NASA’s 'Robot Hotel' Gets Its Occupants

ISS - International Space Station logo.

July 21, 2020

Storage is just as important aboard the International Space Station as it is on Earth. While the space station is about the size of a football field, the living space inside is much smaller than that. Just as you wouldn’t store garden tools in a house when you could store them in a shed outside, astronauts now have a “housing unit” in which they can store tools for use on the exterior of the space station.

On Dec. 5, 2019, a protective storage unit for robotic tools called Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) was among the items launched to station as part of SpaceX’s 19th commercial resupply services mission for NASA. As part of a spacewalk on July 21, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Chris Cassidy installed the “robot hotel” where the tools are stored to the station’s Mobile Base System (MBS), where it will remain a permanent fixture. The MBS is a moveable platform that provides power to the external robots. This special location allows RiTS to traverse around the station alongside a robot that will use the tools it stores.

Image above: The Mobile Base System moves on the Mobile Transporter rail car along truss rails covering the length of the space station. It provides a movable platform for Canadarm2 and Dextre and can access any of eight worksites that feature power connections. Image Credit: NASA.

“RiTS provides thermal and physical protection for tools stored on the outside of station, not only freeing up room on board but also allowing the Canadian Space Agency’s Dextre robot to access them more quickly,” said RiTS Hardware Manager Mark Neuman.

Image above: RELL Engineering Development Unit (left) pictured alongside RiTS.
Image Credit: NASA.

The first step in the RiTS installation process involved preparing the unit inside the space station. The astronauts unpacked RiTS’ occupants from storage – two units of a tool called the Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL) – and affixed them inside RiTS’ aluminum housing.

Image above: Astronauts Robert Behnken, Doug Hurley, and Chris Cassidy prepare RiTS for installation. Image Credit: NASA.

“RELL is a great example how robots with the right tools can simplify life for astronauts,” said Neuman. “Dextre can use RELL to detect ammonia leaks, eliminating the need for astronauts to perform the same task during a spacewalk.”

The ability to locate and repair ammonia leaks efficiently is important since ammonia is used to operate station’s cooling system.

Image above: The Robotic External Leak Locator on the end of the Dextre robot in February 2017. Image Credit: NASA.

The installation of RiTS makes the leak location process much more streamlined. Before RiTS, the RELL tools were stored inside the station, and deploying RELL depended on airlock availability and involved waiting an additional 12 hours to allow for RELL’s gas analyzer to clear itself of internal gases. With RiTS, the only variable is Dextre’s availability, expediting the search for leaks.

After it was prepared on station, RiTS – loaded with the two RELL units – was sent outside with the spacewalking astronauts who attached it to the MBS. This was the first task during a spacewalk to upgrade International Space Station systems. The installation required the astronauts to mechanically attach RiTS to an available worksite socket then mate two electrical cables to unused power outlets on the MBS. The power connection was critical to enabling heaters within RiTS that keep the RELL tools from getting too cold.

Image above: RiTS installed on the space station. Image Credit: NASA TV.

Although RiTS will be used on the station, human-robot collaborations like this have the potential to be applied to other endeavors that involve human habitats in space, including Gateway.

RiTS was developed by NASA’s Exploration & In-space Services projects division at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in partnership with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Related links:

Mobile Base System (MBS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mobile-base-system/

Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL): https://nexis.gsfc.nasa.gov/rell.html

NASA’s Exploration & In-space Services: https://nexis.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Gateway: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/lunar-gateway

Future Human Spaceflight: https://www.nasa.gov/subject/3204/future-human-spaceflight

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Rob Garner/GSFC/Vanessa Lloyd.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA TV Broadcasts Spacewalk on Tuesday

ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

July 20, 2020

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Chris Cassidy and are scheduled to depart the International Space Station’s Quest airlock Tuesday for a spacewalk to will conduct a series of tasks in preparation for future upgrades to the station.

The duo will set their spacesuits to battery power about 7:35 a.m. EDT tomorrow, signifying the start of their spacewalk. NASA will begin its live coverage on NASA Television and the agency’s website at 6 a.m.

NASA Television and the agency’s website: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Image above: Astronauts (from left) Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken are pictured during previous spacewalks on earlier missions at the space station. Image Credit: NASA.

During their spacewalk, the two astronauts will remove handling aids from two locations at the base of station solar arrays, run cables, remove a lens filter cover from an external camera, and prepare the outside of the Tranquility module for the arrival later this year of the Nanoracks commercial airlock on a SpaceX cargo delivery mission.

This will be the 231st spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance and the ninth for each of the spacewalkers. Behnken will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 and wear a spacesuit bearing red stripes. Cassidy will be extravehicular crew member 2, wearing a suit with no stripes.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Cassidy arrived at the space station in April, taking command of Expedition 63. Behnken, who is serving as a flight engineer for the expedition, arrived at the station in May with fellow Commercial Crew astronaut Douglas Hurley on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 test flight.

Related links:

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.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

6 Technologies NASA is Advancing to Send Humans to Mars

NASA logo.

July 20, 2020

Mars is an obvious source of inspiration for science fiction stories. It is familiar and well-studied, yet different and far enough away to compel otherworldly adventures. NASA has its sights on the Red Planet for many of the same reasons.

Astronauts on Mars. Image Credit: NASA

Robots, including the Perseverance rover launching soon to Mars, teach us about what it’s like on the surface. That intel helps inform future human missions to the Red Planet. We’ll also need to outfit spacecraft and astronauts with technologies to get them there, explore the surface, and safely return them home. The roundtrip mission, including time in transit – from and back to Earth – and on the Martian surface, will take about two years.

Technology development has already begun to enable a crewed Mars mission as early as the 2030s. Many of the capabilities will be demonstrated at the Moon first, during the Artemis missions, while other systems are more uniquely suited for deeper space. Here are six technologies NASA is working on to make Mars science fiction a reality.

6 NASA Technologies to Get Humans to Mars

Video above: NASA is advancing many technologies to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. Here are six things we are working on right now to make future human missions to the Red Planet possible. Video Credit: NASA.

1. Powerful propulsion systems to get us there (and home!) quicker

Astronauts bound for Mars will travel about 140 million miles into deep space. Advancements in propulsion capabilities are the key to reaching our destination as quickly and safely as possible.

It is too soon to say which propulsion system will take astronauts to Mars, but we know it needs to be nuclear-enabled to reduce travel time. NASA is advancing multiple options, including nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion. Both use nuclear fission but are very different from each other. A nuclear electric rocket is more efficient, but it doesn’t generate a lot of thrust. Nuclear thermal propulsion, on the other hand, provides much more “oomph.”

Whichever system is selected, the fundamentals of nuclear propulsion will reduce the crew’s time away from Earth. The agency and its partners are developing, testing, and maturing critical components of various propulsion technologies to reduce the risk of the first human mission to Mars.

Animation above: Illustration of a spacecraft with a nuclear-enabled propulsion system.  Animation Credit: NASA.

2. Inflatable heat shield to land astronauts on other planets

The largest rover we’ve landed on Mars is about the size of a car, and sending humans to Mars will require a much bigger spacecraft. New technologies will allow heavier spacecraft to enter the Martian atmosphere, approach the surface, and land close to where astronauts want to explore.

NASA is working on an inflatable heat shield that allows the large surface area to take up less space in a rocket than a rigid one. The technology could land spacecraft on any planet with an atmosphere. It would expand and inflate before it enters the Martian atmosphere to land cargo and astronauts safely.

The technology isn’t ready for the Red Planet just yet. An upcoming flight test of a 6-meter diameter (about 20-feet) prototype will demonstrate how the aeroshell performs as it enters Earth’s atmosphere. The test will prove it can survive the intense heat during entry at Mars.

Image above: Engineers prepare for the flexible heat shield installation on the inflatable structure. The view is from bottom side, and the heat shield is on top. Image Credits: NASA’s Langley Research Center.

3. High-tech Martian spacesuits

Spacesuits are essentially custom spacecraft for astronauts. NASA’s latest spacesuit is so high-tech, its modular design is engineered to be evolved for use anywhere in space.

The first woman and the next man on the Moon will wear NASA’s next-generation spacesuits called the exploration extravehicular mobility unit or xEMU. The spacesuits prioritize crew safety while also allowing Artemis Generation moonwalkers to make more natural, Earth-like movements and accomplish tasks that weren’t possible during the Apollo missions.  

Future upgrades to address the differences on Mars may include technology for life support functionality in the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and modified outer garments to keep astronauts warm during the Martian winter and prevent overheating in the summer season.

Animation above: NASA’s next-generation spacesuit is designed to give astronauts more mobility on the Moon and Mars. Animation Credit: NASA.

4. Martian home and lab on wheels

To reduce the number of items needed to land on the surface, NASA will combine the first Martian home and vehicle into a single rover complete with breathable air.

NASA has conducted extensive rover testing on Earth to inform development of a pressurized mobile home on the Moon. Artemis astronauts who live and work in the future pressurized Moon rover will be able to offer feedback to help refine the rover capabilities for astronauts on Mars. NASA’s robotic rovers will help with the Martian design, too – everything from the best wheels for Mars to how a larger vehicle will navigate the tough terrain.

Much like an RV, the pressurized rover will have everything inside that astronauts need to live and work for weeks. They can drive in comfortable clothing, tens of miles from the spacecraft that will launch them back to space for the return trip to Earth. When they encounter interesting locations, astronauts can put on their high-tech spacesuits to exit the rover and collect samples and conduct science experiments.

Images above: Above: Illustration of a pressurized rover on Mars. Below: NASA is currently working to on a vehicle that will be able to navigate tough terrain on the Red Planet. Images Credit: NASA.

5. Uninterrupted power

Like we use electricity to charge our devices on Earth, astronauts will need a reliable power supply to explore Mars. The system will need to be lightweight and capable of running regardless of its location or the weather on the Red Planet.

Mars has a day and night cycle like Earth and periodic dust storms that can last for months, making nuclear fission power a more reliable option than solar power. NASA already tested the technology on Earth and demonstrated it is safe, efficient, and plentiful enough to enable long-duration surface missions. NASA plans to demonstrate and use the fission power system on the Moon first, then Mars.

Image above: Illustration of a nuclear fission power system concept on Mars.  Image Credit: NASA.

6. Laser communications to send more information home

Human missions to Mars may use lasers to stay in touch with Earth. A laser communications system at Mars could send large amounts of real-time information and data, including high-definition images and video feeds.

Sending a map of Mars to Earth might take nine years with current radio systems, but as little as nine weeks with laser communications. The technology would also allow us to communicate with astronauts, to see and hear more of their adventures on the Red Planet.

NASA proved laser communications is possible with a demonstration from the Moon in 2013. The agency’s next demo will work through different operational scenarios, perfect the pointing system, and address technology challenges from low-Earth orbit – things like clouds and other communications disruptions. NASA is building small systems to test for human spaceflight, including on the International Space Station and the first crewed Artemis mission. Another laser communications payload will venture to deep space to help inform what it takes to use the same technology millions and millions of miles away from Earth.

Animation above: Illustration of a spacecraft using laser communications to relay data from Mars to Earth. Animation Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

To learn more about NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars

Related links:

Nuclear thermal propulsion: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/game_changing_development/Nuclear_Thermal_Propulsion_Deep_Space_Exploration

Inflatable heat shield: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/loftid/index.html

Next-generation spacesuits: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/a-next-generation-spacesuit-for-the-artemis-generation-of-astronauts/

Rover testing: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1451.html

Laser communications: https://www.nasa.gov/lasercomms

Space Tech: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Loura Hall.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Falcon 9 carrying ANASIS-II launches success

SpaceX logo.

July 20, 2020

Falcon 9 carrying ANASIS-II lift off

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the ANASIS-II mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 20 July 2020, at 21:30 UTC (17:30 EDT).

Falcon 9 launches ANASIS-II & Falcon 9 first stage landing

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage (Block B1058) landed on the “Just Read the Instructions” drone-ship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Falcon 9’s first stage previously launched the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board. ANASIS-II is South Korea’s first dedicated military satellite.

Communications satellite (Illustration)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the Anasis 2, or KMilSatCom 1, communications satellite for the South Korean military. The spacecraft was built by Airbus Defense and Space. Delayed from July 14.

SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/

Images, Video, Text, Credits: SpaceX/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Largest 3D Universe Map Released

EPFL - Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne logo.


July 20, 2020

The fruit of a collaboration of more than twenty years and of hundreds of scientists from around thirty institutions including EPFL, a representation of the universe also shows it in the history of its expansion.

Image above: An image transmitted by the Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne, Sunday July 19. Image Credit: EPFL.

Astrophysicists around the world released the largest 3D map of the Universe on Monday. "This work simply offers us the most complete history of the expansion of the Universe to date," said one of the researchers, Will Percival, of the University of Waterloo.

The map, the result of more than twenty years of collaboration between hundreds of scientists from around thirty different institutions around the world, was drawn up from the latest cosmological survey of the SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey), named “The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey” (eBOSS), around a telescope located in New Mexico, United States.

Thanks to the numerous theoretical works carried out over time on the Big Bang, as well as to the observation of the cosmic diffuse background (a weak light radiation left by the Big Bang), the first moments of the Universe are relatively well known to researchers. Studies of galaxies and distance measurements had also given a good understanding of the expansion of the Universe that has occurred over the last billion years.

Image above: A chronology of the universe visualized by researchers, image of the NSF, the American national fund for science. Image Credit: NSF.

The use of quasars

"However, there was still a lack of data between the beginning of the Universe and the current period," said Kyle Dawson, of the University of Utah and one of the leaders of the project.

“In 2012, I launched the eBOSS project with the idea of ​​producing the most complete 3D mapping of the Universe, using for the first time new tracers such as galaxies actively forming stars and quasars (objects ultraluminous emitting colossal energy) ”, indicated Jean-Paul Kneib, astrophysicist at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL).

Earth and solar constellations on the 3D map. Image Credit: EPFL.

The map shows filaments of matter and voids defining the structure of the Universe from its beginnings, when it was only 380,000 years old. For the part of the map relating to the Universe six billion years ago in the past, the researchers observed the oldest and reddest galaxies. For more distant eras, they have focused on the younger, blue galaxies.

To go back as far as possible, that is to say up to eleven billion years ago, they used quasars - galaxies whose supermassive black hole, at their center, is made extremely luminous by the matter therein. engulfed.

The difficult measure of the exact speed of the Universe's expansion

The map shows that at some point the expansion of the Universe accelerated and has since continued to do so. According to the researchers, this acceleration seems to be due to the presence of dark energy, an invisible element which integrates into Einstein's general theory of relativity but whose origin is not yet understood.

Astrophysicists fill gaps in the history of the Universe

Astrophysicists have known for several years that the universe is expanding, but they have since tried to measure the exact speed of this expansion.

By comparing the observations made by the eBOSS program to studies conducted so far in the early days of the Universe, the researchers found a discrepancy between the speeds.

The one currently accepted, called the "Hubble constant", has turned out to be 10% slower than the calculated value, detailed the EPFL, noting that there is, to date, no explanation.

Related links:

eBOSS: https://www.sdss.org/surveys/eboss/

Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL): https://www.epfl.ch/en/

EPFL Press Release: https://actu.epfl.ch/news/astrophysicists-fill-gaps-in-the-history-of-the-un/

Images (mentioned), Video (EPFL), Text, Credits: AFP/EPFL/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Hope Mars Mission on way to Mars

UAE Space Agency - Hope Mars Mission patch.

July 20, 2020

Hope Mars Mission Launch

The UAE Space Agency’s Hope Mars Mission was launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’s H-IIA F42 launch vehicle from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex, at JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, on 19 July 2020, at 21:58:14 UTC (20 July, at 06:58:14 Japan Standard Time - JST).

Hope Mars Mission Launch

The Hope Probe (مسبار الأمل) was developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates and is designed to study the atmosphere of Mars.

"Hope" is expected to begin orbiting Mars by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the seven principalities that make up the United Arab Emirates. Once there, the probe will circle the planet for an entire Martian year of 687 Earth days. The goal is to provide a complete picture of the dynamics of time in the atmosphere of the red planet.

Emirates Mars Mission "Al-Amal" (Hope) probe

The UAE program is one of three ongoing projects towards the red planet, alongside the Tianwen-1 from China and March 2020 from the United States, which take advantage of the period when Earth and Mars are closest: to barely 55 million km apart, compared to an average of around 76 million km.

Related article:

Emirati probe to Mars launch again postponed
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/emirati-probe-to-mars-launched-again.html

Emirates Mars Mission: https://www.emiratesmarsmission.ae/

Images, Video, Text, Credits:UAE Space Agency(UAESA)/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries(MHI)/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Spacewalk Preps and 45 Years of U.S.-Russian Space Cooperation Today

ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

July 17, 2020

It was 45 years ago today when American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts shook hands for the first time in Earth orbit. The Apollo crew ship commanded by NASA astronaut Tom Stafford docked to the Soyuz crew ship led by Alexei Leonov on July 17, 1975, signifying the beginning of international cooperation in space.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Crew's. Image Credit: NASA

Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner commemorated the event today with a call from U.S. and Russian dignitaries. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project would lay the groundwork for the Shuttle-Mir project and the International Space Station program.

Watch the event on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6LlKYN8H9gU

Cassidy later joined his NASA crewmates Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to prepare for Tuesday’s spacewalk to wrap up battery swaps on the orbiting lab. Behnken and Cassidy will install the last lithium-ion battery on the station’s truss structure completing the 3.5 year-long power upgrade job. This follows Thursday’s six-hour spacewalk when the duo installed three lithium-ion batteries.

Image above: Astronaut Chris Cassidy works during a spacewalk on July 16 to install lithium-ion batteries on the station. The orbiting lab was flying into an orbital sunrise at the time this photograph was taken. Image Credit: NASA.

Before they go back inside the Quest airlock next week, the veteran spacewalkers will have one more job. The duo will get the Tranquility module ready for a new airlock built by NASA commercial partner NanoRacks. The airlock will enable public and private research on the outside of the station after its delivery on an upcoming SpaceX Dragon cargo mission.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

Meanwhile, critical space science to benefit humans on and off the Earth continues aboard the station. Ivanishin explored how microgravity impacts blood circulation and pain sensitivity. Vagner collected radiation measurements then studied how crews may pilot spaceships and robots on future space missions.

NASA Announces Crew Dragon Splashdown Date

Image above: NASA astronauts (from left) Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, are pictured inside the orbiting lab shortly after arriving aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on May 31. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine today announced August 2 as the target splashdown date for DM-2 crew members Behnken and Hurley, with additional details on the return of this historic mission to come.

Related articles:

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: An Orbital Partnership Is Born
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-apollo-soyuz-test-project-orbital.html

NASA Astronauts Conclude Today’s Spacewalk
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-astronauts-conclude-todays.html

Related links:

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

Tranquility module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/tranquility/

Blood circulation: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/11.html

Pain sensitivity: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/17.html

Pilot spaceships and robots: https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/24.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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

Best regards, Orbiter.ch