Scientists to Debate Landing Site for Next Mars Rover

NASA - Mars Rover 2020 logo.

Oct. 16, 2018

Image above: This artist's rendition depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover studying a Mars rock outrcrop. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Hundreds of scientists and Mars-exploration enthusiasts will convene in a hotel ballroom just north of Los Angeles later this week to present, discuss and deliberate the future landing site for NASA's next Red Planet rover – Mars 2020. The three-day workshop is the fourth and final in a series designed to ensure NASA receives the broadest range of data and opinion from the scientific community before the agency chooses where to send the new rover.

The Mars 2020 mission is tasked with not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life. The landing site for Mars 2020 is of great interest to the planetary community because, among the rover's new medley of science gear for surface exploration, it carries a sample system that will collect rock and soil samples and set them aside in a "cache" on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth. The next Mars landing, after Mars 2020, could very well be a vehicle that would retrieve these Mars 2020 samples.

Mars in a Minute: How do you choose a landing site?

Video above: So, you want to study Mars with a lander or rover – but where exactly do you send it? Learn how scientists and engineers tackle the question of where to land on Mars in this 60-second video and by visiting mars.nasa.gov. Video Credits: NASA/JPL.

"The Mars 2020 landing site could set the stage for Mars exploration for the next decade," said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "I'm looking forward to the spirited debate and critical input from the science and engineering community. Whichever landing site is ultimately chosen, it may hold the very first batch of Mars soil that humans touch."

The workshop begins with an opening address by the lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Michael Meyer. After project status, engineering constraints, and site-assessment criteria are discussed come the presentations. Fair warning: Expect plenty of technical jargon as terms like biosignatures, geochemical conditions, impact deformation, biogenetic potential, olivine lithologies, and serpentinization and its astrobiological potential roll off presenters' tongues.

"We have been doing these workshops in support of 2020 landing site selection since 2014," said Matt Golombek, cochair of the Mars Landing Site Steering Committee from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "At our first workshop, we started with about 30 candidate landing sites, and after additional orbital imaging and a second landing site workshop, we had a recommendation of eight sites to move forward for further evaluation. There were so many great locations to choose from, the whittling-down process was tough. This time around, with four finalists, it promises to be even more difficult. Each site has its own intriguing science potential and knowledgeable advocates."

Champions for four landing options will take their turn at the podium, presenting and defending their favorite parcel on the Red Planet. It is one more site than was expected after the completion of the third workshop, in 2017, where three locations on Mars were recommended for consideration – Columbia Hills, Jezero Crater and Northeast Syrtis.

"At the end of the workshop in February of 2017, there were only three sites on our radar as potential Mars 2020 landing locations," said Ken Farley, project scientist of Mars 2020 at JPL. "But in the ensuing months, a proposal came forward for a landing site that is in between Jezero and Northeast Syrtis. Our goal is to get to the right site that provides the maximum science for Mars 2020, and this new site – dubbed 'Midway' – was viewed as worthy of being included in the discussions."

On the final day, after all presentations have concluded, workshop participants will weigh the positives and negatives of each site. The results of these deliberations will be provided to the Mars 2020 Project, which will incorporate them into a recommendation to NASA Headquarters in Washington, where final selection will be made. The announcement of the Mars 2020 landing site is expected to come by the end of the year.

"I have attended all the workshops so far, and none have disappointed when it comes to intelligent advocation and lively debate," said Farley. "But this is what science is all about – the cogent and respectable exchange of ideas. The passion of the participants shows just how much they care about Mars exploration. They know they are playing a key role in the process, and they know how important the landing site for Mars 2020 will be."

Mars 2020 will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in July 2020. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.

The rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers. Scientists will use the instruments aboard the rover to identify and collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in sealed tubes and leave them on the planet's surface for potential return to Earth on a future Mars mission.

The Mars 2020 Project at JPL in Pasadena, California, manages rover development for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

For more information on the workshop, go to: https://marsnext.jpl.nasa.gov/workshops/wkshp_2018_10.cfm

For information on how to listen in to workshop presentations, go to: https://ac.arc.nasa.gov/landing-site-workshop/

For more information on Mars 2020, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

For more information about NASA's Mars missions, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov

Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Jon Nelson/JPL/DC Agle.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

CASC - BeiDou-3M satellites launch Success

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System logo.

Oct. 16, 2018

Long March 3B carrying Beidou-3M13 and Beidou-3M14 launch. Image Credit: CASC/Xinchua

A Long March-3B rocket launched another pair of BeiDou-3 navigation satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China, on 15 October 2018, at 04:23 UTC (12:23 local time). 

BeiDou-3M satellites launch- 15 October 2018

According to official sources, the two satellites, BeiDou-3 MEO-15 (M15) and BeiDou-3 MEO-16 (M16) entered the scheduled orbit after more than three hours. 

Artist's view of a BeiDou-3 satellite by J. Huart

The satellites are the 39th and 40th in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, respectively the 15th and 16th for the BeiDou-3 system. So far, China has launched a total of 40 Beidou satellites, and 11 more will be launched in the next two years, in an effort to complete the global navigation network into Medium Earth Orbit.

The Chinese Navigation Constellation. Image Credit: Beidou

Related article:

Long March 3B launches Beidou satellites:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/08/long-march-3b-launches-beidou-satellites.html

For more information about Beidou navigation system: http://www.beidou.gov.cn/

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

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: CASC/SciNews.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of Oct 8, 2018

ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.

Oct. 15, 2018

Last week’s departure of Expedition 56 astronauts marked the start of Expedition 57 and a new commander of the International Space Station, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. Current crew members also include NASA astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev.

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying Nick Hague of NASA and Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:40 a.m. CDT on Thursday. Shortly after launch, an anomaly with the booster resulted in an abort of the ascent to orbit and a ballistic landing of the spacecraft in Kazakhstan. Hague and Ovchinin were recovered from the capsule and are in good condition. Crew aboard the station were informed and continue to operate the station and conduct important scientific research.

Image above: NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscomos launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:40 a.m. CDT on Thursday. Shortly after launch, an anomaly with the booster resulted in an abort of the ascent to orbit and a ballistic landing of the spacecraft in Kazakhstan. Both are in good condition. Image Credit: NASA.

Research last week included investigations related to human health and performance, and growing better protein crystals.

Advancing DNA and RNA sequencing in space continues

Crew members conducted operations with the Biomolecule Sequencer for the BEST investigation. This study seeks to advance use of DNA and RNA sequencing in space, using sequencing to identify microbial organisms living on the space station and to help determine how humans, plants and microbes adapt to life there.

Image above: The Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST) biomolecule sequencer floats in the International Space Station above a view of Earth. Image Credit: NASA.

Samples collected for ongoing look at effects of spaceflight

For the Biochemical Profile investigation, a crew member collected blood and urine samples at 120 days into spaceflight. The investigation tests blood and urine samples before, during, and after spaceflight to analyze biomarkers, or specific proteins and chemicals in the samples used as indicators of health. Scientists can use a database of post-flight analysis of samples and test results to study the effects of spaceflight on the human body.

A cooler way to create crystals

The crew prepared JAXA LT PCG samples and placed them in the Stirling-Cycle Refrigerator (FROST) to begin the process of producing high-quality protein crystals in microgravity at low temperatures. This new technique contributes to the development of new drugs by revealing disease-related protein structure, and to the production of new catalysts for the environmental and energy industries.

Animation above: The JAXA LT PCG investigation grows high quality protein crystals in microgravity to determine protein structures in detail. Last week, crew members prepared the samples and placed them in the FROST facility aboard the station. Animation Credit: NASA.

And a closer look at crystal formation

Also last week, crew members reconfigured the Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) Light Microscopy Module (LMM) Biophysics facility for the LMM Biophysics 4 investigation. Proteins are important biological molecules that, when crystallized, provide better views of their structure that help scientists understand how they work. Proteins crystallized in microgravity are often higher in quality than those grown on Earth, and LMM Biophysics 4 examines the movement of single protein molecules in microgravity in order to determine why this is so.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Other work was done on these investigations:

- Food Acceptability examines changes in how food appeals to crew members during their time aboard the station. Acceptability of food – whether crew members like and actually eat something – may directly affect crew caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

- Sextant Navigation tests a hand-held sextant instrument that could provide emergency navigation for future manned spacecraft: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/Sextant_ISS

- BCAT-CS studies dynamic forces between sediment particles that cluster together: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668

- The Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG) is a sealed work area that accommodates life science and technology investigations in a workbench-type environment. Due to its larger size, two crew members can work in the LSG simultaneously: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7676

- Meteor is a visible spectroscopy instrument used to observe meteors in Earth orbit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1174

- ACME E-FIELD Flames studies the stability and sooting behavior of flames in microgravity to support development of less polluting and more efficient combustion technology for use on Earth: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2058

Related articles:

Crew in Good Condition After Booster Failure:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/crew-in-good-condition-after-booster.html

Soyuz MS-10 - Emergency landing after a failure:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/soyuz-ms-10-emergency-landing-after.html

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

BEST: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687

Biochemical Profile: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=980

JAXA LT PCG: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2031

LMM Biophysics 4: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7741

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

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), Animations (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 57/58.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hague Back in Houston, Station Crew Works Science and Cargo

ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.

October 15, 2018

NASA astronaut Nick Hague is safe and sound and back in Houston after last week’s mission to the International Space Station was aborted during ascent. Meanwhile, the three orbiting Expedition 57 crew members continue ongoing research, maintenance and cargo packing.

Hague returned to Houston Saturday following his emergency landing shortly after launch in the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft in Kazakhstan on Thursday. He and fellow Soyuz crew member Alexey Ovchinin were flown back to Moscow after medical checks in Kazakhstan then returned home to their families.

Image above: The International Space Station was orbiting about 256 miles above South Australia when a camera on board the orbital complex captured this celestial view of Earth’s atmospheric glow and the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA.

Back in space, two astronauts Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Commander Alexander Gerst and worked on a variety of life support and science experiments today. The duo also partnered up for cargo operations inside JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) HTV-7 resupply ship.

Flying above auroras. Animation Credit: NASA

Auñón-Chancellor started her day testing the performance of battery life in space for the Zero G Battery Test experiment. Gerst was activating and checking out a life support rack to ensure good carbon dioxide and water management in the device.

Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev worked throughout Monday on life support maintenance in the station’s Russian segment. The Russian flight engineer also ran on a treadmill in the Zvezda service module for an experiment observing how microgravity impacts exercise.

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

Zero G Battery Test: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7712

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Chandra Operations Resume After Cause of Safe Mode Identified

NASA - Chandra X-ray Observatory patch.

Oct. 15, 2018

The cause of Chandra's safe mode on October 10 has now been understood and the Operations team has successfully returned the spacecraft to its normal pointing mode. The safe mode was caused by a glitch in one of Chandra's gyroscopes resulting in a 3-second period of bad data that in turn led the on-board computer to calculate an incorrect value for the spacecraft momentum. The erroneous momentum indication then triggered the safe mode.

Image above: Illustration of the Chandra X-ray Observatory in Earth orbit. Image Credit: NASA.

The team has completed plans to switch gyroscopes and place the gyroscope that experienced the glitch in reserve. Once configured with a series of pre-tested flight software patches, the team will return Chandra to science operations which are expected to commence by the end of this week.

At approximately 9:55 a.m. EDT on Oct. 10, 2018, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory entered safe mode, in which the observatory is put into a safe configuration, critical hardware is swapped to back-up units, the spacecraft points so that the solar panels get maximum sunlight, and the mirrors point away from the Sun. Analysis of available data indicates the transition to safe mode was normal behavior for such an event. All systems functioned as expected and the scientific instruments are safe. The cause of the safe mode transition (possibly involving a gyroscope) is under investigation, and we will post more information when it becomes available.

Image above: Artist's concept of Chandra X-ray Observatory. Image Credits: NASA/CXC/SAO.

Chandra is 19 years old, which is well beyond the original design lifetime of 5 years. In 2001, NASA extended its lifetime to 10 years. It is now well into its extended mission and is expected to continue carrying out forefront science for many years to come.

Related article:

Chandra Enters Safe Mode; Investigation Underway:
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2018/10/chandra-enters-safe-mode-investigation.html

Chandra X-Ray Observatory: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Brian Dunbar.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

After Two Long Careers, QuikSCAT Rings Down the Curtain

NASA - SeaWinds scatterometer QuikSCAT Mission patch.

October 13, 2018

Launched in June 1999 for an intended two-year mission, NASA's SeaWinds scatterometer instrument on the QuikSCAT spacecraft was turned off on Oct. 2 in accordance with its end-of-mission plan. QuikSCAT spent its first decade creating an unprecedented record of the speed and direction of winds at the ocean surface. Then, for another nine years, it served as the gold standard of accuracy against which new spaceborne scatterometers were calibrated.

Image above: QuikSCAT imaged winds during many storms, including Hurricane Katrina, shown here covering the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. Highest wind speeds appear purple, with winds weakening outward from the eye. Barbs show wind direction; white barbs indicate heavy rainfall. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, QuikSCAT was a unique national resource that far surpassed NASA's original science objective for the mission. During its 10 years of observing winds over the global ocean surface, QuikSCAT measurements were used by the world's weather forecasting agencies to improve forecasts and identify and monitor hurricanes and other storms far out in the open seas. Its data also provided critical information for monitoring, researching, modeling, and forecasting the atmosphere, ocean, ice and climate.

Among its many accomplishments:

• QuikSCAT discovered that hurricane-strength winds occur frequently in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, where such strong winds were not previously expected to exist.

• It provided high-resolution observations of the dramatically accelerating changes in sea ice cover on the Arctic Ocean.

• The mission's measurements were used widely beyond weather forecasting and research -- for example, to help identify efficient shipping routes, plan new offshore wind farms, and guide search-and-rescue operations at sea.

Michael Freilich, the QuikSCAT mission's original principal investigator and now director of NASA's Earth Science Division, noted, "QuikSCAT operated in space for nearly two decades, and we are certain that its impact and legacy will last much longer."

Ernesto Rodríguez, QuikSCAT project scientist at JPL, said, "The decommissioning of QuikSCAT marks the passing of an era. Many scientists and forecasters have built their careers over the last 20 years using QuikSCAT. Its data led to major discoveries on the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere."

A few months after QuikSCAT's 10th anniversary, an age-related problem caused its spinning antenna to stop rotating, reducing its observing swath to only 19 miles (30 kilometers) wide. The extreme accuracy of this narrow swath measurement, however, allowed QuikSCAT to take on a second mission: calibrating newer satellites to enable a much longer data record of ocean winds.

SeaWinds scatterometer QuikSCAT spacecraft. Image Credits: NASA/JPL

Satellite instruments are regularly calibrated to ensure their readings match other data that are known to be accurate, and to correct for an instrument's normal drift in accuracy over time. QuikSCAT's exceptional stability made it invaluable in assuring that newer missions from the Indian and European space agencies and from NASA are providing apples-to-apples measurements. This function proved so important to the research community that QuikSCAT's decommissioning was postponed twice to allow time for new scatterometers to be launched and calibrated.

QuikSCAT project manager Rob Gaston of JPL said, "It's a testament to the research community's commitment to climate research that QuikSCAT's intercalibration mission has continued to receive the highest possible marks for science relevance in the reviews that NASA follows to establish funding priorities for missions like QuikSCAT. The intercalibration mission has enabled research that would not have been possible but for the remarkable stability of the SeaWinds instrument and the exceptional reliability and longevity of the QuikSCAT spacecraft."

QuikSCAT was originally a recovery mission after the loss of Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite, which hosted the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT). The QuikSCAT mission was conceived, developed and launched in less than two years. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado, built the spacecraft bus, and JPL designed and built the SeaWinds instrument. QuikSCAT was operated by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

NASA & JPL QuikSCAT: https://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/

ESA QuikSCAT: https://earth.esa.int/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/q/quikscat

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/JPL/Esprit Smith/NASA's Earth Science News Team, written by Carol Rasmussen.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Station Crew Busy With Science After Aborted Launch Ascent

ISS - Expedition 57 Mission patch.

October 12, 2018

Three Expedition 57 crew members are staying busy aboard the International Space Station after the climb to orbit of two crewmates was aborted Thursday morning. American Nick Hague and Russian Alexey Ovchinin made an emergency landing shortly after launch, but are in excellent shape and back in Russia. The trio in orbit is continuing science and maintenance aboard the orbital laboratory.

Image above: North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea are pictured as the International Space Station orbited 254 miles above the African continent. Japan’s Kounotori H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7) is pictured at left attached to the Harmony module. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA astronaut Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Ovchinin are safe and returned to Moscow with mission officials after their aborted mission. The Soyuz MS-10 rocket booster experienced a failure about two minutes after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hague will return to Houston, Texas, on Saturday and Ovchinin will stay in Moscow. Investigations into the cause of the failure are beginning, and the space station international partner agencies are evaluating what changes to the station’s operating plan will need to be adopted.

The three humans still orbiting Earth are safe with plenty of supplies and work to do on orbit. Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor started their day measuring how microgravity has impacted their muscles for the Myotones study. They then moved on to researching an ancient technique that may be used for emergency navigation on future space missions.

Serena Auñón-Chancellor is scheduled to talk with two different school groups on Monday and Thursday next week. One of those conversations will involve the flight of Seaman Jr., a plush toy that is part of the National Park Service’s celebration of its the 3,700 mile Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Image above: Flying on the line of the Terrestrial Ecuador, Pacific Ocean, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27'607 Km/h, altitude: 408,06 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 October 12, 2018 at 18:18 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev maintained life support systems in the Russian segment of the space station. He also updated the station’s inventory system and checked on Russian science experiments.

Related links:

Expedition 57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition57/index.html

Myotones: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7573

Ancient technique: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7646

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