Cygnus Solar Arrays Deployed

 

Northrop Grumman - Cygnus CRS-16 Mission patch.

August 11, 2021

The solar arrays have successfully deployed on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft that is on its way to deliver approximately 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations, cargo, and supplies to the International Space Station after launching at 6:01 EDT Tuesday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft (archive). Image Credit: NASA

Coverage of the spacecraft’s approach and arrival to the orbiting laboratory will begin Thursday, Aug. 12, at 4:45 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website

Canadarm2 robotic arm capture scheduled at 6:10 a.m. EDT. NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s installation will begin Thursday, Aug. 12, at 8 a.m. EDT.

NASA Television: http://www.nasa.gov/live

This delivery is Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo flight to the space station and will support dozens of new and existing investigations.

Included aboard Cygnus for delivery to the space station are:

From dust to dwelling

Using resources available on the Moon and Mars to build structures and habitats could reduce how much material future explorers need to bring from Earth, significantly reducing launch mass and cost. The Redwire Regolith Print (RRP) study demonstrates 3D printing on the space station using a material simulating regolith, or loose rock and soil, found on the surfaces of planetary bodies such as the Moon. Results could help determine the feasibility of using regolith as the raw material and 3D printing as a technique for on-demand construction of habitats and other structures on future space exploration missions.

Maintaining muscles

As people age and become more sedentary on Earth, they gradually lose muscle mass, a condition called sarcopenia. Identifying drugs to treat this condition is difficult because it develops over decades. Cardinal Muscle tests whether microgravity can be used as a research tool for understanding and preventing sarcopenia. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, seeks to determine whether an engineered tissue platform in microgravity forms the characteristic muscle tubes found in muscle tissue. Such a platform could provide a way to rapidly assess potential drugs prior to clinical trials.

Taking the heat out of space travel

Longer space missions will need to generate more power, producing more heat that must be dissipated. Transitioning from current single-phase heat transfer systems to two-phase thermal management systems reduces size and weight of the system and provides more efficient heat removal. Because greater heat energy is exchanged through vaporization and condensation, a two-phase system can remove more heat for the same amount of weight than current single-phase systems. The Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE) aims to develop a facility for collecting data about two-phase flow and heat transfer in microgravity. Comparisons of data from microgravity and Earth’s gravity are needed to validate numerical simulation tools for designing thermal management systems.

Cooler re-entries

The Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE) demonstrates an affordable thermal protection system (TPS) to protect spacecraft and their contents during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Making these systems efficient remains one of space exploration’s biggest challenges, but the unique environment of atmospheric entry makes it difficult to accurately replicate conditions in ground simulations. TPS designers rely on numerical models that often lack flight validation. This investigation serves as an inexpensive way to compare these models to actual flight data and validate possible designs. Before flying the technology on the space station, researchers conducted a high-altitude balloon test to validate performance of the electronics and communications.

Getting the carbon dioxide out

Four Bed CO2 Scrubber demonstrates a technology to remove carbon dioxide from a spacecraft. Based on the current system and lessons learned from its nearly 20 years of operation, the Four Bed CO2 Scrubber includes mechanical upgrades and an improved, longer-lasting absorbent material that reduces erosion and dust formation. Absorption beds remove water vapor and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, returning water vapor to the cabin and venting carbon dioxide overboard or diverting it to a system that uses it to produce water. This technology could improve the reliability and performance of carbon dioxide removal systems in future spacecraft, helping to maintain the health of crews and ensure mission success. It has potential applications on Earth in closed environments that require carbon dioxide removal to protect workers and equipment.

Mold in microgravity

An ESA investigation, Blob, allows students aged 10 to 18 to study a naturally-occurring slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, that is capable of basic forms of learning and adaptation. Although it is just one cell and lacks a brain, Blob can move, feed, organize itself, and even transmit knowledge to other slime molds. Students replicate experiments conducted by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet to see how the Blob’s behavior is affected by microgravity. Using time-lapse video from space, students can compare the speed, shape, and growth of the slime molds in space and on the ground. The French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the French National Center for Scientific Research coordinate Blob.

These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations currently being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

Related article:

Liftoff of Northrop Grumman CRS-16 to Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/liftoff-of-northrop-grumman-crs-16-to.html

Related links:

Redwire Regolith Print (RRP): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8429

Cardinal Muscle: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8509

Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2064

Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8022

Four Bed CO2 Scrubber: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7635

Blob: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8530

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Madison Arnold.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Spots Perseverance From Above

 

NASA - Ingenuity Mars Helicopter logo.

Aug 11, 2021

Can you see NASA’s newest rover in this picture from Jezero Crater?

Image above: This image of the “South Séítah” region of Jezero Crater was taken by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 11th flight on Aug. 4. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently completed its 11th flight at the Red Planet, snapping multiple photographs during its trip. Along with capturing the boulders, sand dunes, and rocky outcrops prevalent in the “South Séítah” region of Jezero Crater, a few of the images capture NASA’s Perseverance rover amid its first science campaign.

Ingenuity began as a technological demonstration to prove that powered, controlled flight on Mars is possible. It is now an operations demonstration intended to investigate how a rotorcraft can add an aerial dimension to missions like Perseverance, scouting possible areas of scientific interest and offering detailed views of nearby areas too hazardous for the rover to explore.

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter exploration. Animation Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Ingenuity’s aerial images are awesome – but even better when you get to play ‘Where’s Perseverance?’ with them,” said Robert Hogg. “Once you find our rover and zoom in, you can make out some details, like the wheels, remote sensing mast, and the MMRTG” – the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator – “on the aft end.”

So where is Perseverance? At the bottom center of the image, you can find Ingenuity’s shadow. From there, go straight up. Just beyond South Seítah’s dune field near the top of the image and just to the right of center is a bright white speck. That’s what a Mars rover looks like from about 1,600 feet (500 meters) away and 39 feet (12 meters) up.

Image above: Ingenuity captured the Perseverance rover in an image taken during its 11th flight at Mars on Aug. 4. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Flight 11 was essentially designed to keep Ingenuity ahead of the rover, allowing it to continue to support Perseverance’s science goals by photographing intriguing geologic features from the air. Flying north-by-northwest at 11 mph (five meters per second), it took Ingenuity 130.9 seconds to make the trip to its 8th airfield. From this new staging area, the helicopter is scheduled to make at least one reconnaissance flight of the geologically intriguing South Séítah area.

More About Perseverance

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and https://nasa.gov/perseverance

More About Ingenuity

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. NASA's Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

For more information about Ingenuity:

https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit and https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA//JPL/DC Agle.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA Spacecraft Provides Insight into Asteroid Bennu’s Future Orbit

 

NASA - OSIRIS-REx Mission patch.

Aug 11, 2021

Along with collecting a sample from the Bennu’s surface, the spacecraft provided precision data to better predict the near-Earth object’s orbit around the Sun.

Image above: This mosaic of Bennu was created using observations made by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that was in close proximity to the asteroid for over two years. Image Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

In a study released Wednesday, NASA researchers used precision-tracking data from the agency’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft to better understand movements of the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu through the year 2300, significantly reducing uncertainties related to its future orbit, and improving scientists’ ability to determine the total impact probability and predict orbits of other asteroids.

The study, titled “Ephemeris and hazard assessment for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu based on OSIRIS-REx data,” was published in the journal Icarus.

“NASA’s Planetary Defense mission is to find and monitor asteroids and comets that can come near Earth and may pose a hazard to our planet,” said Kelly Fast, program manager for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We carry out this endeavor through continuing astronomical surveys that collect data to discover previously unknown objects and refine our orbital models for them. The OSIRIS-REx mission has provided an extraordinary opportunity to refine and test these models, helping us better predict where Bennu will be when it makes its close approach to Earth more than a century from now.”

In 2135, asteroid Bennu will make a close approach with Earth. Although the near-Earth object will not pose a danger to our planet at that time, scientists must understand Bennu’s exact trajectory during that encounter in order to predict how Earth’s gravity will alter the asteroid’s path around the Sun – and affect the hazard of Earth impact.

OSIRIS-REx Sheds Light on Hazardous Asteroid Bennu

Video above: This video explains how OSIRIS-REx data was used to precisely determine asteroid Bennu’s orbit around the Sun, helping scientists understand how Earth’s gravity will affect the asteroid’s trajectory when it makes a close approach in 2135. Video Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Using NASA’s Deep Space Network and state-of-the-art computer models, scientists were able to significantly shrink uncertainties in Bennu’s orbit, determining its total impact probability through the year 2300 is about 1 in 1,750 (or 0.057%). The researchers were also able to identify Sept. 24, 2182, as the most significant single date in terms of a potential impact, with an impact probability of 1 in 2,700 (or about 0.037%).

Although the chances of it hitting Earth are very low, Bennu remains one of the two most hazardous known asteroids in our solar system, along with another asteroid called 1950 DA.

Before leaving Bennu May 10, 2021, OSIRIS-REx spent more than two years in close proximity to the asteroid, gathering information about its size (it is about one-third of a mile, or 500 meters, wide), shape, mass, and composition, while monitoring its spin and orbital trajectory. The spacecraft also scooped up a sample of rock and dust from the asteroid’s surface, which it will deliver to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, for further scientific investigation.

OSIRIS-REx & Asteroid Bennu. Animation Credit: NASA

“The OSIRIS-REx data give us so much more precise information, we can test the limits of our models and calculate the future trajectory of Bennu to a very high degree of certainty through 2135,” said study lead Davide Farnocchia, of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’ve never modeled an asteroid’s trajectory to this precision before.”

Gravitational keyholes

The precision measurements on Bennu help to better determine how the asteroid’s orbit will evolve over time and whether it will pass through a “gravitational keyhole” during its 2135 close approach. These keyholes are areas in space that would set Bennu on a path toward a future impact with Earth if the asteroid were to pass through them at certain times, due to the effect of Earth’s gravitational pull.

To calculate exactly where the asteroid will be during its 2135 close approach – and whether it might pass through a gravitational keyhole – Farnocchia and his team evaluated various types of small forces that may affect the asteroid as it orbits the Sun. Even the smallest force can significantly deflect its orbital path over time, causing it to pass through or completely miss a keyhole.

Among those forces, the Sun’s heat plays a crucial role. As an asteroid travels around the Sun, sunlight heats up its dayside. Because the asteroid spins, the heated surface will rotate away and cool down when it enters the nightside. As it cools, the surface releases infrared energy, which generates a small amount of thrust on the asteroid – a phenomenon called the Yarkovsky effect. Over short timeframes, this thrust is minuscule, but over long periods, the effect on the asteroid’s position builds up and can play a significant role in changing an asteroid’s path.

“The Yarkovsky effect will act on all asteroids of all sizes, and while it has been measured for a small fraction of the asteroid population from afar, OSIRIS-REx gave us the first opportunity to measure it in detail as Bennu traveled around the Sun,” said Steve Chesley, senior research scientist at JPL and study co-investigator. “The effect on Bennu is equivalent to the weight of three grapes constantly acting on the asteroid – tiny, yes, but significant when determining Bennu’s future impact chances over the decades and centuries to come.”

The team considered many other perturbing forces as well, including the gravity of the Sun, the planets, their moons, and more than 300 other asteroids, the drag caused by interplanetary dust, the pressure of the solar wind, and Bennu’s particle-ejection events. The researchers even evaluated the force OSIRIS-REx exerted when performing its Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event Oct. 20, 2020, to see if it might have slightly altered Bennu’s orbit, ultimately confirming previous estimates that the TAG event had a negligible effect.

“The force exerted on Bennu’s surface during the TAG event were tiny even in comparison to the effects of other small forces considered,” said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “TAG did not alter Bennu’s likelihood of impacting Earth.”

Tiny risk, huge gain

Although a 0.057% impact probability through the year 2300 and an impact probability of 0.037% on Sept. 24, 2182, are low, this study highlights the crucial role that OSIRIS-REx operations played in precisely characterizing Bennu’s orbit.

“The orbital data from this mission helped us better appreciate Bennu’s impact chances over the next couple of centuries and our overall understanding of potentially hazardous asteroids – an incredible result,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator and professor at the University of Arizona. “The spacecraft is now returning home, carrying a precious sample from this fascinating ancient object that will help us better understand not only the history of the solar system but also the role of sunlight in altering Bennu’s orbit since we will measure the asteroid’s thermal properties at unprecedented scales in laboratories on Earth.”

More about OSIRIS-REx

Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lauretta is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission's science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace in Tempe, Arizona, are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency's New Frontiers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

To view the images discussed during today’s media teleconference, visit:

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13906

More about NASA’s CNEOS and Planetary Defense Coordination Office

CNEOS computes high-precision orbits for near-Earth objects (NEOs) in support of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, to help precisely characterize every NEO’s orbit to improve long-term hazard assessments.

More information about CNEOS, asteroids, and near-Earth objects can be found at:

https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense

For asteroid and comet news and updates, follow @AsteroidWatch on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/AsteroidWatch

Related links:

Journal Icarus: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114594

NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN): https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/networks/deep_space_network

Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx): https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

NASA's New Frontiers Program: https://www.nasa.gov/planetarymissions/newfrontiers.html

Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Karen Fox/Alana Johnson/Josh Handal/GSFC/Rani Gran/JPL/Ian J. O'Neill.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Liftoff of Northrop Grumman CRS-16 to Space Station

 

Northrop Grumman - Cygnus CRS-16 Mission patch.

August 10, 2021

The following NASA photographs show the launch of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket carrying the S.S.Ellison Onizuka Cygnus cargo spacecraft, which lifted off at 6:01 p.m. EDT from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Space Port Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Jamie Adkins.

Cygnus is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS).

Image above: A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen in the vertical launch position on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Image Credits: NASA/Terry Zaperach.

Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-16 Cygnus spacecraft is named in honor of American astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who was the first Asian American to fly in space.

NG-16 Antares launches S.S. Ellison Onizuka Cygnus

Video above: The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus resupply spacecraft aboard, launches from Pad 0A, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Video Credits: NASA TV/SciNews.

Related links:

Northrop Grumman: https://www.northropgrumman.com/

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

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Madison Arnold.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Aviation Week Awards NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter With Laureate

 

NASA - Mars Helicopter Ingenuity logo.

August 10, 2021

The prestigious honor recognizes the pioneering rotorcraft for its history-making flights on the Red Planet.

Image above: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took the image on the left with its high-resolution color camera and the image on the right with its navigation camera during its 10th Flight, on July 24, 2021. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The “little helicopter that could” has garnered attention, fans, and numerous accolades, with the latest coming from Aviation Week Network in the form of a 2021 Laureate Award. The Laureate Awards honor “extraordinary achievements in aerospace.”

When the 4-pound (1.8 kilogram) rotorcraft hovered on Mars for 39.1 seconds on April 19, 2021, it was the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet – a true Wright brothers moment. Since then, Ingenuity has chalked up 11 flights, with a total distance of just over 1 mile (2.2 kilometers), reaching an altitude record of 40 feet (12 meters) in its 10th sortie.

Ingenuity hitched a ride to the Red Planet on Perseverance, which landed on Feb. 18 2021. It was designed as a technology demonstration and carries no science payloads on board. Its mission was to prove that humanity can fly powered vehicles on Mars.

Artist's view of Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

After Ingenuity achieved its tech demo goals, the helicopter entered its current operations demonstration phase to test its abilities as an aerial explorer, quickly imaging and scouting areas of Mars. This capability has proven useful to Perseverance operators and scientists. During its most recent flights, Ingenuity has surveyed areas of particular interest for Perseverance to potentially explore in its hunt for signs of ancient life.

“The helicopter has succeeded in ways the Ingenuity team could only have imagined at the outset of this project,” said Ingenuity Operations Lead Teddy Tzanetos. “The small but mighty team behind this small but mighty rotorcraft is, needless to say, thrilled at its success and honored for the acknowledgment. We’re also eager to see what comes next with the operations demonstration.”

The helicopter is paving the way for possible future missions that could use rotorcraft to help scout, explore, and even carry science payloads on other worlds.

The Laureate award will be presented at a ceremony in October in McLean, Virginia. Full list of 2021 Laureate Award winners: https://laureates.aviationweek.com/en/winners/2021-winners.html

More About Ingenuity

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance.

At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. At JPL, MiMi Aung is the project manager and J. (Bob) Balaram is chief engineer.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

For more information about Ingenuity:

https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit and https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA//JPL/DC Agle/Written by Jane Platt.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Gravity assists: nature balances her books

 

ESA - European Space Agency patch.

August 10, 2021

On Earth, fuel is a limited, precious resource. In space, we trade energy freely with the planets.

As Arthur C. Clarke said in 1987 “Nature always balances her books”, referring to the fact that energy in the universe is always conserved: it cannot appear from nowhere or disappear into nothing.

Solar Orbiter flies by Venus

As such, flying spacecraft through the Solar System is about the clever management of energy – stealing or giving to passing planets depending on where we want to go.

This transfer of energy is called a gravity assist, slingshot, planetary swingby or flyby, and without them we could not have voyaged to the many corners of the Solar System we have today.

With orbits, size matters

In space, “speeding up” or “slowing down” only make sense with respect to another object. A train might travel 70 km per hour with respect to a stationary passenger, but as seen from the Sun the train’s movement also includes the motion of the Earth as it orbits and spins. It’s all relative.

Solar Orbiter’s second Venus flyby

More often when talking about the movements of planets and spacecraft in the Solar System, we speak of their “orbital energy”, a value which is directly related to the size of an object’s orbit. Pluto, at the edge of the Solar System, travels in a much larger orbit than Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, meaning Pluto’s orbital energy is far, far greater than Mercury’s.

To get a spacecraft to Mercury, we therefore have to match its orbit. When BepiColombo was launched, its orbital energy was the same as our home planet’s. Therefore, BepiColombo needs to either use a vast amount of propellant to ‘put on the brakes’, or it can shed excess orbital energy by flying close to neighbouring planets.

The same works in reverse to voyage to the outer Solar System. To get into a larger orbit, further from the Sun, a spacecraft such as ESA’s upcoming Juice mission to Jupiter will steal orbital energy from Earth, Venus and Mars.

It all depends on your frame of reference

So what’s the difference between stealing energy from a planet and donating to it? It all depends on the relative motion of the spacecraft and the planet.

BepiColombo skims past Venus

From the perspective of a planet being flown by, the spacecraft comes towards it and leaves with the same velocity, only its path has been deflected. (The spacecraft has also deflected the planet, but by such a miniscule amount as to be insignificant. Nonetheless, Newton’s third law of motion has been preserved: “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”.)

But remember, the planet itself is in motion around the Sun, and orbiting with a huge amount of momentum. As seen from the perspective of the Sun, the spacecraft is not just diverted on its path but it will have picked up or dropped off orbital energy depending on the geometry of the encounter.

BepiColombo Venus flyby

To increase speed with respect to the Sun, the spacecraft flies with the movement of the planet, acquiring some of the planet's orbital energy in the process; to decrease speed with respect to the Sun, the spacecraft flies against the movement of the planet to transfer some of its own orbital energy to the planet.

In both cases, energy transferred to or from the planet is negligible, but makes a big difference to our tiny spacecraft. It would take a spacecraft billions of times bigger than those we have today to measurably nudge a planet!

Orbital mechanics: a merging of nature and science

To voyage through the Solar System requires more than simply a rocket, thrusters and propellant. Our teams of flight dynamics experts and flight control teams at ESA’s Operation’s Centre have to understand, work with, and get the best out of the motions of the planets and the unavoidable laws of nature.

Find out about the double gravity assist of Venus taking place over 9-10 August, in which BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter both used the planet to alter their orbits, bringing them closer to Mercury and the Sun.

Related article:

ESA gets ready for double Venus flyby
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/08/esa-gets-ready-for-double-venus-flyby.html

Related links:

ESA’s Operation’s Centre (ESOC): https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESOC

European Space Agency (ESA): https://www.esa.int/

Image, Animation, Videos, Text, Credits: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Rocket Lab - Mission Success for the U.S. Space Force

 

Rocket Lab - It’s A Little Chile Up Here - Flight 21 patch.

August 10, 2021

Electron launch F21 Mission

It feels good to be in orbit once again! Our 21st Electron flight ‘It’s A Little Chile Up Here’ successfully launched on July 29, deploying an R&D satellite called Monolith for the United States Space Force (USSF).

The mission was managed by the Launch Enterprise’s Small Launch and Targets Division, which is part of the USSF’s launch organization of choice. The mission was affectionately named ‘It’s A Little Chile Up Here’ in a nod to the beloved green chile of New Mexico where the Space Test Program (STP) is based.

Rocket Lab - It's A Little Chile Up Here Launch 07/29/2021

The mission followed on from a previous Rocket Lab mission for STP, launched in May 2019, called ‘That’s a Funny Looking Cactus.’

Congratulations to all the teams behind Monolith (and thank you for letting us have fun with mission names!) Programs like Monolith, and the Rapid Agile Launch Initiative that underpins it, shine a light on the crucial role small launch can play in supporting fast-paced innovation in orbit.

Related link:

Rocket Lab: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/

Image, Video, Text, Credit: Rocket Lab.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch