Mars and Jupiter moons meet

 

ESA - Mars Express Mission patch.

Oct. 13, 2022

ESA’s Mars Express has captured the rare moment of Mars’ small moon Deimos passing in front of Jupiter and its four largest moons ­– the focus of ESA’s upcoming Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launching next year. Celestial alignments like these enable a more precise determination of the martian moons’ orbits.

Since arriving in orbit at the Red Planet in 2003, Mars Express routinely observes the planet’s geology. It also monitors the planet’s two moons Phobos and Deimos to understand more about their surface composition, in particular Phobos’ mysterious grooved terrain, and ultimately the moons’ puzzling origin. This includes tracking their orbits.

The moons experience strong tidal forces from Mars, causing their orbits to fluctuate constantly. Phobos orbits extremely close to Mars at just 6000 km, and is moving towards the planet, while Deimos moves away from it.

It is difficult to measure their orbits from Earth due to the brightness of Mars in comparison to these small bodies.

Deimos passing in front of Jupiter and its Galilean moons

The fortuitous alignment of Deimos passing in front of Jupiter on 14 February 2022 enabled the position and orbit of Deimos to be more accurately pinpointed. That is, by measuring the duration of the occultation – when the light from one celestial body is blocked by another – the orbit can be calculated.

Such an alignment is extremely unusual because Deimos must be exactly in the orbital plane of Jupiter's moons for the alignment to occur.

The animated sequence of 80 High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images shows the bumpy surface of the small and irregularly shaped 15 km-wide moon as it passed in front of Jupiter. The moons of Jupiter appear as small white specks, due to their distance of almost 750 million km from Mars Express. This staggering separation is five times the distance between Earth and the Sun.

The animation first shows Deimos passing in front of the icy moon Europa. The largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede, is then obscured from view. The gas giant Jupiter, appearing as a large white spot in the centre, then vanishes behind Deimos.

Mars Express

Deimos then covers the extremely active volcanic moon Io, which is a similar size to Earth's moon. Finally, the cratered moon Callisto disappears behind Deimos.

Deimos appears to move up and down in the animation due to the small swaying movements of Mars Express while it rotates to place the HRSC camera into position. The motion of the solar wings, which extend 12 m from the spacecraft, as well as two long radar antennas, also contribute to the small vibrations.

Jupiter and its three largest icy moons will be visited by the ESA-led JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (Juice) mission, scheduled to launch in 2023 for arriving in the Jupiter system in 2031. Juice will conduct flybys of the moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa to study their surface and interior, which are thought to harbour oceans. These observations will help to study the conditions for the emergence of life in our Solar System and how planets are formed.

Phobos blocking its sibling Deimos

After imaging the alignment with Jupiter, Mars Express cast its gaze towards the moment Deimos was blocked by its larger sibling, Phobos, which measures about 27 km along its longest axis. The animation is pieced together from 19 HRSC images, taken on 30 March 2022 when Phobos was 12 km away from the camera. From this perspective it is difficult to see the size difference between the martian moons, as Deimos is further from the camera at a distance of 28 km.

Much is still unknown about the formation and composition of Mars’ moons. Future missions, such as the JAXA-led Martian Moon eXploration mission (MMX) with contributions from ESA, will help to understand more. MMX will observe Deimos and place a lander on Phobos to collect and return a sample from the surface.

Precise orbit measurements, such as those provided by occultations, are required to pinpoint the exact positions of moons for future missions like MMX and Juice.

Mars Express observations of the moons over 14 years, including occultations with other Solar System objects, have enabled a correction of 1-2 km in our knowledge of where the moons are, with an accuracy on the order of a few hundred metres.

In June 2022, Europa’s orbital data was refined for the Juice mission through the occultation of a star. This occultation was predicted using ESA’s Gaia mission.

The new images demonstrate that Mars Express continues to shine a light on Mars, the immediate surroundings of the Red Planet, and beyond.

Related link:

ESA’s Mars Express: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express

JAXA-led Martian Moon eXploration mission (MMX): https://www.mmx.jaxa.jp/en/

ESA’s Gaia mission: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia

Image, Videos, Text, Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin – CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, K.-D. Matz.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Awards Contracts to Assess Near-Space Communications Capabilities

 

NASA logo.

October 13, 2022

NASA has selected two companies – Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) USA of Denver and SpaceLink Corporation of McLean, Virginia – to develop capability studies to explore and demonstrate communications and navigation services in support of Artemis missions to the Moon.

Image of the Moon from low-Earth orbit. Image Credits: NASA

The awards, under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Appendix O, are firm fixed-price milestone-based contracts in the amounts of $161,638 for KSAT and $189,881 for SpaceLink Corporation.

The studies will involve direct-to-Earth and lunar space relay communications and navigation services that would enhance telemetry, tracking, and commanding services for orbital and sub-orbital missions at the Moon through relay of critical data between spacecraft and ground stations.

“All missions need communications and navigation services to send data back to Earth. These capability studies and demonstrations will highlight networking efficiencies and inform future planning for NASA missions,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program oversees the agency’s two primary networks: the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network, the latter of which provides services to missions within 2 million kilometers of Earth through a blend of government and commercial providers. These studies are intended to inform NASA and its stakeholders on industry’s capabilities and concepts that would enable a commercial space communications and navigation marketplace where NASA is one of many customers.

“This BAA selection furthers the agency’s commitment to commercializing direct-to-Earth space communications and navigation services and integrating a lunar relay to support Artemis missions to the Moon,” said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator and program manager for NASA’s SCaN program.

The companies will help NASA and its stakeholders understand advancements in radio frequency compatibility testing that will lead to Near Space Network efficiencies, address industry best practices, tools, and capabilities related to mission planning and scheduling, understand the barriers, challenges, and solutions associated with integrating optical communications ground terminals into the Near Space Network, and understand the advancements of software-defined radios and cloud computing assets and their integration into the Near Space Network architecture.

NASA’s Near Space Network is managed out of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, under the direction of the SCaN program. SCaN continues to pursue regular industry engagement to identify matches between commercial capabilities and future NASA needs.

Learn more about the NextSTEP public-private partnership model at: https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep

Related links:

Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Appendix O: https://www.nasa.gov/nextstep/commnavstudies

Near Space Network: https://esc.gsfc.nasa.gov/projects/NSN

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Kiana Raines/Lora Bleacher/GSFC/Katherine Schauer.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Space Station Departure Delayed for Weather

 

SpaceX - Dragon Crew-4 Mission patch.

Oct 12, 2022

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 10:05 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 13, for the agency’s Crew-4 undocking from the International Space Station to begin the return trip to Earth completing a nearly six-month science mission in orbit. Splashdown is targeted several hours later at 5:43 p.m. Thursday off the coast of Florida.

Mission teams continue to monitor a cold front passing over Florida with the potential to bring high winds and rainy weather near the splashdown zones off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Mission teams will continue to monitor splashdown and recovery conditions with another weather review around six hours prior to undocking.

Image above: The SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts are seated inside the Dragon Freedom crew ship. The commercial crew quartet (from left) are Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, Pilot Robert Hines, Commander Kjell Lindgren, and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristorforetti. Photo credit: SpaceX.

Crew 4’s Dragon undocking depends on a variety of factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. Dragon Freedom remains healthy while currently docked to the space station. Back-up undocking opportunities also are available Friday, Oct. 14.

NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the Crew-4 mission with NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Dragon’s hatch closing, undocking, and splashdown coverage will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. NASA also will host an audio only post-splashdown news teleconference. Follow all live events at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Thursday, Oct. 13

 8 a.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins for 8:20 a.m. hatch closing
 9:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins for 10:05 a.m. undocking with a Thursday  splashdown
 5:43 p.m. – Splashdown off the coast of Florida
 7 p.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference call from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in  Houston with:

- Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
. Joel Montalbano, manger, International Space Station, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
- SpaceX Representative

Related links:

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

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

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Jason Costa.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Star Duo Forms ‘Fingerprint’ in Space, Webb Finds

 

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

Oct 12, 2022

A new image shows at least 17 dust rings created by a rare type of star and its companion locked in a celestial dance.

