astronauts Drew Morgan and Luca Parmitano and cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov on Saturday, July 20. The crew also prepared for the 18th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS), currently scheduled to launch next week with supplies and additional scientific investigations. Science conducted on the orbiting lab supports commercial research and development and advances NASA’s Artemis program, which plans to return humans to the Moon and to send the first humans to Mars.

Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague works on maintenance for the space station’s life support hardware. Current investigations aboard the orbiting lab evaluate creating hybrid life support systems by adding biological processes to existing systems. Image Credit: NASA.

Here are details on some of the science conducted during the week of July 15:

Muscles on microgravity

The crew conducted measurements for the Myotones investigation, which observes the properties of muscles, including tone, stiffness and elasticity, during long-term exposure to spaceflight. Insight into principles of human resting muscle tone could lead to development of new treatments and rehabilitation strategies on Earth and future space missions.

Understanding aging-related processes

Some responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble accelerated aging. Rodent Research-17 (RR-17) uses mice to evaluate the physiological, cellular, and molecular effects of spaceflight and provide a better understanding of aging-related immune, bone, and muscle disease processes. Results may lead to new therapies for use in space and on Earth. The investigation uses existing Rodent Research hardware including Habitats, which the crew stowed last week.

Tiny plants, big potential

The crew performed setup and testing of the Florescence Microscope in preparation for conducting the Space Moss investigation arriving on SpaceX CRS-18. The investigation determines how microgravity affects the growth, development, and other features of moss. Tiny plants without roots, mosses need only a small area for growth, an advantage for their potential use in space and future bases on the Moon or Mars. The investigation uses the Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR), a system in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) with two workspaces and a worktable suitable for a variety of science and educational missions.

Image above: This image of the International Space Station shows the Canadarm2 robotic arm on the left and at right, a variety of solar arrays, including the cymbal-shaped Ultra-Flex solar arrays attached to the Cygnus space freighter, a portion of one of the space station's main solar arrays, and, bottom right, part of a docked Russian spacecraft's solar array. Image Credit: NASA.

Cleaner combustion

The crew completed final runs for the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) Flame Design, which studies the production and control of soot to optimize oxygen-enriched combustion and the design of robust, soot-free flames. Soot can adversely affect efficiency, emissions, and equipment lifetime. Flame Design is part of a series of independent ACME experiments using the space station’s Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR).

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Photobioreactor tests whether the biological processes of microalgae work together with existing systems to create a hybrid life support system. This approach could reduce the amount of consumables required from Earth for future long-duration missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7426

- The ISS Experience creates short virtual reality videos from footage taken during the yearlong investigation covering different aspects of crew life, execution of science, and the international partnerships involved on the space station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7877

- Veg-04 A is a phased research project to address the need for a continuous fresh-food production system in space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7896

- Standard Measures captures a consistent and simple set of measures from crew members throughout the ISS Program to characterize adaptive responses to and risks of living in space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7711

Image above: The space station’s Hermes Facility enables regolith and granular material investigations with applications to asteroids, planetary science, and exploration. Hermes is reconfigurable and capable of accommodating up to four experiments at a time for long duration exposure to microgravity. Image Credit: NASA.

- The HERMES facility enables regolith and granular material investigations with applications to asteroids, planetary science, and exploration, including HERMES Cassette-1, which explores the dynamics and properties of regolith, the loosely aggregated surface on airless bodies and could provide understanding of asteroid and small body dynamics essential for future crewed and robotic missions: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7557

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7732

- Food Acceptability examines changes in the appeal of food aboard the space station during long-duration missions. “Menu fatigue” from repeatedly consuming a limited choice of foods may contribute to the loss of body mass often experienced by crew members, potentially affecting astronaut health, especially as mission length increases: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

Space to Ground: History's Greatest Adventure: 07/19/2019

The first experience on the moon was Swiss

NASA - Apollo 11 Mission patch.

July 19, 2019

A sensor developed by the University of Bern was the only non-American experiment on Apollo 11.

Before the American flag, a "Swiss" flag flew on the moon in the night of July 20 to 21, 1969: the "solar sail" developed by the University of Bern, which aimed to bring back particles of solar wind. The trip to the moon has also helped to better understand the sun.

