Monthly Archives: June 2017

New frontiers for recycling

NanoRacks

By Leah Crane

A long-dormant plan for a space station built in space from recycled parts may be getting new legs. NASA has signed an estimated $10 million contract to study the possibility of turning used rocket stages into functioning labs with support for a crew.

Before Skylab, the first US space station, went into orbit in the 1970s, Wernher von Braun proposed to separately send parts for a space station and astronauts aboard two Saturn IB rockets, which would launch within a day of one another. Launching separate payloads would be key to saving weight, given the rockets capacity limitations.

When both rockets were in orbit, astronauts would remotely vent any remaining fuel from the uncrewed rockets hydrogen tank, install life-support equipment, and move in. This would reuse a fuel tank that would otherwise be discarded.

Although von Brauns idea was eventually abandoned in favour of launching Skylab fully equipped, the cost-saving benefits of this low-Earth-orbit manoeuvre have once again become attractive.

A group of three US companies NanoRacks, United Launch Alliance and Space Systems Loral has now been contracted to examine whether building a recycled space station will work, amid a push from other private spaceflight companies for reusable rockets.

United Launch Alliance will provide the used second stages of Atlas V rockets, for which NanoRacks will prefabricate a lab and living space, with robotic outfitting from Space Systems Loral. As with the previous plan, the idea is to use two rockets, with the astronauts assembling the lab equipment in space once the fuel tank is used.

This innovative approach offers a pathway that is more affordable and involves less risk than fabricating modules on the ground and subsequently launching them into orbit, wrote NanoRacks founder and CEO Jeff Manber in a blog post. The upper stages of Atlas V rockets are currently discarded after a single use, so turning them into mini space stations could be free money in the bank.

Although the financial risks are lower, the human ones may not be. Turning spent shells into environments capable of supporting both astronauts and experiments will be a challenge, as will asking astronauts to retrofit them for life and use while in orbit. But if NanoRacks and its partners can manage this, reviving von Brauns concept could significantly lower costs for space stations, either in orbit or further into deep space.

More on these topics:

Here is the original post:
NASA revives 50-year-old idea to recycle space stations in orbit - New Scientist

GREENVILLE, S.C.

If you looked up at the right time Monday night, you might have been able to see the International Space Station fly over.

The space station was visible starting at 9:43 p.m. in Greenville and Asheville and the surrounding areas. Weather permitting, it was visible in the northwest sky for about three minutes.

It moved across the sky and pass out of sight at 9:47 p.m.

The space station looked like a small, bright star moving across the sky. It was traveling at more than 17,000 mph as it passes by. It only takes 90 minutes for the laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.

The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, is in its second week aboard the International Space Station.

To track the International Space Station, click here.

The tracker, developed by the European Space Agency, shows where the space station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Because of the Earth's rotation the space station appears to travel from west to east.

Here is the original post:
Space station flyover visible from Greenville, Asheville Monday night - WYFF Greenville

This is what it might look like (its not finished yet) (Picture Asgardia)

Forget leaving the European Union, how about leaving Planet Earth entirely and becoming a citizen of space?

The idea might sound like something from Star Trek but people are clearly keen (and frankly, looking at how things are down here, who can blame them?)

In fact, 500,000 people tried to sign up to become citizens of the first off-world space nation Asgardia when it launched last October

The group, the brainchild of billionaire Russian computer scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, now has almost 200,000 verified citizens from around 200 countries, who have each received a Certificate of Asgardia.

In September, Asgardia will send its foundation stone into orbit.

The micro-satellite, Asgardia-1, will carry personal data freely uploaded by up to 1.5 million Asgardians.

The launch, 60 years after the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was sent into orbit, will mark the first small step in a programme to establish an independent space-based country recognised by the United Nations.

Dr Ashurbeyli said: Asgardia-1 will mark the beginning of a new space era, taking our citizens into space in virtual form, at first.

Asgardia-1 will contain data stored for free for up to 1.5 million Asgardians on board the satellite. These are historic days, and your names and data will forever stay in the memory of the new space humanity, as they will be reinstalled on every new Asgardia satellite we launch.

