Space Sunday: hot ice, capsules and dealing with a virus

A Nebula in the Sky

As remarkable as it may seem, the photograph below is not that of a distant nebula captured by one of the Earth’s great ground or orbital telescopes. Rather, it is a stunning view captured by Erik Kuna on March 6th, 2020, during the launch of the SpaceX CRS-20 resupply mission to the ISS.

Kuna was at Kennedy Space Centre was a first-class view of the rocket’s night-time path of ascent, and as the night was cold but clear, he co see all three key parts of the assent: the rocket’s rise to the point of separation, the separation of core and second stages and the core stage’s burn-back manoeuvres and descent back to its landing point.

In this case, the combination of night-time launch, cold temperatures in the upper atmosphere and the exhaust plumes from the first stag and second stage after they has separated allowed Kuna to capture this stunning “nebula” in the skis above the Florida coast.

Such phenomena are not rare in launches, but this one is a particularly stunning example, and on March 13th, SpaceX issued a video on Twitter showing the rocket’s ascent and second stage separation, which was equally impressive.

Coronavirus: Mixed News from NASA and Other Space Organisations

In my previous Space Sunday update, I noted that two NASA facilities had switched to teleworking after personnel at both centres tested positive for the SARS novel-coronavirus. On March 17th, the agency went a step further, instigating mandatory teleworking across all its centres, except for mission-essential personnel.

Although a limited amount of employees have tested positive for COVID-19, it is imperative that we take this pre-emptive step to thwart further spreading of the virus among the workforce and our communities. Implementing best practices early and quickly will increase the likelihoods of better outcomes.

– James Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, March 17th

The currently protocol is referred to as a “stage 3” contingency. However, two NASA facilities – the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and the Stennis Space Centre in Mississippi – have both moved to a “stage 4” protocol as a result of a member of staff at Stennis tested positive for the virus. “stage 4” means that all work at a centre, including that of mission-essential personnel, is suspended.

This means that development work for the Orion spacecraft at Michoud has been halted, although this is not expected to have a long-term impact on the programme. However, Stennis had been engaged in critical path testing for the first flight-ready core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS). This is due to form part of the first ever SLS flight, currently due to take place at the end of 2020. There were already concerns as to whether NASA can achieve this date, and a delay in this critical testing – which includes a full 8-minute firing of the four motors of the stage – likely means the launch will now slip into 2021.

Work is also halted on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Whilst being integrated by Northrop Grumman in Southern California, the final JWST assembly and integration work comes under NASA’s codes of practice, thus qualifying the programme for suspension. Already over-budget and well behind schedule, the halt in JWST work is regarded as having the potential for significant impact if it extends beyond April. While this does not put JWST at risk, it could see future renewed pressure on the space agency to cut back on other aspects of its science programme.

However, work will continue on preparing the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance rover in order for it to meet its planned July 2020 launch window. In addition, both NASA and SpaceX are looking to go ahead with the first crewed launched on the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS).

This flight has been earmarked for May 2020, and will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster to lift NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the ISS in what will be the first crewed launch from US soil since the last space shuttle flight in 2011. Both the agency and SpaceX have indicated they are monitoring things closely, and at present, a technical issue looks like it might cause more of risk of delaying the flight. The last Falcon 9 launch (March 18th) ended with the premature shut-down of one of the booster’s Merlin engines, which probably resulted in the core stage of the booster failing to make a successful at-sea landing following the launch.

In the commercial Sector, Virgin Orbit is due to complete the first orbital flight of its air-launched satellite system in April – and has been assessed as an “essential service” in order to allow final preparations for the launch to go ahead. In response, the company is implementing a series of protocols designed to limit risk from the virus, including teleworking for all staff not physically involved in vehicle and air launcher preparations.

The company’s LauncherOne rockets, made in Long Beach California, will be air-launched from a modified 747-400 called Cosmic Girl. The flight test is seen as critical, as Virgin Orbit is contracted to complete a launch on behalf of the US Department of Defense mid-year.