Image above: Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC), deployed by Buz Aldrin. Image Credits: NASA/Apollo 11.

Time was counted on the surface of the moon. Hardly Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin had landed the lunar module "Eagle" he unrolled and planted in the ground the Solarwind Composition Experiment, designed by Professor Johannes Geiss at the Institute of Physics of the University of Bern . It was only four minutes later that the astronaut unfurled the American flag with Neil Armstrong.

The solar wind particle sensor, a sheet of aluminum that has undergone various treatments, was the only non-American experience on Apollo 11. A simple idea that convinced NASA also thanks to the low weight of the device.

The sheet collected particles for 77 minutes. For the first time, authentic solar materials were brought back to Earth and analyzed in laboratories in Zurich and Bern.

Impossible from Earth

It is indeed impossible to study the solar wind from Earth, the magnetic field repelling the particles. "The NASA lunar mission was a good opportunity to capture the solar wind out of the Earth's magnetic field and thus to have a sample of the Sun," Peter Wurz, University of Bern, Keystone-ATS told Reuters.

Image above: Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC) description (Apollo manual). Image Credit: NASA

The researchers were particularly interested in noble gases: "As they are extremely chemically stable, they give information on the beginnings of the solar system," says Professor Wurz.

As far as the moon itself is concerned, the various Apollo missions have brought back more than 300 kilos of rocks and dust from our satellite. The University of Bern, an expert in meteorite dating and analysis by mass spectrometry, was one of the few institutions in Europe to be involved in this research from the beginning.

In quarantine

The equipment was first quarantined, remembers Otto Eugster, long in charge of coordinating with NASA. "We did not know if the lunar rocks contained dangerous elements, for example bacteria that could have infected the Earth," he says.

Image above: Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC) during its deployment by Buz Aldrin. Image Credits: NASA/Apollo 11.

"We gave them to eat mice, they even liked that and had no problem," says the physicist. Other analyzes quickly showed that there was no trace of life on the moon.

No new items were found, but then unknown minerals. One of them was named Armalcolite, a contraction of the names of the three astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.

Again in the viewfinder

In recent years, the Moon is again in the sights of space agencies, including American and Chinese. According to Professor Eugster, this could be due to helium-3, an isotope 300 times more present on the Moon than on Earth and could be exploited as a source of energy.

Apollo 11: "First Moonwalk on TV", First Men on the Moon

The Moon could also become an intermediate step for future missions to Mars, the specialist adds. Given its small gravitational field, it would require much less energy than leaving the Earth. One could also install on the dark side of the Moon telescopes that would not be disturbed by terrestrial radio waves.

In general, there is still much to discover on the Moon. The Apollo missions have all aluni around the equator and on the face facing the Earth. Even including the probes, it is estimated that only one twentieth of the Moon's surface has been directly studied.

Bern always part

The University of Bern will be involved in future lunar exploration missions, including that planned for 2024 by the Russian agency Roscosmos, says Professor Wurz. Participation in the Chinese mission "Chang'e 6", also in 2024, is under discussion.

Image above: Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC), developed by the University of Bern. Image Credit: Universität Bern.

The same year, NASA plans to send humans back to the moon, including the first woman, and again the Bernese alma mater is on the line. "But we are just at the beginning of the discussions," concludes Peter Wurz.

Swiss solar sail on the Moon

Just 50 years ago, the first steps on the Moon also marked one of the first achievements of the University of Bern in the space field. To celebrate the event, Swissmint issues a new 20-franc silver coin. Initially sketched in pencil by the engraver Swissmint Remo Mascherini, the pattern of the piece was then reworked numerically. As part of the Apollo 11 mission, Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first men to walk on the moon on July 21, 1969. The only non-American experience aboard the lunar module, the solar sail of the University of Bern, was installed by Buzz Aldrin even before he raised the American flag.

Swissmint Apollo 11, commemorative coin of 50 years. Image Credit: Swissmint

The Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC) was developed by the Bernese physicists surrounding Professor Johannes Geiss at the Institute of Physics at the University of Bern. Its purpose was to verify the presence of the solar wind, whose existence was suspected but that could not be measured from Earth. The simplicity of the experience and the low weight of the craft had convinced the NASA space agency.

