US Space Program - a thread

[SvenSvensonov]

KSC to Build New Launch Complex 39C, Opens Opportunities for Small-Class Launch Providers

KSC to Build New Launch Complex 39C, Opens Opportunities for Small-Class Launch Providers « AmericaSpace

As KSC transitions to a multiuser spaceport, more and more opportunities are becoming available to businesses both big and small in the commercial space industry. Image Credit: Talia Landman / AmericaSpace

Earlier this week NASA announced plans to build a new launch complex for small class launch vehicles at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The new launch pad, Launch Complex-39C (LC-39C), will cater to private businesses looking to develop commercial space capabilities for launching small satellites. This goes hand-in-hand with KSC’s vision of becoming the world’s premier multiuser spaceport, and the development of this new launch complex adds to the versatility of the transforming space center by providing opportunities to ventures and start-up companies in the small satellite industry.

Located at Launch Pad 39B, which is currently undergoing renovation and construction to support launching NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the smaller LC-39C will have the capability to support small class launch vehicles that produce thrust under 200,000 lbs. A significant increase in the development of small satellites, and the lack of capabilities to launch them, recognizes the need for an appropriate launch complex.

Tom Engler, deputy director of Center Planning and Development at KSC, told AmericaSpace that the small class vehicle market was an exciting area for potential commercial space growth.

“This market is being driven through the development of small satellites, mainly in the 3U to 6U range, typically weighing in the 50 to 100 kg range. Due to the significant increase in the desire to develop and launch these small satellites and the lack of capacity in the current launch market, there is significant interest in the development of a small launcher to specifically launch these satellites,” explained Engler.

The development of a small launcher for small class vehicles to launch payloads into low-Earth orbit (LEO) is part of the 21st Century Launch Complex initiative at KSC. It is a mobile system called the Deployable Launch System (DLS) and based on a concept design that NASA describes as a “launch pad in a box.” The supporting ground equipment consists of a launch mount, flame deflector, propellant servicing system, and other basic components necessary for launching small class launch vehicles. The project is managed by the KSC Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program and plans on being operational by the end of 2015.

Deployable Launch System Concepts. (Top) Vertical processing/integration in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), with transport to the pad. (Bottom) Vertical integration at the launch pad.
Image Credit: NASA

There are multiple processing concepts that can be supported by the small class vehicle infrastructure at the space center. The small launch vehicle can be vertically processed/integrated in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and transported to the pad, or vertically integrated at the launch pad.

The Deployable Launch Structure (DLS) will have a total weight capacity of around 130,000 and thrust capability of 200,000 lbs. An umbilical tower will have to be provided by the customer.

According to NASA, the Universal Propellant Servicing System (UPSS) will consist of liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane (LCH4) pressure fed propellant transfer systems with expendable storage volume. The UPSS will also be adaptable to other propellants like liquid hydrogen (LH2), kerosene, and more.

Engler told AmericaSpace that the “overall business for small launch vehicles could grow significantly once they begin flying to low earth orbit.” The capability to launch from KSC will further the development of the small class launch vehicle launch market and bring more growth to the area.

For Glenn Wagner, the opportunity to launch small vehicles from KSC will greatly benefit his start-up business. Wagner is CEO of WAGNER Industries in Orlando and a rapid prototyping engineer. He currently leads a team of young engineers and researchers building small launch vehicles for small payloads. Wagner was motivated to begin his venture company when he realized the complications associated with launching small payloads.

“Current launching costs of small payloads are near $40,000 per kg. Dedicated slots are limited. Secondary slots can be denied on date of launch. Waits average up to three years. Its cause is from a backlog of mini satellites pre-certified for a flight slot, and lack of dedicated launch slots and secondary launch slots to provide for them. The backlog itself is currently at eight years total with many mini satellites needed to be re-certified if they do not launch.”

A map provided in the KSC Master Plan shows an additional launch complex (LC-39D) and a Vertical Landing Area above LC-39B and -39C. There is also a “Notional Small Vehicle Launch Site” between LC-39A and LC-41.
Image credit: NASA

Wagner has been eyeing locations like Black Rock in Nevada and Cecil Field in Florida for launching his rockets. “Few locations to launch from,” he said. “Kodiak, Mojave, [and] Space Florida offer locations however space is limited to proven vehicles. Blackrock is available to many for ideal testing however distance and location are not ideal for launching. Launching from 39C would enable close proximity launches for our company. Potentially lowering launch costs overall.”

WAGNER Industries caters to a variety of customers in a number of diverse markets. Wagner said his specific customers for launches are those interested in interspatial communications, oceanic and geographic data, and information for humanitarian causes. The Orlando start-up currently has three launch vehicles in development: Konshu 1 (10 kg), Konshu VCLS (60 kg), and Konshu 2 (125 kg).

A map of future vertical launch areas provided in the KSC Master Plan shows various locations for future commercial use. It is important to note that there is a fourth launch complex, 39D, to the upper left of 39C and a vertical landing complex. There is also a “Notional Small Vehicle Launch Site Area” between LC-39A (operated by SpaceX) and LC-41 (operated by United Launch Alliance). AmericaSpace reached out to Engler about whether or not NASA plans on building an additional launch complex in the near future.

“KSC has released an Announcement for Proposals and a separate Notice of Availability that allows for commercial development of vacant land as launch sites and associated processing facilities and part of the implementation of the KSC Master Plan,” said Engler.

NASA recently created an Announcement for Proposals (AFP) for “launch service providers interested in developing vertical launch capabilities on KSC property in accordance with the KSC Master Plan.” Undeveloped land is being offered for commercial purposes to private companies that fit the Vertical Launch requirements. NASA does not expect to benefit from this AFP but instead promote National Space Policy.

According to the Agency Announcement for Proposals for Implementation of the KSC Master Plan, the government objectives for this are:

• Increase commercial access to space
• Enhance U.S. commercial competitiveness in the space launch industry
• Diversify the user base and launch capabilities at KSC
• Promote public-private partnerships to build, expand, modernize, or operate space launch and reentry infrastructure, through launch complex development at KSC

Not only is there a new launch pad for small class launch vehicles undergoing development, but there is land available for potential launching and landing sites as well. Business ventures and start-ups are invited to attend an Industry Day on June 16 to visit the sites and gain a better understanding of the opportunities being made available at KSC. Those interesting in attending Industry Day must fill out a request and have it completed and turned in to the Agreement Officer by 12 p.m. EDT on June 15, 2015.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

John Young: The Prolific Astronaut

John Young, the ninth man to walk on the moon, flew on three NASA programs: Gemini, Apollo and the space shuttle.

John Young first joined NASA as an astronaut when the agency was flying two-man space capsules. He left when the agency was flying the space shuttle. In between, he flew six space missions – the first person to do so.

In his decades with the agency, Young racked up several milestones. He made it to the moon's neighborhood twice, and walked on it once. He commanded the first space shuttle flight and then came back into space yet again to command another. His flight experience spanned three different programs: Gemini, Apollo and the space shuttle.

hot-rodding on the moon during Apollo 16

first Space Shuttle flight

-------------------------------------------------------

What a lucky guy! The only man to walk on the moon AND fly on the Space Shuttle.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Astronomers Trace Spiral Structure of Milky Way With WISE

Astronomers Trace Spiral Structure of Milky Way With WISE « AmericaSpace

Using data from NASA’s WISE spacecraft, astronomers were able to trace the shape of our Milky Way galaxy’s spiral arms, by revealing the presence of hundreds of open clusters of very young stars shrouded in dust, called embedded clusters, which are known to reside in spiral arms. The image shows the location of the newly discovered stellar clusters along the Milky Way’s spiral arms. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech)

In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the entire Milky Way galaxy is mapped in great detail and divided into four quadrants, each one with its own set of alien civilisations that are at the center of the series’ drama. In real life, this level of detailed mapping of our home galaxy still is the stuff of science fiction, with only small portions of our galactic neighborhood being having been charted in any significant detail. A new series of observations from NASA’s WISE spacecraft now comes to enhance our view of the Milky Way, allowing astronomers to trace its spiral structure by unveiling hundreds of previously unseen star clusters that were embedded deep within molecular clouds of dust and gas.

Ever since Edwin Hubble established in the early 1920’s that our 100,000 light-year-wide Milky Way was just one of the hundreds of billions of galaxies that populate the Universe, astronomers have been struggling to find more about the nature and overall structure of our expansive galactic complex. Comparative studies with ground-based telescopes of the Milky Way with other galaxies during the mid-20th century, had indicated that our own galaxy is a spiral one similar to the emblematic Pinwheel Galaxy, or M101, which is one of the most-known spiral galaxies in the local Universe. But what is the exact structure of the Milky Way? Since our Solar System is located within the galactic disk we can’t obtain an overview photo of our galaxy from above similar to those of other galaxies that have been taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and other space observatories. Nevertheless, our position inside the galactic plane gives us the opportunity to study the stellar population as well as the great amounts of interstellar gas and dust of the Milky Way to an extent that isn’t possible for even the nearest galaxies to our own. In this way, astronomers can gather valuable clues for deciphering our galaxy’s overall structure and morphology.

An image collage of the Milky Way galaxy, as seen in various wavelengths across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The advent of space-based infrared astronomy coupled with a long series of comprehensive all-sky surveys with ground-based radio telescopes that have taken place during the last half century, have provided great views into the plane of the Milky Way by allowing astronomers to penetrate the dust and gas of the interstellar medium which hinders observations in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, or 2MASS, which was a ground-based all-sky infrared survey that was conducted between 1997 and 2001 yielded many important discoveries, including the detection of hundreds of brown dwarfs and low mass stars within the Milky Way as well as the discovery of previously unseen open star clusters which are formed inside giant molecular clouds. The latter are mainly composed of very young and massive O and B-type blue and white stars with ages that are not greater than a few dozen million years, thus representing a brief evolutionary step in the lives of stars. Since the bulk of the galaxy’s stellar population is thought to form inside such open groups, the detailed study of the latter is fundamental in understanding stellar and galactic evolution in general as well as the overall structure of the galaxy itself. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has also been instrumental in this research effort. In 2005, the orbiting observatory made history by providing the first concrete evidence that the Milky Way isn’t just a simple spiral galaxy but a barred-spiral one instead, featuring a massive 27,000 light-year-wide bar that extends from its center. Subsequently, Spitzer caused much stir within the scientific community in 2008, when it returned tantalising evidence which had indicated at the time that the Milky Way might only have two major spiral arms instead of four as was previously thought to be the case. Then in 2013, the four-spiral arm picture of the Milky Way returned on the spotlight again, when the results of the all-sky survey in radio wavelengths revealed that our galaxy indeed had four spiral arms after all, each with a different stellar composition of old and read and blue and young stars respectively.

In their efforts to bring a greater consensus within the scientific community regarding the Milky Way’s true structure, a research team of astronomers from Brazil led by Denilso Camargo, an astronomer at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, conducted a comprehensive analysis of archival data that had been taken with NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. Launched in December 2009, WISE completed two high-resolution surveys of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, before its hydrogen coolant eventually ran out in February 2011, allowing astronomers to discover hundreds of thousands of new previously unseen celestial objects within our home galaxy and beyond and peer deep into the massive molecular clouds of the Milky Way where star formation is actively taking place.

A colour composite mosaic image of the Trapezium cluster, which is located at the central regions of the famous Orion Nebula. Such open star clusters have been of great importance to astronomers, in their efforts to decipher the true structure of the Milky Way. Image Credit: ESO/M.McCaughrean et al. (AIP)

A sub-category of open star clusters is that of Embedded Clusters, which can be seen as the precursors of the former – very young stellar aggregations in the earliest stages of their evolution that are still heavily immersed in the massive interstellar gas clouds from which they were formed. Since embedded clusters have very short lifespans, in the order of a few million light years, they are excellent tracers of the Milky Way’s spiral structure inside which most of open star clusters lie. “It is widely accepted that spiral arms are the preferred sites of star formation and, as most stars form within embedded clusters, the arms are sites of cluster formation,” write the researchers in their study which was published in the May 20 online edition of theMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. “Star formation may occur after the collapse and fragmentation of giant molecular clouds that occur within spiral arms transforming dense gas clumps into embedded clusters. Based on the absence of massive carbon monoxide-bright molecular clouds in the inter-arm space, [previous studies] argue that molecular clouds must form in spiral arms and be short-lived (less than 10 million light-years). Then, the spiral arms may be traced by young star clusters, especially embedded clusters that have not had enough time to move far from their birth places.” Operating under this assumption, Camargo team searched the WISE archives extensively, and was able to discover a total of 437 new embedded and open star clusters within the galactic plane, which allowed the researchers to put more constrains on the expected structure of the Milky Way.

Analysis of the WISE images as well as those taken with the 2MASS survey, revealed that in accordance with the results of previous similar studies, open clusters aren’t distributed randomly in interstellar space but follow a distinct spiral pattern instead that extends outwards dozens of thousands of light-years away from the center of the Milky Way across the galactic plane. The results of the recent study by Camargo’s team, which focused on seven of the newly discovered embedded clusters out of the total 437, showed that the latter were distributed along three of the Milky Way’s spiral arms, predominantly the Sagitarius-Carina, Perseus, and the Outer arm. “Most embedded clusters in the present sample are distributed in the second and third quadrants along the Perseus arm,” write the researchers in their study. “In this region, the Perseus arm is located at galactocentric distances in the range of 9 kiloparsec [approximately 29,000 light-years] in the second quadrant to 10.5 kiloparsecs in the third quadrant for a distance of the Sun to the Galactic Centre of 7.2 kpc [approximately 23,000 light-years], or in the range of 9.8–11.3 kpc for a distance of the Sun from the galactic center of 8 kpc…The Sagittarius–Carina spiral arm in the region traced by our embedded cluster sample is at a galactocentric distance of approximately 6.4 kpc [20,000 light-years]…In [previous studies] by Camargo et al. (2013), based on the distribution of embedded clusters we confirmed that the Outer arm extends along the second and third Galactic quadrants with galactocentric distances in the range of 12.5–14.5 kpc [40,000-48,000 light-years] for a distance of the Sun from the galactic center of 7.2 kpc…There is a large discrepancy between the stellar Outer arm and the gaseous Outer arm with a distance larger than 20 kpc [65,000 light-years], but it appears to be a common feature for large spiral galaxies.”

An image taken with the WISE spacecraft, showing the newly discovered stellar cluster aggregate in the Milky Way’s Perseus arm. Image Credit: D. Camargo et al (2015)/Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 450, Issue 4.

These new results by Camargo’s team come to complement a previous study by the same researchers, which recently unveiled the presence of two young open star clusters which were quite surprisingly found to lie approximately 16,000 light-years below the plain of the Milky Way, offering tantalising hints about our galaxy’s tumultuous history which possibly included great tidal interactions between the latter and its neighboring satellite galaxies, like the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. “Our work shows that the space around the Galaxy is a lot less empty that we thought,” commented Camargo regarding the two newly found clusters far beyond the galactic disk. “The new clusters of stars are truly exotic. In a few million years, any inhabitants of planets around these stars will have a grand view of the outside of the Milky Way, something no human being will probably ever experience.”

As is always the case in astronomy and astrophysics, the study of a certain class of celestial objects, can provide great insights to other members of the cosmic zoo as well. “The Milky Way is our galactic home and studying its structure gives us a unique opportunity to understand how a very typical spiral galaxy works in terms of where stars are born and why,” says Dr. Melvin Hoare, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Leeds in the UK.

The detailed charting of the Milky Way galaxy as portrayed in the fictional universe of Star Trek may be the stuff of science fiction, but astronomers’ mapping efforts of our home galaxy in real life, nevertheless constitute a fine example of a science fiction concept that is slowly being turned into reality.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

NASA Prepares for First Interplanetary CubeSats on Agency’s Next Mission to Mars

NASA Prepares for First Interplanetary CubeSat Mission | NASA

NASA's two small MarCO CubeSats will be flying past Mars in 2016 just as NASA's next Mars lander, InSight, is descending through the Martian atmosphere and landing on the surface. MarCO, for Mars Cube One, will provide an experimental communications relay to inform Earth quickly about the landing.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

When NASA launches its next mission on the journey to Mars – a stationary lander in 2016 – the flight will include two CubeSats. This will be the first time CubeSats have flown in deep space. If this flyby demonstration is successful, the technology will provide NASA the ability to quickly transmit status information about the main spacecraft after it lands on Mars.

The twin communications-relay CubeSats, being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, constitute a technology demonstration called Mars Cube One (MarCO). CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft.

The full-scale mock-up of NASA's MarCO CubeSat held by Farah Alibay, a systems engineer for the technology demonstration, is dwarfed by the one-half-scale model of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter behind her.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The basic CubeSat unit is a box roughly 4 inches (10 centimeters) square. Larger CubeSats are multiples of that unit. MarCO's design is a six-unit CubeSat – about the size of a briefcase -- with a stowed size of about 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) by 9.5 inches (24.3 centimeters) by 4.6 inches (11.8 centimeters).

MarCO will launch in March 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander. Insight is NASA’s first mission to understand the interior structure of the Red Planet. MarCO will fly by Mars while InSight is landing, in September 2016.

“MarCO is an experimental capability that has been added to the InSight mission, but is not needed for mission success,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “MarCO will fly independently to Mars."

During InSight’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) operations on Sept. 28, 2016, the lander will transmit information in the UHF radio band to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) flying overhead. MRO will forward EDL information to Earth using a radio frequency in the X band, but cannot simultaneously receive information over one band while transmitting on another. Confirmation of a successful landing could be received by the orbiter more than an hour before it’s relayed to Earth.

MarCO’s radio is about softball-size and provides both UHF (receive only) and X-band (receive and transmit) functions capable of immediately relaying information received over UHF.

The two CubeSats will separate from the Atlas V booster after launch and travel along their own trajectories to the Red Planet. After release from the launch vehicle, MarCO's first challenges are to deploy two radio antennas and two solar panels. The high-gain, X-band antenna is a flat panel engineered to direct radio waves the way a parabolic dish antenna does. MarCO will be navigated to Mars independently of the InSight spacecraft, with its own course adjustments on the way.

Ultimately, if the MarCO demonstration mission succeeds, it could allow for a “bring-your-own” communications relay option for use by future Mars missions in the critical few minutes between Martian atmospheric entry and touchdown.

By verifying CubeSats are a viable technology for interplanetary missions, and feasible on a short development timeline, this technology demonstration could lead to many other applications to explore and study our solar system.

JPL manages MarCO, InSight and MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Technology suppliers for MarCO include: Blue Canyon Technologies of Boulder, Colorado, for the attitude-control system; VACCO Industries of South El Monte, California, for the propulsion system; AstroDev of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for electronics; MMA Design LLC, also of Boulder, for solar arrays; and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc., a Terran Orbital Company in San Luis Obispo, California, for the CubeSat dispenser system.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

XCOR’s Lynx Spaceplane Meets Development Milestone Leading Up to First Test Flight

XCOR’s Lynx Spaceplane Meets Development Milestone Leading Up to First Test Flight « AmericaSpace

The XCOR Lynx Mark I vehicle being fabricated at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif. Photo: Mike Massee / XCOR Aerospace

XCOR Aerospace proudly announced continued progress on its Lynx spaceplane, a suborbital spacecraft designed to take humans and payloads to the edge of space. The Lynx strakes, a major portion of the Lynx aerodynamic shell, were successfully bonded to the fuselage of the Lynx Mark I spacecraft on April 30, marking a major milestone for the company as they can now begin the electric wiring and installing process on the Lynx reusable launch vehicle (RLV).

The Lynx is the company’s two-seat, piloted space transport vehicle and its entry into the competitive commercial RLV market. Lynx will take off and land horizontally, like an aircraft, but instead of a jet or piston engine the Lynx will use its own reusable rocket propulsion system of four XR-5K18 engines to safely depart and return on a runway. The vehicle will take humans and payloads on a 30-minute journey to the edge of space, topping out at 330,000 feet (100 km).

Four XR-5K18 rocket engines will power XCOR’s Lynx launch vehicles. Credit: XCOR Aerospace

The first XCOR Lynx suborbital vehicle is currently undergoing production at XCOR Aerospace Hangar 61 in Mojave, Calif. The 10,375-square-foot hangar houses their team of more than fifty skilled employees at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Rapid development on the Lynx Mark I spacecraft means that the company is coming closer and closer to Lynx full assembly and first flight. The vehicle will take a pilot and a participant to the edge of space and provide inexpensive suborbital launch services to numerous markets. The Lynx Mark I is the company’s initial flight test vehicle and is expected to begin a flight test program later this year.

The integration of the strakes to the Lynx Mark I spacecraft marks a big step toward final vehicle assembly for the growing aerospace company.

“Today marks another solid milestone in our progress toward first flight, clearing the path for a series of important moments that will accelerate Lynx development,” said XCOR President and Chief Executive Officer Jay Gibson.

Each strake is subdivided into four separate fuel tanks. They are pressurized during flight and provide the engines with a combustible hydrocarbon liquid used in jet engines called kerosene. Two reaction control thrusters and a main landing gear assembly are stored inside each strake. The lynx will use the reaction control thrusters while it is out of the atmosphere and making altitude changes.

Now that the strakes are successfully bonded to the vehicle, Chief Technology Officer Jeff Greason described the next steps for Lynx development: “We have an open path toward the integration of a number of subsystems, and this means we will now start electrical wiring, plumbing, installing the control system, and populating the landing gear bays.”

Last December, just five months ago, XCOR reached a significant milestone after it bonded the cockpit and the carry-through spar on to the back end of the Lynx fuselage. This crucial step had to be completed before the strakes were to be attached.

In order to carefully place the spar, the Lynx rocket truss was removed from its test stand and placed on the vehicle. Composite technicians worked tirelessly to perfectly align the spar and bond it in place.

“The carry-through spar is the heart of the loading structure on any winged craft – it supports the primary load of the wings and carries that load through the fuselage,” explained Jeff Greason. “Attaching the spar on a composite vehicle is a one-way operation, so it has to be done right the first time.”

The fuselage and cockpit with carry-through spar mounted. Photo Credit: XCOR Aerospace

The entire structure was put under a pressure test after the spar was successfully installed. It experienced pressure equivalent to a 6 g re-entry with the cabin pressured to 11 PSI.

The XCOR Lynx RLV is unique in many aspects. Unlike vertical rocket launches and air-launched rocket vehicles, the aircraft-like abilities allow for much more flexibility and re-use. The Lynx will provide up to four flights per day from a licensed spaceport with a 2,400-meter (7,900-ft) runway. It will have a quick turnaround of just two hours and go on 40 flights before needing routine maintenance. It will be affordable to operate and maintain and be heavily focused on providing safe and reliable flights to space.

An all-composite airframe makes the Lynx lightweight and incredibly sturdy. It is able to withstand the fiery re-entry from space because it is protected by a thermal protection system (TPS) on its nose and leading edges. Its wing area is structured for landing at average speeds around 90 knots. The entire spacecraft measures to be about 9 meters (~30 ft) in length with a double-delta wing, stretching out to a wide 7.5 meters (~24 ft) in length.

XCOR has several models of Lynx production vehicles that each serves a particular set of needs and/or markets.

The Lynx Mark I, as described above, is the prototype test vehicle currently under development at XCOR Aerospace Hangar 61. It will be used to test the various sub-systems within the aircraft such as structure, aeroshell, tanks, life support, propulsion, aerodynamics, and re-entry heating. It is designed to reach an altitude of 200,000 feet (~61 km). Eventually Lynx Mark I will be used to train pilots and crew for the Lynx Mark II.

The Lynx Mark II is designed to service both the space tourism market and markets that will utilize the payload capacity for microgravity research and experiments. The Mark II uses the same propulsion and avionics systems as its predecessor (Mark I) but give higher performance because of its lower dry weight. This vehicle has a lightweight composite LOX tank and other key components that are exclusive to the company. It is designed to fly up to 328,000 feet (~100 km) and take payloads and participants on suborbital trips to the edge of space.

Passengers can hitch an out-of-this-world experience aboard the Lynx for $95,000 a flight. Prior to the flight, participants will go through medical screenings, seminars, and g-force training to familiarize them with the suborbital spaceflight experience. The participant will sit to the right of the pilot inside the pressurized cabin and wear a pressure suit for added safety. Pilot and passenger will take off from a runway into the black sky. They will view the curvature of Earth and enjoy about 4.6 minutes in microgravity at apogee (328,000 ft). The spaceplane will then descend to lower altitudes and land on the same runway it took off from.

The Lynx Mark III is a more advanced version of the Mark II. It comes with the capability to carry an external dorsal pod with a total payload capacity of 650kg. The pod can host either a payload research experiment or an upper stage to launch a satellite into low earth orbit (LEO). The Mark III encompasses upgraded landing gear, aerodynamics, core structural improvements, and more, over the Mark II. The Lynx Mark III features a power-packed propulsion package to transport heavier payloads into space.

Four XR-5K18 rocket engines will power XCOR’s Lynx launch vehicles, each producing 12.9 kN (2900 lbf) thrust by burning a concoction of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The first hot fire of this rocket engine was in December 2008 and continues to be tested today.

XCOR is currently building a Research and Development Center in Midland, Texas, at Midland International Airport. The aerospace company plans on opening an operational and manufacturing site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the aid of Space Florida.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

New 'Year of Pluto' Documentary Details Historic New Horizons Mission and Upcoming July Flyby

New ‘Year of Pluto’ Documentary Details Historic New Horizons Mission and Upcoming July Flyby « AmericaSpace

An artist’s illustration of New Horizons as it approaches the Pluto system for its close encounter at 35,000 mph on July 14, 2015. NASA has released a new documentary, Year of Pluto, as the anticipation builds towards the spacecraft;s historic encounter this summer. Image Credit: NASA

The anticipation is building among the space and science community around the world as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has its sights set on the Pluto system, nearly 3 billion miles from home, taking aim for a historic first reconnaissance flyby of the tiny world that was demoted to a “dwarf planet” by the astronomy community several years ago. Currently cruising through the outer solar system at about 32,400 mph (as of June 12), the spacecraft is now nearly 32-times further from the sun than Earth is, taking aim for its long-awaited close encounter of this mysterious place that astronomers really do not know much about.

Now just 31 days before the close encounter, NASA has released a new hour-long documentary, titled “Year of Pluto”, which takes on the hard science and provides answers to how the decade-long mission came about and why it matters. Interviews with Dr. James Green, John Spencer, Fran Bagenal, Mark Showalter and others share how New Horizons will answer many questions, effectively writing the book on Pluto for generations to come and laying the road for future spacecraft to follow, same as has played out with NASA’s Mars exploration missions over the past several decades.

WATCH:NASA’s “Year of Pluto” documentary and the historic New Horizons mission

AmericaSpace has covered New Horizons in-depth for several years, and will be providing regular updates as they come on our New Horizons Mission Tracker. Viewers can follow any time 24/7 for mission updates, new images and links to all of our New Horizons coverage and interviews – past and present.

Now, almost ten years after it launched with the fastest escape velocity of any man-made object ever made, New Horizons is knocking on Hades’ door, and coincidentally, New Horizons’ arrival at Pluto in July will mark the 50th anniversary of the first-ever planetary imaging fly-by in the history of space exploration – Mariner 4’s fly by of Mars in July 1965.

Whichever way one looks at it, whether you believe Pluto to be a planet or not, our first visit by a machine fashioned by human hands promises to be an epochal moment in the history of our species; an illustrator of how far we have come, figuratively and literally, in just a handful of decades.

New Horizons’ position as of June 12, 2015. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

“The mission’s science and engineering teams have done a tremendous job of preparing for the Pluto system flyby, and we’re all very excited about all the new discoveries that await us when we get there,” said the mission’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, in a previous interview with AmericaSpace. “We’re also excited to bring back first time exploration to the public’s attention – nothing like this has happened since Voyager reached Neptune in 1989!”

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Elon Musk's Space Internet Plan Is Moving Forward

In yet another episode of ‘What crazy idea is Elon Musk trying to disrupt the world with this week?,’ the billionaire’s space company has officially requested FCC permission to begin testing satellites for what could become a globe-spanning internet.

Rumors of said spacenet began to crystallize this past January, when Businessweek published a report outlining SpaceX’s plan to cover every human being in a glorious blanket of high-speed wifi. Basically, Musk wants to use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to shoot a constellation of small satellites into low Earth orbit that’ll beam signals to the far corners of the planet. The space internet would eventually pick up a decent chunk of web traffic in urban and suburban regions, in addition to bringing billions of Internet-less people into the digital age.

That, at least, is the plan. And with the new FCC filing—which would allow SpaceX to test the antennae on its satellites and determine if they’re currently strong enough to send signals down to Earth—it’s one that the Musk seems to have a vested interest in pushing forward. If the FCC permits it, SpaceX could begin launching test satellites as early as next year. And if all goes well, the service could be up and running in as few as five.

But. There’s one big issue here that SpaceX seems to be skirting, and that’s the price tag for the whole shebang. Deploying satellites closer to home makes good sense from a speed perspective—it cuts down on latency, the time delay issue that makes traditional satellite internet (which involves much larger satellites positioned much higher above the planet) vexingly slow compared with fiber optic connections. But there’s a tradeoff— the signal from low-orbiting satellites won’t be able to cover nearly as much of the planet. So, you’ll need a lot of satellites. Four thousand, according to Musk’s latest math.

As Wired discusses this week, constructing and deploying four thousand satellites, even into low Earth orbit, could end up being very, very expensive. Indeed, a Bill Gates-backed effort to create a low Earth orbit space internet in the 90s folded when costs ballooned out of control. And when you’re talking about creating a service that’s accessible to folks in developing countries, it goes without saying that it’s going to have to be dirt cheap.

We’ll just have to wait and see if SpaceX can hack it. At this point, anyone that can offer me the tiniest sliver of hope for a Comcast-free future has my blessing. Godspeed, Elon.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

It took NASA 27 years to explore the other 7 primary planets in our solar system.
1962 Venus (fly by): Mariner 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1965 Mars (fly by): Mariner 4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1973 Jupiter (fly by): Pioneer 10 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1974 Mercury (fly by): Mariner 10 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1979 Saturn (fly by): Pioneer 11 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1986 Uranus (fly by): Voyager 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1989 Neptune (fly by): Voyager 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now the final piece of planetary exploration is about to be completed...
2015 Pluto (fly by): New Horizons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Of course the New Horizons probe to Pluto isn't the only subject on NASA's radar.

Check out the weird stuff their other probe ( Dawn (spacecraft) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) is finding on a large asteroid floating between Mars and Jupiter

News - 'Great Pyramid' spotted on Ceres by NASA's Dawn spacecraft - The Weather Network

 

[SenLin]

A new video from SpaceX showing their attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket on the drone ship in April.

Hopefully on this Sunday they will have success.
A new era in space exploration awaits!

 

[Fenrir]

These Astronauts Will be the First to Launch With SpaceX and Boeing

NASA Thursday named the first four astronauts who will fly on the first U.S. commercial spaceflights in private crew transportation vehicles being built by Boeing and SpaceX – marking a major milestone towards restoring American human launches to U.S. soil as soon as mid-2017, if all goes well.

The four astronauts chosen are all veterans of flights on NASA’s Space Shuttles and to the International Space Station (ISS); Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley and Sunita Williams. They now form the core of NASA’s commercial crew astronaut corps eligible for the maiden test flights on board the Boeing CST-100 and Crew Dragon astronaut capsules.

Behnken, Boe and Hurley have each launched on two shuttle missions and Williams is a veteran of two long-duration flights aboard the ISS after launching on both the shuttle and Soyuz. All four served as military test pilots prior to being selected as NASA astronauts.

The experienced quartet of space flyers will work closely with Boeing andSpaceX as they begin training and prepare to launch aboard the first ever commercial ‘space taxi’ ferry flight missionsto the ISS and back – that will also end our sole source reliance on the Russian Soyuz capsule for crewed missions to low-Earth orbit and further serve to open up space exploration and transportation services to the private sector.

Boeing and SpaceX were awarded contracts by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in September 2014 worth $6.8 Billion to complete the development and manufacture of the privately developed CST-100 andCrew Dragon astronaut transporters under the agency’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) program and NASA’s Launch America initiative.

“I am pleased to announce four American space pioneers have been selected to be the first astronauts to train to fly to space on commercial crew vehicles, all part of our ambitious plan to return space launches to U.S. soil, create good-paying American jobs and advance our goal of sending humans farther into the solar system than ever before,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in a statement.

“These distinguished, veteran astronauts are blazing a new trail — a trail that will one day land them in the history books and Americans on the surface of Mars.”

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (left) announces the winners of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program development effort to build America’s next human spaceships launching from Florida to the International Space Station. Speaking from Kennedy’s Press Site, Bolden announced the contract award to Boeing and SpaceX to complete the design of the CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft. Former astronaut Bob Cabana, center, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kathy Lueders, manager of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, and former International Space Station Commander Mike Fincke also took part in the announcement. Credit: Ken Kremer

The selection of astronauts for rides with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) comes almost exactly four years to the day since the last American manned space launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-135 mission to the space station on July 8, 2011 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Hurley was a member of the STS-135 crew and served as shuttle pilot under NASA’s last shuttle commander, Chris Ferguson, who is now Director of Boeing’s CST-100 commercial crew program. Read my earlier exclusive interviews with Ferguson about the CST-100 – here andhere.

Since the retirement of the shuttle orbiters, all American and ISS partner astronauts have been forced to hitch a ride on the Soyuz for flights to the ISS and back, at a current cost of over $70 million per seat.

“Our plans to return launches to American soil make fiscal sense,” Bolden elaborated. “It currently costs $76 million per astronaut to fly on a Russian spacecraft. On an American-owned spacecraft, the average cost will be $58 million per astronaut.

Behnken, Boe, Hurley and Williams are all eager to work with the Boeing and SpaceX teams to “understand their designs and operations as they finalize their Boeing CST-100 and SpaceXCrew Dragon spacecraft and operational strategies in support of their crewed flight tests and certification activities as part of their contracts with NASA.”

Until June 2015, Williams held the record for longest time in space by a woman, accumulating 322 days in orbit. Behnken is currently the chief of the astronaut core and conducted six space walks at the station. Boe has spent over 28 days in space and flew on the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery in Feb. 2011 on STS-133.

The first commercial crew flights under the CCtCAP contract could take place in 2017 with at least one member of the two person crews being a NASA astronaut – who will be “on board to verify the fully-integrated rocket and spacecraft system can launch, maneuver in orbit, and dock to the space station, as well as validate all systems perform as expected, and land safely,” according to a NASA statement.

The second crew member could be a company test pilot as the details remain to be worked out.

Boeing and SpaceX are building private spaceships to resume launching US astronauts from US soil to the International Space Station in 2017. Credit: NASA

The actual launch date depends on the NASA budget allocation for the Commercial Crew Program approved by the US Congress.

Congress has never approved NASA’s full funding request for the CCP program and has again cut the program significantly in initial votes this year. So the outlook for a 2017 launch is very uncertain.

Were it not for the drastic CCP cuts we would be launching astronauts this year on the space taxis.

“Every dollar we invest in commercial crew is a dollar we invest in ourselves, rather than in the Russian economy,” Bolden emphasizes about the multifaceted benefits of the commercial crew initiative.

Under the CCtCAP contract, NASA recently ordered the agency’s first commercial crew mission from Boeing – as outlined in my story here.SpaceX will receive a similar CCtCAP mission order later this year.

At a later date, NASA will decide whether Boeing or SpaceX will launch the actual first commercial crew test flight mission to low Earth orbit.

Boeing’s commercial CST-100 ‘Space Taxi’ will carry a crew of five astronauts to low Earth orbit and the ISS from US soil. Mockup with astronaut mannequins seated below pilot console and Samsung tablets was unveiled on June 9, 2014 at its planned manufacturing facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer

“This is a new and exciting era in the history of U.S. human spaceflight,” said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a statement.

“These four individuals, like so many at NASA and the Flight Operations Directorate, have dedicated their careers to becoming experts in the field of aeronautics and furthering human space exploration. The selection of these experienced astronauts who are eligible to fly aboard the test flights for the next generation of U.S. spacecraft to the ISS and low-Earth orbit ensures that the crews will be well-prepared and thoroughly trained for their missions.”

Both the CST-100 and Crew Dragon will typically carry a crew of four NASA or NASA-sponsored crew members, along with some 220 pounds of pressurized cargo. Each will also be capable of carrying up to seven crew members depending on how the capsule is configured.

The spacecraft will be capable to remaining docked at the station for up to 210 days and serve as an emergency lifeboat during that time.

The NASA CCtCAP contracts call for a minimum of two and a maximum potential of six missions from each provider.

The station crew will also be enlarged to seven people that will enable a doubling of research time.

The CST-100 will be carried to low Earth orbit atop a man-rated United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It enjoys a 100% success rate.

Boeing will first conduct a pair of unmanned and manned orbital CST-100 test flights earlier in 2017 in April and July, prior to the operational commercial crew rotation mission to confirm that their capsule is ready and able and met all certification milestone requirements set by NASA.

The Crew Dragon will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It enjoyed a 100% success rate until last weeks launch on its 19th flight which ended with an explosion two minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral on June 28, 2015.

SpaceX conducted a successful Pad Abort Test of the Crew Dragon on May 6, as I reported here. The goal was to test the spacecrafts abort systems that will save astronauts lives in a split second in the case of a launch emergency such as occurred during the June 28 rocket failure in flight that was bound for the ISS with the initial cargo version of the SpaceX Dragon.

SpaceX plans an unmanned orbital test flight of Crew Dragon perhaps by the end of 2016. The crewed orbital test flight would follow sometime in 2017.

This post by Ken Kremer originally appeared at Universe Today.

 

[Fenrir]

This is What We've Learned About Pluto in the Past 24 Hours

New Horizons is racing to Pluto so quickly, we’re literally learning new things every single day. Exploration is a true planet-wide “Today I learned...” moment: we now know what makes up Pluto’s atmosphere, what makes up its ice cap, and exactly how big it is.

With data analyzed within the last day, researchers on the New Horizons team have processed enough Pluto flyby data to start nailing down all-new details. In the very first announcement of scientific discoveries from the New Horizons mission, we learned Pluto is the largest object in the Kuiper Belt, has gas escaping its atmosphere, and that the light-coloured polar cap is an ice cap.

The latest, greatest image of Pluto captured on July 12, 2015 from a distance of 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles). The heart rotating into view will be imaged in greater detail on July 14; the bullseye rotating out of view will not. Image credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Pluto is 2,370 kilometers (1,473 miles) in diameter, give or take 20 kilometers. This makes it undisputedly larger than Eris, the second largest object in the Kuiper Belt at 2,336 kilometers with a potential error of +/- 12 kilometers, and ends a decade-long debate over which object is larger. It’s been difficult to measure Pluto’s size because it has an atmosphere that acts as a mirage, blurring the boundaries of just how big the dwarf planet is. This new measurement sets off a whole train of new conclusions: it’s slightly larger than we thought it was, which paired with the mass that we already knew very well, means it’s lower density. A lower-density Pluto indicates it has a higher proportion of ice than we previously thought. That Pluto has more ice layered on its rocks might mean that its troposphere is lower than we thought (which has to-be-determined implications for atmospheric models), but also sets it compositionally apart from the smaller-but-heavier Eris.

Pluto’s largest moon Charon was far easier to pin down. Its lack of substantial atmosphere made it easy to determine the 1,208 kilometer (751 mile) diameter even using ground-based telescopes, although those numbers have now been confirmed. Today, New Horizon’s LORRI camera is peeking in on two of the smaller moons, Nix and Hydra. The wee moons are an estimated 35 kilometers (20 miles) and 45 kilometers (30 miles) across respectively, but we won’t be able to confirm those sizes until after processing today’s data. The tiniest moons Kerberos and Styx are even more wee and not nearly as bright, making them difficult to measure but we should be able to tease out their dimensions (and what’s happening with their weird orbits!) from later observations.

Idealized Nix and Hydra dimensions, although we’re fairly certain the small moons will be far more irregular in shape. Image credit: JHUAPL/Google

Meanwhile, we’ve started sniffing nitrogen escaping from Pluto. Our models anticipated we’d start detecting traces of the atmosphere about a day out from closest approach, but instead we started picking up traces a full five days away. That time difference equates to much farther away: the probe started picking up ionized nitrogen at around 6 million kilometers away from the dwarf planet instead of the predicted 1 to 2.5 million kilometers.

The early detection of nitrogen could mean anything from the source being stronger than we thought to the atmosphere being stripped from the dwarf planet more rapidly than we’ve modelled. It could also means something more exotic, like a yet-to-be-determined process concentrating the escaped gas and our probe just coincidentally intercepting the stream. Distinguishing between the options is going to take a lot more data, during which we’ll also be learning what else is in Pluto’s atmosphere, and if Charon and Pluto actually share an atmosphere within their odd little system.

Finally, those alleged ice caps on Pluto? They’re definitely made of ice — methane and nitrogen ice, specifically. If only the rest of the initial geological interpretations were so easy to confirm!

Charon as seen on July 12, 2015 from a distance of 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles). The potential chasms, craters, and ejecta rays are coming into focus. Image credits:NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

The New Horizons mission is going so incredibly well so far, with no new glitches to interrupt the collection of glorious data. In the next 24 hours, the probe will reach closest-approach, taking 150 photographs as it soars through the Pluto-Charon system and out into deeper space. Photograph resolution will improve by two orders of magnitude to 100 meters per pixel, putting all the current “best ever” images to shame. We’ll be live-streaming the closest approach celebration at 7:30am Eastern Time for everyone who wants to gleefully cheer on the probe in real time. The probe will be out of communication most of the day as it’ll be busy collecting data, but we’ve asked it to phone home by 8:30pm on Tuesday night.

 

[Fenrir]

The Curiosity Rover Is Helping NASA Study the Far Side of the Sun

As Curiosity works its way up Mount Sharp on Mars, studying rock and soil samples, it’s also helping scientists observe sunspots on the far side of the Sun.

From its vantage point on Mars, Curiosity currently has a good view of the side of the Sun that’s pointed away from Earth, and its mast camera (Mastcam) is sending home images of sunspots that can help scientists better understand solar emissions.

That’s not just a matter of academic interest. Sunspots that form on the far side of the Sun will rotate to face Earth within a few days, since it only takes about a month for the Sun to rotate completely. “One sunspot or cluster that rotated out of Curiosity’s view over the July 4 weekend showed up by July 7 as a source area of a solar eruption observed by NASA’s Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory,” said NASA in a press release.

Watch the sunspot rotate across Curiosity’s field of view. Image credit: NASA

The Solar Dynamics Observatory view of those same sunspots. Image credit: NASA

It’s helpful to have information about sunspots before they rotate into view, so we can predict and prepare for the effects of solar emissions, which astronomers call space weather.

The trouble is that when a spacecraft is on the far side of the Sun, it’s also out of communication with Earth. That’s where NASA’s Sun-monitoring spacecraft STEREO-A is at the moment. Last month, Curiosity was also out of communication while Mars’ orbit carried it behind the sun, but it’s been back in touch since late June. STEREO-A will be able to phone again later in July, but for now, Curiosity is helping fill the gap.

That came about almost by accident. Part of Curiosity’s mission is to study how bright the Sun appears through the dusty Martian atmosphere, so the rover often takes images of the Sun from Mars. In April, Mastcam snapped an image of a Martian sunset while Mercury passed between Mars and the Sun — and also captured a few sunspots.

“We saw sunspots in the images during the Mercury transit, and I was trying to distinguish Mercury from a sunspot,” said Mastcam scientist Mark Lemmon in a NASA press release. “I checked with heliophysicists who study sunspots and learned that STEREO-A was out of communications, so there was no current information about sunspots on that side of the sun. That’s how we learned it would be useful for Curiosity to monitor sunspots.”

The moral of the story? Even if you’re a hard-working robot, climbing on a mountain on another planet, it pays to look up once in a while.

 

[Fenrir]

How We Keep 'New Telescope Smell' From Killing Space Telescopes

Like new cars, new telescopes come with their own unique smell. Unlike cars, telescopes are delicate enough that this smell can damage the high-precision instruments, killing them with their own outgassing. Here’s how NASA protects fragile space telescopes from themselves.

New materials outgas, releasing volatile organic chemicals that quickly disperse into the surrounding environment. The mix of residual solvents outgassing from new vehicles makes a distinctive, occasionally-enjoyable new car smell that may not be particularly healthy but aren’t critical damaging. With telescopes, that outgassing can be far more damaging.

The mix of outgassing solvents, epoxies, lubricants and other materials involved in the manufacture of telescopes and other delicate spacecraft create gasses that can easily damage the high-precision machines. NASA engineers determined to protect telescope mirrors, thermal control units, electronics boxes, detectors, solar arrays, and cryogenic instruments are always looking for new ways to protect their charges from contamination. The latest efforts led by Sharon Straka and Mark Hasegawa at NASA Goddard resulted in a low-cost, easy-to-apply sprayable paint. The paint absorbs outgassed molecules, preventing them from latching on to fragile instruments and their components.

The Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) is a sprayable paint made from zeolite paired with a colloidal silica binder to glue the coating together.

The large pores and cavities of zeolite crystals are ideal for trapping outgassing contaminants. Image credit: NASA

Zeolite is a common mineral that is highly permeable and porous to trap outgassing contaminants (and explains its industrial use in water purification), and lacks in any volatile organics that would add their own outgassing to the problem. The paint can be applied directly to surfaces without additional mounting equipment, and can be used to coat strips of tape that can be strategically tucked around the instrument.

The permeable, porous surface of zeolite paint is perfect for trapping volatile chemicals outgassed by new telescopes. Image credit: NASA

The paint is currently undergoing qualifications tests at NASA facilities, and is ready to be used during future flight or ground vacuum systems projects.

Several custom-designed test panels spray-coated with the paint were recently installed as a contamination mitigation tool for the Chamber A. Chamber A is NASA’s thermal-vaccuum space simulator, and the largest test facility of its type in the world. The 16.8 meter (55 foot) diameter, 27.4 meter (90 foot) tall chamber is where the space capsules for NASA’s Apollo missions were tested, both with and without crew, and has been upgraded for testing the James Webb Space Telescope. The matte interior walls look perpetually grubby, with an occasional burnished marks from where tools rubbed up against the walls, an ironic situation given the obsession with cleanliness.

Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Image credit: NASA

The panels were installed in Chamber A in advance of upcoming tests of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first Optical Ground Support Equipment (OGSE-1). The paint will capture any outgassed contaminants from outside the test chamber, protecting the telescope. NASA engineer Nithin Abraham explains:

Although we cannot stop contaminants within the vacuum chamber from outgassing, we can try to capture them with MAC before it tries and reaches the expensive hardware, which are housed inside the test chamber.

While NASA obviously does its best to ensure its test chambers are sparkling clean and clear of anything that may cause damage to the instruments being tested, some silicone-based contaminants are near-impossible to prevent.

The MAC panels were installed in very strategic locations within Chamber A to capture vacuum chamber contamination originating from persistent sources, such as silicone pump oil residue and hydrocarbons.

Now, even if the components outgas, the volatiles will hopefully be trapped by the MAC panels instead of migrating and depositing onto the Webb telescope’s optical surfaces.

Engineer Nithin Abraham taping a panel coated in outgas-adsorbing paint along the bottom of Chamber A in advance of James Webb Space Telescope space simulation tests. Image credit: NASA

The paint is an improvement over existing technology, which uses the same zeolite mineral but coated over cordierite, a mineral used to manufacture ceramic, to create puck-like devices. The pucks act like water-absorbing silica packets in shoeboxes, with each puck adsorbing a limited capacity of outgassed volatiles. Yet as Hasegawa complains, “These devices are big, heavy and chunky, and take up a lot of real estate,” making them less than ideal compared to the more flexible form-factor and lower-mass alternative of zeolite paint. The paint sticks to aluminum, stainless steal, and any other metal with a silicate-based coating, the most common structural materials for telescopes and spacecraft. The new paint even has about five times the adsorbtive capacity of other experiments with coating slurries, making it more useful for space applications where every gram adds launch costs. The paint is also cheaper than the other current alternative, electronic box bake-outs.

In future iterations, Straka is hoping to tweak the paint’s composition to enhance volatile adsorption even further, and possibly to tint it black so it can also suck up stray light. This would add another feature, protecting telescope sensors from being overwhelmed by noisy surplus photons during observations. The team is also experimenting with mixing the paint with high surface area systems like velvets and fibre mats are being conducted to try increasing adsorbtive capacity even further while simultaneously prohibiting electrostatic discharge.

In the future, this paint could move beyond terrestrial test chambers and be incorporated onto telescope structures directly to provide continuous protection. They could even help make living in space a bit more livable, with a quick paint job on the International Space Station trapping pollutants and odors in crew quarters. In an enclosed space with no laundry facilities, anything that reduces the stench of space habitats has to be a good idea.

 

[Fenrir]

This Ice Rover's Descendants Will Explore Europa's Ocean

The allure of a warm, liquid ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface has inspired science fiction andreal NASA missions alike. But if and when we get around to extraterrestrial oceanography, what will our undersea explorers look like?

Probably, a bit like this little guy. Meet BRUIE, the Buoyant Rover for Under Ice Exploration. This autonomously controlled bot is designed to float on the underside of ice sheets, rolling itself around on wheels, snapping photos and collecting data. Last year, BRUIE became the first satellite operated under-ice vehicle, when NASA engineers wheeled it around beneath an ice-sheet near Barrow, Alaska.

Since that successful trial, BRUIE has undergone a series of upgrades, and a second gen version—which looks markedly different from its predecessor—is now almost ready to be set loose beneath the Arctic ice once more. But first, BRUIE’s engineers decided to show it off to tourists at the California Science Center in LA this week while they tested out some new features.

According to NASA:

The new version is longer, has a thicker body and is designed for ocean depths up to about 700 feet (200 meters). The central body contains computers, sensors and communication equipment. On either side of the central section is a “pod,” each with sensors, lights, a camera, batteries, instruments and two motors. The software for this rover is similar to what is being used for Mars Cube One, two communication-relay CubeSats that will launch with NASA’s InSight Mars lander in 2016.

Researchers are currently working to increase the rover’s autonomy and beef up its hazard avoidance, with an eye toward eventually letting the rover survey a frozen lake on its own.

“Our work aims to build a bridge between exploring extreme environments in our own ocean and the exploration of distant, potentially habitable oceans elsewhere in the solar system,” said Kevin Hand, a co-investigator for the rover and planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.

Today: Aquarium tanks. Tomorrow? Distant alien moons.