September 2012 Archives

The Mars Curiosity Rover has found further evidence that Mars once had significant water movements on the surface of the planet.  NASA has released images comparing the smoothed pebbles in rocky outcrops imaged by the rover with those from former river beds on Earth to show that an alluvial fan formed by fast moving water (a river) flowing into the Gale crater where Curiosity is exploring once existed.    

Smoothed pebbles in outcrops of rocks imaged by Curiosity are similar to those found on Earth.  Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regional satellite operator, the Hong Kong-based Asiasat (Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company) firm has sold its Speedcast services firm to TA Associates, a private equity firm.  Speedcast offers communications services to Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) and is expected to continue buying communications capacity on Asiasat satellites..  Asiasat decided to divest his part of its business to concentrate on its core business of offering capacity to the South East Asian region and Africa.  The deal was worth just over $32 million.

　

The launch of Iran's Fajr technology testing and remote sensing satellite flying on a Safir 2 (B1) rocket out of the Semnan launch site  is believed to have ended in a major failure on or just later than 23 May 2012.  A launch is suspected to have taken place by Western space analysts (note that it has not been formally confirmed) after reports of a launch being detected by US satellite assets and scorch marks being imaged post launch on the pad.  There was no announcement of success if a launch did take place, and no independent tracking of a new orbiting object.  This has led analysts to suspect a failure.

At the time, the launch was reported to have been delayed from May and June due to problems with the insulation on a microengine on the satellite. These reports may have been a disinformaton ruse to cover up a failure.

The main mission of Fajr (meaning: Dawn) was to prove the orbital manoeuvering using a cold gas propulsion system. As a secondary mission the satellite is equipped with an camera capable of producing images with a best resolution of 500 metres.

The European Space Agency's cargo transportation spacecraft, ATV 03 (EDOARDO AMALDI), has failed to undock from the Zvezda port of the International Space Station as planned at circa 2230 GMT on 25 September.   The fault which prevented the full undocking sequence from going ahead was traced to a faulty laptop which was commanding the sequence.

UPDATE: ATV-03 finally detached itself from the Zvezda module of the ISS on 28 September at 2144 GMT.  After making deorbit engine burns on at 2142 GMT on 2 October, and again at 0042GMT on 3 October,  the ATV-03 craft re-entered on 3 October, with surviving debris landing in the Pacific at circa 0130 GMT.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), GOES 14 was brought in to replace GOES 13 as the operational GOES East satellite on 24/09/2012 after the GOES 13's failed at 1126 GMT on  23 September and the multi-spectral imager failed at 2122 GMT on 23 September.

 

Reports on http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ state that work on the third generation of the Beidou (Compass) navigation system has started in China. The space segment of the system will consist of a constellation of 5 Beidou-G satellites in geostationary orbit, 3 Beidou-I satellites in inclined geostationary orbit and 27 Beidou-M satellites in medium Earth orbit. Each satellite is expected to have an 8 year life and will be launched on the Long March 3B/E or Long March 5 with the first launch expected in 2016. The constellation is expected to be fully operational from 2020.

The latest Soyuz launch from Baikonur successfully lofted MetOp-B for the European Space Agency, but a rumor is floating around of an anomaly, possibly the result of an early engine cutoff on the second and/or third stage. According to the rumor -- cited unsourced but credibly by the generally reliably Anatoly Zak -- the engines were cut off early by a spurious or faulty signal.

In any case, MetOp-B appears to be in its proper sun-synch orbit and functioning normally.

After well over a thousand Soyuz launches, we are fairly certain that Russia knows how to build and launch the thing. But if the rumor is correct it is only the latest in a series of problems with Russian rockets. Most recently the Proton was grounded for inspections, and several high-profile launches have ended in failure in recent years. Soyuz and Proton will both work if built and launched correctly. One might be inclined at this point to speculate about quality control in the relevant factories.

After a national service of remembrance was held at the Washington National Cathedral the day before, the cremated ashes of Apollo 11 commander and first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, were finally put into the Atlantic in a ceremonial burial service on hte USS Philippine Sea on 14 September.   Also in attendance at the service were members of Armstrong's family including Armstrong's son Eric (Rick).  The while the final sea burial was performed by his wife Carol, the ceremony itself had most of the elements of a traditional US Navy burial at sea including a formal rifle salute.

Before becoming a civilian test pilot and NASA astronaut, Armstrong had served as a US Navy pilot in the Korean War.

Armstrong's ashes were buried at sea. Courtesy: NASA/Bill Ingalls

On the night of 21 September, several bright objects were seen streaking across the sky over Scotland and Northern Ireland.   The bright lights were seen with associated loud bangs which are thought to have been sonic booms indicating supersonic velocities. The consensus of opinion between Jodrell bank, the RAF and the Met Office was that the objects were probably either a meteorite breaking up in the atmosphere or space debris re-entering.  The objects were seen about two weeks week after strange Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) trailing vapours were also reported as flying at high speed over Scotland. 

The launch of Soyuz TMA-06M on a Soyuz FG rocket has been delayed from 15 October to 23 October after a technical fault resulted in a electronics module change.  The flight is to carry astronaut Kevin Ford and and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin to the International Space Station.  The launch was delayed due to the failure of a switching unit in the descent module which had to be changed.

 

After delays to make checks on its propellant system, the NASA Juno spacecraft finally executed a delayed deep space manoeuvre at 1930 GMT on 14 September. The burn lasted approximately 30 minutes. The manoeuvre had been originally planned to take place on 4 September but this was delayed after higher than expected pressure readings during a previous burn of its Leros-1b main engine on 30 August.

China successfully launched the Beidou 2C-M2 and Beidou 2C-M5 satellites on a Long March 3B vehicle from the Xichang launch centre at 1910 GMT on 19 September. The two satellites will fly in a medium Earth orbit to provide more capability to the fledgling Compass constellation. The Chinese satellite navigation system, Compass, will eventually use 35 satellites, 27 will be in medium Earth orbit with an altitude of around 21,500 kilometres, 3 satellite will fly in an inclined geosynchronous Earth orbit (inclined at 55 degrees), and 5 satellites flying in a geosynchronous Earth orbit. The constellation is designed to provide a civilian navigation service with a ground accuracy of around 10 metres and a military service with a greater accuracy.

The European weather satellite, Metop B was successfully launched at 1628 GMT on 17 September from Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan. The satellite will fly in a sun synchronous orbit at an average orbit of around 800 kilometres to provide imagery to the European Meteorological organisation (EUMETSAT) to assist in more accurate weather predictions.

Soyuz TMA-04M carrying its crew of three, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin undocked from the International Space Station at 2309 GMT on 16 September. The final de-orbit burn happened at 0156 GMT on 17 September. Re-entry then occurred with the craft touching down safely in Kazakhstan at 0253 GMT.

At 2139 GMT on 13 September 2012, an Atlas V 401 rocket was launched from the Vandenberg, California, launch site carrying a mission dubbed NRO L-36. The main payload of this secret mission is thought to be the sixth pair of NOSS 3 satellites launched for the National Reconnaissance Office.  These near-polar orbiting satellites use passive detection techologies to track ship positions via their radio transmissions.  

In addition to these were several cubesat-class spacecraft: AENEAS will be used for cargo tracking, three AEROCUBE 4 satellites are being used for technology demonstrations, CINEMA 1 is a space weather satellite, CISSWE is for observing solar particles, CP 5 is testing solar sail deorbiting technologies, CX-BN is an X-ray measurement satellite, two SMDC-ONE satellites are being used for communications experiments, STARE-A is a debris tracking technologies satellite.

 

A new video of a strange UFO object has been released showing it either trailing a contrail, or more ominously, releasing a chemical trail.  According to the video, the UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) was purporpedly imaged over Scotland on 5 September 2012.  "Chemtrail" conspiracy theorists have it that governments are deliberately using aircraft to spray the populace with undisclosed substances for their own ends - which may or may not be benign. 

Benign applications, in this case, could be nutrient sprays to increase crop yields, or vitamins to increase the relative low life expectancy of the Scottish population - well in Glasgow especially. (As the joke goes, while Her Majesty the Queen sends congratulatory cards to those that reach 100 years of age in England, in Scotland, she sends them to those reaching 65). J

Of course, the said UFO might be more malevolent.  As such, if the UFO is the property of another government (or planet), then assuming the video is not a fake, it may be up to the the Royal Navy to shoot it down if it returns (the RAF gave up its high altitude surface-to-air missile interception capability after its Bloodhound 2 was retired in the 1990s while its Typhoon jets may not be scrambled in time).

The Royal Navy now has Daring-class destroyers which can use their Aster 30 missiles can for its destruction.  The radar guided Aster 30 aka Sea Viper is the successor to the ramjet powered Sea Dart and the beam-riding Sea Slug.