Related links:

Solar Wind Composition Experiment (SWC): https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/experiments/swc/

University of Bern: https://www.unibe.ch/index_eng.html

Swissmint: https://www.swissmint.ch/

Apollo: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html

Apollo 11: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-11.html

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: Reuters/ATS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

jeudi 18 juillet 2019

Rocket Rolls Out Ready to Launch New Station Crew on Apollo 50th

ISS - Expedition 60 Mission patch.

July 18, 2019

A Soyuz rocket stands at its launch pad today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ready to launch three new flight engineers to the International Space Station on Saturday. NASA astronaut Drew Morgan will embark on his first space mission with veteran station residents Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov.

The Expedition 60-61 trio from the United States, Italy and Russia, is lifting off Saturday at 12:28 p.m. EDT aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft. They will dock less than six-and-a-half hours later to the Zvezda service module 50 years to the day NASA first landed humans on the Moon.

Image above: The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 60-61 crewmembers to the station on Saturday stands at its launch pad in Kazakhstan. Image Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky.

About two-and-a-half hours later the Soyuz and station hatches will open and they will enter their new home in space. NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch and station Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos will greet their new crewmates then hold a ceremony with family, friends and mission officials on the ground.

Soyuz MS-13 ready for launch

NASA TV is broadcasting all the activities live with launch coverage beginning Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Docking coverage begins at 6 p.m. as the Soyuz begins its approach with the orbiting lab. Finally, NASA TV’s live coverage of the hatch opening and crew welcoming ceremony begins at 8 p.m.

Related links:

Expedition 60: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition60/index.html

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

Zvezda service module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/zvezda-service-module.html

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), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Roscosmos/SciNews.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Going to the Moon Was Hard — But the Benefits Were Huge, for All of Us

NASA - Apollo 11 Mission patch.

July 18, 2019

President John F. Kennedy wasn’t kidding when he said going to the Moon was hard.

Much of the technology needed to get to the lunar surface and return didn’t exist at the time of Kennedy’s famous 1962 speech. And much was unknown. As NASA’s Apollo missions were being planned, there was concern that the lunar module might sink right into the surface or become stuck in it.

Image above: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon near a leg of the lunar module during Apollo 11. Image Credit: NASA.

Thanks in part to the massive, 400,000-person effort that put astronauts on the Moon seven years later, our knowledge of the solar system has increased dramatically in the decades since. The many challenges NASA overcame forced the agency and its partners to devise new inventions and techniques that spread into public life, many of which are taken for granted today.

As NASA prepares to return to the Moon by 2024, the space agency is mapping out the next round of technological advances needed to establish sustainable operations by 2028 and send future crewed missions to Mars. If history is any guide, many of these technologies will go on to become part of day-to-day life on Earth, just as many Apollo inventions already have.

Here is a small selection of Apollo technologies still in use 50 years after the first Moon landing.

Digital Flight Controls

Maybe the clearest illustration of Apollo’s contributions to the state of the art is the digital fly-by-wire control system that guided its path. The technology was unheard-of at the time, but it is now integral to airliners and is even found in most cars.

When the Apollo program started, pilots controlled planes mechanically, with cables and rods connecting their instruments to the aircraft’s control surfaces, such as wing flaps and tail rudders. To eliminate human error and guide flight more precisely during a three-day trip to the Moon and daring lunar touchdown, NASA commissioned Draper Laboratories to build a computer guidance system for the Apollo command module and lunar module. The Apollo Primary Guidance, Navigation and Control System converted pilots’ inputs into electrical signals and fed them to the Apollo Guidance Computer, along with information from various sensors. The computer then decided how to adjust control firings to achieve the desired outcome. Being digital, rather than analog, the computer could make use of complex software and store large amounts of data.

Image above: For the first 70 years of human flight, pilots used controls that connected directly to aircraft components through cables and pushrods. Following the successful use of a flight computer during the Apollo program, a partnership between NASA and Draper Laboratory resulted in the first plane flown digitally. Today, so-called digital fly-by-wire systems are the norm in aviation. Image Credit: NASA.

