Vector a private spaceflight startup based out of Tucson, Arizona just successfully pulled off another test flight of one of its micro-rockets, launching the 40-foot-tall vehicle this morning from a spaceport in Georgia. Its the second flight of the vehicle: a full-scale prototype of one of the companys rockets, the Vector-R. And though the vehicle didnt reach orbit, it puts Vector one step closer to its goal of rapidly launching tiny satellites to space starting in 2018.

The Vector-R is one of two rockets that the company hopes to start launching on a regular basis in the years ahead. Its designed to launch very small payloads weighing up to 145 pounds into lower Earth orbit. Vectors other rocket under development is the Vector-H, a slightly larger vehicle that can carry payloads weighing over 350 pounds into orbit. Once testing is done, Vector hopes to launch these two rockets hundreds of times a year in order to get small probes into space as quickly as possible.

We hope to get these two vehicles running and milk the hell out of them.

Were not going to be the guys developing new rockets, Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder of Vector, tells The Verge. We hope to get these two vehicles running and milk the hell out of them... Were going to be building the same thing over and over like the McDonalds of rocket business.

Vector seems to have the credentials and resources to meet its goal. Formed last year, the company boasts an impressive team with extensive spaceflight experience. Cantrell is a member of SpaceXs original founding team, and hes working with engineers who come from Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and more. In its latest round, Vector raised $21 million, totaling more than $30 million in overall funding. Its also racked up numerous customers that include a few major players in the aerospace industry. Todays launch was fully funded by Vectors customers and carried test payloads from NASAs Ames Research Center, the Center for Applied Space Technology, and Astro Digital a company that specializes in small imaging satellites.

Todays launch also marks the first rocket flight ever out of Camden Spaceport, located near the coast of Georgia. The site was once used by NASA in the 1960s to do ground-based testing of rocket motors, but since then it hasnt seen much action. Camden County officials have been vying recently to turn the site into a commercial spaceport, and in May, the Georgia state government passed legislation to help foster the growth of the site. The spaceport is still very new, though, so there isnt much equipment on the ground to support launches. Where were launching from in Camden, theres really no infrastructure there whatsoever, says Cantrell. Were proving we can go anywhere really and launch these rockets. Vectors first test flight was done in Mojave, California.

Ultimately, Vector hopes to capitalize on what is being hailed as the small satellite revolution. Satellite companies are building and operating space probes that are much smaller than your typical, bus-sized satellite, with some ventures like Planet making imaging satellites that are about the size of a shoebox. Normally, these tiny probes have to ride-share to space, though. They hitch a ride to orbit on the launch of a much larger satellite and are deployed only after that satellite has been released. But Planet, for instance, can fit eight of its satellites on a Vector-R or 20 on a Vector-H no larger rocket required.

So far, the company says it has seen an enthusiastic response from potential customers about this strategy. Were already seeing signs that the existence of rockets like ours would create its own demand, says Cantrell.

Vectors prices are minuscule compared to larger rocket launch providers. Typical rocket launches will run tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, but Vectors rockets will start at around $1.5 million and $3 million per flight. Cantrell is confident the team will be able to make these rockets fast enough to launch between 400 and 500 a year. The key, he says, is that theyre easy to make. Theyre just dead simple. Were really building the simplest rocket possible and the smallest rocket possible, says Cantrell. Technologically its like the Model T versus the modern Mercedes. [Other rocket companies are] all using Mercedes-level technology.

Cantrell says the company is aiming to do up to six test flights before commercial launches begin next year. The next test will tentatively occur in December.

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Private spaceflight startup Vector pulls off second test of its micro-rocket - The Verge

STORY WRITTEN FORCBS NEWS& USED WITH PERMISSION

A NASA post advertising an opening for a new Planetary Protection Officer provided a field day for headline writers who apparently couldnt resist having a bit of fun at the agencys expense by suggesting, in large type, that whoever filled the post would be defending Earth from aliens. And making good money to boot.

While true in the broadest possible sense the aliens in question are microbes not sentient beings one had to read the actual stories to find out the office is part of a long-standing program to make sure NASA spacecraft dont contaminate other planets with any earthly bugs and ensure that any samples returned to Earth are properly isolated and pose no threat to our ecosystem.

Catharine Cassie Conley is the outgoing Planetary Protection Officer, the seventh to hold the post. She came on board in 2006 and, like her predecessors, reports directly to the NASA administrator.

https://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/overview

As the Planetary Protection Officer for NASA, I am responsible for ensuring that the United States complies with Article IX of The Outer Space Treaty, she said in a NASA interview.

Article IX specifies that planetary exploration should be carried out in a manner so as to avoid contamination of the bodies we are exploring throughout the solar system, and also to avoid any adverse effects to Earth if materials are brought back from outer space.

As she told the New York Times in a 2015 interview, If were going to look for life on Mars, it would be really kind of lame to bring Earth life and find that instead.

No matter. NASAs search for the agencys eighth Planetary Protection Officer and the advertised salary of up to $187,000 per year were enough to trigger a flurry of stories.

NASA has a job opening for someone to defend Earth from aliens and it pays a 6-figure salary, Business Insider headlined its web story.

The piece included a graphic from the movie Independence Day showing a giant alien spaceship in the process of destroying New York City. The caption: A typical day in the office for a planetary protection officer isnt this exciting.

The Independent in the United Kingdom headlined its story: NASA offering six-figure salary for new planetary protection officer to defend Earth from aliens.

Even former shuttle commander Mark Kelly got in on the fun, tweeting Thursday night I nominate Bruce Willis.

Followers then suggested Men in Black star Will Smith, Matt Damon of Martian fame, Peter Cushing, the evil Star Wars general, Jodie Foster, who met aliens in the movie Contact, Bill Pullman, who portrayed the president in Independence Day, and even the fictional Jack Bauer of the long-running series 24.

But planetary protection is serious business at NASA, guiding how missions are designed and implemented. Consider the agencys Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn.

Now at the end of a 20-year mission the past 13 in orbit around Saturn Cassini is virtually out of fuel and without propellant, NASA cannot control the probes orientation or change its trajectory.

Instead of simply letting the spacecraft die, leaving it at the mercy of unpredictable gravitational interactions, flight controllers earlier this year used most of the probes remaining fuel to put it on a trajectory that will impact Saturn next month, ensuring its destruction.

Thats because at least one of Saturns moons Enceladus has a sub-surface ocean that could be an abode for life. If NASA simply let Cassini die, it eventually could crash into Enceladus, depositing microbes from Earth. And heat from the spacecrafts three plutonium-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs.

The RTGs were built to withstand a launch pad explosion and all three likely would survive an impact on Enceladus where more than likely (they would melt) through the ice shell, over time, and then youre in the sub surface, said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters. Its going to be laying there, and its going to end up in the ocean.

And that includes tens of thousands of microbes that hitched a ride to Saturn aboard Cassini.

Human microbes can withstand all kinds of things, but having the right environment where heat is available is really the way they could multiply and grow, Green said in an interview Wednesday. So, having that system in the ocean is not good. Even though it might be a remote chance, its not zero.

NASA ended the Galileo Jupiter probe the same way, crashing it into the giant planets atmosphere in 1995 to make sure it could not one day hit Europa, another moon with a sub-surface ocean, or any others that might be habitable.

The Juno probe currently in orbit around Jupiter faces the same fate when its mission ends as will the Europa Clipper, a spacecraft currently on the drawing board that will study the intriguing moon during multiple flybys in the 2020s.

Mars, of course, is a major concern when it comes to planetary protection, the target of multiple satellites, landers and rovers over several decades. No one yet knows whether some form of microbial life might exist at the red planet, either on or below the surface, and NASA scientists want to find out, if possible, before humans make the trip.

Once astronauts arrive, its game over, Green said. Its then the clash of two potentially different ecosystems.

For me as a scientist, I want to get in there and I want to understand the environment before we bring our environment with us, he said. Answering the question is Mars alive today, is there a living population, is actually something thats very important for us to try to pull off. And thats very hard to do.

Astronauts, of course, will live in isolated habitats, almost like theyll be quarantined, Green added. So there will still be areas all over Mars thatll be very pristine and could maintain an ecosystem, you know, perhaps theres life in the aquifers, and itll take maybe a couple of centuries before its totally game over.

This is the kind of thing we need to guard against, and getting in there and understanding the environment the best we can is the first thing we want to do.

Green and his fellow planetary scientists are equally concerned about making sure any Mars rocks returned to Earth are handled safely. When the Apollo astronauts brought rocks back from the moon, the samples and the astronauts were initially quarantined. Green said NASA is considering a variety of options to isolate Mars rocks.

Were looking at either constructing or using an existing bio-level 4 facility, he said. This is a facility that would be used for the most extreme virus or bacteria or something that could sweep the world and kill the population. There are facilities like that (and) were going to have to either develop our own or tag onto something like that.

He said some researchers dont believe life currently exists on Mars and theyd be delighted to just lift the top of every one of the rock tubes and that would make them publicly available if they didnt die the next day!

But thats not how its going to work, he said. Were going to bring them in and examine the heck out of them. (Even) if it had zero biological contamination associated with it, is going to be a number of years before anybody will be able to analyze the samples outside that facility.

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Planetary protection is serious business at NASA - Spaceflight Now

Lloyd Campbell

August 4th, 2017

A file photo of the CRS-4 Dragon capsule arriving at the International Space Station in 2014. That same pressure vessel was used in the CRS-11 Dragon capsule, which arrived at the outpost June 5, 2017. Photo Credit: NASA

SpaceX is set to send its next supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as Aug. 13, 2017. That mission, CRS-12, will mark the end of an era as it will be the last new first-generation Dragon spacecraft to fly.

The CRS-12 mission will bring supplies and science experiments to the Expedition 52 crew currently on board the ISS before returning cargo and science back to Earth in September.Dragon spacecraft have visited the orbiting outpost 11 times since 2012, carrying well over 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of cargo to date.

The only blemish on the capsules record occurred during the CRS-7 flight, which launched June 28, 2015. After a successful liftoff, and an almost complete Falcon 9 first stage burn, a strut attached to a high-pressure hydrogen bottle in the second stage failed. That failure led to the second stage oxygen tank to over-pressurizing, causing it to burst and the entire booster to fail. The Dragon capsule survived the breakup but was destroyed when it impacted with the Atlantic Ocean several minutes later.

All subsequent SpaceX resupply missions since CRS-7 have been completed successfully.

For the CRS-11 mission, SpaceX utilized a thoroughly inspected and refurbished pressure vessel that was previously flown for the CRS-4 mission in 2014. For the second time that particular vehicle made a successful delivery of cargo to the ISS, and returned experiments back to Earth. This was the first flight of a previously-flown spacecraft since the Space Shuttles last flight in July 2011.

The company plans to only use previously-flown first-generation Dragon spacecraft for future cargo missions to the ISS.Since SpaceX will no longer be manufacturing complete Dragon 1 spacecraft, resources will be freed up to allow the company to focus more of its efforts on completing the development of the Dragon 2 spacecraft, which will provide crew transportation to the ISS and for other missions.

The long-delayed first flight of a Dragon 2 spacecraft is currently expected to occur sometime in the first half of 2018. The new spacecraft is capable of carrying up to seven people into Earth orbit. For NASA missions taking crew to and from the ISS, it will only carry four astronauts. The remaining area inside of the spacecraft will be used for pressurized cargo.

While SpaceX is developing Dragon 2 for crew, it is expected to have a cargo-only version for resupply missions to the space station. It is unclear when the NewSpace company will make the transition from Dragon 1 to Dragon 2 cargo missions. The company is currently under a contract to send 20 missions to the outpost, which will be completed with CRS-20 no earlier than 2019. A follow-up contract calls for at least six more cargo delivery missions.

Tagged: CRS-12 Dragon International Space Station Lead Stories NASA SpaceX

Lloyd Campbells first interest in space began when he was a very young boy in the 1960s with NASAs Gemini and Apollo programs. That passion continued in the early 1970s with our continued exploration of our Moon, and was renewed by the Shuttle Program. Having attended the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its final two missions, STS-131, and STS-133, he began to do more social networking on space and that developed into writing more in-depth articles. Since then hes attended the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, the agencys new crew-rated Orion spacecraft on Exploration Flight Test 1, and multiple other uncrewed launches. In addition to writing, Lloyd has also been doing more photography of launches and aviation. He enjoys all aspects of space exploration, both human, and robotic, but his primary passions lie with human exploration and the vehicles, rockets, and other technologies that allow humanity to explore space.

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SpaceX launching last new first-generation Dragon cargo ship - SpaceFlight Insider

Curt Godwin

August 3rd, 2017

An artists concept depicting one of the twin Voyager spacecraft. Humanitys farthest and longest-lived spacecraft are celebrating 40 years in August and September 2017. Image & Caption Credit: NASA

Well past their expected lifetime, and farther from Earth than any other human-designed spacecraft, the Voyager robotic explorers are approaching another significant milestone: 40 years of operation. The two interplanetary travelers, each launched in 1977, have traveled billion of miles and expanded humanitys understanding of the Solar System and beyond.

Voyager 1 launches aboard a Titan IIIE on Sept. 5, 1977. (Click to enlarge) Photo Credit: NASA

Beginning in the 1960s, scientists realized that a coincidental alignment of the outer planets would allow a visit by a single spacecraft. Utilizing a gravitational assist by each, the spacecraft would be able to alter its trajectory and speed to allow the encounters with very little expenditure of fuel.

This plan, coined the Grand Tour, was initially to be a single spacecraft with multiple, redundant systems designed to survive the journey. High costs, however, induced a change to the program resulting in the twin Voyager spacecraft each with a primary mission to Jupiter and Saturn, with an extended mission to the remaining outer planets on the table should funding and conditions allow.

Though christened the first of the line, Voyager 1 was actually the second of the pair to launch. Lifting off from Launch Complex 41 (LC-41) atop a Titan IIIErocket on September 5, 1977, the spacecraft was set on a course to visit the two largest planets in the Solar System: Jupiter and Saturn.

Reaching the Jovian system 18 months later, Voyager 1 provided data leading to many monumental discoveries.

One of the most surprising findings was the presence of active volcanoes on Jupiters moon Io. These features the first of their kind found anywhere beyond Earth were unexpected and were determined to be the primary source of material interacting with Jupiters strong magnetic field.

After collecting scientific and photographic data on other moons in the Jovian system, Voyager 1 continued on its journey to Saturn, a destination nearly 20 months and 401 million miles (646 million kilometers) distant.

Adding to the observations already collected by Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 made its fair share of discoveries at the Ringed Planet. Unexpectedly, Saturn was found to have a significantly different concentration of helium in its upper atmosphere as compared to Jupiter. This discrepancy may be attributed to the helium molecules sinking through the lighter hydrogen and collecting deeper in the planet.

Beyond the planet itself, a primary target in the Saturnian system was the moon Titan. Long known to harbor a thick atmosphere, the moon was such a vital target that mission planners opted to plot a trajectory to allow for the best observations of Titan rather than travel a path that would have taken it to Pluto in 1986.

An image of Voyager showing the location of the Golden Record. Image Credit: NASA

Voyager 2 launches aboard a Titan IIIE on Aug. 20, 1977. Photo Credit: NASA

Voyager 2, though second in number, was launched 16 days before its speedier sibling. Perched atop a Titan IIIE, the interplanetary spacecraft lifted off from LC-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 20, 1977.

Like its counterpart, Voyager 2s early targets included Jupiter and Saturn. However, unlike Voyager 1, Voyager 2s trajectory allowed for some flexibility the spacecraft could be repositioned to make further observations of Titan, or it could be adjusted to also visit the outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune.

At Jupiter, Voyager 2 witnessed the same volcanic activity on Io, as well as discovered a few, faint rings around the gas giant. Data collected at Europa lead scientists to believe the ice-encrusted moon holds a deep below the surface, and several new moons were discovered before the spacecraft sped out of the system on its way to Saturn.

Upon reaching the second-largest planet in the Solar System more than two years later, Voyager 2 confirmed many of Voyager 1s discoveries, in addition to collecting atmospheric and temperature data.

With its primary mission complete, Voyager 2 was given the go-ahead to begin its extended mission by visiting Uranus and Neptune.

The spacecraft became the first man-made object to visit Uranus (January 1986) and Neptune (August 1989), providing scientists with their first-ever close observations of the two planets, and earning the record of being the first spacecraft to fly by four different planets.

The 64-meter-wide antenna dish in Goldstone, Calif. was expanded to 70 meters in the 1970s. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In order for NASA to communicate with the two Voyager spacecraft, the space agency had to expand its Deep Space Network (DSN) of radio communication antennas.

One legacy of those antennas used for the Voyager mission is still visible in the Mojave Desert, California: NASAs Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex.

At Goldstone, in the 1970s, construction crews began building new dishes and expanding old ones to enable NASA to communicate with the two probes as they traveled farther out into deep space. These dishes now dominate the landscape; the largest of them is 230 feet (70 meters) in diameter a true colossus, which was expanded from its original 210-foot (64-meter) width.

The smaller dishes at the complex are 112 feet (34 meters) in diameter, which were also increased in size from their original 85-foot (26-meter) diameters.

Expansions of antenna dishes were also carried out at NASAs other DSN sites around the world, located in Madrid (Spain) and Canberra (Australia). The Voyager program helped to accelerate these upgrades to the network.

In a sense, Voyager and the DSN grew up together, said Suzanne Dodd of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), director of the Interplanetary Network Directorate and Voyagers project manager since 2010. The mission was a proving ground for new technology, both in deep space as well as on Earth.

By the late 1970s, NASA began to explore the concept of antenna arrays by combining the signals from multiple dishes pointed toward the Voyager probes, thereby giving them the equivalent sensitivity of one giant antenna.

With their primary missions complete, and their planetary targets investigated, the two spacecraft began their journey into interstellar space.

Indeed, Voyager 1 now more than 13 billion miles (20.92 billion kilometers) from Earth and on a northbound trajectory out of the Solar System was the first of the pair to reach interstellar space, generally accepted to have occurred on August 25, 2012.

Voyager 2, traveling slightly slower than its partner, is on a southbound exit, but it will probably not reach interstellar space until late 2019 or early 2020.

Though the spacecraft have exceeded expectations, their power supply continues to drain and will no longer be able to provide electricity to the explorers scientific instruments by the mid-2020s. Moreover, the computers and systems designed to support operations rely on an increasingly rare skill: the ability to work with 1970s-era hardware.

The technology is many generations old, and it takes someone with 1970s design experience to understand how the spacecraft operate and what updates can be made to permit them to continue operating today and into the future, stated Suzanne Dodd in a release issued by NASA.

Nevertheless, the two groundbreaking spacecraft have provided invaluable information to scientists.

I believe that few missions can ever match the achievements of the Voyager spacecraft during their four decades of exploration, noted Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASAs Science Mission Directorate at NASA, in the release. They have educated us to the unknown wonders of the universe and truly inspired humanity to continue to explore our solar system and beyond.

This montage of images of the planets visited by Voyager 2 was prepared from an assemblage of images taken by the two Voyager spacecraft. Image & Caption Credit: NASA/JPL

Video courtesy of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Tagged: Heritage Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lead Stories NASA Voyager

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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Our Spaceflight Heritage: 40 years after launch, NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft continue to return valuable data - SpaceFlight Insider

Laurel Kornfeld

August 3rd, 2017

This artists impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The double star Alpha Centauri AB also appears in the image. Proxima b is a little more massive than the Earth and orbits in the habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. Image & Caption Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser

The exoplanet closest to the Solar System, Proxima b, is located in its stars habitable zone but may be unable to support life because radiation from its host star is likely to strip away its atmosphere, according to a new study based on a computer simulation.

A group of scientists led by Katherine Garcia-Sage of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, created a computer model that placed Earths atmosphere, magnetic field, and gravity at the location of Proxima b.Using data obtained by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, they determined the level of radiation emitted by the host star, Proxima Centauri.Their goal was to determine the fate of Earth if it orbited in Proxima bs location.

At its orbit, the exoplanet Proxima b likely couldnt sustain an Earth-like atmosphere. Credits: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith

The nature of the real Proxima bs atmosphere is unknown because scientists have not observed the planet passing in front of its star. Observation of transits is the method researchers use to learn about planets atmospheres.

We decided to take the only habitable planet we know of so far Earth and put it where Proxima b is, Garcia-Sage said.

A stars habitable zone is defined as the distance an orbiting planet can have liquid water on its surface. But being in a habitable zone does not guarantee a planet is habitable.

To be habitable for life as we know it, a planet must have an atmosphere one that regulates climate, maintains a surface pressure capable of supporting liquid water, enables the presence of lifes chemical building blocks, and protects it from dangerous radiation and space weather.

Significantly closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun, Proxima b is subject to the stars regular flares and intense radiation hundreds of times the amount Earth receives from the Sun. In the computer model, that radiation stripped away the planets atmosphere at a rate up to 10,000 times greater than solar radiation does to Earth.

Red dwarf stars like Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1, another star with planets in its habitable zone, emit extreme ultraviolet radiation, which ionizes gases in the atmosphere of an orbiting planet. The process removes electrons from its atmosphere, creating a stream of electrically-charged particles that are energetic enough to completely escape the planets gravity.

The high level of radiation that planets such as Proxima b are exposed to is enough to strip away heavier elements in an atmosphere, such as nitrogen and oxygen, in addition to hydrogen.

This was a simple calculation based on average activity from the host star, Garcia-Sage said. It doesnt consider variations like extreme heating in the stars atmosphere or violent stellar disturbances to the exoplanets magnetic field things wed expect provide even more ionizing radiation and atmospheric escape.

Two other factors that could affect the rate of atmospheric loss were also inputted into the computer model. These are the temperature of the planets neutral atmosphere, also known as its thermosphere, as well as the size of the area on the planet that experiences atmospheric escape.

Stellar radiation was found to heat up the thermosphere, increasing the rate of atmospheric loss.Areas on a planet over which atmosphere is lost are known as polar caps.The level of atmospheric escape is affected by a planets magnetic field lines. If the magnetic field lines at a planets magnetic poles are closed, the size of the polar cap is limited, and charged particles remain trapped, reducing the escape level.In contrast, if magnetic field lines are open, the escape rate of charged particles increases.

If Proxima bs thermosphere has very high temperatures and its magnetic field must remain open, it could lose an atmosphere equivalent to Earths in just 100 million years. Low thermosphere temperatures and a closed magnetic field extend the duration it would take to lose an Earth atmosphere to slightly more than two billion years.

Proxima b is estimated to be approximately four billion years old.

Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who took part in the study, said the level of atmospheric loss on Proxima b makes its habitability implausible and calls into question the habitability of Earth-like planets orbiting other red dwarf stars.These cool stars, the most common in the galaxy, have topped scientists searches for habitable worlds.

NASAs Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) coalition, which is charged with searching for life on exoplanets, and NASAs Astrobiology Institute contributed to the study. Those findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Tagged: Alpha Centauri Chandra X-ray Observatory Proxima b Proxima Centauri The Range

Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne Universitys Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazines guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.

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Stellar radiation may preclude Earth-like atmosphere on Proxima b - SpaceFlight Insider

Jason Rhian

August 2nd, 2017

A recent rash of stories would have you believe that NASA is in need of someone who can defend the Earth from Alien attack. How accurate are these stories and what is the truth behind NASAs Office of Planetary Protection? Image Credit: Twentieth Century Fox

It never fails. Let the news cycle get a little slow and someone decides to get creative with the facts. Such was the case Wednesday, Aug. 1 on, when supposedly credible and professional sites such as USA Today and Newsweek dropped the ball and resorted to good ole fashioned clickbait-ing. It was a sign of the times that highlighted the current state of journalism in the U.S.

According to USA Today, NASA is hiring a Planetary Protection Officer to Protect Earth from Alien Harm (note to USA Todays editors, get a Thesaurus you should always use synonyms instead of the using the same word over and over again). Of course, as soon as one clicks the link they are hit up by a tsunami of ads.

Newsweek apparently opted to up the ridiculous ante by having a disco-themed score added to their video that leads their story on the subject (once you get past the advertising that is). Their article is likely to make Woodward and Bernstein blush with jealousy (or, more likely, embarrassment for what this story says about the current plight of their profession). One NASA official made his thoughts about the rash of articles that are spreading misinformation about the position plain.

Depictions showing aliens attacking Earth have nothing to do with NASAs Office of Planetary Protections, making their use 100 percent false. With their use, the decline that journalistic ethics has been on continues to erode. Image Credit: Nathan Moeller / SpaceFlight Insider

While Im far from hopping on a fake news bandwagon, I am growing tried of legitimate media trivializing stories, such as the most recent NASA wants to pay someone $180k to protect us from aliens, NASAs Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Bob Jacobs said via a Facebook post. Seriously, are we devolving into little more than clickbait media environment without any attention to fact?

So what are the facts and is NASA actually looking for its own version of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to defend us from aliens? In a word no. According to the official post on USA Jobs, the Planetary Protection Officers duties include the following:

The Planetary Protection Officer (PPO) is responsible for the leadership of NASAs planetary protection capability, maintenance of planetary protection policies, and oversight of their implementation by NASAs space flight missions. The PPO also supports the Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Technical Authority and serves as a principal advisory resource for the Chief, SMA and other senior officials on matters pertaining to planetary protection. The PPO is the Agencys focal point for interactions with external organizations on matters related to planetary protection. Primarily the Planetary Protection Officer performs the following:

Leads planning and coordination of activities related to NASA mission planetary protection needs.Leads independent evaluation of, and provides advice regarding, compliance by robotic and human spaceflight missions with NASA planetary protection policies, statutory requirements and international obligations.

Advises the Chief, SMA and other officials regarding the merit and implications of programmatic decisions involving risks to planetary protection objectives.In coordination with relevant offices, leads interactions with COSPAR, National Academies, and advisory committees on planetary protection matters.Recommends and leads the preparation of new or revised NASA standards and directives in accordance with established processes and guidelines.

In essence, the job makes sure that any potential contamination that comes in from the probes NASA sends out into the solar system does not come back with extraterrestrial biological contamination. So, think lessIndependence Day and moreAndromeda Strain.

In terms of what the office does, their duty is to ensure that unknown and potentially hazardous organisms dont find their way back to Earth. The office also works to preserve life that has evolved on distant worlds or in the oceans of moons in our own solar system. Spacecraft such as Galileo, that orbited the gas giant Jupiter and Cassini (which has been in operation around the ringed planet Saturn Since July of 2004) have and will end by taking plunges into the clouds of these massive worlds (Galileo was safely deorbited in 2003).

Are you musing at this point that our response to the reporting that has appeared on this subject is too harsh? Business Insider used art from the 1996 Twentieth Century Fox film Independence Day to promote this article, you know, giant spaceship, over New York, shooting a death ray (no were not joking). How one can tie a job posting about a science position where one considers biological contamination issues to a ginormous alien death machine destroying New York defies all definitions of honesty.

What makes the so-called reporting on this matter all the more disappointing is the fact that it isnt even a new position. It has been around for at least a decade, with people actually handling the responsibilities of the position for much longer.

While Jacobs might not have much time for bloggers pretending to be journalists, he had some salient points about NASAs Office of Planetary Protection.

Consider how many people have the technical and scientific credentials to execute the job.By the way, if you know of anyone qualified, encourage them to apply. Lets leave the alien hunting to someone on the SyFy channel, Jacobs told SpaceFlight Insider, denoting why the position pays so well.

The mainstream media no longer has qualms about hunting down a teenage blogger for making a funny meme that mocked them, nor do they see anything wrong about posting pictures of the Greys working out at Area 51 in regards to a story about the prevention of possible biological contamination. Perhaps the reporting originated from the same place where those Greys tend to use their probes. While the over-sensationalizing of this mundane job listing might achieve the short term goal of gaining them a few more clicks it also means the continued degradation of how the public views the media.

Video courtesy of NASA

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not, necessarily reflect those of SpaceFlight Insider

Tagged: Cassini Galileo NASA Office of Planetary Protection Newsweek The Range USA Today

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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Insider Fact Check: Is NASA hiring someone to protect Earth from aliens? - SpaceFlight Insider

August 2, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt

With a busy year already in the books, the Eastern and Western Ranges in the United States are readying for the next salvo of missions from SpaceX and United Launch Alliance following a stand down of launch operations to provide time for maintenance. Specifically for the Eastern Range, the stand down period allowed the Air Force to complete more than 70 operations that will enable the Range to maintain its commitment and support to its users.

Eastern Range maintenance and stand down:

While not usually visible to the public, this years first semi-annual multi-day stand down period on the Eastern Range became a much more noticeable affair thanks to SpaceXs rapid fire pace of missions which from 1 May through 5 July averaged an impressive one launch every two weeks off of LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

With this rapid pace of missions, the last month has been a newly strange time on the Eastern Range with a total launch drought of 39 days (assuming a 13 August launch of SpaceXs CRS-12 mission to the Space Station) seeming like a time of nothings happening.

Indeed, that could not be further from the truth.

While part of the launch drought is due to pacing and mission order, with United Launch Alliances (ULAs) and NASAs TDRS-M mission delaying from 3 Aug, the stand down period known as recapitalization was initiated by the U.S. Air Force and the Eastern Range itself so that critical maintenance work could be performed on Range assets.

Eastern Range recapitalization is used as a predictable pause in operations for range users and the range itself so we can perform semi-annual maintenance requirements encompassing critical engineering projects, more intrusive maintenance actions and infrastructure work, said Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, 45th Space Wing Commander.

During recapitalization, we can perform maintenance and sustainment actions not possible during our busy launch schedule that includes not only launches, but daily pre-launch major milestone operations.

The planning process is collaborative in nature and includes all range users in determining the dates for range closure.

This collaborative nature became a prime talking point for those eagerly following the Intelsat 35e launch by SpaceX in July.

An initial launch attempt on 2 July was halted by a faulty ground computer at T-9 seconds pushing the next attempt to 3 July.

When that attempt was stopped by the same ground computer at T-9 seconds again, SpaceX opted to forgo a launch attempt on 4 July in favor of additional testing of the ground computer to ensure the issue didnt repeat a third time.

This caused some to wonder when the hard cutoff for Range down time was and how far into July SpaceX could continue to attempt to launch Intelsat 35e.

In the end, the 5 July attempt was a success, and according to Brig. Gen. Monteith, the range down period began the very next day.

The first Eastern Range recapitalization period of 2017 was conducted July 6-18. More than 70 planned tasks were accomplished 26% quicker as opposed to working these items around an active range, noted the Brig. Gen.

Of the work performed in the 12-day stand down period of recapitalization, some of these efforts included work to the Range Communications Facility Corridor Military Construction and replacing the uninterruptable power supply at the Falcon launch support facility.

Moreover, the Digital Range Communications Switch enhancement projects and server re-host for the 45th weather squadron were also completed.

This period also allowed us to focus on maintaining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station infrastructure as well as training and testing our crews so we can continue keeping pace with our high launch ops tempo, notes Brig. Gen. Monteith.

This work is not only necessary to the continued smooth operation of the Range, but also represents a concerted effort to avoid unanticipated issues and outages at the Range.

Range recap has proven successful in our ability to plan longer periodic, more intrusive, maintenance and sustainment projects on a stable schedule.

Not only does range recap allow us to take care of our mission critical assets, but it supports Air Force Space Commands commitment to sustaining the worlds premier spaceport of choice as our team drives to executing 48 launches a year.

The semi-annual maintenance ability to maintain Range readiness was seen last year with 2016 being the healthiest in range history at Cape Canaveral with 34 consecutive days of no significant instrumentation issues.

Launch schedule shuffle:

While the down period prevented SpaceX from launching missions, it did not stop them from getting some needed work accomplished at LC-39A mainly fixing the ground computer that twice stopped the Intelsat 35e countdown and removing a significant portion of the no-longer-needed Shuttle eras RSS while prepping for their first mission following the Range closure.

The CRS-12 flight, now scheduled to launch from LC-39A at 12:57 EDT on Sunday 13 August, will serve to end the 39 day launch drought in the U.S.

In fact, SpaceX has advanced the CRS-12 launch date from 14 August and in turn has also advanced the static fire date from 9 to 8 August.

The original mission that was to have been the first off the ground from the Range stand down was another NASA mission, TDRS-M. Up until last week, that was still the case, with TDRS-M originally maintaining its status as being more important in terms of launch order over CRS-12.However, when it became known that the replace and repair option for TDRS-Ms omni S-band antenna would take 10 days longer than originally expected, with a launch not possible until at least 20 August, priority in the launch order shifted to CRS-12 which at that point was targeting 14 August for launch.

With CRS-12 now at the top of the pecking order, SpaceX and NASA reviewed their schedules and determined it was possible to pull the mission one day back to the right to the 13th.

Likewise, as TDRS-M repairs progressed, NASA realized that the craft would actually be ready by 18 August, not the 20th. However, the TDRS-M date remains Under Review.

With CRS-12 now set for 13 August and TDRS-M for 18 August, the knock on effect to the launch manifest began to bear out on both coasts.

The first major shift occurred on the Western Range, with ULA having to move the 14 August scheduled launch of the NROL-42 mission by nearly a month to 11 September.

The shift of NROL-42s launch on an Atlas V 541 from SLC-3E did not impact SpaceXs plan for the Formosat 5 satellite launch for Taiwans National Space Organization which held steady on its planned 24 August launch date.

Back on the Eastern Range, the realignments of CRS-12 and TDRS-M did not have an effect on the Minotaur 4 launch on 25/26 August with the U.S. militarys Operationally Responsive Space program 5 mission, also called SensorSat.

However, the first flight of the Air Forces X-37B spaceplane aboard the Falcon 9 did move from its 28 August target to 7 September with processing notes acquired by L2 noting that the timeline to a 7 September launch is tight and had nothing to do with CRS-12s slip.

However, exactly which pad OTV-5 will now launch from is unknown.

Recent statements by Elon Musk of a planned November debut for SpaceXs heralded Falcon Heavy rocket point to SLC-40 being on track for an August completion making a 7 September OTV-5 mission a contender for first flight from SLC-40 after the AMOS-6 static fire conflagration.

Regardless of the pad OTV-5 uses, ULA is now expected to return on 25 September for the NROL-52 launch from the Cape, delayed in the wake of TDRS-M from 31 August.

This will then be followed two days later by SpaceXs SES-11/EchoStar 105 mission on 27 September.

(Images: SpaceX, Air Force, NASA, and Chris Gebhardt andBrady Kennisonfor NASASpaceFlight.com)

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Eastern Range ready to return with two key launches after stand down - NASASpaceflight.com

Jason Rhian

August 1st, 2017

Artists impression of Breakthrough Starshot spacecraft on its way to Alpha Centauri. Image Credit: Breakthrough Initiatives

In the NewSpace era, one hears all manner of predictions and brash claims, but few come to fruition. Most of these efforts see Chapter 11 before they ever take to the skies. One program, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, is looking to send mankinds space exploration efforts far beyond the Solar System by using the worlds smallest spacecraft.

On June 23, 2017, these spacecraft, called Sprites, which were funded through a 2011 Kickstarter campaign, were launched atop a PSLV-XL rocket. Well, actually, they piggybackedon OHB System AGs Max Valierand Ventasatellites.

These spacecraft redefine the meaning of the word small, encompassing3.5-by-3.5 centimeters and weighing in at a whopping four grams. The company described the craft as the worlds smallest fully functional space probes.

Eventually, every mission that NASA does may carry these sorts of nanocraft to perform various measurements, Starshots Zac Manchester said via a company-issued release. If youre looking for evidence of life on Mars or anywhere else, for instance, you can afford to use hundreds or thousands of these things it doesnt matter that a lot of them might not work perfectly. Its a revolutionary capability that will open up all sorts of opportunities for exploration.

A prototype Breakthrough Starshot Sprite spacecraft. (Click to enlarge) Photo Credit: Zac Manchester / Breakthrough Initiatives

The company has caught the attention of Scientific American and other established organizations.

Despite its diminutive size, these Sprites have what they need to get the job done each containssolar panels, computers, sensors, and radios that will allow them to carry out their various functions.

With engineers looking for ever smaller classifications to describe spacecraft by (cube, small, and nano being just some of the names that have been used to help classify these satellites), the company has dubbed Sprites as the next step in terms of spacecraft miniaturization. Built atCornell University and incorporated into theMax Valierand Ventasatellites (built by the Bremen-basedOHB System AG), the Sprite is Manchesters pride and joy.

These Sprites remain affixed to the satellites and could, one day, be used to explore further than mankind has been able to explore so far. By all accounts, these Sprites are performing as advertised, communicating back to stations located in California and New York. While having satellites piggyback their way to orbit is nothing new, this flight is meant to validate the spacecraft communications systems.

These systems would (most likely) be first used in three-dimensional antennas in deep space to monitor space weatherthat could threaten Earthly power-grids and orbiting spacecraft. So how would these Sprites enable interstellar space exploration?

Larger interplanetary probes would deploy swarms of Sprites around planets, moons, and asteroids. These would seek out promising locales that could contain desirable minerals or locations that could support life.

Breakthrough Starshot is just one of the efforts under Breakthrough Initiatives (which also includes Breakthrough Listen) and was announced byYuri Milner and Stephen Hawking on April 12, 2016 (the same day of the month that Yuri Gagarin began his fateful voyage and the crew of STS-1 launched from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A).

The project is an engineering program designed to prove the concept of spacecraft which would be propelled by light and accelerated to about20 percent of light speed and reach Proxima Centauri 4.2 light-years away in just over 20 years after their launch. The craft would targetthe exoplanet Proxima b and other planets in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. If everything goes as planned, the craft would capture images as well as measurements of those distant worlds.

Breakthrough Starshot, the $100 million initiative aiming to send robotic missions to nearby stars by the mid-21st century, has achieved what might prove to be a Sputnik moment in successfully lofting its first spacecraft the smallest ever launched and operated in orbit, Manchester said.

Video courtesy of Breakthrough

Tagged: Alpha Centauri Breakthrough Starshot PSLV-XL The Range Zac Manchester

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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Could Breakthrough Starshot be humanity's first interstellar mission ... - SpaceFlight Insider

NASA is looking for a Planetary Protection Officer to protect the planet from potential alien contamination. The U.S. governments official employment site posted the job advert, open to U.S. citizens and nationals for applications until August 14.

The job comes with a six figure salary$124,406 to $187,000 per yearand security clearance is listed as "secret." The role involves stopping astronauts and robots from getting contaminated with any organic and biological material during space travel.

NASA maintains policies for planetary protection applicable to all space flight missions that may intentionally or unintentionally carry Earth organisms and organic constituents to the planets or other solar system bodies, and any mission employing spacecraft, which are intended to return to Earth and its biosphere with samples from extraterrestrial targets of exploration the job advert reads. This policy is based on federal requirements and international treaties and agreements.

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The job, initially, is a three-year contract thatmay be extended for a further two years. During this time, NASA will be planning several missions, including one to Jupiters icy moon Europa, where it will search for signs of alien life.

The Planetary Protection Officer (PPO) is responsible for the leadership of NASA's planetary protection capability, maintenance of planetary protection policies, and oversight of their implementation by NASA's space flight missions, the job spec says. The successful candidate will have to work with several different branches of NASA and external organizations that are involved in planetary protection.

According to the job listing, the main responsibilities are:

Leads planning and coordination of activities related to NASA mission planetary protection needs. Leads independent evaluation of, and provides advice regarding, compliance by robotic and human spaceflight missions with NASA planetary protection policies, statutory requirements and international obligations.

Advises the Chief, SMA and other officials regarding the merit and implications of programmatic decisions involving risks to planetary protection objectives.

In coordination with relevant offices, leads interactions with COSPAR, National Academies, and advisory committees on planetary protection matters.

Recommends and leads the preparation of new or revised NASA standards and directives in accordance with established processes and guidelines.

Candidates must have broad engineering expertise, and should be an expert in planetary protection: This includes demonstrated technical expertise to independently form technically sound judgments and evaluations in considerably complex situations. Candidates should also have a degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics.

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Nasa Is Hiring a Planetary Protection Officer to Save Earth from Aliens - Newsweek

A portrait of Neil Armstrong aboard the Lunar Module Eagle on the lunar surface just after the first moon walk.NASACorbis via Getty Images

Live with history long enough and it starts to seem immutable. In 2019, a full 50 years will have elapsed since Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon; the near-half-century that has gone by since that transformative July night in 1969 has made it nearly impossible to conceive of anyone else in Armstrong's role. Imagining Pete Conrad or John Young as first men on the moon (instead of the third and ninth, respectively) seems as odd as imagining James Madison as the first President.

But the fact is, in the mid-1960s, when NASA was flying the two-man Gemini spacecraft that preceded the three-man Apollo, Conrad and Young and more than a dozen other men had just as good a chance as Armstrong of getting the prime seat on the prime mission. Armstrong even had a worse chance than the rest of themor at least he did on March 16, 1965, when he and his co-pilot Dave Scott took off aboard Gemini 8, both men's rookie ride into space.

Gemini 8 was supposed to be a three day mission that would include a rendezvous and docking with an unmanned spacecraft, and a pair of spacewalks by Scott. Instead it was all over in less than 11 hours, and the most memorable thing the two men accomplished was the simple business of staying alive.

That flight, only four years into America's now-long history of flying human beings in space, was the the first time NASA came closehorribly closeto losing a crew during a mission. The near-miss was owed to a very simple mechanical breakdown that almost pushed both the Gemini spacecraft and the astronauts themselves beyond the point that either could survive.

The fact that they did survive was due to the quick thinking and nimble piloting of Armstrong and Scott, and to the men at the consoles in Mission Control, who knew enough to offer whatever guidance they could during the unfolding crisis and then stand back and let the pilots work. That was enoughenough so that four years later Armstrong would indeed walk on the moon and, two years after that, so would Scott.

Episode Two of the TIME podcast Countdown tells the story of Armstrong's and Scott's harrowing day, and of what it took for them to get out of it with their lives.

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Neil Armstrong: The Spaceflight That Almost Killed Him | Time.com - TIME

Aleksandra Mir Space Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight at Modern Art Oxford, installation view.

The huge monochrome drawings are inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry and the artists who depicted Halleys Comet in 1066. Much like a graphic novel,Space Tapestrytells an episodic visual story of Space travel. Mir has brought together a team of collaborators aged 18 to 24, to draw the work collectively in her studio. At Modern Art Oxford, Mir presentsSpace Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight.

The drawings contemplate the future possibilities of Space and the evolution of advanced technology particularly satellites and human space flight in relations to our daily lives. The works explore the balance of technological progress and humanistic objectives, expressed through the works layered and participatory execution.

Faraway Missions, another chapter of Space Tapestry, which is 200 meters in total, is presented at Tate Liverpool, 23 June 15 October.

The production ofSpace Tapestryis supported by the UK Space Agency, the Science & Technology Facilities Council and Arts Council England.

Aleksandra Mir

Born 1967, Lubin, Poland, citizen of Sweden and USA and based in London, Aleksandra Mir has an international practice of 25 years and has held numerous exhibitions worldwide, including The Space Age, a retrospective at M-Museum, Leuven, 2013 and the 34m mural Drawing Room, London, 2014. She has developed many large-scale collaborative projects on space exploration. Her most well known project, First Woman on the Moon 1999, has been touring for 17 years and is included in the collections of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Tate.

Writing via press release courtesy of the artist and Modern Art Oxford

30 Pembroke Street OX1 1BP Open:11am-6pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun

Arte Fuse is always looking for guest writers. Please submit your story to info@artefuse.com.

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Aleksandra Mir Space Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight at Modern Art Oxford - Arte Fuse

July 31, 2017 by Philip Sloss

The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) team at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is continuing construction and testing to get ready to support upcoming Exploration Mission launches. Testing at the Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) is in full swing delivering launch vehicle umbilicals and swing arms to the Mobile Launcher (ML). LEFT to ML for SLS:

Construction and outfitting of systems on the ML are pointing towards multi-element verification and validation (V&V) testing next year, a major milestone that will confirm the GSE (Ground Support Equipment) is ready to receive the first SLS rocket.

A major test site for these preparations is the LETF, located in the KSC Industrial Area.

Most of the hardware that connects the SLS launch vehicles and Orion spacecraft to the Mobile Launcher is going through testing there to gather release loads data and verify the functionality of the umbilical connections and the swing arms.

Over the past nine to ten months weve significantly grown the team and have really been producing most of these umbilicals, Jeremy Parsons, GSDO Senior Project Manager for the LETF said in an interview with NASASpaceflight.com.

Where were at now is where pretty much at the apex of the mountain of work. So were at that precipice and then were getting ready to come down on the other side. Weve delivered a significant number of the umbilicals already and we have some of the hard work left.

The team at the LETF recently finished the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical (CSFSU) and Core Stage Intertank Umbilical (CSITU); the CSFSU was lifted up and attached to the ML tower in late June and testing on CSITU wrapped up shortly after that.

That umbilical is ready to be driven up the road to the ML construction site so it can be hung up on the tower.

It will be shipped to Mobile Launcher and as of right now August 11th is the lift date, Sam Talluto, GSDO Deputy Project Manager for the Mobile Launcher said at the time of the interview earlier this month.

So far weve completed a total of fifteen of nineteen umbilicals, starting off with ten each Vehicle Support Posts, thats eight primary support posts and two spares, Jeff Crisafulli, GSDO Engineering Manager for the LETF added. Thats [also] two each Aft Skirt Electrical Umbilicals, the Orion Service Module Umbilical, and then of course the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical and Core Stage Intertank Umbilical.

So that leaves the two TSMUs (Tail Service Mast Umbilicals), the VS (Vehicle Stabilizer), and then obviously the ICPSU (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical) and the CAA (Crew Access Arm) seal, Parsons noted. The CAA seal will only be a couple of day test. The setups will be more extensive and well be able to deliver that to the VAB, so its not time-critical.

Right now we have three elements that are in-flow actively testing. We just finished up our TRR, which is our Test Readiness Review for the [Liquid Oxygen] TSMU so were now into testing for that. Were well underway testing on the Vehicle Stabilizer and we just finished up our Delta Test Readiness Review to begin cryogenic operations on the ICPSU. So were in the final phase of testing for that. Those are all in the final stretch there.

After the ICPSU completes its testing, the other tail service mast, the liquid hydrogen TSMU will start into its test flow. The last EM-1 hardware that is planned to go through the LETF is the Crew Access Arm seal, which docks the White Room on the arm to access hatches on the Orion spacecraft.

Its just the seal for the white room, Parsons continued. The crew access arm itself is going to be delivered directly to the Mobile Launcher. We have that set to be deliveredprobably towards the end of September directly to the Mobile Launcher. So the seal will actually be delivered to the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) directly.

That will be probably towards the end of this calendar year and it will be the last element probably out of the LETF, but were not putting a high schedule pressure on it at this point because we need to get the umbilicals out and this will able to follow on after that and can be installed at pretty much any point in the VAB.

Mockups for the White Room and Orion launch abort system ogive panels will be used at the LETF for testing the seal.

Around the same time as the CSFSU was attached to the ML tower in late June, the CSITU completed testing at the LETF. As the name implies, the CSITU will attach to the SLS Core Stage intertank; the primary function of the umbilical is to safely carry hydrogen gas venting from the hydrogen tank away from the vehicle and the tower.

The umbilical will provide other services such as environmental control, power and data to vehicle systems in the intertank.

The LETF is a full test facility so what we tested there, we did initial tests with liquid nitrogen. To get to a lower temperature we tested with liquid hydrogen. The liquid nitrogen tested with the simulant of oxygen temperatures and then liquid hydrogenobviously we tested at full hydrogen temperatures to simulate what we would actually see during launch day, Parsons noted.

We test electrical connectivity at the interfaces of the plate, we have sensors all up and down the plate to test temperatures, to test all sorts of things. We test primary disconnect loads, we test secondary failure modes, so we go through all of those.

Loads to the vehicle are our primary concern and deliverable to the program so we have multiple, six axis load cells reporting all the simulated vehicle loads, Crisafulli added.

One of the other large tests we did was we had to tune the hydraulic control system for that particular arm to basically make sure it swings at the right rate of speed to get itself out of the way of the launch envelope of the vehicle. All of that was highly successful.

Once the testing of all the launch accessories for EM-1 at the LETF is complete, the test facilities there will go through a maintenance period; however, they will remain ready to support any additional testing in support of the EM-1 launch campaign. The LETF will play a similar critical role in getting ready to support the EM-2 launch, which will require testing new and modified umbilicals.

Mobile Launcher:

Construction and outfitting of the Mobile Launcher continues at the Launch Complex 39 East Park Site on the northern periphery of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

From a structural standpoint were installing the steel supports for the cryo system, steel supports for the environmental control system, we have lots of piping and tubing that is going in at this time, Cliff Lanham, GSDO Senior Project Manager for the Mobile Launcher said.

Structural mods are [also] continuing on some of the major structural girders as well as on the tower to support launch accessories the umbilicals.

The launch platform and tower were originally under construction to support the Constellation programs Ares I crew launch vehicle; after cancellation, the work was repurposed for the SLS. Workers are also installing equipment into the base platform and the tower to support launch operations.

From a GSE (Ground Support Equipment) installation standpoint, we have roughly a thousand items from pneumatics panels to electrical cabinets that have to go in along with cameras and those sorts of things, Lanham explained.

Right now were at just over 50% percent complete of the installation of those [overall]; of that, I would say [were about] 75 percent [complete] in the base and about 35 percent complete on the tower.

Lanham provided an overview of some of the laundry list of the different types of commodities and services that are going onto the ML.

From a pneumatics systems [standpoint], weve got gaseous oxygen, weve got gaseous nitrogen, weve got helium. [For] cryo systems, we have [liquid] hydrogen and oxygen.

Then some of the other systems, from an electrical standpoint, we have ground special power, hazgas (hazardous gas) leak detection, Kennedy ground control systems, launch release systems, range safety control systems, sensor / data acquisition systems, thermal systems, weather systems, handling and access, and communications systems.

As an example of drilling down at a systems level, Lanham also outlined some of the types communications services on the ML.

Wifi, telephones, OIS (Operational Intercommunications System), which is our operational system for the test teams to use to communicate with the LCC, the launch control center, so all those systems fall under comm.

With outfitting work still ongoing, for now launch accessories like the umbilicals are only being structurally attached to the tower, addedTalluto.

After all the umbilicals are hung and surveyed then the tubing and piping pneumatics, hydraulics, all that stuff will catch up.

(Images via NASA and L2 SLS Sections the latter including a master LETF and ML Update Section full of images and videos from the test sites. To join L2, click here:https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Preparing the Mobile Launcher to be armed and ready for SLS - NASASpaceflight.com

Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Veteran three-man crew docks with space station Spaceflight Now The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft has docked to the Poisk module of the space station, delivering Russian commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, NASA flight engineer Randy Bresnik and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli to the complex after a six-hour, ... ISS crew size increases to 6 with Soyuz MS-05 dockingSpaceFlight Insider Soyuz rocket carries 3-man crew to space stationCBS News Three-man crew reaches space station as US boosts researchReuters Space.com -The Epoch Times -BABW News all 224 news articles »

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Live coverage: Veteran three-man crew docks with space station - Spaceflight Now

Jason Rhian

July 30th, 2017

SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifts off from Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A. Image Credit: SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. On an Instagram post, SpaceXs CEO and Founder has expressed less optimism than his companys fans about the success of the Heavy version of the first flight of his companys Falcon Heavy rocket. Elon Musks comments highlight his knowledge concerning the success rates that most launch vehicles encounter on their maiden flight, as well as the fact that the FH has 27 Merlin 1D engines in the rockets first stage alone.

According to Reuters Irene Klotz, that test flight was supposed to have flown in 2013 and Musk has noted numerous times that it is proving to be complex, even suggesting that it perhaps should have been called the Falcon 27 instead. Nevertheless, supporters of the company have attempted to argue that the Falcon Heavys first flight has not been delayed, that it has not flown because the launch vehicle lacked a paying customer, and the fact that the rockets first flight would need to be a test flight, as was the case with the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9.

When it does fly, the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket currently in operation (by a factor of two according to Space Coast Daily). However, at present, it is currently in the same classification as NASAs Space Launch System unproven.

The former Soviet Union had tried for three years (and four launches) to have their N1 rocket enable their lunar ambitions only to have each mission end in an explosion. Like the N1 (which had 30 NK-15 engines in its first stage), the Falcon Heavy has a large number of engines in its first stage.

Supporters of the Hawthorne, California-based companys innovative efforts have suggested that SLS should be canceled in favor of the Falcon Heavy often citing the rockets cost (possibly as low as $90 million per flight) and capabilities despite the fact that the rocket has never flown. Much like the Falcon 9, the expense of sending payloads to orbit is often the deciding factor for customers.

If SpaceX can bring the Falcon Heavy into service, it will eclipse the current highest capacity rocket currently in operation United Launch Alliances Delta IV Heavy. The Delta IV Heavy has one factor strongly in its favor a simpler design. Whereas the Falcon Heavy employs 27 engines in its first stage, the Delta Heavy has only oneAerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A engine in each of its three common booster cores.

However, should the Falcon Heavy enter into rotation at Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, it will be a tough act to follow.

With the ability to send140,660 pounds (63,800kg) to orbit compared to the Delta Heavys 62,540 pounds (28,370kg), the Falcon Heavy will be able to send more to orbit and at a lower cost (estimates have placed the cost of the Falcon Heavy at $90 million compared to the Delta Heavys $375 million) than their competitor.

If everything continues to go as planned, the Falcon Heavy will be launched from SpaceXs facilities at Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex 39A with the Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 40.

Video courtesy of SpaceX

Tagged: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Elon Musk Falcon Heavy Kennedy Space Center Lead Stories SpaceX

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.

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Musk: Falcon Heavy could fly as early as this fall - SpaceFlight Insider

File photo of a Dragon spacecraft at SpaceXs headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX

The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceXs first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon variant is ready.

SpaceX launched a reused Dragon cargo craft on its last commercial supply shipment to the space station in June, and officials said then that the next Dragon mission now scheduled for launch next month will use a newly-manufactured capsule. Plans for subsequent resupply missions were still under review, NASA and SpaceX officials said at the time.

But a presentation to the NASA Advisory Councils human exploration and operations committee Monday by Sam Scimemi, director of the space station program at NASA Headquarters, suggested SpaceXs next Dragon spacecraft would be the last one to be built.

SpaceX clarified Friday that the company expects the upcoming automated logistics mission will be the last to fly with a newly-manufactured Dragon 1 spacecraft. SpaceX has a contract with NASA for 20 commercial resupply launches through 2019, followed by at least six more Dragon cargo missions through 2024 under a separate follow-on agreement.

NASA has also contracted with Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. for the stations cargo needs.

Another iteration of the Dragon spaceship, with a different shape and other significant changes, is under development at SpaceX. NASA confirmed last week that the first unpiloted orbital demonstration flight of the Dragon 2, also known as the Crew Dragon in its human-rated configuration, would slip from late 2017 until at least February 2018.

A second test flight scheduled for June 2018 will carry two astronauts to the space station and back to Earth. NASA and SpaceX intend to have the Crew Dragon ready and certified for regular crew rotations to and from the orbiting research complex by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, a simpler version of the Dragon 2 capsule will also take over SpaceXs cargo delivery duties. Officials have not identified when the resupply runs will switch to the new spacecraft type, but the changeover could happen when SpaceX begins flying missions under its second cargo contract in late 2019 or early 2020, or sooner.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said July 19 that there was little difference between the cost of a new Dragon capsule and the cost to refurbish the Dragon that launched to the space station June 3 and returned to Earth a month later.

The SpaceX internal accounting said that it cost us almost as much as building a Dragon 1 from scratch, but I expect our internal accounting wasnt counting certain things, Musk said at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington.

The Dragon that flew the last mission to the space station spent 34 days in orbit in 2014. Engineers replaced the ships heat shield and batteries, which were vulnerable to salt water damage when it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.But the hull, thrusters, harnessing, propellant tanks, and some avionics boxes were original, officials said.

This had a lot of rework, Musk said. The next one, we think theres a decent shot of maybe being 50 percent of the cost of a new one.

SpaceX hopes to launch the its next supply ship on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Aug. 13 or 14, ahead of an Aug. 17 spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts that will release several small satellites from the space station. The deployments will prevent the Dragon cargo craft from approaching the space station for several days as a safety precaution until station managers have good tracking of the Russian satellites.

Technicians at Cape Canaveral will load more than 7,000 pounds (about 3,300 kilograms) of hardware, crew provisions and experiments into the Dragon spacecraft in the coming weeks, including a NASA-funded instrument to investigate the origins of cosmic rays.

If the SpaceX launch is not off the ground by the middle of August, it could be grounded several days until officials ensure the Russian satellites are well away from the station. Two other launches from Cape Canaveral in the second half of August an Atlas 5 flight set for around Aug. 20 and a Minotaur 4 rocket mission Aug. 25 could complicate SpaceXs scheduling in the event of a delay.

The mid-August launch will be the 12th time SpaceX has sent equipment and experiments to the space station since regular Dragon resupply flights began in October 2012. Counting two Dragon test flights in December 2010 and May 2012, the reused capsule that launched twice, and next months mission, SpaceX built 13 capsules based on the first-generation Dragon design.

After the upcoming cargo flight, SpaceXs next Dragon mission is scheduled for launch in November with a previously-flown capsule.

SpaceX will continue building unpressurized trunk modules for space station deliveries. Those sections, which hold solar panels and carry large external experiment payloads, are disposed at the end of each Dragon mission to burn up in the atmosphere.

Musk confirmed SpaceX will eventually use the Dragon 2 spacecraft for all crew and cargo missions to the space station.

The only thing cargo Dragon wont have is the launch escape system, Musk said, noting that the capsule will still be able to separate from a failing rocket. I think, most likely, even cargo Dragon 2 will be able to survive a booster anomaly. It will have everything the crew Dragon 2 has, except the (abort) thrusters, but I think, in most cases actually, it will be able to survive re-entry and keep the cargo safe.

Dragon 2 being used for both cargo and crew allows us to iterate with just a little more risk on the cargo version and prove it out before theres crew on-board, Musk said.

The SpaceX founder said the next-generation Dragon will not have the capability for propulsive returns to land as originally intended, instead returning to splashdowns at sea.

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Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft - Spaceflight Now

STORY WRITTEN FORCBS NEWS& USED WITH PERMISSION

A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan Friday, boosting a three-man crew into orbit for a six-hour flight to the International Space Station.

The workhorse Soyuz rocket thundered to life at 11:41 a.m. EDT (GMT-4; 9:41 p.m. local time) and streaked away from the same pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome that was used to launch Sputnik 60 years ago and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, in 1961.

Trailing a brilliant plume of exhaust visible for miles around in the clear early evening sky, the Soyuz booster climbed away directly into the plane of the space stations orbit, kicking off a six-hour rendezvous.

Live video from inside the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft showed commander Sergey Ryazanskiy, flanked on his left by NASA flight engineer Randy Bresnik and on the right by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, calmly monitoring cockpit displays as the spacecraft accelerated toward space.

Ryazanskiy, with a doctorate in biomedicine, is the first scientist-cosmonaut to serve as a Soyuz commander. He spent 166 days aboard the station in 2013-14 and commanded one of three international crews during a 500-day simulated Mars mission in 2009.

Bresnik, an F/A-18 pilot with more than 6,000 hours flying time in high-performance aircraft, spent 10 days in space as a shuttle crew member during a 2009 space station assembly mission. Nespoli, making his third spaceflight, has logged 174 days in orbit.

If all goes well, Ryazanskiy and Bresnik will oversee an automated four-orbit rendezvous with the space station, moving in for docking at the Earth-facing Rassvet module around 6 p.m.

After verifying a tight, airtight seal, hatches will be opened and the Soyuz crew will be welcomed aboard by Expedition 52 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, NASAs most experienced astronaut.

Yurchikhin, Fischer and Whitson have had the station to themselves since June 2 when Soyuz MS-03 commander Oleg Novitskiy and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned to Earth.

The expanded Expedition 52 crew will include four astronauts assigned to the U.S. segment of the station Fischer, Whitson, Bresnik and Nespoli and two in the Russian segment Yurchikhin and Ryazanskiy.

The station crew normally is evenly split between the Russians and the U.S. segment, which includes astronauts representing NASA, ESA, Japan and Canada. But the Russian space agency Roscosmos recently decided to reduce its crew complement to save money and that opened up additional Soyuz seats for USOS U.S. orbital segment astronauts.

With the arrival of the Soyuz MS-05 crew, an additional USOS crew member will be available to carry out research.

The big thing is were going to have four USOS crew members, and with over 330 possible experiments, of which 85 are new to the space station, theres a ton of science for us to do, Bresnik said in a pre-launch news conference.

And with that extra crew member, were going to have a lot more opportunity to not only do the science, were also going to have the opportunity to do repairs on the station. So we think the productivity of this huge laboratory will really go up quite a bit having a fourth crew member.

Ryazanskiy, who will join Yurchikhin for a spacewalk Aug. 17, said having only two Russian crew members aboard will require some Russian research to be carried out in their spare time, but he does not anticipate any problems.

We will be really busy because there will only be two of us, he said. I have a lot of science that is now going on the task list so some experiments will be done in my free time aboard the station. But overall, for life support and technical issues, two Russian crew members will be enough.

Yurchikhin, Fischer and Whitson are scheduled to return to Earth Sept. 3. They will be replaced 10 days later by Soyuz MS-06 commander Alexander Misurkin, NASA flight engineer Mark Vande Hei and astronaut Joe Acaba. It will be the second expedition with four USOS crew members.

Ryazanskiy, Bresnik and Nespoli will return to Earth Dec. 14. Between now and then, the overlapping station crews will carry out multiple spacewalks, help with the departure of one Soyuz, the arrival of another and unload four cargo ships, one Russian Progress, two SpaceX Dragons and one Orbital ATK Cygnus.

And throughout it all, the station crew will carry out a full slate of scientific research.

I am excited about having a full complement of people up here who can really utilize this amazing laboratory, Fischer said in a recent interview with CBS News.

This will be the first time where we have four USOS, were have three Americans and an Italian, Paolo, working on the U.S. segment on science. Four people. Thats crazy talk! Im super excited about how much science were going to be able to get done with all four people. So, overall, its awesome, I cannot wait for the discoveries that we make together.

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Soyuz rockets into space with three bound for station - Spaceflight Now

Artists concept of SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket in flight. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX aims to launch the first Falcon Heavy rocket in November, company chief Elon Musk said Thursday, the latest in a series of schedule targets for the heavy-lift launchers delayed debut.

Musk shared the updated schedule on social media late Thursday, a week after hetempered expectations for the Falcon Heavys maiden flight in remarks at an industry conference in Washington.

A post on social media earlier this month from a passerby touring NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida apparently showed all three of the Falcon Heavys first stage boosters inside SpaceXs hangar near launch pad 39A, where the rocket will blast off on its inaugural flight.

The images are a sign of visible progress on the Falcon Heavy.

Attach mechanisms visible on the Falcon Heavys central core will connect two side-mounted boosters, each based on SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket first stage.

The three rockets bolted together will generate 5.1 million pounds of thrust with 27 Merlin 1D main engines, making the Falcon Heavy the most powerful present-day launcher in the world once it flies.

The Falcon Heavy will weigh more than 3.1 million pounds (1.4 million kilograms) fully loaded with kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants and stand more than 229 feet (70 meters) tall.

The nice thing is when you fully optimize it, its about two-and-a-half times the payload capability of a Falcon 9, Musk said. Its well over 100,000 pounds to LEO (low Earth orbit) of payload capability, 50 tons. It can even get up a little higher than that if optimized.

If the demo mission gets off the ground successfully by the end of this year, two more Falcon Heavy flights are on the books in the first half of 2018, both from Florida. While the inaugural launch will not carry a customer payload, the Falcon Heavy missions next year will deploy satellites for commercial companies and the U.S. military.

Musk first announced plans for the Falcon Heavy in April 2011, when he suggested the huge rocket could make its first flight by the end of 2013. Those plans were delayed multiple times, and SpaceX officials said the company temporarily sidelined the Falcon Heavy project in the wake of a Falcon 9 launch failure in 2015.

The Falcon Heavy will be able to loft the worlds heaviest commercial communications satellites, the U.S. military largest national security spacecraft, and send the companys Dragon crew capsule on flights around the moon, according to Musk.

SpaceX also planned to launch Red Dragon capsules on one-way flights to land on Mars aboard Falcon Heavy rockets, but the Red Dragon program, at least in its current incarnation, is in doubt after a design change on the next-generation Dragon spacecraft to eliminate the ships propulsive landing capability.

The Falcon Heavy rockets development delays forced some customers to switch their satellites to SpaceX competitors. Two satellites owned by ViaSat and Inmarsat were originally slated to launch on Falcon Heavy rockets, but those telecom operators opted to swap their SpaceX rides for launches on European Ariane 5 rockets operated by Arianespace.

SpaceX aims to recover the Falcon Heavys two side boosters, which flew on Falcon 9 rocket flights last year and were modified with added nose cones, at a landing site at Cape Canaveral after the maiden launch. The company manufactured the center core new, giving it a strengthened structure, attach points, and other upgrades that make it different than a basic Falcon 9 booster.

Musk last week said the Falcon Heavy turned out to be more difficult than originally expected.

Theres a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy, a real good chance that that vehicle does not make it to orbit, Musk said, referring to the inaugural test launch. I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly. I hope it makes it far enough beyond the pad so that it does not cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win, to be honest.

Read our earlier story for more on Musks comments last week.

Repairs to SpaceXs launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral in the aftermath of a rocket explosion there last year will help determine when the Falcon Heavy will take off for the first time. SpaceX plans to shift its Florida launch operations to pad 40 once it is available, allowing construction to resume at pad 39A to ready it for the Falcon Heavy.

In the meantime, all of SpaceXs Falcon 9 launches are departing from pad 39A, giving ground teams little time to modify the facility for the bigger booster.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Musk aims for November debut of Falcon Heavy - Spaceflight Now

Ocean McIntyre

July 28th, 2017

This false-color view from NASAs Cassini spacecraft gazes toward the rings beyond Saturns sunlit horizon, where a thin haze can be seen along the limb. Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

After twenty years in space and thirteen years directly observing Saturn and its system of hypnotic rings and moons, the Cassini spacecraft is continuing to tease out tantalizing data from the mysterious ringed beauty about every six days.

Currently in its sixteenth of twenty-two Grand Finale orbits that will culminate in the spacecrafts plunge into Saturns atmosphere on September 15, 2017, Cassini keeps sending back consistently stunning images as well as jaw dropping data.

Cassini is performing beautifully in the final leg of its long journey, said Earl Maize, Cassini Project Scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California. Its observations continue to surprise and delight as we squeeze out every last bit of science that we can get.

The Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) was given priority to observe Titan for two periods, each lasting several hours, to view the atmosphere as well as the surface, and in hopes of observing formation and changes to clouds on Titan. In addition to the ISS, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) and the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) were active in this pursuit.

As Cassini approached and swooped past Saturn, the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) observed both the northern and southern auroral zones, with the southern zone in darkness and the northern in sunlight, and a stunning image mosaic of this pass was made.

When Cassini began its Grand Finale orbits back in April 2017, one of the hopes of scientists studying the rings was to be able to closely observe the ring particles and measure their mass to get a better handle on their age and composition.

On 29 June, during the third of four of Cassinis close approaches to the innermost D-ring, Cassinis scientists and engineers decided to take a chance and turn the spacecraft so that the cosmic dust analyzer (CDA) instrument could directly sample the nanometer size particles. This strategic alignment allowed the spacecraft to be able to take a sample of some of the super fine particles as it passed just 3,040 miles (4,890 kilometers) from the inner edge of the D-ring while using the CDA.

Ring science researchers are excited to receive CDA results in coordination with some of the best high-resolution images ever received of the rings, including the C-ring with its bright bands and streaky textured appearance referred to as plateaus.

The central feature in this image, called Plateau P1, is found approximately 47,300 miles (76,200 kilometers) from Saturns center. It is situated amid some undulating structure that characterizes this region of the C ring. None of this structure is well understood. This image, especially the enhanced version (right), reveals three different textures with different kinds of structure. Images & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Unlike geologic plateaus, Saturns ring plateaus arent necessarily higher in elevation, but rather they are an area of higher particle density which appears as brightness. When these regions are compared to the surrounding ring region, the non-plateau areas seem to lack any apparent structure whereas the plateaus are approximately five times denser.

The data we are seeing from Cassinis Grand Finale are every bit as exciting as we hoped, although we are still deep in the process of working out what they are telling us about Saturn and its rings, said Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker at JPL.

The new level of detail in the images combined with the results from the CDA data should shed some light on the questions of why and how they were created, and what the makes them different from other regions of the rings.

The central feature in this image, called Plateau P5, is found approximately 52,700 miles (84,800 kilometers) from Saturns center. It is situated amid some undulating structure that characterizes this region of the C ring. None of this structure is well understood. This image, especially the enhanced version (right), reveals that the plateau itself is shot through with elongated streaks. Images & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

It wasnt only the rings that received Cassinis attention. The ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS) was also able to take samples of the planets exosphere the atmospheres outermost layer just 1,750 miles (2,810 kilometers) above Saturns cloud tops. Cassinis imaging cameras were able to get some of the highest resolution images ever taken of Saturns clouds. These images include two new image mosaics and a movie sequence.

As interesting as all of that is, some of the most intriguing results have come from the gravitational and magnetic field data. When Saturn was first visited by the Voyager probes in 1980 and 1981, they noted that Saturns magnetic tilt was very well aligned with its axial tilt, which made calculating the exact length of a Saturnian sidereal day impossible. Its sidereal day is currently estimated at 10 hours, 47 minutes.

The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit since 2004. Since that time, it has revolutionized our understanding of the ringed planet. Image Credit: James Vaughan / SpaceFlight Insider

When Cassini arrived 13 years ago, it found much the same thing, but the spacecraft had come prepared with far more sensitive equipment. Not only does Cassini have a more sensitive magnetometer (MAG), it has two the vector/scalar helium magnetometer located at the far end of the 36-foot (11-meter) boom, and the fluxgate magnetometer positioned half-way out along the boom.

Both instruments can measure strength and direction of magnetic fields, but they also have individual abilities as well. The vector/scalar helium magnetometer can also detect the strength of fields alone, whereas the fluxgate magnetometer can detect a range of strength three times greater than the vector/scalar magnetometer.

Why is this important? Because measuring and mapping the magnetic fields on a planet should give you an understanding of how those magnetic fields are generated. However, this is where things get a bit weird on Saturn.

Until now, we believed that electromagnetic fields in planets, called dynamos, were created and sustained by liquid metals surrounding and moving around a solid metal core deep inside of a planet. The greater the planets mass and more movement within the liquid core, the larger and stronger the magnetic field. Our understanding of how the liquid metal core spins is based on the difference in the axial rotation or the tilt of the planet as it spins or rotates in space.

The Earth has a 23.5-degree axial tilt, and Jupiter has an axial tilt of just 3.13 degrees. Saturn, on the other hand, has an axial tilt of less than 0.06 degrees, and that is only an estimate because its the lowest measurement the equipment is capable measuring down to.

The comparison of the gravitational field data and magnetic field data has come back with more than a small number of discrepancies from the expected models. These discrepancies suggest that there is something quite strange going on deep inside of the planet and that Saturns deep atmosphere could be masking how and where the internal magnetic field is being generated.

Everything that we believe thus far suggests that a planet with virtually no axial tilt, such as Saturn, would be incapable of sustaining a dynamo, let alone such a powerful dynamo as it possesses. Is there a link to the magnetic field generation somewhere in the deep narrow atmospheric lanes and zones? Is it generated by an as yet unidentified substance? Are Saturns thread-like convective cells contributing to it?

It will be interesting to see what researchers and scientists are able to piece together based on the data from these next (and last) seven passes. Once Cassini is lost after it plunges into Saturn on September 15, 2017, any additional data to answer these questions could take decades to obtain as there are no new missions currently being planned that extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed, and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

The sounds and colorful spectrogram in this still image and video represent data collected by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument on NASAs Cassini spacecraft, as it crossed through Saturns D ring on May 28, 2017. Image/Audio & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Iowa

Tagged: Cassini Grand Finale Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Saturn The Range

A native of the Greater Los Angeles area, Ocean McIntyre's writing is focused primarily on science (STEM and STEAM) education and public outreach. McIntyre is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador as well as holding memberships with The Planetary Society, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, and is a founding member of SafePlaceForSpace.org. McIntyre is currently studying astrophysics and planetary science with additional interests in astrobiology, cosmology and directed energy propulsion technology. With SpaceFlight Insider seeking to expand the amount of science articles it produces, McIntyre was a welcomed addition to our growing team.

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As dusk sets on NASA's Cassini mission, Saturn still providing surprises - SpaceFlight Insider

As a guy that writes a lot about VR on the internet Ive seen and played my fair share of space flight games. From piloting massive ships as I explore the stars in Elite: Dangerous and engaging in epic multiplayer dogfights in EVE: Valkyrie, all the way down to some casual fun on the Gear VR with Anshar Wars 2 or even flying an X-Wing for the first time in the Star Wars Battlefront VR Mission, there is a ton of stuff to do in space if you have a VR headset. But what most of these things lack is a believable sense of realism.

I can hang out with friends aboard an Enterprise-caliber Starship in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, but thats entirely fiction. On the other end of the spectrum games like Go For Launch: Mercury are focused on 100% authentic, historically accurate, simulation.

Created by one amateur programmer named Joe Chisholm, Go For Launch: Mercury aims to be one of the most realistic space flight simulators ever made. Working with data from the NASA history office, the simulation accurately recreates Americas first manned space program down to the finest detail, writes Chisholm in an email to UploadVR. Every last nut, bolt, switch and lever functioning exactly as it did in the original Mercury Spacecraft.

The cockpits are fully interactive with HTC Vive and Oculus Touch motion controllers and you can even explore the cockpits themselves. Chisholm has been working on Go For Launch: Mercury for over two years now and is gearing up to launch the full experience later this year in September.

In the meantime, you can download and play a free demo on Steam, Oculus Home, or Viveport right now to get a taste of what hes building. What do you think of his simulation? Let us know down in the comments below!

Tagged with: flight sim, space flight

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Go For Launch: Mercury Is A Historically Accurate VR Space Flight Simulator - UploadVR

Laurel Kornfeld

July 27th, 2017

An artists impression of LISA Pathfinder in space. Image Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

The European Space Agencys (ESA) LISA Pathfinder, a probe that tested technologies for their capability to detect the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves, has been shut down.

Over a period of 16 months, the spacecraft, a preliminary proof-of-mission project, tested technologies aimed at studying gravitational waves in a follow-up mission, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), scheduled for launch in 2034.

First proposed as part of Albert Einsteins theory of general relativity over a century ago, gravitational waves result from major space events, such as mergers of two black holes or supernova explosions.

Because only some types of gravitational waves can be detected by ground-based observatories, scientists had to create and launch a space-based observatory that would not be vulnerable to phenomena on Earth, such as seismic activity.

Were looking for the universe vibrating from these mergers, these big, big events, said LISA Pathfinder project scientist Paul McNamara in an ESA video about the mission. From the operations to the hardware to the development, its just been a wonderful mission.

Video courtesy of European Space Agency (ESA)

Two gold-platinum cubes, each with a weight of 4.3 pounds (2 kilograms) and a diameter of about 1.8 inches (4.6 centimeters), suspended inside LISA Pathfinder, served as its primary technology. A 1.5-inch (3.8-centimeter) laser measured the distances between the cubes to vary their positions, distance, and orientation.

During its period of operation, LISA Pathfinder had to be held steady to prevent its sensitive motion detector from being influenced by photons coming from the Sun. This was accomplished by thrusters that exerted tiny reactive forces to the probe, keeping it in a near-perfect gravitational orbit.

Keeping the spacecraft stable was so important that two separate systems, one designed by ESA and the other by NASA, were placed and used on board.

We were trying to hold it as stable as the width of a DNA helix. And we went down from there to the width of part of a DNA helix, explained John Ziemer of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and systems lead for the NASA thruster system on the probe.

Known as the Space Technology 7 Disturbance Reduction System (ST7-DRS), the thruster system was developed by the company Busek Co. Inc. with assistance from JPL.

Algorithms developed by NASAs ST7 project were used in conjunction with ESAs commands and input from ESAs sensors to guide LISA Pathfinder during its U.S. operations phase.

While the spacecraft completed its primary mission in the fall of 2016, tests of various algorithms to stabilize it continued into March and April of this year.

The main goal for us was to show we can fly the spacecraft drag-free, Ziemer said. The main force on the spacecraft comes from the Sun, from photons with [an] extremely tiny force that can subtly move the spacecraft.

Engineers hope that the new steady thrusters could eventually replace reaction wheels, currently used to point and rotate spacecraft, on other probes, such as telescopes designed to hunt for exoplanets, he added.

Turned off on Tuesday, July 18, 2017, LISA Pathfinder will remain in a parking orbit, where it will coast while continuing to circle the Sun.Its 2034 successor will be composed of three separate spacecraft positioned in a triangle, with each one 1.55 million miles (2.5 million km) from its partners.

The three LISA probes will use technology much like LISA Pathfinders cubes and will detect gravitational waves by the minute distortion (only one trillionth of a meter) the waves exert on the distances between them.

This illustration shows ESAs (the European Space Agencys) LISA observatory, a multi-spacecraft mission to study gravitational waves expected to launch in 2034. In the mission concept, LISA consists of three spacecraft in a triangular formation spanning millions of kilometers. Test masses in spacecraft on each arm of the formation will be linked together by lasers to detect passing gravitational waves. Credits: Image AEI / Milde Marketing / Exozet; Caption NASA

Tagged: European Space Agency LISA Pathfinder The Range

Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, NJ, who enjoys writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned a Graduate Certificate of Science from Swinburne Universitys Astronomy Online program. Her writings have been published online in The Atlantic, Astronomy magazines guest blog section, the UK Space Conference, the 2009 IAU General Assembly newspaper, The Space Reporter, and newsletters of various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the Cranford, NJ-based Amateur Astronomers, Inc. Especially interested in the outer solar system, Laurel gave a brief presentation at the 2008 Great Planet Debate held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, MD.

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LISA Pathfinder mission terminated - SpaceFlight Insider