Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #43Das hier war mir bislang durch die Lappen gegangen.
Zu den "sekundären Nutzlasten" der Artemis-I-Mission gehören auch 13 Cube-Sats, die während der Mission ausgesetzt werden sollen. Unter anderem dieser hier:
Update dazu.
Zitat Eric Hand @erichand NASA will soon return to the Moon with the launch of #SLS and #Artemis. These 10 CubeSats are along for the ride--but half of them may have trouble booting up. Their batteries have drained while waiting for launch: 10:50 PM · Aug 15, 2022·Twitter Web App
Zitat von 15 Aug 20224:35 PMBut there will be other voyagers along for the ride when the SLS lifts off on 29 August: 10 CubeSats, satellites no bigger than a small briefcase, to probe the Moon, asteroids, and the radiation environment of deep space.
The investigators who built those satellites have more than the usual launch jitters: Half of them may not have enough power to begin their missions. Stuck within the rocket for more than a year because of launch delays, their batteries have drained to a level where some may be unable to boot up and unfurl their solar panels. “The longer we wait, the higher the risk,” says Ben Malphrus of Morehead State University, principal investigator for Lunar IceCube, one of the CubeSats with power concerns.
At stake is not just data, but a test of CubeSats as deep-space probes.
Was mich jetzt ganz leicht irritiert. Oben, #19, habe ich nämlich am 23. Juni das hier zitiert:
Zitat Final inspections and closeouts are also on tap inside the VAB, and the ground team will recharge batteries on some of the CubeSat secondary payloads mounted under the Orion spacecraft.
PS. Just bekomme ich vom Autor folgende Klarstellung:
Zitat Eric Hand @erichand Replying to @elkmann_ulrich I think the key word there is 'some.' Half were permitted to recharge. 11:55 PM · Aug 15, 2022·Twitter Web App
Nachtrag Cubesats.
Zitat Jeff Foust @jeff_foust Asked about this during the media call about lunar cubesats flying on Artemis 1. NASA’s Jacob Bleacher says the best way to mitigate the problem is to launch as soon as they can. (This had been a known issue for months, but no one involved wanted to go on the record before.) 11:40 PM · Aug 15, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
Zitat NASA's Exploration Ground Systems @NASAGroundSys
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, @NASA's Artemis I Launch Director, has officially given the 'go' to proceed with roll to the pad. Tomorrow, teams will roll @NASA_SLS and @NASA_Orion to Launch Pad 39B where Charlie will oversee the launch on Aug. 29.
Zitat 08/17/2022 02:31 Stephen Clark Stephen Clark
NASA teams will receive a weather briefing ahead of the scheduled start time for tonight's rollout of the Space Launch System moon rocket at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT). The doors to High Bay 3 were opened a few hours ago to prepare for rollout.
08/17/2022 02:38 Stephen Clark Stephen Clark
A thunderstorm has developed just southwest of the Kennedy Space Center, bringing thunder and flashes of lightning to the area around the Vehicle Assembly Building. There is a weather rule that states there can't be a greater than 10% chance of lightning within 20 nautical miles of the launch area during rollout of the Space Launch System.
Zitat 08/17/2022 09:20 The crawler-transporter with NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket has passed the junction in the crawlerway and taken the left-hand turn to begin heading toward pad 39B.
08/17/2022 11:56 Now eight hours into the rollout of NASA's Space Launch System, the crawler-transporter carrying the rocket has entered the perimeter fence at pad 39B. The crawler is climbing the ramp for the final quarter-mile of the journey.
08/17/2022 12:36 The crawler-transporter will carefully align the SLS mobile launch platform with the pedestals at pad 39B. The crawler's jacking and leveling system will lower the entire stack onto the pedestals to complete the 4.2-mile (6.8-kilometer) overnight journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Zitat Spaceflight Now @SpaceflightNow The jacking and leveling system on the crawler-transporter is now lowering the Space Launch System and its Mobile Launcher onto the support pedestals at pad 39B. This is the final step before the rollout operation is complete 1:56 PM · Aug 17, 2022·TweetDeck
Spaceflight Now @SpaceflightNow A NASA spokesperson confirms the Space Launch System moon rocket and its mobile launch platform were "hard down" on pad 39B at 8:03am EDT (1203 GMT).
Nur um es in der Chronik festzuhalten. Der Außenbordeinsatz von zwei russischen Kosmonauten auf der ISS ist heute nach zwei Stunden abgebrochen worden, weil einer der Raumanzüge gefährliche Spannungsschwankungen in der Elektrik entwickelt hat.
Zitat Russian ground controllers ordered International Space Station commander Oleg Artemyev back to the airlock after data showed voltage fluctuations in his spacesuit Wednesday, cutting short a spacewalk to continue outfitting the European Space Agency’s robotic arm delivered to the complex last year.
Artemyev and Denis Matveev, wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits, opened the hatch of the the Poisk airlock module at 9:53 a.m. EDT (1353 GMT) Wednesday to begin a planned six-and-a-half hour spacewalk.
The primary focus of the spacewalk was to continue readying the European Robotic Arm for regular operations. The 37-foot-long (11.3-meter) arm launched last July on Russia’s Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, and joins similar Canadian and Japanese arms outside the space station.
But telemetry from Artemyev’s spacesuit showed a problem in its power system a little more than two hours into the spacewalk. The data indicated the battery-powered suit was experiencing voltage fluctuations, prompting Russian mission control to order Artemyev back to the airlock to plug into the space station’s power supply.
“I have a message, voltage low,” Artemyev radioed Russian ground controllers around 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). ... The work left incomplete included the relocation of the arm’s external control panel, and testing of a rigidizing mechanism on the arm that will be used to grasp payloads for movement outside the station.
The Canadian and Japanese robotic arms are positioned outside the U.S.-led segment of the space station, while the Russian segment is accessible to the European arm. Like the Canadian robotic arm, the European arm has the ability to “inchworm” between grapple fixtures, or base points, at multiple locations on the space station.
The excursion Wednesday marked the 252nd spacewalk for assembly, maintenance, and upgrades of the International Space Station, and the seventh outside the ISS this year. It was the fourth spacewalk primarily dedicated to preparing the European Robotic Arm for operations. ... The Russian spacewalk occurred as the U.S. spacesuits on the International Space Station remain unavailable for all but emergency spacewalks. NASA is investigating the cause of a water leak noticed during a March spacewalk using a U.S. spacesuit. Weather permitting, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft is set to depart the station as soon as Thursday and splash down off the coast of Florida, returning the leaky suit to Earth for inspections.
Zitat Marcia Smith @SpcPlcyOnline NASA will announce regions near the lunar South Pole that are candidate landing sites for Artemis III on Friday (Aug 19) at 2:00 pm ET. Listen on NASA Live. 3:06 AM · Aug 18, 2022·TweetDeck
Pas de surprise. Die Flugbahn des Gateway ist entsprechend ausgelegt; die Isotopenkartierungen der Nachweise von Eis sind seit vier Jahren "offiziell," und das Vorhandensein von Eis ist immer als Voraussetzung für den aufbau einer permanenten Station auf der Mondoberfläche angeführt worden. Aber imerhin ist das dann auch offiziell.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat SpaceX plans to launch another batch of 53 Starlink internet satellites Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff at 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT) to loft the Starlink payloads into orbit. There’s a 50% chance of favorable weather for launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket will head northeast from the Kennedy Space Center, aiming to deliver the flat-packed broadband relay stations to an orbit ranging between 144 miles and 208 miles in altitude (232-by-336 kilometers). Deployment of the 53 flat-packed satellites from the Falcon 9’s upper stage will occur about 15 minutes after liftoff.
With Friday’s mission, designated Starlink 4-27, SpaceX will have launched 3,108 Starlink internet satellites, including prototypes and test units no longer in service. The launch Tuesday will mark the 56th SpaceX mission primarily dedicated to hauling Starlink internet satellites into orbit.
Nachtrag 21:45. Der 38. Start von SpaceX in diesem Jahr; der 9. Flug der Startstufe.
Die nächsten Starts: Am 27. August der nächste Starlink-Start SL 4-23, vom LC-39A Vor Anfang September (das genaue Datum ist noch nicht bekanntgegben) SL 3-4 von Vandenberg und am 4. September, wider vom LC-40, Starlink SL 4-20, mit zusätzlicher Nutzlast Sherpa-LTC2 & Varuna.
Wobei der Witz ist, daß die beiden "Rideshares" Probeflüge für eine Konstellation für ein satellitengestützes Internet sind, das Boeing entwickelt. Varuna ist der erste Satellit, der im Zug dieses Aufbaus getestet wird; Sherpa LTC i arbeitet dabei als "Weltraumschlepper", als dritte Stufe, mit der die isg. 147 Satelliten von einer Höhe von 280 km auf eine endgültige Umlaufbahn in 1020 km gebracht werden.
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat NASA Identifies Candidate Regions for Landing Next Americans on Moon
As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon under Artemis, the agency has identified 13 candidate landing regions near the lunar South Pole. Each region contains multiple potential landing sites for Artemis III, which will be the first of the Artemis missions to bring crew to the lunar surface, including the first woman to set foot on the Moon.
“Selecting these regions means we are one giant leap closer to returning humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo,” said Mark Kirasich, deputy associate administrator for the Artemis Campaign Development Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When we do, it will be unlike any mission that’s come before as astronauts venture into dark areas previously unexplored by humans and lay the groundwork for future long-term stays.”
NASA identified the following candidate regions for an Artemis III lunar landing:
Faustini Rim A Peak Near Shackleton Connecting Ridge Connecting Ridge Extension de Gerlache Rim 1 de Gerlache Rim 2 de Gerlache-Kocher Massif Haworth Malapert Massif Leibnitz Beta Plateau Nobile Rim 1 Nobile Rim 2 Amundsen Rim
Each of these regions is located within six degrees of latitude of the lunar South Pole and, collectively, contain diverse geologic features. Together, the regions provide landing options for all potential Artemis III launch opportunities. Specific landing sites are tightly coupled to the timing of the launch window, so multiple regions ensure flexibility to launch throughout the year.
To select the regions, an agencywide team of scientists and engineers assessed the area near the lunar South Pole using data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and decades of publications and lunar science findings. In addition to considering launch window availability, the team evaluated regions based on their ability to accommodate a safe landing, using criteria including terrain slope, ease of communications with Earth, and lighting conditions. ... The team identified regions that can fulfill the moonwalk objective by ensuring proximity to permanently shadowed regions, and also factored in other lighting conditions. All 13 regions contain sites that provide continuous access to sunlight throughout a 6.5-day period – the planned duration of the Artemis III surface mission. Access to sunlight is critical for a long-term stay at the Moon because it provides a power source and minimizes temperature variations.
Zitat Three mannequins installed on Orion spacecraft for flight around the moon
Three instrumented mannequins strapped into seats on NASA’s Orion spacecraft awaiting liftoff on the first flight of the huge Space Launch System rocket will help engineers evaluate the human experience for future astronauts trips to the moon.
The three mannequins — one wearing an Orion astronaut spacesuit and two others in recumbent passenger seats — were recently installed inside the pressurized cabin of the Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
They were aboard the Orion capsule on top of the SLS moon rocket when it rolled to the launch pad early Aug. 17 for final countdown preparations. The mannequins are fitted with thousands of sensors to measure acceleration, vibration, and radiation levels throughout the Orion spacecraft’s trip from Earth to the moon and back. ... The Orion spacecraft will travel past the moon and swing into a distant retrograde orbit with an average distance of more than 43,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) from the lunar surface. At that distance from Earth, the spacecraft will be flying outside the magnetic field that shields the planet from solar and cosmic radiation. ... Two “co-passengers” are also aboard the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission. Two “phantom torsos” are strapped into passenger seats inside the capsule to gather data about the radiation exposure astronauts will encounter on lunar expeditions.
The two female-bodied phantoms, named Helga and Zohar, are made out of epoxy resin. Radiation interact with the resin material in a similar way to how it impacts human bones, tissue and organs, according to Thomas Berger, principal investigator for the phantom torsos at DLR, the German Aerospace Center.
There are more than 10,000 sensors embedded in the phantoms to collect radiation measurements at different parts of the body.
“Besides the difference between a man and a woman when it comes to biological effects, we will differentiate between different body organs, between the brain and the uterus, for example,” said Ramona Gaza, science team lead for the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment, or MARE, investigation.
Managers from across NASA have gathered at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to start the Artemis I mission Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Over the next several hours, the FRR will focus on the preparedness of the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, ground systems at Kennedy, flight operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and space communications and navigations networks to support the flight, and the certification of flight readiness.
After the conclusion of the FRR, NASA will hold a televised media briefing to discuss the outcome. Credentialed media may attend in-person and all media may call in to ask questions via phone. Contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. EDT for connection details.
Zitat NASA begins final preparations for maiden flight of $4.1 billion SLS rocket
By William Harwood
August 22, 2022 / 3:25 PM /
With one week to go until launch, mission managers met Monday to review preparations for the unpiloted maiden flight of NASA's huge $4.1 billion Space Launch System rocket, a 322-foot-tall behemoth the agency is counting on to return American astronauts to the moon.
Assuming no unexpected issues, managers are expected to give the launch team clearance to press ahead toward start of a 46-hour 10-minute countdown at 10:23 a.m. EDT Saturday, setting the stage for blastoff at 8:33 a.m. Monday, the opening of a two-hour window.
Zitat Artemis I Flight Readiness Concludes; NASA “go” for August 29 Launch, Briefing set for 8 p.m.
August 22, 2022 7:21 pm
The Flight Readiness Review for NASA’s Artemis I mission has concluded, and teams are proceeding toward a two-hour launch window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday, August 29, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B in Florida. NASA will hold a media conference at approximately 8 p.m. to discuss the outcome of the review.
Und zur Frage der möglicherweise zu geringen Batteriespannung.
Zitat The 10 CubeSats hitching a ride to deep space on NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket promise new discoveries about the moon, space weather, and asteroids. But some of the small spacecraft will launch with their batteries only partially charged after sitting inside the rocket for more than a year.
Folded up for launch, the CubeSats are each the size of a large cereal box. They are stowed inside dispensers mounted on the ring-shaped adapter that sits just below the Orion spacecraft on top of the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) SLS moon rocket. ... The Orion spacecraft will deploy from the SLS upper stage a little more than two hours after liftoff, then the CubeSats will separate from the upper stage one-by-one over the next few hours.
The 10 rideshare payloads are stowed inside deployers on the Orion Stage Adapter, the interface that connects the SLS moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft. The adapter was stacked on the Space Launch System last October inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy.
The CubeSats themselves were packed inside their deployers before then. Nine of the spacecraft were installed on the adapter last July, and the final ridehsare payload was added in September.
At that time, the launch of the Artemis 1 mission was expected in late 2021 or early 2022. It turned out that the launch delayed another half-year or more, with the target liftoff date now set for Aug. 29.
The delays caused some officials to worry about the battery charge on the CubeSats. Five of the 10 secondary payloads had their batteries recharged, while the others were not topped off due to design and access constraints. In at least one case, mission officials chose not to recharge a CubeSat’s battery.
“There were several that had the capability of being recharged, and then there were several that simply did not have that capability once we are stacked,” Bleacher said. “At this point, it’s difficult to apply any more charge to those CubeSats. So we’re trying to work through preparations and get the SLS ready to fly. That’s the best thing that we can do at this point.
“We are at the point where we’re getting ready to fly,” said Mike Sarafin, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission manager. “The remainder of those CubeSats, based on analyses we believe have sufficient charge to conduct a mission. Some may actually need to recharge after they’re deployed, after they gain some solar power through their solar arrays. But we believe each of these have a mission.
“That said, the CubeSats are relatively low cost,” Sarafin said. “They have relatively low levels of redundancy and a relatively high failure rate, so we do anticipate one or more of these CubeSats to not be successful in its mission just due to the nature of the CubeSats themselves.”
Zitat “All the CubeSats are in a slightly different situation,” he said. “But for LunaH-Map, I think we should be okay with the launch coming up.”
The managers in charge of the Team Miles mission believe their spacecraft is in good shape. That CubeSat’s batteries are about 85% charged, according to Wesley Faler, leader of the Team Miles mission.
“We had an opportunity to charge, but we opted out of it,” Faler said. “There’s such a low discharge rate on our batteries that we figured why rock the boat and introduce introduce the variable of recharging.”
Die vier CubeSats, deren Batterien währen des letzten Aufenthalts in VAB nicht aufgeladen worden sind, sind: - Lunar IceCube - LunaH-Map - LunIR - Team Miles
"Les hommes seront toujours fous; et ceux qui croient les guérir sont les plus fous de la bande." - Voltaire
Zitat NASA's Exploration Ground Systems @NASAGroundSys
Final closeouts continue at Pad 39B. Teams opened @NASA_Orion hatches for the last time before the Artemis I launch to complete payload positioning and prepare the interior for flight. Ops include interior window inspections, leak checks, and removing interior access platforms.
Aus der Etappe, II. Der aktuelle Wetterbericht gibt 70% Schönwetterschangse für Montagmorgen.
Zitat Chance Belloise @chancebelloise There it is! The launch weather forecast for Artemis! Our L-4 forecast predicts weather will be 70% GO for launch on Monday, August 29, at 0833 ET (1233 UTC). #Artemis #WeAreGoing 3:50 PM · Aug 25, 2022·Twitter Web App
Call to Stations: At approx. 9:53 am EDT, or L-46 hours, 40 minutes before the initial targeted T-0, the launch team arrived at their stations inside the Launch Control Center at @NASAKennedy. The countdown is now underway for the 1st Artemis I launch attempt, Aug. 29 at 8:33 am.
NASA's Artemis 1 countdown officially began at 10:23 a.m. EDT (1423 GMT). The two-day countdown will culminate in loading of cryogenic propellants into the Space Launch System early Monday for liftoff at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT).
The countdown started at T-minus 43 hours, 10 minutes. There are two built-in holds planned at T-minus 6 hours, 40 minutes, and at T-minus 10 minutes.
A few more minutes for the briefing (herding panelists is apparently harder than launching rockets.) 5:13 PM · Aug 27, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
“We do feel good about our attempt at Monday,” Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin says at the start of the briefing. Cautions weather, range issues and/or technical problems could scrub the launch. 5:29 PM · Aug 27, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director: started countdown after call to stations on schedule at 9:53am EDT. Tanking begins Monday just after midnight. 5:33 PM · Aug 27, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
Launch weather is still 70% go for Monday’s Artemis 1 launch attempt. 5:54 PM · Aug 27, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
Sarafin says the risk of loss of the Orion vehicle on Artemis 1 is 1-in-125, based on a probabilistic risk assessment from various phases of flight. 6:05 PM · Aug 27, 2022·Tweetbot for Mac
Zum Blitzeinschlag während des kurzem Gewitter-Interludiums heute nachmittag.
Zitat Team Assessing Lightning Strikes to Towers at Launch Pad
As the Artemis I countdown progresses, rain and thunderstorms have continued throughout the afternoon at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Earlier this afternoon, there were three lightning strikes to the lightning protection system towers at Launch Pad 39B – a strike to Tower 1, and two strikes to Tower 2. Initial indications are that the strikes were of low magnitude. A weather team has begun an assessment that includes collecting voltage and current data, as well as imagery. The data will be shared with a team of experts on electromagnetic environment efforts who will determine if any constraints on vehicle or ground systems were violated. Engineers will conduct a walkdown at the pad tonight, and if needed, conduct additional assessments with subsystems experts.
Overnight, engineers also will conduct preparations on the umbilicals, power up the core stage, and begin charging the Orion and Space Launch System core stage batteries.
The lightning protection system at the launch pad includes three 600-foot-tall towers and catenary wires positioned to protect the rocket, spacecraft, and mobile launcher. The wires run to the ground almost diagonally, steering the lightning current away from the rocket.
Interesting note from the SLS briefing this morning. If the count reaches main engine ignition, at T-6.8 seconds, and there is a scrub for any reason they will not be able to recycle. Rocket will need to go back to VAB for an engine swap.
Why is this? Because after engine ignition there are a bunch of inspections needed before firing them again. Easier to swap out RS-25s. Working with hydrogen is hard.
Jeff Spaulding, Artemis 1 senior NASA test director, says at a briefing this morning that the vehicle looks good after lightning strikes yesterday afternoon.
Melody Lovin, SLD 45 weather officer, says a forecast for the backup Sept. 2 date will be available Monday if needed. Likely will depend on evolution of tropical systems.
Spaulding: only thing looking at this morning is helium supply pressure being a little low, but within the band for supporting a launch. Vendor coming out this morning to check it out.
For those keeping times down to the second, the launch window tomorrow opens at exactly 8:33:00 am EDT.
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #22Nächster Schritt der Vorbereitung. Heute Mittag (MESZ) Start des CAPSTONE-Cubesats von Neuseeland, um die Stabilität für den Orbit des geplanten Gateway zu testen.
Zitat NASA Ames @NASAAmes It's our launchiversary! 🎉
Our #CAPSTONE spacecraft launched #OTD one year ago and has been successfully navigating in a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit since its arrival at the Moon on Nov 13, 2022!
Zitat NASA Artemis@NASAArtemis MEDIA: We will provide an update about the #Artemis II mission during a news conference on Tues., Aug. 8, at 2pm ET (1800 UTC) at @NASAKennedy 9:24 PM · Aug 1, 2023
Zitat NASA’s LunaH-Map (Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper) mission, a briefcase-sized lunar orbiter that launched as a ride share on NASA’s Artemis I mission last year, has ceased operations after successfully demonstrating its neutron spectrometer can detect water and ice at the lunar surface.
The LunaH-Map CubeSat was designed to map ice deposits across the Moon’s South Pole as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program. It performed a flyby of the Moon shortly after its Nov. 16, 2022, launch on the Space Launch System rocket, but challenges with the spacecraft’s thruster valve prevented it from adjusting course to achieve its planned science orbit around the lunar South Pole. This ambitious orbit was designed to take measurements from altitudes as low as 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), including over the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.
NASA’s LunaH-Map (Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper) mission, a briefcase-sized lunar orbiter that launched as a ride share on NASA’s Artemis I mission last year, has ceased operations after successfully demonstrating its neutron spectrometer can detect water and ice at the lunar surface.
The LunaH-Map CubeSat was designed to map ice deposits across the Moon’s South Pole as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program. It performed a flyby of the Moon shortly after its Nov. 16, 2022, launch on the Space Launch System rocket, but challenges with the spacecraft’s thruster valve prevented it from adjusting course to achieve its planned science orbit around the lunar South Pole. This ambitious orbit was designed to take measurements from altitudes as low as 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), including over the permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.
In late November, the mission team concluded the propulsion system’s valve was partially stuck. The team then embarked on a six-month effort to repeatedly heat the valve in order to free it and allow for ignition. In late May, it was determined these attempts were unsuccessful and mission operations ceased. The spacecraft’s trajectory will evolve into a stable orbit around the Sun, and the LunaH-Map mission and science team will continue to work on data reduction and publishing scientific results.
During the lunar flyby in November, LunaH-Map’s neutron spectrometer, which was developed and built for this mission by Arizona State University in Tempe, collected nearly three hours of data from the Moon’s surface from a distance of about 800 miles (1300 kilometers). The spectrometer’s rate of neutron detections demonstrated that this instrument can function in the lunar environment and identify enrichments of ice as deep as 3.3 feet (one meter) below the soil.
Ich will nicht unken, aber wenn es zu erheblichen Verzögerungen kommen sollte, dann gab es gestern die erste offizielle Ankündigung, daß der Mondlandetermin Ende Dezember 2025 gerissen werden könnte.
Zitat von 'NASA weighs changes to Artemis 3 if key elements are delayed'LOGAN, Utah — NASA has left the door open for changing the scope of Artemis 3, currently set to be the first crewed lunar landing of the program, if key elements suffer major delays.
Speaking at an Aug. 8 briefing at the Kennedy Space Center, Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development, said the Artemis 3 mission still has a formal launch date of December 2025 but that he was monitoring potential delays in hardware needed for the mission.
“We may end up flying a different mission if that’s the case,” he said. “If we have these big slips out, we’ve looked at if can we do other missions.” Artemis 3 could also change based on the outcome of Artemis 2, he added. ... Free did not discuss what specifically might trigger changing Artemis 3. However, in a June presentation to a pair of National Academies committees, he expressed concern about the progress SpaceX was making on its Starship vehicle, including the lunar lander version that will be used on Artemis 3. He said then that Artemis 3 “probably” would slip to 2026 because of problems SpaceX has had on Starship.
Free said at the KSC event that NASA received an “updated schedule” for Starship development from SpaceX during a briefing a couple weeks ago at the company’s Starbase test facility in Texas. He did not disclose the contents of that schedule but said that NASA would update its plans in the near future “after we have some time to digest it.” ... Artemis 2 progress The briefing coincided with a visit to KSC by the four-person Artemis 2 crew, who saw for the first time the Orion spacecraft that is being assembled for their mission.
Free said that the launch of Artemis 2 remains officially scheduled for late November 2024. However, he said there is “a number of weeks of risk” to that date, with the Orion crew module assembly and testing the critical path on that schedule.
NASA is also working to complete investigations into outstanding issues from the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight last year, such as problems with electronics on the service module and the Orion capsule’s heat shield, which ablated more than expected on reentry.
The heat shield “is definitely the biggest open issue” from Artemis 1, Free said. Engineers are still working to determine the root cause of the heat shield’s performance, including tests in an arcjet chamber that simulates reentry conditions. “We have some ideas on what that root cause might be,” he said, but didn’t discuss them.
Zitat von Ulrich Elkmann im Beitrag #18In dieser Minute: BepiColombo / ESA / Merkur. 2. Merkur-Flyby. 11:44 MESZ.
Zitat Bepi @ESA_Bepi Mercury ahead! 🤩 We're making a close approach of about 200 km at 09:44 UTC (11:44 CEST) today. #StayTuned for photos later this afternoon! https://esa.int/Science_Exploration/Spac...d_Mercury_flyby #BepiColombo #ExploreFarther
BepiColombo ist im Oktober 2018 von Kourou aus gestartet worden; der 1. Merkur-Flyby fand am 1.10.2021 statt. Es folgen ein 4. (5.9.2024), ein 5. und 6. (am 2.12.24 & 9.1.25) und ein Einschwenken in den Orbit am 5.12.2025.
Zitat von 16 May 2024Europe is uncertain whether its ambitious Mercury probe can reach the planet
This week the European Space Agency posted a slightly ominous note regarding its BepiColombo spacecraft, which consists of two orbiters bound for Mercury.
The online news release cited a "glitch" with the spacecraft that is impairing its ability to generate thrust. The problem was first noted on April 26, when the spacecraft's primary propulsion system was scheduled to undertake an orbital maneuver. Not enough electrical power was delivered to the solar-electric propulsion system at the time.
According to the space agency, a team involving its own engineers and those of its industrial partners began working on the issue. By May 7 they had made some progress, restoring the spacecraft's thrust to about 90 percent of its original level. But this is not full thrust, and the root cause of the problem is still poorly understood.
This is an ambitious mission, with an estimated cost of $2 billion. Undertaken jointly with the Japanese space agency, JAXA, BepiColombo launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018. So there is a lot riding on these thrusters. The critical question is, at this power level, can BepiColombo still perform its primary task of reaching orbit around Mercury?
The answer to this question is not so clear. ... What is clear, she said, is that the current thrust level can support the next critical milestone, BepiColombo's fourth Mercury swing-by, which is due to occur on September 5 of this year. This is the first of three swing-bys scheduled to happen in rapid succession from September to January that will slow the spacecraft down relative to Mercury.
"This swing-by sequence provides a braking delta-V of 2.4 km/s and provides a change of velocity vector direction with respect to the Sun as required for the trajectory end game in 2025," Montagnon said.
At present, a team of experts is working on the implications of reduced thrusters for the other two parts of this swing-by sequence and other propulsion needs in 2025.
This transfer module is scheduled to be jettisoned from the rest of the stack in October 2025, and after that the remaining Mercury approach and orbit insertion maneuvers will be carried out with the chemical propulsion subsystem of the European MPO spacecraft.
Zitat Sawyer Merritt@SawyerMerritt NEWS: NASA just announced that its Mobile Launcher 2 Project will now cost $2.7 billion, up from an original estimate of $383 million. NASA says this project is key to its Artemis campaign, which seeks to return astronauts to the Moon and send crewed missions to Mars. 6:08 PM · Aug 27, 2024
Zitat NASA’s Management of the Mobile Launcher 2 Project August 27, 2024 IG-24-016
The ML-2 contract was awarded in June 2019 for $383 million, with Bechtel scheduled to deliver the launcher to NASA in March 2023. By August 2022, the contract value had increased to over $1 billion and the delivery delayed to May2026,with more recent estimates from NASA and Bechtel showing further cost increases and schedule delays.We previously reported on ML-2 cost and schedule overruns in a June 2022 report, which were primarily attributed to Bechtel’s performance. Despite progress since our last report, NASA has struggled to develop a reliable cost and schedule estimate for the ML-2 project and incentivize significant improvement in contractor performance. Given the importance of ML-2 for future Artemis missions, it is critical that NASA effectively manage the project to control cost increases and avoid further schedule delays. ... NASA projects the ML-2 will cost over three times more than planned. In 2019, NASA estimated the entire ML-2 project from design through construction would cost under $500 million with construction completed and the ML-2 delivered to NASA by March 2023.In December 2023, NASA estimated the ML-2 project would cost $1.5 billion, including $1.3 billion for the Bechtel contract and $168million for other project costs, with delivery of the launcher to NASA in November2026.In June 2024, NASA established the Agency Baseline Commitment (ABC)—the cost and schedule baseline committed to Congress against which a project is measured—for a ML-2 project cost of $1.8 billion and a delivery date of September 2027. Even with the establishment of the ABC, NASA intends to keep Bechtel accountable to the cost and schedule agreed to in December 2023. ... ML-2 to Cost over Three Times More than Planned and Will Not Be Completed in Time to Meet the Current Artemis IV Schedule NASA Projects ML-2 Costs to Reach $1.8 Billion with Delivery Scheduled over 4 Years Later than Planned
NASA OIG Projects ML-2Costs Could Reach $2.7 Billion and Will Not Be Ready for Artemis IV Despite the Agency’s increased cost projections, our analysis indicates that ML-2’s costs could be even higher. In particular, if current cost growth trends continue, we project the ML-2 project’s cost through delivery of the launcher to NASA could climb to $2.7 billion, nearly $1 billion more than the Agency’s ABC. This includes $2.5 billion for the Bechtel contract (as shown in Figure 4)and the additional $168 million in other project costs that NASA estimates it will need through FY 2027. Our projections are based on the substantial cost growth that the Bechtel contract has incurred over the last 3 years, past performance issues observed during design with the production of detailed drawings for steel fabrication and management of the launcher’s weight, and the significant amount of construction work that remains.
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