The Summer 2021 issue of ROOM is available now

 

ROOM #36 cover.

June 16, 2021

G7 nations commit to the safe and sustainable use of space

G7 leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA, the UK and the EU pledged to take action to tackle the growing hazard of space debris as Earth orbits becomes increasingly crowded and dangerous.

In a statement issued at the end of the G7 summit, hosted in Cornwall at the weekend by the UK, nations pledged support for “the safe and sustainable use of space to support humanity’s ambitions now and in the future”.

The announcement was welcomed by Clive Simpson, Editor-in-Chief of ROOM Space Journal of Asgardia, which regularly champions issues around space sustainability.

Writing in the just published Summer 2021 issue of ROOM, he calls for global space companies and national agencies to take more responsibility, and suggests the space industry urgently needs stringent sustainability guidelines.

“As global populations grapple with the daily effects of climate change and pollution, the lessons of how we have mismanaged the environment and its resources are plain to see. The same is true for space, even if the outcomes of our inactions today may only become apparent in the future,” he says.

“While space sustainability has been a topic of discussion among academics and technologists for decades, the importance of protecting Earth's orbital environment and the expanding sphere of our new domain has never been more relevant.”

Simpson says that, in the absence of robust, internationally agreed and long-term sustainability laws and guidelines, it is doubtful that commercial space companies - and some state players - can be relied on to police themselves in the space realm.

“The questions surrounding space debris and the threat it poses become more urgent with every launch and, at present, the solutions on any level are far from certain. Now is the time to make sustainability a priority,” he adds.

Space debris (Illustration)

One of the biggest global challenges facing the growing space sector is orbital congestion and space debris - with a currently estimated 900,000 pieces of space debris, some of which could stay in orbit for hundreds of years and present a real danger to the rapidly increasing number of new satellites being launched every year.

In a joint statement the G7 nations recognised the growing hazard of space debris and increasing congestion in Earth orbit:

- As the orbit of our planet is a fragile and valuable environment that is becoming increasingly crowded, which all nations must act together to safeguard, we agree to strengthen our efforts to ensure the sustainable use of space for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.

- We welcome the United Nation’s Long Term Sustainability Guidelines and call on others to join us in implementing these guidelines.

- We welcome all efforts, public and commercial, in debris removal and on-orbit servicing activities and undertake to encourage further institutional or industrial research and development of these services.

- We recognise the importance of developing common standards, best practices and guidelines related to sustainable space operations alongside the need for a collaborative approach for space traffic management and co-ordination.

- We call on all nations to work together, through groups like the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the International Organization for Standardization and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, to preserve the space environment for future generations.

The G7 announcement is viewed as a significant milestone in recognising the need to develop common standards on sustainable space operations, and to collaborate on space traffic management and coordination.

Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, said: “There is an urgent need to stabilise global space operations. We must future-proof activities now to deliver a safe, secure and sustainable space environment for tomorrow.

“I welcome this clear commitment by G7 leaders to put space sustainability at the heart of the political agenda. Only through such leadership, with all nations working together, will we preserve the space environment for future generations.”

Mert Evirgen, of Northern Space Security, also advocates the need for legally binding guidelines in his article Collision avoidance - time for agreement on space sustainability, which appears in the Summer 2021 issue of ROOM.

“It is now up to the international space community to show that it is serious about managing the space environment in a responsible and sustainable fashion. Adherence to the principles articulated within these guidelines would be a good place to start,” he says.

                                                                             *         *         *

The Summer 2021 issue of ROOM is available now. It contains a wealth of high quality special reports and articles, including: China’s ascending commercial space sector (Blaine Curcio), Robotic systems for psychological support (Anastasia Stepanova), Autonomous robots in space (Saber Fallah & Tatiana Farcas), Collaboration and competition in lunar exploration (Natalia Larrea Brito & Charlotte Croison), Is NewSpace really so new? (Walter Peeters), The next ‘unthinkable’ – global disruption from a solar storm (Calogero Nicosia), Space research in embryology (Irena Ogneva) and A shared vision for space exploration (Gabriel Swiney).

For your own digital or print copy click here - subscription offers: https://room.eu.com/subscribe/payment?payment_id=print

Related links:

ROOM Space Journal: https://room.eu.com/

Asgardia The Space Nation: https://asgardia.space/

Images, Text, Credits: ROOM/Clive Simpson/Editor for Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

ROSCOSMOS and CNSA published the Roadmap of the NMLS project (Moon Base)

 

Russia & China go to the Moon logo.