Following Apollo, NASA and its partners spent years adapting the system for use in airplanes, where it is now common. Digital fly-by-wire technology also appears in automobile features like cruise control, antilock brakes and electronic stability control systems.

Food Safety

One of the many problems NASA faced planning space missions was the need to ensure all food astronauts took with them was free of microbes that could make them sick. The agency enlisted food manufacturer Pillsbury to help tackle the problem. The company quickly discovered existing quality-control methods were not up to the task.

Rather than spot-checking end products to catch problems, Pillsbury developed a system for taking control of the entire manufacturing process, from raw materials to the processing environment to distribution and the people involved. The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system was in place in time for the first Moon missions, and it was soon implemented in Pillsbury’s own factories.

Image above: Looking to ensure the absolute safety of prepackaged foods for spaceflight, NASA partnered with the Pillsbury Company to create a new, systematic approach to quality control. Image Credit: NASA.

For the past couple of decades, the U.S. government has required meat, poultry, seafood and juice producers to use HACCP procedures, and the same principles informed newer regulations that are being applied across the entire food industry today.

Space Blankets

One of the most prevalent spinoffs from the entire space program was invented for Apollo-era spacesuits. It might be best known as the “space blankets” found in emergency kits and handed out at the end of marathons, but multilayer reflective insulation is more often used in less visible applications.

NASA found that by layering multiple metalized sheets of lightweight mylar, it could create a reflective insulation far more effective both pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch than anything else available. NASA went on to master the technology, improving its strength, fabrication techniques and testing procedures, fine-tuning it for maximum performance.

Image above: Space blankets, also known as emergency blankets, are made out of an insulation first developed by NASA in 1964. Image Credit: AFM Inc.

The insulation has been used in just about every NASA spacecraft and spacesuit since its creation, and it has become a ubiquitous spinoff found in clothing, firefighting and camping gear, building insulation, cryogenic storage, magnetic resonance imaging machines and particle colliders, to name a few applications.

Quake-Proofing

A technology that started with Apollo-era shock absorbers and computers now protects buildings and bridges around the world from earthquakes. A company that built dampers to manage the massive arms that swung away from Apollo’s Saturn V rocket during launch had to push conventional shock isolation technology to the limit.

For a separate project to help build NASA a hydraulics-based analog computer in the mid-1960s, the company researched fluidics science and developed a fluidic damper that easily exceeded the performance of existing technology. NASA later used dampers based on those advances for every space shuttle launch.

For decades, the company has made fluidic shock absorbers using the same technology, which now reinforce hundreds of buildings, bridges, and other structures around the world, particularly in quake-prone regions.

Rechargeable Hearing Aids

Even decades after the Moon landing, new spinoff technologies from the Apollo program continue to arrive on the market. The world’s first practical rechargeable hearing aid batteries, which debuted in 2013, built on extensive work NASA did during and after Apollo.

The command module that went to the Moon used silver-zinc batteries, the lightest known battery couple. But the agency also wanted to make the cells rechargeable, and innovators at NASA spent many years experimenting with cell separators and electrodes, vastly improving the technology — though it never made it into space. A company founded in 1996 picked up where NASA and others had left off, but it took many more years of work to make a viable product.

Hearing aid batteries have always been disposable, because the zinc batteries that can be made small enough for them aren’t rechargeable. Lithium-ion batteries can’t get quite as small and suffer from problems related to overheating. Now, the company’s silver-zinc hearing aid batteries can hold enough power to last all day and can be recharged upwards of 1,000 times without losing performance. They’re even recyclable.

The batteries have also made their way into a bone-anchored hearing system and a line of noise-canceling wireless earbuds. It is likely that we will see many more silver-zinc battery applications in the future.

More to Come

These are just a few of the numerous commercial products from humanity’s first trips to the Moon. The full stories for these and other Apollo technologies that have made their way into everyday life can be found on the NASA Spinoff website.

As NASA plans upcoming Artemis missions, with new objectives and long-term exploration goals, it’s clear that, once again, much of the necessary technology and infrastructure don’t exist yet for sustainable missions. For example, the agency plans to extract resources from the lunar surface. Engineers will need to figure out how to turn frozen water locked in the Moon’s surface into drinkable water, breathable oxygen and usable rocket fuel.

None of this will be easy, but that is why the effort will prove fruitful. Interviewed about fly-by-wire technology decades after its invention, Darryl Sargent, vice president of programs for Draper Laboratories, said, “What NASA has meant to us is a steady stream of hard problems to work on,” noting that the company then applies the solutions it devises as broadly as possible.

Technology created for Artemis will certainly find secondary applications on Earth. And it will enable a new economy in space. Finally, the mission architecture itself — rocket and capsule, surface modules, spacecraft that will ferry astronauts to and from the lunar surface, and all the technology that enables sustainable operations on the Moon — is a test bed for humanity’s next great leap – sending astronauts to Mars.

Related links:

Apollo: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html

Apollo 11: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-11.html

NASA Spinoff website: https://spinoff.nasa.gov/

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

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Loura Hall/GSFC/Mike DiCicco.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

How CHEOPS will investigate planet-hosting stars

ESA - CHEOPS Mission logo.

18 July 2019

As launch approaches for ESA's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, CHEOPS, scientists are rounding off the observing plans for the mission, with the science themes of the core programme announced recently and proposals for guest observations for the first year of CHEOPS operations under evaluation.

CHEOPS, ESA's first exoplanet mission. Image Credits: ESA/ATG medialab

Observing stars that are known to harbour planets with unprecedented accuracy to characterise their planetary population – this is the main goal of ESA's upcoming CHEOPS mission, scheduled for launch between 15 October and 14 November. But how exactly is the mission going to achieve this?

"The majority of science observing time on CHEOPS is dedicated to a programme meticulously crafted by the mission Science Team, and focussed around important themes in current exoplanet research," explains Kate Isaak, CHEOPS project scientist at ESA.

"In addition, 20% of CHEOPS time is reserved for observations by the scientific community worldwide. Between March and May, scientists submitted their proposals to the first call for Guest Observations, with the results of this competitive process to be announced later this month."

The mission's chief objective is to investigate the structure of exoplanets larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. CHEOPS will do this by observing the planets as they transit in front of their host star, using a technique called ultrahigh precision transit photometry.

What kind of exoplanets will CHEOPS study? Animation Credit: ESA.

By monitoring the starlight dim during a transit and then increase again, it is possible to determine the planet's size which, combined with the mass – known from independent measurements – provides a measure of the planet's density. Density is the key quantity CHEOPS is after in order to start characterising the nature of these planets – for example, discerning lava worlds or rocky Earth-like planets from gas planets or ocean worlds.

Unlike previous exoplanet satellites, such as the CNES-led CoRoT or NASA's Kepler and Tess missions, CHEOPS is not a 'discovery machine' but rather a follow-up mission, focussing on individual stars that are already known to host one or more planets.

"By targeting known systems, we know exactly where to look in the sky and when in order to capture exoplanet transits very efficiently," says Willy Benz, CHEOPS principal investigator at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

"This makes it possible for CHEOPS to return to each star on multiple occasions around the time of transit and record numerous transits, thus increasing the precision of our measurements and enabling us to perform a first-step characterization of small planets – in the Earth-to-Neptune size range."

Searching for exoplanet transits

The two major themes of the CHEOPS core science programme – which is also referred to as the Guaranteed Time Observing (GTO) programme – are centred on determining the bulk properties of planets, in particular their densities, using transit observations.

Exoplanet transit. Image Credit: ESA

About 10% of the programme will be dedicated to planets that were previously discovered via ground-based observations using the so-called radial velocity technique, but were not yet observed as they transit in front of their host star. The radial velocity technique infers the presence of a planet from the wobble it imparts on the star, allowing us to estimate the planet's mass. Depending on the inclination of their orbit, a fraction of these planets crosses the disc of their parent star as viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near Earth, so scientists will observe their host stars with CHEOPS at exactly the times when such a transit is expected to take place.

