Tim's Space Diary. Straight and to the point

28 November (28 November 2008)

Serena Viti, an astrophysicist at the University College London says a sugar molecule, linked to the origin of life on Earth (based on the theory of evolution) has been detected drifting through a massive star-forming region in our Milky Way galaxy “which could be host to life-friendly planets” 26,000 light years away. “It is the first time glycolaldehyde has been detected towards a star forming region where planets that could potentially harbour life”. Twenty-six light years is 260005878499812499 miles away. Meanwhile, NASA and the European Space Agency are deciding on the next major mission to the Jovian moons, Ganymede and Europa. Astrobiologists have hoped for a long time to study Europa especially, because “it’s global ocean could harbour alien life”. Fairy time again.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will establish a new research centre at Britiain’s Harwell science establishment near Oxford. The UK Government will pay the 159.9 million pounds for the new centre, which will focus on climate change research and space exploration robotics. The UK’s latest of dozens of space ministers, Lord Drayson has agreed to invest 82 million in ESA’s flagship Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programmes in a package totally 300 million pounds.

Roscosmos sent a commission to the Amur Region to specify the location for the new Russian cosmodrome, Vostochny close to the town Oglegorsk. Construction of the new site will begin in 2009.

Thirteen new names of craters on Mercury have been added to the 12 that were named in April.

50 years ago
28 October 1958

The US Air Force Atlas missile made its first successful operational test flight. The Atlas flew 6,325 statute miles, landing close to its target.
 

27 November (27 November 2008)

A Japanese government panel has proposed a space programme for national security but failed to agree that a GX medium booster is required, despite having spent tens of billions of yens and another 83 billion yen being required to complete the development of the booster.

European ministers have agreed a space budget of $12.8 billion for an ambitious programme of 30 space missions including a Mars rover. The Enhanced ExoMars mission will not be launched until 2016, three years later than planned originally. Another new project is a planned network of satellites to monitor climate change. The 18 ESA member states and Canada has agreed that the Netherlands and Italy will lead the agency until 2011.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the university of Central Florida have teamed to analyze plumes of what could be plumes of water vapour and ice particles on the Saturnian moon, Enceladus.

Iran has launched a Kavosh 2 rocket on a sub-orbital flight carrying a “payload” which was recovered after parachuting to Earth after the 40min mission. Two other missions have been flown one using a Safir rocket.

The NASA Phoenix Mars Lander mission which worked for 151 Martian days until October 27 when solar power was drained because of lack of enough sunlight has finally given up the ghost after battery power was lost.  

The US Air Force’s Defense Space Programme (DSP) satellite has apparently failed after less than a year in GEO. 

XCOR Aerospace will soon introduce a Central Sales Agency for space tourist trips aboard a two-seat Lynx suborbital spaceplane. A European travel entrepreneur with extreme adventure travel experience will also be introduced. Chief pilot of the Lynx is three-time Space Shuttle pilot and commander, Rick Searfoss.

SES will provide satellite capacity to Echostar, using capacity on a new Mexican satellite, QuetzSat , a Ku-band satellite to be placed in GEO at 77degW.

Russia launched a new model of the unmanned Progress tanker was launched on 26 November from Baikonur aboard a Soyuz booster. Progress M-01M is equipped with a digital rather than analogue navigation and control system. It will take four days to reach the International Space Station, carrying 2.5 tonnes of cargo, including 185kg of water, 105kg of science equipment and 37kg of video and photo equipment, personal items for the ISS crew and parcels from relatives.
 

 


 

25-26 November (26 November 2008)

The fourth and final EVA on the STS 126 Endeavour mission featured Stephen Bowen and Robert “Shane” Kimbough lasting 6hr 7min in which the duo serviced two solar array joints and prepared the International Space Station for further components to be attached next year. The STS 126 EVAs lasted a total of 26hr 41 min. Meanwhile, the mission has been extended another day. A micrometeroid struck the pilot’s window of Endeavour on 25 November but hits are commonplace. However, that does not mean that NASA is fully aware that such hits do present the third biggest threat of losing a mission.

India’s Chandrayaan lunar orbiter experienced a temperature surge to 50deg but was reduced to 40deg after rotated the spacecraft.

Russia and India are co-operating on space projects through to December 2017, including Russian Glonass satellites being launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the development of a joint-lunar polar orbiter and a lunar lander to be launched in 2011-2011.

South Korea plans develop a $236 million geosynchronous maritime communications and meteorological satellite in June 2009. South Korea’s Aerospace Research Institute will join with Europe’s Astrium on the project. The 2.5 ton spacecraft will be launched by an Ariane 5 booster. The  satellite will also provide data on plankton growth the movement of fishery resources and pollution levels.

The Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio are gearing up for NASA’s Juno orbiter mission to be launched in August 2010 aboard an Atlas 5 booster from Cape Canaveral. The principal investigator, Scott Bolton, says that unlike the Earth, Jupiter’s mass makes it possible for its original composition be protected. Juno will reach Jupiter in 2016 and will orbit the giant planet 32 times, about 3,000 miles altitude with a camera and nine instruments to investigate the possible existence of an ice-rock core, the planet’s magnetic field, water and ammonia clouds in the atmosphere and the planet’s aurora borealis. Examining computer simulations, the University of California in Berkeley has deduced that the core of the planet Jupiter is like an Earth-like rock 14 to 18 times the mass of the Earth.

Almost fifty years after the launch of an entire Atlas missile equipped with a transmitter on a mission called Score launched from Cape Canaveral on 18 December, the Atlas programme and the Score programme director, retired US Air Force Brigadier General Maurice Cristadoro died on 22 November, aged 88. Cristadoro said that Score was the highlight of his career. Score was the “first communications satellite”, relaying pre-recorded transmissions, including a Christmas message from President Eisenhower.

NASA has released a draft request for proposals for the RFP for Phase 1 for its Ares V launch vehicle, which will carry heavy cargo and the Orion crew vehicle of the Constellation project.

A European Space Agency meeting at the Hague is hoping that the International Space Station will be operational at least until 2020 rather the 2015. Most hope so too! What a complete waste to abandon the base in 2015. ESA says, “we are now in the position to exploit the base” and hopes that a 10.4 billion Euros budget will be agreed. France is still hoping that a new second stage for the Ariane 5 will be agreed increasing the payload weight from 10 to 12 tonnes.

50 years ago
26 November 1958
Project Mercury, America’s first manned spacecraft was officially named by NASA.


 

22-24 November (24 November 2008)

The International Space Station’s new urine processor, a key part of the water recycling distillation system to support six crew has experienced problems with a motor and sensor in a centrifuge which separates water from urine using a vacuum distillation system. Meanwhile to spiders in the ISS have accustomed themselves to zero-g constructing “amazing” webs, say the crew. Remember the Skylab 3 mission spiders, Arabella and Anita? They were part of a science experiment. Meanwhile, STS 126 crew members, Heidemarie Stephanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen completed the third EVA of the mission at the ISS on 22 November, lasting 6hr 57min, working on the station’s starboard Solar Array Rotary Joint. A fourth EVA is planned for 24 November. A new urine processor aboard the station has been reactivated after problems. The system converts urine and condensate into drinking water.

Spaceport note: this is a full copy of a NASA press release without major amendments or editing.

The largest crew manifest in manned spaceflight history has been announced by the space agency:
NASA and its international partners have assigned the International Space Station's crew members through 2010. The numbering sequence of expeditions was modified to reflect the start of six-person crews.
The update to the expedition numbering begins with the docking of a Soyuz spacecraft in May 2009. That Soyuz will mark the beginning of six-person crew operations. From that point forward, expeditions will end with the undocking of a Soyuz. The expedition number will change every two to four months as new crew members arrive and depart.
The arrangement emphasizes that every six-person crew living on the station is a cohesive team. A crew member typically will stay about six months and be part of two expeditions. In addition to the Russian Soyuz, the space shuttle will continue to provide transportation for station crew members through mission STS-129, targeted for the fall of 2009.
With the departure of a Soyuz, command of the station will be handed over to a crew member remaining aboard, and the next expedition will begin. Specific backup crew members will not be announced because of the streamlined training flow for six-person crews. If needed, backups can be selected from subsequent crews in training.
The groups of assigned crew members, beginning with the first six-person crew and including newly announced crew members, are outlined below by expedition. An asterisk indicates the crew member was previously announced.
Expedition 20 begins with the Soyuz 19 docking and the arrival of three new crew members in May 2009.
Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, International Space Station commander, who will launch in March 2009 on Soyuz 18 and return in October 2009 on Soyuz 18.
NASA astronaut Michael R. Barratt, who will launch in March 2009 on Soyuz 18 and return in October 2009 on Soyuz 18.
NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, who will launch on STS-127 and return on STS-128.
Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, who will launch in May 2009 on Soyuz 19 and return in November 2009 on Soyuz 19.
European Space Agency, or ESA, astronaut Frank De Winne, who will launch in May 2009 on Soyuz 19 and return in November 2009 on Soyuz 19. Note: Winne will be the first European ISS commander.
Canadian Space Agency, or CSA, astronaut Robert Thirsk, who will launch in May 2009 on Soyuz 19 and return on STS-129.
NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, who will launch on STS-128 and return in November 2009 on Soyuz 19.
Expedition 21 begins with the Soyuz 18 undocking in October 2009. Two new crew members will arrive on Soyuz 20 for the handover before the previous crew departs.
ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, the first European station commander
CSA astronaut Robert Thirsk
Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko
NASA astronaut Nicole Stott
Russian Cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, who will launch in September 2009 on Soyuz 20 and return in March 2010 on Soyuz 20
NASA astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, who will launch in September
2009 on Soyuz 20 and return in March 2010 on Soyuz 20.
Expedition 22 begins with the Soyuz 19 undocking in November 2009. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz 21.
NASA astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, station commander
Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, who will launch in December 2009 on Soyuz 21 and return in May 2010 on Soyuz 21.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who will launch in December 2009 on Soyuz 21 and return in May 2010 on Soyuz 21
    * NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, who will launch in December 2009 on Soyuz 21 and return in May 2010 on Soyuz 21.
Expedition 23 begins with the Soyuz 20 undocking in March 2010. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz 22.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, station commander
JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi
NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, who will launch in April 2010 on Soyuz 22 and return in September 2010 on Soyuz 22.
Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who will launch in April 2010 on Soyuz 22 and return in September 2010 on Soyuz 22.
NASA astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell, who will launch in April 2010 on Soyuz 22 and return in September 2010 on Soyuz 22.
Expedition 24 begins with the Soyuz 21 undocking in May 2010. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz 23.
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, station commander
Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko
NASA astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, who will launch in May 2010 on Soyuz 23 and return in November 2010 on Soyuz 23.
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who will launch in May 2010 on Soyuz 23 and return November 2010 on Soyuz 23.
NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock, who will launch in May 2010 on Soyuz 23 and return in November 2010 on Soyuz 23.
Expedition 25 begins with the Soyuz 22 undocking in September 2010. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz 24.
NASA astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock, station commander
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker
Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev, who will launch in September 2010 on Soyuz 24 and return in March 2011 on Soyuz 24.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, who will launch in September 2010 on Soyuz 24 and return in March 2011 on Soyuz 24.
NASA astronaut Scott J. Kelly, who will launch in September 2010 on Soyuz 24 and return in March 2011 on Soyuz 24.
Expedition 26 begins with the Soyuz 23 undocking in November 2010. Three crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz 25.
NASA astronaut Scott J. Kelly, station commander
Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka
Russian cosmonaut Andrey Borisienko, who will launch in November 2010 on Soyuz 25 and return in May 2011 on Soyuz 25.
NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman, who will launch in November 2010 on Soyuz 25 and return in May 2011 on Soyuz 25.
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who will launch in November 2010 on Soyuz 25 and return in May 2011 on Soyuz 25.

The Dutch think-tank, Transitional Institute has accused the European Space Agency (ESA) of planning a multi-million pound European Satellite Centre in Spain into a military, as well as a civilian system using the planned Galileo GPS satellite system. In 2002, Galileo was seen as a civilian system but is now seems highly militarised, says the economist and arms trade specialist Frank Slijper. A public denial about Galileo’s military role only increases the fears, say some observers. However, some see the 150,000 jobs and the seven billion pounds revenue a year.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has released a map of 700,000 stars in the Milky Way created from the Akari infrared astronomy satellite.

Data from ESA’s Mars Express in 2004, using the spacecraft’s SPICAM ultraviolet and infrared spectrometer have produced the “first crude map of aurorae on Mars” in ultraviolet, appearing to be located close to residual magnetic fields generated by crystal rocks.

Alliant Techsystems (ATK) tested the launch abort system for NASA’s Orion crew spacecraft for 5.5s at the company’s facility in Utah. A full-scale test is scheduled for spring 2009.

Meanwhile, Space-X static-tested its nine-engine Falcon 9 rocket engine for 177s “on a mission duty cycle”. In addition to launching satellites, the rocket is being proposed for International Space Station logistics missions.

The idea of continuing the Space Shuttle programme after 2010 seems dead. NASA is depending of an extra $2 billion for the Constellation programme with a debut launch of Ares with a Space Shuttle SRB based first stage in 2011, with an extra second flight in 2012. The debut launch of the Orion (Apollo) spacecraft atop the Ares 1 is scheduled for 2014. Grounding the Shuttle will mean paying Russia for launches of Soyuz TMA crew ferries. (as seen in the manifest above). The first piloted Orion will fly no earlier than March 2015.

Britain plans to fly a 100 million spacecraft, MoonLITE (short for Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecommnications Experiment) in 2012-2014 into lumar orbit from where it will fire instrumented penetrators into the moon’s surface. The existence of moonquakes has puzzled scientists, as the moon does not have the tectonic plate activity that causes quakes on Earth.

Britian’s Daily Mail newspaper has revealed that Soviet Union spymasters tried to make the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope’s genius, Sir Bernard Lovell, now aged 95, to defect. Lovell was held during a visit to USSR space facilities in 1963 but the authorities refused to let him go in a recent episode, with echoes of KBG agent Alexander Litvinenko who died after being injected with polonium. Lovell was taken to a huge facility on the Crimean Black Sea coast, the first foreigner to visit. The problem was that the Soviets wanted him to stay. When Lovell was “released” and returned to England, he became very ill. He said, “the evidence is that the Soviets did try to keep me in the Soviet Union. I was extremely ill. Although Sir Bernard would not expand 
 
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21 November (21 November 2008)

NASA and Alliant Techsystems successfully test fired the emergency escape rocket for the Orion crew capsule at Promontory, Utah for the Constellation project for 5.5sec featuring flames reaching 100ft in the first test since a similar firing at the beginning of the Apollo programme.

The second EVA of the STS 126 Endeavour mission at the International Space Station featured Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and rookie Shane Kimbough working outside for 6hr 45min, who moved two transportation carts on the station’s truss, prepared the station’s robotic arm to capture the Japanese cargo ship next year and continued greasing a mechanical joint keeping the solar panels facing the sun.

Instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed “glaciers of water ice” under the surface of the Red Planet at lower latitudes than any ice previously found.

Sea Launch and Intelsat are continuing their close relationship with a multiple launch services contract for five missions of the Russian-based Zenit booster from 2010-12.

The European Space Agency has awarded contracts to OHB-System and Hispasat SA for a Small GEO Programme featuring a Small Geostationary Platform to accommodate a payload of 300kg with 3kW power.

Craig Couvault, a friend and colleague from my Flight International days (1984-2006) and a 36-year veteran space reporter and editor at Aviation Week and Space Technology has been sacked together with Dave Hughes and Aviation Daily’s Dave Culligan. What’s going on at Aviation Week? (Courtesy the Space Ref website). All the best Craig.


50 years ago
21 November 1958

NASA established a Special Committee on Life Sciences to provide advice on human factors, medical and allied problems on the space agency’s manned space programme.

40 years ago
21 November 1968

The rocket stage of Cosmos 253 re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere caused a “fantastic firework display” over Britain, scaring many people. “Fireball mystery in sky”. “Satellite blazes over London”. “Fireballs”. The spectacular event was far more dramatic than re-entries today as they were rather rare. “Bright lights with tales like tadpoles”. “Glaring cigar-shaped lights”. Police Panda cars radioed reports to police HQ about objects tearing across the sky as they chased the objects. A man who had been walking his dog said, “they looked just like a squadron of space ships”.  
 

20 November (20 November 2008)

India plans to launch a satellite to provide low cost internet connectivity to rural regions of the country with over 30,000 villages, to provide instant data about agriculture using an Insat-class satellite equipped with many spot beams reaching several areas. The Insat satellite is to be launched by an Ariane 5 in two years.

Thales Alenia has won a contract from Israel Aerospace Industries to install the ground segment transmission services for Amos 4 Ku and Ka band satellite.

Space Frontier says that NASA’S administrator, Mike Griffin has contradicted his 2003 testimony to Congress by opting for a new and ill-thought out Ares 1, having already saying that the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), Atlas V and Delta IV would be fine for the job. Griffin has poured millions into Ares and now says that the EELVs are not safe enough for human spaceflight.

The 18 European Space Agency member countries and Canada are meeting in The Hague, in the Netherlands on 25/26 November to implement the European Space Policy for future programmes.

NASA’ Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modelled on the Internet than can be used to transmit images to and from spacecraft as far as 20 million miles from Earth. The “Interplanetary Internet” called Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) will replace manual scheduling of each link and the generation all the commands with standardised DTN. The system was tested in October using NASA’s Epoxi spacecraft en route to comet Hartley 2 and nine other “nodes” at JPL.

The Chinese-built Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited’s NigComSat 1which malfunctioned in orbit last week is now classed as a total loss. The failure if a blow to China’s satellite industry and future international customers may be sparse.

Pratt&Whitney has completed the Critical Design Review of the J-2X second stage engine of the Ares 1 Constellation manned spacecraft. The first test flight of the booster using the Saturn 5 third stage and the Saturn 1B’s second stage. Why doesn’t NASA scrap Ares 1 and use the basics of the Saturn five design or at least scrap the silly idea of using the Shuttle SRB as the first stage.

The four candidate landing sites for the next NASA Mars landing mission, the Mars Science Laboratory are: Eberswalde where “an ancient river” deposited a delta in a “possible lake”; Gale, with a mountain of stacked layers including clays and sulphates; the Holden crater containing alluvial fans, flood deposits, possible lake beds an clay-rich deposits and Mawrth, which displays exposed layers containing two types of clay.

40 years ago
20 November 1968

The Soviet Union launched Cosmos 254 from Plesetsk aboard a Voskhod booster on a Zenit 4 military high- resolution reconnaissance mission, lasting eight days, using a Voskhod-based recoverable capsule.

Britain’s Sir Bernard Lovell, the director of the Jodrell Bank radio telescope called the planned Apollo 8 lunar orbiter mission “moon flight madness…and “just bloody silly”. He added “there is a very good chance that these three men will never return to Earth or if they do they will be dead”. Kenneth Gatland, a well-respected and prolific British spaceflight author, questioned the mission. He asked, “too soon to the moon?” Meanwhile, there were fears that the Soviet Union would try to launch Zond 7 on a fly-by flight around the moon with two-crew before the Apollo 8 mission. The Soviets had a record of beating America in space - Gagarin, Lunik 2, Lunik 3, first spacewalk……
 

18-19 November (19 November 2008)

18-19 November

Astronauts of STS 126 Endeavour and the International Space Station (ISS) have completed the first major task for the mission by attaching the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module with more cargo including extra bedrooms, a kitchenette and a water recycling system. The docking of Endeavour celebrated the “10th” anniversary of the first Space Shuttle mission, which delivered the first US component of the space base, the Unity Node, which was attached to Russia’s Zarya module. STS 88 Endeavour was launched on 4 December 1988. The ISS has made over 57,000 orbits. The first EVA of the 126 mission featured Heide-Stephanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen, who were to primarily to service the starboard Solar Alpha Joint. During the EVA Stephanyshyn-Piper had trouble with a tool bag, which leaked grease from an application gun and later she lost a tool bag into space. Stephanyshyn-Piper was able to share Bowen’s space tools. The EVA lasted 6hr 52min. Other good news for the ISS is that Russia’s Energia has at last received 2.9 billion roubles ($106 million) loan to provide Soyuz TMA and Progress tankers for a year, while two or three years will be required to update the spacecraft.  

A cosmonaut from Kazakhstan will fly to the ISS in October on board a Soyuz TMA. Two Kazakhstan cosmonauts, Mukhtar Aimakhanov and Aidyn Aimbetov are training for the mission.

Boeing will introduce improved technology for the US Air Force Operational Control Segment satellite ground control system, which will operate existing GPS satellites as well as the future twelve GPS IIF satellites, the first of which will be launched in 2009.

India’s Santosh George Kulangara is planning to be the first paying space tourist of his country. Rakesh Sharma was launched aboard Soyuz T10 in 1984 to the Salyut 7 space station. Other Indian-born US astronauts have flown on the Space Shuttle.

The Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) on NASA’s Mars Odyssey has provided possible evidence that oceans were once prevalent on a third of the surface of the Red Planet, says the University of Arizona. The GRS can detect elements buried 13 inches below the surface. In 2002, the instrument on Odyssey “discovered” water ice near the surface.

US Penn State and Nicolaus Copernicus University have discovered another “planet” using a spectrometer. The planet is orbiting a red giant star, HD102272, apparently six times the size of Jupiter. They suspect that another smaller planet also exists. The problem with these discoveries is they feature a lot of “theory”. The simple fact is the “planets” cannot be seen and the red giant is 1,200 light years away, which is 12,005,878,499,812,499 miles away.

 
50 years ago
19 November 1958

The USA and 19 other countries agreed a resolution at the UN in New York to form a committee to create full international co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space.


40 years ago
18 November 1968

The five other countries belonging to the European Launch Development Organisation insisted that Britain pay 10 million pounds after bailing out of the plan to develop the Europa communications satellite launcher what could have been an “Ariane” before its time. Britain offered to invest in communications satellites if the repayment was waived. Good ‘ol Britain. Out of space.

Michael O’Hagen, the manager of space and military systems in the UK Government contracts department of Standard Telephones and Cables claimed that the USA was using satellites to find mineral-rich land in other countries and then buy it. The term Earth Resources satellites was born. NASA described O’Hagen’s claims as science fiction.

 

15-17 November (17 November 2008)

STS 126 Endeavour was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre on 14 November, local time on a 15 days mission to the International Space Station, carrying commander veteran Christopher Ferguson, rookie pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists, rookies Stephen Bowen and Robert Kimbrough and veterans Donald Pettit, Heidamarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Sandra Magnus, who will replace ISS crewmember, Gregory Chamitoff who will return aboard STS 126. The mission will involve attaching the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2, berthing the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and transfer cargo. The mission will include four EVAs mainly to repair the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. Endeavour docked at the ISS on 16 November. Ten crew are now aboard, while the Endeavour mission will make it possible for the ISS to accommodate six ISS crew. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that a NASA study shows that the Space Shutle fleet could continue to fly until 2015 at a rate of three missions a year at a cost of $2.3 billion, less than the present $3.3 billion. If it is decided to ground the fleet in 2010, 4,000 jobs at the Kennedy Space Centre will be lost. Meanwhile, Russia’s RKK Energia has not yet been awarded the funds to enable it to build new Progress and Soyuz spacecraft to enable the ISS to rotate crews and cargo. Finally, The European Union’s dreaded, “political correctness” Universal Declaration of Human Rights was carried aboard Endeavour and will be placed inside ESA’s Columbus module. One day there might be a need for lawyer to be aboard the ISS all the time. Political correctness gone mad.

Celestis - which has sent the remains of private and public people on sub-orbital missions - is planning to send the a small amount of ashes of individuals into Earth orbit, land the ashes of diseased persons on the moon and send them into deep space. However the amount of ashes is very small. The cost will be $700 for a simple sub-orbital flight, $37,000 for an orbital flight including a lunar fly-by and later landing some remains on the moon or even into deep space. NASA allowed some ashes of the legendary lunar geologist Eugene Shoemaker to be added to the payload on a lunar probe, which ended up on the moon, marking a space first.      

The Czech Republic has become the 18th fully fledged member of the European Space Agency, gaining full access to the International Space Station’s Europe’s Columbus laboratory module.

Thanks to a Sidney-based venerable, 40 year old IBM Australian tape drive, “lost” data from lunar instruments on the Apollo 11, 12 and 14 missions have been recovered.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has been awarded a Phase 1, $40 million contract to design and build the Radarsat Constellation Mission.

India’s lunar orbiter Chandrayaan 1 deployed a Moon Impact Probe (MIP) late on 14 November, which hit the moon 25 minutes later. India became the fourth nation to hit the moon. The 35kg, $80 million probe, one of the 11 experiments on the orbiter, was adorned with flags painted on four sides. MIP was equipped with a radar altimeter, a video imaging system to observe the lunar surface as it descended and a mass spectrometer.

Russia launched a classified satellite, Cosmos 2445 late on 14 November aboard a Soyuz booster from Plesetsk.

United Launch Alliance will reduce its 4,200 workforce by 350 at its HQ, Warterton Canyon, Decatur, Harlington and San Diego, due to a $50 million reduction in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Atlas V-Delta IV programme, the impending end of the Delta II’s career and the reduction of launches due to the economic downturn.

Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has been awarded a 16 month, CS40 million contract to begin the design of the Radarsat Constellation Mission.

Thales Alenia Space Espana has been awarded a Euro 17 million contract by Sener to supply the optical observation electronics for the Ingenio (Seosat). 

Russia’s Energia company has not received Government funds to build future Progress tankers and Soyuz manned ferries. The company hoped to take a loan from Sberbank but the had bank suspended an initial loan rate of 9.5 percent until 15 September and later refused to grant a loan at an even higher rate. While funds for new Soyuz and Progress spacecraft are allocated by the government they are used in the first year, with between two and three years required to fully complete the spacecraft. Presently, the funds are not sufficient.


40 years ago

15 November 1968
Apollo fever builds up. There is talk of Apollo 10 making the first manned landing on the moon in the spring of 1969, with a crew of Tom Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan, while rumours coming from the Soviet Union indicate that a manned Zond mission around the moon is being planned to steal the thunder of Apollo 8’s planned lunar orbit mission in December. Zond 5 flew once around the moon with a cargo including two turtles in November.

16 November 1968
The Soviet Union launches the first three-stage Proton K booster, from Baikonur carrying the 16,000kg Proton 4 cosmic ray observatory into a 248-477km, 51deg orbit. The satellite operated for 100 days. 
 

14 November (14 November 2008)

Cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev has arranged a flight for another Kazakhstan spaceman who will fly aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2009. Meanwhile, Russia’s Roscosmos plans to fly a Russian space tourist, businessman and politician Vladimir Gruzdev to the ISS on the same flight. Gruzdev, who will be the first Russian space tourist, planned his flight in April 2007.

The USA’s Planetary Society has published a document, “Beyond the Moon: A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration in the 21st Century, to fly manned missions to Mars but not to fly humans to the moon in the immediate future, accelerate research into global climate change.

The University of Colorado has been awarded $2 million funding for its student sounding rocket programme, operating out of White Sands, New Mexico, to study X-ray emissions starting in June 2009. The first target for observation will be the Cygnus Loop, 1,500 light years away. Future launches will take place between 2011-2013.

NASA adminstrator, Mike Griffin says he does not expect to continue as the space agency’s chief after President Barack Obama settles into the White House. Griffin doubts that Obama’s plan to spend $2 billion to extend the Space Shuttle programme for five years and speed up the Constellation programme or both is plausible. NASA estimates that up to 4,000 jobs could be lost at the Kennedy Space Centre after the Shuttle is grounded.

The Hubble Space Telescope has returned an image of the star Fomalhaut b, 25 light years away using the coronagraph on observatory’s Advanced Camera for Surveys revealing a point source of light three billion kilometeres inside a large debris disk like our solar system’s Kuiper Belt. Fomalhaut b is one billion fainter than the host star, Fomalhaut.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has transmitted signals to the Earth after a dust storm disrupted operations. The coating of dust on the craft’s solar panel is slowly reducing electricity generation.

 
 

12-13 November (13 November 2008)

The China Great Wall Industry-built, $340 million NigComSat 1 launched in May 2007 has failed in orbit after a solar array malfunction. Meanwhile, Chinese scientists have revealed a full map of the lunar surface based on images provided by the country’s Chang’e 1, launched last year. Chang’e 2 will be launched in 2011, and the Chang’e 3 moon rover-sample return in 2012. 

A huge dust storm has hit NASA’s venerable Mars Exploration Rover Spirit resulting in a dangerously low power generation. Spirit landed in January 2004.

Russia’s Novosti agency reports that the Babakin Science and Research Space Centre could revive the Volan emergency escape system for the International Spaace Station. Funding for the inflatable cone-shaped parachute, resembling a badminton shuttle, was stopped in 2003.

Ascend Space Intelligence News reports that engineers are deriving solutions to the problems of the Ares 1 rocket, including concerns that there could be a staging collision between the solid rocket first stage and the liquid fuel second stage. This is because of the unpredictable nature of the residual thrusting. The blame for the Ares 1 debacle could lie with the ex-fighter pilot, Shuttle astronaut and engineer, Scott ‘Doc’ Horowitz, says Ascend. In his time at NASA as associate administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate he was a strong advocate of using solid rocket technology for this role. “Horowitz was clearly too much influenced by his time at the solid rocket company ATK where he previously worked and for whom he now offers consultation services after leaving NASA”, says Ascend.

Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki has been selected to fly possibly one of the last Space Shuttle missions, aboard Atlantis in February 2010. She will be the seventh of the eight Japanese astronauts to fly in space.

Hans-Gert Poettering, the president of the European Parliament recommended that the European Union should fund gathering satellite intelligence for EU peacekeeping missions and has already taken funds out of the Galileo project. The EU is involved in 12 peacekeeping roles, the latest of which will combat pirates operating off the coast of Somalia. The project has been named Synchronised Armed Forces Europe (SAFE).


40 years ago
13 November 1968

The Soviet Union launched a Soyuz booster from Plesetsk carrying Cosmos 253 into a 216-337km, 64deg inclination orbit on a Zenit 2 reconnaissance mission but the camera jammed on the 13th orbit and 53% of data was lost.



 











 


 

 

11 November (11 November 2008)

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander launched on 4 August 2007 and which landed in the north arctic region on 25 May 2008 has ceased communications. The spacecraft returned 25,000 images and delved into Martian soil like no other spacecraft with its on-board laboratory.

The European Space Agency’s director, Jean-Jacques Dordain hopes to get nine billion Euros ($11.52 million) for future projects, including an unmanned Mars rover. However, the rover has been delayed from the original 2011 launch date to no earlier than 2016. Other projects include continuing work on the International Space Station, a cryogenic engine for the upper stage of a new Ariane 5 model for 2017 and an ESA-led Earth monitoring project called Koperkinus, formerly the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES).
 
Russia’s CSKB-Progress State Aerospace Research and Production Centre, in Samara is developing a new series of satellite launches capable of launching a range of satellites of different weights, from Vostochnyy. The first launches will be made in 2015, with manned launches in 2018. Russia will shift all manned launches from Vostochnyy by 2020.

The last eight of ESA candidates for the 105-day simulation of Mars mission due to start in March 2006. Two ESA crew will join four Russians in the programme between the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems and ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight. The six-crew will work in a specially designed and refurbished facility in Moscow. The simulation is a precursor of a planned 2009, “500 Mars mission”, with six-crew in sealed chamber.

Increased demand for terrestrial satellite services will create a projected 7,262 units by 2012, especially for digital broadcast entertainment services and a growing popularity of ethnic programmes. Global Industry Analysts say that Asia Pacific and Europe will dominate the transponder market with 53.3%. It is predicted that Middle East and Africa will reach 358 units by 2012, with the fastest rate and reach. Europe represents the largest market for satellite transponders, with 48.5%.

Astrosat, India’s first dedicated X-ray and ultraviolet astronomy satellite will be launched into an 8deg inclination, 650km orbit aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2009. The Indian Space Research Organisation will also launch a satellite, Aditya to study the solar corona in 2012.

Ukraine and Indonesia have signed an agreement to co-operate in a series of space research work in rocket technology, satellite launches and remote sensing.

NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory has imaged a clear view of the faint boundary of the Crab nebula’s X-ray emitting pulsar wind nebula, 6,000 light years away in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula is powered by a rapidly rotating, highly magnetised neutron star or pulsar, which is the remnant of the gravitational collapse of a massive star, destroyed by a supernova explosion. The Crab pulsar spins at 30 times a second which combined with a strong magnetic field, generates an intense electromagnetic field that creates jets of radiation emanating from the poles of the pulsar and a powerful wind flowing out in the equatorial direction. 

40 years ago
11 November 1968

Tom Paine, acting chief of NASA made one of the most significant decisions in space history, clearing the way for Apollo 8 to fly into orbit around the moon over Christmas. Thus began what many space fans feel was the most exciting, moving and spiritual experience for the world. Headlines in Britain: “Christmas in space for round the world team”. “US  trio of to the moon for Christmas”. Christmas round the moon likely for US spacemen”. “Plum pudding in space”. Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders were about to become the first humans to leave the influence of the Earth.

And what does Britain do? It declined to take part in the building of the European Launch Development Organisation after 1971, calling ELDO a waste of money. Britain had poured millions of pounds down the drain on ELDO but had produced a first stage booster called Blue Streak, which could have been a fine beginning for a British space programme. Huge amounts of money had wasted. Britain’s Technology Minister, Mr Wedgwood Benn thought it was better to rely on US rockets to launch satellites for Britain - as they had done already. Britain also called for a European NASA (which much later became ESA). In the end the decisions were right. ESA ended up with the Ariane programme led by arch-rivals France but Britain ended up in the fourth division.



 

 

7-10 November (10 November 2008)

7-10 November

NASA’s Ares 1-X test will be delayed until October 2009 to accommodate five Space Shuttle missions next year. The STS 126 Endeavour mission, scheduled for November is the last for the Shuttle in 2008. The 2009 schedule may be jiggled around, as the launch date of the STS 125 Atlantis Hubble Space Telescope’s final servicing mission will be  no earlier than May 2009 and could be delayed further. STS 119 will kick off 2009’s schedule with a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than February 12 and this will be followed by STS 127 Endeavour in June on another ISS flight but could fly earlier if the Hubble mission is delayed further. STS 128 will fly to the ISS in August. STS 129 Atlantis will fly to the space station on 15 October. In the meantime, the Government Accountability Office has urged President-elect Barack Obama to immediately consider the fate of the Space Shuttle. Does NASA ground the Shuttle in 2010 or extend the programme with a protracted schedule through to when the Ares programme is up and running? Can the USA allow there to be no manned presence for five years until Ares - and will Ares be ready in time, anyway? Probably not, given the stage of the programme thus far. Meanwhile, STS 126 Endeavour will evaluate new instrumentation to gather more detailed data on the SRBs during the first phase of launch to provide data to help understand and mitigate thrust oscillation on Ares 1.

India successfully placed its first lunar orbiter around the moon on 8 November. The spacecraft, launched on 22 October and which made a protracted flight path to its destination, is now in a 504-7,502km orbit.

Sweden’s spaceport may host flights on the Virgin Galactic spaceflight tourism spacecraft to enable clients to experience the aurora borealis.

Senator Bill Nelson, who hitched a ride aboard the Space Shuttle in 1986, until the next mission ended in disaster, wants the Space Shuttle to continue to fly until the Constellation project starts up in 2015 rather than ground the fleet in 2010. The bottom line is will the USA be able tolerate depending on Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station until 2015 – in fact probably much longer given the farce of the Constellation project. Barack Obama is keen on space but is he THAT keen? He is certainly keen on unmanned missions, such as those to Mars. Regarding the status of NASA administrator Mike Griffin, it seems that he is safe. Meanwhile, Florida Today reports that a NASA study shows that there is a 1/100 chance of a space walker dying within 15 seconds during an EVA due to depressurisation, most likely in a glove. There have been four incidents in space, particularly Robert Curbeam losing some pressure in his spacesuit after a glove suffered a 3/4in gash in a glove. There have been three other incidents since then. The STS 126 Endeavour astronaut space walkers will wear gloves with a new reinforced layer of fabric between the palm and index finger.

Russia’s Roskosmos space agency has agreed to pay 100,000 roubles in compensation to a villager, Boris Urmatov in the republic of Altai in Siberia after a 11ft fragment from a Proton Breeze M booster launched on 5 February landed on his land. In April, two other villagers, in Altai, were shocked when another fragment from a Proton destroyed a shed roof. Altai has been used a “debris field” for over 40 years, with an estimated 2.5 metric tonnes falling in largely unpopulated Kazakhstan land.

50 years ago
8 November 1958

The 39kg NASA/US Air Force Pioneer 2 lunar probe launched aboard a Thor Able booster from Cape Canaveral failed to reach escape velocity fell from 1,000 miles altitude back to Earth. Pioneer 1 failed on 17 August and Pioneer 1B on 11 October. 

40 years ago
8 November 1968

A Thor Delta E1 model was launched from Pad17B at Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s 63kg Pioneer 9 into a solar orbit to monitor solar radiation. During the flight a 40kg tracking network technology satellite into Earth orbit for test and training for the NASA’s Manned Space Flight Network. The satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in 1979.

10 November 1968
The Soviet Union launched a Proton D booster from Baikonur carrying Zond 7 which completed a 5.79 day mission including a fly-by around the moon and returned its Soyuz based re-entry capsule to the Earth. The flight was a test mission before a planned similar mission with a crew of two. The flight path was 200-400,000km. The spacecraft carried cosmic ray and micrometeorite detectors, a camera and biological specimens. Images included the moon’s limb and the Earth. The Zond 7 Soyuz-based re-entry capsule returned to within 16km of the launch pad from which it was launched from Baikonur. Zond 7 was readed for a manned fly-by mission before the planned Apollo lunar orbit flight but it was not scheduled until January. Only a delay to Apollo 8 would enable Zond 7 to make the fly-by mission.













 




 

 

6 November (6 November 2008)

Belarus is hoping to participate in European Space Agency projects, while Russia will provide the state with 1bn roubles for a second joint Kosmos NT project worth 587 million roubles. The satellite programme will cover 2008-2011. A spacecraft will be based on a 150kg platform is being planned, as well as a 400kg satellite to be launched in 2009-2010.

China has launch its eighth orbital mission in 2008, on 5 November, featuring a Long March 2D booster launched from Juiquan, carrying Chuang Xin 1, which will relay hydrological and weather sat as well as providing disaster relief services. A second satellite, Shiyan Weixing 3 is a technology demonstration craft. The launch was 113th Chinese satellite launch and the 39th orbital launch from Juiquan.

International Launch Services launched a Proton Breeze-M booster from Baikonur on 5 November, carrying the Astra 1M communications satellite, which will be located at 19.2degE in GEO providing services using 36 transponders.

40 years ago
6 November 1968

The US Air Force launched a Titan 3B booster from Vandenberg AFB, California carrying an Agena-based 3,000kg KH-8 reconnaissance satellite into a 106deg inclination orbit with a perigee of just 80 miles. The film capsule was recovered on 20th November.

 

 

5 November (5 November 2008)

It would cost NASA $2 billion a year to keep the Space Shuttle flying beyond 2010 and this would jeopardize the progress of the Constellation programme to return to the moon. However, the Congressional Budget Office (GBO) says that that the odds of flying all the remaining missions by September 2010 are poor. Meanwhile, the first major components of the Ares 1-X upper stage simulator for programme, has arrived in Florida. It will test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations. The Government Accountability Office has identified several issues regarding the Constellation project, including the mass of the Orion crew module which could exceed the launch load of the Ares 1 and the rocket’s excessive thrust oscillation, the longer development period for the J-2X engine for the second stage. The Constellation budget is of concern too. GBO estimates that there could be delay of flying the first manned mission of Orion from March 2015 to possibly 2017-18. This could create a gap from 2010 after the final Space Shuttle mission, unless other options already reported will be cleared, extending the Shuttle programme beyond 2010.

Bremen University in Germany has won a European Space Agency contest to retrieve samples form a simulated lunar crater using a 3-D viewer. This modest programme is part of long-term international projects that hope to find water ice on the moon.

Britain’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the universities of York and Strathclyde have found a way of shielding astronauts aboard moon and Mars spacecraft from solar storms by using a mini magnetosphere, which would scatter the ionised particles of the solar wind and flares from the craft.

Arianespace predicts that satellite launch rates worldwide will fall next year from 25 to 15-20 in 2009.

The STS 126 Endeavour mission to be launched on 14 November will provide enable International Space Station to accommodate twice the number of crew in orbit to six. The logistics module will be the “most jam-packed” to fly, with 32,000lbs of cargo. A new solar alpha rotary joint will be added to the station and the other array will be serviced. Four spacewalks will be made during the 15-day mission, featuring Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough sharing the load. The other crew are commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Eric Boe and mission specialist Don Pettit, who will replace flight engineer Sandra Magnus. Other cargo will include new crew quarters, toilet, kitchen, fridge, exercise equipment and science experiments. A new regenerative environmental control and life system will also be added. 



 

25 October-4 November (4 November 2008)

NASA SpaceFlight.com reports further concerns about the Constellation programmes Ares 1 booster, this time related to the Thrust Vector Control, resulting in a drift curve, which could make the vehicle move closely to the launch tower. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper reports that the Ares 1 booster is in trouble, with a serious lift-off drift that could end up with the rocket colliding with the launch tower. The timing of the separation of the SRB first stage and the ignition of the second stage is critical. It is reported that astronauts are “in revolt” over the issue. Why doesn’t NASA just rebuild the Saturn 5 and be done with it? A review of the Constellation programme lasting 60 days will focus on the Ares 1 crew launcher, the Orion crew module the launch schedule that aims at a first flight in September 2014 rather than March 2015. The Sentinel reports that the $20 billion programme is experiencing “catastrophic-level risks” and that many engineers are producing their own design of a programme code-named Jupiter. An engineer an the Marshall Space Flight Centre said that NASA had a “big reality check on the way” but the agency responds that the problems are “growing pains”. However NASA responds that the programme is “progressing well” and that the agency is hoping to launch the first Orion manned spacecraft will be launched in September 2014. Robert Walker, a former House science committee member says that Ares “is for the chopping block”. He understands that the next administration will take a very close look at the situation. Walker suggests that Orion should be launched on the Delta IV and or Atlas V. NASA reports that a possible extension of the Space Shuttle programme beyond 2010 could involve missions though to the end of 2012, using all the programmes hardware, or flying three missions a year to the International Space Station. This would cost an extra $2 billion a year, which NASA does not have – yet. Extending the programme to 2015 could interfere with the Constellation infrastructure at the Kennedy Space Centre. The International Space Station programme could face disruptions due to the shortage of Russian funds for the provision of Soyuz TMA ferry craft used for crew rotations. Energia says that it has only two thirds of the funds to provide Soyuz swop-over missions. The problem relates to a required preferential loan which have not yet been guaranteed.

The Hubble Space Telescope is up and running again since September, returning images from the Wide Field Planetary Camera showing a pair of gravitationally locked galaxies.

India’s Chanrayaan 1 has entered its lunar transfer trajectory heading for an apogee of 380,000km as it’s protracted flight progresses towards lunar orbit. India received its first images of the moon from the 1,304km. The lunar orbiter was launched from Shriharikota on 22 October. The images were taken from distances ranging from 70,000km to 9,000km. The craft will finally enter a 100km lunar orbit on 8 November. India and Russia are discussing a Chandrayan 2, which would be a lander and lunar rover, plus an orbiter. 

Data from NASA’s Lunar Prospector orbiter which operated in lunar orbit between 1988-1999 and provided evidence of water ice deposits may be mistaken. Data and images taken by the Japan’s Kaguya (Selene) lunar orbiter do not show evidence of exposed water ice deposits in the Shackelton crater.

Space Exploration Technolgies, Space-X has introduced the new commercial free-flying pressurised and un-pressurised craft DragonLab launched aboard the company’s planned Falcon 9 booster, to provide cargo services as part of a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract. The first flight will be in June 2009 from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, with two more flights to 2010. 

United Launch Alliance successfully launched a Boeing Delta II booster from Cape Canaveral on 24 October local tim, carrying the third of four Italian Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation SkyMed satellites, built by Thales Alenia Space Italia for the Italian Space Agency and Italian Ministry of Defense. The spacecraft is equipped with an X-band SAR instrument.

Boeing is joining a new PlanetSpace venture with Lockheed and Alliant Techsystems to develop a 2.8 million ton thrust Shuttle-derived 158ft tall Athena 3 as a re-supply craft for the International Space Station by 2011 after launch from the Space Florida Pad 36 and Cape Canaveral, generating $300 million revenue for Florida. The venture will not be related to the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and will be a private enterprise.

Another blow for Britain’s “space programme” – Its 128 million pound contribution to the European Space Agency’s Kopernikus environmental five-satellite fleet is threatened to be cut. The project is the world’s most ambitious environmental monitoring project will cost one billion Euros. Britain was to contribute 17% of the cost, 128 million pounds but it has offered 40 million Euros. The last option will be to plead to the Government otherwise Britain will be a bit-part player in space. “Another opportunity has slipped away”, said Mike Healy from EADS Astrium.

The Zefiro 9-A motor for the European Space Agency Vega satellite launcher has been test fired for 120s in Sardinia in preparation for the maiden flight on the rocket in late 2009.

China launched a Chang Zheng 3B booster from Xichang on 29th October carrying Venezuelia’s first satellite, Simon Bolivar or Venesat 1. The flight was the 112th successful Chinese satellite launch. The 3,100kg satellite will be stationed at 78degE, equipped with 12 C-band, 14 Ku-band and Ka-band transponders.

South Korea’s Arirang 3 multipurpose satellite is likely to be launched by a Japanese HII in 2001.

The Kazakh satellite KazSat 1 has been placed into back into a geostationary orbit after ceasing broadcasts. The satellite was launched in 2006. A second satellite is planned for launch in 2009.

NASA has scheduled the launch of STS 126 Endeavour on 14 November for a mission to the International Space Station carrying 14,500kg of cargo. There will be four space walks during the mission including the servicing of two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints. Meanwhile, the final manned mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed probably to May 2009 mainly because a second data-handling unit needs to be installed. It is hoped that the HST will continue to operate until 2013 at least. The James Webb Space Telescope will hopefully replace the Hubble.

NASA’s Messenger spacecraft has flown by Mercury at a record distance of 125 miles during its protracted mission, which will finally enter orbit around the nearest planet to the sun March 2011. It was launched in August 2004.

ICO Global Communications has reported that Boeing will have to pay $236 million in punitive damages after breaching a contract to build and launch satellites for a company created by Craig McCaw. However, Boeing says that it will appeal, as there are fundamental errors in the case and conduct of the trial.

The United Space Alliance has been awarded a contract from NASA to create the Integrated Mission Operations Contract for the Constellation and International Space Station programmes valued at $206.5 million initially to 2011.

The International Assessment  and Strategy Centre reports that China’s three-man crew aboard Shenzhou 7 flew “unusually close” (45km) to the International Space Station on 27 September. The Shenzhou project has military objectives. The latest mission deployed a 40kg satellite called BX-1 and the USA says that the satellite was close enough to the ISS to qualify as a co-orbiting satellite. The two-camera craft was reported to have taken images of Shenzhou 7. After release it “quickly started drifting away from its intended trajectory”.

China’s first space laboratory, Tiangong 1, with two docking ports could be launched in 2011 and will receive visits by taikonauts aboard Shenzhou vehicles. The Long March 2F will be uprated with new more powerful engines and a Long March 5 is on the drawing board.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it could launch 50 satellites over the next ten years, including commercial satellite launches two of which are scheduled for 2009-10. The commercial launch market for ISRO could raise $1.5 billion. ISRO will launch a series of micro-mini satellites weighing from 30 to 400kg, including foreign payloads, including a French satellite. The first mini-satellite was launched piggyback on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle last April.

Scientists eagerly trying to find “life in space” have identified the Epsilon Eridanai, 10.5 light years away as a likely habitable place. It is the third nearest star to the Earth - 10558784998124499 miles away. Scientists say the star is 850 million years old and possesses a rocky asteroid belt, an outer icy ring a second belt of asteroids, based on “observations” by the NASA Spitzer space telescope.   Good luck finding life mates.

NASA will launch the Kentucky Space Ky-Sat 1 in 2009. Data from the $850,000, 1kg, 10cm will be made available to schools.

The US Ad Astra Rocket Company and Nautel of Canada have ground tested a Variable Specific Impulse Magentoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), which reached full rated power of 30kW. The enterprise’s CEO and chairman is Franklin Chang Diaz, the former Space Shuttle mission specialist astronaut. His vision is to develop a 10NM nuclear spacecraft able to carry astronauts to the Jovian moon, Callisto.

Euroconsult and the London Satellite Exchange report that despite the financial crisis being experienced all over the world, of the nearly 1,000 Ku-band transponders measured in the high-growth Middle East and North Africa regions, 25 of 37 orbital positions had 100% transponders fully or partially used.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB will launch Tac-Sat 3 from Wallops Island in 2009.

Marisat F2, a Hughes Aircraft-built satellite launched in 1976 –with a five-year design life – has been retired at last. The 700lb craft was called “The Little Satellite That Could”.


40 years ago

26 October 1968
The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 3 from Baiknour carrying cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoi who rendezvoused with the unmanned Soyuz 2 but failed to dock. Test pilot Beregovoi made a mess of the flight, failing to dock with Soyuz 2 because he was upside down. He lost 70kg of the 80kg fuel flailing around. He was forced to make a ballistic re-entry but fired the retros three seconds late. Not the best of missions.

30 October 1968
NASA begins a Phase A programme for a “Space Shuttle” with potential contractors: General Dynamics, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, Martin Marietta and North American. The Shuttle would carry 23,000kg into 500km orbit. Aerospike engines were considered but the LOX-LH engines were selected.

31 October 1968
Cosmos 251 was launched by the Soviet Union aboard a Soyuz booster from Baikonur carrying a Voskhod-based Zenit 4 surveillance satellite, which flew an 18 day mission, landing with film aboard the re-entry cabin.

1 November 1968
Cosmos 252 was launched aboard a Tsyklon booster from Baikonur on an ASAT mission, which destroyed Cosmos 248, leaving 139 fragments in orbit – the largest from any test.

3 November 1968
The US Air Force launched a Thorad Delta from Vandenberg AFB, California carrying a 2,000kg recoverable KH-4B reconnaissance satellite which returned to Earth on 23rd November.