Rockot launch vehicle lifted off

ROSCOSMOS logo.

Dec. 25, 2013

Rockot launch

Rockot launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia at 0:31 UTC on Wednesday, December 25 carrying three Rodnik military communication satellites to Low Earth Orbit as part of the maintenance and modernization of the Strela constellation of low-orbiting communication satellites used by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Launch confirmation was reported by Ria Novosti.

Rodnik military communication satellite

Confirmation of mission success came later on Wednesday after the successful release of the three satellites into their planned high-inclination orbit at an altitude of ~1,500 Kilometers.

Images, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS / Zvezda TV / Catherine Laplace-Builhe.

Greetings & Merry Christmas, Orbiter.ch

Spacewalkers Complete Installation of Ammonia Pump Module

ISS - Expedition 38 Mission patch / EVA- Extra Vehicular Activities patch.

Dec. 24, 2013

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins completed a second spacewalk to install a spare ammonia pump module. The U.S. Quest airlock began repressurization at 2:23 p.m. EDT Tuesday signaling the official end of their spacewalk.

Tuesday’s main tasks included the removal and installation of a spare pump module. The first task was to remove the spare pump module from the space station’s External Stowage Platform-3. After that was completed, the module was bolted to the S1 truss and connected to Loop A of the station’s external Active Thermal Control System.

Image above: Rick Mastracchio (left) and Mike Hopkins (right) are assisted by the rest of their Expedition 38 crew mates after the completion of their Dec. 24 spacewalk. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Hopkins attached himself to the Canadarm2 and took a ride to the worksite. Mastracchio tethered himself to the station and translated to the S1 truss to assist his partner. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata operated the Canadarm2 from inside the Destiny laboratory.

While doing the connection work, the duo demated ammonia fluid lines from a jumper box that enabled ammonia flow during the repair spacewalks. After experiencing some difficulty disconnecting a fluid line the spacewalkers reported seeing ammonia flakes escaping a valve. As a precaution, mission controllers asked the spacewalkers to inspect their spacesuits for possible ammonia contamination. Once they were back in the Quest airlock the duo conducted more ammonia decontamination procedures on their spacesuits. All four fluid lines were successfully reconnected to the newly installed pump module restoring ammonia flow.

Image above: Astronaut Mike Hopkins rides the Canadarm2 carrying the 780-pound ammonia pump module as the International Space Station flies over South America. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Afterward, Hopkins and Mastracchio completed electrical connections to the pump module. Power was successfully restored to the ammonia pump module. However, flight controllers will perform more tests before restarting the pump and returning it to full functionality.

NASA Conducts Second Spacewalk to Fix Coolant Pump on ISS

The duo was originally scheduled to finish the installation work on Monday before mission controllers detected a spacesuit configuration issue at the end of Saturday’s spacewalk, in which the spacewalkers removed a faulty pump that experienced a problem with its internal flow control valve Dec. 11.

The suspect pump was removed from the starboard truss and parked in a temporary location on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car where it can stay until at least next June. Managers decided an extra day of preparation was necessary to get a backup spacesuit ready for Mastracchio.

Image above: Astronaut Mike Hopkins prepares to attach himself to a foot restraint on the Canadarm2 outside the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Read more about the spacesuit configuration issue: http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/december/space-station-crew-removes-ammonia-pump-next-spacewalk-set-for-tuesday

Read more about Saturday’s spacewalk: http://www.nasa.gov/content/space-station-crew-removes-ammonia-pump-next-spacewalk-set-for-tuesday

The Christmas Eve spacewalk lasted seven hours and 30 minutes. This was the 176th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance. Mastracchio holds 51 hours and 28 minutes spacewalking time over eight spacewalks. Hopkins holds 12 hours and 58 minutes over two spacewalks.

For more information about the Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credit: NASA / NASA TV.

Best regards & Merry Christmas, Orbiter.ch

Cassini Sees Saturn and Moons in Holiday Dress

Cassini Mission International patch.

Dec. 23, 2013

Painted Lines on an Ornament

Image above: The globe of Saturn, seen here in natural color, is reminiscent of a holiday ornament in this wide-angle view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

This holiday season, feast your eyes on images of Saturn and two of its most fascinating moons, Titan and Enceladus, in a care package from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. All three bodies are dressed and dazzling in this special package assembled by Cassini's imaging team.

The new images are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini ,  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .

"During this, our tenth holiday season at Saturn, we hope that these images from Cassini remind everyone the world over of the significance of our discoveries in exploring such a remote and beautiful planetary system," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader, based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. "Happy holidays from all of us on Cassini."

'Tis the Season

Image above: Winter is approaching in the southern hemisphere of Saturn and with this cold season has come the familiar blue hue that was present in the northern winter hemisphere at the start of NASA's Cassini mission. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Two views of Enceladus are included in the package and highlight the many fissures, fractures and ridges that decorate the icy moon's surface. Enceladus is a white, glittering snowball of a moon, now famous for the nearly 100 geysers that are spread across its south polar region and spout tiny icy particles into space. Most of these particles fall back to the surface as snow. Some small fraction escapes the gravity of Enceladus and makes its way into orbit around Saturn, forming the planet's extensive and diffuse E ring. Because scientists believe these geysers are directly connected to a subsurface, salty, organic-rich, liquid-water reservoir, Enceladus is home to one of the most accessible extraterrestrial habitable zones in the solar system.

Lakes Through the Haze

Image above: Using a special spectral filter, the high-resolution camera aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft was able to peer through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Packaged along with Saturn and Enceladus is a group of natural-color images of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, highlighting two of Titan's most outstanding features. Peering through the moon's hazy, orange atmosphere, the Cassini narrow-angle camera spots dark, splotchy features in the polar regions of the moon. These features are the lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane for which the moon is renowned. Titan is the only other place in the solar system that we know has stable liquids on its surface, though in Titan's case, the liquids are ethane and methane rather than water. At Titan's south pole, a swirling high-altitude vortex stands out distinctly against the darkness of the moon's un-illuminated atmosphere. Titan's hazy atmosphere and surface environment are believed to be similar in certain respects to the early atmosphere of Earth.

But the planet that towers over these moons is a celestial wonder itself. The north and south poles of Saturn are highlighted and appear drastically different from each other, as seen in new natural-color views. The globe of Saturn resembles a holiday ornament in a wide-angle image overlooking its north pole, bringing into view the hexagonal jet stream and rapidly spinning polar vortex that reside there. And the planet's south pole, now in winter, looking very different than the springtime north, displays brilliant blue hues, reminiscent of a frosty winter wonderland.

Frozen in Time

Image above: NASA's Cassini captures a still and partially sunlit Enceladus. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

"Until Cassini arrived at Saturn, we didn't know about the hydrocarbon lakes of Titan, the active drama of Enceladus' jets, and the intricate patterns at Saturn's poles," said Linda Spilker, the Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Spectacular images like these highlight that Cassini has given us the gift of knowledge, which we have been so excited to share with everyone."

Launched in 1997, Cassini has explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. NASA plans to continue the mission through 2017, with the anticipation of much more groundbreaking science and imagery to come.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team consists of scientists from the U.S., England, France, and Germany. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

More information about Cassini is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / Jia-Rui Cook / Space Science Institute / Steve Mullins.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

Phobos - Glorious grooves

ESA - Mars Express Mission patch.

Dec. 23, 2013

Glorious grooves

The innermost moon of Mars, Phobos, is seen here in full 360 degree glory. The images were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express at various times throughout the mission’s 10 years.

The moon’s parallel sets of grooves are perhaps the most striking feature, along with the giant 9 km-wide Stickney impact crater that dominates one face of the 27 x 22 x 18 km moon.

The origin of the moon’s grooves is a subject of much debate. One idea assumes that the crater chains are associated with impact events on the moon itself.

Moon of Mars, Phobos by ESA's Mars Express

Another idea suggests they result from Phobos moving through streams of debris thrown up from impacts 6000 km away on the surface of Mars, with each ‘family’ of grooves corresponding to a different impact event.

Mars Express has imaged Phobos from a wide range of distances, but will make its closest flyby yet on 29 December 2013, at just 45 km above the moon.

Although this is too close to take images, gravity experiments will give insight into the interior structure of Phobos.

For more information about ESA's Mars Express Mission, visit: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express

Image, Video, Text, Credits: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Spacewalkers Remove Degraded Ammonia Pump

ISS - Expedition 38 Mission patch / EVA - Extra Vehicular Activities patch.

Dec. 21, 2013

Expedition 38 Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins wrapped up a 5-hour, 28 minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 12:29 p.m. EST Saturday, completing the first in a series of excursions aimed at replacing a degraded ammonia pump module associated with one of the station's two external cooling loops that keeps both internal and external equipment cool.

NASA Begins Series of Spacewalks to Fix Coolant Pump on ISS

During Saturday’s spacewalk, the two astronauts focused on removing a degraded pump module from Loop A of the station’s external Active Thermal Control System. That pump module encountered a problem Dec. 11 when an internal valve stuck in an incorrect position, causing temperatures in the station’s cooling lines to drop. On Monday, Mastracchio and Hopkins will venture outside the station again to begin the installation of a replacement pump module. If necessary a third spacewalk would occur on Christmas day to finalize the installation.

Image above: Astronaut Rick Mastracchio works outside the International Space Station during the first of a series of spacewalks to replace a degraded ammonia pump module. Image Credit: NASA TV.

After exiting the Quest airlock, Hopkins made his way out to Saturday’s worksite at center of the Starboard 1 truss segment. Mastracchio meanwhile attached himself to a foot restraint at the end of the station’s 57-foot robotic arm so that Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata, the robotics operator for the spacewalks, could fly Mastracchio to the worksite and position him for his various tasks.

The two spacewalkers first spent some time demating four ammonia fluid line “quick disconnects” from the pump module.

Once the four fluid lines were disconnected, Mastracchio and Hopkins worked to attach the fluid lines to a pump module jumper box, which allows the ammonia to reach the system’s plumbing in the ammonia and nitrogen tanks to keep it in a liquid state.

Image above: Spacewalker Rick Mastracchio works to disconnect the fluid lines from the degraded pump module in this view from the NASA astronaut's helmet camera. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Afterward the spacewalkers installed a generic thermal cover over the pump module jumper and ammonia fluid lines.

With the spacewalk proceeding well ahead of schedule, Mission Control in Houston informed Mastracchio and Hopkins that they could press ahead with the first task originally planned for Monday’s spacewalk –removing the degraded pump module from the starboard truss and attaching it to a stowage location on the Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation (POA) on the station’s railcar, or Mobile Base System.

While Hopkins set up the POA and an adjustable grapple fixture, Mastracchio removed the five electrical connectors from the pump module and unfastened the module from the truss.

Image above: Astronaut Rick Mastracchio holds the degraded pump module while the International Space Station's robotic arm guides the module to a grapple fixture. Image Credit: NASA TV.

With Mastracchio holding the 780-pound pump while he was attached to the end of the robotic arm, Wakata guided the arm to attach the module to the grapple fixture and activated the snares to hold it in place.

Mastracchio now holds 43 hours and 58 minutes of spacewalking time during seven spacewalks, and Hopkins now holds 5 hours and 28 minutes during one spacewalk.

Saturday’s spacewalk was the 175th in support of space station assembly and maintenance.

For more information about the Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credit: NASA / NASA TV.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Curiosity Team Upgrades Software, Checks Wheel Wear

NASA - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) patch.

Dec. 20, 2013

Rocky Mars Ground Where Curiosity Has Been Driving

Image above: NASA's Mars rover Curiosity captured this 360-degree view using its Navigation Camera (Navcam) after a 17-foot (5.3 meter) drive on 477th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Dec. 8, 2013). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The team operating NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has completed a software upgrade on the vehicle and is next planning a check of wear and tear on the rover's wheels.

"Curiosity is now operating on version 11 of its flight software," said Jim Erickson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project manager for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Project, which operates Curiosity.

Self-Portrait by Curiosity Rover Arm Camera square. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the third upgrade version since Curiosity's landing on Mars16 months ago. Completing the switch from version 10 took about a week.  An earlier switch to version 11 prompted an unintended reboot on Nov. 7 and a return to version 10, but the latest transition went smoothly.

These upgrades allow continued advances in the rover's capabilities. For example, version 11 brings expanded capability for using the Curiosity's robotic arm while the vehicle is on slopes. It also improves flexibility for storing information overnight to use in resuming autonomous driving on a second day.

An upcoming activity will be driving to a relatively smooth patch of ground to take a set of images of Curiosity's aluminum wheels, using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the rover's arm. 

Left-Front Wheel of Curiosity Rover, Approaching Three Miles

Image above: The left-front wheel of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows dents and holes in this image taken during the 469th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Nov. 30, 2013). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

"We want to take a full inventory of the condition of the wheels," Erickson said. "Dents and holes were anticipated, but the amount of wear appears to have accelerated in the past month or so. It appears to be correlated with driving over rougher terrain. The wheels can sustain significant damage without impairing the rover's ability to drive. However, we would like to understand the impact that this terrain type has on the wheels, to help with planning future drives."

Curiosity's recent driving has crossed an area that has numerous sharp rocks embedded in the ground.  Routes to future destinations for the mission may be charted to lessen the amount of travel over such rough terrain, compared to smoother ground nearby.

Rocky Mars Ground Where Curiosity Has Been Driving (Stereo)

Image above: NASA's Mars rover Curiosity captured this stereo view using its Navigation Camera (Navcam) after a 17-foot (5.3 meter) drive on 477th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Dec. 8, 2013). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity inside Gale Crater to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions.  JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / Guy Webster.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

Long March 3B/E rocket launch the Bolivian Tupac Katari satellite

CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

Dec. 20, 2013

Long March 3B/E launch

A Chinese Long March 3B/E launched the the TKSat-1 satellite for Bolivia on Friday. The launch took place at 16:42 UTC (17:02 GMT / 12:02 p.m. EST) from the LC2 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province.

TKSat-1, also known by Tupac Katari, is the result of an agreement signed on December 13, 2010, by the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) and the Bolivia Aerospace Bureau.

With 30 transponders on board (26 Ku-band, 2 C-band and 2 Ka-band), the Tupak Katari satellite is designed for a 15 year mission duration.

Tupak Katari satellite

Tupak Katari will begin orbit operations at 87.2 degrees West longitude in March 2014.

The satellite’s launch mass was 5,100 kg, with 30 transponders, four of which will be used for TV transmission only and the rest for transmission and reception. The satellite will also service Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, North of Chile and Argentina, and the East of Brazil.

The spacecraft is the first communications satellite of Bolivia. It will not only provide communications and broadcasting services to the whole territory of Bolivia and the surrounding areas, but also facilitate the development of civil projects like remote education and telemedicine.

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

Images, Text, Credits: CASC / Xinhua.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch