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NASA may change MRO orbit to support Mars 2020 NASA may change MRO orbit to support Mars 2020 WASHINGTON — NASA is considering changing the orbit of one of its oldest Mars spacecraft, a move intended to support the Mars 2020 mission after landing but which could affect both its science and support of other missions. NASA launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in 2005 with a suite of six science instruments, including a high-resolution camera. The spacecraft has increasingly been used as a communications relay, supporting spacecraft on the surface of Mars. In 2018, concerned about aging components on the spacecraft, NASA proposed a potential change to the spacecraft’s orbit. MRO is currently in a sun-synchronous orbit that passes over surface at midafternoon. NASA proposed shifting the spacecraft into an orbit with a crossing time later in the day to reduce the amount of time in each orbit the spacecraft is in the planet’s shadow. That would reduce the w...

  Chandrayaan-2 Mission : Initial data release India’s second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22 nd  July 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. The Orbiter which was injected into a lunar orbit on 2 nd  Sept 2019, carries 8 experiments to address many open questions on lunar science. All experiments have been performing well and the data received, suggests excellent capability to deliver on the pre-launch promises. In the period since launch payload teams tuned onboard systems for optimal instrument configurations, derived essential in-flight calibration data, revised / updated data processing steps / software and have started to publish early results. Today, the first set of data are being released for all users. The public release data archived at the Indian Space Science Data Center in Bylalu, near Bengaluru is prepared in the standard, globally followed Planetary Data System 4 (PDS4) format for public release. Science payloads and its u...

  Space Command to expand network of allies that help monitor orbital traffic Gen. James Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command (left) Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, commander of the Combined Force Space Component Command, and Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw, deputy commander of U.S. Space Command, attend a change of command ceremony Nov. 16, 2020, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: U.S. Air Force SpaceX is expected to join Space Command's 'commercial integration cell' in the near future. WASHINGTON — To get intelligence about what is happening in orbit, U.S. Space Command works with a close-knit group of allies and private companies.   The command is now looking to expand its network of data-sharing partners as activities in space grow and the Pentagon worries about Chinese weapons targeting U.S. satellites.   “How do we create the space picture? How do we know who’s in the domain and operating there?” asked Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, who commands the multinational space op...

  NASA seeks input on Europa Clipper launch options NASA issued a request for information for launch services for Europa Clipper after a recent appropriations bill gave the agency the option to consider alternatives to SLS for the mission. Credit: NASA WASHINGTON — NASA has issued a request for information for launch services for its Europa Clipper mission, a sign the agency is taking advantage of language in a recent appropriations bill that allows it to consider alternatives to the Space Launch System. The Jan. 26  request for information  seeks data from companies that believe they have vehicles that can launch the mission, which will go into orbit around Jupiter and make dozens of close approaches to Europa, an icy, potentially habitable moon. The launch vehicle would have to be able to launch the spacecraft, weighing at least 6,065 kilograms, on a trajectory that would incorporate gravity-assist flybys of Mars and Earth before arriving at Jupiter. The launch would ta...

  NASA to perform second SLS Green Run test After a Jan. 16 test (above) that fell far short of its planned 485-second duration, NASA will conduct a second Green Run static-fire test of the SLS core stage no earlier than late February. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust WASHINGTON — NASA will carry out a second hotfire test of the Space Launch System core stage, a move that makes it more likely the vehicle will miss its scheduled launch date of late this year. NASA announced late Jan. 29 that it will re-run the static-fire test of the core stage’s four RS-25 engines no earlier than the final week of February at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. That test is the last step in the Green Run test campaign that started one year ago. The agency decided to perform a second test after  the initial hotfire test Jan. 16 ended after just 67 seconds , far short of the planned 485 seconds. NASA said three days later that  the hydraulic system on Engine 2 hit “intentionally conservati...

  NASA may change MRO orbit to support Mars 2020 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) could change its orbit to better support the Mars 2020 mission after landing, a shift that could affect its science. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech WASHINGTON — NASA is considering changing the orbit of one of its oldest Mars spacecraft, a move intended to support the Mars 2020 mission after landing but which could affect both its science and support of other missions. NASA launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in 2005 with a suite of six science instruments, including a high-resolution camera. The spacecraft has increasingly been used as a communications relay, supporting spacecraft on the surface of Mars. In 2018, concerned about aging components on the spacecraft, NASA proposed a potential change to the spacecraft’s orbit. MRO is currently in a sun-synchronous orbit that passes over surface at midafternoon. NASA proposed shifting the spacecraft into an orbit with a crossing time later in...

  Rocket Lab launches secretive communications satellite for OHB A Rocket Lab Electron lifts off Jan. 20 carrying the GMS-T communications satellite built by OHB. Credit: Rocket Lab Updated 2:45 p.m. Eastern with OHB statement. WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab successfully launched a communications satellite for German company OHB Group Jan. 20 in the first Electron mission of the year. The Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 at Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, at 2:26 a.m. Eastern after a brief delay because of gusty winds. Rocket Lab scrubbed the original launch attempt for the “Another One Leaves the Crust” mission four days earlier because of “strange data” from a sensor. Electron released the sole satellite on the mission, GMS-T, 70 minutes after liftoff. “Perfect orbit, payload deployed. Hello 2021!” tweeted Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab. The payload for this mission has been shrouded in secrecy since Rocket Lab announced the planned launch Jan. 5. The nam...

  Satellogic signs multi-launch contract with SpaceX Satellogic will rely primarily on SpaceX's smallsat rideshare program for the launch of dozens of satellites through the end of 2022. Credit: Satellogic WASHINGTON — Earth observation company Satellogic announced Jan. 19 it signed a contract with SpaceX covering several rideshare launches of its satellites through next year. The multiple launch services agreement makes SpaceX Satellogic’s preferred provider for launching its constellation of microsatellites, after previously relying on Chinese, European and Russian vehicles, including  a launch of 10 satellites as the primary payload on a Long March 6 Nov. 5 . In an interview, Emiliano Kargieman, chief executive of Satellogic, said the low prices and frequent launch opportunities that SpaceX offered led his company to sign up. “The new rideshare program that SpaceX has put together has reduced the price on the order of four or five times on a per-kilogram basis,” he said. “T...

  Airbus, Thales win second-generation Galileo satellite contracts ESA aims to start launching second-generation Galileo navigation satellites in 2024. Credit: ESA WASHINGTON — The European Commission announced Jan. 20 it will award contracts to Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space to build an initial set of next-generation Galileo navigation satellites, shutting out incumbent manufacturer OHB. Airbus and Thales will each build six of the second-generation Galileo satellites under contracts that will be formally signed at the end of January. The combined value of the contracts is 1.47 billion euros ($1.78 billion), but the Commission did not disclose the value of each company’s contracts. The 12 satellites will be the start of the second generation of the Galileo system that will feature improved accuracy and resilience. The first satellites will be ready for launch in 2024. Galileo is one of the cornerstones of the European Union’s space activities and, combined with t...

  NASA ceases efforts to deploy Mars InSight heat flow probe The InSight mission team used the lander's robotic arm to help push the heat flow probe, or "mole," into the surface, but the mole was not able to burrow deeper. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech WASHINGTON — After nearly two years of struggles, NASA has abandoned efforts to deploy a heat flow probe on its InSight lander into the surface of Mars. In a Jan. 14 statement, NASA said that a final effort to hammer the “mole” into the surface of Mars Jan. 9 failed to make any progress. The mole performed 500 hammer strokes, trying to drive itself into the surface, but remained in place just two to three centimeters below the surface. “We’ve given it everything we’ve got, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible,” said Tilman Spohn of the German space agency DLR, the principal investigator of what is formally known as the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), in a NASA statement. HP3 was designed to burrow up...

  Policy directive on GPS issued in closing days of Trump administration GPS 3 satellite artist rendition. Credit: Lockheed Martin Space Policy Directive-7 highlights the United States’ ever growing dependence on space-based positioning, navigation and timing. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Jan. 15 issued a  policy memo  focused on the United States’ dependence on the Global Positioning System and the need to prepare for a day when GPS might not be available.   A constellation of 31 GPS satellites operated by the U.S. Space Force use radio navigation to provide positioning, navigation and timing information to military and civilian users worldwide. Satellites in space rely on GPS for navigation, attitude control, space situational awareness and new science applications such as radio occultation.   Space Policy Directive-7 highlights the United States’ ever growing dependence on space-based positioning, navigation and timing. It suggests government and ...