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China becomes latest country to reach Mars with Tianwen-1 probe

China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully rolled into Mars orbit Wednesday morning, the China National Space Administration confirmed. The probe’s arrival makes China the sixth space-faring power to reach the planet. It’s also the second country this month to celebrate its first Mars mission, arriving a day after the UAE’s Hope orbiter entered Martian orbit Tuesday morning.

Tianwen-1, which translates to “questions to heaven” or “questioning the heavens,” is a five-ton bundle of a rover, lander, and orbiter that launched from Wenchang in south China in July last year. China was one of three countries to use a narrow, roughly two-month window to launch spacecraft to Mars as it closely aligned with Earth in their orbits around the Sun — an alignment that only happens once every two years.

Chinese state media Wednesday morning confirmed Tianwen-1 completed a successful braking maneuver to ease into the orbit of Mars after traveling a total of 295 million miles. Tianwen-1’s orbital-control engine ignited at 6:52AM ET and fired for 15 minutes to rapidly decelerate its cruising speed for a gradual orbital insertion.

“Exploring the vast universe is the common dream of all mankind. We will cooperate sincerely and go hand in hand with countries all over the world to make mankind’s exploration of space go further,” Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, said in a statement Wednesday.

The spacecraft settled into an orbit that will bring it within 248 miles from the Martian surface, where it’ll spend a few months surveying its landing site at the Utopia Planitia region. In May, the lander and rover will detach from the spacecraft and make a daring attempt to land in Utopia Planitia, where a large deposit of water ice lies beneath the planet’s surface. If successful, China will become the second country, after the US, to land and operate a rover on the Martian surface.

Tianwen-1’s landing attempt was originally planned for April, but the China National Space Administration indicated it was changed to May or June. The landing site is about 1,147 miles — roughly the drive from Miami to New York — from the target site of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which will attempt a landing on February 18th.

With the Tianwen-1 rover on Mars and an orbiter scanning from above, China is setting out to trace the distribution of subsurface water ice to get a better understanding of the planet’s geologic structure. The lander is essentially a delivery platform, providing a ramp for the rover to roll off of and traverse the Martian terrain, where it will also analyze the water ice as a potential resource for long-term human missions on Mars, according to SpaceNews.

China’s debut trek to Mars comes as Beijing ramps up its role in space exploration. While Tianwen-1 was flying to Mars, the country went to the moon and back with its whirlwind Chang’e 5 sample-return mission, the fifth mission in China’s Lunar Exploration Program and its first mission to bring lunar dirt back to Earth.

Tianwen-1’s successful jump into Mars orbit garnered applause from NASA and the European Space Agency. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s top science official, congratulated China and said “there is much to discover about the mysteries of Mars and we look forward to your contributions!”

How to watch the UAE’s first deep space probe reach Mars

A robotic probe owned by the United Arab Emirates is preparing to jump into Mars orbit on Tuesday after launching from Earth last year. For mission managers in Dubai, it’s a nerve-racking climax in the UAE’s first mission to deep space. If successful, the Hope probe will survey the Martian atmosphere. The Emirati cabinet hopes the mission will also inspire a new science and technology sector as the Gulf state looks to wean its economy from oil dependence.

The Hope probe launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center last July as Earth and Mars aligned in their orbits around the Sun. Now, having traveled over 300 million miles, Hope is set to carry out an intricate and fully autonomous maneuver called a Mars Orbit Insertion at 10:30AM ET. Mission control in Dubai won’t know if the MOI has begun until 10:42AM ET because of a 22-minute roundtrip communications delay through NASA’s Deep Space Network. Manual, real-time control is impossible, so Hope will need to carry out these orbital dances on its own.

The MOI requires Hope to slow its cruising speed of 75,000 mph down to 11,000 mph in order to get swept up in Mars’ gravity. It will hit the brakes by firing all six of its Delta-V thrusters for 27 minutes. That should put the spacecraft into a “capture orbit” around the red planet. Five minutes later, mission managers will lose contact with Hope as it flies around the far side of Mars, cutting off radio signals for about 15 minutes.

“It’s been rehearsed enough times, we’ve thought of every single scenario that may go right or wrong, and that has been programmed into the commanding sequence,” Sarah al-Amiri, the deputy project manager for the Emirates Mars Mission, told The Verge.

Hope’s mission team of roughly 450 people have been designing and testing the Hope spacecraft over the past six years in preparation for this mission. If all goes well, the Hope mission will make UAE the fifth space-faring power to reach Mars after the United States, Soviet Union, European Space Agency and India.

Over the next two months, Hope will carry out a few more maneuvers to jump into a closer orbit around Mars. This will be key for carrying out its main objective: scanning the Martian atmosphere and capturing a global snapshot of the planet’s weather patterns. Hope will orbit Mars every 55 hours and capture a complete snapshot every nine days.

The Emirates Mars Mission’s Twitter account will be tweeting updates throughout the mission. The UAE space agency will also host a live feed of mission control in Dubai starting at 9AM ET before the maneuver begins at 10:30AM ET. Tune in then, to see if UAE nails its first interplanetary mission.

After aborted SLS hot-fire test, NASA and Boeing will try, try again

NASA will make another attempt next month to test-fire its massive Space Launch System rocket after its first try was cut short, the agency said Friday night.

The rocket’s 212-foot-tall core stage will try to fire its four engines for eight minutes at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The attempt is the last milestone “Green Run” test before the behemoth rocket gets shipped to Florida for its debut launch toward the moon.

All four of the rocket’s Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines ignited together for the first time earlier this month. But what was intended to be an eight minute test only lasted a little over a minute — a much shorter runtime than what engineers needed to proceed to Florida. The SLS core has been in development for a decade, and has consistently been late and over budget.

“Conducting a second hot fire test will allow the team to repeat operations from the first hot fire test and obtain data on how the core stage and the engines perform over a longer period that simulates more activities during the rocket’s launch and ascent,” NASA said in a blog post late Friday night.

NASA is targeting November for the SLS’s first launch, but the agency’s inspector general and the Government Accountability Office, the country’s biggest watchdog agency, say that’s unlikely. Instead, they indicated the launch will likely to slip into 2022. NASA remains publicly optimistic.

“It is still possible to launch Artemis I this year with this test in February,” NASA spokeswoman Kathryn Hambleton told The Verge.

14 of the best documentaries on Amazon Prime Video

(Image credit: Teton Gravity Research)

Documentary films were originally called actuality films, and were less than a minute long. Thankfully this ever-evolving form of filmmaking has continued to thrive, bringing us feature-length movies that document life, human or otherwise, in an effort to educate and entertain.

The best documentaries observe without obstructing, let the viewer think for themselves rather than forcing an agenda, and deliver stories worthy of being told to a wider audience than they might naturally find.

Our pick of the best documentaries on Amazon Prime Video cover sport, space, science, music and more, and should deliver highs, lows and food for thought in something approaching an equal measure.

Find out how to watch the football on Amazon Prime: free Premier League live streams

The Act of Killing

Universally heralded as one of the best documentaries ever made, The Act of Killing is equal parts inventive and shocking. Director Joshua Oppenheimer challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers. And the results are every bit as disturbing as you’d imagine, making for a truly challenging, powerful watch.

View The Act of Killing on Amazon Prime Video

Gleason

This powerful documentary follows five years in the life of Steve Gleason, a former American football player who is diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare and incurable neurodegenerative disease that slowly robs the afflicted person of their motor functions.

Expect no sugar-coating of the condition, the deterioration of Gleason’s body or the strain on his relationships and family. While it’s not an easy watch, the attitude of all involved, and especially Gleason, make for a predictably emotional but surprisingly uplifting film.

View Gleason on Amazon Prime Video

The Farthest

Voyager I and II are perhaps NASA’s finest moments: mind-boggling missions that continue to this day. Remembered by many for the Golden Record – a 12-inch gold-plated copper disc full of music, sounds and voices to document the human race – the legendary launches are documented here through the voices of many of the people behind those contributions.

The Farthest puts a witty, imaginative spin on what is by now a well-told tale of an incredible achievement.

View The Farthest on Amazon Prime Video

Long Strange Trip

Martin Scorcese directs this Grateful Dead docuseries, which mainly focuses on reluctant spokesman, Jerry Garcia. Few bands have inspired quite so cultish a following, nor been so central to such a powerful cultural movement, and Long Strange Trip does its best to get to the bottom of not just what made the band tick, but also what made them so alluring.

With the band often ignored by non-believers, this is worth a look for anyone interested in the history of popular culture through the eyes of a counterculture phenomenon.

View Long Strange Trip on Amazon Prime Video

The Secret Life of Chaos

Are you finding yourself thinking a little more about what life is all about at the moment? This might be for you, if you have the spare brain capacity.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili has a way of making complex scientific theory, if not simple, at least understandable and interesting to those of us less up-to-speed with human life as we know it and how it came to be. The Secret Life of Chaos attempts to make sense of how we’re all here, if not exactly why.

View The Secret Life of Chaos on Amazon Prime Video

All or Nothing: A Season with the Atlanta Cardinals

This behind-the-scenes documentary series (which is now a series of series) follows the Arizona Cardinals through the 2015 NFL season, and, as with each All Or Nothing edition, is a fascinating insight into the ecstatic highs and desperate lows of professional sport. There’s humour, emotion and previously unseen sides of both the game and the world-famous players.

View All or Nothing: A Season with the Atlanta Cardinals on Amazon Prime Video

As Good As It Gets

If massive units in body armour throwing themselves at each other doesn’t do it for you, then how about massive units throwing themselves at each other minus the body armour?

If you’re jaded by moneyed megastars and sport as a business, then this documentary on the 2015 Leeds Rhinos rugby league team will reignite your passion for sport’s ability to inspire, unite and entertain and reward those who work together to give their all in the honest pursuit of victory.

View As Good As It Gets on Prime Video

City of Ghosts

Another tough but rewarding entry on our list, as Matthew Heineman tells the story of courageous activists turned citizen journalists in Raqqa, Syria, who coordinated to reveal the atrocities being carried out by ISIS.

Harrowing footage reveals the lengths to which ISIS went to find new recruits, who were often children, alongside the horrific violence of the terrorist group’s attacks. Thankfully there’s some hope to be found in the bravery of the activists.

View City of Ghosts on Prime Video

The Little Count

One of the top-rated documentaries on Amazon Prime is this unlikely DIY effort from three friends in Durham, England. As the synopsis goes, “One building leads three friends to unearth a local legend. 99cm tall and 97 years old. They discover the amazing story of Joseph Boruwlaski.”

Intrigued? A 9.3 rating on IMDb (the Internet Movie Database), suggests you’ll be entertained, too.

View The Little Count on Amazon Prime Video

Diego Maradona

Whether you’re well-versed in the life of Diego Armando Maradona or have barely a passing interest in football, we think you’ll find this biopic fascinating.

Constructed from more than 500 hours of previously unseen footage, it focuses on the years Maradona spent playing for Napoli in Italy, and the incredible rise and fall of a complete one-off.

View Diego Maradona on Amazon Prime Video

Andy Irons: Kissed by God

Sport throws up countless examples of strength in adversity to win against the odds, which makes it ripe for documentary makers. Steve and Todd Jones have explored this rich seam in more than 40 films, and this might just be the best.

Surfing champion Andy Irons was used to winning, but few knew the behind-the-scenes battles he was facing, which only made his exploits all the more impressive. An exploration of bipolar disorder and opioid addiction through the eyes of a world champion surfer: it’s an eye-opening, powerful film.

View Andy Irons: Kissed by God on Prime Video

Midnight Traveller

A moving account of a migrant family traveling from Afghanistan documented using mobile phone footage. Highlighting the terrible uncertainty of a family forced to move from place to place, country to country, the expertly edited-together footage makes for an incredible document of the refugee crisis, and how people can not just persevere but also find light in such a seemingly dark existence.

View Midnight Traveller on Amazon Prime Video

The Class of ’92

One of the Man U fans out there, The Class of ’92 chronicles the rise to prominence of six Manchester United players in the early 90s: David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Phil and Gary Neville. Between them, they came to dominate the game, and propelled Man U to unprecedented success over the next two decades.

View The Class of ’92 on Amazon Prime Video

9/11 The Falling Man

This documentary tells the story behind one of the most arresting images from the 9/11 terror attacks: a man who jumped from the North Tower of the World Trade Centre falling with the building in the background. But how did it come to be taken? And who was the man? All is revealed in this illuminating look at one of the darkest days of recent times.

View 9/11 The Falling Man on Amazon Prime Video

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Axiom names first private crew paying $55 million for a trip to the ISS

An American real estate investor, a Canadian investor and a former Israeli Air Force pilot are paying $55 million each to be part of the first fully private astronaut crew to journey to the International Space Station. The trio will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule early next year, with a veteran NASA astronaut as the commander.

The Ax-1 mission, arranged by Houston, Texas-based space tourism company Axiom Space, is a watershed moment for the space industry as companies race to make space travel more accessible to private customers instead of governments. Private citizens have trekked to the space station in the past, but the Ax-1 mission marks the first to use a commercially built astronaut capsule: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which flew its first two crews to the ISS last year.

“As the first fully private mission to go to the ISS, we feel an enormous responsibility to do it well,” Michael López-Alegría, a veteran astronaut and the mission’s commander, told The Verge on Tuesday. “We realize that this is the trend-setter, the bar-setter for the future, and so our goal is to really exceed all expectations.”

Larry Connor, an entrepreneur and non-profit activist investor; Mark Pathy, the Canadian investor and philanthropist; and Eytan Stibbe, the former Israeli fighter pilot and an impact investor, were revealed by Axiom Tuesday morning as the company’s inaugural crew. Connor, 71, is president of The Connor Group, a luxury real estate investment firm based in Ohio. He’d become the second-oldest person to fly to space after John Glenn, who flew the U.S. space shuttle Discovery at 77 years old.

The crew’s flight to the space station, an orbital laboratory some 250 miles above Earth, will take two days. They’ll then spend about eight days aboard the station’s U.S. segment, where they’ll take part “in research and philanthropic projects,” Axiom said in a statement. Living alongside working astronauts from the U.S., Russia and likely Germany, the private crew members will roll out sleeping bags somewhere on the station.

“There aren’t any astronaut crew quarters for us, which is fine. Sleeping in Zero-G is pretty much the same wherever you are once you close your eyes,” López-Alegría said.

NASA updated its policies in 2019 to allow private astronaut flights to the ISS as part of a broader push to encourage commercial opportunities in space. The agency had previously opposed private visits to the ISS on US spacecraft. Seven private citizens did fly to the station as wealthy tourists on separate missions in the early 2000’s aboard Russia’s Soyuz vehicles.

Private stays on the space station will have a hefty pricetag, according to NASA’s 2019 announcement. It’ll cost $11,250 per astronaut per day to use the life support systems and toilet, $22,500 per day for all necessary crew supplies (like food, air, medical supplies, and more), and $42 per kilowatt-hour for power. That tallies to a nightly rate of about $35,000 per person, which for the four crew members on the Ax-1 mission – including Commander López-Alegría – totals to $1.1 million for an eight-night stay.

The International Space Station in low-Earth orbit

NASA

Those nightly costs are included in the $55 million price the private astronauts are already paying, Axiom says. The company bills itself as a “turnkey, full-service mission provider that interfaces with all other parties (e.g. NASA) for” the astronauts, an Axiom spokesman said. “Any and all necessary costs are part of Axiom’s ticket price.”

The Ax-1 mission will have to be approved by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, the space station’s managing body of partner countries that includes the U.S., Russia, Canada, Japan and others. That approval process kicked off today, López-Alegría said. “I don’t think that there’s any doubt that the background and qualifications of the crew are more than adequate to be accepted by the MCOP, so I feel good about that,” he added.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, an acorn-shaped pod with seats for seven, was approved last year by NASA under its Commercial Crew Program to fly humans to the space station. Under that roughly $4.5 billion program, SpaceX developed Crew Dragon alongside its rival Boeing, which is about a year away from certifying its Starliner capsule for human flights. Both companies have contracts with NASA to fly six missions carrying U.S. astronauts to space.

The Ax-1 mission was announced early last year. It is the second space tourism effort for SpaceX, which announced around the same time that it is also working with space tourism company Space Adventures to send up to four private citizens into orbit around the Earth sometime in 2022.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule approaches the International Space Station carrying three U.S. astronauts and a Japanese astronaut on November 17, 2020.

NASA

Space tourism in recent years has sparked a wave of interest from the ultra-wealthy and investors as a growing field of space companies prove out hardware and ramp up uncrewed test flights in and around space. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, now the richest person in the world, has made normalizing space travel and colonizing Mars SpaceX’s top priority. Billionaire businessman Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which offers groups of four a few minutes of weightlessness in its massive spaceplane for a few hundred thousand dollars, became the first publicly traded space tourism company in 2019. And billionaire Amazon owner Jeff Bezos’s space firm Blue Origin will soon offer similar suborbital experiences with its vertically launched New Shepard rocket.

Axiom’s chief executive Mike Suffredini co-founded the company in 2016 after spending ten years as NASA’s ISS program manager. Already, the company is building its own modules called “Axiom Station” designed to attach to the ISS, offering room for science experiments and more tourists. Ax-1 “is just the first of several Axiom Space crews,” he said in a statement.

López-Alegría, who has flown four times to space as a NASA astronaut, said he’s met with Connor, Pathy and Stibbe a few times at SpaceX’s California headquarters and in Florida during SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission last year. He’ll be in charge of training them in person beginning a few months prior to the flight.

“They’re very individual, but they all have a very common thread, and that is they really want this to be a successful mission that paves the way for future private astronaut missions,” López-Alegría said. “It’s a good crew.”

Metroid looks amazing in Lego — and could become real if you vote

If you want a Metroid Lego set, you have the power to bring the idea closer to reality. User L-DI-EGO has submitted a design on Lego’s Ideas website that brings the block treatment to Samus and her gunship, but the site requires votes to get this concept in front of Lego itself (via Nintendo Life).

Lego Ideas is an official site for users to submit their concepts and designs for the Lego company to consider, and where Lego fans can vote for their favorites. If a submission gets 10,000 votes, the Lego Group may turn it into a real product. Right now the Metroid concept has around 5,700 votes, so it’s just over halfway. If you like the concept, you can go to the website to put your thumb on the scale.

Image: L-DI-EGO on Lego Ideas

It’s worth noting, however, that many of the submissions that do get 10,000 votes don’t actually end up hitting store shelves. The program has been running since 2008, and only 33 sets have made it to production so far. Lego only guarantees that it’ll look at the idea, but usually fans will end up waiting to hear back from the company only to get a rejection.

That isn’t to say it’s impossible. Lego has a page listing some of the Ideas that you can buy today. The list includes the truly awesome 1969-piece Saturn V rocket, and we’ve written about a Doctor Who set that started out as an Idea. Space ideas really seem to speak to Lego, as nearly a quarter of the sets produced (if you count WALL-E and Doctor Who) have been space-themed. This includes a Women of NASA kit and a recreation of the International Space Station. Maybe that’s a good sign, since Metroid is set in space?

You wouldn’t see anything like this on Earth.

Image: L-DI-EGO on Lego Ideas

What would the official version of this look like? Still cool, I bet.

Image: L-DI-EGO on Lego Ideas

Despite the space examples, the program doesn’t operate at warp speed. It can often take over a year from an idea getting reviewed to it being something you can buy: that Doctor Who kit got to 10,000 votes on April 7, 2014, and hit store shelves in December of 2015.

And even if the Metroid idea does end up being produced by Lego, there are no promises it’ll look the same as it does now. Lego will often make changes to the Ideas designs. You can see this by comparing the Back to the Future set from 2011. On the top is the Ideas version, and on the bottom is the retail packaging.

Image by m.togami on Lego Ideas

The hoverboard and Doc’s fit are clear downgrades.

Image: Lego

While Lego deciding to make this Metroid set may be unlikely, it already has a relationship with Nintendo from the work the companies have done on a couple of Super Mario sets and a version of the NES that’s just as endearingly blocky as the system’s graphics.

If Metroid isn’t your preferred Nintendo franchise, there’s an Animal Crossing set that’s just under the 10,000 vote line. It’s got over 9,000 votes, so it just needs a small push to make it to Lego’s desk. And, if you want to spend an evening dreaming about Lego sets that aren’t likely to ever come out, I suggest you take a look at the Ideas sets that are currently pending review — there’s some great ones in there, including Tom Nook’s infamous shop.

You can design your island however you want in this set inspired by a game where you design your island however you want.

TiagoCatarino on Lego Ideas

“Cotton candy planet” WASP-107b with a surprisingly small core

The solid core of the “cotton candy planet” WASP – 107 b is obviously much lighter, than previously thought possible with such gas giants. This is the result of a group of astrophysicists who have analyzed the already known exoplanet in more detail.

According to this, the celestial body is about as big as Jupiter, but ten times lighter than the largest planet in the solar system. Its solid core should therefore be so small that 85 percent of the total mass of WASP – 107 b is gathered in the gas envelope. The scientists write that they can only speculate about how the unusual exoplanet formed.

Surprisingly easy Since the exploration of Exoplanets have also been found again and again with very low densities, the “cotton candy planets”. The NASA space telescope Kepler discovered a star system in which there are three exoplanets with a density of only around 0.3 g / cm 3 gives. For comparison, Jupiter has an average density of around 1.3 g / cm 3 , the Earth around 5.5 g / cm 3 . Since the low density is difficult or impossible to explain with the current models of planet formation, researchers have in the meantime also suggested alternative explanations. Possibly the “cotton candy planets” appear larger than they actually are because of rings.

In the case of WASP – 87 b the researchers checked the known data and, for example, determined the mass even more precisely using the radial velocity method. According to your analysis of the most likely structure of the exoplanet, it has a particularly small solid core. It is only about four times as heavy as our earth. However, models for planet formation therefore require a core with at least ten times the mass of the earth in order to form such a large gas planet. The most plausible scenario is therefore that WASP – 107 b formed further away from its star, where the Gas accumulation happens much faster. Then it is at its position 1 / 16 astronomical units away from its star Hiked.

With WASP – 107 c the researchers also have another Exoplanets found in the system. It takes three years for one cycle in contrast to the 5.7 days for WASP – 107 b. In addition, its orbit is extremely eccentric, which points to a turbulent past in the history of the star system. The researchers want to continue observing WASP – 87 b with the planned James Webb space telescope, because also apart from its low density there are other unanswered questions, it says. They published their analysis in the Astronomical Journal.

Exoplanets (19 Pictures) Nearest relatives The most Earth-like exoplanets to date – confirmed and unconfirmed – in a habitable zone.

(Image: PHL @ UPR Arecibo) (mho)

NASA SLS: First details emerge on test problems and there would be good news

NASA SLS test, as we know, it did not last the expected time (about 8 minutes). After a little more than a minute there was a shutdown due to a stop of the procedure. NASA has now explained some details.

by Mattia Speroni published 20 January 2021 , at 00: 21 in the Science channel and technology

NASA

We wrote yesterday about how Jim Bridenstine (NASA administrator) stated that Core Stage and engines of NASA SLS were in good condition after the hot fire test failed. As stated by the senior executive of the space agency, there would be some communications in the following hours, and so it happened. In fact, on the official blog you can read the first information.

The space agency wanted to confirm once again that the Core Stage and engines are in good condition. As reported, the blocking of the hot fire test would “been triggered by intentionally conservative test parameters to ensure the safety of the main phase during testing” . The NASA added that the parameters have been designed specifically for ground testing in order to work safely.

NASA SLS: some indications on the problems that occurred in the test

In particular, the stop would have occurred due to TVC (thrust vector control) which allows the four RS engines – 25 to move to change the direction of the thrust. During the scheduled tests, the hydraulic system associated with the power unit of the main stage for the engine 2 (code E 2056), has exceeded the preset test limits. The computer then blocked the tests to avoid possible major damage.

What would have happened if the same problem had plagued NASA SLS in flight? The space agency stated that in that case the rocket would continue to fly using the remaining CAPU to power thrust vector control systems for engines. The CAPUs are the Core Stage Auxiliary Power Units and are used to power the TVC . As expected in systems of this type, these are redundant solutions and therefore allow to overcome these problems in critical situations.

Despite everything, several tests have been successfully conducted such as wet dress rehearsal (fuel load) while they were made some changes to procedures. The achievement of the 109% thrust was also confirmed as in the case of a actual mission.

The MCF ( major component failure ), which occurred about 1.5 “after starting the motors, was not the cause of the test block. In that case there is it was a problem with the instrumentation of the engine 4 (E ) losing part of the redundancy. But a problem of this type is not considered so serious as to lead to the block of the test. by technicians.

That’s not all! In fact, the technicians are also trying to figure out where the ” flash “ that was seen in the videos. A first inspection did not reveal anything abnormal with normal temperatures. The thermal covers seem to have worked co rrectly protecting the critical parts. What will happen now? NASA SLS could take a second hot fire test but it has not yet been decided: this is because the ultra-cold fuel tanks are certified for nine uses and any further tests (involving fuel load) should therefore be carefully evaluated. As an example it was pointed out that the external tank used by the Space Shuttle had a limit set at thirteen.

They could also be “relax” the stringent current parameters to avoid further shutdowns due to non-worrying values. Nothing is still lost for a possible launch of the 2021, but surely the situation could evolve in the coming days , weeks and months.

Follow us on our Instagram channel, lots of news coming soon !

Space travel: aim high in 2021

Nothing went as planned in the space sector either 2019. Like almost all sectors, space activities have been hit hard by the pandemic. Observers were particularly looking forward to the start of seven planned space missions, some things went great: SpaceX sent astronauts into space, China brought moon rocks back to Earth.

But many other missions were not implemented: The Rosalind Franklin Rover and the European-Russian co-mission were on 2022 postponed. The SpaceX Starship also didn’t make it into space (but still quite far). All hopes that Artemis 1, the first mission in NASA’s new lunar exploration program to bring humans back to the moon during the decade, still 2019 would start were smashed. Because most of the NASA facilities had to cease operations for the time being due to the pandemic.

And yet: 2021 promises to be an exciting year for space travel. One can expect a lot: NASA’s ambitions to return to the moon are growing. The private space industry continues to grow faster than ever. The following are the eleven missions which the TR editorial team finds most exciting and which could most likely represent new milestones. Nevertheless, the following applies: Little can be predicted for missions into space and it may well be that many of these projects have to be postponed for months or even years.

February: A Trio of Mars missions Mars will be able to welcome not just one, not two, but three missions – each of them started and operated by a different nation. The United Arab Emirates are sending the Hope Orbiter, NASA is entering the race with the Perseverance Rover and the Chinese are sending the Tianwen-1 mission (including space probe, landing module and rover). All three missions will reach Mars’ orbit in February.

Perseverance is then expected to reach the surface later this month, followed by Tianwen-1 in April. Hope is designed to help scientists clarify questions about the atmosphere, such as why the planet is giving off oxygen and hydrogen. Tianwen-1 and Perseverance will be looking for signs of life and trying to understand the geology of Mars. While Mars missions are now standard for NASA, it is the first opportunity for China and the UAE to get a closer look at the planet.

Probability of success: 9 / 10. The missions have started, but everyone has to make the trip and two of them manage to land.

March: Boeing’s second Starliner test SpaceX’s Crew Dragon may have safely returned a manned mission to US soil, but it is not the only spacecraft NASA hopes to bring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) create. Boeing also has a spacecraft called the Starliner on offer, whose unnamed mission to the ISS failed in December 2019.

The spaceship’s software was riddled with bugs, including a flaw that could have completely destroyed the capsule. Not exactly Boeing’s most colorful moment. But the company is repeating this test mission in late March after combing through all of the Starliner code and rigorously checking the operating system. If everything goes well, the Starliner could send people to the ISS by the end of the year.

Probability of success: 8 / 10. After everything that has happened, nothing from Boeing is a sure thing. June and October: The first CLPS missions to the moon NASA’s Artemis program, successor to Apollo, will not just consist of a few quick round trips to the moon. Artemis is to return to the moon in the long term, private companies are also involved. A commercial lunar payload service that accepts orders (Commercial Lunar Payload Services, CLPS for short) offers opportunities for small companies that want to do something on the moon – be it flying in small payloads with new spaceships, testing new space technology towards the moon or carrying out lunar research .

Astrobotic Technology Peregrine Lander, which is scheduled to make its maiden flight on United Launchs Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket, will receive an initial shipment of 28 CLPS payloads to fly to the moon in June, 14 of which from NASA. If all goes well, it will be the first private spaceship to land on the moon. Intuitive Machines will send its Nova-C lander towards the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in October. In total, it will take at least five NASA payload flights to the moon, plus further deliveries from other groups.

Probability of success: 6 / 10. Landing on the moon is difficult for any newcomer. June: The end of Juno Since July 2016 the NASA Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter and is providing the best data on its atmosphere so far, the gravitational field, the magnetic field and the geology. Juno has provided some surprising insights into the largest planet in the solar system and also provided some stunning images of Jupiter’s colorful clouds from above. But the mission ends on 30. July, when Juno will dive into its atmosphere and collect as much data as possible before the tremendous pressure tears the spaceship apart.

NASA: SLS rocket engine shut down out of caution

The US space agency NASA declares the abandonment of the rocket propulsion test last weekend with its own caution. Deliberately conservative settings in the steering of the drives would have led to the termination. The rocket engines themselves ran without any problems and remained undamaged during the test.

NASA had four over the weekend RS – 25 – The engines of the planned Space Launch System (SLS) tested as part of the preparations for the Artemis I mission. Instead of simulating the complete rocket launch of eight minutes as planned, the rateken drive switched off prematurely for the new NASA moon mission.

Steering of the rocket engines responsible After an initial analysis, NASA blames the rocket drive system for the demolition. The engines must be flexible to control the rocket. However, the corresponding hydraulic system exceeded the preset limit values during the test. This triggered the automatic shutdown.

NASA declares that it deliberately selected cautious settings for the rocket test on the ground in order to ensure the safety of the engines. In flight, the rocket would have continued on its way normally, as the thrust from the other engines would have been balanced out.

Four RS – 25 Rocket engines tested in January 2021

(Image: NASA-TV)

Overall, NASA rates the drive test as a success. All four rocket engines would have worked as expected and achieved the full thrust required for the launch of the Artemis I rocket.

Second rocket test recommended After further analysis of the data collected, NASA will decide whether a second rocket drive test is necessary. Then the parameters could be adjusted a little to avoid another premature shutdown.

Former head of the space shuttle program, Wayne Hale, recommends NASA to conduct another test to collect more data . That would take a few weeks, but the schedule is of secondary importance.

(fds)

Bridenstine: NASA SLS engines and Core Stage are in good condition

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, wanted to reassure those who followed the NASA SLS test for the Artemis I mission to the Moon that the Core Stage and the RS engines – 25 are in good condition. Now new information is expected.

by Mattia Speroni published 19 January 2021 , at 09: 01 in the Science and Technology channel

NASA

We wrote the other day of the hot fire test del Core Stage by NASA SLS which did not end as hoped. While many details and information are still missing, which will be provided by the space agency this week, Jim Bridenstine ( NASA administrator) wanted to bring some hope among insiders and enthusiasts.

The NASA SLS test and Artemis I

Bridenstine is now a few hours away from the end of his mandate and we still don’t know who will take his place. But the senior executive still wanted “to assert” its position to try to “ferry” the NASA in this difficult time. In fact, we do not yet know if the Artemis I mission will be able to be launched at the end of 2021 or will have to be postponed to 2022.

In a tweet written in these hours, the ‘administrator wrote that “Core Stage and engines are in good condition” . He also recalled what the key timings were during the hot fire test : T-0 (end of countdown) was at 5: 27 afternoon ET (23: 27 in Italy) and lasted 67, 2 “, 6” before the T-0 there was the injection phase of the engines which then started in sequence at a distance of 120 milliseconds.

In a post The official is also reminded that the test of NASA SLS still allowed to collect a lot of data and that the previous phases at power up have been completed successfully. It is a complex and critical sequence of events and not at all obvious, even if less scenic than the actual ignition. Also, having pointed out that the engines and Core Stage are in good condition would suggest that repairs could be quick. This would allow you to repeat the hot fire test in a short time and, hopefully, keep the roadmap prefixed.

Jim Bridenstine later wrote in the blog “Saturday’s test was a major step forward to ensure that the SLS Core Stage is ready for the Artemis I mission and to transport the crew in future missions. Although the engines did not start for the entire duration, the team successfully completed the countdown, started the engines and obtained valuable data for our journey “. So all that remains is to wait and understand what happened and what the repercussions will be.

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China makes Chang'e-5 lunar samples available for research

Chang’e Lunar Champions -5 are now available to international bodies or agencies to be able to conduct scientific experiments (including destructive ones). Thus opens a new chapter of collaboration between nations.

by Mattia Speroni published 18 January 2021 , at 17: 01 in the Science and Technology channel

International collaboration when it comes to scientific research and space is fundamental. For this reason the announcement of the CNSA (the Chinese space agency) to make available to the entities of other nations the lunar rock samples of the space mission Chang’e-5 is very interesting.

Chang’e-5 lunar samples are available for testing

I lunar samples collected during the Chinese space mission Chang’e-5 which ended in December 2020 have a weight of approximately 1.7 kg . The document that opens to international collaboration is available on the CNSA website, outlining wide possibilities of use by institutions and agencies worldwide. There seem to be no particular constraints and therefore, potentially, even NASA could request a sample.

As reported, it is explicitly written that there is room for “international cooperation on studies on lunar samples” . Of course, the CNSA will not leave the samples “to anyone” but only to those who guarantee high standards and use in terms of scientific research . In fact, the notes read that it will be necessary “to conduct scientific research or socially advantageous activities in accordance with the relevant content of the approval and agreement “.

Whoever asks to be able to have part of it will be responsible for damage, loss or inappropriate use. However, this does not exclude the possibility of carrying out “destructive” type experiments . The important thing is that everything is filmed on video so as to avoid appropriations or possible sales. After all, the moon rock samples are particularly expensive and the market demand is high. To further protect the samples, inspections by Chinese lunar program technicians may be envisaged.

As regards scientific research, the studies performed must clearly state which sample is been employed. Furthermore, it will be necessary to clearly write “Lunar sample provided by the CNSA” . There will also be a review of the scientific studies published thanks to the lunar samples of Chang’e-5 and the sharing of scientific results.

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Chang’e-5 lunar samples are available for testing

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