Of course, the Royal Navy has form in shooting down UFOs before...well at least as part of television science fiction.  One episode of the British science fiction TV series "UFO" had a Royal Navy County Class destroyer firing a Sea Slug missile to show a UFO where to get off. 

While its bizarre-looking four flat-fronted booster configuration looked like it could never fly, the Sea Slug Mk II missile did have a good record in test interceptions.  That said, it never actually shot down anything in combat even though it was used during the Falkands war in 1982.  Actually there the venerable missile was launched mainly as a "scare device" at ground targets leaving its air defence role mainly to more modern missile types.

The aforementioned "UFO" TV series clip, courtesy of Gerry Anderson's Century 21 productions, shows that the Sea Slug loading sequence and launch was still very impressive.  Ah...well,..they don't make 'em like they used to.

. 

A national act of remembrance for Neil Armstrong was held at the Washington National Cathedral (on of whose windows include a moon rock brought back by Apollo 11) on the morning (local time) of 13 September.  The service,which was broadcast by NASA TV, held had traditional religious elements with hymns, choral anthems, and bible readings (Armstrong was thought to be a believer in God if not organised religion). 

During the service, President Kennedy's Rice University speech which committed the nation to go to the Moon was played. There was also a strangly moving performance of "Fly me to the Moon" sung by Diana Krall.

The US National memorial service for Neil Armstrong.  Courtesy: NASA TV

The congregation included Neil Armstrong's second wife and widow, Carol, and his family as well as many of his friends and colleagues including fellow Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin.  The US Navy, within which Armstrong served as a jet pilot during the Korean War, was also heavily represented.  Those playing tribute included current NASA Admininstrator Charles Bolden and Apollo 17's commander Gene Cernan who gave eulogies and his Apollo 11 crewmate Mike Collins who led the prayers. 

Some amusing anecdotes were told including how Armstrong was asked by a young questioner what went though his head when he realised he had only seconds left showing on his fuel gauge during Apollo 11's lunar descent.  After thinking for a while, Armstrong's reply was that "when the gauge is at empty we all know that there is a gallon left in the tank". 

It was also noted by Gene Cernan that in being a civilian pilot as an astronaut even though he was ex-US Navy, Armstrong had not actually received his gold "astronaut wings" until a special US Navy ceremony inl 2010 - to Armstrong's immense pride. .

Comment by David Todd: As this excellent and moving service ended one had an overall sense that Neil Armstrong, pilot, astronaut, and reluctant hero, was a good man - and one that would want to have in your astronaut crew, in your family, or just as one of your friends. God bless Neil Armstrong - wherever he is.

The US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney famously rubbished his Repulican nomination opponent Newt Gingrich's plan for a Moon base by saying: "I spent 25 years in business. If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired.'"  Despite this Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has called for Russia to begin work on a manned moonbase during a radio interview at the Vesti FM radio station during September.

"I would suggest that we work on solving one large task. Such a task could become the creation, let's say, of a Moon station, a Moon base," said Rogozin. 

Noting that it could be a stimulus to science Rogozin called the task of building such a base "big, prestigious and political."   He noted that such a base could be a jumping off point for more extensive exploration of the solar system.

In this, he chimed with many US and Russian space engineers who think that longer range missions to Mars and the other planets would be prohibitively expensive in the short run, and should only occur after the Moon was settled, 

 

Moonbase concept using inflatable modules.  Courtesy: NASA

 

 

A flash of light on the planet Jupiter observed by astronomers on 11 September may have been a comet strike.  The initial sighting announcement was made by astronomer Dan Peterson of Racine, Wisconsin, who contactred other astronomers. A short movie clip of the "strike" taken by astronomer George Hall based in Dallas, Texas, has now been made publically available via http://georgeastro.weebly.com/jupiter.html 

Still taken from movie clip of Jupiter comet/asteroid strike on 11 September. Courtesy: George Hall

Since the famous strike by Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which broke up and impacted Jupiter in July 1994, comet and asteroid strikes on Jupiter have now been discovered to be a regular occurence. Our sister outfit at New Scientist lists recent occurrences.

Launch provider Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and the commericial satellite operator SES announced an agreement on 12 September for the launch of three additional SES satellites on Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rockets. This launch agreement - concluded through SES' affiliate company SES-SL - adds to the launch order signed in March 2011 for the launch of SES-8 by SpaceX in 2013. All four Falcon missions will support the enhancement of SES' global fleet of satellites. The first of the new batch of SES/Space X launches is scheduled for 2015.

The US-based rocket system developer, Masten Space Systems, lost its Xaero suborbital launch and landing vehicle on 11 September after it crashed during a test flight at the Mojave spaceport in California. The craft was coming in to land after a flight to above 3,000 feet when it experenced oscillatons during its powered descent.   This led to a loss of control and the craft was destroyed in the ensuing crash..  The cause of the failure has not been confirmed, however a throttle valve failure is strongly suspected.  Masten Space Systems was already building a second Xaero rocket which will replace the crashed craft.

Masten's Xaero is one of several small reusable launch systems being developed to carry small experiments and technology payloads on brief sub-orbital space flights under NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, which is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards. Under a $250,000 NASA contract, Masten is required to perform four demonstration flights of its vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing spacecraft, two to about 16,000 feet altitude and two to almost 100,000 feet altitude.

Masten's Xaero craft during an ealier flight test. Courtesy: NASA

Japan's unmanned freighter spacecraft, HTV-3, was successfully detached from the International Space Station as planned on 12 September at 1550 GMT .   However, shortly after detaching and gently moving away, the craft made an unexpected emergency retreat from the station - a mode of operation that is only supposed to kick in when the on-board systems indicate that the craft is in danger of striking the space station.   Engineers from the Japanese space agency JAXA are now investigating why this Abort Control Unit (ACU) procedure was triggered.   The craft is expected to be de-orbited after an engine firing at 0451 GMT on 14 September to a safe burn up re-entry, with any remainng debris planned to land in the Pacific.

JAXA's HTV-3 during its earlier berthing manoeuvre with the International Space Station.  Courtesy: NASA

Commercial launch services company, International Launch Serivces (ILS), which is part of the Russian rocket firm Khrunichev, has announced the findngs of an investigation into the 6 August failure of a Proton M flight which stranded two satellites, Telkom 3 and Express MD-2 in an an incorrect orbit. The ILS Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) agreed with the conclusion of the Russian State Commission that the failure was caused by a fault in the Breeze-M (Briz-M) upper stage fuel system which in turn was a result of a production fault. Following this it was announced that the Proton M would be returned to flight status with the next flight of the rocket set for 14 October. This launch will carry the Intelsat 23 commercial communications satellite.   

With respect to the cause of the August flight failure, after two successful firings of the Briz M Upper Stage the third firing of the engine shut down after 7 seconds instead of the intended 18 minutes 5 seconds. An investigation commission found that pressure in the Briz-M's upper stage had fallen sharply following the vehicle's second engine burn, causing the Proton-M rocket to spin out of control. The investigating commission further found that a small metallic orifice inside a pressurisation line that was not manufactured according to specifications caused the failure. 

The faulty component was built by the subcontractor Polyot of Omsk, Russia, due to an apparent misunderstanding.  The manufacture of this component had been moved from Proton M's main manufacturer Khrunichev to Polyot in 2011. Unfortunately, the defect only showed itself under certain pressure thresholds and was thus not found during component testing.  A corrective action plans including all Breeze-M (Briz-M) upper stages planned for future launches are currently being checked for the fault.

On 12 September 1962, in a speech made at the Rice University, Houston, US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy announced a commitment to land men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.   The speech set NASA on a mission that it achieved with Apollo 11's landing in July 1969.  It should be noted NASA had only just managed manned orbital spaceflight starting with Johh Glenn's flight earlier that year.

While NASA was shocked by the speech's key timeline committment in the phrase "We choose to go to the moon in this decade," (this new deadline caused many a sleepless night in NASA's then leadership), fifty years on, the administration is now celebrating the anniversary of the speech that set it on its way to its greatest ever achievement. 

President Kennedy at Rice University on 12 September 1962.  Sadly, he was not able to see the fulfilment of his committment as he was assassinated the following year.  Courtesy: NASA

The Japanese satellite operator SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation has formed a Multi-Launch Services Agreement (MLSA) with European launch operator Arianespace.  The deal signed in Paris on 11 September between Shinji Takada, Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, is effectively a block booking of launch slots by SKY Perfect JSAT to ensure that it can get its satellites launched on time. According to Arianespace, since 1986 the launch operator has won 27 contracts in Japan out of the 36 open to competition, giving it a market share of 75%.

While the loss of privacy in this increasingly Orwellian "Big Brother" surveillance age concerns many, not least after the recent revelation that many UK schools are using CCTV cameras in school toilets and changing rooms, other types of continuous surveillance that would have been previously resisted in times past are now becoming accepted as "normal".   Car insurance is one sector where this is happening after a significant uptake in "Telematics" policies which employ continuous surveillance via satellite tracked "black box" car devices.

The "Telematics" insurance schemes offers drivers a lower price in exchange for agreeing to install a GPS satellite tracking device in their cars.   The technology keeps a complete record of locations visited and speed of the vehicle - and importantly can detect a dangerous driving style has been used on the vehicle e.g. whether the driver has been speeding or braking suddently.  The "carrot" offered to drivers agreeing to use this technology is a significant discount of up to 20% to their insurance premium rates. The uptake has been surprisingly fast with the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) announcing that 200,000 drivers in the UK are now using the system and that a further 300,000 are expected to join up in the next two years.

Some drivers are not aware that their could be downsides for them using such systems.  For example,  such tracking technology could be used in prosecutions as evidence of speeding of careless driving.  While this may be a good thing for public safety, privacy campaigners warn that if telematics use increases, there may be government legislation to fit such devices in all cars and trucks - effectivelly giving the state a complete record of vehicle movements.  Having said that, in reality, this may have already happened via the stealthy introduction of networked Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.  

As it is there are predictions that by 2017 more than 60% of all new cars will have telematics systems including tracking devices, installed on delivery - ableit that other applications such as internet connectivity is the main driver here. Critics also point out that while insurers currentlly offer a financial incentive to drivers to take such a system, this may not be the case if every vehicle has to have one.

 

 

Russian news wires (Interfax, RIA Novosti etc) report that the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin has announced that the agency has ordered the recall of an entire batch of Breeze-M (Briz-M) upper stages so that they can been stripped down and checked out fully. It was a fault on an upper stage from this batch that led to the latest Proton-M launch failure on 6 August.  That failure lost the Telkom-3 and Express MD2 satellites abouard which, according to the Flightglobal/Ascend database were insured for $185 million and $37.3 million respectively.

Hispasat has signed contracts with Arianespace for the launch of the Amazonas 4A and Hispasat AG1 launch contracts.  Under the first contract Amazonas 4A will be launched by an Ariane 5 or Soyuz rocket in early 2014 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation using a GEOStar 2.4 platform, this satellite will be located at orbital position 61 degrees West.

 

The Amazonas 4A satellite will carry a communications payload of 24 Ku-band transponders and has a planned launch mass of 3 tons. With a lifespan of 15 years, the Amazonas 4A will provide services over Latin America, a growth sector for Hispasat.

 

The second contract signed with Arianespace is for the launch of the 3,200kg Hispasat AG1, the first mission of the Small Geo platform developed by OHB Systems (Germany) with the aid of ESA and Hispasat. The Hispasat AG1 satellite,that will be launched by an Ariane 5 in late 2014.

Avanti Communicatons has received confirmation from the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau that the ITU filing for the use of spectrum by Hylas 2 at 31 degrees East location (where the satellite is currently located) has been accepted and notified in accordance with ITU rules. 

In a statement, the London-based satellite operator, Avanti Communications, noted that it had received confirmation from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Bureau, which advises the deciding ITU Radio Regulations Board, that the ITU filing for the use of spectrum by Hylas 2 at 31 degrees East location (where the satellite is currently located) has been accepted and notified in accordance with ITU rules.   Avanti confirms that the satellite has now passed its in orbit testing phase and is now ready for operations.  

The ITU Radio Regulations Board declined to rule on the protest from SES noting that it had arrived to late to be considered at the current meeting by may be reconsidered in November.

Media sources previously disclosed that the Government of Luxembourg has asked it to deny a licence to the London-based  Avanti Communicaitions to take control of the 31 degrees East location over the equator given that its Hylas 2 communications satellite did not make it into its position by its May deadline (the satellite was launched in August after a manufacturing-related satellite testing delay).   Officially the protest is over the potential interference to SES's Astra 5B satellite which will be located at a nearby slot.  Luxembourg is the base for thte international satellite operator SES.

Government of the United Kingdom via its OFCOM (Office of Communications) regulatory body, protested noting that the Hylas 1 satellite did operate from this 31 degrees East slot for 16 days in early 2011 before taking up its own 33.5 degrees West slot.  Subsequent to this stay, the ITU changed its own rules noting that slots could only satisfy the "brought into use" with a full 90 day stay.  The rules were tightened to stop firms and nations from block booking valuable orbital locations without having real satellites to operate from them and then placing some of their other satellites (sometimes leased for the purpose) at the said locations for just a few days.

Avanti's Hylas 2 spacecraft is to provide broadband services over Europe and Africa. Courtesy: Avanti Communications

This dispute is not the only one being decided at the ITU. While the Government of Iran has now missed its 14 July deadline to have a satellite operating from its 34 degrees East position in the Geostationary orbital arc, it pleaded with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Regulations Board to be allowed to retain the slot for its planned Zohreh 1 satellite, given that it declared that it had leased an unnamed satellite to broadcast from the posItion. However, with Iran providing no documentary evidence to support this, the ITU Radio Regulations Board has removed Iran's right to the 34 degrees East location.

The ITU declined to rule on the dispute between the pan-Arabic operator Arabsat (supported by Saudia Arabia and Iran, and Eutelsat (supported by Qatar) over potential satellite interference issues concerned with the the locations over 25-26 degrees East.

 

.

The French-built 712kg SPOT 6 Earth observation satellite was successfully launched by an Indian PSLV launch vehicle.  The lift off from the Sriharikota launch site took place on 9 September at 0423 GMT.  The launch was delayed slightly by two minutes due to the need to ensure a miss with passing space debris.   The SPOT 6 spacecraft was built by Astrium and will have maximum resolution of 1.5m, putting it firmly in the there Earth observation class rather than lower resolutoin remote sensing closs.  The imagery is to be marketed by Spot Image S.A.

Also on the flight was a small plasma thruster technology test satellite: the 15 kg PROITERES (Project of Osaka Inst. of Technology Electric Rocket Engine aboard
small Spaceship).  There was also a small intertial navigation payload called Mini Redundant Strapdown Intertial Navigation System (MRESINS) which was attached to the rocket upper stage.

 

Artists impression of SPOT 6 Courtesy: Astrium

Vasily Nikolaevich Sychyov has been appointed Executive General Director, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center - Russia's main launch vehicle producer.   He replaces Vladimir Nesterov whose resignation was formally accepted by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin earlier this month (some news reports say he was dismissed). Nesterov resigned after the latest upper stage launch failure to the Proton M launch vehicle in August.

Meantime, in a seperate development, the French satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space has a new leader. Jean-Loïc Galle succeefs Raynald Seznec as President and Chief Executive Officer of Thales Alenia Space.  Seznec has been moved to Senior Vice President for Zone B in the Thales group.

It has been announced that the late Apollo 11 astronaut commander, Neil Armstrong, who became famous in becoming the first man to set foot on the Moon, will be buried at sea. The burial will be made after an official rememberence service to take place at the Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C. on 13 September.  

The Navy-style sea burial will be apt as Armstrong was a US Navy fighter bomber pilot during the Korean War.  It is thought that this will be a private family affair. A private memorial service has already been held earlier in September in Cincinati, Ohio, where family, friends and fellow Apollo astonauts attended.

Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide made a spacewalk to finish the replacement of a key component on the International Space Station.  The EVA (Extravehicular Activity) on 5 September lasted six hours and 28 minute (ending at 1734 GMT.  After using a toothbrush to clean metal shavings/debris from a bolt hole they successfully drove home a new bolt to latch the replacement Main Bus Switching Unit No 1 (MBSU No 1) into place.

This latching operation failed due to this blockage during the previous spacewalk on 30 August 2012.  The replacement allowed solar array power to be restored to two (of eight) main solar arrays had been lost while the replacement was completed). One of the eight solar arrays continues to be faulty due to a separate voltage regulator short circuit. 

During the spacewalk, the astronauts also installed a new camera on the Canadarm 2 robotic arm.

The NASA spacecraft, Dawn, escaped the gravity of the asteroid Vesta at 0626 GMT on 5 September where it has spent the last year studying the asteroid and is now headed towards the largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres, where it is expected to arrive in 2015.

A second trajectory correction manoeuvre for NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter was delayed after a higher than expected readings in the spacecraft's propellant system during the previous burn on 30 August.  The follow up burn on 4 September 2011 has now been delayed to allow checks to be carried out.  The manoeuvres are needed to ensure a slingshot flyby manoevre with Earth.

NASA has released a mosaic combining six images -- two each of red, green and blue spectral filters -- to create this natural color view of the large moon Titan orbiting the planet Saturn. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on 6 May 2012, at a distance of approximately 483,000 miles (778,000 kilometers) from Titan.  The rings of saturn have cast a shadow on the planet.  The bluish hue is thought due to the intensity of ultraviolet light and the haze it produces.  This changes according with the seasons for each hemisphere.

Saturn and Titan Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

 

A long filament erupted on the sun on 31 August  2012.  The occurrence was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The filament lies in the lower left corner of the sun. The movie shows light at 304 Angstroms and 171 Angstroms, both of which help scientists observe the sun's atmosphere, or corona. STEREO and SOHO also observed the associated coronal mass ejection (CME) and their views are shown, as well. Clip courtesy: NASA

 

The satellite operator Intelsat S.A. has selected Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems to build the Intelsat 29e satellite, the first pf ots Intelsat Epic^NG satellites.  The Intelsat 29e will use the Boeing 702MP bus design (aka Boeing 702B).  Scheduled for launch in 2015, Intelsat 29e will offer high-performance communications coverage spanning North and South America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the North Atlantic aeronautical route connecting North America and Europe.  Image courtesy: Boeing

While gambling bookmakers, opinion pollsters, and election forecasters are currently split as to the likely outcome of the US Presidential Election, most are agreed that it will be the key "swing states" that will decide the election via the electoral college system.   As such, it is surprising that both candidates have been reticent on the subject of space.  This is, in spite of the fact that Florida which depends more than most on the US national space programme, is widely regarded as a key swing state. 

Things have become a little clearer since ScienceDebate website has sent published the answers that each candidate gave questions asking about their science and space policy. While their answers are often dressed in banalities of political electioneering (usually statements that everyone agrees with but do not indicate detailed policy) nevertheless interpeting their answers is illuminating.  Subsequent to this the Obama for America-Florida campaign has released a list of Obama's claimed "space accomplishments".   

Obama did good things for space (sometimes voluntarily) 

President Barack Obama has, of course, had mixed fortunes with his space policy.  The conclusion of Augustine Committee that Project Constellation was "not executable" under its planned funding levels, led President Obama to end Project Constellation. At the same time, while he did add extra flights, he decided to follow through with the Bush decision to end the costly Space Shuttle operation - though this was now to take place before a manned replacement was ready.  This caused consternation amongst US Senators and fomer astronauts (including the late Neil Armstrong) that NASA was to become reliant on Russia to get its astronauts into orbit - at least until a replacement was ready. 

Obama had previously made the controversial decision to fund commercial operators developing systems to supply NASA and the International Space Station with cargo and crew transportation.  This policy, which was much criticised at the time,  is now being applauded as it has successfully progressed.  Even concerns about crew safety have been somewhat assuaged by the development of hi-tech escape rocket systems. 

Nevertheless, while NASA shoujld soon be able to fly its astronauts into orbit by itself, without Project Constellation, for a time it appeared to be left without the means to perform proper exploration of the Moon, asteroids or solar system.  The White House was, at the time, also being accused of being deliberately vague over future exploration plans.

This became even more apparent with the White House's post-Constellation refusal to commit to the fast building of a new heavy lift rocket to replace Costellation's Ares V.  The US Senate eventualy intervened and, under pressure, the White House and NASA agreed to the construction of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.While his supporters do try to include Obama's support for SLS in his list of accomplishments, in truth, President Obama's hand was forced into starting this programme. 

Obama tries to look decisive

Sensitive to these claims of past exploration policy vagueness, Obama declares in his Science Debate responses that he has already set a goal of astronauts visiting an asteroid by 2025 and going to Mars in the 2030s.

"When our Orion deep space crew vehicle takes its first test flight in 2014, it will travel farther into space than any spacecraft designed for humans has flown in the 40 years since our astronauts returned from the moon. That is progress." notes Obama.

Obama has become the subject of space related jestful art - Courtesy: Zazzle.com

Obama had, in fact, originally planned to cancel the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.  When opposition crew as a compromise, Obama attempted to designate it a space station crew lifeboat.  In the end NASA was allowed to develop it fully as an exploration vehicle under the offical name of Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. 

This decision, along with the development of SLS, has allowed NASA to maintain its leadership in exploratory spaceflight.   As President Obama tries to take credit for these choices, in truth he knows that he really has been a reluctant supporter of the US manned space programme.

With respect to unmanned space exploration and research Obama is on surer ground - though NASA budget restrictions are causing some unmanned missions to be cancelled,  Nevertheless, his supporters note his support for climate change research including related Earth observation space missions. Obama was also careful to pay tribute to the achievment involved in the landing of NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover. 

Romney has weaknesses of his own

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has his own weaknesses.  As he praises the role of private enterpise in the space programme, Romney's Republican party remains split between wanting to support Obama's initiative on commecial space and wanting the US Space Programme to remain in government hands. Now that the Obama plan looks likely to be successful, neither Romney nor the rest of his party, know how to repond.  

"Space is crucial to technological innovation. says Romney in the ScienceDebate 2012 responses, before, adding. "If we want to have a scientifically trained and competent workforce, we must demonstrate a long-term commitment to the pursuit of innovation and knowledge."   Romney hints that past ITAR over-regulation had damaged space exports:  "I will work to ease trade limitations, as appropriate, on foreign sales of U.S. space goods and will work to expand access to new markets." he said.

At least, Romney agrees with Obama that space is a high value technology that is both milarily useful and a valuable source of trade and educational inspiration.  Both candidates note that they are in favour of continued international cooperation in space. "We have extended the life of the International Space Station, forwarding efforts to foster international cooperation in space," said President Obama. 

While noting that space is essential for both national security and even national pride, nevertheless, Romney confirms that under him money for spaceflight would remain tight. Romney states: "A strong and successful NASA does not require more funding, it needs clearer priorities."    

Romney beat Gingrich with a quip against his space plan Courtesy: addictinginfo.org 

NASA's priorities would probably not include a Moon base. As a candidate for the Republican nomination, Romney famously rubbished his opponent Newt Gingrich's plan for a Moon base by saying: "I spent 25 years in business. If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired.'"  

Conclusion: Space is fun but it is the Economy stupid

President Obama has made the correct decisions - even if for some of these he had to have his hand forced. However, while space policy might have an impact on Florida's voters, it has to be realised that for most space is really a sideshow to the economy.   If Obama can convince on that subject he will be re-elected - if not - he won't.

POST SCRIPT:  Obama should be winner say betting markets - not so fast say forecasters

The Iowa Electronic Market, a futures market set up by the University of Iowa that allows traders effectively to bet on who willl win the Presidential race, currently has the incumbent President Barack Obama of the Democratic Party as favourite in the election. He was, at the time of writing in early September, ahead of Mitt Romney of the Republican Party (GOP).   According to past elections, the market has been a reliable indicator of the result. British bookmakers have apparently taken this lead and currently also have President Obama as the odds-on favourite for the November election.  Of course things may yet change in these "betting markets" - probably according to how the US economy goes. 

Political analysts at University of Colorado have found that the economy is the best predictor of U.S. presidential elections since 1980. On the basis, their current prediction is that the 2012 winner will be Mitt Romney. Meantime, recent opinion polls show a very close race with Obama just edging ahead of Romney after being behind for some time.

 

Liberty Media Corporation is on the verge of taking control of the subscription-based satellite radio broadcasting operation Sirius XM Radio Inc.  Liberty has announced via a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that it has acquired 40.5m shares in Sirius XM Radio, taking its overall stock holding to just short of 50%.  Liberty has asked permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)  to finalise the take over.

NASA's decision to choose yet another Mars lander for its 12th Discovery-class mission is unimaginative. While the chosen mission dubbed Mars Insight lander will, no doubt, produce interesting science with respect to the internal structure of Mars, the planet has, in a way, had too much time spent on it.  NASA should note that there are other planetary bodies in the solar system to explore.  Similarly NASA should note that it is usually the new and daring missions which result in new science and new techniques being discovered rather than those from the "play safe" category missions.   

 

Images of Saturn as seen from the oceans of its moon Titan could have been breathtaking - if only NASA had been braver in taking the plunge

One of the missions that Mars Insight beat to the money was the Comet Hopper mission - a proposed spacecraft planned to land on multiple comets,  Even more exciting was the Titan Maritime Explorer, a mission to actually sail a ship on the methane oceans of another world.  It was also rejected on the grounds that it was more risky and less likely to come in within budget. 

Perhaps there was logic in the final choice but it has to be said that sometimes the beancounters cause boredom. And with a lack of interest from the public, the less likely will it be that they will be willing to use their taxes to fund space exploration in future. 

Expedition 32 astronauts Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide  performed an 8 hours 17 minutes spacewalk on 30 August.  However, the pair failed to install the main bus switching unit No 1 (MBSU No 1) replacement after a bolt would not drive home.  The failure to do this has meant that two of the eight main solar arrays can not be used to power the space station.  A new spacewalk is now planned.