Image above: The two stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 produce shells of dust every eight years that look like rings, as seen in this image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Each ring was created when the stars came close together and their stellar winds collided, compressing the gas and forming dust. Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JPL-Caltech.

A new image from James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable cosmic sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars. Located just over 5,000 light-years from Earth, the duo is collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140.

Each ring was created when the two stars came close together and their stellar winds (streams of gas they blow into space) met, compressing the gas and forming dust. The stars’ orbits bring them together about once every eight years; like the growth of rings of a tree’s trunk, the dust loops mark the passage of time.

“We’re looking at over a century of dust production from this system,” said Ryan Lau, an astronomer at NSF’s NOIRLab and lead author of a new study about the system, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. “The image also illustrates just how sensitive this telescope is. Before, we were only able to see two dust rings, using ground-based telescopes. Now we see at least 17 of them.”

In addition to Webb’s overall sensitivity, its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) is uniquely qualified to study the dust rings – or what Lau and his colleagues call shells, because they are thicker and wider than they appear in the image. Webb’s science instruments detect infrared light, a range of wavelengths invisible to the human eye. MIRI detects the longest infrared wavelengths, which means it can often see cooler objects – including the dust rings – than Webb’s other instruments can. MIRI’s spectrometer also revealed the composition of the dust, formed mostly from material ejected by a type of star known as a Wolf-Rayet star.

Cosmic Dust Rings Spotted by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

Video above: The two stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 produce rings, or shells, of dust every time their orbits bring them together. A visualization of their orbits, shown in this video, helps to illustrate how their interaction produces the fingerprint-like pattern observed by NASA’s Webb space telescope. Video Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JPL-Caltech.

MIRI was developed through a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California led the effort for NASA, and a multinational consortium of European astronomical institutes contributed for ESA.

A Wolf-Rayet star is an O-type star, born with at least 25 times more mass than our Sun, that is nearing the end of its life, when it will likely collapse and form a black hole. Burning hotter than in its youth, a Wolf-Rayet star generates powerful winds that push huge amounts of gas into space. The Wolf-Rayet star in this particular pair may have shed more than half its original mass via this process.

Forming Dust in the Wind

Transforming gas into dust is somewhat like turning flour into bread: It requires specific conditions and ingredients. The most common element found in stars, hydrogen, can’t form dust on its own. But because Wolf-Rayet stars shed so much mass, they also eject more complex elements typically found deep in a star’s interior, including carbon. The heavy elements in the wind cool as they travel into space and are then compressed where the winds from both stars meet, like when two hands knead dough.  

Some other Wolf-Rayet systems form dust, but none is known to make rings like Wolf-Rayet 140 does. The unique ring pattern forms because the orbit of the Wolf-Rayet star in WR 140 is elongated, not circular. Only when the stars come close together – about the same distance between Earth and the Sun – and their winds collide is the gas under sufficient pressure to form dust. With circular orbits, Wolf-Rayet binaries can produce dust continuously.

Image above: This graphic shows the relative size of the Sun, upper left, compared to the two stars in the system known as Wolf-Rayet 140. The O-type star is roughly 30 times the mass of the Sun, while its companion is about 10 times the mass of the Sun. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Lau and his co-authors think WR 140’s winds also swept the surrounding area clear of residual material they might otherwise collide with, which may be why the rings remain so pristine rather than smeared or dispersed. There are likely even more rings that have become so faint and dispersed, not even Webb can see them in the data.

