Category: Space Sunday

Space Sunday: the future of the ISS

Posted on by Inara Pey
The International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The United States has now formally announced its intention to end the International Space Station that the start of 2031.

The announcement comes on top of confirmation that the Biden-Harris administration has confirmed ISS operations should continue through until the latter half of 2030. In it, the agency confirms that they plan to replace the ISS with at least three commercial space stations under a joint public-private arrangement that will see the new facilities in part built using taxpayer’s funding through NASA, allowing them to be used for both NASA-operated and private sector research and other activities.

These new space stations will be developed during the nine years of remaining life for the ISS, allowing operations to gradually pivoted to them as they are commissioned.

The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance. We look forward to sharing our lessons learned and operations experience with the private sector to help them develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective destinations in space. The report we have delivered to Congress describes, in detail, our comprehensive plan for ensuring a smooth transition to commercial destinations after retirement of the International Space Station in 2030.

– Phil McAlister, director of commercial space, NASA

Within the plan, NASA also outline how the ISS is to be through to its end-of-life, and provides a brief summary of some of its achievements, including:

  • Hosting more than 3,000 research investigations from over 4,200 researchers across the world.
  • Allowing 110 countries and to participate in research activities performed aboard the
  • Operating international STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programme that has reached 1.5 million students world-wide each year it has been running.
  • Allowed for major breakthroughs in a range of Earth and space sciences.
The International Space Station is entering its third and most productive decade as a ground-breaking scientific platform in microgravity. This third decade is one of results, building on our successful global partnership to verify exploration and human research technologies to support deep space exploration continue to return medical and environmental benefits to humanity, and lay the groundwork for a commercial future in low-Earth orbit.

– Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station, NASA

However, there are still bumps in the road in terms of NASA’s planning. Whilst the Biden-Harris administration has green lit the station through until the end of 2030, it is Congress that will largely have the final say in things from the US side – and Congress has mixed views on ISS, a 4-year extension of ISS operations from 2024-2028 having previously proven contentious. Such is the reality of things, there are doubts if some of NASA’s plan can be achieved – something I’ll get to in a moment – which may leave Congress again arguing over the future of the ISS.

Another possible sticking point is continued Russian involvement in the ISS. In 2021, the Russian government and their national space agency, Roscosmos, announced plans to launch their own, independent space station. Currently referred to as the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS), which they planned to have “fully operational” and comprising multiple modules by 2030.

These plans will see Russia launch two modules originally intended for the ISS and called SPM-1/NEM-1 and SPM-2/NEM-2 as the backbone for ROSS. The first of these modules is to be launched in 2024 and the second in 2028. However,  under their original plans, Russia indicated that one SPM-1 was in orbit, they might actually detach the self-propelled Nauka science module together with the Prichal docking module attached to it (both delivered to the ISS in 2021) and move them to dock with the nascent ROSS facility, disrupting ISS operations.

But since then, the timeline for ROSS has been pushed out so that 2035 is now the target for completing 2035, potentially negating any need to remove modules from ISS in the late 2020s. Even so, that Russia is to push ahead with ROSS does level some concerns over their willingness to financially support ISS operations beyond 2028.

An artist’s conception of the Russian Orbital Service Station. Credit: Roscosmos

In terms of private venture facilities to replace the ISS, NASA initially indicated that 11 companies and organisations filed proposals under the agency’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD) programme. Several of these were rejected for a range of technical and practical issues, whilst three were granted initial seed funding amounting to US $415.6 million.

As I reported in December 2021, these three proposals are from Blue Origin / Sierra Space, Nanoracks and Northrop Grumman. Two further proposals received notes of merit by did not gain initial funding. One of these came from – unsurprisingly – SpaceX, who proposed using a variant of their Artemis lunar landing Starship vehicle, but failed to address core requirements – such as environmental support for long-duration missions, support for multiple vehicle docking and external payload handling capabilities.

The second proposal to receive merit came from an unexpected source: Relativity Space. This is 7-year-old start-up I’ve previously mentioned in these pages that is developing a line of expendable and reusable 3D-printed launch vehicles. They proposed perhaps the most novel concept to NASA: a small-scale research laboratory based on their yet-to-fly Terran-R reusable launch vehicle that could be placed in orbit and periodically returned to Earth for refurbishment, upgrade and re-launch.

An artist’s impression of the proposed Blue Origin / Sierra Space Orbital Reef space station. Credit: Blue Origin / Sierra Space
Overall, the CLD programme calls for at least one of the new orbital facilities to be ready to start some level of operation by the end of 2025, and to be ready for a full transition of ISS operations by 2030. And this is where Congress may view things differently.

At the time the initial CLD contracts were awarded, NASA’s own Office of Inspector General (OIG) was already casting doubt on whether the time frames for a private sector space station could be achieved:

In our judgment, even if early design maturation is achieved in 2025 — a challenging prospect in itself — a commercial platform is not likely to be ready until well after 2030. We found that commercial partners agree that NASA’s current timeframe to design and build a human-rated destination platform is unrealistic.

– NASA OIG report on commercial space stations, December 2021

Ergo, settling on December 2030 as an end date for ISS operations could again split Congress. On the one side, there might be those who believe the station should be financed beyond 2030 “just in case” alternatives are not available. On the other, the fact that alternatives may not be ready, coupled with recent concerns about issues with the ISS as a result of the increasing age of, and wear-and-tear to, the older modules on the station, might lead to calls for an earlier ISS “retirement” to allow funds to be targeted elsewhere.

But there is a potential alternative to a reliance on one of the CLD stations being rapidly developed. . Axiom Space already has a contract with NASA to launch a new module to the ISS in 2024 on a fixed-price basis. The module would be used for a mix of research and space tourism (Axiom will launch its first private crew to the ISS in March of this year aboard their Ax-1 mission). However, the company has additionally committed itself to developing four further modules, two of which they hope to add to the unit attached to the ISS by 2028 to form an “orbital segment”.

These three modules could then be detached from the ISS in 2030 to form a core of a new space station, to which the remaining to modules would be attached in the early 2030s. If Axiom can carry these plans forward between 2024 and 2030, then they could provide the means for NASA to pivot a fair portion of their ISS activities to the Axiom station and also to the CLD stations as they also come on-line in the 2030s, leaving the way clear for ISS to be decommissioned and de-orbited as announced.

Axiom at the ISS: a artist’s impression of how two Axiom modules, (seen right and centre-right) might look when attached to the Harmony module on the International Space Station. Credit: Axiom

This will actually start in around 2025, while the ISS is still in operation, when a gentle series of manoeuvres will be used to gradually lower the station’s altitude through until 2030. Then, after the last crew has departed the station, NASA intend to use the thrusters from a mix of Progress and Cygnus resupply vehicles to remotely lower the station and orient it so that as the frictional heat increases the larger, more delicate parts of the structure will burn up. The track of entry into the atmosphere will be designed so that what survives re-entry – liable to be a series of large sections falling in close proximity to one another – will fall into the southern Pacific Ocean in a region called Point Nemo between New Zealand and Chile, and 2,672 km from the nearest land, the traditional “graveyard” for objects making controlled returns from low Earth Orbit.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: the future of the ISS” →

Space Sunday: China’s plans, and space memorials

Posted on by Inara Pey
China’s nascent space station during a test of its robot arm manoeuvring a Tianzhou automated re-supply vehicle. Credit: CASC

China has published an overview of its plans for the next five years in its space exploration endeavours. It builds on the last five years, which have seen a remarkable acceleration in China’s capabilities with in the introduction of new Long March 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 rockets, the commencement of work on the country’s multi-module space station, and the launch of missions to the Moon and Mars.

In particular, the plan – published on January 28th, 2022 – indicates that as well as completing its new modular space station, China will seek to develop its space transportation capabilities, test new technologies, embark on both crewed and robotic exploration missions, modernise space governance, enhance innovation and boost international cooperation.

Notably, the plan confirms China intends to the undertake crewed missions to the lunar surface – most likely commencing in the late 2020s, and also folds current private-sector space activities that are in progress within the country into its overall national strategy, utilising the private sector to leverage new technologies and innovation.

Robotic missions confirmed in the paper include:

  • Chang’e-6: a second lunar sample-return mission, scheduled for a 2024 launch, which will return around 2.2 kg of material from up to 2 metres below the Moon’s surface.
  • Chang’e-7: a 4-part lunar mission that will include an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and a robotic “flying probe”, all of which will focus on the Moon’s South Pole.
  • Chang’e 8: a mission to test technologies expected to be used in the establishment of a lunar base.
The Chinese Chang’e robotic lunar missions will continue with Chang’e 6 through 8. Credit: CASC
  • An asteroid sample-return mission (possibly in cooperation with Russia).
  • Developing technologies that will be used for a Mars sample-return mission and for a deep space mission to Jupiter and its moons.

In addition, the paper highlights on-orbit crew operations aboard the new space station which will include a range of sciences and helping to lay the groundwork for human operations in cislunar space in order to make and support actual lunar landings. It also makes mention of the introduction of China’s new crew launch system that will replace the current Shenzhou vehicles, the continued development of a fully reusable space transportation system, and  a possible spaceplane launch system – most likely as a payload delivery system, although one Chinese company has stated it plans to commence operating a spaceplane that, launched vertically, could be used for space tourism flights and point-to-point passenger flights around the Earth.

Some of China’s emerging capabilities have given rise to a certain amount of fear-mongering in the west (and notably within America’s political right). One such mission is that of Shijian 21, referred to by China as a “space debris mitigation mission” and launched in October 25th October 2021, but denounced as an “anti-satellite” mission by the US Right and touted as another failure of President Biden’s “woke” policies.

China’s Shijian 21 was launched in October 21 and has now completed its primary mission: “orbital debris mitigation”. Credit; CCTV

However, on January 22nd, 2022, Shijian 21 docked with the defunct Beidou-2 G2 navigation satellite. The latter had failed to reach its assigned orbit following its launch in 2009, and had since become a risk to other geostationary satellites. Having successfully docked, Shijian 21 pushed the defunct satellite into a much higher orbit, eliminating it as a threat, thus confirming the mission is part of China’s desire to develop a capability to remove its own space debris from orbit, with the Shijian class of vehicle also potentially capable of supply satellites with propellants to extend their lifespan.

The paper is also the first time that China’s private sector space ventures have been mentioned in a government document. This is seen as both a recognition of the rapid growth of the country’s private / commercial space sector, and of the benefits of folding such work into the nation’s broader ambitions and goals – just as the United States has done through NASA contracts with SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin, etc.

NASA Commemorates Comrades Lost

NASA has marked the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire with a video commemorating those of the US astronaut corps who have lost their lives whilst preparing for, or during, a US mission into space.  Those commemorated are not the only people to have lost their lives in the quest to achieve a human presence in space, but within the west, the 17 who are commemorated in the video are perhaps the most well-known.

initially designated AS-204, Apollo 1 was intended to be the first  crewed mission of the United States Apollo program, undertaking an Earth orbital test of the Apollo Command and Service module. Set for launch on February 27th, 1967, the mission never took place.

During a full launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27th, 1967, a fire broke out within the command module and, due to the oxygen-rich nature of the atmosphere within the vehicle, coupled with the extensive use of flammable materials within it and the complex design of the entry / egress hatch, all three astronauts – Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee – were killed before the support crew on the launch gantry could successfully open the hatch to extract them from the vehicle.

Nineteen years later, on January 28th, 1986, the 25th flight of the Space Transportation System, officially designed STS-51-L, came to an abrupt end 68 seconds after launch when the massive external tank that fuelled the pace shuttle orbiter’s three main engines exploded beneath the vehicle, the result of a failure with one of the support solid rocket boosters. All seven souls aboard the shuttle Challenger  – mission commander  Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, pilot  Michael J. Smith, mission specialists Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik and  Ronald E. McNair, together with payload specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe – were lost.

The third disaster marked by the video is that of the shuttle Columbia, lost on February 1st, 2003  at the end of the 113th shuttle system flight – and the vehicle’s 28th mission. It broke apart following re-entry into the atmosphere, the result of super-heated gases penetrating the vulnerable interior wing space of the vehicle as a result of damage received during the mission’s launch. Killed aboard it were Rick D. Husband (commander), William C. McCool (pilot), David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel B. Clark, Michael P. Anderson (mission specialists) and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: China’s plans, and space memorials” →

Space Sunday: JWST, Artemis and rockets delivering cargo to Earth

Posted on by Inara Pey
JWST art. Credit stsci.edu

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is due to enter its initial halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L2 position, 1.6 million kilometres beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun, on Monday, January 24th, 2022.

With the deployment of its major external elements completed, the observatory has been engaged in the first phase of a sensitive operation to correctly align the 18 hexagonal segments of its primary mirror so it perfectly reflects light into the boom-mounted secondary mirror and thence back into the telescope’s interior for delivery to its space science payload.

This first part of what is an extensive operation saw all 18 segments gently eased 12.5 mm away from the mirror’s backing structure, each segment being propelled forward by six tiny motors, referred to actuators. This allowed each mirror segment to be gently moved away from the restraints that held it in place during launch, and provides enough space behind each segment so it can be gently adjusted to align with its companions as the alignment process continues, all of them coming together to form a single, focused parabola.

When it starts, the latter part of the work will involve the actuators moving in the micron and nanometre ranges of movement, and once started, is expected to continue for around 40 days.

However, before that process begins, at 19:00 UTC on Monday, January 24th, JWST will fire its thrusters to ease itself into its initial halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L2 position, marking its arrival in the area of space where it will operate.

Thanks to the sheer accuracy of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and the “mid-course” correction thruster burns JWST has made en route to this point, it has been calculated the observatory currently has sufficient propellant reserves for at least 10 years of operations. If the insertion burn proves to be as accurate, mitigating any need for it to be further refined, then JWST may have its overall mission length extended a little more.

JWST is due to enter its Earth-Sun L2 Halo orbit on Monday, January 24th, 2022. Credit: NASA

Once safety inserted around the L2 point, the telescope will go through an additional period of cooling adjustment to bring its instruments down to their operational temperatures. This process, which will actually use heaters to ensure heat dissipation is properly controlled, will take a number of weeks to complete, after which the primary mirror alignment process will resume, allowing scientific instrument calibration to commence.

Artemis: No Immediate Second Lunar Landing

After landing astronauts on the Moon in the mid-2020s for the first time in more than a half-century, NASA will wait at least two further years before making a second crewed lunar landing as part of the Artemis program.

Artemis 3 is due to deliver a crew of 2 to the lunar surface in around 2025. However, the next mission slated for Artemis will not follow it to the lunar Surface. Instead, and as indicated at a two-day meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee on January 18th/19th, it was indicated that the Artemis 4 mission will target the assembly of the Lunar Gateway.

This is the space station that will be placed in cislunar orbit and used as a transfer station for crews arriving from Earth aboard NASA’s Orion capsule and the Human landing System (HLS) vehicles that will carry them to the surface of the Moon and back. The first elements of the Gateway, the Power and Propulsion Element and Habitation and Logistics Outpost, will be launched together via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in late 2024. They will then spend a year spiralling around the Moon and settling into their halo orbit.

Artemis 4, which will feature the Block 1B Space Launch System rocket using the powerful Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), intended for heavy cargo launches and deep space missions will carry the International Habitat Module (I-Hab) for the gateway, along with a crewed Orion vehicle that will oversee attaching I-Hab to the Gateway modules already in lunar orbit.

Whilst conceptual in terms of what the Lunar Gateway might eventually become, this image indicates the core NASA NASA elements  – the Power and Propulsion Element and the Habitation and Logistics Output module (which will actually be docked one to the other) to be launched in 2024, and the JAXA / ESA I-Hab module, to be launched in 2025 as part of the Artemis 4 mission. The Orion capsule + service module are also shown. Credit:  NASA

Even with the more powerful EUS replacing the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage that will fly on Artemis 1-3, the Gateway flight of Artemis 4 will be a challenge for the SLS. The Block 1B vehicle will be capable of delivering around 38 tonnes to lunar orbit – and some 27 tonnes of that capability will be taken up by the Orion crew capsule and its service module. That means the European and Japanese space agencies, responsible for providing I-Hab for Artemis, must ensure the module masses no more than 10 tonnes. By comparison, similar modules on the ISS average around 12-12.5 tonnes.

A further reason for focusing Artemis 4 on Lunar Gateway activities is that NASA will not actually have any HLS vehicle(s) at its disposal for lunar landings for a period of time after Artemis 3. In awarding the initial HLS contract to SpaceX to develop a lunar landing variant of its Starship vehicle, NASA did so on the basis of using only a single lunar landing. Once it returns to orbit, the SpaceX HLS will require refuelling in order to make a second trip – and currently, NASA has indicated that it would rather await a “sustainable” HLS system  – to be developed under a new, yet-to-be awarded contract called Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS).

NASA HLS; the current contract with SpaceX is only for a single HLS vehicle (centre). After Artemis 3, the first lunar landing, NASA will be relying on a “sustainable” HLS design – yet to be contracted – which might be Dynetic’s versatile design (l), or the Blue-Origin led design (r), both of which originally competed against SpaceX for the initial HLS contract, or might be provided by another supplier. Credit: Dynetics / SpaceX / Blue Origin

Exactly what is so happen to the SpaceX HLS after Artemis 3 is unclear. That mission will not use the Lunar Gateway, but will see an Orion dock with the SpaceX vehicle in lunar orbit for the 2-person crew transfer. As such, it is entirely possible the SpaceX HLS might simply be “parked” in lunar orbit and left.

However, given any LETS contract has yet to be granted a further crewed landing on the Moon under the Artemis banner is unlikely to occur before late 2027 or (more likely) 2028 / 29.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: JWST, Artemis and rockets delivering cargo to Earth” →

Space Sunday: pebbles, ALH84001 and a supernova

Posted on by Inara Pey
Mars 2020 rover Perseverance. Credit: NASA/JPL

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover Perseverance rover is suffering what might considered a case of kidney stones that’s proving hard to clear up.

On December 29th, 2021, the rover drilled into a rock the mission team had dubbed “Issole”, coring the material out using the percussive drill at the end of its 2.1 m robotic arm. The coring went smoothly enough, the sample being cached inside one of the titanium tubes used for obtaining sample that are to be geocached on Mars for future collection by a joint NASA-ESA sample-return mission, however, it was then that a problem occurred.

The rover’s sample-gathering system is actually extremely complex, comprising three separate robotic systems. The first is the robot arm itself, which houses the drill mechanism and bit.

Mars 2020 SHArm robotic arm: hidden underneath the rover, SHArm is responsible for handling sample tubes (highlighted in yellow) before / after they have been used to gather core samples gathered by the rover’s drill. Credit: NASA/JPL

The second is another robot arm called SHArm – the Sample Handling Arm -, tucked into the underside of the rover. Its function is to select unused sample tubes from the storage cache at the back of the rover, and pass them forward so that they can be made available to the robot arm and the drill for sample gathering. This also takes tubes containing samples and delivers them to a number of sub-systems before sealing them and stowing them back into the cache area.

Between these two, and acting as a go-between, is the “bit carousel”. This is a wheel-like robot at the front of the rover. This is a go-between for both the main robot arm and SHArm, allowing empty tubes to be delivered to a position where they can be transferred to the robot arm / drill mechanism, and full tubes to be rotated down to where SHArm can collect them. In all the carousel has capacity for up to 10 full / empty sample tubes as they are moved between the robot arm and SHArm.

The “bit carousel” (highlighted in grey) with the robot arm and the drill head it carries (the large object on the left) transferring a sample core tube (yellow) to one of its transfer recesses. Credit: NASA/JPL

It was when attempting to transfer the tube with the latest sample to the carousel that the problem occurred, prompting the mission team to order Perseverance to return the tube to the drill mechanism and then rotate the robot’s hand to allow the WATSON image to photograph the carousel – revealing small pebbles of rock were caught in the mechanism.

While the carousel is designed to operate with a degree of dirt and debris in its mechanism, the decision was taken to attempt a debris removal operation and essentially “reset” the sample gathering mechanisms. This has also proven to be a complicated operation. Firstly, the carousel had to be carefully images to understand the full extent of the debris distribution. Then the ground beneath the rover needed to be imaged for an initial set of “before” photos.

A WATSON close-up of one of the sample tube recesses in the “bit carousel”, showing some of the pebble-like debris caught in the mechanism. Credit: NASA/JPL

After this, the main robot arm was order to rotate to a position where the current sample tube could be emptied, allowing it to be re-used in a future coring of “Issole”. Then, over the course of the weekend, the entire “bit carousel” was due to be put through two rotation operations designed to help shift some of the debris. Once completed, WATSON will again be used to image the mechanism – and the ground under the rover – to ascertain the status of the debris and what further actions need to be taken to clear the remaining debris.

In all, mission engineers believe it could be the end of the week before the sample system is ready to resume operations, at which point a decision will be taken on whether or not to gather a further sample from “Issole”.

 The Riddle of ALH84001 Finally Resolved?

In 1996 a fragment of a Martian meteorite that was found in the Allan Hills, Antarctica and designated ALH84001 (marking it as the first Martian meteorite found in the area 12 years earlier, in 1984), caused a storm of controversy- which appears to now being laid to rest.

A cartoon by Kevin Kallaugher that appeared in the Baltimore Sun on August 8th, 1996 highlighting the media’s response to the ALH84001 announcement by David McKay and his team

To summarise: when parts of the meteorite were examined by a group of scientists (it is not uncommon for multiple years to pass between meteorites being found , catalogued and stored and actually being examined) announcing they may have found trace evidence of past microscopic life from Mars. Unfortunately, the press responded in a manner typified by a cartoon from the time.

The pronouncement, over-amplified by the press, garnered immediate push-back by others in the scientific community which in turn resulted in the science team – which included David S. McKay, Chief Scientist for astrobiology at the Johnson Space Centre, Texas, during the Apollo programme to double down on their claims they have discovered fossilised Martian bacteria.

Since then, the debate concerning how the objects –  chain structures nanometres in length resembling living organisms – and whether or not they might be organic in origin has raged back and forth – although it did diminish somewhat following McKay passing away in 2013. Not another team of scientists believe they have definitive proof that whilst the structures were organic in nature, they are not signs of life having once been active on Mars.

Instead, the new study – the result of an extensive study of ALH84001 samples and all that has been learned about it in the intervening 25 years – points to the organic structures being the result of abiotic organic chemistry – that is, they formed as a result of chemical reactions between water and rock that did not involve any genuine organic processes.

The chemical interactions likely took place around 4 billion years ago – at a time when Mars was believed to be much warmer and wetter than it is now, and a time when life might have originated on the planet. However, in the case of ALH84001, the team carrying out this study found that the organic compounds in the meteorite are closely associated with serpentine-like minerals. Serpentine is a dark green mineral, sometimes mottled or spotted like a snake’s skin, that is associated with once-wet environments.

On Earth, this kind of association between organics and serpentine is often associated with water percolating / circulating through magnesium-rich volcanic rocks change their mineral nature, producing hydrogen. If the water is slightly acidic and contains dissolved carbon dioxide, it can additionally result in carbonate minerals also being deposited…When taken together, these two processes – referred to as serpentinization in the case of the first and carbonation in the second – can result in deposits that appear to be of an entirely organic origination.

An electron microscopy image showing chain structures resembling living organisms fossilised in meteorite fragment ALH84001. Credit: NASA

Given the rocks in which ALH84001 were formed 4 billion years ago and were exposed to a long period of repeated water interaction, and the similarity they share with similar abiotic mineral deposits found on Earth, the team believes they are more than likely of a similar, non-organic origin.

However, the study doesn’t discount the potential for life to ever have arisen on Mars – it may actually strengthen it. This is because while these abiotic processes are not the result of organic processes, they do leave deposits of chemicals and minerals that can go on to help kick-start microbial life. What’s more, the sheer age of the ALH84001 marks it as the first Martian rock fragment that is old enough to provide evidence that abiotic processes were at work at a time when Mars was warm and wet – and when other processes may have been at work that might have utilised the deposited compounds to get basic life started. And if the rocks in which ALH84001 formed – there may be other similar ancient deposits on the planet that microbial life may have been leveraged.

Astronomers Witness a Star’s Death and a Supernova’s Birth in Real-Time

For the first time, a team of astronomers have imaged in real-time as a red super giant star reached the end of its life, watching as it convulsed in its death throes before finally exploding as a supernova.

The star was about 10 times more massive than the Sun and lay within the NGC 5731 galaxy about 120 million light-years away – meaning what astronomers saw actually occurred 120 million years ago.

In the summer of 2020, astronomers using the Pan-STARRS observatory on Haleakala, Maui noticed the progenitor tar suddenly go through a dramatic rise in luminosity. This warned them something massive was about to happen, focusing attention at Pan-STARRS on the star, and also brought in the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna kea, Hawaii Island in to observe the star as it collapsed over 130 days, before it gave a bright flash prior to its final exceptionally violent detonation into supernova SN 2020tlf..

The data from the observations is relatively boring – the star was far, far, far too far away to be actually images by either observatory, so it amounts to lines and dots on a chart. However, it has allows the event to be computer modelled. More particularly, the event has given astronomers first-hand insight into a supernova event involving a red super giant, and raised some puzzling questions.

For a red super giant to go supernova is not uncommon. Normally, however, there is a period of shrinkage and material ejection, referred to as circumstellar material (CSM) prior to core collapse. But that process generally takes place on a much longer timescales than the 130 days experienced by SN 2020tlf, suggesting something unusual or unexpected was taking place within the star.

In addition, the mysterious bright flash prior to the final detonation was unexpected and – thus far – unexplained, although it is thought it be somehow related to the ejected CSM – although astronomers are currently at a loss to explain what this might be. The flash appears to also be liked to a mammoth ejection of gas from the star, another aspect that doesn’t fit with established understanding of red super giant supernovae.

All of this adds up to the end of the star and the birth of SN 2020tlf being far more violent that has been the accepted case for red super giants. The question now is: was this event out of the ordinary for such stars, or does it reflect a more expected behaviour for them. However, given the sudden rise in luminosity witnessed ahead of the event, astronomers involved in projects such as the Young Supernova Experiment now have a clue to what to look for when seeking future potential red super giant supernovae.

Space Sunday: JWST and more 2022 highlights

Posted on by Inara Pey
JWST art. Credit stsci.edu

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has completed deploying all of its major components whilst en route to its operational orbital position at the Earth-Sun Lagrange L2 position.

At the time of my last update, NASA was expected to start work on tensioning-out the layers of the observatory’s layered sunshield. However, this was delayed in preference of working on JWST’s power subsystem. The decision came as a result of telemetry showing the observatory’s solar arrays were not producing their anticipated output due to them operating at their factory defaults. After re-balancing them, engineers took the opportunity to gather a baseline of power requirements for future reference, and to ensure the motors that are key to the sunshield tensioning process were at their optimal temperatures prior to starting the tensioning operation.

The work on the power subsystem meant that tensioning operations did not start until January 3rd. This comprised each of the hair-thin layers of the sunshield being gently tensioned out and separated from the other layers to allow it to function most efficiently in absorbing / reflecting heat and sunlight. By the end of the 3rd, three of the five layers had been correctly tensioned, putting the operation well ahead of schedule, allowing the operation to be completed with the tensioning of the last two layers on Tuesday, January 4th.

This left the way clear for the deployment of the observatory’s secondary mirror system. Commencing on January 5th,  this involved unfolding a series of booms called the Secondary Mirror Support Structure (SMSS) to extend the secondary mirror assembly out in front of the primary mirror, allowing it to gather and focus the light from the primary back through an aperture at the centre of the primary, where a third mirror reflects it down into the observatory’s interior and to its instruments.

JWST secondary mirror deployment. Credit: NASA

On January 6th JWST deployed the radiator systems that serve to remove excess heat from the observatory. Stowed flat against the rear of the main mirror assembly, the radiator panels were successfully extended out and away from the body of the observatory, freeing the mechanisms required to unfold the two “wings” of the primary mirror.

At 6.5 metres in diameter, and comprising 18 hexagonal gold-covered segments JWST’s primary mirror is too big to fit in the payload fairings of any operational launch vehicle, thus the use of the two “wings” to the port and starboard sides of the mirror.

Work started on unfolding these on January 7th, commencing with the port wing. The operation commenced at 14:30 GMT, the wing unfolding in five minutes  – although latching it into place took a further two hours. A similar operation was then initiated on January 8th to deploy the mirror’s starboard wing, with telemetry received at 18:17 GMT to confirm it had locked into place in its deployed configuration.

Unfolding one of JWST’s primary mirror segments. Credit: NASA

The successful unfolding and latching of the primary mirror segments marked the end of the deployment phase of the mission, allowing the JWST mission and engineering teams to move onto the commissioning phase of the mission.

In all, this will take some five months to complete; the first part of which involves correctly align the 18 individual mirrors that make up the observatory’s primary mirror so that they all work in concert to gather and reflect light into the secondary mirror. This is a multi-step process, in which each of the 18 segments is gently adjusted by means of 6 actuators located behind it to ensure proper alignment – with the secondary mirror also having actuators that allow minute adjustments to be made to it, assisting the alignment process whilst ensuring the gathered light remains correctly focused on the non-moveable third mirror. It is not an easy process, the work is expected to run the full 120 days of the commissioning period.

2022 Space Highlights II

In the last instalment of Space Sunday, I mentioned some of the forthcoming missions planned for 2022. In addition to those I mentioned then (limited by space), here are some more – all of which I hope to cover in more detail as the year progresses.

  • Axiom missions to ISS: Axiom Space plan to launch two “all private” missions to the International Space Station (ISS) utilising SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon. Each mission will last around 8 days and focus on science and educational outreach. The first mission will launch at the end of February 2022, and the second in the autumn.
  • Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission: ESA’s mission to Jupiter, to primarily study three of its moons – Ganymede, Europa and Callisto – should launch in May 2022. Arriving in Jovian orbit in 2029, it will then create a 3-year study mission.
  • Psyche asteroid mission: set for July 2002 and launched via a Falcon Heavy booster, NASA’s Psyche mission will study a metallic asteroid of the same name that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It is believed the asteroid is the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet. Thus, studies of it may offer new clues about how terrestrial planets like Earth form.
  • India’s Gaganyaan space missions: India plans to complete an uncrewed launch of its new Gaganyaan crew vehicle in summer 2022, with a second test flight before the end of the year.
An artist’s impression of India’s Gaganyaan crew capsule and is service module. Credit: ISRO
  • ExoMars Rover launch: the long-awaited European Mars rover mission will launch between August and October, carrying the Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars. Once there it will join the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which arrived at Mars in 2016, to study the red planet.
  • Dream Chaser ISS operations commence: Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser Cargo space plane will commence resupply flights to the ISS, carrying up to 5 tonnes of supplies and equipment to the station and returning around a tonne to Earth. The maiden Dream Chaser launch will mark the second flight of ULA’s new Vulcan rocket.
  • Lunar missions:
    • US Nova-C lunar lander: the Intuitive Machines Nova-C land will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle early in 2022, carrying five NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) payloads to the Mare Serenitatis, including a UK-built lunar rover.
    • Russia: the Luna 25 robot mission to the Moon’s South Pole will launch in July, marking the first Russian mission to the Moon in 45 years, and the first to land in the lunar Polar Regions. It will carry nine instruments to research the lunar regolith and exosphere (atmosphere).
Russia’s Luna 25 under construction. Credit: Roscosmos
    • NASA lunar drilling mission: scheduled for launch in December 2022, the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) is the first-ever mission designed to harvest water ice from inside the moon — a resource NASA hopes to utilize for its Artemis program.

In Brief

Biden White House Commits to ISS Extension

The Biden administration  has formally supported extending operations of the International Space Station through the end of the decade, an announcement that is neither surprising nor addresses how to get all of the station’s partners, notably Russia, to agree on the station’s future.

NASA has wanted to continue operating the ISS through until 2030 for several years, but has lacked outright political support to do so. In 2018, the US Senate agreed to extend US ISS operations through until 2028 or 2030, but the move failed to gain the required two-third House majority in order to pass. Support from the White House may help the agency gain full US support for the mission, and as a result of it, the European Space Agency has further indicated it would seek a resolution among members to continue to fund their side of station activities.

However, the major sticking point for operations lies with Russia. Most of the Russian modules on the station are growing increasingly old and subject to failure, and as such, Roscosmos is reluctant to continue supporting operations beyond 2024. In addition, geopolitics may impact the future of the ISS: Russia has already announced plans to operate its own space station at the expense of continued international cooperation with the ISS.

China Complete Key Station Robot Arm Test

On Thursday, January 6th, a large robotic arm on China’s space station successfully grasped and manoeuvred a cargo spacecraft in a crucial test ahead of upcoming module launches.

An artist’s impression of the robot arm test on the Chinese space station. Credit CMSAThe 10 metre long robotic arm on the Tianhe-1 module of China’s new Tiangong space station was used to grasp Tianzhou-2 supply vehicle that has been docked with the module since the end of May 2021, and move out away from the station, angling it through 20 degrees before returning it to the Tianhe-1’s forward docking port, where it reattached itself.

The 47-minute operation began at 22:12 UTC, as was designed to test the robot arm’s ability to manipulate and move large modules that will form a part of the station as it progresses. In particular, the test is vital to China’s plans to launch two science modules – called Wentian and Mengtian – to dock with Tianhe-1 in May / June and August / September 2022 respectively, thus completing the Tiangong space station.

Hubble Space Telescope’s One  Billion Seconds

One January 1st, 2022, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) achieved another milestone in its distinguished career – notching up 1 billion seconds in orbit since its launch on April 24th, 1990. That’s 31.7 years of near-continuous operations in Earth’s orbit.

A joint NASA / ESA project, HST has contributed massively to our understanding of the solar system, our galaxy and the universe as a whole. Despite recent issues with the observatory, it is hoped that HST will continue to operate through the 2020s and well into the 2030s.

Space Sunday: JWST and 2022 highlights

Posted on by Inara Pey

An artist’s impression of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) with Earth and the Sun beyond. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Following its launch on December 25th, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has completed several major steps in the deploying its critical hardware as it continues its month-long voyage towards its operational orbit at the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point.
Here’s a brief summary of what has happened thus far with deployments.

In the early houses of Wednesday, December 29th (UTC), Earth, JWST unfolded the forward sunshield pallet, lowering it away from its stowed position in front of the central deployable tower supporting the (still folded) primary and secondary mirror assemblies and the telescope’s massive radiator, and containing JWST’s vital electronics and science instruments.

Unfolding the after sunshield pallet. Credit: NASA

The lowering process took 20 minutes to complete, and was followed by the aft sunshield pallet being unfolded from behind the mirror tower in an 18-minute operation. After this, JWST went through several hours of additional operations, including ensuring the pallets were correctly in place and their sub-systems operational, and orienting the observatory with respect to the Sun to provide optimal shielding when the sunshield is deployed and tensioned. Once all this was completed, the command was given for the pallets to lock themselves in their deployed condition.

Later on the 29th, the deployable tower was raised some 1.2 metres from its “stowed” state over a 6-hour period. This moved it away from JWST’s thrusters and provided the room needed for the sunshields to be deployed and tensioned.

A computer generated simulation of one of JWST’s boom being extended, drawing out the sunshield membranes. Credit: NASA

Thursday, December 30th saw the deployment of the sunshield commence. A three-part process, and one vital to the observatory’s operations, this started with the drawing back of the membranes that have protected the delicate sunshield.

On December 31st, the booms that extend the five layers of the sunshield were extended. Operations began at 18:30 UTC, with the five segments of the portside boom extending outwards from the mid-point between the two sunshield pallets. The procedure took just over three hours to complete, and was followed by the extension of the starboard boom, which took a similar amount of time, also drawing out the membranes of the sunshield on that side of the telescope.

A computer generated simulation of one of JWST’s boom being extended, drawing out the sunshield membranes. Credit: NASA

Overall, the deployment of both booms took longer than anticipated, but was successfully completed, with operations then being halted for New Years Day. On January 2nd, operations resumed on the tensioning of the membranes. A 2-day operation, this involves separating each of the 5 membranes from the others and then tensioning it using the side booms and four fore-and-aft boom mechanisms. Once this has been completed, the focus will switch to deploying the telescope’s “eyes” – its secondary and primary mirrors.

The other news on the programme is that such was the accuracy with which the Ariane 5 placed JWST onto its transfer orbit, coupled with the smoothness of the first “mid-course” thruster burns, far less propellants that had been estimated. This now means that the observatory has sufficient reserves to complete at least a 10-year mission (although NASA remains focused on the 5-year primary mission).

Space Highlights for 2022

I generally try to look ahead to key space events at the start of the year, and while this may not be as comprehensive as previous years, but the following is offered as a broad summary of high points.

Launches

Several new launch vehicles will undergo initial launch tests / flight in 2022, including:

  • Block 1 NASA Space Launch System (USA): maiden flight, February 2022 carrying the Artemis 1 mission hardware and cubesats for ten missions in the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), and three missions in the Cube Quest Challenge. The payloads will be sent on a trans-lunar injection trajectory.
Artemis 1 mission – click for full size. Credit: NASA

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