For some planets, we have already measured both transit and radial velocity, but even in these cases CHEOPS can still make a huge difference. Knowing when and where to point, the mission can gauge the sizes of these planets with much greater accuracy, improving our knowledge of their density and enabling scientists to refine models of planet formation and evolution. With these measurements physical information about the planets' atmospheres may be retrieved as well. This part of the programme, taking up roughly a third of the core science time, will focus primarily on small planets, planets with peculiar characteristics, and multiple planetary systems.

"After two decades of planet discoveries, with CHEOPS we enter the era of exoplanetology, delving into the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems beyond our own," says Didier Queloz, chair of the CHEOPS science team, from University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Exoplanet atmospheres and other features

Understanding the true nature of exoplanets and enquiring into their potential habitability requires not only knowledge of their internal structure, but also a study of their atmospheric properties. CHEOPS is not equipped with a spectrograph to analyse the chemical composition of planetary atmospheres. Nonetheless, its observations allow for a first-step examination by studying the phase curve of a planet's host star, or how the light that is measured changes over the full orbit of the planet.

Artist's impression of an exoplanet system. Image Credit: ESA

Depending on the planet's position with respect to the parent star, the total light collected by CHEOPS will include a varying fraction of light reflected off the planet – none during a phase known as secondary eclipse, when the planet is hidden from view, and some shortly before and after this phase. These data enable scientists to determine some interesting properties of the planet's atmosphere, for example evaluating the presence of clouds. Around a fourth of the core programme will be dedicated to these observations, focussing on the brightest stars in the CHEOPS list of targets.

About 10% of the program will be dedicated to characterising special features of particular planets, such as the presence of moons and rings or the tidal stretching caused by the host star's gravitational pull.

New discoveries and additional science

Although CHEOPS is primarily a follow-up mission that will concentrate on the characterisation of known exoplanets, it also has a significant discovery potential. Around 15% of the core science programme will be dedicated to the search for new planets around bright stars using a variety of different approaches: from targeting multi-planet systems and planetary systems hosting massive planets orbiting very close to their host star – the so-called hot Jupiters – to exploiting a technique known as transit timing variation (TTV) to find additional exoplanets in a known system via the gravitational perturbations these exert on the targeted transiting planet. It will also make it possible to search for so-called exo-trojans – small celestial bodies sharing the orbit of a known exoplanet.

Exoplanet imaginarium. Image Credit: ESA

Finally, the rest of the time, the satellite will be devoted to non-time critical observations from other research areas such as stellar physics and planetary science, each with a particular relevance to exoplanet studies.

"The ensemble of themes provides us with a comprehensive scientific programme with which to explore the diversity of exoplanets and make progress in our understanding of planet formation, evolution and the emergence of life in the Universe," adds Queloz.

In addition to that, proposals that will be selected as part of the ESA-run Guest Observers' (GO) programme will contribute further avenues to be investigated, advancing our knowledge of exoplanets and enabling many new discoveries to come.

"With the satellite ready and the observing programmes in great shape, we are eagerly waiting for the launch of CHEOPS and for the science harvest to begin," concludes Isaak.

Notes for editors:

CHEOPS is an ESA mission implemented in partnership with Switzerland, with important contributions from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

80% of the science observing time on CHEOPS is dedicated to the Guaranteed Time Observing (GTO) programme, defined by the CHEOPS Science Team. The remaining 20% is made available to the astronomical community in the form of an ESA-run Guest Observers' (GO) programme, with proposals selected via a competitive peer-review selection process.

CHEOPS: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cheops

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: ESA/Kate Isaak/University of Bern/Willy Benz/Observatoire de l'Université de Genève/Didier Queloz.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Powering the future with lunar soil

ESA - European Space Agency patch.

18 July 2019

Building a lunar base would be one of the next logical steps in our exploration of the Solar System, but the survival of a future crew depends on access to a reliable source of energy. An ESA Discovery & Preparation study explored how lunar regolith – the dust, soil and rock on the Moon's surface – could be used to store heat and provide electricity for future astronauts, rovers and landers.

Future Moon base

Humans would have little difficulty reaching the Moon's surface with today's technology, but it is expensive – sometimes even impossible – to take all the materials we would need with us, especially if we want to stay for more than a couple of days. For sustainable, long-term exploration, we should instead look to local resources available at the destination. As part of this endeavour, Discovery & Preparation recently supported aerospace experts Azimut Space (formerly Sonaca Space) to investigate whether it would be possible to create 'heat-storage bricks' out of lunar regolith.

Moon base

In space, energy typically comes via solar panels that provide almost instantaneous electricity when the Sun shines on them. But inhabitants of the Moon could expect to spend up to 16 days in darkness during the lunar night. Finding a sustainable energy solution that collects sunlight during the long lunar days and stores it for use at night is essential to make the prospect of long-term lunar habitation a reality.

Regolith bricks offer a way of storing daytime solar energy so that electricity can be produced at night; this would be vital for any humans living and working on the Moon. The stored heat could also be released directly to keep robotic equipment warm enough to function during the long hours of darkness.

"Apollo astronauts brought back small amounts of Moon rock, allowing us to create very similar 'fake' lunar regolith here on Earth," explains Aidan Cowley from ESA's Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration Directorate, who oversaw the project. "In this study, we used Earth rock with comparable properties to Moon rock, crushed into a powder until the particles matched the size of those in the lunar regolith."

Homemade regolith brick, 14 cm long.

After making this powder into a brick, the team pumped energy into their imitation lunar regolith to see how well it could store heat. They also connected it to a heat engine to create electricity using the energy stored inside it.

"Any Moon-based technology would face incredibly tough conditions – long nights, temperatures ranging from -173°C to 127°C and extremely low pressures," explains Project Manager Luca Celotti from Azimut Space. "We mimicked these conditions as best as we could to create a 'Moon-like' environment for our brick."

Image above: The artificial regolith brick inside a vacuum chamber, which simulated the low pressures and extreme temperatures that astronauts and technology would face.

"Using lunar regolith to store heat on the Moon would provide us with an abundance of readily-available material meaning space travellers wouldn't need to take much from Earth. Eventually, this will enable more ambitious space missions to go ahead."

As the imitation regolith worked well, the team would next like to make the process more efficient and scale it up to further investigate whether regolith bricks would be capable of producing the energy that would be required.

Image above: A 1.5 tonne building block of artificial lunar regolith, demonstrating 3D printing using lunar soil.

"This is just the first step towards creating an innovative and sustainable method of heat storage and electricity generation that could make it possible for us to land on the Moon," concludes Luca.

Using local materials helps us move into sustainable, permanent exploration, giving rise to cheaper, safer and easier access to space. And lunar regolith would not only be useful for heat storage and electricity generation. This material – plentiful on the Moon – could also be used to build future habitats, as a source of oxygen or minerals, and even to make everyday objects such as tools.

Related links:

Making bricks from Moon dust: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Bricks_from_Moon_dust

3D printing our way to the Moon: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Preparing_for_the_Future/Discovery_and_Preparation/3D_printing_our_way_to_the_Moon

Study on solar 3D printing of lunar regolith: https://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/coffee/2018-04-12-isru.html

How to keep warm on the Moon: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Preparing_for_the_Future/Discovery_and_Preparation/How_to_keep_warm_on_the_Moon

Azimut Space: http://www.azimutspace.com/

Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Ministerial_Council_2016/Human_Spaceflight_and_Robotic_Exploration_Programmes

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/RegoLight, visualisation: Liquifer Systems Group, 2018/Azimut Space.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Angelic halo orbit chosen for humankind’s first lunar outpost

Lunar Gateway (project patch).

18 July 2019

Mission planners at NASA and ESA’s Operations Centre (ESOC) have spent months debating the pros and cons of different orbits, and have now decided on the path of the lunar Gateway.

Orbiting lunar Gateway

Like the International Space Station, the Gateway will be a permanent and changeable human outpost. Instead of circling our planet however, it will orbit the Moon, acting as a base for astronauts and robots exploring the lunar surface.

Like a mountain refuge, it will also provide shelter and a place to stock up on supplies for astronauts en route to more distant destinations, as well as providing a place to relay communications and a laboratory for scientific research.

Gateway with Orion over Moon

Mission analysis teams at ESOC are continuing to work closely with international partners to understand how this choice of orbit affects vital aspects of the mission – including landing, rendezvous with future spacecraft and contingency scenarios needed to keep people and infrastructure safe.

The angelic halo orbit

The Gateway, it has recently been decided, will follow a ‘near-rectilinear halo orbit’, or NRHO.

Angelic halo orbit for Gateway

Instead of orbiting around the Moon in a low lunar orbit like Apollo, the Gateway will follow a highly ‘eccentric’ path. At is closest, it will pass 3000 km from the lunar surface and at its furthest, 70 000 km. The orbit will actually rotate together with the moon, and as seen from the Earth will appear a little like a lunar halo.

Orbits like this are possible because of the interplay between the Earth and Moon’s gravitational forces. As the two large bodies dance through space, a smaller object can be ‘caught’ in a variety of stable or near-stable positions in relation to the orbiting masses, also known as libration or Lagrange points.

The Moon as seen from the Space Station

Such locations are perfect for planning long-term missions, and to some extent dictate the design of the spacecraft, what it can carry to and from orbit, and how much energy it needs to get – and stay – there.

Travelling on the NRHO path, one revolution of the Gateway in its orbit about the Moon would take approximately seven days. This period was chosen to limit the number of eclipses, when the gateway would be shrouded by the Earth or Moon’s shadow.

“Finding a lunar orbit for the gateway is no trivial thing.” says Markus Landgraf, Architecture Analyst working with ESA’s Human and Robotic Exploration activities.

Gateway, Heracles and Orion

“If you want to stay there for several years, the near rectilinear halo orbit is slightly unstable and objects in this orbit do have a tendency of drifting away”.

To keep the Gateway in position, regular small station-keeping manoeuvres will be required.

Take the stage

So why this orbit? The fundamental limiting factor when moving parts from Earth, to a potential lunar base and the Moon’s surface, is energy.

“In human spaceflight we don’t fly one single, monolithic spacecraft,” explains Florian Renk, Mission Analyst in ESOC’s Flight Dynamics Division.

“Instead we fly bits and pieces, putting parts together in space and soon on the surface of the Moon. Some parts we leave behind, some we bring back – the structures are forever evolving.”

The Gateway concept

To escape Earth’s gravitational pull requires a huge amount of energy. To then land on the Moon and not hurtle straight past it, we have to slow down by losing that same energy. We can save some of this energy by leaving parts of the spacecraft in orbit, taking only what we need to the surface of the Moon.

A permanent base in this orbit around the Moon will act as a staging post, from where parts can be left behind, picked up and assembled. After liftoff, only a moderate manoeuvre will be needed to slow a visiting spacecraft to rendezvous with the Gateway.

The Lunar lander will then transport people, robots and infrastructure down to the surface when the Gateway is closest to the Moon, which happens about every seven days. Likewise, a transfer window to the gateway opens about every seven days for the return trip from the lunar surface.

Forward to the Moon

During the 2020s, the Gateway will be assembled and operated in the vicinity of the Moon, where it will move between different orbits and enable the most distant human space missions ever attempted.

It will offer a platform for scientific discovery in deep space and build invaluable experience for the challenges of future human missions to Mars.

View from space gateway

“The flight dynamics expertise here at ESOC is unique in Europe,” adds Rolf Densing, ESA’s Director of Operations.

“Our analysts and flight dynamics experts provide support to a full range of missions, including some of the most complex and exciting like the lunar Gateway. We can’t wait to see this ambitious international endeavour realised.”

Related articles:

Third European service module for Orion to ferry astronauts on Moon landing
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/07/third-european-service-module-for-orion.html

Gateway to the Moon
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2019/03/gateway-to-moon.html

NASA’s Lunar Outpost will Extend Human Presence in Deep Space
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/02/nasas-lunar-outpost-will-extend-human.html

Related links:

European vision for space exploration: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/A_new_European_vision_for_space_exploration

Lunar exploration interactive guide: http://lunarexploration.esa.int/#/intro

ESOC: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESOC

Flight Dynamics: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/gse/Flight_Dynamics

Images, Animation, Video, Text, Credits; ESA/NASA/ATG Medialab.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch