Goodbye, MESSENGER!

Last image sent by the Messenger space probe.

A new crater is detected on Mercury! Er - rather, a new crater was created on Mercury, as the Messenger space probe crashed into the far side of the little planet. After 4 years and 250,000 images, the NASA Messenger spacecraft program came to a close, and the satellite was allowed to smack into the surface at about 8,700 miles per hour. The are no images of the crash itself, as it occurred on the side of Mercury facing away from Earth telescopes, and space telescopes were unable to face the crashpoint as the planet was too close to the glare of the Sun.

NASA infographic of the success of Messenger.

Messenger completed its mission in 2012, but it was in good enough shape to continue experiments and reconnaissance. It successfully discovered Mercury's off-set internal magnetic field, imaged water ice deposits at the poles, and helped scientists unravel the geological history of the planet.

ISS Summer Summary

ISS robotic arm just prior to releasing the Cygnus resupply ship. The dotted-line object is the side view of the Cygnus' solar panels, seen exactly edge-on.

It may not be the calendar end to summer, but students all over the USA know good and well that their summer vacation is over and they are heading back to school. And I am finished this year with company business travel, so it's time to get back to commenting on the rubble in space seen from my Space Bunker in Utah. Since my last post at the end of July, what's up with mankind's outpost in Earth Orbit?

Just hours ago, the Cygnus robotic cargo spacecraft burned up in re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. It's been a busy 6 weeks of comings and goings for Expedition 40 up on the International Space Station. Back in June, both the SpaceX and Orbital launches had been postponed. ANd the new Russian Angara rocket had suffered a launch glitch on the 27th. On July 1st  a launch of a NASA Delta 2 was scrubbed when a problem developed with a sound-suppression system. At least India had success with the launch of a Polar-orbit rocket carrying 5 satellites.

The next day NASA's Delta 2 took off and launched a carbon-dioxide research rocket into space. And the rockets kept on flying. The Russians were next.

The Rokot lifts off from Plesetsk with 3 communications satellites. RIA Novosti.

The Russians had a series of launches starting with the launch of a light-carrier class Rokot from the Plesestk space center on July 4th. Then on the 9th, a Soyuz rocket lifted off from Baikonur with a weather satellite and a couple other payloads. Finally, the new Angara rocket had a successful launch.

Angara on the pad at Plesetsk. RIA Novosti.

The first flight of the Angara on July 9th from Plesetsk lifted a dummy payload into space to test the rocket systems. The Angara is meant to supplement the Soyuz rocket type launches and relieve the burden of launches only a Soyuz can perform, though it is not man-rated. To show off the demand for the Soyuz rocket, another one was launched on the 10th from the French space Center in French Guiana placing 4 communications satellites into orbit. 

Antares lifts off.

On July 13, Orbital Sciences launched its Antares rocket from its facility on Wallops Island, Virginia to place the Cygnus cargo craft on a path to the ISS. Close behind, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket placing 6 ORBCOMM satellites into orbit on the 14th. On Wednesday, the Cygnus cargo craft docked with the ISS.

Docking for the Cygnus with help from the CanadArm robotic arm.

Carrying food, oxygen, and supplies from Earth, the Cygnus also delivered 32 micro-satellites which will be released over time by the crew of Expedition 40. The Cygnus was docked by engineers on Earth this time using the robotic arm after astronaut Commander Steve Swanson captured the craft, and secured to the Harmony module of the station. The craft is named SS Janet Voss in commemoration of the astronaut who passed away in 2012.

The launches continued. A Soyuz carried a biological research satellite into space on July 20. On the 22nd, a Russian Progress Robot cargo ship was undocked from the ISS to make a place for an upcoming resupply mission. The Progress ship was then directed to deorbit and crash into the Pacific.

A Progress cargo craft approaches the ISS. 

On Wednesday the 23rd, a new Progress craft was launched from Baikonur and arrived at the ISS six hours later. The M-24M carried supplies for the station. Once unloaded, it will eventually be filled with trash and undocked later.

Delta 4 does the job, launching into a clear blue sky. SpaceFlight Now.

On Monday the 28th, a Delta 4 carried the GSSAP classified secret satellite into orbit. The satellite, though developed in secret, will be used to do research on possible collisions in space and any potential enemy military weapons developments in space.

European control room engineers monitor the docking of the ATV to the ISS. ESA.

On Tuesday the 29th, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the 5th and last of the ATV robot cargo ships to the ISS. It was lifted on the Ariane 5 rocket from the French space center in French Guiana, South America. It was the 60th successful launch of the Ariane 5, a remarkable achievement.

And the rockets kept flying. On August 1st an Atlas 5 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, carrying a GPS navigational satellite. On August 5th SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the AsiaSat 8. On the same day, the ESA announced a remarkable success: the Rosetta space probe rendezvoused with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Instead of just passing close by, the probe has matched its speed and direction and will travel with the comet, studying it from close up.

Radar imaging of the comet nucleus. ESA.

The ATV finally docked with the ISS on Tuesday the 12th. It was berthed at the Russian Zvesda module, and astronauts began unloading the cargo ship. Although it is the last of the ATV series of cargo craft, the technology from this version will be used to design and build the service module for NASA's future Orion spaceship.

Long March rocket action. Xinhua news.

China got back into the space scene on August 9th, launching a Long March 4C rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province. It carried a remote-sensing satellite. A few days later on the 12th, another Atlas 5 took off, this time from Vandenberg AFB in California, carrying its own remote-sensing satellite, the WorldView 3.

View from the ISS, Cygnus released from the station, seen just right of center.

And that brings us to the last couple of days. Orbital's CRS-2 mission was over, and the Cygnus craft undocked on Friday. The ground engineers gave the craft remote directions to de-orbit and burn up this morning as it re-entered the atmosphere.

A previous Cygnus craft disintegrates and burns up over the Pacific.

Orbital has 6 more cargo missions under the current contract, and will no doubt receive further contracts in this successful series. And with the morning's fireworks provided by Cygnus, we get back to the business of watching the business of working in space.

Rocket launch updates

Long March 4C rocket blasts off from Jiuquan, China.

The last couple of weeks have seen the usual flurry of rocket launches from around the world. These satellite launches rarely make TV coverage, but are an important sign of the strength of space programs around the world. They demonstrate how reliant we are upon the space technology that lies behind our way of life in the 21st century.

Launch of  a Long March rocket from Jiuquan.

Yesterday China launched a Long MArch 4C rocket from its Jiuquan Satellite launch center. Three satellites, expected to be secret spy satellites, were placed into orbit.  The Jiquan Center is the same facility from where the Chinese Manned Missions take place. NASA Spaceflight.com has a great article on this launch at : http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/09/long-march-4c-launches-yg17-mission/

Russian Zenit S2B rocket. Credit: Ria Novosti.

On Sunday September 1st, the Russian Zenit rocket returned to duty, placing an Israeli communications satellite into space. This rocket is the land-based version of the Zenit Sea-launched version. The last Zenit launch from its sea-based space center failed, destroying an Intelsat satellite. This launch took place from Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 blasts off. Credit: Ariannespace.

Last Thursday the European Space Agency launched an Ariane 5  heavy lift rocket from its space center in French Guiana on the coast of South America. The two satellites were successfully placed into orbit. One was a European communications satellite, the other a military satellite for India.

The powerful Delta-4 rocket on the pad at Vandenberg AFB, California. 

Credit: ULA & Spaceflight Now.

Last Wednesday morning saw the launch of the Delta-4 rocket under the direction of the United Launch Alliance. Launch site was the Vandenberg Air Force Base pad in California. The mission placed a National Reconnaissance spy satellite into space. 

Japanese Epsilon rocket on the pad at Uchinoura facility. Credit: JAXA.

Things didn't work out very well for the expected launch of the Japanese Epsilon rocket on August 27. The Epsilon is a new rocket, expected to place the SPRINT-A satellite into orbit. The SPRINT-A is an observatory which will study the planets in our solar system. An unexpected malfunction caused the countdown to terminate with 19 seconds left. Engineers are working on the problem. Keep an eye on Space.Com for updates: http://www.space.com/22540-japan-aborts-epsilon-rocket-launch.html

Russian Proton M Rocket Explodes

After beginning to tumble, the rocket fuel tanks burst into flame. Credit: Russian TV.

After a week of space successes, the Russian space program suffered a setback Monday with the loss of a Proton-M rocket and its three global positioning navigation satellites. Launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the rocket lifted off OK but quickly developed a veer away from the flight path and started a tumble. As the rocket broke apart under the aerodynamic stress, the fuel exploded moments before the entire assembly crashed into the ground, creating a huge fireball.

Because the rocket broke up first, a large cloud of its rocket fuel, which is toxic to humans, moved with the wind towards the nearest town. Residents were warned to stay inside and close all windows and doors.

Reporter James Oberg notes that this type of rocket is scheduled to deliver a new module to the ISS later this year. The Russians might want to make sure this doesn't happen again...

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/russian-rocket-takes-nosedive-after-launch-kazakhstan-6C10511650

A cloud of smoke marks the impact site. Credit: RiaNovosti

Malfunction... Malfunction...

Orbital debris surrounds the Earth. Credit: Google Earth.

Just a month ago, Ecuador launched its first satellite using a Chinese rocket. Now, it seems it has met with disaster. With help from the US-based Joint Operations Center, scientists have been able to piece together data, tracking, and timing to conclude that the small satellite has probably hit a tumbling, spent Soviet-era rocket booster. The JOC monitors all space orbiting objects and debris. With their fine attention to details, they help NASA plot safe trajectories and warn the ISS when a piece of debris is likely to pass into their safety zone.

Logo for the Ecuadorian satellite.

The Pegaso satellite was Ecuador's first and only satellite, and was a proud moment of achievement for the nation. It was a nano-satellite, cube-shaped weighing only 2.6 pounds. Its purpose was to take pictures from orbit and play the national anthem so radio operators could practice space communications. Not much of a satellite compared to the big advanced models usually launched, but for EXA, the Ecuadorian Space Agency, and the people of Ecuador, a proud achievement. Their scientists speculate that there may still be hope it can be contacted and stabilized, but they should no doubt be looking forward for their next mission.

GOES-13. Credit: Boeing.

Bad luck isn't just for Ecuador. It happens to American equipment, too. The weather satellite GOES-13, operated by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), has lost control of both of its main instruments. The satellite was tasked with providing weather coverage of the American East Coast. Fortunately, because of the importance of weather coverage, a "spare" or backup satellite had already been launched in 2006 and placed in "storage mode" just in case something like this happened. With the re-activation of the backup satellite, weather coverage is assured.

Recent Rocket launches

Atlas V LANDSAT lifts off from Vandenberg AFB, CA.

Well my rocketing into 2013 hit a bit of a speed bump as things got very busy at work, and it's sometimes hard to have the drive for blogging when you've been at the computer all day anyway. HOwever, lots of interesting things happening so let's start with today's great visuals from the launch of the LandSat Earth Observation Satellite from Vendenberg AFB. Once again the Atlas V does a fantastic job lifting the payload into orbit. SpaceRef did a good deed by linking to UStream and NASA on their site.

Atlas V on the pad just about an hour before launch. Beautiful day for rocketeering.

Payload section carrying the LandSat Earth Observation Satellite. almost 3 minutes to lift off.

More distant view of the Gantry rolled away from the pad. Venting of fuel fumes continues. The hills prove this is not Florida!

Liftoff!

As the flight continued, NASA provided computer graphics of the rocket's status and orientation. Small inset picture shows its location over the Pacific ocean heading away from Southern California. The fairings of the payload have jettisoned, exposing the satellite to the vacuum of space.

After MECO (main engine cut-off) the thrusters were used to re-orient the craft prior to a secondary burn which would place the satellite into its designated orbit. Good Job, ULA (United Launch Alliance) and NASA!

Different launch, different site. For comparison, this is the Atlas V launch site in Florida. On the Atlas V is the TDRS communication satellite launched January 31. Notice the lightning rods...

Baikonur. Soviet 2.1a rocket with a payload of 6 Globalstar Communications satellites ready for launch. It blasted off on February 6. There are now 24 Globalstar sats in orbit providing world-wide communications coverage for its customers. RIA Novosti image.

SPACEFLIGHTNOW.com has some great images of the recent Arianne space mission, which launched two satellites for international interests. You can see the liftoff images and satellite pics here: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va212/130207launch/#.URmNLRxG63a

The SEALAUNCH company had a setback this month with a failed launch of their Zenit-3SL rocket. You can read the information at: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/is27/130201failure/#.URmN_xxG63Z

There were two Progress cargo mission events this last weekend, and I'll post a separate blogpost on that situation shortly.

Rocket and Spaceflight updates

Ebb and Flow, the twin GRAIL satellites over the Moon.

SpaceX made further progress on its Grasshopper rocket program on December 17. In a 29-second flight, the 10-story tall Grasshopper rocket (a Falcon 9 first stage with Merlin engine) made a 40 meter flight up, then hovered, and then landed safely in the upright position! Watch the cool video on Parabolic Arc's website here:  http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/12/23/spacexs-grasshopper-flies-to-40-meters/

CBC/Canada has a good article on the docking of Soyuz TMA-07M at the ISS.  Crewmember Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, will become the Expedition 35 commander in March:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/12/21/tech-hadfield-space-station.html

CollectSace published a nice article about the end of the GRAIL mission over the Moon. The twin satellites Ebb and Flow made a planned crash into the lunar surface on December 17. Information about their incredible mission here:  http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-121712a.html

A new LANDSAT satellite is on its way to the Vandenberg AFB in California for an upcoming flight.  http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/arrival.html  The LANDSAT 5 satellite will be decommissioned in a few more months.

Recent Satellite Launches from Around the World

Technician works on the Orbcomm satellite. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp.

The big focus for space enthusiasts lately has been the remarkable mission of SpaceX's Dragon capsule to the ISS. While the station resupply effort went well, the secondary payload on the Falcon 9 rocket ended in failure.  Due to a malfunctioning engine, other engines on the Falcon rocket overcompensated and burned longer than planned, resulting in the wrong orbital placement of the OrbComm satellite. Built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation, Orbcomm was an engineering test vehicle to help establish a new network of communication satellites. This example was a prototype, designed to test how the system would react in its orbital environment. There are 18 small satellites planned for the system, all due to be launched on Falcon 9 rockets. Unfortunately, the wrong orbit placement caused the Orbcomm to fail its mission and it de-orbited. NASA and SpaceX engineers are investigating the failure while company executives plan a way to continue this mission.

Meanwhile, there have been other launches around the world.

Delta 4 launch from pad 37 at Cape Canaveral, October 4. On board was the GPS 2F-3 satellite. This was a replacement satellite for an older one in the GPS system we all rely on.  The satellite reached its intended orbit just fine. Credit: Pat Corkery/ULA.

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off from the European Space Agency's French Guiana launch site on October 12. It carried a pair of satellites for the Galileo navigation system, which affects many drivers, airplanes, and ships around the world. Successful placement of satellites. Credit: ESA.

On Sunday October 14, China launched a Long March 2C rocket from the Taiyuan space facility. It carried two Shijuan-9 engineering test satellites into space to study new satellite test equipment. This photo is of a previous Long March launch. Credit from Chinese News Agency.

A Russian Proton blasted off from the Baikonur site in Kazakhstan on Sunday October 14. It carried an Intelsat telecommunications satellite into orbit. Credit: Krunichev.

Into the Danger Zone

Launch of the Atlas V carrying the RBSP probes from 

pad SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral.

There are so many rocket launches these days from America, Russia, Japan, China and the European space agency that it's hard to keep up with everything that's going up! Most of the satellites launched into orbit are communication satellites or secret national defense satellites (read: SPY satellites). So it's a notable event when we get a launch that sends probes to explore a science project. In this case, NASA has launched a pair of satellites into one of the most dangerous areas of outer space: Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts.

Computer graphic of the radiation belts around the Earth.

On August 30th, NASA launched the twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RRBSP) directly into an orbit intercepting the radiation belts. Named after Dr. James Van Allen, the scientist who discovered the belts (using Americans very first satellite, Explorer I), the donut-shaped belts are danger zones of highly-charged particles that can cause harm to satellites and astronauts placed into the wrong orbits. Even though we've known about these belts since their discovery at the beginning of the space age, we' don't understand a lot about how they work when they are hit by powerful blasts of solar wind and storms.

Graphic of the RBSP's flying into the danger zones.

Especially designed to be protected from the energetic particles, the RBSP's will orbit ( separate orbits) into the active zones of the Belts, and measure the interaction of particles when the belts encounter solar flares, solar storms, and the solar wind. They will detect and measure electric and magnetic fields, count energetic particles, and probe plasma waves in various frequencies. The mission is scheduled to last for two years. TO learn more, check out the report on the mission by SpaceFlight Now at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av032/ .

50 Years Ago: TELSTAR-1 and the New Age of Communications

NASA art of TELSTAR-1 in space.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of a great leap forward in world communications, the launch of TELSTAR-1 from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962. TELSTAR-1 was not the first communications satellite; that was ECHO-1A sent up on May 13, 1960. But ECHO was a reflective-passive device; signals were bounced, or reflected, off the spherical surface and received on Earth beyond the horizon. TELSTAR broke new ground. To begin with, TELSTAR was the first privately sponsored space launch effort. The satellite was built at Bell Telephone Laboratories, and included transponders which relayed television or telephone channels back to the ground, another first. Third, the launch was the 10th successful blast-off of the Thor-Delta rocket system. Other Thor-Delta launches had included ECHO-1, TIROS weather satellites, EXPLORERs 10 and 12, ARIEL-1, and OSO-1.

A TELSTAR satellite under construction.

Weighing about 170 pounds, TELSTAR was powered by small solar panels which generated about 14 watts of energy. It would eventually transmit the first public television and telephone signals (including the first Fax!) and would also transmit the first transAtlantic television signal.

Thor-Delta rocket.

TELSTAR-1 was sent into space from Launch Complex 17, pad B, on a Thor-Delta rocket. Its orbit was elliptical, or egg-shaped, and the satellite circled the Earth every 2 hours and 37 minutes. It continued in operation until February the next year, but TELSTAR-1 still orbits the Earth to this day. The end of TELSTAR-1 was premature, because it was exposed to higher amounts of radiation than it normally would have encountered from the Van Allen radiation belt. The day before its launch, the US Air Force had launched a nuclear weapon into space to test the effects of the blast on potential enemy rockets. Further space nuclear tests, including a Soviet explosion in October 1962, eventually degraded the electronics.

To realize the significance of this launch, you only have to think of how many times each day you call someone cross-country, watch television on your satellite channels, or receive the Internet on your computer. Yes, a lot of towers and cables are involved locally, but the transmission of channels and frequencies to those localities is done through satellite communications. Also consider how much of our nation's defense depends upon secure transmission of coded signals to our troops and installations around the world. And it all started 50 Years Ago. We live in a world our ancestors barely dreamed about.

UPDATE: NASA History Office noted the anniversary today on its Twitter account (@NASAhistory) and provided this link to a wonderful short news film from the day which shows TELSTAR's construction, launch,and the first images transmitted. Wonderful little film, thanks, NASA!
http://ia600401.us.archive.org/27/items/1962-07-12_A_Day_in_History/1962-07-12_A_Day_in_History_512kb.mp4

50 Years Ago: TIROS keeps hunting Hurricanes

TIROS Satellite

When someone asks you why we should spend money on the space program, start by telling them about TIROS. Fifty years ago, as our nation watched television breathlessly for the next manned space launches, the benefits of being able to launch satellites was paying off large dividends. On June 19 NASA launched the TIROS 5 satellite into orbit. The pictures coming from TIROS 4 had been degrading since the middle of June, and only some of its visual data was useful for forecasting. TIROS 5 was expected to relieve the aging TIROS 4 and start helping the nation prepare for the current hurricane season.

TIROS cloud cover map made from TIROS TV imaging.

On June 15, 1962, The US Weather Bureau informed the news agencies that they believed the formation of the first hurricane of the 1962 season would be detected by "one or all of its battery of ships, planes, radar and TIROS weather satellites." In 1961, TIROS 3 had spied hurricane Esther in the Atlantic Ocean just as it was forming. The total 1961 count of watching storms from space had been 5 hurricanes and 1 tropical storm in the Atlantic, and 11 hurricanes and typhoons plus 1 tropical storm in the Pacific. By tracking these storms from space better than storms had ever been tracked before, many lives were saved, property prepared for the storms, and ships at sea diverted.

Thor-Able 4th from left, to right side of Gemini-Titan. I took this picture of NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center Rocket Park on my last trip.

TIROS 5 was sent into space on the Thor-Able rocket from pad LC-17A just as TIROS 4 began experiencing failures. Unfortunately the launch placed the satellite into an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one; nevertheless the pictures from TIROS 5 were excellent at first. TIROS 5 would continue to work for 161 days.

When you consider all the hurricanes and ocean storms that have occurred over the last 50 years, that were tracked and watched from these remote stations in outer space, you begin to realize just how much damage and loss of life could have hit our nation without them. Think also of all the weather forecasting that has increased crop production as well as saved them and you begin to see the enormity of what the space weather satellites have achieved.

Pegasus takes NuSTAR to orbit

Nose of the Pegasus rocket, with bulbous arm on top. Viewed from the carrier aircraft, the arm holds the rocket in place underneath the fuselage.

At about 10:00 am MDT this morning, NASA's NuSTAR satellite was dropped suddenly from the belly of an L1011 wide-bodied jet. Moments later the Pegasus XL rocket motor ignited, and the rocket soared up into the dark sky.

Ten a.m.? Dark sky? Well, this launch was not your typical launch. The rocket was lifted up from the Kwajalein Island runway in the pacific, while it was still dark in the early morning hours. Operations were broadcast on NASATV on UStream. The operation was managed by Orbital Sciences Corporation. Like SpaceX, Orbital is a private company making its way into space with innovative new technologies. This is not the first flight of the Pegasus, but it's use to place the NuSTAR into orbit is making news this morning.

Computer rendering of Pegasus lifting towards space.

The Lockheed L-1011 jet, designated Stargazer, lifted off about an hour before fropping the rocket. After a fall of about 5 seconds, the Pegasus blasted off toward orbit. Thirteen minutes later the NuSTAR satellite separated. NASA's TDRS tracking system soon was receiving signals from the spacecraft. Engineers will check out the systems for a week before sending the signal for the equipment to deploy.

Computer image of NuSTAR deployed.

NuSTAR is an unusual-looking spacecraft. It houses a special high-energy X-Ray telescope. When the command is given, the lens section will extend on a framework out to 10 meters. NuSTAR will discover and explore black holes, as well as galaxy clusters and super-dense dead stars. Mission control for the NuSTAR operation will be located at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Mission Control screen during launch. The Pegasus is boosting the NuSTAR, 

at the very left lower corner.