Wolf-Rayet stars may seem exotic compared to our Sun, but they may have played a role in star and planet formation. When a Wolf-Rayet star clears an area, the swept-up material can pile up at the outskirts and become dense enough for new stars to form. There is some evidence the Sun formed in such a scenario.

Using data from MIRI’s Medium Resolution Spectroscopy mode, the new study provides the best evidence yet that Wolf-Rayet stars produce carbon-rich dust molecules. What’s more, the preservation of the dust shells indicates that this dust can survive in the hostile environment between stars, going on to supply material for future stars and planets.

The catch is that while astronomers estimate that there should be at least a few thousand Wolf-Rayet stars in our galaxy, only about 600 have been found to date.

“Even though Wolf-Rayet stars are rare in our galaxy because they are short lived as far as stars go, it’s possible they’ve been producing lots of dust throughout the history of the galaxy before they explode and/or form black holes,” said Patrick Morris, an astrophysicist at Caltech in Pasadena, California, and a co-author of the new study. “I think with NASA’s new space telescope we’re going to learn a lot more about how these stars shape the material between stars and trigger new star formation in galaxies.”

More About the Mission

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

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

George Rieke with the University of Arizona is the MIRI U.S. science team lead. Gillian Wright with the UK Astronomy Technology Centre is the MIRI European principal investigator. Alistair Glasse with UK ATC is the MIRI instrument scientist, and Michael Ressler is the U.S. project scientist at JPL. Laszlo Tamas with UK ATC manages the European Consortium. The MIRI cryocooler development was led and managed by JPL, in collaboration with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about the Webb mission, visit:

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

Related link:

Nature Astronomy: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01812-x

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL/Calla Cofield.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Sets Date for Next Launch Attempt for Artemis I Moon Mission

 

NASA - ARTEMIS 1 Mission patch.

Oct. 12, 2022

NASA is targeting the next launch attempt of the Artemis I mission for Monday, Nov. 14 with liftoff of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft planned during a 69-minute launch window that opens at 12:07 a.m. EST. Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test to launch SLS and send Orion around the Moon and back to Earth to thoroughly test its system before flights with astronauts.

Image above: Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Image Credit: NASA.

Inspections and analyses over the previous week have confirmed minimal work is required to prepare the rocket and spacecraft to roll out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida following the roll-back due to Hurricane Ian.  Teams will perform standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries on the rocket, several secondary payloads, and the flight termination system. The agency plans to roll the rocket back to the launch pad as early as Friday, Nov. 4.

NASA has requested back-up launch opportunities for Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 1:04 a.m. and Saturday, Nov. 19, at 1:45 a.m., which are both two-hour launch windows. A launch on Nov. 14 would result in a mission duration of about 25-and-a-half days with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Friday, Dec. 9.

Artemis I Mission Availability
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-i-mission-availability

Related articles:

Inspections Underway for Rocket, Spacecraft Before Setting Launch Date
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/10/inspections-underway-for-rocket.html

Teams Confirm No Damage to Flight Hardware, Focus on November for Launch
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/teams-confirm-no-damage-to-flight.html

NASA’s Moon Rocket and Spacecraft Arrive at Vehicle Assembly Building
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/nasas-moon-rocket-and-spacecraft-arrive.html

NASA to Roll Artemis I Rocket and Spacecraft Back to VAB Tonight
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/nasa-to-roll-artemis-i-rocket-and.html

NASA Closely Monitoring Weather While Rollback Preparations Continue
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/nasa-closely-monitoring-weather-while.html

Artemis I Managers Wave Off Sept. 27 Launch, Preparing for Rollback
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/artemis-i-managers-wave-off-sept-27.html

Artemis Cryogenic Demonstration Test Concludes, All Objectives Met
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/artemis-cryogenic-demonstration-test.html

Artemis I Cryogenic Demonstration Test on Track for Wednesday
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/artemis-i-cryogenic-demonstration-test.html

NASA Adjusts Dates for Artemis I Cryogenic Demonstration Test and Launch; Progress at Pad Continues
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/nasa-adjusts-dates-for-artemis-i.html

Repair Work Underway, Preparations Continue for Next Launch Opportunity
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/repair-work-underway-preparations.html

ARTEMIS 1 - Teams Continue to Review Options for Next Attempt, Prepare to Replace Seal
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/artemis-1-teams-continue-to-review.html

NASA to Stand Down on Artemis I Launch Attempts in Early September, Reviewing Options
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/nasa-to-stand-down-on-artemis-i-launch.html

Artemis I Launch Attempt Scrubbed (Again)
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/09/artemis-i-launch-attempt-scrubbed-again.html

Second try for the Artemis I Moon flight
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/08/second-try-for-artemis-i-moon-flight.html

Engineers Assess Data After Scrub, Mission Managers to Meet Tuesday Afternoon
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/08/engineers-assess-data-after-scrub.html

ARTEMIS 1 - Launch Attempt Scrubbed
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/08/artemis-1-launch-attempt-scrubbed.html

Related links:

Artemis I: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Space Launch System (SLS): https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

Orion spacecraft: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html

European Service Module (ESM): https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/Orion_European_Service_Module_kit

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Proton-M rocket with Angolan satellite launched from Baikonur

 

ROSCOSMOS logo.

Oct. 12, 2022

Proton-M carrying AngoSat-2 liftoff

On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at 18:00:00 Moscow time, a Proton-M launch vehicle was launched from the 81st site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome with a DM-03 upper stage and the Angolan telecommunications spacecraft Angosat-2, created by enterprise of the State Corporation "Roscosmos".

The carrier rocket has worked in the normal mode, the upper stage has separated from the third stage of the rocket and is currently putting the satellite into a given orbit.

Proton-M launches AngoSat-2

This was the 15th launch of a Russian launch vehicle in 2022 and the sixth from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. For "Proton-M" this flight was the 113th, for DM-03 - the sixth in history.

The Proton-M launch vehicle was manufactured by the State Space Research and Production Center named after M.V. Khrunichev, upper stage DM-03 - Rocket and Space Corporation Energia named after S.P. Korolev, the Angosat-2 spacecraft - by the company "Information Satellite Systems" named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev (part of Roskosmos).

AngoSat-2 satellite

The Proton-M launch vehicle has been used since 2001 to launch payloads into specified orbits and departure trajectories as part of federal and commercial programs. Over the two decades of operation, it has gone through four phases of deep modernization, which made it possible to significantly improve its energy-mass and environmental characteristics. Today's launch was the 427th launch of the Proton family of rockets since 1965.

Related links:

ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/38347/

Proton-M: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/proton-m/

Angola: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/angola/

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

JAXA - Epsilon-6 launches RAISE-3, QPS-SAR-3 and QPS-SAR-4

 

JAXA - Epsilon-6 / Kakushin-3 Mission poster.

Oct 12, 2022

Epsilon-6 carrying RAISE-3, QPS-SAR-3 and QPS-SAR-4 liftoff

JAXA’s sixth Epsilon Launch Vehicle (イプシロンロケット6, Epsilon-6) launched the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3 mission from the from the Uchinoura Space Center, in Kagoshima, Japan, on 12 October 2022, at 00:50:43 UTC (09:50:43 Japan Standard Time, JST).

Epsilon-6 launches RAISE-3, QPS-SAR-3 and QPS-SAR-4

The main payload is the RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-3 (小型実証衛星3号機, RAISE-3), that includes LEOMI, SDRX, GEMINI, KIR, TMU-PPT, D-SAIL and HELIOS.

QPS-SAR satellites

As secondary payloads, Epsilon-6 launched satellites QPS-SAR-3 and QPS-SAR-4; microsatellites KOYOH, PETREL and STARS-X; and CubeSats MAGNARO, MITSUBA, KOSEN-2, WASEDA-SAT-ZERO, FSI-SAT.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): https://global.jaxa.jp/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch