Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - January 2, 1014

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 2, 2014 11:18:02 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - January 2, 1014

Again Happy New Year.  

 

Don't forget, we have delayed our monthly retirees luncheon to next Thursday, January 9^th, at Hibachi Grill in Webster at 11:30.  Hope you can join us for the first luncheon of the New Year.   Hope this reminder gets to you before you are already headed there thinking it was on for today.   Sorry for the late send out.

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Astronaut Karen Nyberg and the current crew aboard the station, Mike Hopkins, Rick Mastracchio and JAXA's Koichi Wakata wish people a happy new year through a video broadcast in Times Square during New York City's New Year's Eve bash. Check out the message on space.com:   http://go.nasa.gov/1d1mbyt

 

Human Spaceflight News

Thursday – Jan. 2, 2014

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Astronauts Wish Earth Happy New Year from Space

Tariq Malik – Space.com

The people of Earth rang in 2014 with raucous celebrations that reached all the way to space, where astronauts on the International Space Station helped usher in the New Year.

Space launch highlights for 2014

Paul Sutherland -- SEN

Commercial companies will play an increasingly important part in space flight in 2014. Some will continue to fly satellites or carry supplies to the International Space Station. But a highlight is expected to be the first sub-orbital flights by Virgin Galactic.

Commentary

5 Ways Outer Space Taught Us About Earth in 2013

Lauren Lyons – Spaceflight Insider

Another year of the Internet has come to a close, which can only mean one thing: time for more lists! The science magazines will undoubtedly create exciting top 10′s of the most awesome things to happen in space in 2013. But some of the stories that most need telling are not the big-ticket tales of human spaceflight and new exoplanet discoveries.

All Systems GO For SpaceX  First U.S. Space Launch Of 2014 On Jan. 3

Mike Killian -- AmericaSpace

With 2013 now but a memory America's space program is wasting no time kicking off the new year, with the first U.S. space launch scheduled to blast out of Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, Jan. 3, courtesy of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).  The company is scheduled to launch a commercial telecommunications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for Asian satellite operator Thaicom Public Limited Company (PLC).

Hubble Space Telescope finds clouds on super-Earth, Neptune-sized planets

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, two research teams have discovered thick layers of high-altitude clouds covering the atmospheres of two relatively nearby exoplanets: a super-Earth and a "warm Neptune."

Hubble spots hints of clouds in exoplanets' atmospheres

Alan Boyle, NBC News

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that a super-Earth and a warm Neptune-sized planet far beyond our solar system are blanketed by high-altitude clouds.

Commentary

Citizens make sun rise; government makes it set

Michael Swickard – Albuquerque, Journal

It was 45 years ago that man first orbited the moon. The moon was landed upon six times, with the last time four years later. Sadly, America walked away from the moon and ceded it to the Chinese who this month landed and sent a rover to stir up the moon dust.

Can ISRO pull off GSLV-D5 launch this time?

N. Madhavan – Business Today [India Today Group]

After several setbacks in its attempt to master the cryogenic rocket technology, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is finally set to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with an indigenous cryogenic engine.

No man to moon mission, says Isro

India's first unmanned lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, was launched by Isro in Oct 2008, and operated until Aug 2009

T E Narasimhan – Business Standard [India]

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that it is not planning for any 'Man to Moon' mission.

Space tourists flock to the heavens

Kate Lunau -- Maclean's

Only 550 or so people have ever flown into space. It's remarkable, then, that almost 700 clients have already signed up with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's private space-tourism company, which has yet to begin offering commercial space flights. The year 2014 will be big for Virgin Galactic.

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Astronauts Wish Earth Happy New Year from Space

Tariq Malik – Space.com

The people of Earth rang in 2014 with raucous celebrations that reached all the way to space, where astronauts on the International Space Station helped usher in the New Year.

Three space station astronauts recorded a video wishing humanity a Happy New Year that was broadcast in Times Square during New York City's epic New Year's Eve bash. The video was introduced by NASA astronaut Mike Massimino from Times Square and featured on the iconic Toshiba Vision screen.

In the video, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, joined by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, wish people on Earth a happy new year before floating up out of view. The trio makes up half of the space station's Expedition 38 crew, with three Russian cosmonauts rounding out the team.

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, who returned from the International Space Station in November, also shared well wishes for New Yorkers and the world in 2014.

"As seen form 260 miles above its surface, our earth is a beautiful, fragile place. We are living and working on the International Space Station to learn about our Earth, and to learn how to send humans farther into our solar system than we've even been before," Nyberg said. "From all of us at NASA, in space and on Earth, Happy New Year."

Space launch highlights for 2014

Paul Sutherland -- SEN

 Commercial companies will play an increasingly important part in space flight in 2014. Some will continue to fly satellites or carry supplies to the International Space Station. But a highlight is expected to be the first sub-orbital flights by Virgin Galactic.

After flight tests of the WhiteKnightTwo mother ship and its spacecraft SpaceShipTwo, plus firings of the rocket engine in 2013, Sir Richard Branson's company is aiming to carry its first fare-paying passengers before the new year is over.

A Virgin Galactic spokesman told Sen: "We are on schedule for a 2014 launch of commercial service of the spaceship." CEO George Whitesides added: "It is tremendously exciting to see years of work begin to come to fruition. We are proceeding cautiously but are moving efficiently towards our goal of commercial operations."

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is aiming to carry its first fare-paying passengers before 2014 is over

A milestone sometime during 2014 is set to be the first uncrewed test flight for NASA of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle which will eventually carry astronauts to an asteroid. A Delta IV Heavy rocket will lift the spacecraft from Cape Canaveral into an extended orbit around the Earth before it splashes down in the Pacific.

Any time after 7 January, Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, atop an Antares rocket, on a commercial resupply mission to the ISS that was delayed from December because of the pump failure on the station.

The company is due to send another Cygnus on 1 May carrying more cargo and crew supplies to the orbiting outpost as part of their contract with NASA.

Rivals SpaceX will make their third commercial resupply mission to the ISS on 22 February, lifted by a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Further cargo flights are due to follow on 6 June, 12 September and 5 December.

Routine Russian cargo flights by Progress rockets will launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 5 February, 28 April, 24 July and 22 October.

Four Soyuz missions will also fly from Baikonur, carrying new crews to the ISS. Soyuz 38 will lift off on 26 March with Steve Swanson, Oleg Artemyev and Alexander Skvortsov aboard. Soyuz 39 will follow on 28 May carrying Reid Wiseman, Maxim Suraev and Germany's Alexander Gerst.

On 30 September, Soyuz 40 will take Barry Wilmore, Yelena Serova and Alexander Samoukutyaev into orbit and finally, on 1 December, Soyuz 40 will carry Terry Virts, Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti and another astronaut, yet to be named, to the ISS.

Early in 2014, the communications capability of the NASA Space Network will be boosted with the launch by an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-L (TDRS-L) on 23 January.

Then on 27 February, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, an international mission led by NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA, will blast off from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, to provide state-of-the-art monitoring of rain and snowfall worldwide.

Biggest event in the European Space Agency's year will be the encounter between its Rosetta space mission and Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe, launched ten years ago, will be woken from hibernation on 20 January.

First images of the comet are expected in May followed by a detailed survey, after which Rosetta's lander Philae will touch down on the comet's nucleus in November.

After successfully deploying payloads on its second flight in 2013, ESA's new small launcher Vega will make its first commercial flight in spring, hoisting Kazakhstan's DZZ-HR high-resolution earth observation satellite into space.

Later in the year, it will launch ESA's experimental IXV vehicle into a sub-orbital flight to test new technologies during its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases before the spacecraft lands in the Pacific.

In spring a Soyuz will lift-off from Europe's spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, for the first mission of ESA's Copernicus Earth-observation programme. Sentinel Ia will provide 24-hour radar images to help in disasters, plus marine and land monitoring, civil security and climate studies.

Europe's heavy-lift launcher Ariane 5 will also be busy. In June it will fly the fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Georges Lemaître to the ISS.

In a boost to Galileo, Europe's satellite navigation programme, the rocket will launch six new satellites from mid-year, allowing full demonstration of the constellation's power.

It looks sure to be another exciting year in space. Keep up to date by following Sen.com - and Happy New Year from everyone on our news team as we continue to soar ever higher too!

Commentary

5 Ways Outer Space Taught Us About Earth in 2013

Lauren Lyons – Spaceflight Insider

Another year of the Internet has come to a close, which can only mean one thing: time for more lists! The science magazines will undoubtedly create exciting top 10′s of the most awesome things to happen in space in 2013. But some of the stories that most need telling are not the big-ticket tales of human spaceflight and new exoplanet discoveries. For most people, it's the less flashy things that can mean the most in the lives of people right down here on Earth. And these benefits are not limited to spinoffs like microelectronics and high-tech medical technologies that people from rich countries enjoy; from human rights to food security, space assets provide incredibly meaningful humanitarian contributions to the planet. Here are five of the many ways in which space touched us down here on Earth in 2013:

1) Space assets helped human rights workers uncover war crimes in the Central African Republic

Since the March 2013 coup and ousting of President François Bozizé by the rebel Seleka Coalition, more than a thousand people have been killed, over 100,000 displaced, and the situation is growing worse by the day with reports of rape, torture, executions, and other atrocities. In the CAR, space-based intelligence gathering, along with the stories and research from people on the ground, lead to the United Nations' decision in November to unanimously authorize the deployment of peacekeeping troops into the country.

Satellite imagery becomes particularly useful in conflict zones where it is too dangerous to send in reporters and aid workers, and when affected villages are too remote to reach by vehicle. In response, Human Rights Watch has used satellite imagery to collect detailed evidence of tell-tale signs of humans rights abuses. For example, viewing arson attacks on multiple civilian villages (considered a war crime by international humanitarian law) in the CAR, such as the gold mining village of Camp Bangui, where "black burn" scars indicate around half of the village has been destroyed. In other areas, satellite imagery detailing new tent-like structures indicate mass displacement of people — another common indicator of abuses.

In addition, the escalating violence between Christians and Muslims has incited the very real fear that genocide is imminent. In other conflicts such as those in the Sudan and in Kosovo, human rights abuse investigators have used satellites to look for mass graves — a feature commonly correlated with genocide. In fact, a mass grave was discovered by Red Cross workers a few days ago in Bengui, the CAR capital. Let us hope that this is one use satellites will not need to serve.

2) Space assets were used in search and rescue operations in the Philippines

We all saw the harrowing images of Typhoon Haiyan, which left 6,111 people dead, 1,799 missing, and 4.4 million homeless — a disaster so devastating and disruptive that weeks after the storm, over a thousand bodies still remain unburied.

During the immediate aftermath of the storm, rescue workers used space assets to help to coordinate the search, rescue, and relief efforts. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) deployed satellite phones and broadband satellite terminals for data to many of the regions most affected. This allowed for those conducting humanitarian assistance to coordinate logistics when deploying medical assistance, food, and water to those in need; allowed rescue workers to figure out how to reach victims when roads and landmarks are destroyed, rendering maps useless; and helped people contact their loved ones after being separated. In addition, companies like DigitalGlobe and Astrium have already (at no charge) provided emergency workers with imagery that detail the devastating before and after images. As the country rebuilds, images such as these will be critical in assessing the damage and prioritizing recovery efforts. The United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) has collected and made available several images, all accessible to the general public.

3) Satellites helped map the density of the world's vegetation 

More than 800 million people worldwide suffer from malnutrition and chronic hunger. According to the World Health Organization, one of the key pillars to food security is food availability — that is, having sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis. In an effort to better understand where this is most challenging, Earth observation satellites provide detailed mapping of agriculture activities, including the distribution and condition of crops.

In November 2103, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) released a set of stunning color images detailing the places on Earth that are green vegetation rich, and the places that were lacking due to stress conditions such as drought. By compiling data gathered over the course of a year, the Suomi NPP satellite allowed us yet another way to visualize the Earth that was both data rich and beautiful. A particularly stunning view: images of the of vast North African dryness, with the green colored banks of the river Nile – the agricultural lifeblood of the regions through which it flows.

Another valuable mapping contribution came from the European Space Agency's Proba-V satellite, which in July after a month in space captured its own snapshot of Earth's vegetation density. This is only one of the latest in satellites orbiting the Earth that are producing data that when combined with other information such as weather satellites, can be used for drought monitoring and mitigation, and precise early warning forecasting for regions at risk for food insecurity.

4) Space satellites provided climate scientists with information on the record lows of Arctic sea ice

Every year the arctic sea ice melts to its summer minimum. But on September 13, 2013, analysis of satellite data by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) showed sea ice had reached the 6th lowest level in the 35-year history of satellite measurement (1.97 million square miles). Now, this was an increase over the previous year, which was the all-time record low (1.32 million square miles); but it was still consistent with the long-term downward trend, a decline that has accelerated since 2007, and lead to a 40 percent loss of sea ice since 1980.

The loss of sea ice cover is a leading indicator of climate change, and many scientists believe that within decades, the Arctic will be entirely ice-free in the summer months. Why does this matter? Not only do many animals depend on the ice for their homes, but native peoples of the Arctic depend on these animals for food. The ice also reflects sunlight back out into space, which helps prevent the Earth from getting too warm. Less ice means less reflection; less reflection means a warmer planet and — you guessed it — even more ice melting. Several space satellites are orbiting our poles and observing these phenomena, and will continue to report back down on Earth in 2014. Sadly, the predictions indicate the results will not be good.

5) O3B launched a microsatellite constellation to provide affordable broadband internet to the developing world

The ability to communicate vital information, provide education in an increasingly paperless world, and provide a platform for free speech is becoming more and more dependent on the ability to access the Internet. A 2009 World Bank study estimated that a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration in low and middle income countries yielded an additional 1.38 percent in GDP growth. And many — including the United Nations – have declared universal access to the internet to be a human right.

In developed countries, ground-based fiber has become the dominant technology for delivering broadband internet. But in developing nations, laying ground-based infrastructure can be cost-prohibitive due to geography, rural and remote populations, and low purchasing power of users. And before recently, satellite internet access was also costly, as countries would have to rely on telecommunications giants and their often steep fees to provide high-speed services to their citizens.

The last decade has seen the popularization of small, cost-effective "microsatellites" that can be combined into networks or "constellations," which use their collective capability to deliver high-speed data, which can be an excellent lower-cost solution for emerging markets.

One such company that is revolutionizing this space is O3b Networks, a start-up founded in 2007. Their goal: provide broadband connectivity to the "other 3 billion" people on the planet who do not have internet access. In June 2013, O3b successfully launched its first 4 satellites (of a constellation that will reach 16), and in 2014 will begin to provide its first services. And they've already got users signed up: some of O3b's first customers include governments and companies servicing Papua New Guinea, Somalia, and Peru. The company has plans to continue to extend services across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Now, I would not be a proper space geek if I didn't at least mention the incredible feats that have been accomplished in 2013 from a high technology and exploration standpoint, such as SpaceX's Dragon Capsule docking to the International Space Station, China landing on the Moon, or my personal favorite, finding water geysers on Europa. However, sometimes it's valuable to look beyond the razzle dazzle, and reflect on some of the more tangible benefits of investing in space — especially those that are improving the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable of us. To those who value protecting the child suffering from malnutrition or the refugees fleeing war, it is these stories that will connect our hearts when the money gets tight, our imaginations demand a pause from the wonder, and reality requires from us full on confrontation of the real wounds of humanity that need healing.

All Systems GO For SpaceX First U.S. Space Launch Of 2014 On Jan. 3

Mike Killian -- AmericaSpace

With 2013 now but a memory America's space program is wasting no time kicking off the new year, with the first U.S. space launch scheduled to blast out of Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, Jan. 3, courtesy of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).  The company is scheduled to launch a commercial telecommunications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for Asian satellite operator Thaicom Public Limited Company (PLC).

The 7,330 pound hybrid C-band and Ku-band satellite, identified as Thaicom-6, will launch from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) atop SpaceX's new upgraded 224-foot tall Falcon-9 v1.1 rocket.  The mission will be the third launch of the new rocket, and will loft Thaicom-6 skyward no earlier than 5:50 p.m. EST, with the launch window extending until 7:17 p.m. EST.

The satellite, which was manufactured and tested by Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Virginia, was designed based on Orbital's very successful GEOStar-2 satellite platform, which can accommodate all types By Amina Khan – Los Angeles Timesof commercial communications payloads and is compatible with all major commercial launchers.

Last Saturday SpaceX successfully conducted a Static Fire test on their rocket at Cape Canaveral, hoisting it vertical atop its launch pad and putting the vehicle and launch pad systems through a full countdown scenario which ended with firing of the rocket's nine Merlin 1D engines.  The launch dress rehearsal, according to SpaceX, went as expected, and the team at Cape Canaveral is continuing with work to support a launch attempt in 48 hours.

Once launched the satellite will be placed in a GTO and will be operated at 78.5 degrees East Longitude. Thaicom-6 is equipped with 18 C-band and 8 Ku-band transponders to provide service coverage to the growing satellite television market in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Southern Africa (including Madagascar).

"This deal highlights the confidence that satellite operators have in SpaceX capabilities, and is the latest example of the effect SpaceX is having on the international commercial launch market," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk when the deal between SpaceX and Thaicom was announced in 2011.  "Asia is a critical market and SpaceX is honored to support its growing launch needs with a reliable US-based solution."

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is offering launch viewing to the public from the Apollo/Saturn V viewing area, which is roughly 6 miles away from SLC-40 and offers the closest public viewing for this particular launch.  There is an additional charge to be transported to that viewing area, in addition to the regular admission cost to the Visitor Complex. Off-site the alternative free viewing locations would be along the Indian River on HWY-1 in Titusville or along the 528 next to Port Canaveral, although both locations are significantly further than the viewing being offered by the KSC Visitor Complex.

SpaceX launched their first GEO communications satellite, the SES-8 geostationary communications satellite, for SES World Skies into orbit less than a month ago, and in doing so proved they can do more than just deliver to low-Earth orbit.

"The Falcon 9 will serve our unique needs at Thaicom. This dedicated launch vehicle is both cost-effective and best-matched to our requirements," said Arak Chonlatanon, CEO of Thaicom Plc. "We look forward to working closely with the SpaceX team to ensure that the Thaicom 6 satellite will be successfully launched."

Friday's forecast from the 45th Space Wing calls for a 90% chance of favorable conditions expected at T-0, with the only real concern being a chance of strong winds gusting over 30mph, which would violate launch commit criteria.  In the event of a 24-hour scrub the forecast for a Saturday, Jan. 4, launch attempt remains the same.

Hubble Space Telescope finds clouds on super-Earth, Neptune-sized planets

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, two research teams have discovered thick layers of high-altitude clouds covering the atmospheres of two relatively nearby exoplanets: a super-Earth and a "warm Neptune."

Scientists are beginning to get a handle on how to study the atmospheres on alien planets, and have even found green clouds on the super-Jupiter planet, Kepler-7b. But the findings, published in the journal Nature this week, show that clouds can cover smaller planets too — including two of the most common types of planets found in the Milky Way.

Neither of the planets, GJ 436b and GJ 1214b, are quite like anything found in our solar system. GJ 436b is a warm Neptune that's slightly larger than Neptune and much closer to its host star. Thus unlike our own distant, gassy ice giant, GJ 436b's surface temperature sits about a blistering 980 degrees Fahrenheit. It is 36 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. GJ 1214b, a super-Earth whose radius is 2.7 times that of our home planet, sits about 40 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus.

"Super-Earth and Neptune-class planets collectively represent an intriguing and populous type of extrasolar planet whose exotic atmosphere may have no true analogies in the solar system," Julianne Moses of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., who was not involved in the research, wrote in a commentary on the papers.

To look at their atmospheres, the researchers wait for the planet to cross in front of its star and look at the starlight filtering through the backlit planet's thin layer of atmosphere. They usually look for dips in certain wavelengths of light — a luminous fingerprint caused by chemicals in the atmosphere, which would reveal what the planet's shell of air was made of.

But for these planets, they found no such chemical fingerprint imprinted on the light. The most likely reason, the researchers surmised, would be a layer of high-altitude clouds blocking the view.

"However, high-altitude clouds on these two exoplanets would not resemble the clouds we see in the solar system," Moses wrote. "Possible candidates include potassium chloride or zinc sulphide 'dust' clouds."

Hubble spots hints of clouds in exoplanets' atmospheres

Alan Boyle, NBC News

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that a super-Earth and a warm Neptune-sized planet far beyond our solar system are blanketed by high-altitude clouds.

Astronomers lay out their case for cloudiness in this week's issue of the journal Nature. This isn't the first time clouds have been detected around extrasolar planets, but it does extend the spectrum of atmospheric study to new classes of alien worlds.

"Both planets are telling us something about the diversity of planet types that occur outside of our own solar system; in this case we are discovering we may not know them as well as we thought," Caltech astronomer Heather Knutson, a leader of one of the Hubble research teams, said in a NASA news release. "We'd really like to determine the size at which these planets transition from looking like mini-gas giants to something more like a water world or a rocky, scaled-up version of the Earth. Both of these observations are fundamentally trying to answer that question."

Knutson and her colleagues focused on GJ 436b, the warm Neptune, which is 36 light-years away in the constellation Leo. They used Hubble to track the planet in fine detail as it passed in front of its parent star, and looked for the chemical fingerprint of starlight shining through the edge of its atmosphere. The interesting thing is that they saw no distinguishing fingerprint.

"Either this planet has a high cloud layer obscuring the view, or it has a cloud-free atmosphere that is deficient in hydrogen, which would make it very unlike Neptune," Knutson explained. "Instead of hydrogen, it could have relatively large amounts of heavier molecules such as water vapor, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, which would compress the atmosphere and make it hard for us to detect any chemical signatures."

A different research team, led by Laura Kreidberg and Jacob Bean of the University of Chicago, focused of GJ 1214b, the super-Earth, which is 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. Previous observations produced a profile similar to GJ 436b: Spectral analysis showed that the atmosphere was dominated by water vapor or hydrogen, but there was no discernible difference between the bulk of the planet's disk and the edge of the atmospheric layer.

In this week's Nature paper, researchers say Hubble's near-infrared observations show conclusively that GJ 1214b is blanketed by high clouds that hide the super-Earth's lower atmosphere and surface. They ruled out the possibility that the atmosphere was cloud-free.

The researchers say GJ 1214b's clouds would probably be unlike Earth's, due to big differences in atmospheric temperature and pressure. They suggest that the clouds could contain zinc sulfide or potassium chloride, or perhaps the kinds of hydrocarbons found in the murky haze that surrounds Titan, a mysterious moon of Saturn.

Commentary

Citizens make sun rise; government makes it set

Michael Swickard – Albuquerque, Journal

It was 45 years ago that man first orbited the moon. The moon was landed upon six times, with the last time four years later. Sadly, America walked away from the moon and ceded it to the Chinese who this month landed and sent a rover to stir up the moon dust.

Perhaps that is the way it should be with great nations — they can only be great as long as the people feel the challenge to be great. Then they must join the rest of the nations in the world that are just trying to get from paycheck to paycheck and not lose their minds with their teenagers.

Average nations do not reach for the stars.

As we start 2014, it reminds me of when Japan was rising and China was drifting down into a lesser nation. It took a long time for China to repose into a third world but now, it might be on the rise again.

In 607 A.D., a Japanese leader, Prince Shotoku, sent a delegation to China led by diplomat Ono no Imoko. He had the dubious honor of carrying this message: Greetings from the Leader of the Land of the Rising Sun to the Leader of the Land of the Setting Sun.

That made China mad. How mad? The aforementioned Japanese diplomat returned home to Japan all cut up in a box. In fact, the insulting message resonated several times in history when China wanted to stomp Japan. Twice they were caught crossing the sea in a typhoon, which is not the textbook way of invading.

And then Japan, full of itself leading up to WWII, devastated China, killing 30 million Chinese. Now it would seem China is the Land of the Rising Sun and Japan, which does not understand free markets, is the Land of the Setting Sun. China going up, Japan going down.

There are Greece, Spain, France and other European nations plummeting into the financial abyss of spending more than they have for generations. That brings us to America. Should we also be known as the Land of the Setting Sun?

Tony Blair said the measure of a nation is how many people want in and how many want out. Some Americans are leaving our nation to escape our confiscatory tax policy. Their problem is to find a government not fouling its own nest.

Here in America, our space program has mostly been dismantled. The space station was put up as a fueling area for craft reaching to the moon and planets. But America now hitches rides to the Space Station on Russian craft. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week said he is going to revitalize the Russian space program.

What is the American plan? No plan. We are waiting for the 2014 elections to make any meaningful change in our society, but then it will be into the 2016 presidential elections and so we cannot make any kind of real change and then in 2017 … sorry, the 2018 elections are coming and we cannot make changes. And so on.

I have to admit the fall of our great nation was on my watch and I feel it every day because the America I inherited as a young man was so very different from the America now. That was a "Can do" America that could go to the moon and return safely. Today we have trouble going to the store and returning safely.

We cannot be a great nation while asking for government handouts. The people cannot lead America to greatness when they are sitting on their butts with their free phones and subsidies. America cannot be great in the unemployment line.

Government makes wealth in a small fraction of our population while destroying the greatness in our citizens. It is 2014 and the clock is ticking. Citizens make the sun rise while government makes the sun set.

Michael Swickard hosts the syndicated radio talk show "News New Mexico."

 

Can ISRO pull off GSLV-D5 launch this time?

N. Madhavan – Business Today [India Today Group]

After several setbacks in its attempt to master the cryogenic rocket technology, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is finally set to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with an indigenous cryogenic engine. The launch of the GSLV-D5 will take place at 4.18 pm on January 5 and the 29-hour countdown will begin a day before.

The mission was cleared after final checks on Thursday. The 49-meter tall GSLV-D5, which weighs 414 tonnes, has been moved to the launch pad at ISRO's space port on the east coast in Sriharikota, some 90 minutes drive from Chennai. The GSLV-D5 will attempt to put in orbit GSAT-14, an advanced communication satellite weighing almost two tonnes. If successful, ISRO will cross a crucial threshold and overcome the technology barrier to put in orbit heavy communication satellites.

A similar attempt by ISRO on August 19 was aborted minutes before the launch after liquid fuel leaked from the second stage of the launch vehicle, raising quality issues in the space agency's processes. ISRO has replaced the second stage fully and the propellant tank has been made with a different aluminium alloy. The first stage and the strap on motors, which bore the brunt of the leaked fuel, are also new.

The global satellite launch market is large and satellites of varying sizes are launched depending on the tasks they are expected to perform. Remote sensing satellites are lighter and are placed in polar orbits (orbits where satellites do not move in tandem with the earth's rotation and so are not suitable for communication purposes). These satellites weigh from a few hundred kilograms to about a tonne. On the other hand, communication satellites are typically heavier weighing between two and five tonnes. And they are placed in geosynchronous transfer orbits where the satellite moves in tandem with the earth's rotation and so the service of the satellite is available for users throughout the day.

ISRO has mastered the art of putting smaller satellites in space. Its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has had 23 consecutive successful launches and has put 63 satellites in precise orbits (23 Indian and 35 foreign satellites). The PSLV's cost efficiency and reliability has been clearly established in this segment.

But the same cannot be said about ISRO's credentials in launching heavier communication satellites, which is where big business is. ISRO's attempts to break into that market with the GSLV has been met with repeated failures - both technological and operational. The critical element of the GSLV is the cryogenic engine, an engine that is powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored at very low temperatures. India had initially tied up with Russia for the supply of these engines and got seven of them in the 1990s. But the US objected to this deal on the grounds that it violated the Missile Technology Control Regime. This left ISRO with no choice but to develop the engine on its own (of course, with some Russian help). Besides the US and Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency have overcome this technology barrier.

Mastering the cryogenic technology has proved to be a tough challenge for ISRO over the past decade. It has so far attempted seven GSLV launches (six with Russian cryogenic engines and one with the engine it developed on its own) and four of them failed. What is worrisome is that in each instance the failure was for a different reason - fabrication issues, quality issues and the failure of the locally developed cryogenic engine itself. GSLV-D3, which carried the indigenous cryogenic engine, blew up in the sky, sending a clear message that mastering the cryogenic technology is a pre-requisite for ISRO to dream of any meaningful presence in the global satellite launch business. In the meantime, ISRO continued to use the services of the European Space Agency to launch its heavier communication satellites under the INSAT series.

After the failure of the GSLV-D3 in April 2010, ISRO went back to the drawing board and revisited the entire design of the GSLV apart from the indigenous cryogenic engine. Having learnt from the failures of previous launches, extensive testing and large-scale modifications have been made in the GSLV-D5. According to senior ISRO officials, the changes include a redesign of the shroud portion of the launch vehicle to protect the cryogenic engine better, reinforcement of the wire tunnel to withstand higher pressure, improvement to the aerodynamic characteristics of the launch vehicle and re-designing of the fuel booster turbo pump (whose failure caused one of the earlier failures).

Most importantly, ISRO for the first time has performed high-altitude testing for the ignition of the cryogenic engine by simulating vacuum conditions on the ground. This, according to an ISRO official, is a critical element of the preparation. Until now, ISRO did not have facilities to conduct this test. But on August 19 the fuel leak in the second stage and the consequent aborting of the launch meant that the cryogenic stage remained untested. The same stage will be used on Sunday.

If the GSLV-D5 finally lifts off on Sunday and places GSAT-14 in its intended orbit, ISRO will finally overcome its jinx with the advanced cryogenic technology and announce to the world that it is all set to enter the lucrative communication satellite launch market with a distinct cost advantage.

 

No man to moon mission, says Isro

T E Narasimhan – Business Standard [India]

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that it is not planning for any 'Man to Moon' mission.

In a statement today, the Organisation said, it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Indian Air force, Bangalore in March 2009 to carry out  basic research/studies on Human Physiological and Psychological requirements for Human Space Flight crew and for augmenting/updating existing facilities at IAM to cater to ISRO's Human Space Flight Programme as a pre project Research & Development activity.

ISRO currently does not have any project on "Man to Moon". The scope of the MOU between ISRO and IAM does not envisage recruitment of crew for ISRO, said in the statement.

The response comes after a cross section of Media have reported that Isro started recruiting people for its Man to Moon Mission mission.

It may be noted, India's first unmanned lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, was launched by the Isro in October 2008, and operated until August 2009.

While critics stated that the Mission failed, Isro Chairman K Radhakrishnan said that it was not the mission failed. "We have achieved all the four steps, only the life was a problem. We said two years but after 312 days its closed. People said Chandryaan failed, it is not that Chandrayaan failed".

For Chandrayaan-2, India has decided to go alone, which was originally proposed as an Indo-Russian venture.

It was originally envisaged to be a joint mission between ISRO and the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, which was supposed to provide the lander. A study recommended that India could itself realise a lander module in a few years and that it could go in for the mission on its own. The Mission is expected to be launched in 2016.

 

Space tourists flock to the heavens

Kate Lunau -- Maclean's

Only 550 or so people have ever flown into space. It's remarkable, then, that almost 700 clients have already signed up with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's private space-tourism company, which has yet to begin offering commercial space flights. The year 2014 will be big for Virgin Galactic. If all goes according to plan, Branson and his adult children, Holly and Sam, will be the first private passengers to travel into space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo craft, ushering in a new era of space flight for the masses.

Virgin Galactic charges $250,000 for a ride. This isn't cheap, but for space travel, it's a bargain: In 2009, when Canadian billionaire and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté blasted off aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, he paid a reported $35 million for the privilege. Soon, a ticket into space will cost less than a Toronto condo. Clients will spend three days preparing at Spaceport America in New Mexico, the first space hub in the world to host private businesses such as Virgin Galactic; day four is the flight, a two-hour suborbital trip at an altitude of 50,000 feet. Clients experience "the blackness of space, zero gravity, fabulous views of Earth, and you come back an astronaut," says Stephen Attenborough, Virgin Galactic's commercial director. The spaceship is equipped with extra-large windows to capitalize on the view.

Virgin Galactic isn't the only private company with ambitions in space. Earlier this year, Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully flew its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on an unmanned resupply mission, becoming the first private company to reach the station. Orbital Sciences Corporation, another U.S. company, is scheduled to start a series of eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS late this year. Private companies could be ferrying NASA astronauts there as early as 2017. (The U.S., which has had no way to reach the ISS on its own since the Space Shuttle fleet retired in 2011, is using the Soyuz to transport its astronauts.)

Virgin Galactic's suborbital flights won't go as high as the ISS; they're intended to be more affordable and accessible. "We know it will blow people away," Attenborough says. "And it's a doable first step."

The commercial space industry has been plagued by setbacks and delays. Attenborough admits there are no guarantees, yet after years of preparation, the Virgin Galactic team is "quietly confident" that it's reached the home stretch before launching its commercial service with the Branson family aboard. That first flight will be televised on NBC; the company is also planning a reality show, Space Race, in which people compete for a ride on the Virgin Galactic spaceship. Today, the astronauts among us are the rarest of the rare; years, or decades, from now, many of us will know a co-worker, neighbour or relative who's been into space. We may even have a trip booked there ourselves.

 

END

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