[Space] News

[Octane]

Originariamente inviato da Rand

Gli RTG sono troppo poco efficienti. L'unica soluzione realistica in quei casi è un qualche tipo di reattore nucleare.

Infatti, specialmente in ottica di utilizzo in missioni con equipaggio..l'energia per la spinta di ritorno da dove la si tira fuori??

[Rand]

Grazie alla funzione Moon di Google Earth, potrai:

* Fare un tour dei siti di allunaggio, con il commento degli astronauti della missione Apollo
* Visualizzare modelli in 3D dei veicoli spaziali
* Osservare da vicino fotografie a 360 gradi e vedere perfino le impronte lasciate dagli astronauti
* Vedere rari filmati televisivi sulle missioni Apollo

Bello

[Rand]

Mammoth Telescope to Be Built in Hawaii

Hawaii beat out Chile to become the site of the Thirty-Meter Telescope, which is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

The giant telescope will have a single primary mirror that measures 30 meters across and is made up of 492 segments, giving it nine times more collecting surface than the the biggest telescopes on Earth today.

The Thirty-Meter Telescope will surpass even the Hubble Space Telescope in some ways, giving scientists a new view of some of the oldest stars and galaxies in the universe, as well as planets orbiting nearby stars.

Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the site of the Keck and Subaru telescopes, was among five candidate sites selected based on a global satellite assessment of atmosphere and climate variables. After further studies, Hawaii and Cerro Amazones in Chile rose to the top of the list.

“In the final analysis, the board selected Mauna Kea as the site for TMT,” Edward Stone, Caltech physicist and vice chairman of the TMT board, said in a press release Tuesday. “The atmospheric conditions, low average temperatures, and very low humidity will open an exciting new discovery space using adaptive optics and infrared observations.”

The project still needs to be approved by the the state and $100 million still needs to be raised for construction. The rest of the $300 million estimated cost will come from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The telescope project is the joint venture of Caltech, the University of California and a group of Canadian Universities called ACURA.

“We are excited about the prospect of being the first of the next generation of extremely large telescopes,” said Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member.

Other giant telescope projects include the Giant Magellan Telescope meters and the 42-meter European Extremely Large Telescope.

4chr

[Rand]

Ad Astra: "This image shows our achievement of full-power full-field for the 1st stage of VASIMR. In addition, here are some recent video posts documenting this achievement with our new superconducting magnet. The maximum magnetic field within the core of VASIMR is around 2 Tesla, about the same as most MRI machines."

Video: Ad Astra VASIMR Full-Power, Full-Field Firing

[Mixmar]

Originariamente inviato da Rand

Gli RTG sono troppo poco efficienti. L'unica soluzione realistica in quei casi è un qualche tipo di reattore nucleare.

E inoltre, se non ricordo male, funzionano grazie al Plutonio, residuo della costruzione di armi nucleari. Se davvero in futuro dovessimo mettere al bando questo tipo di armi, probabilmente non avremmo piu' disponibilita' di Plutonio tali da costruire un RTG.

[jumpjack]

Hubble "reloaded" fotografa la nuova cicatrice su giove:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMY3AE3GXF....html#subhead1

[Rand]

Originariamente inviato da Mixmar

E inoltre, se non ricordo male, funzionano grazie al Plutonio, residuo della costruzione di armi nucleari. Se davvero in futuro dovessimo mettere al bando questo tipo di armi, probabilmente non avremmo piu' disponibilita' di Plutonio tali da costruire un RTG.

Per le armi nucleari di usa il Plutonio 239, per gli RTG il Plutonio 238.

Riguardo alla sua produzione e se questa sia legata a quella del 239 non ne ho idea

[Octane]

Originariamente inviato da Rand

Per le armi nucleari di usa il Plutonio 239, per gli RTG il Plutonio 238.

Riguardo alla sua produzione e se questa sia legata a quella del 239 non ne ho idea

Dovrebbe essere possibile produrlo nelle centrali nucleari.

qui comunque si può vedere che continuano lo sviluppo di RTG al fine di aumentarne l'efficienza (il documento non è recentissimo):
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT200...490thieme.html

[Rand]

Se non ricordo male dovrebbero esser pronti per testare un generatore basato su Stirling in una prossima missione.

Procedono lentamente perché i progettisti di sonde hanno un certa avversione per le parti in movimento

[Rand]

Europe's Mars rover slips to 2018

The ExoMars vehicle is intended to search the Red Planet for signs of past or present life.

The delay is the third for the mission originally planned to launch in 2011.

While the switch will disappoint many people, officials say the change will open up a greatly expanded programme of exploration at the Red Planet.

The European Space Agency (Esa) will now join forces at Mars with the US space agency (Nasa). The two organisations believe they can achieve far more by combining their expertise and budgets.

The basis for this approach was agreed at bilateral discussions in Plymouth, UK, last month.

Since then, scientists and engineers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working up the basic architecture for a series of missions in 2016, 2018 and 2020 (launch opportunities to Mars come up roughly every two years).

Mass issues

The plan, or baseline, for this programme - including its implications for ExoMars - is now starting to emerge.

It would see the agencies launch a European orbiter to the Red Planet in 2016. Its main aim would be to track down the sources of methane recently detected at Mars. The presence of methane is intriguing because its likely origin is either present-day life or geological activity.

Confirmation of either would be a major discovery.

The American Atlas rocket used for this mission would also have capacity to carry sufficient mass to put some sort of static lander on the surface. The European orbiter would act as its data relay to Earth.

The 2018 launch opportunity would be taken by ExoMars, again launching on a US Atlas rocket. This mission window is actually one of the most favourable in terms of planetary alignment for many years, and that makes it possible to send a very heavy surface mission.

The proposal on the table currently is that ExoMars should be joined by a slightly smaller rover in the class of the US Spirit and Opportunity vehicles that are on the surface today.

ExoMars and its smaller cousin could be targeted at the Methane sources identified by the 2016 orbiter.

The 2020 launch opportunity would probably then be taken by a network of instrumented static landers.

Technological goals

Both Esa and Nasa will have tight finances going forward and will have to constrain their ambitions accordingly.

European ministers pledged sufficient monies at their major triennial gathering last year to take the budget for ExoMars to 850m euros. Esa officials believe the proposals they are formulating with Nasa can broadly match the cost requirements and the technological goals of both parties.

For Europe, the primary goals are to land, to rove and to drill on Mars. However, under the plan outlined above, these objectives could not all be achieved during the ExoMars opportunity.

In 2018, it is likely the entry, descent and landing (EDL) of Europe's rover would be handled by the Americans, using the "skycrane" system they have designed for their big 2013 rover known as Curiosity.

If Europe really does want to do EDL, the option is open for it to take responsibility for the 2016 surface package of instruments.

Esa's director-general, Jean-Jacques Dordain, has promised to report to his member states in the autumn with firm proposals for a re-scoped Mars exploration programme.

Industrial jigsaw

Two months of intensive discussions will now take place in those member states, and in European industry which will be responsible for building the spacecraft systems.

If financial contributions to the mission from Esa member states were to change substantially, the space agency might have to re-visit the balance of industrial work allocated to different countries through the process of "juste retour".

Esa's rules of juste retour ensure the work which returns to a member state reflects the financial contribution it makes to a programme.

One senior European space executive called at the recent Paris air show for the whole ExoMars industrial programme to be re-opened to competition.

The ExoMars rover was originally conceived as a small technology demonstration mission.

It was approved in 2008 and should have been launched in 2011. Then, as ambitions grew and the design was beefed up, the launch was put back.

At first, it was shifted to 2013. Last year, a decision was taken to move it even further back, to 2016, because of budget concerns.

Non è ancora confermato comunque.

[Rand]

Nuova sezione/sito del JPL: Asteroid Watch

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account.

"Most people have a fascination with near-Earth objects," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. "And I have to agree with them. I have studied them for over three decades and I find them to be scientifically fascinating, and a few are potentially hazardous to Earth. The goal of our Web site is to provide the public with the most up-to-date and accurate information on these intriguing objects."

The new Asteroid Watch site is online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch .

It provides information on NASA's missions to study comets, asteroids and near-Earth objects, and also provides the basic facts and the very latest in science and research on these objects. News about near-Earth object discoveries and Earth flybys will be available and made accessible on the site via a downloadable widget and RSS feed. And for those who want to learn about their space rocks on the go, a Twitter feed is offered. "Asteroid Watch" also contains a link to JPL's more technical Near-Earth Objects Web site, where many scientists and researchers studying near-Earth objects go for information.

"This innovative new Web application gives the public an unprecedented look at what's going on in near-Earth space," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Objects Observation program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA supports surveys that detect and track asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The Near-Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," also plots the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

[Marko91]

Augustine Committee Declares a New National Purpose in Space “Worthy of A Great Nation”
Posted by william.watson

The Space Frontier Foundation today hailed the “Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee,” also known as the “Augustine Committee,” for declaring a new overarching purpose for America’s national space enterprise:

“the underlying reason why we do human spaceflight is the extension of human civilization beyond Earth“

The Committee’s public hearing in Cocoa Beach Thursday, July 30th included a presentation of recommendations from its “Exploration Beyond LEO” subgroup, which culminated with the above conclusion.

“Like most pro-space citizens, we have been watching hopefully the Augustine Committee’s work, and yesterday was a huge breakthrough,” said Foundation Chairman, Bob Werb. “These experts ‘get it.’ They understand that when you cut away all of the rhetoric, the only sustainable and compelling motivation for sending humans into space is to expand human civilization permanently into the solar system.”

For an organization of people dedicated to opening the space frontier to human settlement, this is music to our ears. The extension of human civilization beyond Earth is synonymous with settlement. There is much else in these recommendations that we endorse, but this overwhelms all else by effectively embracing our “Frontier Enabling Test.”

“The extension of human civilization beyond Earth gives meaning and context to everything we do in space,” continued Werb. “The reason for humans to go is not to visit, not to buy the t-shirt and come home, but to enable others to follow, to open the frontier to thousands of entrepreneurs, engineers, poets, artists, teachers and anyone else who wants to take up the challenge of creating settlements beyond Earth where free peoples can live, work and play.”

La committee della NASA sembra avere idee chiare sull'obiettivo ultimo dell' esplorazione spaziale.

[jumpjack]

Originariamente inviato da Marko91

La committee della NASA sembra avere idee chiare sull'obiettivo ultimo dell' esplorazione spaziale.

daje, che forse riusciamo a posare la prima pietra della base lunare proprio il 16 luglio 2019!!

[Rand]

An "amateur" discovers moons in old Voyager images

[Rand]

[Rand]

XCOR Aerospace: Significant Milestones in the Lynx 5K18 Rocket Engine Test Program (Videos)

September 02, 2009, Mojave, CA: XCOR Aerospace announced today that it has reached several significant milestones in the 5K18 rocket engine test program. This is the engine that powers XCOR's Lynx suborbital spacecraft. The engine can be seen running in several newly released videos including a video demonstrating the very stable "shock diamond" pattern visible in the engine's supersonic exhaust.

"Like all of our rocket engines, this engine has demonstrated the ability to be stopped and re-started using our safe and reliable spark torch ignition system", said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "The basic cooling design has also been completed and the engine is able to run continuously at thermal equilibrium. With those milestones reached, the 5K18 test program is now moving forward into a second phase of tuning and optimization, in which we will also greatly increase our cumulative run time."

Data and test results from the Lynx engine program are being used by XCOR and certain customers to develop a deeper understanding of operationally responsive spacelift procedures. These procedures can then be applied to future rocket powered vehicles. XCOR and its customers now have important information that will aid in the development of the unique requirements of operationally responsive high performance manned and unmanned rocket systems.

Testing of the 5K18 rocket engine is continuing in parallel with several other key Lynx system components, including wind tunnel testing at AFRL facilities and development of the Lynx pressure cabin at XCOR's main facilities in Mojave, CA.

"These additional firings and milestones continue to demonstrate XCOR's ability to deliver safe and truly innovative rocket propulsion technology that will one day revolutionize space access by enhancing readiness levels for flight from years to days or even hours, and driving down costs and increasing safety by orders of magnitude", said XCOR Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Nelson.

XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies for responsive private space flight, scientific missions, upper atmospheric research, and small satellite launch to low earth orbit. Its web address is: www.xcor.com. Advanced ticket sales have already commenced at www.rocketshiptours.com.

[Rand]

News Story on Neil Armstrong Slips on an Onion

Two newspapers in Bangladesh have issued a retraction after publishing an article taken from the popular but satirical website "The Onion" which claimed Neil Armstrong had been convinced by conspiracy theorists that the Moon landings were faked. The Daily Manab Zamin said Armstrong had shocked a news conference by saying he now knew it had been an "elaborate hoax." The New Nation then picked up the story, and only later did they realize the Onion was not a genuine news site.

Both have now apologized to their readers for not checking the story. "We thought it was true so we printed it without checking," associate editor Hasanuzzuman Khan told the AFP news agency.

"We didn't know the Onion was not a real news site."

The article said Armstrong had told a news conference he had been "forced to reconsider every single detail of the monumental journey after watching a few persuasive YouTube videos and reading several blog posts" by a conspiracy theorist.

Of course, like everything else on The Onion, the story was completely made up.

The two newspaper articles drew a lot of attention in Bangladesh, and was one of the top articles getting hits on the papers' websites.

[cangia]

chiedo qua perchè i due thread relativi son spariti ma sono riusciti a far uscire dalle sabbie mobili Spiriti, alla fine ?

[GioFX]

Intanto lo posto qui, poi appena posso apro un thread apposito sul programma HTV.


Japan's new rocket launches cargo freighter into orbit



Japan successfully launched its most ambitious space mission today, a flight that will not only usher in a new era for the country's domestic space program but also inaugurate an important new capability for the International Space Station. Liftoff of the maiden HTV cargo ship aboard the new H-2B rocket occurred as scheduled at 1:01 p.m. EDT (1701 GMT).


http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2b/ht...iew/index.html

[AlexGatti]

Originariamente inviato da GioFX

Intanto lo posto qui, poi appena posso apro un thread apposito sul programma HTV.


Japan's new rocket launches cargo freighter into orbit



Japan successfully launched its most ambitious space mission today, a flight that will not only usher in a new era for the country's domestic space program but also inaugurate an important new capability for the International Space Station. Liftoff of the maiden HTV cargo ship aboard the new H-2B rocket occurred as scheduled at 1:01 p.m. EDT (1701 GMT).


http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2b/ht...iew/index.html

Lo hanno lanciato già? fichissimo, è il primo viaggio per quel lanciatore (che è una versione modificata di uno precedente) ed è già un successo.
Che capacità di carico ha il vettore H-2B e come si confronta con gli altri lanciatori commerciali e con la capacità di carico dello shuttle?