MESSENGER Marks 8th Anniversary of Launch
by sandeep janjirala on 09 sept, 2012
The MESSENGER spacecraft launched eight years ago today — on August 3, 2004 — embarking on a six-and-a-half year journey to become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. The spacecraft's 4.9-billion mile (7.9-billion kilometer) cruise to history included 15 trips around the Sun, a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and three flybys of Mercury.
The mission began capturing ground-breaking science and images from outer space almost immediately. During its gravity assist swing-by of Earth, on August 2, 2005, MESSENGER's cameras captured several hundred images of our planet. These images were sequenced into a movie documenting the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth toward the inner Solar System.
On October 24, 2006, the spacecraft soared above the cloud deck of Venus for the first time, then returned less than a year later on June 5, 2007, marking the first time in flight that all seven instruments were turned on and operating collectively in science-observing mode. MESSENGER turned its wide-angle camera back to the planet and acquired a departure sequence that provided a spectacular good-bye to the cloud-shrouded planet while also acquiring valuable calibration data for the camera team.
MESSENGER made history on January 14, 2008, when it flew over a portion of Mercury that had never before been seen at close range. In this first of three flybys of the planet, the probe's cameras took 1,213 images and other sophisticated instruments made the first spacecraft measurements of the planet and its environment since Mariner 10's third and final flyby on March 16, 1975.
The mission's penultimate accomplishment — entering orbit about Mercury — was celebrated on March 17, 2011, by a crowd of hundreds gathered at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The event was covered live, and the webcast is still available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_orbit.html.
On March 17, 2012, MESSENGER successfully completed a year-long campaign to perform the first global reconnaissance of the geochemistry, geophysics, geologic history, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and plasma environment of the solar system's innermost planet. The following day, March 18, 2012, marked the official start of an extended mission phase designed to build upon those discoveries. This animationshows a sunward view of MESSENGER above Mercury's north polar region during the two orbit-correction maneuvers on April 16 and April 20, 2012, which shortened the orbit period from 12 to 8 hours, allowing MESSENGER an even closer look at the planet.
Less than five months into the extended mission, the team has already made substantial progress on its new objectives. Next week, the team will gather for its 27th Science Team Meeting in Salem, Massachusetts, to discuss the new findings and firm up plans for a second extended mission.
"Our small spacecraft has been a hardy traveler," says MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon, of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. "Across billions of miles, during more than 1,000 orbits about the planet with the greatest extremes in surface temperature, and in the face of streams of energetic particles from an increasingly active Sun, MESSENGER has continued to surpass expectations. Mercury, too, has continued to surprise the scientific community, and the MESSENGER team looks forward to learning more about one of the nearest yet least studied worlds."
The mission began capturing ground-breaking science and images from outer space almost immediately. During its gravity assist swing-by of Earth, on August 2, 2005, MESSENGER's cameras captured several hundred images of our planet. These images were sequenced into a movie documenting the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth toward the inner Solar System.
On October 24, 2006, the spacecraft soared above the cloud deck of Venus for the first time, then returned less than a year later on June 5, 2007, marking the first time in flight that all seven instruments were turned on and operating collectively in science-observing mode. MESSENGER turned its wide-angle camera back to the planet and acquired a departure sequence that provided a spectacular good-bye to the cloud-shrouded planet while also acquiring valuable calibration data for the camera team.
MESSENGER made history on January 14, 2008, when it flew over a portion of Mercury that had never before been seen at close range. In this first of three flybys of the planet, the probe's cameras took 1,213 images and other sophisticated instruments made the first spacecraft measurements of the planet and its environment since Mariner 10's third and final flyby on March 16, 1975.
The mission's penultimate accomplishment — entering orbit about Mercury — was celebrated on March 17, 2011, by a crowd of hundreds gathered at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The event was covered live, and the webcast is still available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_orbit.html.
On March 17, 2012, MESSENGER successfully completed a year-long campaign to perform the first global reconnaissance of the geochemistry, geophysics, geologic history, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and plasma environment of the solar system's innermost planet. The following day, March 18, 2012, marked the official start of an extended mission phase designed to build upon those discoveries. This animationshows a sunward view of MESSENGER above Mercury's north polar region during the two orbit-correction maneuvers on April 16 and April 20, 2012, which shortened the orbit period from 12 to 8 hours, allowing MESSENGER an even closer look at the planet.
Less than five months into the extended mission, the team has already made substantial progress on its new objectives. Next week, the team will gather for its 27th Science Team Meeting in Salem, Massachusetts, to discuss the new findings and firm up plans for a second extended mission.
"Our small spacecraft has been a hardy traveler," says MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon, of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. "Across billions of miles, during more than 1,000 orbits about the planet with the greatest extremes in surface temperature, and in the face of streams of energetic particles from an increasingly active Sun, MESSENGER has continued to surpass expectations. Mercury, too, has continued to surprise the scientific community, and the MESSENGER team looks forward to learning more about one of the nearest yet least studied worlds."
Large water reservoirs at the dawn of stellar birth
by sandeep janjirala on 09 sept, 2012
Herschel’s infrared view of part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, within which the bright, cold pre-stellar cloud L1544 can be seen at the lower left. It is surrounded by many other clouds of gas and dust of varying density. The Taurus Molecular Cloud is about 450 light-years from Earth and is the nearest large region of star formation. The image covers a field of view of approximately 1 x 2 arcminutes.
Close-up of L1544 with the water spectrum seen by Herschel, taken from the centre of the pre-stellar core. The peak of the graph shows an excess in brightness, or emission, while the trough shows a deficit, or absorption. These characteristics are used to indicate the density and motions of the water molecules within the cloud. Emission arises from molecules that are approaching the centre where the new star will form, from the back of the cloud from Herschel’s viewpoint. The amount of emission indicates that these molecules are moving within the densest part of the core, which spans about 1000 Astronomical Units. The absorption signature is due to water molecules in front of the cloud flowing away from the observer towards the centre. These water molecules are in less dense regions much further away from the centre. Together, the emission and absorption signatures indicate that the cloud is undergoing gravitational contraction, that is, it is collapsing to form a new star. Herschel detected enough water vapour in L1544 to fill Earth’s oceans more than 2000 times over.
A KMOS Spectrograph being inspected by engineers in the lab at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre.
UK contributes 24 robotic arms in giant leap forward in near-infrared astronomy
by sandeep janjirala on 09 sept, 2012
A new high-tech instrument with 24 robotic arms has crossed the Atlantic from Edinburgh to a mountain top in Chile to address in more detail than ever before, some of the key questions surrounding the beginnings of the Universe, stars and galaxies. KMOS (K-Band Multi Object Spectrometer) has been provisionally accepted by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) after it completed final assembly and testing at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in Edinburgh. It will now be fitted to one of the four telescopes which make up the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO-VLT) at Paranal in Chile, providing astronomers with a far quicker solution to uncover details about galaxies and their properties.
What makes KMOS unique is its ability to image many galaxies simultaneously either in a cluster or in isolation but in both cases, still see the individual properties of each single galaxy. Until now, each galaxy has had to be identified individually to obtain that information, a process that takes years. KMOS will be able to see the same amount of detail in just two months.
Each of the 24 cryogenic robotic arms, which have gold plated mirrors on their tips, can be moved into position to pinpoint with extreme accuracy the light coming from distant galaxies.
Dr Michele Cirasuolo is the lead instrument scientist for KMOS at UK ATC. He said: “KMOS represents a pivotal step in our quest to scrutinise the distant Universe. The ability to observe in the near-infrared 24 galaxies simultaneously is an enormous leap forward compared to any other current instrument. KMOS will allow a much faster survey speed…most of the observations done by similar near-infrared spectrographs over the last 10 years could be done in just two months with KMOS.”
This novel capability means astronomers will be able to make a detailed study of the mass assembly and star formation in distant, high red-shift galaxies addressing fundamental questions about when these first formed and how they evolve. This ability to observe multiple galaxies at once enables scientists to build up large statistical samples of galaxies at different cosmic epochs necessary to unveil the physical mechanisms that shape their formation and evolution.
An aerial view of the Very Large Telescope in Chile. (Credit: ESO)
KMOS creates this detailed picture using integral field spectroscopy and obtains spectra over a two-dimensional area, covering the entire galaxy. The light from each segment of galaxy (its core, the bulge, the spiral arms and the outer parts) is analysed simultaneously and each can be given physical and chemical properties. Not only therefore, can a complete galaxy be measured, but each individual part too, allowing a comprehensive picture to be built.
“For each of the galaxies, KMOS will give an incredible amount of information. It’s not just a picture of a galaxy, but 3D spectroscopy providing the spatially resolved physics and the chemistry and the dynamics. This is crucial to understand how galaxies assemble their mass and shape their structure as a function of cosmic time, up to the formation of the very first galaxies, more than 13 billion years ago” explains Michele Cirasuolo.
The specialised mechanisms inside KMOS have been designed to work in cryogenic conditions below minus two hundred degrees centigrade, which has been a major challenge, but which is necessary to observe distant galaxies at near-infrared wavelengths. This is because, unless cooled, the thermal emission from the instrument itself will swamp the faint signal from the astronomical sources.
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: "It’s excellent to see the UK playing a leading role in the development of such a sophisticated piece of technology and overcoming some very complex engineering challenges on the way. This instrument will now take its place on a world leading telescope to help improve our knowledge and understanding of the universe around us."
The instrument is a collaboration of six institutions in Germany and the UK, including STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), Durham University, Oxford University and RAL Space at STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The team of internationally respected scientists and engineers at UK ATC played a major role in the KMOS project, being responsible, amongst others, for the construction of the cryostat, the 24 robotic pick-off arms, the cable co-rotator and the final assembly and test of the complete instrument. RAL Space applied their cryogenic lens mounting technology in the three camera barrels they provided for spectrographs in KMOS. Durham University has the PI of the entire project and produced the complex system of more than 1000 mirrors in the integral field unit. Oxford University provided the design and assembly of the three spectrographs in KMOS.
Each incredibly powerful unit telescope on the VLT contains a mirror eight metres in diameter. It is onto the VLT Unit 1 telescope, Antu that the new KMOS equipment will be fitted
SSTL assists Rapid Eye ground station upgrade
by sandeep janjirala on 09 sept, 2012
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) is undertaking a project to assist geospatial information provider RapidEye AG in upgrading and consolidating its ground station facilities.
Engineers from SSTL’s Ground Systems Group are providing a new and upgraded Spacecraft Control Centre for RapidEye’s headquarters in Brandenburg, Germany and relocating its Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) ground station equipment to the Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) facility in Svalbard, Norway, which receives Earth Observation data from its constellation of five satellites.
As part of the project, SSTL’s Ground Systems Group will also provide new ground station equipment, to incorporate tracking, telemetry and command and S-band data recovery to the existing X-Band SG-9 antenna system currently used at the KSAT facilities in Svalbard.
The current Spacecraft Control Centre in Brandenburg, Germany, was built by SSTL in 2006 as part of the 5-spacecraft RapidEye constellation mission. The improved Centre will allow RapidEye to continue command and control of their constellation remotely from Germany, while retaining back-up TT&C services through the ground station facilities at SSTL in Guildford, UK.
About SSTL
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is the world's leading small satellite company, delivering operational space missions for a range of applications including Earth observation, science and communications. The Company designs, manufactures and operates high performance satellites and ground systems for a fraction of the price normally associated with space missions, with 500 staff working on turnkey satellite platforms, space-proven satellite subsystems and optical instruments.
Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched 39 satellites – as well as providing training and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA, NASA , international governments and commercial customers, with its innovative approach that is changing the economics of space.
In 2008 the Company set up a US subsidiary, Surrey Satellite Technology US LLC (SST-US) with facilities in Denver, Colorado to address the United States market and its customers for the provision of small satellite solutions, applications and service
Engineers from SSTL’s Ground Systems Group are providing a new and upgraded Spacecraft Control Centre for RapidEye’s headquarters in Brandenburg, Germany and relocating its Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) ground station equipment to the Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) facility in Svalbard, Norway, which receives Earth Observation data from its constellation of five satellites.
As part of the project, SSTL’s Ground Systems Group will also provide new ground station equipment, to incorporate tracking, telemetry and command and S-band data recovery to the existing X-Band SG-9 antenna system currently used at the KSAT facilities in Svalbard.
The current Spacecraft Control Centre in Brandenburg, Germany, was built by SSTL in 2006 as part of the 5-spacecraft RapidEye constellation mission. The improved Centre will allow RapidEye to continue command and control of their constellation remotely from Germany, while retaining back-up TT&C services through the ground station facilities at SSTL in Guildford, UK.
About SSTL
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is the world's leading small satellite company, delivering operational space missions for a range of applications including Earth observation, science and communications. The Company designs, manufactures and operates high performance satellites and ground systems for a fraction of the price normally associated with space missions, with 500 staff working on turnkey satellite platforms, space-proven satellite subsystems and optical instruments.
Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched 39 satellites – as well as providing training and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA, NASA , international governments and commercial customers, with its innovative approach that is changing the economics of space.
In 2008 the Company set up a US subsidiary, Surrey Satellite Technology US LLC (SST-US) with facilities in Denver, Colorado to address the United States market and its customers for the provision of small satellite solutions, applications and service
Galileo satellites moved to pad for Friday launch
by sandeep janjirala on 09 sept, 2012
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| Galileo IOV satellites attached to their launch dispenser and encapsulated beneath the fairing of their Soyuz ST-B launcher |
Soyuz VS03, the third Soyuz flight from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, was transferred to the launch zone on 8 October 2012. The vehicle was rolled out horizontally on its erector from the preparation building to the launch zone and then raised into the vertical position. Soyuz VS03 will lift off on 12 October 2012. The rocket will carry two satellites of Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit.
Falcon 9 Experienced Engine Anomaly But Kept Going to Orbit
During last night’s launch of the Dragon capsule by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, there was an anomaly on one of the rocket’s nine engines and it was shut down. But Dragon still made it to orbit – just a little bit later than originally expected. At about 1:20 into the flight, there was a bright flash and a shower of debris. SpaceX’s CEO Elon Muskissued a statement about the anomaly saying:
“Falcon 9 detected an anomaly on one of the nine engines and shut it down. As designed, the flight computer then recomputed a new ascent profile in realtime to reach the target orbit, which is why the burn times were a bit longer. Like Saturn V, which experienced engine loss on two flights, the Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine flameout and still complete its mission. I believe F9 is the only rocket flying today that, like a modern airliner, is capable of completing a flight successfully even after losing an engine. There was no effect on Dragon or the Space Station resupply mission.”