June 16, 2021

International Scientific Lunar Station (NMLS)

Today, June 16, 2021, in the city of St. Petersburg, within the framework of the International Conference on Space Exploration GLEX-2021, a joint session of the State Corporation Roscosmos and the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) was held, dedicated to the presentation of the Roadmap for the creation of the International Scientific Lunar Station (NMLS).

International Conference on Space Exploration GLEX-2021

The session was attended by Deputy General Director of the State Corporation Roscosmos for International Cooperation Sergey Savelyev and Deputy Head of the CNSA U Yanhua (remotely).

Video concept of the creation of the International Scientific Lunar Station

After the presentation, it will be possible to get acquainted with the Roadmap and the Guidelines for participation in the NMLS project on the official websites of the State Corporation Roscosmos and CNSA.

Related articles:

Statement by Roscosmos and CNSA (China) on the creation of the Lunar Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/04/statement-by-roscosmos-and-cnsa-china.html

Роскосмос показал первый модуль новой орбитальной станции / Roscosmos showed the first module of the new orbital station
https://www.roscosmos.ru/30858/

Related links:

NMLS: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mnls/

ROSCOSMOS: https://www.roscosmos.ru/

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/31503/

For more information about China National Space Administration (CNSA), visit: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/

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

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Mystery of Betelgeuse’s dip in brightness solved

 

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

June 16, 2021

Betelgeuse’s surface before and during its 2019–2020 Great Dimming

When Betelgeuse, a bright orange star in the constellation of Orion, became visibly darker in late 2019 and early 2020, the astronomy community was puzzled. A team of astronomers have now published new images of the star’s surface, taken using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), that clearly show how its brightness changed. The new research reveals that the star was partially concealed by a cloud of dust, a discovery that solves the mystery of the “Great Dimming” of Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse’s surface before and during its 2019–2020 Great Dimming (with annotations)

Betelgeuse’s dip in brightness — a change noticeable even to the naked eye — led Miguel Montargès and his team to point ESO’s VLT towards the star in late 2019. An image from December 2019, when compared to an earlier image taken in January of the same year, showed that the stellar surface was significantly darker, especially in the southern region. But the astronomers weren’t sure why.

Image of Betelgeuse’s surface taken in March 2020

The team continued observing the star during its Great Dimming, capturing two other never-before-seen images in January 2020 and March 2020. By April 2020, the star had returned to its normal brightness.

Image of Betelgeuse’s surface taken in January 2020

“For once, we were seeing the appearance of a star changing in real time on a scale of weeks,” says Montargès, from the Observatoire de Paris, France, and KU Leuven, Belgium. The images now published are the only ones we have that show Betelgeuse’s surface changing in brightness over time.

Image of Betelgeuse’s surface taken in December 2019

In their new study, published today in Nature, the team revealed that the mysterious dimming was caused by a dusty veil shading the star, which in turn was the result of a drop in temperature on Betelgeuse’s stellar surface.

Image of Betelgeuse’s surface taken in January 2019

Betelgeuse’s surface regularly changes as giant bubbles of gas move, shrink and swell within the star. The team concludes that some time before the Great Dimming, the star ejected a large gas bubble that moved away from it. When a patch of the surface cooled down shortly after, that temperature decrease was enough for the gas to condense into solid dust.

Wide-field view of the region of the sky where Betelgeuse is located

“We have directly witnessed the formation of so-called stardust,” says Montargès, whose study provides evidence that dust formation can occur very quickly and close to a star’s surface. “The dust expelled from cool evolved stars, such as the ejection we’ve just witnessed, could go on to become the building blocks of terrestrial planets and life,” adds Emily Cannon, from KU Leuven, who was also involved in the study.

The star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion

Rather than just the result of a dusty outburst, there was some speculation online that Betelgeuse’s drop in brightness could signal its imminent death in a spectacular supernova explosion. A supernova hasn’t been observed in our galaxy since the 17th century, so present-day astronomers aren’t entirely sure what to expect from a star in the lead-up to such an event. However, this new research confirms that Betelgeuse's Great Dimming was not an early sign that the star was heading towards its dramatic fate.

How Betelgeuse changed in brightness in 2019–2020

Witnessing the dimming of such a recognisable star was exciting for professional and amateur astronomers alike, as summed up by Cannon: “Looking up at the stars at night, these tiny, twinkling dots of light seem perpetual. The dimming of Betelgeuse breaks this illusion.”

Artist’s animation of Betelgeuse and its dusty veil

The team used the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s VLT to directly image the surface of Betelgeuse, alongside data from the GRAVITY instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), to monitor the star throughout the dimming. The telescopes, located at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, were a “vital diagnostic tool in uncovering the cause of this dimming event,” says Cannon. “We were able to observe the star not just as a point but could resolve the details of its surface and monitor it throughout the event,” Montargès adds.

Zooming in on Betelgeuse

Montargès and Cannon are looking forward to what the future of astronomy, in particular what ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), will bring to their study of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star. “With the ability to reach unparalleled spatial resolutions, the ELT will enable us to directly image Betelgeuse in remarkable detail,” says Cannon. “It will also significantly expand the sample of red supergiants for which we can resolve the surface through direct imaging, further helping us to unravel the mysteries behind the winds of these massive stars.”

More information

This research was presented in the paper “A dusty veil shading Betelgeuse during its Great Dimming” (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03546-8) to appear in Nature.

The team is composed of M. Montargès (LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris France [LESIA] and Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Belgium [KU Leuven]), E. Cannon (KU Leuven), E. Lagadec (Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France [OCA]), A. de Koter (Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands and KU Leuven), P. Kervella (LESIA), J. Sanchez-Bermudez (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany [MPIA] and Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico), C. Paladini (European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile [ESO-Chile]), F. Cantalloube (MPIA), L. Decin (KU Leuven and School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, UK), P. Scicluna (ESO-Chile), K. Kravchenko (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany), A. K. Dupree (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA), S. Ridgway (NSF’s NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA), M. Wittkowski (European Southern Observatory, Garching bei Munchen, Germany [ESO-Garching]), N. Anugu (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA and School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, UK [Exeter]), R. Norris (Physics Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, USA), G. Rau (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Exoplanets & Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Greenbelt, MD, USA [NASA Goddard] and Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC USA), G. Perrin (LESIA), A. Chiavassa (OCA), S. Kraus (Exeter), J. D. Monnier (Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA [Michigan]), F. Millour (OCA), J.-B. Le Bouquin (Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, Grenoble, France and Michigan), X. Haubois (ESO-Chile), B. Lopez (OCA), P. Stee (OCA), and W. Danchi (NASA Goddard).

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:

Who Turned off the Lights on Betelgeuse? (ESOcast 238 Light): https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso2109a/

Research paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03546-8

Behind the Paper blog post published on Nature Communities (not available during the embargo period): https://astronomycommunity.nature.com/posts/imaging-the-great-dimming-of-betelgeuse

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

For journalists: subscribe to receive our releases under embargo in your language: https://www.eso.org/public/outreach/pressmedia/#epodpress_form
     
For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research: http://eso.org/sci/publications/announcements/sciann17277.html

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

GRAVITY instrument: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/gravity/

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI): https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/technology/interferometry/

ESO’s Paranal Observatory: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/

Text Credits: ESO/Bárbara Ferreira/Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven/Emily Cannon/LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL University/Miguel Montargès/Images Credits: ESO/M. Montargès et al./ESO/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)/ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope/Videos Credits: ESO/M. Montargès et al./L. Calçada/ESO/P. Kervella/M. Montargès et al., Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: E. Pantin, N. Risinger (skysurvey.org). Music: J. B. Monell (www.johanmonell.com).

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA and Boeing Progress Toward July Launch of Second Starliner Flight Test

 

Boeing / NASA - Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) patch.

Jun 16, 2021

NASA and Boeing are continuing preparations ahead of Starliner’s second uncrewed flight to prove the system can safely carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Image above: Technicians prepare Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner for the company’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 2, 2021. Part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, OFT-2 is a critical developmental milestone on the company’s path to fly crew missions for NASA. Image Credit: Boeing.

Teams inside the Starliner production factory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently began fueling the Starliner crew module and service module in preparation for launch of Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) at 2:53 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 30. The fueling operations are expected to complete this week as teams load propellant inside the facility’s Hazardous Processing Area and perform final spacecraft checks.

Once fueling operations are complete, teams from Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA) will prepare to transport Starliner to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for mating with ULA’s Atlas V rocket. Beginning this week, ULA will begin stacking, or assembling, the Atlas V rocket at the VIF during an operation called Launch Vehicle on Stand (or LVOS).

In preparation for Starliner’s next flight, NASA and Boeing have closed all actions recommended by the joint NASA-Boeing Independent Review Team, which was formed as a result of Starliner’s first test flight in December 2019. The review team’s recommendations included items relating to integrated testing and simulations, processes and operational improvements, software requirements, crew module communication system improvements, and organizational changes. Boeing has implemented all recommendations, even those that were not mandatory, ahead of Starliner’s upcoming flight.

“I am extremely proud of the NASA and Boeing Starliner teams as they methodically work toward the OFT-2 mission next month with final checks of the crew module and service module hardware and software as we prepare for this important uncrewed test mission,” said Steve Stich, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager. “Closing all of the Independent Review Team findings for the software and communications systems is a huge milestone for the Commercial Crew Program and included many long hours of testing and reviews by our dedicated Boeing and NASA teams during this Covid-19 pandemic.”

In the weeks ahead, mission control teams in Florida and Texas will continue conducting simulated mission dress rehearsals for the uncrewed OFT-2 and follow-on crewed missions. Starliner’s landing and recovery teams also will perform an on-site checkout of one of the vehicle’s landing zones.

During the OFT-2 mission, Starliner will test its unique vision-based navigation system to autonomously dock with the space station and deliver approximately 440 pounds, or roughly 200 kilograms, of cargo and crew supplies for NASA. Starliner is expected to spend five to 10 days in orbit before undocking and returning to Earth, touching down on land in the western United States.

Providing Starliner’s second uncrewed mission meets all necessary objectives, NASA and Boeing will look for opportunities toward the end of this year to fly Starliner’s first crewed mission, the Crew Flight Test (CFT), to the space station with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, Nicole Mann, and Mike Fincke on board.

Image above: The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to be flown on Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is seen in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 2. Part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, OFT-2 is a critical developmental milestone on the company’s path to fly crew missions for NASA. Image Credit: Boeing.

Boeing currently is refurbishing the first Orbital Flight Test crew module for crewed flight along with outfitting a brand new service module. The CFT Atlas V hardware is expected to arrive in Florida for processing next week as teams prepare for both missions in parallel.

Boeing has designed and developed the Starliner spacecraft in support of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to provide safe and sustainable commercial transportation services for crew and cargo to the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit destinations.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with industry through a public-private partnership to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration. The space station remains the springboard to space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

Related article:

Boeing’s Starliner System Completes Full Space Station Mission Simulation
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/05/boeings-starliner-system-completes-full.html

Related links:

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

CST-100 Starliner: https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/

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

Kennedy Space Center (KSC): https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Linda Herridge.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Operations Underway to Restore Payload Computer on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

 

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

Jun 16, 2021

NASA is working to resolve an issue with the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope. The computer halted on Sunday, June 13, shortly after 4 p.m. EDT. After analyzing the data, the Hubble operations team is investigating whether a degrading memory module led to the computer halt. The team is preparing to switch to one of several backup modules on Wednesday, June 16. The computer will then be allowed to run for approximately one day to verify that the problem has been solved. The team would then restart all science instruments and return the telescope to normal science operations.

Image above: The Hubble Space Telescope is deployed on April 25, 1990 from the space shuttle Discovery. Avoiding distortions of the atmosphere, Hubble has an unobstructed view peering to planets, stars and galaxies, some more than 13.4 billion light years away. Image Credits: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation.

The purpose of the payload computer is to control and coordinate the science instruments onboard the spacecraft. After the halt occurred on Sunday, the main computer stopped receiving a “keep-alive” signal, which is a standard handshake between the payload and main spacecraft computers to indicate all is well. The main computer then automatically placed all science instruments in a safe mode configuration. Control center personnel at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland restarted the payload computer on Monday, June 14, but it soon experienced the same problem.

The payload computer is a NASA Standard Spacecraft Computer-1 (NSSC-1) system built in the 1980s. It is part of the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling module, which was replaced during the last astronaut servicing mission in 2009. The module has various levels of redundancy which can be switched on to serve as the primary system when necessary.

For more information about Hubble, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Lynn Jenner/Elizabeth Landau/GSFC/Claire Andreoli.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Spacewalk to Install First New Solar Array Concluded

 

EVA - Extra Vehicular Activities patch.

June 16, 2021

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet concluded their spacewalk at 3:26 p.m. EDT, after 7 hours and 15 minutes. In the seventh spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two astronauts installed a new ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) into its mounting bracket on the far end of the left (port) side of the station’s backbone truss structure (P6).

Image above: NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough (left) and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet (right) are today’s spacewalkers. Image Credit: NASA.

Kimbrough and Pesquet successfully removed the array from its position in the flight support equipment and maneuvered it into position on the mast canister at the 2B power channel.

Thomas with spacesuit. Image Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet

Before the new array can be deployed and begin providing power to the orbiting laboratory, spacewalkers will need to install the electrical cables and drive the final two bolts to enable the solar array to unfurl its fully deployed position. Pesquet and Kimbrough are scheduled for another spacewalk coming up on Sunday, June 20 to continue the installation of new solar arrays.

Mark with Thomas and Shane in suits. Image Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet

NASA is augmenting six of the eight existing power channels of the space station with new solar arrays to ensure a sufficient power supply is maintained for NASA’s exploration technology demonstrations for Artemis and beyond as well as utilization and commercialization.

Space Station solar panels. Image Credits: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet

This was the seventh spacewalk for Kimbrough, the third for Pesquet, and the third they conducted together. Kimbrough has now spent a total of 46 hours and 15 minutes spacewalking, and Pesquet’s total spacewalking time is 19 hours and 47 minutes.

Spacewalk to Install New International Space Station Solar Arrays

Space station crew members have conducted 239 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 62 days, 18 hours, and 28 minutes working outside the station.

Image above: Spacewalkers Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet working at the Port-6 truss during EVA 74. Image Credit: NASA TV.

In November 2020, the International Space Station surpassed its 20-year milestone of continuous human presence, providing opportunities for unique research and technological demonstrations that help prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars and also improve life on Earth. In that time, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the orbiting laboratory that has hosted nearly 3,000 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.

Related links:

ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA): https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-arrays-to-power-nasa-s-international-space-station-research/

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

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Manor La Grange from space (Geneva, Switzerland)

 

ROSCOSMOS logo.

June 15, 2021

On Wednesday, June 16, 2021, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and the American leader Joe Biden will hold talks at the Villa La Grange (Geneva). This will be the first personal meeting between Putin and Biden since the inauguration of the latter as President of the United States of America.

Manor La Grange from space (Geneva, Switzerland)

They are expected to discuss the state and prospects for the further development of Russian-American relations, issues of strategic stability, as well as topical issues on the international agenda, including interaction in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting between the leaders of Russia and the United States will begin on June 16 at 13:00 Geneva time (14:00 Moscow time).

On the eve of this meeting, the Russian satellite for remote sensing of the Earth "Resurs-P" captured the lakeside estate La Grange. Built in the 18th century, it is located in the middle of a park of more than 21 hectares, located on the shores of Lake Geneva, on the outskirts of the city. This is the largest city park, which is a favorite place for rest of the townspeople. Since 1917, the villa has been owned by the city. Now there is a library, guided tours for tourists.

Resurs-P satellite

The Resurs-P space complex is intended for highly detailed, detailed wide-coverage and hyperspectral optical-electronic observation of the Earth's surface and data transmission over a radio channel to ground-based information receiving points. The target equipment of the Resurs-P satellites provides imaging of the earth's surface in panchromatic, multispectral, wide-coverage and hyperspectral modes in any combination. Information transmission can be carried out in real time and in recording over a high-speed radio link.

The data received by the Resurs-P space complex is used to solve the following tasks:

- Research on natural resources;
- Control of pollution and environmental degradation, identification and study of environmental pollution, control of water protection and protected areas;
- Information support for the search for mineral deposits;
- Assessment of the state of ice conditions;
- Inventory of natural resources to ensure rational activities in various sectors of the economy;
- Monitoring of emergency situations;
- Monitoring the state of the socio-economic infrastructure;
- Information support for engineering surveys;
- Creation and updating of cadastral plans, topographic and navigation maps;
- Determination of the type and condition of vegetation, the composition of the pollution film on the water surface, identification of minerals, soils;
- Detection of illegal crops of narcotic plants and control of their destruction.

The information obtained can be used for the development of international cooperation of Russia in the field of environmental control and protection and for solving other urgent problems of remote sensing of the Earth.

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/31479/

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch