Orbiter.ch Space News

mercredi 9 mai 2018

Copernicus Sentinel-3B delivers first images

ESA - Sentinel-3 Mission logo.

9 May 2018

Less than two weeks after it was launched, the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite has delivered its first images of Earth. Exceeding expectations, this first set of images include the sunset over Antarctica, sea ice in the Arctic and a view of northern Europe.

The very first image, captured on 7 May at 10:33 GMT (12:33 CEST), shows the transition between day and night over the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. The satellite also captured swirls of sea ice off Greenland on the same day. Another in this first set of images offers a rare cloud-free view of northern Europe.

Antarctic sunset

They were taken by the satellite’s ocean and land colour instrument, which features 21 distinct bands, a resolution of 300 m and a swath width of 1270 km. The instrument can be used to monitor aquatic biological productivity and marine pollution, and over land it can be used to monitor the health of vegetation.

Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, said, “The launch of Sentinel-3B completed the first batch of Sentinels that we are delivering for Copernicus.

“We finished the launch and early orbit phase in a record time and we are now getting on with the task of commissioning the satellite for service.

“These first images from the ocean and land colour instrument already show how the satellite is set to play its role in providing a stream of high-quality environmental data to improve lives, boost the economy and protect our world.”

The Sentinel-3B satellite lifted off from Russia on 25 April and joins it identical twin, Sentinel-3A, in orbit. This pairing of satellites increases coverage and data delivery for the European Union’s Copernicus environment programme.

Greenland swirls

As the workhorse mission for Copernicus, the two satellites carry the same suite of instruments to systematically measure Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere.

Over oceans, it measures the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice. These measurements are used, for example, to monitor changes in Earth’s climate and for more hands-on applications such as for monitoring marine pollution.

Over land, this innovative mission monitors wildfires, maps the way land is used, checks vegetation health and measures the height of rivers and lakes.

European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elzbieta Bienkowska, said, “This new satellite will deliver valuable images of how our oceans and land are changing.

“This will not only speed up the response to natural disasters, but also create new business opportunities. Earth observation is a larger market than you would think – a driver for research discoveries, a provider of highly skilled jobs and a developer of innovative services and applications.”

Northern Europe

Bruno Berruti, ESA’s Sentinel-3 Project Manager, said, “We are extremely pleased to see these first images, which show that the satellite is in good health.

“ESA will spend the next five months carefully calibrating the instruments and commissioning the satellite for service before it is handed over to Eumetsat for routine operations.”

During this commission phase the two Sentinel-3 satellites will be flown in a tandem formation, separated by about 30 seconds.

Sentinel-3B will then be phased to reach its final position – flying in the same orbit, but adjusted to be separated by 140° with respect to Sentinel-3A.

Once commissioned, ESA will hand over satellite operations to Eumetsat. It will then be managed jointly, with ESA generating the land products and Eumetsat the marine products for application through the Copernicus services.

Alain Ratier, Director-General of Eumetsat, added, “The Sentinel-3 constellation establishes the European backbone of a space-based, global ocean-monitoring system.

Sentinel-3B liftoff

“These first images are the first demonstration that Sentinel-3B will deliver on its promise to usher in a new era for operational oceanography and flow-on benefits for human safety, businesses and industry.

“They will amplify the benefits of the Sentinel 3 mission for ocean forecasting and the blue economy.”

Sentinel-3B is the seventh Sentinel satellite launched for Copernicus. Each mission carries different state-of-the-art technology to deliver a stream of complementary imagery and data to monitor the environment.

Related article:

Seventh Sentinel satellite launched for Copernicus
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2018/04/seventh-sentinel-satellite-launched-for.html

Related links:

Sentinel-3: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-3

Sentinel data access: https://scihub.copernicus.eu/

Copernicus: http://copernicus.eu/

EUMETSAT: https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/index.html

Thales Alenia Space: https://www.thalesgroup.com/

Images, Text, Credits: ESA/S. Corvaja/contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by EUMETSAT, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

mardi 8 mai 2018

CASC - Long March 4C launches Gaofen-5 satellite

CASC - China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation logo.

May 8, 2018

Long March 4C carrying Gaofen 5 launch

China launched a new remote sensing satellite called Gaofen-5 via a Long March 4C from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on Tuesday. Launch took place at 18:28 from the LC9 launch complex.

The Gaofen civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellites (gao fen = high-resolution) are part of a program that is one of the 16 main programs announced by the State Council in a 15 year plan of Chinese national science and technology programs between 2006 and 2020.

Long March 4C carrying Gaofen 5 launch

This program will become the main civilian Earth observation project of China in the next years, combining the use of satellites as well as airplanes and even stratosphere balloons.

The program was started in 2010 and at least 14 satellites are planned, forming a near-real-time, all-weather, global surveillance network for agricultural planning, disaster relief, environment protection, and security purposes.

Gaofen satellite

In May 2010, China officially initiated the development China High-Resolution Earth Observation System (CHEOS), which is established as one of the major national science and technology projects. The Earth Observation System and Data Center of China National Space Administration (EOSDC-CNSA) is responsible for organizing the construction of the CHEOS.

The Earth Observation System and Data Center, China National Space Administration was established in Mar 2010. The Center is principally responsible for organizing and implementing as well as managing CHEOS. It is also responsible for EO application services, commercial development, technology consultant and international cooperation.

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

Images, Video, Text, Credits: CASC/Xinhua/Günter Space Page/NASA Spaceflight.com/Rui C. Barbosa.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of April 30, 2018

ISS - Expedition 55 Mission patch.

May 8, 2018

Last week, crew members aboard the International Space Station were busy preparing the SpaceX Dragon capsule for its return to Earth. Packed with hardware and scientific samples, Dragon is scheduled to splash down to Earth no earlier than May 6.

Image above: Thunderstorms over southeast Asia as seen from the space station. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel continued to prepare for their upcoming spacewalk by taking their body measurements to ensure a proper fit inside their spacesuits. The duo will work outside the orbital lab to swap out thermal control gear that circulates ammonia to keep station systems cool.

Here is a look at some of the science that happened last week aboard your orbiting laboratory:

New centrifuge installed into Human Research Facility-2

The Human Research Facility (HRF) racks support human research, evaluating the physiological, behavioral and chemical changes induced by spaceflight. Experiments that use the capabilities provided by the racks will produce data to help scientists understand how the human body adapts to long-duration spaceflight.

Image above: A sprouting as a part of the Veggie PONDS investigation. Image Credit: NASA.

Last week, Feustel installed the HRF Payload Drawer containing the new centrifuge. After installation, airbags and launch materials were removed from the interior of the facility and the circuit breakers and switches were checked ahead of the checkout activity planned for Wednesday.

Japanese satellite launcher prepares for upcoming deployments

The JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) provides a novel, safe, small satellite launching capability to the space station. The J-SSOD is a unique satellite launcher, handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), which provides containment and deployment mechanisms for several individual small satellites.

Image above: The crew removes PCG-9 sample bags containing Copper Sulfate from a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) and checks them for crystal growth. Image Credit: NASA.

Last week, the crew extended the slide table into the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) from the JEM Airlock (JEMAL) and installed the Multipurpose Experiment Platform (MPEP). Two small satellites were installed on to the MPEP for a later deployment.

Student experiment sees first crystal formations

The Wisconsin Crystal Growing Contest-Wisconsin Space Crystal Mission (CASIS PCG 9) investigation provides student researchers the opportunity to explore crystal growth in the microgravity environment of the space station. Crystals grown without the influence of gravity have shown to contain fewer imperfections and grow to larger sizes. Middle and high school students compete to grow the most-perfect ground-based crystal, as judged by experts in the crystallography field. The students who present the crystals with the fewest imperfections have the opportunity to fly their experiments to space.

Image above: Multi-Use Variable G Platform Food chamber removal and insertion with food chamber fixative. Image Credit: NASA-

Last week, crew members removed sample bags containing Copper Sulfate from the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) and checked them for crystal growth. Crystals were present in every sample bag. The precipitant solution was removed from each bag using a syringe. This activity was necessary to prevent further crystal growth during the Dragon return process and to prevent the crystals from dissolving back into the precipitant solution.

Space to Ground: Releasing Dragon: 05/04/2018

Lasers in Space: Earth Mission Tests New Technology

NASA & DLR - GRACE Mission patch.

May 8, 2018

Crazy Engineering: GRACE-FO

Video above: Crazy Engineering sees double! Twin satellites that will track water movement on Earth and test a new laser measurement technology. Video Credits: NASA/JPL.

Imagine standing on the roof of a building in Los Angeles and trying to point a laser so accurately that you could hit a particular building in San Diego, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away. This accuracy is required for the feat that a novel technology demonstration aboard the soon-to-launch Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission will aim to achieve. For the first time, a promising technique called laser ranging interferometry will be tested between two satellites.

GRACE-FO, scheduled to launch May 19, carries on the rich legacy of the original GRACE mission, which launched in 2002 on a planned five-year mission and concluded operations in October 2017. Among its insights, GRACE transformed our understanding of the global water cycle by showing how masses of liquid water and ice are changing each month. The mission also added to our knowledge of large-scale changes in the solid Earth. GRACE-FO will provide continuity for GRACE’s landmark measurements for at least another five years, further improving scientific understanding of Earth system processes and the accuracy of environmental monitoring and forecasts.

How Did GRACE Work?

GRACE obtained its data on the movement of Earth’s mass by precisely measuring slight changes in the distance between two spacecraft that flew one behind the other around Earth. When the satellites encountered a change in the distribution of Earth’s mass -- such as a mountain range or mass of underground water -- Earth’s gravitational pull on the spacecraft changed the distance between them. The Himalaya Mountains, for example, changed the separation distance by about three-hundredths of an inch (80 micrometers). By accurately calculating each month how the satellites’ separation distance changed during each orbit and over time, it was possible to detect changes in Earth’s mass distribution with high precision.

Animation above: GRACE-FO will demonstrate the effectiveness of using lasers instead of microwaves to more precisely measure fluctuations in the separation distance between the two spacecraft, potentially improving the precision of range fluctuation measurements by a factor of at least 10 on future GRACE-like missions.
Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Measuring the change in the separation between the spacecraft was possible to a high degree of precision because each spacecraft was transmitting microwaves toward the other. The way the waves interacted with each other -- the way they interfered with each other -- created a microwave interferometer in space. This process essentially transformed the two spacecraft into a single instrument that could very precisely measure the distance change between them, which in turn can be related to changes in the mass distribution on Earth.

What’s New About GRACE-FO?

GRACE-FO works on these same principles. Each spacecraft again carries a microwave instrument to track changes in the separation distance. But GRACE-FO also carries something new: a technology demonstration of a laser ranging interferometer (LRI), jointly managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert-Einstein Institut) in Hanover, Germany. In addition to transmitting microwaves between each other, the GRACE-FO satellites will shine lasers at each other.

Since the wavelengths in a laser beam are significantly shorter than microwave wavelengths, the laser ranging interferometer will improve the tracking precision of separation changes -- just as measuring in millimeters instead of centimeters would be more precise. GRACE-FO’s interferometer will detect changes in distance more than 10 times smaller than what the microwave instrument detects -- changes on the order of 100 times narrower than a human hair.

“With GRACE-FO, we’re taking something cutting-edge from the lab and making it ready for space flight,” said Kirk McKenzie, the LRI instrument manager at JPL. “The reason we spend decades working in the lab is to see our technology enable a new type of measurement and result in scientific discoveries.”

Image above: The Laser Ranging Interferometer instrument. Image Credits: Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover, Germany.

Each GRACE-FO satellite will be able to detect the laser signal of the other. But this is no easy feat. Each laser has the power of about four laser pointers and must be detected by a spacecraft an average of 137 miles (220 kilometers) away. Even the ultra- precise assembly of the satellites isn’t enough to guarantee the laser transmitted from each spacecraft will be aligned well enough to hit the other spacecraft.

As a result, McKenzie explains, the first time the laser ranging interferometer is turned on, the components of the LRI on each spacecraft need to perform a scan to send out the instrument’s signals and try to “catch” the other’s signals in all possible configurations. The spacecraft have so many possible configurations, it takes nine hours. For one millisecond out of those nine hours, there will be a flash on both spacecraft to show that they’re talking to each other. After this signal acquisition occurs once, the interferometer’s optical link will be formed and then the instrument is designed to operate continuously and autonomously.

“We’re trying something that is very hard -- the first-ever demonstration of laser interferometry in space between satellites,” said Gerhard Heinzel, the instrument manager at the Max Planck Institute. “But it’s very satisfying to puzzle over a problem and find something that works.”

Image above: GRACE-FO will measure monthly changes in gravitational pull resulting from changes in Earth's mass below the orbiting satellites. As the satellites orbit Earth, one following the other, these moving masses alter the gravitational pull below them, changing the distance between them very slightly. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The difficulty of the task required tapping different areas of expertise. JPL oversaw the laser on the interferometer, measurement electronics and optical cavity. The Max Planck Institute was responsible for the optics, detectors, mirrors and beam splitters. The GRACE-FO laser ranging interferometer also took advantage of the two groups’ 15-year-long history of collaborating on the technology behind the ESA/NASA Laser Interferometer in Space Antenna (LISA) mission, which will launch in the early 2030s.

Why Try Something So Difficult?

“The laser ranging interferometer on GRACE-FO is potentially an enabling technology for future missions around Earth or even to look at the universe,” said Frank Webb, GRACE-FO’s project scientist at JPL. “This new, higher precision measurement should enable more efficient missions in the future with lower mass, power and cost. We’re eager to see how it performs and what new signals we might be able to tease out of the data.”

If successful, this new technology, along with an improved accelerometer, promises to improve the resolution of future GRACE-FO like missions to better than 200 miles (300 kilometers) in diameter, allowing future missions to track and pinpoint changes in smaller bodies of water, ice and the solid Earth.

GRACE-FO is a partnership between NASA and German Research Centre for Geoscience (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany. JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Additional contributors to the laser ranging interferometer include SpaceTech in Immenstaad; Tesat-Spacecom in Backnang, Germany; Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado; iXblue in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics in Adlershof and Institute of Space Systems in Bremen; Hensoldt Optronics in Oberkochen; Apcon AeroSpace and Defence in Neubiberg/Munich; Diamond USA, Inc., and Diamond SA in Losone, Switzerland; and Airbus Defence and Space in Friedrichshafen.

For more information on GRACE-FO, visit:

https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/ and https://www.nasa.gov/gracefo

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

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Satellite detects Kilauea Fissures

NASA - EOS Terra Mission patch.

May 8, 2018

Satellite View of Kilauea Eruption

Image above: ASTER image acquired May 6 picks up hotspots on the thermal infrared bands - shown in yellow. These hotspots are newly formed fissures and lava flows. Image Credits: NASA/JPL/ASTER.

The eruption of Kilauea Volcano on the island of Hawaii triggered a number of gas- and lava-oozing fissures in the East Riff Zone of the volcano. The fissures and high levels of sulfur dioxide gas prompted evacuations in the area.

Images taken from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) onboard NASA's Terra satellite picked up these new fissures. In the first image, the red areas are vegetation, and the black and gray areas are old lava flows. The yellow areas superimposed over the image show hot spots that were detected by ASTER's thermal infrared bands. These hot spots are the newly formed fissures and new lava flow as of May 6. In the second photo, also acquired on May 6, the long yellow and green streaks are plumes of sulfur dioxide gas.

Image above: Massive sulfur dioxide plumes, extracted from ASTER's multiple thermal bands, are shown here in yellow and green. Image Credits: NASA/JPL/ASTER.

On April 30, the floor of Kilauea's crater began to collapse. Earthquakes followed, including one that measured magnitude 6.9, and lava was pushed into new underground areas that eventually broke through the ground in such areas as the Leilani Estates.

Kilauea is the youngest and southeastern-most volcano on the island. Eruptive activity along the East Rift Zone has been continuous since 1983. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER): https://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA EOS Terra satellite: https://terra.nasa.gov/

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/JPL/Esprit Smith.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

lundi 7 mai 2018

Station Getting Ready for Spacewalks and Next Cargo Mission

ISS - Expedition 55 Mission patch.

May 7, 2018

International Space Station officials will preview a pair of upcoming spacewalks live on NASA TV Tuesday. Meanwhile, Orbital ATK is getting its Cygnus resupply ship ready for launch in less than two weeks while the Expedition 55 crew focuses on biomedical studies today.

Image above: The full moon was pictured April 30, 2018 as the International Space Station orbited off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Image Credit: NASA.

Two NASA astronauts are going out for a spacewalk May 16 to swap out thermal control gear that circulates ammonia to keep station systems cool. Station experts will be on NASA TV beginning at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday to preview next week’s spacewalk including a second spacewalk planned for June 14. Both excursions will be conducted by veteran spacewalkers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel.

Feustel and Arnold verified their spacesuits are sized correctly with assistance from astronauts Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Tingle also checked the batteries that power the U.S. spacesuits.

On May 20, just four days after the first spacewalk, Orbital ATK is planning to launch its Cygnus space freighter on a four day trip to the orbital laboratory. Cygnus will resupply the Expedition 55 crew with new science experiments, crew supplies, station hardware and gear that will be installed on the June 14 spacewalk.

Image above: Flying over South Pacific Ocean, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'584 Km/h, altitude: 412,14 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam's from ISS on May 7, 2018 at 18:59 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Today’s science taking place onboard the station explored how microgravity affects blood pressure and blood vessels. Kanai started his day photographing his face to help scientists understand how the upward flow of fluids impacts intracranial pressure affecting a crew member’s eyes. He later attached sensors to his legs, scanned them with an ultrasound device and checked his blood pressure for the Vascular Echo study.

Related links:

Intracranial pressure: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1690

Vascular Echo: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=636

Orbital ATK: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/orbital.html

NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Expedition 55: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition55/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

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

samedi 5 mai 2018

Science Return on Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

SpaceX - Dragon CRS-14 Mission patch.

May 5, 2018

SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft splash down in the Pacific Ocean today, Saturday May 5, west of Baja California, with more than 4,000 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station.

The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach, where some cargo will be removed immediately for return to NASA. Dragon then will be prepared for a return trip to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for final processing.

Image above: The SpaceX Dragon splashes down in the Pacific Ocean in May of 2016 after resupplying the Expedition 47 mission. Image Credit: SpaceX.

A variety of technological and biological studies are returning in Dragon:

Samples from the Metabolic Tracking study will help researchers understand the effects of microgravity on the metabolic impact of five different therapeutic compounds. This investigation determines the feasibility of developing improved pharmaceuticals in microgravity using a new method to test the metabolic impacts of drug compounds. This could lead to more effective, less expensive drugs.

The APEX-06 investigation studied the growth, development, and gene expression profiles of seedlings from the monocot Brachypodium distachyon. Most major cereal grain crops used to produce food belong to a class of plants called monocotyledons or monocots, flowering plants whose seeds typically contain only one embryonic leaf. This investigation will lead to a better understanding of the molecular and developmental mechanisms that contribute to adaptation to spaceflight conditions. In the long term, results may also lead to the development of strategies aimed at improving monocot adaptability to spaceflight parameters, which would be beneficial for future human space exploration as monocots provide many food staples.

Dragon waiting its recovery. Image Credit: SpaceX

Fruit Fly Lab–03 is the third mission of the Fruit Fly Lab aboard the station using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila are used for research because approximately 75 percent of human disease genes have analogs in the fruit fly genome. This mission studied the effects of the space environment on innate immunity, which is the branch of the immune system responsible for quick, non-specific responses to infection. This subject is important for preparing for future exploration as immune system dysfunction and infections are potential risks for astronauts on long-duration space exploration missions.

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft currently capable of returning cargo to Earth, and this was the second trip to the orbiting laboratory for this spacecraft, which completed its first mission nearly two years ago. SpaceX launched its 14th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission to the station April 2 from Space Launch Complex 40 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket that also previously launched its 12th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission to the station.

For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,300 research investigations from researchers in more than 100 countries.

Related links:

Metabolic Tracking: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7517

APEX-06: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7524

Fruit Fly Lab–03: https://www.nasa.gov/ames/research/space-biosciences/fruit-fly-lab-03-spacex-14

Commercial Resupply: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/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

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

Greetings, Orbiter.ch