Letter From Astronauts and Apollo Veterans Regarding Space Shuttle Retirement and Risk to ISS Operations

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=37583


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Large p/l bay in museum!

Isis places USA in danger, Bho helping them ( in getting nuclear weapons re iran deal) & aggressively destroying USA space capabilities

Listen to hannity today, he tells it like it is. Bho & Kerry are a disaster. We are in grave danger! Bho is a disaster! 

Hannity.com

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Dream of humans on Mars persists despite challenges - Houston Chronicle

To me his greatest failure & many experts agree. Bm

Most significantly, Bolden has accelerated efforts begun by his predecessor, Mike Griffin, to replace the space shuttle with privately developed spacecraft, SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's CST-100.

NASA estimated that if it had built these vehicles using traditional budget processes, they would have cost the government six to eight times as much.

"To me, that is Charlie's greatest achievement," Mandell said.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Dream-of-humans-on-Mars-persists-despite-6530488.php

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Fwd: 30 Years Since Atlantis' Maiden Voyage

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 27, 2015 at 9:59:02 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: 30 Years Since Atlantis' Maiden Voyage

 

 

AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
September 26th, 2015

'For Tasks That Might or Might Not Take Place': 30 Years Since Atlantis' Maiden Voyage (Part 1)

By Ben Evans

 

During the course of her 33-mission career, which began 30 years ago on 3 October 1985, Atlantis flew more Department of Defense assignments than any other orbiter, beginning with her maiden voyage, 51J. In keeping with DoD missions, the patch was both highly symbolic and patriotic. Image Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Thirty years ago, next week, Atlantis—which would go on to become the second most-flown orbiter in NASA's shuttle fleet, after Discovery—rocketed into orbit on her maiden voyage, Mission 51J. During that four-day mission, which began 3 October 1985, Atlantis and her five-man crew deployed a pair of classified Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)-III military spacecraft, atop a single Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster. Although the payload was widely known, the usual levels of secrecy imposed on Department of Defense shuttle missions remained in place, with Atlantis' exact launch time withheld until T-9 minutes and her exact landing date kept under wraps until 24 hours prior to touchdown. It was a strangely quiet start to a career which would see her conduct 33 missions in almost 26 years, totaling over 306 days in orbit, during which Atlantis deployed more than a dozen major satellite payloads, visited the International Space Station (ISS) 12 times and Russia's Mir seven times, supported more dedicated Department of Defense missions than any other orbiter and performed both the final servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the swansong flight of the shuttle program. Last week, veteran astronaut Dave Hilmers, one of Atlantis' first fliers, shared several memories of Mission 51J with AmericaSpace.

During those 33 missions, Atlantis ferried 148 discrete spacefarers from the United States, France, Russia, Canada and Germany safely into orbit, and back to Earth, as well as transporting the first-ever national astronauts from Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. That figure includes such luminaries as Jerry Ross, the sole human to have flown Atlantis as many as five times, as well as three-time "Atlanteans" Shannon Lucid, Marsha Ivins and Rex Walheim and 35 others who journeyed to and from orbit aboard the vehicle on two separate occasions during their careers. Of the Atlantis "two-timers", the list includes Frenchman Jean-Francois Clervoy, Costa Rica-born Franklin Chang-Diaz and the commander of the first shuttle-Mir docking mission, Robert "Hoot" Gibson.

Yet these figures only serve to describe those men and women who actually launched and landed on Atlantis. Several others rode into orbit aboard her, yet returned to terra firma within the confines of another craft; either a different member of the shuttle fleet or a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Their number includes cosmonauts Anatoli Solovyov and Nikolai Budarin, together with Frenchman Leopold Eyharts and U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson. Conversely, Russia's Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennadi Strekalov and U.S. astronauts Suni Williams, Dan Tani and Nicole Stott only ever landed aboard Atlantis, having received their ticket into space aboard other vehicles. Carrying this peculiarity a step further, astronaut Dave Wolf is unique in that he launched twice, but only ever landed once, aboard Atlantis during his career—having returned from a long-duration Mir occupancy aboard a different shuttle—whilst Norm Thagard offers an opposing perspective of polarity: as the first American ever to launch aboard a Soyuz, he landed twice, but only ever launched once, on Atlantis.

Atlantis currently resides at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the site from which she launched on 33 occasions between October 1985 and July 2011. Photo Credit: Alan Walters/AmericaSpace/awaltersphoto.com

Confused yet? You should be, for during Atlantis' glittering 33 missions, she rendezvoused and docked with the Mir orbital outpost on seven occasions between June 1995 and October 1997 and with the ISS on 12 occasions between May 2000 and the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135 in July 2011. The consequence was that 29 other spacefarers— including the first ISS Commander, Bill Shepherd, the first European ISS Commander, Frank de Winne, and the first female ISS Commander, Peggy Whitson, together with numerous Mir  residents—were on hand to welcome her after docking in orbit. Interestingly, ten individuals happened upon Atlantis on more than one mission during their careers, including Germany's Thomas Reiter, who witnessed her arrival at both Mir on STS-74 in November 1995 and at the ISS on STS-115 in September 2006, and Russian cosmonaut Valeri Korzun, the only human to have boarded Atlantis three times in space, but never to have actually launched or landed aboard her. (Korzun was aboard Mir in September 1996 and January 1997, during Atlantis' STS-79 and STS-81 dockings, and aboard the ISS in October 2002, to welcome STS-112.) All told, 187 people from the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, France, Russia, Canada, Germany and Japan have boarded Atlantis for launch, landing or whilst in orbit at some point between October 1985 and July 2011.

Next week, on 3 October, as NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) marks the 30th anniversary of Atlantis' maiden voyage, the center of attention will of course be upon the ship herself, together with the men and women who flew her, but specifically the five astronauts—all of whom, thankfully, are still with us—who participated in Mission 51J. And all five carved their own niches into the annals of human space exploration. Commander Karol "Bo" Bobko remains the only human to have flown aboard the maiden voyages of two orbiters, whereas Ron Grabe was the first shuttle pilot to fly twice aboard Atlantis. Of their crewmates, Dave Hilmers went on to participate in the first post-Challenger mission, STS-26, whilst Bob Stewart had earned himself a place in history by trialing the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) "jet backpack", earlier in his astronaut career. The final member of the 51J crew was Bill Pailes, the second (and last) Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer (MSE) to participate in a shuttle flight.

The "core" NASA crew of Bobko, Grabe, Hilmers and Stewart had originally been named on 17 November 1983, alongside fellow astronaut Mike Mullane, to a so-called "DoD Standby Crew", in support of future Department of Defense shuttle requirements. "Even those of us on the crew didn't know what that meant," Hilmers later explained in his 2013 memoir, Man on a Mission. "It didn't have an official flight number and it hadn't been assigned to any of the three orbiters that were in the fleet at the time." He added that, for several months, "the five of us trained for tasks that might or might not actually take place". Finally, on 15 February 1985, Bobko, Grabe, Hilmers and Stewart were assigned to 51J—tracking a No Earlier Than (NET) launch date of 26 September, 30 years ago, today—whilst Mullane moved onto the 62A crew, which was destined in the pre-Challenger era to become the first shuttle flight out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Pailes joined them as the fifth and final member of the 51J crew.

"There were kind of mixed feelings about that crew assignment," Hilmers told AmericaSpace of the DoD Standby Crew. "It was great to be named to a crew, but we didn't have a specific flight slot. I believe at one time we thought we were going to be assigned to the first shuttle flight out of Vandenberg, but that was kind of nebulous. So we did some generic training sessions together as a crew, but it was kind of bittersweet since we really didn't have any flight hardware to work on, or crew procedures to develop. More importantly, we didn't have a flight date." The firm assignment to 51J changed the situation markedly and Hilmers lucidly remembered the summons to the office of George W.S. Abbey, director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD). "It was exciting," he reflected. "We were called to Building 1 to see Mr. Abbey and everyone knew what that meant. It came to be a familiar process."

The crew of 51J are pictured at the end of their Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), standing in front of an M-113 armored personnel carrier, which would be used in the event of an emergency evacuation from the launch pad. Karol 'Bo' Bobko (left) was joined on the flight by Ron Grabe, Dave Hilmers, Bob Stewart and Bill Pailes. Photo Credit: NASA

Remarkably, 51J suffered from only minimal slippage in its flight schedule, considering that it was the first outing for a new orbiter. Following a lengthy construction period—which began with the initial contract award to Rockwell International in January 1979—Atlantis achieved structural completion in April 1984 and, after an expansive series of tests, was transported overland from Rockwell's facility in Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in April 1985, and flown atop the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

"We certainly monitored the progress of Atlantis closely, but we didn't have a lot of direct involvement in the processing and testing," Hilmers told AmericaSpace. "We made one trip to Palmdale, Calif., to see Atlantis before it went to KSC and we went to the Cape for some final testing. However, we were too busy training to get too involved in the day-to-day processing. There were astronauts assigned to the Cape [the "Cape Crusaders"] who took care of that for the office."

Arriving at the Cape on 13 April 1985, Atlantis spent time in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and in "storage" in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) until she was mated to her External Tank (ET) and twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and rolled to Pad 39A on 30 August. As described in last weekend's AmericaSpace history articles, she underwent the customary Flight Readiness Firing (FRF) of her three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), thus clearing a key milestone in NASA's effort to get her into orbit.

"The five of us were fairly quiet guys, who didn't make a lot of noise, Bo included," Hilmers wrote of himself and his crewmates. "We didn't raise much of a ruckus over anything, and as a result, we all got along really well." With Bobko, Grabe and Pailes representing the Air Force, Hilmers the Marine Corps and Stewart—the first Purple Heart-holder ever to journey into space—having already secured recognition as America's inaugural Army astronaut, their military backgrounds gave them a common thread. This produced some mild inter-service rivalry, including one instance when Hilmers ribbed Stewart over the "toughness" of his Army basic training…"down at the Holiday Inn Express".

Speaking to AmericaSpace, Hilmers described the 51J crew as "kind of mild-mannered men", noting that Bobko and Stewart served as "team leaders", as they were the only veterans. He also noted that, although today they rarely have reunions, "we bump into each other now and then", adding that Ron Grabe's daughter was later a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine after Hilmers became a professor there. "She did some research with me," he recalled.

As their military thread kept the 51J crew unified, so too did their faith. "Of the four crews on which I served, 51J was probably the most uniformly religious," Hilmers wrote. "A group of us in the Astronaut Office routinely held Bible studies throughout my time with the agency, and on this flight in particular, we all seemed to be on the same basic page when it came to our faith." To Hilmers, it "meant the world" when the five of them shared a prayer on the morning of 3 October 1985, just before heading to the launch pad and Atlantis.

 

The author would like to thank Professor David Hilmers for his time and assistance in responding to questions for this article.

 

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
September 27th, 2015

'A New Orbiter Joins the Shuttle Fleet': 30 Years Since Atlantis' Maiden Voyage (Part 2)

By Ben Evans

 

Not until the summer of 1998 were any images from this most "vanilla" of Department of Defense flights revealed … although the nature of the flight had long since trickled into the public domain. A pair of Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)-III satellites, mounted atop a Boeing-built Inertial Upper Stage, are here raised to their deployment angle in Atlantis' payload bay. Photo Credit: NASA

Next week, on 3 October, NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) plans to celebrate 30 years since the maiden launch of perhaps its most prized exhibit—Atlantis, the second most-flown member of the space shuttle fleet, after Discovery—with a day of "meet and greets" and signing opportunities featuring many of her former astronauts, including Jerry Ross, the only human to have flown her on as many as five occasions. Throughout her 26-year operational career, Atlantis visited space 33 times, visited the International Space Station (ISS) 12 times, visited Russia's Mir orbital outpost seven times, and visited the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) once. Almost 200 men and women from nine sovereign nations voyaged aboard her, with the majority inhabiting her from launch through touchdown, but a handful journeyed uphill to orbit, downhill from orbit or met Atlantis midway as she joined them for a few days of docked space station operations. (In fact, one Russian cosmonaut, Valeri Korzun, met Atlantis as many as three times in orbit, yet never rode to or from orbit aboard her.) It might be supposed that such an illustrious career might have gotten off to an illustrious start, but Atlantis' first flight, Mission 51J in October 1985, was one of the quietest and most "vanilla" shuttle flights ever undertaken. Last week, veteran astronaut Dave Hilmers, one of Atlantis' first fliers, shared several memories of Mission 51J with AmericaSpace.

As noted in yesterday's AmericaSpace history article, the crew for Mission 51J changed significantly, following the initial NASA announcement of Commander Karol "Bo" Bobko, Pilot Ron Grabe, and Mission Specialists Bob Stewart, Mike Mullane, and Dave Hilmers as a "DoD Standby Crew" in November 1983. It had long been recognized that the shuttle would be utilized for a series of classified Department of Defense assignments, but in his 2013 memoir, Man on a Mission, Hilmers reflected that "even those of us on the crew didn't know what it meant." The Standby Crew had been appointed alongside several others, with the exception that the others had specific flight designations and payloads. For several months into 1984, Hilmers wrote, "the five of us trained for tasks that might or might not actually take place." At length, on 15 February 1985, Bobko, Grabe, Hilmers, and Stewart were formally assigned to 51J—tracking a No Earlier Than (NET) launch date of 26 September—whilst Mullane moved onto the 62A crew, which was destined in the pre-Challenger era to become the first shuttle flight out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. An Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer (MSE), named Bill Pailes, joined them as the fifth and final member of the crew.

Their primary mission objective was to deliver a pair of classified Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)-III military spacecraft, atop a single, Boeing-built Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) booster, toward a 22,300-mile-high (35,600-km) geostationary orbit. Ironically, despite the usual levels of secrecy imposed on Department of Defense flights remained in place—with Atlantis' exact launch time withheld until T-9 minutes and her exact landing date kept under wraps until 24 hours prior to the scheduled touchdown—the nature of the DSCS-III payload was well known in the open media, long before the shuttle departed Pad 39A at 11:15 a.m. EST on 3 October 1985. Details appeared in the pages of Aviation Week before Atlantis touched down, and, today, deployment images have long since been declassified and are firmly in the public domain, but only because the DSCS-IIIs were military communications satellites and not "deep black" reconnaissance or intelligence-gathering satellites. For that reason, more than two decades since the shuttle's last classified flight, most of the Department of Defense missions remain classified and rumor continues to abound over their nature.

Commander Karol "Bo" Bobko leads Bob Stewart, Dave Hilmers, Ron Grabe, and Bill Pailes out of the Operations & Checkout (O&C) Building on launch morning, 3 October 1985, bound for Pad 39A and Atlantis. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Mission 51J began with an upset wife. Management consultant Diane Bobko was particularly irritated as her husband prepared for his third voyage into space. Unlike his previous missions—STS-6, the maiden flight of Challenger, in April 1983 and Mission 51D, which supported the first contingency EVA of the shuttle era in April 1985—this one was classified and she knew that he could tell her very little about it.

"Bo," she said, one morning in September 1985, "you're not telling me exactly what day, you're going to land, but I think it's going to be pretty close to a day I have a program in Baltimore."

"Diane, it's the first flight of a new vehicle," her husband replied. "Probably the safest thing you can do is go ahead and schedule that right now." From his perspective, Bobko had been intimately familiar with the delays which struck Challenger, during the months preceding her maiden voyage, and anticipated that the inaugural voyage of Atlantis would also meet with significant delay. Ironically, it did not.

Command of this new flight posed something of a problem in the spring of 1985, particularly when Bobko's previous mission was canceled and he ended up leading his crew into orbit in April, under a different designation. The inevitable consequence was that Grabe, Hilmers, and Stewart were forced to train without him for a time. What really made 51J a pain was its classified nature, in which the astronauts had to conduct virtually their entire training in secret, filing misleading flight plans to training destinations … and then finding out through the pages of Aviation Week and Flight International that details of their supposedly "secret" payload had leaked and been exposed.

In fact, the twin DSCS-III satellites became something of an "open" secret and details were published as early as 7 October 1985, the very day that Atlantis touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. A single IUS booster carried the $160 million satellites, stacked one atop the other, images of which were finally declassified in the summer of 1998. They lend credence to Bobko's claim that, for all its "secrecy," 51J was little more than a "vanilla" shuttle deployment flight.

The DSCS—nicknamed "the discus"—has long been an anchor for the Pentagon's global communications network, operating in geostationary orbit with half a dozen super-high-frequency transponders for secure voice and data transmissions and high-priority command and control links between officials and battlefield commanders. The Air Force later admitted that it had launched two DSCS-IIIs in 1985 and, according to space analyst Dwayne Day, "the only launch that year that fit was the Atlantis mission." Subsequent documents highlighted that the DSCS-III satellites had been deployed during a shuttle flight, but refused to reveal the name of that flight … even though it could be quite easily inferred. "Military secrecy can be bizarre at times," wrote Day, "like acknowledging that there is a sky, and that the sky can be blue, but never saying that the sky is blue!"

Atlantis roars into orbit on the first of her 33 missions. In all, she would fly five dedicated Department of Defense missions, more than any of her sisters. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Physically, the satellites were roughly cube-shaped, with a pair of articulated solar panels which produced 1,240 watts of electrical power. They measured 6.6 feet (2 meters) in height, spanned 37.7 feet (11.5 meters) across their expansive solar array "wings" and weighed 5,730 pounds (2,600 kg). Day considered it significant that 51J's payload was so readily revealed, but the natures of the other classified satellites launched between December 1988 and December 1992 have been kept under wraps to this very day. "If the suspected identities of the other classified shuttle flights are correct," he speculated in an article for the Space Review in January 2010, "then they are intelligence satellites. Considering the secrecy that remains about American intelligence satellites, it seems likely that these other flights will continue to remain secret for a long time to come."

Originally scheduled for No Earlier Than (NET) 26 September 1985, Atlantis' maiden launch met with relatively little delay, passing through a smooth processing flow in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) and Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and—as detailed in last weekend's AmericaSpace history articles—concluding a picture-perfect Flight Readiness Firing (FRF) of her three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) on Pad 39A. With the launch date eventually settling on 3 October, it was revealed that Atlantis would fly during a four-hour period, extending from 10:20 a.m. through 2:20 p.m. EST, although the threat of rain showers offshore prompted Air Force meteorologists to predict a 60 percent likelihood of acceptable conditions at T-0.

As well as the vague launch time, which would only be known when the countdown clock passed out of its final hold at T-9 minutes, the length of 51J itself was unclear, with one media outlet suggesting a duration of five or six days. It subsequently became clear that the launch attempt endured a 22-minute delay to deal with a power controller in one of the SSMEs' liquid hydrogen prevalves, which had thrown up a faulty indication. At length, the assembled spectators at KSC became aware that launch was imminent when the blank face of the famous countdown clock suddenly came to life and started ticking at T-9 minutes.

It had been an exciting morning for the 51J crew, which included only two veterans (Bobko and Stewart) and three first-timers (Grabe, Hilmers, and Pailes). "It was one of the last flights before the Challenger accident and we launched wearing only some basic survival gear," Hilmers told AmericaSpace. "It was such a contrast to the remainder of my flights, in which we wore the elaborate and much more cumbersome orange suits."

Following the passage of T-9 minutes, the standard pre-flight procedures kicked in at this stage, accompanied by NASA coverage. At T-5 minutes, Ron Grabe activated the shuttle's Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). Shortly thereafter, the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB0 firing sequence and Range Safety Officer (RSO) circuit were armed and the five-man crew closed their helmet visors. Final helium purging of the SSMEs began and the Ground Launch Sequencer (GLS) determined that APU pressures were normal for launch. By T-3 minutes and 30 seconds, Atlantis was on internal power, as her elevons, speed brake, and rudder were maneuvered through a pre-programmed pattern and SSME gimbaling was completed. This was followed by the closure of the liquid oxygen valve to the External Tank (ET), retraction of the gaseous oxygen ("beanie") cap and the movement of the SSMEs to their start positions. From the pilot's seat on the right side of the cockpit, Grabe confirmed that Atlantis' Caution & Warning (C&W) memory was cleared, with no unexpected errors.

At T-2 minutes, the ET's liquid hydrogen valve was closed and all tanks had reached flight pressure within the following 45 seconds. With a minute to go, the sound suppression system of four giant "rainbirds," positioned at the base of Pad 39A, were armed, as were the hydrogen burn igniters, which would dissipate residual gases underneath the SSMEs, ahead of Main Engine Start.

"T-31 seconds," came the call, as control of the 51J countdown was transferred from GLS to the Autosequencer and the shuttle's on-board suite of General Purpose Computer (GPCs). "And we have the sequencer on the orbiter now controlling the final seconds to launch … 20 seconds and counting … the body flap and speed brake in launch position … T-12, 11, 10 … we have Go for Main Engine Start … "

The twin Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS)-III satellites are clearly visible, atop their Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), during deployment operations. This and other images were finally declassified in the summer of 1998, some 13 years after Mission 51J. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

All at once the flurry of hydrogen burn igniters sparked beneath the dark SSME bells, which suddenly erupted into life with a sheer of translucent orange flame, which quickly gave way to a trio of dancing Mach diamonds. In the final seconds, Atlantis' computers commanded the engines up to full power.

" … we have Main Engine Start … four, three, two, one … ignition … and liftoff … Liftoff of Atlantis. A new orbiter joins the shuttle fleet and it has cleared the tower!"

Liftoff came at 11:15:30 a.m. EST. Unlike most other missions, where the Commander could be heard confirming the "Roll Program" maneuver, it was the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) who announced "Roll Program initiated; crew confirms roll maneuver," as Atlantis departed Pad 39A and embarked onto the proper heading for its 8.5-minute climb uphill. This was followed by several other clipped acknowledgements during first-stage first: "26 seconds, beginning throttle-back to 65 percent, pass through the area of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle," then subsequent confirmation that the SSMEs had returned to 104-percent rated performance, followed by "Crew given a Go at throttle-up" and "Commander Bobko acknowledging that Go at throttle-up." By this stage, Atlantis was already 13.8 miles (22.2 km) in altitude and 10.4 miles (16.7 km) downrange of the launch site, traveling in excess of 2,380 mph (3,830 km/h).

Nearing the two-minute mark into the flight, it was reported that "Crew confirms P/C less than 50," as the chamber pressures in the twin SRBs tailed off, ahead of their separation. "And we have solid rocket separation," came the call from PAO. "Guidance converging as programmed." Now far higher into the rarefied atmosphere, Atlantis and her five astronauts—of whom Grabe, Hilmers, and Pailes were making their first spaceflights—had attained an altitude of 32.2 miles (51.8 km) and a downrange distance of 39.1 miles (62.9 km) and were accelerating through 3,750 mph (6,000 km/h). A further six minutes under the impulse of her SSMEs and Atlantis reached orbit for the first time.

Atlantis alights on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on 7 October 1985. Mission 51J would be the second-shortest of her 33-flight career. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

For Hilmers, seated behind Grabe in the Mission Specialist 1 seat on Atlantis' flight deck, it was a moment he would never forget. "That first view of Earth from space was amazing," he told AmericaSpace. "I remember how brilliant the first sunrise seemed. A more humorous incident occurred when I forgot to add water to the dehydrated sausage when it was my turn to cook breakfast. I was permanently taken off duty as the chef!"

Yet there was still a degree of uncertainty about 51J. Flight International suggested (correctly) that if the rumors about the presence of DSCS-III satellites were accurate, then an IUS was the most likely booster, but suggested the possibility that other instruments might also be aboard, such as the Cryogenic Infrared Radiance Instrument for Shuttle (CIRRIS) and a laser retroreflector for Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or "Star Wars") research. The Air Force cleverly refused to confirm or deny any such rumors. After 97 hours and 44 minutes—making it the seventh-shortest shuttle flight of all time and the second-shortest flight of Atlantis' entire career, after STS-30—Mission 51J concluded with a perfect landing at Edwards at 10:00:08 a.m. PST (1:00:08 p.m. EST) on 7 October 1985.

As the fast-descending black-and-white speck of the orbiter appeared on the desolate Mojave horizon, then alighted on Runway 23, the NASA PAO picked up the commentary: "Touchdown Main Gear … Touchdown Nose Wheel … and the fourth orbiter in NASA's fleet, Atlantis, rolls out on landing, concluding Space Shuttle Mission 51J."

As it turned out, Diane Bobko was in California to meet her husband on the runway. Astonishingly, Atlantis had met with no significant delays, launched on time and landed on time. "So she was there to meet me in California," Bobko remembered, "gave me a hug and then she had to leave right away to … drive down to Los Angeles to catch the airplane to go to Baltimore." Later that evening, Bobko was startled out of his sleep by a telephone call. It was his wife. Surely, he thought, if a vehicle as complex as the shuttle could launch and land on time, on its maiden voyage, then her domestic flight would have been trouble-free.

"You're in Baltimore?" he asked.

"No," she replied, glumly. "I'm still in Dallas, trying to get to Baltimore!"

 

The author would like to thank Professor David Hilmers for his time and assistance in responding to questions for this article.

 

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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These capabilities critical to survival of USA ! Commercial approaches lack funding & are inadequate. Re nasaproblems.com

EO capabilities are critical to the survival of the USA !

The USA has considerable number of systems in EO that are critical to our military & economy. Shuttle like capabilities are needed to repair & maintain these systems . The Hubble telescope is a good example.

However, very few of our leaders apparently give this capability any thought.
Now with present " leadership" our capabilities have seriously declined & must be regained or the U.S. will be seriously impacted!

Mission costs too high---- nasaproblems.com

The following SLS/MPCV "operation" cost estimates were presented to the Congressional Budget Office after it failed to make the Congress aware of the prohibitive cost to operate expendable heavy lift vehicles.

·         The NASA human exploration budget will be flat lined at $2.8b for the foreseeable future. One report indicates a development cost of $38b and another reports that the first development version launch of the SLS could not take place until December 2017 and the 130mt production versions (crew and cargo) are not expected to unveiled until August 2032. This SLS development program scenario based on 13 flights over a 21 year period would have extreme difficulty maintaining the manufacturing labor force for such a low flight rate. However, it is the introduction of the cargo vehicle which forecast that it will require two launches of these mammoth vehicles to accomplish one mission. The SLS is the same heavy lift launcher concept used in the Constellation program which was cancelled because: "The U.S. human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory. It is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources." Such is the case today.

·        NASA has failed to reduce the mission operation cost of the SLS/MPCV. The following $4.2b estimate of annual operations cost for the SLS indicated it will cost more to manufacture the expendable vehicles, plan the mission, and conduct flight operation than NASA has budgeted for human exploration. NASA is assuming that future budgets will be increased to cover mission operations. THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN!

 "It's the Launch Cost…Stupid"… paraphrasing Bill Clinton's presidential economy election theme. NASA must reduce its launch cost and the commercial space shuttle is the only option! The SLS/MPCV shuttle replacement plan is unaffordable, unsafe, and like the Constellation program suffers from incompetent NASA management.

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Obama Trashes Space Program, Blames Congress | Frontpage Mag

It would have cost $5 billion to keep the Space Shuttle flying. The money that Obama threw away on Green Energy for Muslim tyrannies would have covered the cost of keeping a manned space program.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/259956/obama-trashes-space-program-blames-congress-daniel-greenfield

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The USA is being seriously damaged by not having this capability!

Lakecountyspaceport.com website Check it out!

Lake County SpacePort is a website dedicated to showcasing over 45-years worth of spacemodeling work, as well as providing insights of that work to others.

http://lakecountyspaceport.com/

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Ben Carson: I would bring back the Space program!

The USA needs to CONTROL Space ! Must have Shuttle Capabilities!

Ben Carson: Okay. Well, you know, as I've mentioned, we have enormous energy resources. We have enough natural gas to last for over 1000 years if we just waste it. And we now have the ability to liquefy it, which means we can export it, uh, and, uh, you know, really if we get rid of the silly energy exportation rules, um, we can make Europe and other places dependent on us for energy rather than on Putin. And, uh, that can have a profound effect in terms of his adventurism, so we can use our energy and those sources. We sit between two oceans. Can you imagine all the hydroelectric power that is available to us if we begin to do the appropriate types of research into that? And a lot of the money that we generate, once we get over our aversion to using our energy appropriately, can be used to fund the research into other renewable energy sources. So, you know, these things don't have to be polar opposites with one group on this side and one group on this side throwing barbs at each other. We can work in a cooperative way, uh, because development of energy is critical for our future. And, you know, I, you know, I…I think about these things a lot and all the different interlocking parts. You know, I would bring back our space program, uh, because we discovered so many things. It's not so much that I'm interested in men walking on Mars, but look at all the things that – and, uh, we use in our everyday life that came out of the space program. Your cell phone. You know, that came out of the space program. And new energy sources will come out of that. A whole bunch of things will come out of that, not to mention the fact that we need to have control of space. Not the Russians and not the Chinese, because it's going to eventually impact upon our security.
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Fwd: Boeing identifies CST-100 prime landing sites

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 23, 2015 at 6:32:08 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Boeing identifies CST-100 prime landing sites

 

 

Boeing identifies CST-100 prime landing sites

September 22, 2015 by Stephen Clark

Artist's concept of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner landing on airbags. Credit: Boeing

The first few flights of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule will likely land on expansive desert plains in New Mexico or Utah, according to a former astronaut charged with developing the spacecraft's operations scheme.

Boeing is still finalizing a list of five candidate landing sites in the Western United States, but the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and the Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah will initially be the prime return locations, said Chris Ferguson, deputy manager of the CST-100 Starliner program.

The capsules will parachute to airbag-cushioned landings after each mission, beginning with the CST-100's first test flights in 2017. Boeing is developing the program under a $4.2 billion contract with NASA, which also has an agreement with SpaceX to give the agency two independent vehicles to ferry astronauts between Earth and the International Space Station.

"We don't enjoy the tremendous cross range with a capsule vehicle that we had with the space shuttle," said Ferguson, a two-time shuttle commander who flew on the final shuttle flight in 2011. "That's why we need a few more sites to give us the landing opportunities over the course of the year that we need. With five sites, we can get about 450 opportunities to land every year."

That's assuming no bad weather and stable ground for the capsule's airbag landing. Ferguson said five landing sites gives Boeing enough options to ensure a landing the same day the spacecraft undocks from the space station, even accounting for poor conditions.

All of the candidates are in the Western United States, allowing the capsule to drop its disposable service module for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, Ferguson said.

"Some of the (landing sites) are very familiar to you — Edwards Air Force Base and White Sands," Ferguson said. "Dugway Proving Ground is a new one … but they have a lot of features that we like. There are others that are candidates. I don't want to mention them just yet until we can really solidify the details with them, but suffice it to say they're in the western part of the United States, and we look for areas that no one else is. You can extrapolate where that is. The Southwest is a good place to land."

Chris Ferguson aboard the shuttle Atlantis' flight deck during the STS-135 mission in July 2011. Credit: NASA

The space shuttle had three standard landing sites: Kennedy's Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, a concrete landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base, and a gypsum runway at White Sands.

Boeing officials say the CST-100 Starliner's first unpiloted demonstration flight is scheduled for May 2017, when the capsule will fly to the International Space Station, dock with the complex to deliver cargo, then return to Earth.

The demo flight is followed by a pad abort test at White Sands in August 2017, a CST-100 demo mission with astronauts in September 2017, and final certification of the human-rated craft by NASA before operational crew rotation missions begin in December 2017.

Boeing wants to narrow down the roster of landing sites for the CST-100 Starliner's first two test flights in 2017.

"We're focusing on White Sands and Dugway as our target sites for those flights," Ferguson said. He declined to rank which location would be the prime landing site, saying that decision could be made much closer to the mission.

The third space shuttle mission landed at White Sands in 1982, and two NASA robotic probes — Genesis and Stardust — returned to Earth at Dugway with solar wind and cometary samples.

Each CST-100 mission to orbit will launch from Cape Canaveral aboard United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets.

Boeing officials are working on mission control guidelines for CST-100 flights as technicians in Florida assemble the capsule's first test article.

"After we get through integrated testing and production, we have to go into operations," Ferguson said. "Boeing is great at building products, and then we typically sell them to somebody else who operates them."

That is not the case for the CST-100 program.

Artist's concept of the CST-100 crew module separating from its service module prior to re-entry. Credit: Boeing

Boeing is the capsule's owner and operator, but the aerospace contractor is delegating front line control responsibility to NASA's mission control experts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA's crew trainers will also get CST-100 passengers ready for flight.

"It will have a different look to it, but a lot of those same faces will be part of the control team that worked the last space shuttle flight," Ferguson said.

John Mulholland, Boeing's CST-100 program manager, said the company selected NASA's mission control team because "they are the only entity that has done the plan, train and fly portion of a domestic human space mission."

The first launch day simulation with Boeing, NASA and ULA teams is scheduled for January, according to Ferguson. ULA's Atlas 5 rocket, like other launchers, cannot be controlled in flight, but the booster will carry a computer designed to detect failures and trigger an abort, separating the crew capsule before an explosion.

"The spacecraft and the astronauts on-board will always be talking to the control center in Houston," Ferguson said. "The reason being they have that familiarity element with the CAPCOM (spacecraft communicator), and understanding that we're going to be working with Houston for the entire mission, not just for that short period of ascent. We thought it was very advantageous to build that relationship and work with one control entity."

Meanwhile, spacecraft construction at the Starliner factory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is ramping up. The program will eventually employ 550 people on Florida's Space Coast as the CST-100 moves into full operations.

"The team is doing extremely well," Mulholland said. "The performance to plan has been very strong. If you look at the performance of the team over the past year, we've achieved the milestones in this calendar year that we had planned."

Pieces of the CST-100 Starliner's structural test article, including forward and aft domes, a tunnel and a hatch, are inside the KSC assembly plant, which was once a space shuttle hangar.

The upper dome of the CST-100 Starliner's structural test article is pictured in tooling at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Boeing

"We're really coming into a different phase right now as the design activity is rolling to completion," Mulholland said. "Really, the focus now is turning to manufacturing, and then integrated testing … We've got a number of our components that have already either finished qualification testing, or are starting, or are in some phase of qualification testing."

Boeing is taking a different approach to development of its human-rated spacecraft than SpaceX, which has already completed a pad abort test and plans an in-flight abort demo in late 2016. SpaceX is testing as it goes, while Boeing is doing more design work up front.

"A lot of focus is on ensuring, at this phase, that we've got full rigor in all our processes and all of our designs, really trying to buy down the risk that something could come up downstream to perturbate either our design or our schedule," Mulholland said.

Boeing plans no such in-flight escape test, and Mulholland said it can prove out the CST-100 abort system through wind tunnel analyses.

"That's our philosophy — to make sure we don't run a test just to go run a test," Mulholland said. "We make sure we fully understand all the requirements that we need to certify to, and we pick the best approach."

Mulholland said the sequence of test flights in 2017 is tight, but Boeing's schedule has margin to achieve the start of operational missions by the end of that year. Managers decided to move the pad abort test from early 2017 to August, a change that Mulholland said created more margin in the schedule leading to the first crew flight.

Boeing is building at least three flight-ready CST-100 crew modules, and each will be certified for up to 10 missions. Every flight will require a new service module. The company could order more vehicles if Boeing wins a contract to resupply the space station with cargo, an award NASA expects to announce November.

Pieces of the first space-rated Starliner arrive at KSC at the end of the year, and engineers will put together a qualification unit after shipping a stripped-down structural test article to a Boeing facility in Huntington Beach, California, for loads testing.

The qualification article will be outfitted for the pad abort once its ground testing is complete, and Boeing will fly newly-built capsules for the uncrewed and crewed demonstrations to the space station.

"We made the decision earlier in the year to jiggle that flow up a little bit, and do the pad abort test on the qualification test vehicle," Mulholland said. "What that allowed us to do was to put an additional five months of margin in our build sequence, and use new-build crew modules for the uncrewed flight and the crewed flight test."

Designers have also added body-mounted solar cells to the aft end of the CST-100 service module to give the spacecraft more power, Mulholland said. The extra power ensures the capsule meets its requirements set by Boeing and NASA.

"We have to launch and dock within 24 hours, be able to wave off that docking and hold for 24 hours, then stay docked for six months, undock, have a waved off landing for 24 hours, and then land," Ferguson said. "We can support that with our current battery and solar array structure."

Ferguson said Boeing and NASA should announce the two-person crew for the CST-100's first piloted test mission next year. The duo will include a Boeing pilot and a NASA astronaut. Many observers believe Ferguson, a veteran of three space shuttle missions, could be Boeing's test pilot.

NASA has already announced a group of four astronauts to start training on CST-100 and Crew Dragon systems to fly on commercial spaceships, but no specific crews have been named.

Boeing and SpaceX crewed flights by the end of 2017 depend on Congress appropriating $1.2 billion for the commercial crew program, in line with NASA's request, according to agency officials.

 

 

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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Fwd: U.S. Moving Toward Common Satellite Operating Architecture

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 23, 2015 at 10:21:26 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: U.S. Moving Toward Common Satellite Operating Architecture

 

 

U.S. Moving Toward Common Satellite Operating Architecture

by Mike Gruss — September 22, 2015

U.S. Airmen at Schriever Air Force Base review Operationally Responsive Space-1 procedures and mission objectives in preparation for a satellite contact. The ground system for ORS-1 will be the skeleton for a new common ground architecture. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Dennis Rogers.

WASHINGTON – All new satellites built for the U.S. Air Force must be compatible with an experimental ground system that was designed primarily for demonstration missions and is viewed as a steppingstone to a common ground architecture for major operational constellations, a senior service official said.

Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, said he has told his deputies that all new satellites must work with the experimental Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center (MMSOC), which is used today primarily for Operationally Responsive Space demonstration missions.

"There's been some significant emotional events for folks that bring me new satellites that want to come into Schriever Air Force Base in particular and they say 'I need a new ground system,'" Hyten said during a press briefing Sept. 16 at the Air Force Association's annual tech expo. "No you don't. You're going to put it in MMSOC. Period. If you can't put it in MMSOC, it's not coming in."

Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions of Herndon, Virginia , along with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, developed the MMSOC. The first MMSOC is at Kirtland, home of the Air Force-led Operationally Responsive Space Office, with a second at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Air Force leaders see the MMSOC as a potential model for its future ground system, which is known as the Enterprise Ground Services because it features a plug-and-play capability that makes it easy to improve and update technology, especially security. Service officials say the EGS architecture will operate many if not most of its satellite constellations in the future.

"That's kind of the testbed, if you will" for EGS, Lt. Gen. David Buck, commander of the 14th Air Force and the head of the Joint Functional Component Command for space, said during a Sept. 11 breakfast here.

The MMSOC system has been used for the launch-phase of the Pentagon's ORS-1 imaging satellite mission and will be used again for the ORS-5 mission. service officials have said. The latter satellite is expected to launch in 2017.

The EGS would be available in the early 2020s to command and control a variety of national security satellites. Service officials say moving away from custom-built ground systems for each mission will save money, increase capability and improve responsiveness.

Lockheed Martin, Boeing Network and Space Systems of El Segundo, California, and Raytheon Intelligence Information and Services of Dulles, Virginia, are among the companies closely tracking how the plan evolves.

In recent weeks, several top-ranking Air Force space officials have said one of the keys to the new ground program is operating software that is owned by the Defense Department rather than proprietary to the contractor.

"Every time we refresh a system's operating parameters, we can't go back to the contractor for a new software drop," Buck said. "We can't go back to the contractor just because they fielded the system…. No single contractor should have control over the architecture."

A more flexible, adaptable ground system would better ensure telemetry, tracking and control in a contested environment, Buck said. It would also automate many of the basic spacecraft command-and-control functions currently performed by Air Force personnel.

"We need our operators focused on the payload, not on the bus," Hyten said.

The Air Force is already experimenting with more automated command-and-control operations on ORS-1. For 12 hours a day, the satellite bus management is handled by a human operator and for 12 hours it is handled by a machine. A more automated system would allow airmen to focus more on warfighting functions while reducing the chances of human error, Buck said.

"In the future this needs to become the norm rather than the exception," he said.

The Air Force is debating when the EGS might debut with which major satellite constellation. Hyten suggested that the Space Based Infrared System for missile warning is a good candidate as it comes up on completion of the first increment of its new ground system.

"We have to figure out how to move the big stuff and we have some opportunities that are going to show themselves soon," he said.

Another question is whether the EGS would have to physically reside at a space operations center or could be remotely located and connect to the center via fiber optic cable, Buck said.

 © 2015 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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What Ben Carson thinks of NASA | Examiner.com

http://www.examiner.com/article/what-ben-carson-thinks-of-nasa


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CARSON getting Manned Capabilities Back--- US must be Preeminent

Only candidate of either party supporting space--- heard him on KRMG, Tulsa around 2Pm CDT! Said we must be absolutely the most capable lest China or Russia will fill the vacuum. The Nation that controls space controls the Earth. HE is CORRECT !

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Pipe Dream

We ought to be working on EO capabilities & returning to moon, but now you read story after story about Mars missions --- but we don't even have an operational manned program! And we aren't even seriously funding COTS an inferior approach to shuttle like vehicles!!!
Get Real!

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NASA Tests New Wing Shape for Mars Planes

http://www.rdmag.com/articles/2015/09/nasa-tests-new-wing-shape-mars-planes?et_cid=4831654&et_rid=45508778&type=cta


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DISGUSTING

Billions wasted, & likely decades before we regain capability. Meanwhile, we pay Russia & waste more on inferior design! Further, we ignore Boeing 's X37C proposal which would expand the operational X37B & regain much of shuttle capability. One gets the impression that present leaders do not want a preeminent manned space program!

REAL Space Act of 2013

OBAMA allowed three perfectly good shuttles to be taken out of service and put in museums. These assets belonged to the American taxpayers. The American taxpayers have been duped by the OBAMA Administration!

They should NOT have been prematurely retired!

Did you know that United Space Alliance (USA) submitted a proposal to fly the shuttles as a commercial service for NASA?

It was rejected by OBAMA... twice!

http://m.space.com/11391-nasa-space-shuttles-commercial-pro…

Long Shot: NASA Contractor Could Keep Flying Space Shuttles

Denise Chow, SPACE.com staff writer

Date: 14 April 2011 Time: 02:53 PM ET

http://www.facebook.com/RealSpaceAct2013

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Importance of Earth Orbit capabilities

The USA has considerable number of systems in EO that are critical to our military & economy. Shuttle like capabilities are needed to repair & maintain these systems . The Hubble telescope is a good example.

However, very few of our leaders apparently give this capability any thought.
Now with present " leadership" our capabilities have seriously declined & must be regained or the U.S. will be seriously impacted!

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MAKE America's Space Program GREAT AGAIN

We need Preeminent Space Capabilities & have the vehicles, but no Leadership!!

Trump & Forina only two talking about strong military!



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Fwd: Russian, EU Space Agencies Propose to Delay Joint Mission to Mars

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: September 18, 2015 at 8:37:04 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian, EU Space Agencies Propose to Delay Joint Mission to Mars

News Roscosmos

Roskosmos and ESA. TRANSFER START MISSION EXOMARS-2016 to March next year

09/18/2015 20:56

Roskosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) is recommended to move the start of the mission ExoMars-2016 from January to March next year due to the need to replace equipment at the demonstration descent module ESA - Schiaparelli (Schiaparelli).

 

ESA specialists have identified problems with the sensors in the fuel supply pipelines demonstration lander. For successful implementation of the mission ExoMars-2016, the two sides decided to hold additional checks ESA mission and recommended equipment to move the launch of the next "trigger window" - March 2016.

 

The final decision on the launch date will take Governing Council mission ExoMars Roscosmos and ESA in the Dutch town of Noordwijk, which will be held September 24, 2015.

 

ExoMars Mission 2016 envisages sending to Mars orbiter and landing demonstration module. As a carrier rocket will be used Russian rocket "Proton-M" with the upper stage "Breeze-M". Orbiting platforms and demo module produces ESA. Orbital module is designed for the study of atmospheric trace gases and the distribution of water ice in the soil of Mars. Demonstration landing module is designed to work out the necessary technology reentry, descent and landing and scientific instruments. Orbital module enables data relay module for the demonstration landing mission in 2016 and the landing module and a rover mission in 2018.

 

 

 

ESA

ExoMars 2016 targets March launch window

 

 

Schiaparelli separating from Trace Gas Orbiter

18 September 2015

A problem recently discovered in two sensors in the propulsion system of the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module has prompted the recommendation to move the launch of the ExoMars 2016 mission, initially foreseen in January, to March, still within the launch window of early 2016.

ExoMars is a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency. The recommendation was made in full coordination between the two agencies and will be finally endorsed by a joint steering board on 24 September.

The Schiaparelli module will prove key technologies to demonstrate Europe's capability to make a controlled landing on Mars.

The 600 kg Schiaparelli will ride to Mars on the Trace Gas Orbiter, which will subsequently enter orbit around the Red Planet to begin its five-year mission of studying atmospheric gases potentially linked to present-day biological or geological activity.

Schiaparelli will separate from the orbiter three days before they reach Mars, entering the atmosphere at 21 000 km/h. Following aerobraking in the upper atmosphere and a parachute phase, a liquid-propellant thruster system will brake the module to less than 5 km/h at a height of about 2 m above the surface.

At that moment, the thrusters will be switched off and the lander will drop to the ground, where the impact will be cushioned by a crushable structure built into the module.

Less than eight minutes will elapse between the moment when Schiaparelli enters the atmosphere to its landing on Mars in a region known as Meridiani Planum.

However, a defect was recently found in two pressure transducers mounted in the propulsion system.

"A failure in the production process of the pressure transducers has been identified and this leads to concerns about leakage, which represents a major risk to a successful landing on Mars," says Don McCoy, ESA ExoMars Project Manager.

"ESA has decided not to accept this risk and to remove both units from the landing module, the knock-on effect being that we can no longer maintain the January 2016 launch window and will instead move to the back-up launch window in March.

"We are pleased to have identified the issue in good time, and are focusing all our efforts to launch on 14 March."

The sensors are not part of the control loop necessary for landing, but would rather have gathered ancillary data for monitoring the system. In order to meet the new launch window, the decision was made to remove the parts, rather than replace them.

The later window is open 14–25 March and, thanks to the relative orbital positions of Earth and Mars, the mission will still arrive at Mars in October, just as if launched in January.

A set of scientific sensors on Schiaparelli will collect data on the atmosphere during the entry and descent, and its instruments will perform local environment measurements at the landing site.

_{Continue reading below}

However, because Schiaparelli is primarily aimed at demonstrating technologies needed for landing in preparation for future missions, the scientific phase is limited: the module is planned to operate on the surface for only a short time, powered by batteries.

Schiaparelli will remain a target for future laser ranging studies, as it carries a reflector designed for this purpose.

The Trace Gas Orbiter, along with other ESA and NASA missions already orbiting Mars, will provide communications support from Schiaparelli during descent and on the surface, relaying the data back to Earth.

Subsequently, the orbiter will begin its programme of extensive scientific observations, while also acting as a data relay for future missions. These include ExoMars 2018, which will see a rover and an instrumented platform on the surface.

Both ExoMars missions will be launched on Russian Proton rockets from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

 

For further information, please contact:

Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Office
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: Markus.Bauer@esa.int

Rolf de Groot
ESA Coordinator for Robotic Exploration
Email: Rolf.de.Groot@esa.int

 

 

 

 

 

Launch of Russia-EU Space Probe to Mars Will Be Posponed

Sputnik 18:09 18.09.2015(updated 18:59 18.09.2015)

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The launch of a Russian Proton space rocket carrying the ExoMars-1 orbiter from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan was originally scheduled for January 7, 2016.

According to the source, an official confirmation of the delay is expected to be announced shortly.

"The launch will be postponed due to two technical issues, which are not in the scope of Russia's responsibility," the source said.

"There's nothing alarming in the delay as the 'launch window' allows us to carry out the launch on March 14 and deliver the spacecraft to Mars, with the help of Proton, on time," the source stressed.

In 2012, the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos agreed to develop the so-called ExoMars program, with the objective of investigating the environment on Mars and finding out whether life has ever existed on the planet.

As published on the European Space Agency's website, two missions are planned within the ExoMars program for 2016-2018. In 2016, the ExoMars project will launch an orbital probe to Mars, followed by a landing on the Martian surface by a lander module. In 2018, a Mars rover probe is expected to explore the surface of the planet.

After the European Union introduced sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian internal crisis, concerns mounted that Europe-Russia collaboration on Mars exploration could be hampered.

 

Russian, EU Space Agencies Propose to Delay Joint Mission to Mars

Sputnik  21:28 18.09.2015(updated 22:39 18.09.2015) 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) propose to postpone the launch of a space orbiter to Mars under a joint Russia-EU research program until March 14, 2016, citing technical reasons, Russia's Federal Space Agency said Friday.

"Roscosmos and ESA recommend to postpone the ExoMars-1 mission from January to March next year due to the need to replace equipment on the Schiaparelli Mars landing demonstration craft," Roscosmos said in a statement.

According to the statement, specialists have discovered problems with the fuel supply sensors in the pipelines of the demonstration landing craft, and the sides agreed to carry out an additional inspection of the mission equipment.

ExoMars mission managing board is expected to announce the exact date of the launch on September 24.

Overall, Roscosmos and ESA have agreed to launch two ExoMars missions scheduled for 2016 and 2018.

In 2016, it is planned to launch the orbiter, the main goal of which is to study the planet's atmosphere and to conduct data exchange with a rover. The rover itself is scheduled to be sent to Mars in 2018, which will be the main part of the program.

 

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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