Astronauts Back Inside Station After Second Spacewalk

ISS - Expedition 53 Mission patch / EVA - Extra Vehicular Activities patch.

October 10, 2017

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA completed a 6 hour, 26 minute spacewalk at 2:22 p.m. EDT. The two astronauts lubricated components of the new latching end effector they installed in the previous spacewalk on the Canadarm2 robotic arm and replaced a faulty camera system.

They also completed a variety of additional tasks, including replacing a smudged lens cover and removing two handrails from outside the tranquility module in preparation for a future wireless antenna installation.

Image above: Astronaut Mark Vande Hei wraps up lubrication work on the latching end effector of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Image Credit: NASA TV.

This was the second of three spacewalks planned for October. Bresnik will also lead the next spacewalk Oct. 18 joined by Flight Engineer Joe Acaba to continue the lubrication of the new end effector and to replace another camera system on the Destiny Lab.

Today’s spacewalk was the fourth for Bresnik’s career and the second for Vande Hei. The Oct. 18 spacewalk will mark the third of Acaba’s career.

Related links:

Expedition 53: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition53/index.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), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Where Does the Sand Come From?

NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) logo.

Oct. 10, 2017

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows one possible place where sand grains are being produced on Mars today. Discovered in images from the Context Camera, this region exhibits dark material that is being eroded from dark layers in the bedrock of a semicircular depression near the boundary of the Southern highlands and the Northern lowlands. Downslope lineations support the notion that these dark sediments are derived locally, and did not accumulate here by coincidence because of the winds.

The grains of sand that make up sand dunes on Earth and Mars have a hazardous existence because of the way that they travel. Wind-blown sand is lifted above the surface of each planet before crashing onto the ground and bouncing in a sequence of repeated hops, a process called saltation.

Sand grains can also roll along the ground as they are blown by the wind, and they are also jostled by other sand gains that are similarly flying across the surface. All of these repeated impacts tend to wear down the sand grains, smoothing them into a more spherical shape and breaking off small fragments that supply the vast dust deposits of Mars. This process (known as comminution) ultimately destroys sand grains and limits the length of time that the particles exist. The fact that we see active sand dunes on Mars today requires that sand particles must be resupplied to replace the grains that are lost over time. Where are the modern day sources of sand on Mars?

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html

Image, Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Two Astronauts Begin Second Spacewalk of Mission

ISS - Expedition 53 Mission patch / EVA - Extra Vehicular Activities patch.

October 10, 2017

Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:56 a.m., EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last about 6.5 hours. Live coverage is available on NASA Television and the agency’s website: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Image above: NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik (bottom center) is dwarfed by a set of basketball court-sized solar arrays and the Earth in the background during a spacewalk on Oct. 5, 2017. Image Credit: NASA.

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA will lubricate components of the new latching end effector they installed on the Canadarm2 robotic arm in their first excursion Oct. 5. They will also replace a faulty camera system in the 204th spacewalk in support of assembly and maintenance in station history. This is the fourth spacewalk of Bresnik’s career and the second for Vande Hei.

A third spacewalk to continue the lubrication of the new end effector and to replace another camera system on the Destiny Lab is planned for Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA Oct. 18.

Related links:

Expedition 53: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition53/index.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), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Successful Launch of H-IIA rocket carrying Michibiki 4

JAXA - Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) patch.

October 9, 2017

Successful Launch, H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 Encapsulating MICHIBIKI No. 4

H-IIA rocket carrying Michibiki 4 launch

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and JAXA successfully launched H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 (H-IIA・F36) which encapsulates MICHIBIKI No. 4, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System; at 7:01:37a.m., 2017 (JST) from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center.

Quasi-Zenith Satellite MICHIBIKI 4/H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 launch replay

The launch and flight of H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 proceeded as planned. So did the separation of MICHIBIKI No. 4, which was confirmed at approximately 28 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.

Michibiki navigation satellite

Michibiki 4 navigation spacecraft, the fourth member of Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. Japan plans to initially deploy four QZSS satellites to augment regional navigation services over Japan and neighboring countries provided by the U.S. Global Positioning System.

Related links:

MHI Launch Services: http://h2a.mhi.co.jp/en/index.html

H-IIA Launch Vehicle: http://global.jaxa.jp/projects/rockets/h2a/

Quashi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS): http://qzss.go.jp/en/

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

Images, Video, Text, Credits: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/National Research and Development Agency/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Sees Post Tropical Cyclone Nate's Wide Rainfall Reach

NASA - Suomi NPP Mission logo / NOAA & NASA - GOES Mission logo.

Oct. 9, 2017

Nate (was TD16 - Southwestern Caribbean Ocean)

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite analyzed the temperatures in Post-tropical cyclone Nate's cloud tops as the storm moved over the Ohio Valley. Satellite imagery showed the storm was bringing rainfall from the northeastern U.S., to the Mid-Atlantic and south through the Appalachian Mountains. 

Image above: On Oct. 9 at 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 UTC), NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured this thermal image of cloud top temperatures from the remnants of Nate's cloud tops as it moved into the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Image Credits: NOAA/NASA Goddard Rapid Response Team.

Infrared light provides valuable temperature data to forecasters and cloud top temperatures give clues about highest, coldest, strongest storms within a hurricane. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided that data and showed the location of the strongest storms in Post-tropical cyclone Nate.    

On Oct. 9 at 2:54 a.m. EDT (0654 UTC) the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a thermal image of cloud top temperatures from the remnants of Nate's cloud tops as it brought rain to the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Coldest cloud top temperatures were seen in storms over the Mid-Atlantic States down the chain of the Appalachian Mountains and back toward the Florida panhandle.

At 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on Monday, Oct, 9 the center of post-tropical cyclone Nate was located near 40.7 degrees north latitude and 81.7 degrees west longitude.  That puts the center of circulation about 20 miles (35 km) southwest of Akron, Ohio.

Image above: On Oct. 8 at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115) NOAA's GOES East satellite provided an infrared look at the remnants of Nate stretching from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. Image Credits: NOAA/UWM-CIMSS.

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has taken over forecasting for the storm since Nate has become a post-tropical cyclone. WPC said "Doppler radar and satellite imagery indicated that the precipitation shield associated with Nate is on the northern and eastern side of the circulation. Moderate to heavy rainfall is occurring in the central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic, with rain showers farther south into the Carolinas.

Farther north, tropical moisture is interacting with a frontal boundary stretching from the Ohio Valley through the northern Mid-Atlantic and northeast, leading to moderate to heavy rainfall for those areas and the lower Great Lakes. Nate is expected to continue tracking northeastward, moving through the Ohio Valley and into the Lower Great Lakes during the day on Monday."

Flood warnings and advisories are in effect across parts of the southern and central Appalachians. Wind advisories are in effect across parts of the central Appalachians.

For more information visit the Weather Prediction Center page: http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/tropstorms.shtml.

Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/main/index.html

GOES (Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellites): http://www.nasa.gov/goes/

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, by Rob Gutro.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

SpaceX Iridium-3 Mission Success

SpaceX - Falcon 9 / Iridium Next patch.

October 9, 2017

Falcon 9 carrying 10 Iridium Next launch

On Monday, October 9, at 5:37 a.m. PDT, SpaceX successfully launched the Iridium-3 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

SpaceX Iridium-3 Mission launch

This mission carried the third set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to their targeted orbit as part of a series of launches that will put a total of 81 Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit, 75 of which will be launched by SpaceX for the Iridium Next mobile communications fleet.

Iridium Next satellite

Following stage separation, the first stage of Falcon 9 successfully landing on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

For more information about Iridium Next mobile communications, visit: https://www.iridium.com/network/iridiumnext

For more information about SpaceX, visit: http://www.spacex.com/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: SpaceX/Thales.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Long March 2D launches VRSS-2

CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

October 9, 2017

Long March 2D carrying VRSS-2 launch

China launched the second remote sensing satellite for Venezuela using a Long March-2D (Chang Zheng-2D) launch vehicle on Monday. This was the first use of the CZ-2 rocket after a mishap occurred in December 2016 with the first Gaojing mission. The failure caused major distruption to the Chinese launch schedule.

The launch of VRSS-2 took place at 04:13 UTC from the 603 Launch Platform of the LC43 Launch Complex of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Long March 2D launches VRSS-2

Also known by Antonio José de Sucre, the VRSS-2 (Venezuela Remote Sensing Satellite-2) is the second remote sensing satellite built by China to Venezuela after the VRSS-1 Francis Miranda (2012-055A) launched on September 29, 2012, using a Long March-2 launch vehicle from Jiuquan.

The satellite has a 1 m panchromatic and a 4 m multi-spectral imaging system. Additionally, it features 30 m SWIR and 60 m LWIR imagers. Launch mass of VRSS-2 is around 1,000 kg.

VRSS-2 satellite

The Chang Zheng-2D launch vehicle is a two-stage rocket developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. With storable propellants is mainly used to launch a variety of low earth orbit satellites.

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

Images, Video, Text, Credits: CASC/InterSpace/Günter Space Page/Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch