Shaping a transition from rocket fuel to oil rigs

ESA logo.

21 February 2011

Technology used to shape rocket fuel tanks could help one German company to form floats for industrial chemical tanks and oil rigs, thanks to funding from ESA.

ESA’s Ariane 5 rockets steer with small rocket engines firing bursts of hydrazine, a highly volatile fuel stored under high pressure in corrosion-resistant tanks.

Ariane 5 technology for offshore rigs

  
The best metal for the tanks is Titanium 6/4 because it is a strong and light alloy of titanium, aluminium and vanadium that doesn’t react with the hydrazine inside.

“It’s a very special material, but if you know how to use it, it can be very useful,” explained Stefan Schoeps, engineer at Formtech, a German company based in Weyhe.

For Ariane 5, there is an additional complication: the fuel needs to be stored at high pressures. Spherical tanks are used, to distribute the pressure loads on the tank evenly.

 Ariane 5 liftoff

However; bending or hammering cold titanium into curved shapes can create cracks that make the part unsuitable for high-pressure space applications.

That’s why when it comes to manufacturing Ariane 5 tanks, ESA engineers go to a company with a different approach.

FormTech works with metals heated to about half their melting points.

 Forming of metal fuel tank

Called ‘super-plastic forming,’ it involves heating special alloys of titanium or corrosion-resistant steel just enough to make them soft. For titanium, the metal is heated to about 920ºC, or about half its melting point.

Then, “we put it inside a form and apply gas pressure,” said Mr Schoeps. “For these spherical vessels, it’s exactly like blowing a bubble.” Engineers then weld the hemispheres together to form a tank with walls less than a centimetre thick.

In 2009, Formtech talked with ESA technology transfer broker MST Aerospace about transferring this technology to the chemical or refinery industries.

Ariane 5 fuel tank

Miniaturised versions of the Ariane tanks might work as measurement devices for tanks full of corrosive fluid, like the balls in your car’s tank that float on the petrol and measure the amount left.

“To store an acid or other aggressive fluid in a tank, you need a corrosion-resistant floating device,” Mr Schoeps said.

Oil rigs, with tanks full of salt water, might be another potential market.

Formtech tackled the problem in an ESA Technology Demonstrator project. Experiments showed that the technology used to create Ariane’s tanks would also work to make much smaller steel or titanium balls to use as floats inside terrestrial fuel or storage tanks.

Storable propellant upper stage

Most importantly, the work helped Formtech find ways to do it on the cheap.

ESA Technology Transfer Programme funding was crucial to adapting the space technology to more commercial applications. “ESA was very helpful,” Mr Schoeps says. “Without the support of the ESA, we wouldn’t have started this programme.”

Formtech’s simple solution will be featured at the ESA Technology Transfer Programme stand this spring at the annual Hannover trade fair in Germany.

“The transfer potential for this technology seems to be quite high,” said technology broker Werner Dupont, of MST Aerospace.

More on ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme on ESA TTP website: http://www.esa.int/ttp

Related links:

Technology Transfer Demonstrators: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/TTP_Business_Opportunities/SEMNOMFKZ6G_0.html

Formtech: http://www.formtech.de/en/en-start.htm

Images, Text, Credits: ESA / S. Corvaja / CNES /ARIANESPACE - Photo Optique Video CSG / Øyvind Hagen / StatoilHydro / Formtech.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano assigned to 2013 Space Station mission

ESA logo labeled.

18 February 2011

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has been assigned to fly on the International Space Station from May to November 2013, serving as a flight engineer for Expeditions 36 and 37.

Recently qualified as a European astronaut, Luca will head into orbit aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft and will work on the Station for over six months. This will be his first spaceflight and the fifth long-duration mission for an ESA astronaut.

NASA has announced the crewmembers to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for Expeditions 36–39. Now part of a six-astronaut international ISS crew, Luca was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009 and was proposed by the Italian space agency, ASI, for this mission. The flight opportunity has been provided by ASI in agreement with NASA.

 Luca Parmitano will fly to ISS in 2013

Aged 34 and a Captain in the Italian Air Force, Luca Parmitano has logged more than 2000 hours of flying time, is qualified on more than 20 types of military aircraft and has flown over 40 aircraft types. He will be the fourth Italian citizen to fly to the Space Station.

From May to September 2013, Luca will be accompanied on the ISS by the cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Maxim Suraev and Aleksander Misurkin, as well as by the NASA astronauts Karen Nyberg and Christopher Cassidy.

From September to November 2013, cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky, together with NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, will also join him on the Station.

A new class of European astronauts

ESA Director of Human Spaceflight, Simonetta Di Pippo, stressed her satisfaction at seeing the first astronaut of the 2009 group assigned to a mission.

Luca Parmitano EVA training

"Luca is a member of the new class of ESA astronauts, and he will be a perfect space ambassador to promote the benefits of human spaceflight on Earth," said Mrs Di Pippo.

"His assignment brings the certainty that Europeans will be part of a new era of the utilisation of the International Space Station, an era with broader exploration ambitions.

"We are now in the process to extend the ISS operations until 2020, and we have also to think about additional flight opportunities for our astronauts, who perform our research in orbit.

"We need to trigger a collective effort among the international partners, the European industry and ESA teams on the ground.

Europe's new astronauts

"Having followed closely the selection process among thousands of European candidates, I’m proud to say today that Luca is the story of a success. He brilliantly passed the first ESA basic training showing a huge team spirit and a strong leadership, all indispensable values for the success of the human spaceflight endeavour."

As a member of the European Astronaut Corps, Luca will be extensively trained for this mission at the various ISS facilities in the USA, Russia, Japan and Canada.

The Corps is heavily involved in ISS operations. While Paolo Nespoli is currently flying a long-duration mission on the Station, Roberto Vittori is assigned to an ASI flight opportunity on the Space Shuttle, to be launched in April. André Kuipers will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 31–32 at the end of this year.

More information:

Luca Parmitano - Bio: http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMIDK0OWUF_astronauts_0.html

Future Space Station crews (NASA): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/crews_future_exp.html

Images, Text, Credits: ESA / M. Koell / D. Baumbach.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

A Solar System Family Portrait, From the Inside Out

NASA - MESSENGER Mission to Mercury patch.

18 February 2011

 (Click to enlarge)

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has constructed the first portrait of our solar system by combining 34 images taken by the spacecraft’s Wide Angle Camera on Nov. 3 and 16, 2010. The mosaic, pieced together over a period of a few weeks, comprises all of the planets except for Uranus and Neptune, which were too faint to detect. On March 17, 2011, MESSENGER may become the first probe ever to orbit Mercury. Scientists hope orbital observations will provide new answers to how Earth-like planets, like Mercury, are assembled and evolve.

Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

World race yields salinity data for ESA's SMOS mission

ESA - SMOS Mission logo.

18 February 2011

A new initiative sees world-class sport and science merge as a yacht competing in the Barcelona World Race gathers information on ocean salinity to help validate data from ESA's SMOS water mission.

Competitors are about half way through the race, which takes them around the world from Barcelona in Spain and back. The yachts left Barcelona on 31 December and, on reaching the Atlantic, headed south to circle Earth via the capes of Good Hope (South Africa) Leeuwin, (Australia) and Horn (Chile), with Antarctica to starboard.

Fòrum Marítim Català

  
Since this 46 300-km route takes the competitors through some of the most remote parts of the Southern Ocean, the Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences in collaboration with the race organisers, the Fundació Navegació Oceànica de Barcelona, have looked beyond mere sport and sought to offer opportunities to benefit science.

With this objective in mind, the Spanish Institute for Marine Science arranged for the Fòrum Marítim Català 60-foot yacht to be equipped with a sensor to collect data on sea-surface temperature and salinity throughout the three-month race. This information is being relayed by satellite back to the institute automatically in almost real time.

Salinity measurements from the race

Dr Jordi Font, Lead Investigator for ocean salinity for ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), mission said, "The data we are receiving from ESA's SMOS mission is improving our understanding of the variations in the salinity of the surface waters of the oceans.

"The measurements, currently being acquired by the yacht, now in the Southern Ocean, contribute to the bank of data we are building from other in situ instruments in other parts of the world to help validate the accuracy of the data from SMOS."

Mapping ocean salinity

Launched in November 2009, the Earth Explorer SMOS mission is dedicated to providing global measurements of soil moisture and ocean salinity for a better understanding of the water cycle and to improve weather and climate models.

Along with temperature, ocean salinity is a key variable that drives global ocean circulation patterns, which in turn play a role in moderating the climate. Accurate data on ocean salinity will provide a better insight into the processes influencing ocean currents.

Barcelona World Race route (click to enlarge)

An important part of any Earth observation mission is to check the accuracy of the data acquired from space by comparing them with measurements taken in situ. The Southern Ocean, however, is sparsely sampled.

The yacht race circumnavigates the Southern Ocean at around 50°S, so provides an excellent opportunity to gather data in this region. The instrument system, which weighs less than 3 kg, is autonomous and does not interfere with the task of the two skippers, Gerard Marían and Ludovic Aglaor, of sailing around the world as fast as they can.

 SMOS in orbit

Soil moisture variations in Australia: http://download.esa.int/multimedia/EO/Yasi_H.gif

The southern hemisphere has also been the focus for SMOS recently – but to monitor changes in soil moisture before, during and after the floods that devastated Queensland and Victoria in Australia.

In addition, data from SMOS showed that soils were fairly dry in the northern part of Queensland before cyclone Yasi hit on 2 February, so that runoff was not enough to cause major flooding in this region.

Links:

Access SMOS data: http://earth.esa.int/SMOS/

Barcelona World Race: Fòrum Marítim Català: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.org/en/bwr/teams/detail/forum-maritim-catala-153-3191

UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission: http://ioc-unesco.org/

Institute of Marine Sciences: http://www.icm.csic.es/en/content/institute-marine-sciences

Ifremer-Cersat Salinity Center: http://www.salinityremotesensing.ifremer.fr/home

CESBIO – SMOS blog: http://www.cesbio.ups-tlse.fr/SMOS_blog/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: ESA / J. Salat, ICM-CSIC / AOES Medialab / Fundació Navegació Oceànica de Barcelona / CESBIO.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Seeks K-12 Educators To Defy Gravity, Conduct Research

NASA logo / Zero-Gravity Corp. logo labeled.

Feb. 17, 2011

For the first time, NASA is offering teachers from across the country an opportunity usually reserved for researchers -- the chance to design a science experiment and then test it aboard a microgravity research plane. Proposals should be submitted to NASA's Teaching From Space office by March 14.

For more information about the program, send an e-mail to: jsc-rgeducator@mail.nasa.gov.

Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program, please visit: http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/tfs

"Any teacher from anywhere in the country can submit a proposal to fly an experiment," said Cindy McArthur, Teaching From Space project manager. "It doesn't matter if you teach kindergarten or advanced placement in high school. What better way to make science and math come alive? We can't wait to see the experiments educators and their students propose."

Previous proposals were tied to NASA education programs such NASA Explorer Schools. This year the opportunity is open to any certified teacher, kindergarten through 12th grade, who is in the classroom and is a U.S. citizen. The teachers chosen to participate will design and fabricate an experiment that takes advantage of a reduced gravity environment – just like the environment onboard the International Space Station and the space shuttle.

On March 30, NASA will select 14 teams, composed of four or more teachers. This summer, teachers and their experiments will fly aboard a modified Boeing 727 jetliner provided by the Zero-Gravity Corp. of Las Vegas.

Modified Boeing 727 jetliner provided by the Zero-Gravity Corp

To achieve weightlessness, the aircraft makes roller-coaster-like climbs and dips to produce periods of micro- and hyper-gravity, ranging from 0 g's to 2 g's. It takes about 30 climbs to complete an experiment.

Teaching From Space is partnering with the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to provide the flights. The program continues NASA's investment in the nation's education programs by supporting the goal of attracting and retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines critical to future space exploration.

For more information about NASA's education activities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education

Images, Text, Credits: NASA / Zero-Gravity Corp.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Valentine’s Day Solar Flare

NASA - Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) patch / NASA-ESA - SOHO Mission patch.

02.17.11

The particle cloud produced by the Valentines Day event appears to be rather weak and is not expected to produce any strong effects at Earth other than perhaps some beautiful aurora in the high northern and southern latitudes on Feb. 17.

 Credit: NASA / SDO / SOHO

The video clip (above) is of the large X2 flare seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light on February 15, 2011, has been enlarged and superimposed on a video of SOHO's C2 coronagraph for the same period. This was the largest solar flare since December 5, 2006. The coronagraph images show the faint edge of a "halo" CME as it raced away from the Sun and began heading towards Earth. The video covers about 11 hours.

The lastest 48 hour solar movie from SDO in 304 angstrom. Credit: NASA / SDO / SOHO

 Credit: NASA / SDO (click on the image to see the animation)

Looks like the new solar cycle is beginning to ramp up. The sun emitted its first X-class flare in more than four years on February 14 at 8:56 p.m. EST.

X-class flares are the most powerful of all solar events that can trigger radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

This particular flare comes on the heels of a few M-class and several C-class flares over the past few days. It also has a CME associated with it that is traveling about 900 Km/second and is expected to reach Earth’s orbit on Feb. 16 at about 10 p.m. EST.

Image above: Active region 1158 let loose with an X2.2 flare late on February 15, the largest flare since Dec. 2006 and the biggest flare so far in Solar Cycle 24. Active Region 1158 is in the southern hemisphere, which has been lagging the north in activity but now leads in big flares! Here is a blowup of the flaring region taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 193 Angstroms. Much of the vertical line in the image is caused by the bright flash overwhelming the SDO imager. Credit: NASA / SDO.

More information about NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html

Images (mentioned), Videos (mentioned) Text, Credits: Susan Hendrix, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

ATV Johannes Kepler operating flawlessly

ESA - ATV2 Johannes Kepler Mission patch.

17 February 2011

Following a spectacular launch on 16 February, Europe's space freighter is now in its planned orbit. Mission controllers are preparing to match its trajectory with that of the International Space Station, where it will dock seven days from now.

After a one-day launch delay, ESA's next Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Johannes Kepler, lifted-off yesterday on an Ariane 5 launcher from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:50 GMT. A few minutes later, the vessel attained its initial operational orbit at 260 km altitude.

Launch of ATV-2 seen from space

Mission controllers immediately began checking out the spacecraft and ensuring that programmed sequences – including deployment of ATV's four large solar wings – had correctly taken place.

In-flight communication via relay satellites

ATV has established communications with its control centre in Toulouse, France, sending data and information via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of satellites that provides full-time communications with the International Space Station.

Flight dynamics experts on the joint ESA–CNES (French space agency) team in the control centre also carried out the first orbit determination, precisely fixing ATV's position and trajectory in space.

ESA mission controllers on console

This was done initially using the on-board startrackers and later via GPS satellite signals.

This information is being used to plan and conduct the first of a series of 'phasing manoeuvres'. This complex set of thruster burns will start raising ATV's altitude to that of the Station, currently about 350 km. By 24 February, ATV will be just 30 km behind the Station.

"We had an excellent orbit injection thanks to Ariane, and the spacecraft itself is performing flawlessly. With the one-day launch delay, docking with the ISS is now set for one day later than initially planned, now on 24 February," said ESA's Alberto Novelli, Head of the ATV Operations Division.

Arrival at ISS set for 24 February

In 2008, after the launch of the first ATV, Jules Verne, the vessel spent almost three weeks performing a series of test manoeuvres to prove its automated docking system worked as expected.

"This time, we have a proven spacecraft and an experienced team, so we'll get up to Station in just about a week," said Alberto.

An artist's impression of the ATV during final approach

Operating ATV requires an extended 'team of teams' spread around several establishments across Europe.

In addition to ESA and CNES personnel at the Toulouse centre, ESA specialists at the Agency's ESTEC technical centre, in the Netherlands, and at ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre, Germany, are supporting the mission.

ESA's Columbus Control Centre, near Munich, jointly staffed by ESA and DLR, the German Aerospace Center, is also involved in ATV operations, as are numerous experts from the industrial partners that build ATV.

"ATV is a truly European spacecraft. Flying it requires experts from ESA, partner agencies and industry across half a dozen countries," said ESA's Bob Chesson, Head of the Human Spaceflight Operations Department.

"Getting it built, into orbit and operating it in flight to docking requires a lot of hard work and dedication from hundreds of people."

Related links:

International Space Station: http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/iss.html

EADS Astrium: http://www.astrium.eads.net/

Arianespace: http://www.arianespace.com/index/index.asp

ATV blog: http://blogs.esa.int/atv

ATV-2 Mission Operations: http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Operations/SEMW6K161YF_0.html

Images, Text, Credits: ESA / NASA.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch