Tim's Space Diary. Straight and to the point

28-30 June (30 June 2008)

Soil analysed by NASA’s Mars lander, Phoenix “could likely” support plant life “under the right conditions”, says NASA. NASA has found “what appears to be nutrients to support life”. Soil data also “suggests” there was “once enough water in the Martian atmosphere to produce light drizzle”. Don’t get too excited yet!

Back-up Teacher in Space, Barbara Morgan, 56, who supported Christa McAullife for the fated Challenger mission in 1986 and who became a fully-fledged NASA mission specialist and the first professional educator, flying aboard STS 118 in August 2007 to the International Space Station has hung up her space boots.

The Russian Defence Ministry is transferring its facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to civilian control in January 2009. One of the results of this move meant that over 3,000 military families will need new accommodation in Russia.

The European Space Agency and Roskosmos have signed an agreement to co-operate on Mars research, including Phobos-Grunt and ExoMars, respectively.

 

27 June (27 June 2008)

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, Space-X conducted a full and successful static firing of the Falcon 1 Flight 3 vehicle  on 25 June on Omelek Island at the Kwajalien Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

Russia launched a military satellite a from Baikonur aboard a Proton K-Block DM2 booster carrying a Cosmos series military satellite.

Malaysia’s Measat Satellite Systems company has booked a launch of its Measat 3A – formerly Meast 1R – aboard a Russian Land Launch Zenit 2 on 21 August from Baikonur.

Arianespace plans four Ariane 5 launches in the remaining months of 2008, following three mission so far. The payloads for the latest upcoming mission are ProtoStar 1 and Badra 6.

Martian soil is good enough to grow asparagus, say scientists after the analysis by the laboratory aboard NASA Phoenix landing craft. The soil is good enough to grow asparagus and could support life. Asparagus comes from the Earth, so that does not prove that there is life on Mars but does encourage scientists that Mars bases could have a nice vegetable garden in a greenhouse. 



 

 

26 June (26 June 2008)

The Czech Republic has become an official member of the European Space Agency after a successful four-year framework cooperation agreement.

The US Senate is expected to agree an extra $2.7 billion for NASA, making the total budget of $20.35 billion for the next year, restricting NASA to retire the Space Shuttle fleet until all planned missions are completed, including the delivery to the International Space Station of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer with an extra flight. It has been obvious for years that the cut-off point for the Shuttle in 2010 was increasingly unlikely. Sadly, NASA’s involvement with the ISS will cease in 2016, which seems incredible, given its mammoth funding of the project since 1984.

The US Air Force has selected six military officers to be interviewed for the next NASA astronaut corps, who will, with other new astronauts be involved with the Constellation project. The 1999 Corps will likely fly to the moon. The first Orion test flight to the ISS is scheduled for March 2015.

Space Systems/Loral is to build the Satelites Mexicanos, Satmex 7 providing fixed satellite services to the Americas.

France plans to expand its military satellite capability, with reconnaissance and intelligence services, anti-ballistic missile systems over the next 15 years at a rate of $1.24 billion a year. The first systems will be operational in 2015.

International Launch Services (ILS) have cleared the Proton M Breeze booster for flight, carrying the third 1-4 spacecraft. The Proton M failed on 15 March after launch from Baikonur with the loss of SES Amercom’s AMC 14.

The European Space Agency has received 8,413 applications for hopeful astronauts, including 822 from Britain. France represented 22%, Germany 21%, Italy 927 and the UK 9.8%.

Three taikonauts will be launched aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft in October with one of the crew making the nation’s first spacewalk from the spacecraft’s Orbital Module, while a second astronaut remains in the airlock to assist.  See image above.


50 years ago
26 June 1958

A Vanguard booster was launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying a satellite of the same name but the launch failed due to a second stage malfunction but did demonstrate the structural integrity of the tanks which withstood pressures exceeding design values.
 

19-24 June (24 June 2008)

NASA launched Jason 2 from Vandenberg aboard a Boeing Delta II booster. The satellite carries an Ocean Surface Topography Mission payload on 20 June.

The University of Arizona says that the instruments aboard the NASA Phoenix have detected water ice near the surface of its landing area. Scientists of course speculate about life on Mars - the main raison detre of space exploration. Finding water is a major discovery and scientists are hoping to find more evidence in minerals in the samples.

The European Space Agency’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), attached to the International Space Station made a record 20 minute burn to raise the altitude of the space base by 7km.

Russia’s Ryazan-based Spektr design and the Samara-based TsSKB Progress organisation have been merged under a decree by the state’s president, Dmitry Medvedev.

The funding of the civil Russian space programme has falled more than 50% since the Soviet Union ruled the space waves. Roskosmos was allocated $1.34 million in 2007, compared with $3.28 billion in 1989.

Belarus will build a new satellite to replace BelKA lost after the failure of a Dnepr rocket launched from Baikonur in July 2006, together with 17 minisatellites.

Kapustin Yar hosted a satellite launch after a ten-year hiatus, featuring a Kosmos 3M booster carrying six US Orbcomm satellites into 670km circular orbits on 19 June.

India now plans to launch its first lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan 1 no earlier than 19 September. ISRO will launch five major satellites in 2009 and plans two commercial launches in 2009 and 2010.



Korea’s first astronaut Ri So-yeon is still in hospital after the hairy re-entry and landing of a Soyuz TMA with two other crew. “I thought I was going to die”, she said. The space lady is still suffering from severe pain in her waist. She also suffered bruises over her arms and legs.


40 years ago

20 June 1968
The US Air Force launched a Thorad Agena D booster from Vandenberg, carrying a 2,000kg KH-4A satellite with a recoverable reconnaissance spacecraft into a 183-402km, 85deg inclination orbit, together with 60kg radar monitoring satellite and a Sigint spacecraft.

21 June
Gerald Gentry flew the HL-10 lifting body on its 9th mission to 13,720m at a peak speed of 681kph. The flight lasted 271s.

The Soviet Union launched the 13,200kg Cosmos 228 aboard a Voskhod booster from Baikonur into a 51deg, 205-245km orbit. The recoverable capsule returned after 12 days. The mission also carried a  research satellite called Nauka.

 

 




 

 

18 June (18 June 2008)

Eutelsat Communications’ W5 satellite has experienced reduced capacity after a glitch in its power generation subsystem.

Canada’s ComDev company is investing C$7 million to develop an advanced microsatellite platform.

The US Federal Communications Commission is to recommend that XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio be allowed to merge. The plan was announced in February.

40 years ago
18 June 1968

The Soviet Union launched Comos 227 aboard a Voskhod booster from Baikonur, carrying a Zenit 4 recoverable photo reconnaisance satellite into a 51deg inclination, 202-271km orbit. The capsule returned after eight days.
 

14-17 June (17 June 2008)

STS 124 Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Centre on 14 June after a 13day 18hr 13min mission to the International Space Station. Discovery returned Garrett Reisman after a 95-day stint at the ISS, being replaced by Greg Chamitoff. The major work of the mission was to prepare the Japanese Kibo module for work. The next Shuttle mission, will be the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission to be launched aboard Atlantis STS 125 on October 8 and this will be followed by Endeavour on 10 November on another ISS mission, which will return Chamitoff, who will be replaced by Sandra Magnus for a six-month mission.

NASA plans to launch a Solar Probe+ mission in 2015 taking the spacecraft to within 7 million km of the sun, with the spacecraft being protected from the 1,400degC temperatures by a heat shield. The sun will seem 23 times the size as it is seen from the Earth.

The NASA Phoenix Mars lander’s robotic arm scooper delivered a sample of soil into the spacecraft’s optical microscope, revealing particles 50 microns in size.

India is becoming concerned about China’s rapid space militarisation, demonstrated by the recent anti-satellite mission and plans to establish an “ultimate military high ground” to protect its space assets.

Russia says that the US and Europe have 330 and 115 satellites in space compared with Russia’s 51.

NASA plans to enlarge the Ares V Constellation booster which will now be powered by six RS-68 Delta IV engines and two five segment Solid Rocket Boosters. The J-2X upper stage’s diameter had previously been increased from 8.4m to 10m, the same diameter than the Ares V.

Russia’s $60 million KazSat 1 communications satellite launched in June 2006 is apparently out of control due to a computer glitch. Kazakstan’s National Space Agency says that the satellite is “probably lost”. The satellite experienced its first problems on June 8 when communications ceased.

45 years ago on 16 June, the first female was launched into orbit. Valentina Tereshkova, 70 said, “I am ready to fly there without coming back”.

Three “super-Earth” planets have been “spotted” orbiting a sun-like star, 42 light years away in the region of the constellations Doradus and Pictor. Apparently the “planets” weigh 4.2, 6.7 and 9.4 Earth masses. It really is amazing what you can “see” 425878499812499 miles away. You cannot actually “see” them.

50 years ago 16 June 1958

The US Air Force awarded Phase 1 development contracts for the Dyna Soar orbital space plane to the Martin Company and Boeing.

13 June (13 June 2008)

Russia will launched a new Meteor class satellite, Meteor M1 later this year, which will be the only weather satellite launched by the country since the orginal Meteor series. Russia relies on other countries for services. The 2.7 ton M1 will be launched by a Soyuz 2 booster,

The damage to Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre - including the loss of over 5,300 bricks - caused during the launch of the STS 124 Discovery mission should be repaired in time for the next Shuttle launch in October, on STS 125 Endeavour on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. The damage to the flame trench will need to be repaired.

The veteran ESA/NASA Ulysses solar polar orbiter will be retired on 1 July after 17 years in the far reaches of the solar system. Ulysses was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery STS 41 on October 6, 1990. It flew into high solar latitudes, aiming close to Jupiter to use the planet’s large gravitational field accelerating Ulysses out of the ecliptic plane to high latitudes, reaching Jupiter on 8 February, 1992, then flying to higher latitudes, with a maximum southern latitude of 80.2 degrees on September 13, 1994. Ulysses travelled through high northern latitudes during June to September. The sun was studied near maximum conditions. The craft reached maximum southern latitude on November 27, 2000 and travelled through high northern latitude from September to December 2001.

Arianespace launched an Ariane 5 ECA booster from Kourou on 12 June - on the 25th consecutive successful launch - carrying the the Thales Alenia Space-built Turksat 3A to be operated by Turksat AS and the UK’s Ministry of Defence Skynet 5C, built by Astrium on behalf of the Paradigm company. Skynet 5C is the 30 military payload to fly Ariane boosters and Turksat 3A is the fifth to be launched for Turkey. Turksat is based on an 8kW Spacebus 4000B2 platform, weighing 3,110kg and equipped with 24 Ku-band transponders. Skynet is based on a Eurostar 3000 platform weighing 4,638kg.

The US Oceaneering International company has been selected by NASA to manufacture the Constellation Space Suit System, CSS for use during launch, abort, re-entry and EVAs.

40 years ago 13 June 1968

The US Air Force launched a Titan 3C booster from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, carrying eight 45kg Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program (IDCSP) satellites into 11.90deg inclination, 33,725-33,850km.

12 June (12 June 2008)

The Satellite Industry Association’s 2008 report shows a 16% worldwide revenue growth to $123 billion in 2007, an average annual growth of 11.5% from 2002. Satellite services revenue grew more that 18%, with satellite TV contributing nearly three-quarters of the $73.9 billion. Launch services revenue was 3.2 billion, an increase of 19% over 2006. Consumer hardware sales rose to 19% with revenues of $34.3 billion. Although more satellites were launched in 2007, revenue dipped slightly from $11.6 billion in 2006, reflecting the increased number of microsatellites.

China has confirmed that the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft will be launched from Jiuquan in October, carrying three taikonauts, two of which will make the country’s first spacewalk.

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander’s laboratory has at last recieved some samples from the surface of the Red Planet after several periods of vibrating the screen covering the eight sample ovens.

A co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin has placed a $5 deposit for a Soyuz TMA mission to the International Space Station with a date yet to be decided. Richard Garriott – son of Owen, who flew on Skylab – is flying in October as the sixth Space Adventure’s space tourist. Russia’s Roskosmos is planning to introduce its own space tourist service, flying solo Soyuz TMA missions with a pilot commander and two tourists in 2011.

Boeing safely launched NASA’s Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope, GLAST aboard a Delta II from Cape Canaveral on 11 June.

Russian Space Troops have contracted some companies to search for and remove spent parts of rockets launched from Plesetsk at a cost $50 percent than that of 2007, raising the price to $633,000. 150 tons of debris was collected in 2007.

40 years ago 12 June 1968 The Soviet Union launched a Vostok booster carrying a 4,730kg Meteor weather satellite, Cosmos 226 from Plesetsk into a 81deg inclination, 579-639km.

Bill Dana flew the X-15A to an apogee of 67km on a technology mission.

11 June (11 June 2008)

Another veteran of Wherner von Braun’s first rocket team in the USA has died. Leland Belew, aged 83, started work with von Braun in 1951 and was involved in the development of rocket engines and by the time he retired, Belew was deputy director of science and manufacturing at the Marshall Space Flight Centre.

NASA’S Phoenix Mars Lander’s robotic arm is using a “sprinkle” method to deliver a smaller amount of material into the spacecraft’s laboratory for investigations by a suite of instruments. The first delivery of soil earlier was more a large clump, which was difficult to cope with and hardly any of the material reached the craft’s lab. A vibrator ran at higher frequency to move the soil but this was not successful. Between 20-23mm is necessary for analysis but less than 1mg passed through the screen.

The STS 124 Discovery has left the International Space Station and is heading home after a perfect mission, which mainly delivered and installed the Japanese Kibo laboratory. The return crew includes Garrett Reisman, who has been replaced by Greg Chamitoff who will serve a six month shift with two Russians, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko who were launched aboard a Soyuz TMA in April.

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico simulated a telescope 6,800 miles in diameter in a project involving telescopes in the Americas, Europe and Africa, using Very Long Baseline Interferometry.

40 years ago 11 June 1968

The Soviet Union launched a Kosmos booster from Kapustin Yar, carrying Cosmos 225, a magnetosphere research satellite, weighing 375kg, into a 48deg inclination, 255-519km orbit. The craft re-entered in November.

10 June (10 June 2008)

China launched a Long March 3B booster from Xichang on 9 June, carrying the Chinasat 9 direct broadcast communications satellite, which will broadcast live TV from the Beijing Olympic Games. The 22 Ku-band transponder satellite will be located at 92.2deg in geosynchronous orbit. The spacecraft was build by Thales Alenia Space.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virgina will be the base for the launches of Orbital Science Corporation’s 140ft Taurus 2 launchers, which will first fly in 2010. Wallops will emerge as a base for privatised launches for cargo missions to the International Space Station. The Taurus II could fly four to six missions a year. More than 15,000 rockets have been launched from Wallops since 1945.

NASA’s $420 million Phoenix Mars lander mission has “had a problem”. The craft’s robotic arm, which had shovelled up some Martian material, deposited it into one of the eight science ovens but the dirt could not flow into the oven because the soil was too clogged together. A Phoenix engineer said that he was “reasonably confident”. Phoenix is not a rover so it can’t move around, so if all the material at the site is clogged, it’s not much use. Why didn’t NASA develop a rover? Budgets probably. Let’s hope Phoenix will find some material that is not clogged.

5-9 June (9 June 2008)

Russia’s stranded AMC 14 communications satellite stranded into a hybrid Earth orbit due to the failure of the Briz M upper stage of a Proton M booster is reportedly being sold to the US Department of Defense in what could be a first in space.

The STS 124 spacewalkers Mike Fossum and Ron Garan made their second EVA of the mission at the International Space Station on 5 June lasting 7hr 11min, outfitting the Japanese Kibo module and inspecting a solar array joint.

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited company in the UK is attempting to gain funding for the flight of the planned Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment, Moonlight which will send an instrumented probes, like torpedoes into the interior of the moon, deploying small antennae, as well as placing a lunar orbiter mother ship, which will serve as a data relay craft as well as carrying science instruments put together by University College London Mullard Space Science Laboratory. The mission is planned for 2013 and the spacecraft will be built with Qinetiq. As was the case with the fated Beagle 2, SSTL will be looking for funding from other companies.

Japan has revoked a law forbidding the launch fully-military spacecraft aswell as developing an Agni V missile with a range of 5,000km, compared with the existing Agni III with a range of 3,500km. The Agni V will carry mutiple warheads and antiballistic counter measures. A new satellite weighing 1.7 tonnes, will be launched in 2013 with four instruments: Atmospheric Lidar, Broadband Radiometer, Cloud Profiling Radar and a European Space Agency Multispectral Imager.

Russia’s civil space programme in 2007 cost $1.34 billion compared with the USA’s $18.82 billion. Russia is the sixth largest space spender, compared with China’s $2.5 billion, Japan’s $1.91 billion, and France with $1.82 billion.

Kazakhstan has proposed that Russia could join to develop the Bayterek launch complex at Baikonur with a budget of $223 million.

NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander is having trouble analyzing the first samples scooped up into the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer because the material is in clumps and it is hoped that the analyzer’s screens will allow material to fall into the instrument’s oven.

The Space Shuttle EVA duo Mike Fossum and Ron Garan completed their last EVA of the STS 124 mission at the International Space Station on 8 June, lasting 6hr 33min after installing a high-pressure tank, refitting TV camera, doing the final work on the Japanese Kido module, installing micrometeoroid shields and working on solar array rotary joint. The EVA was the 112th at the ISS with a total of 706 hours, with Fossum and Garan clocking up 20hrs 32min.

Space.com reports that Scaled Composite plans to rollout the WhiteKnightTwo mother ship in July, in preparation for test flights of the the Virgin Atlantic SpaceShipTwo, preparing for the space tourist flights to an altitude of 68 miles. Over 250 people have paid the fares, amounting to $36 million.

5 June (5 June 2008)

Thales Alenia has been awarded a contract to build Nilesat 201 for Egypt, together with the ground segment.

Japan’s Kibo laboratory module hosted an excited crew of ten as it became operational and ready for work. Meanwhile, crewman Oleg Kononenko replaced the balky pump of the Russian toilet’s urine collection system.

40 years ago 5 June 1968

The US Air Force launched a Titan IIIB from Vandenberg AFB, California carrying an NRO KH-8 reconnaissance satellite which returned a film capsule on 17 June. The satellite was placed into a 110deg inclination, 123-456km orbit. The perigee was just 76 miles altitude, very low for a satellite.

4 June (4 June 2008)

Space-X has conducted the first of five planned static tests of the Falcon 9 booster’s five first stage engines.

STS 124 Discovery astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan completed the first EVA of the mission at the International Space Station, assisted by RMS operator Karen Nyberg to attach the 32,000lb Japanese laboratory module, Kibo to the orbiting space base. The EVA lasted 6hr 48min. Both spacewalkers will make two more EVAs during the mission. Their EVA was the 110th at the ISS, starting in 1988 with a total time of 692hr 52min. The mission also occurred on the 43rd anniversary of the first US EVA by Ed White from Gemini 4 in 1965.

50 years ago 4 June 1958

A US Air Force Thor missile was launched from Cape Canaveral from a tactical-type launch platform.

40 years ago 4 June 1968

A Kosmos booster was launched from Plesetsk but the satellite mission failed, while at Baikonur, Cosmos 224 was launched by a Voskhod booster carrying a 6,300kg Zenit 4 high resolution recoverable reconnaissance satellite on an eight-day mission in a 51deg, 203-256km orbit.

3 June (3 June 2008)

A team of astronomers at the University of Notre Dame has “detected” the smallest planet orbiting a small star. Now comes the hype: “the planet could have a warm ocean under a freezing atmosphere”. The star is 3000 light years away - that is 30005878499812499 miles. The planet – apparently three times the size of our Earth cannot be “seen”.

The scooper on NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has made its first dig, revealing regolith with some white material, which is thought to ice or ice crystals. Later samples will be placed into the lander’s “laboratory”.

The first EVA by the STS 124 Discovery crewmembers, Mike Fossum and Ron Garan will be made on 4 June. Meanwhile, measures are being made to reduce the air quality in the station - which has a higher level of carbon dioxide than usual - using ducts, fans and CO2 removal units.

1-2 June (2 June 2008)

NASA safely launched the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Centre on 31 May, carrying the Japanese Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station. The crew included veterans, commander Mark Kelly and mission specialists (MS) Mike Fossum, with rookies, pilot Ken Ham and MS Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide and Greg Chamitoff, who will remain on the station. The launch featured the first External Tank built from scratch with all the changes planned after the Columbia accident in 2003. The launch complex 39A suffered unusual damage, including buckled concrete and concrete blocks and bricks.

Arianspace had to scrub the launch of an Ariane 5 ECA from Kourou late on 30 May due to a software problem. The satellites are Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A. NASA’s launch of a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral carrying the Glast satellite has been delayed to 5 June.

NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander has imaged what seems to be ice beneath the spacecraft at the Vastitas Borealis site. “There might be an ice table under a thin layer of loose soil”, exposed by the landing rocket plume.

The composer of the “Star Trek” TV series music in 1965 has died. Alexander “Sandy” Courage was 88. What did he think of science fiction? “I think it’s just marvellous malarkey!”

40 years ago 1 June 1968

The Soviet Union launched a Voskhod booster from Plesetsk, carrying Cosmos 223, a Zenit 2 reconnaisance satellite, weighing 4,720kg into a 72deg inclination, 317-221km orbit.