NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have officially agreed to combine their efforts in the exploration and study of Mars. The heads of both agencies, NASA administrator Charles Boden and ESA director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain signed an agreement that officially binds the two agencies together for upcoming orbiter and rover missions. Discussions of this cooperation began in December of 2008, and culminated in a meeting in June 2009, out of which came the official agreement signed last week.
The new “letter of intent” outlines the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI), under which mission engineers will cooperate in the design and launch of rovers, orbiters and landers into the 2020s, with the ultimate goal of returning rocks from Mars to Earth for study. The first collaborative mission is a European-led orbiter that will also place a meteorological station on Mars planned for 2016. This will be followed by surface rovers to keep Spirit and Opportunity company (c’mon, you know they’ll still be ticking!) in 2018, and possibly a network of landers shortly after in 2018, one of which will include the ESA’s ExoMars Lander.
NASA will take care of the launching rockets for 2016 and 2018, and the ESA will cover the entry, descent and landing for the first mission in 2016.
The signing of this document makes official the talks held in Plymouth, UK this past June. Since the talks, most of the fine print has been worked out on the collaboration – this signing just seals the deal.
The ESA and NASA, both under financial constraints in their Mars exploration programs, envision this new union to allow both to to launch vehicles in the window that opens every 26 months for missions to Mars. NASA’s most recently planned mission to the Red Planet, the Mars Science Laboratory, missed the October 2009 window because of technical problems, so will have to be launched in 2011 instead. The same fate befell the ESA ExoMars lander, which has been postponed three times – until 2018 – from the initial launch date of 2009. This joint initiative aims at preventing such delays by sharing both engineering and financial responsibilities.
NASA’s associate administrator for science, Dr Ed Weiler, told the BBC back in July,”We have very similar scientific goals, maybe we ought to consider working together jointly on all our future Mars missions, so that we can do more than either one of us can do by ourselves.”
Hopefully, this collaboration will provide both administrations with the opportunity to get more science done for cheaper, and extend further the already amazing capabilities of proposed missions to the Red Planet.
BREAKING NEWS: LaserMotive successfully qualified for the $900,000 prize! Their official speed was 3.72 m/s. Way to go! See more below.
Though it’s unlikely that anyone will be pressing the elevator button labeled ‘Space’ on one of the competitors’ vehicles this year at the 2009 Space Elevator Games, there is hope that a winner will walk away with the $1.1 million prize. Three different teams will compete to see if any can send a laser powered vehicle up a thin but strong ribbon 1km (.6 miles) into the sky. Italian readers can bet on this game using any of the online casinos that offer these odds – many of which can be found on our recommended casino resource Stranieri.com. Stranieri offers the best online casino reviews for betting on things like markets and slots, as well as space events like this one as well as other Air Force events.
This is the 5th year of the games, which started in 2005. The games are part of NASA’s Centennial Challenges program, which awards monetary prizes in the attempt to spur new technologies. This is a busy week for the program; as we covered earlier today, the Northrop Grumman Lunar X-prize announced two winners, and is part of the Centennial Challenge program.
To win the $1.1 million prize, one of the teams must propel their vehicle 1 km (.6 miles) into the sky at an average of at least 5 m/s (16.4ft/s). A second place prize of $900,000 will be awarded to any team that can go the 1km at an average of 2m/s (6.6 ft/s). The games this year will run from November 4th-6th, with each team getting the chance to launch their laser powered vehicles during a pre-determined 45-minute window for each day of the competition. The event takes place at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base near Mojave, California.
For each test, a helicopter brings the elevator up the cable to a fixed starting point. The team is then given a go to calibrate their laser, and start beaming power to the craft. Each elevator uses small wheels to grip the ribbon, which is held aloft by a balloon tethered by three guy wires.
For a taste of what these elevators look like, check out this video:
Here’s a breakdown of what happened so far today: The Kansas City Space Pirates gave it three tries. In the first attempt, their elevator failed to take off. After fixing the problem, they were able to get the craft to move, but it then stopped. During the third, it started to climb the ribbon but they were unable to keep the laser locked on the elevator to power it, and it wasn’t able to climb the 1km to the top of the ribbon and brought back down.
LaserMotive had much better luck, despite a no-go on their initial attempt. Their elevator was lifted to the start by the helicopter, but failed to move despite repeated lasing attempts. After bringing it down for a tweak or two, the elevator was again placed at the start. It took off, making the first 300m (985ft) in a little under a minute, which met the 5m/s goal. The speed tapered off towards the top, but they bumped up against the 1km mark at approximately 4 minutes, making them the first to successfully claim the minimum 2km/s prize! While watching the live feed of this fantastic feat, I overheard a transmission from LaserMotive saying, “This is LaserMotive requesting permission to breathe.”
USST will not launch today, as there are no more open windows where satellites overhead will not be accidentally hit by the intense lasers used as power sources for the elevators. They will go tomorrow, November 5th, at 7am PST. Be sure to check back with us at Universe Today for more coverage, or head over to the official site for live streaming.
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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has restructured the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), adding several new committees in key areas of importance to the agency’s future, including Education and Public Outreach, led by former CNN anchor Miles O’Brien and a Commercial Space, Information Technology Infrastructure committee led by Brett Alexander, the executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. “I consider the NASA Advisory Council to be an extremely important external advisory group, one that is uniquely capable to advise me and the entire NASA senior leadership team on some of the important decisions our agency will face in the coming months and years,” Bolden said. “I am confident that this new structure will serve as an effective forum to stimulate meaningful advice to me and the rest of NASA’s leadership.”
Other new committees include a technology and innovation panel led by Esther Dyson, an information technology investor and space travel enthusiast and an information technology infrastructure committee led by retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Al Edmonds, to deal with cyber security issues.
The NAC held their first meeting with the restructured NASA Advisory Council last week at the
Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
The council’s members provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator about agency programs, policies, plans, financial controls and other matters pertinent to NASA’s responsibilities. The chairs for the council and its committees are:
NASA Advisory Council: Kenneth M. Ford
Aeronautics Committee: Marion Blakey
Audit, Finance and Analysis Committee: Robert M. Hanisee
Commercial Space Committee: Brett Alexander
Education and Public Outreach: Miles O’Brien
Exploration Committee: retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles
Science Committee: Wesley T. Huntress, Jr.
Space Operations Committee: former astronaut and retired Air Force
Col. Eileen M. Collins
Technology and Innovation Committee: Esther Dyson
An appointment is pending for the Information Technology and
Infrastructure Committee.
Raymond S. Colladay represents the National Academies’ Aeronautics and
Space Engineering Board, and Charles F. Kennel represents the
National Academies’ Space Studies Board as ex officio members.
NASA announced last week they had developed the first iPhone application geared specifically for keeping track of all things NASA. I don’t have an iPhone, so I didn’t look into it, but the iPhone users I know seem to be very excited about it. So here’s all the info you should need to hook up with NASA via your iPhone:
The NASA App collects, customizes and delivers an extensive selection of dynamically updated information, images and videos from various online NASA sources. Users can access NASA countdown clocks, the NASA Image of the Day, Astronomy Image of the Day, online videos, NASA’s many Twitter feeds and other information in a convenient mobile package. It delivers NASA content in a clear and intuitive way by making full use of the iPhone and iPod touch features, including the Multi-Touch user interface.
The NASA App also allows users to track the current positions of the International Space Station and other spacecraft currently orbiting Earth in three views: a map with borders and labels, visible satellite imagery, or satellite overlaid with country borders and labels.
Potential destinations for the U.S. human spaceflight program. Source: Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee
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The Augustine Commission released their final report today, and while they didn’t offer specific recommendations for NASA’s human space flight program, they laid out five possible options, highlighting a flexible plan that allows for several destinations out of low Earth orbit. The report also encouraged commercial space ventures to handle trips to the International Space Station. “The different options speak for themselves,” said head of the commission, Norman Augustine at a press briefing today following the release of the report. “We believe Mars is clear goal of the human spaceflight program, but for safety reason we ruled out going directly there. We’ve offered programs that are alternatives for building a heavy lift launch capability, as we believe that to be extremely important for the human space program, and we believe this is the time to create a commercial market to transport humans to Earth orbit.”
But the strongest point the committee made is that NASA needs additional funds of $3 billion a year in order to accomplish much of anything.
“The premier conclusion of the committee is that the human spaceflight program is on a unsustainable trajectory,” Augustine said. “We say that because of a mismatch of the scope of the program and the funds available.”
In the report, the committee said either additional funds need to be made available or a far more modest program involving little or no exploration needs to be adopted. NASA Appropriation History in Real Year and Constant Year 2009 Dollars. Source: OMB Historical Budget Tables
Meanwhile, the White House said today that President Obama is committed to human space explorations and wants the US to have a vigorous & sustainable program, but offered no specifics on how the administration might proceed following the release of the report. NASA administrator Charlie Bolden said he would be meeting with the president in November.
The consensus of the committee was that NASA should conduct a human space flight program somewhat different than the current path of returning to the Moon. The “flexible” plan would allow for reaching exciting and different destinations sooner than landing on the Moon.
“There are a lot of things we could do along the way to build up to a Mars program,” Augustine said, “such as a circumlunar program, circle Mars, land on an asteroid, land on Phobos or Deimos and do some exciting science from there. We could do those things rather than wait 15 years for the first major event.”
Another committee member Ed Crawley added, “What causes flexible path to make sense is that you can build some of the overall system, the booster and capsule and then you can start going places, like flying around the moon, then to a near Earth object. And it would be less energetically intensive to do a flyby of Mars than to land on the surface of the Moon. You could build the heavy booster and a capsule, and start exploring, and then later build the landers.”
Crawley compared the options to saving longer to buy a big camper or saving for a short period of time to buy a station wagon and then later purchasing a camper to hook onto the car.
When asked for a timetable, Crawley and Augustine said it was likely NASA could leave LEO in the early 2020’s. “Early- to mid- 2020’s without pinning down an exact year, which would be several years earlier than we would get to the moon,” Crawley said.
The report suggested extending the space shuttle program until 2011, instead of the current goal of retiring the program in 2010. “The flight rate to 2010 is roughly double that of what has been demonstrated since the loss of Columbia,” Augustine said. “We believe it would be prudent to put funds in 2011 to fly a better, realistic schedule. NASA has no money in the current budge to do that, we believe it should.”
As for the Ares program, the panel did not call it an engineering failure but rather a victim of smaller-than-expected budgets and changing circumstances. “With time and sufficient funds, NASA could develop, build and fly the Ares I successfully,” the report said. “The question is, should it?”
They said the Ares I-X test flight next week should go ahead as scheduled, because there still would be much to learn from the demonstration. But because of the slipping dates of when the spacecraft would be ready, it would likely be too late for one of its primary tasks, ferrying astronauts to and from the space station. The panel said a better option for low-Earth orbit transport would be private commercial space companies. Augustine said NASA should focus on going beyond low Earth orbit rather than having a trucking service to LEO.
The panel also discussed heavy-lift rocket based on rockets currently used by the Air Force to lift satellites or one based more closely on the space shuttle design. (See our previous article on that subject.)
The committee also urged extending the life of the ISS to 2020. “The Committee finds that the return on investment from the ISS to both the United States and the international partners would be significantly enhanced by an extension of its life to 2020. It seems unwise to de-orbit the Station after 25 years of planning and assembly and only five years of operational life. A decision not to extend its operation would significantly impair the U.S. ability to develop and lead future international spaceflight partnerships. Further, the return on investment from the ISS would be significantly increased if it were funded at a level allowing it to achieve its full potential.”
In a nutshell, here are the 5 alternatives the committee came up with
1. Maintain all programs as is, but extend the space shuttle program to 2011 and ISS to 2020. Without extra funding, the Ares rockets wouldn’t be ready until 2020 and there would never be enough money to go to the Moon.
2. Maintain current funding, scrap Ares I, develop an Ares V lite version (about 2/3 of Ares V heavy) and divert extra funds to ISS for extension to 2020. Buy commercial LEO human space flight. The Ares might be ready by 2025, and perhaps get to the Moon after 2030.
3. Add $3 billion per year and proceed with the Constellation program to return to the Moon. The ISS would have to be de-orbited in 2016 to allow a return to the Moon by about 2025.
4. Add $3 billion per year. Extend the ISS to 2020 and get to the Moon by about 2025. Use either Ares V Lite, or Shuttle-C for heavy lift.
5. Add $3 billion per year. Extend the shuttle program to 2011 and extend ISS to 2020. Instead of heading to land on the Moon, orbit the Moon, or go to Near Earth Objects and prepare to go to Mars. Use either Ares V Lite; a heavy Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) or, a shuttle-derivative.
A summary of the Integrated Options evaluated by the Committee. Source: Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee
Watch Norman Augustine’s opening remarks from the press conference today:
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NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has asked for an evaluation of alternative heavy lift rockets, including DIRECT’s Jupiter launch vehicle. The evaluation is a “top priority,” according to NASASpaceflight.com, and a special team from the Marshall Space Flight Center has been commissioned to conduct the study, with the directive to have a report ready by the end of November. Looking at alternatives to the Constellation program is an apparent reaction to the final Augustine Commission report, which will be made public on Thursday.
Shuttle Derived Heavy lift concept. Credit: NASASpaceflight.com
The other heavy lift vehicle also to be looked at is the Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle, which is a shuttle-based concept with a cargo carrier side mounted to the current design of the external tank. The concept is capable of launching 80mt (metric tons) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and around 54mt to the moon.
However sources at NASASpaceflight.com note that the DIRECT team’s Jupiter launch system has dominated early discussions at the Special Team meetings.
Bolden also recently hinted that commercial space companies could play a crucial role in NASA’s future. “Some of the most exciting companies in America today go by the names of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Armadillo Aerospace, Virgin Galactic, Xcor, Bigelow Aerospace, Masten, Flag Suit, and Ad Astra,” Bolden said in a speech at the National Association of Investment Companies. “Today, we at NASA are devising ways to work with these companies and others who will come. I urge you, and all other investors, to take notice. Space may someday soon become the new thing in investing.”
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“The Stick” made it out to launchpad 39B without falling over. I have to admit, NASA’s new rocket looked tall, super-skinny and pointy (as Dr. Brian Cox described it), as it rolled out on the crawler transporter. Somehow, it seems the Ares I-X should be wider. It’s definitely tall — at 100 meters (327 feet,) it is 43 meters (143 feet) taller than the space shuttle. But appearances aside, this is an historic occasion. For the first time in more than a quarter century, a new vehicle is sitting out at the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
More pictures below:
Lit by xenon lights, the Ares I-X emerges from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Credit: NASA
The Ares I-X flight test vehicle arrived at the pad at approximately 7:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The crawler-transporter left Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building at 1:39 a.m., traveling less than 1 mph during the 4.2-mile journey. The rocket was secured “hard down” on the launch pad at 9:17 a.m.
The test flight of the Ares I-X rocket is scheduled to launch at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27. This test flight will provide NASA an opportunity to test and prove hardware, models, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I launch vehicle. Mission managers will finalize the launch date at a flight readiness review on October 23.
And in case you aren’t familiar with what the Ares I-X is for, the test flight will check out this un-crewed, modified Ares I configuration with a sub-orbital development test that will launch the rocket 43 km (28 miles) in altitude. This is the first developmental flight test of the Constellation Program, which includes the Ares I and V rockets, Orion and the Altair lunar lander.
Unless it all gets axed. The Augustine Report comes out on October 22.
Ares on the way out to 39B. Credit: NASA Edge crew
For more great images of Ares I-X, checkout Robert Pearlman’s collection of rollout pics over at collectSPACE, or Spaceflightnow.com’s gallery of Ares I-X images from this morning.
Space shuttle Atlantis on top of one of the mobile launcher platforms at Launch Pad 39A. Credit: NASA
Space shuttle Atlantis rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on Wednesday in preparation for the next shuttle flight, STS-129, currently scheduled for liftoff on Nov. 12, 2009 at 4:04 p.m. EST. And in case you haven’t heard, for the first time, NASA is inviting those who use Twitter to view a space shuttle launch in person. The first 100 people who sign up on NASA’s website will be granted access to Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 11 and 12 for the opportunity to take a tour of the facilities, view the space shuttle launch and speak with shuttle technicians, engineers, astronauts and managers. The Tweetup will include a “meet and greet” session to allow participants to mingle with fellow Tweeps and the staff behind the tweets on @NASA. An additional 50 registrants will be added to a waitlist. Registration opens at noon EDT on Friday, Oct. 16. To sign up and for more information click here.
Those chosen are responsible for their own transportation, lodging and food. To be eligible, you must have a Twitter account.
“This will be NASA’s fifth Tweetup for our Twitter community,” said NASA spokesman Michael Cabbage. “Each event has provided our followers with inside access to NASA personnel, including astronauts. The goal of this particular Tweetup is to share the excitement of a shuttle launch with a new audience.”
The STS-129 mission will be heading to the International Space Station to deliver two control moment gyroscopes and other equipment, plus the EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 and 2 to the station. The mission will feature three spacewalks.
This is also scheduled to be the last space shuttle crew rotation flight, and will return station crew member Nicole Stott to Earth.
STS-129 will be commanded by Charlie Hobaugh and piloted by Barry Wilmore. Mission Specialists are Robert Satcher Jr., Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin. Wilmore, Satcher and Bresnik will be making their first trips to space.
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NASA astronaut Fernando “Frank” Caldeiro died Saturday morning after a two and a half year battle with brain cancer. Although he never flew in space, Caldeiro served as the lead astronaut in several technical support roles. “Frank was a valued member of the astronaut corps and the Flight Crew Operations team,” said Brent Jett, director, Flight Crew Operations. “He provided a wealth of experience and made significant contributions to the success of both the WB-57 project and the Space Shuttle Program. He will be missed by all those who knew him at NASA. Our hearts go out to his family.” Caldeiro was 51.
More on Caldeiro:
He was the first person of Argentinean descent to train for a space flight. Caldeiro joined NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in 1991 as a cryogenics and propulsion systems expert for the safety and mission assurance office, he took part in 52 space shuttle launches before being selected as an astronaut in 1996.
He served as the lead astronaut for the station’s life support systems and its European-built components, reviewing the design and manufacture of the U.S. “Harmony” Node 2 and European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus modules, as well as the yet-to-be-launched Cupola robotics viewing port and the space shuttle-lofted cargo carriers, the Multi Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLM).
From June 2005 to December 2006, Caldeiro served as the lead astronaut in charge of shuttle software testing at the Johnson Space Center’s Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, testing in-flight maintenance procedures, prior to being reassigned to Houston’s nearby Ellington Field to direct the high-altitude atmospheric research experiment program carried onboard NASA’s WB-57 aircraft. He was still serving in that role when he passed away.
Caldeiro however, would never be assigned to a mission.
In 2006, he told the Orlando Sentinel, “Flying in space, to me, has become more like, well, you know, you can’t chase something so much that you run it over. You can be obsessed by it and be miserable or you can say, ‘Well, this is an opportunity; I’m first in line in front of 350-million other people.'”
His family migrated to the US from Argentina when Caldeiro was 16. He didn’t speak any English at that time, but went on to complete a Master of Science degree in engineering management from the University of Central Florida. In 2002, he was named National Hispanic Scientist of the Year by the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida. That same year, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans under the “No Child Left Behind” Act.
Space shuttle Discovery lifts off into the night sky on a mission to the International Space Station. Launch was on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA TV
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Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said earlier today in Moscow that he hopes that the US space shuttle program will be prolonged, adding he has been informed of the possibility of shuttles flying beyond 2011. “We have received information from certain sources that the use of space shuttles could be extended beyond 2011,” Perminov was quoted in Interfax, adding that this information arrived through unofficial channels.
As of now, NASA plans only six more shuttle missions, with the program ending by late 2010 or early 2011 after the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) is complete.
But Perminov said he would prefer to see additional shuttle missions to the ISS.
“Then the situation would change substantially and it would be possible to work jointly with the Americans, unlike now, when the main burden (for the ISS) lies with the Russian side,” he said.
He added that NASA’s new chief and former astronaut Charles Bolden would visit Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome on September 30 in his first foreign trip.
While the Augustine Commission review NASA’s future has only outlined a preliminary report, no strategy has been announced by NASA or the Obama administration.
