HOUSTON — The European Space Agency’s (ESA) unpiloted Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 (ATV-4) the Albert Einstein, is expected to have no difficulty berthing with the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-June, but the station’s mission management team has approved a response strategy just in case Russia’s Progress 51 cargo capsule imparted damage as it docked with an undeployed navigation antenna early April 26.
These satellite images, taken less than a month apart by France's new Pleiades optical-imaging spacecraft, show the mile-wide trail of devastation left by the EF5 tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., on May 20. The image on the left was collected on April 29, and the one on the right on May 23.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is taking the unusual measure of activating an in-orbit Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) spare as experts try to rescue the primary spacecraft, which that has failed to transmit imaging and sounding data for a second time in less than a year.
The U.S. Air Force and launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) have once again scrubbed the launch of the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS-5) spacecraft, this time due to an issue with a helium pressurization line that is part of the Delta IV rocket’s ground support equipment. Launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., which had been targeted for a 30-min. window opening at 8:27 p.m. EDT May 23, has now been pushed back 24 hr. to the same window on May 24. Weather forecasts predict an 80% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff, according to ULA.
DEEP SPACE COMMS: Maintenance, operations and engineering services for NASA’s Deep Space Network of spacecraft communications links will be provided for at least five years by ITT Exelis under a contract awarded by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If the McLean, Va.-based company meets the requirements for incentive provisions, the contract can extend to a maximum of 10 years with a total value of $435 million.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is activating an in-orbit Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) spare as experts try to rescue a primary spacecraft that has failed to deliver basic weather data for a second time in less than a year, according to officials in the satellite community.
Officials at NASA on May 23 denied an account in the pending fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill that it disclosed the transfer of missile-defense technology to China, leaving a mystery clouded by the secrecy classification of part of the legislation. “NASA has no record of a voluntary disclosure being filed with the Department of State regarding the alleged transfer of controlled U.S. Missile Defense Agency defense technology to the People’s Republic of China,” an agency spokesman said after a day-long review of the matter at NASA headquarters.
NASA LEAK: The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee says NASA has conceded it may have leaked sensitive missile defense technology to China, and the panel wants a top-level briefing on any damage done as a result. The subcommittee’s fiscal 2014 authorization bill includes notice that the panel “is aware” NASA issued a notice of voluntary disclosure “regarding the alleged transfer of controlled U.S.
The chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is trying to push Congress and ultimately the Obama administration to tweak its evaluation criteria for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) rocket providers — which could help Boeing and Lockheed Martin and be another hurdle for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
MONT-DE-MARSAN, France — France’s two new Pleiades optical imaging satellites are generating more than 30 high-resolution images per day in support of military operations in Mali, where troops have been fighting Islamist rebels since the French-led intervention began in mid-January. The pictures, supplied to French forces using the Pleiades 1A and 1B spacecraft, supplement high-resolution optical imagery furnished by the French Helios 2 military reconnaissance satellite launched in 2009.
A non-toxic propellant and related hardware developed in Sweden for spacecraft attitude control has been tested for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center at ATK Defense Group’s Elkton, Md., facility, as the civilian space agency continues its search for “green” propulsion systems.
NASA’s third New Frontiers-class mission, the Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return probe, cleared a crucial decision point for development May 15 and is expected to proceed in preparation for launch to the asteroid Bennu in September 2016. If all goes well, Osiris-Rex (Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resources Identification Security Regolith Explorer) will return samples of the asteroid to Earth in 2023.
NASA’s Ames Research Center will test a 10-in. high deployment system that can launch as many as 24 nanosats at once during piggyback rides on two Defense Department demonstration missions.
The first Canadian command of the International Space Station ends safely with this May 14 parachute landing of Soyuz TMA-07M in southern Kazakhstan. Onboard were Canada's Chris Hadfield, the first of his countrymen to command an ISS mission increment; U.S. astronaut Tom Marshburn, and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko. Throughout Hadfield's nearly five months in orbit, the retired 53-year-old Canadian air force colonel exhibited his musical talents and skills as a photographer and with social media to share his experiences.
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget proposal contains a brand-new idea that may be the most exciting and interesting one in the history of exploration—certainly since the Apollo project. Although, there is no Cold War or superpower rivalry to fuel it, the asteroid retrieval mission represents an opportunity to sustain American leadership in human space exploration with technological innovation and engineering prowess.