Asgardia-1 is our first, small step which we hope will lead to a giant leap forward for mankind.

Asgardia is named after the City of the Gods in Norse mythology.

Its main aim is to develop space technology unfettered by Earthly politics and laws, leading ultimately to a permanent orbiting home where its citizens can live and work.

People can apply online to be Asgardian citizens via the website http://www.asgardia.space.

Those already recognised as citizens are now being asked to vote on key elements of the Asgardian constitution.

Asgardia-1, to be carried into orbit by a resupply ship to the International Space Station, will be roughly the size of a loaf of bread, measuring just 20cm (eight inches) long and weighing about 2.3kg (5lbs).

It will carry a solid state hard drive containing the citizen data and two particle detectors for measuring radiation levels in space.

Decisions on the Asgardia flag, insignia and national anthem are all due to be finalised this month.

More here:
Forget Brexit, half a million people have applied to go and live on a space station - Metro

An artist's impression of the Restore-L craft, a space-based refueling station that will give new life to old satellites.

Landsat-7 is in trouble. Some 438 miles above, the minivan-sized craft zips around Earth every 16 days. And for over 18 years, the satellite has captured pictures of our ever-changing planet. But Landsat-7 is running out of fuel.

If it were an Earth-bound craft, this wouldnt be an issue. We refuel everythingplanes, trains and automobiles. But up in space, its a different story. Satellites toil away hundreds or even thousands of miles from Earth, speeding along at thousands of miles per hour. This speed and distance leaves ground operators largely helpless if anything goes awry. That includes refueling: Once satellites run out of gas, theyre given up for dead. The only exceptions are Hubble and the International Space Station, both of which are in low enough orbit to be reached via shuttle and worthsending people for servicing.

But with the average price tag of satellites topping a billion dollars, ditching the crafts once they hit empty is costly. It also contributes to the ever-growing space junk problem: These once-useful man-made objects become potentially deadly hazards in space. We don't do it because we like throwing things away, we do it because there isn't any other option, says Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager for NASAs Satellite Servicing Projects Division, a group determined to change the way researchers view satellites.

Housed in a warehouse at Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt Maryland, the Satellite Servicing Projects Division is working toward revolutionary new technologies that would make it possible to repair, refuel and upgrade satellites while in orbit. Until now, computing power and robotics technology havent been sophisticated enough to make this tricky endeavour possible.

The walls of the cavernous epicenter of SSPD, as Reed calls it, are draped in black cloth to mimic the darkness of space during simulation runs. Robotic arms, each five or more feet long, are attached at various angles at every work station in the room. A life-size replica of Landsat-7 sits by the door, and two arms point in opposite directions, frozen mid-gesture in front of the craft.

These arms are part of the development stage for a project dubbed Restore-La craft intended to launch into space in the summer of 2020, designed to refuel satellites running on empty. Its first target: Landsat-7.

Refueling in space, however, is far more complicated than you might think. First, the craft has to catch up with the satellite, precisely matching its speed. One mile per hour slower and [Restore-L] will never catch it; one mile per hour faster, bad things [happen], says Reed, knocking his fists together to demonstrate the destruction that would ensue.

Directing such an endeavor from the ground would be nearly impossible. Any slight communication delays from ground-based operators could result in catastrophe. So Restore-L needs a brain of its own to track and calculate its trajectory to attach to the satellite.

Enter Raven. Slightly smaller than a milk crate, this device has three optical instruments: visible light, infrared and whats known as LIDAR, which sends out lasers and collects the scattered light. The device rode up to the International Space Station this past February and has since been attached to the outside of the station, tracking the movement of any incoming and outgoing spacecraft. The three sensors allow it to monitor these objects under all light conditions, explains Ross Henry, the lead investigator for the Raven project.

Raven is essentially helping the team develop an autopilot system, says Henry. It can spotincoming spacecraft at almost 17 miles awaythey show up as a single pixel in an image. Raventhen uses its sensors to tracks the crafts movement. Based on an internal algorithm, Raven can spit out coordinates that detailthe incoming bodys position in space and its orientation. Eventually sensors similar to Ravens will be incorporated into Restore-L.

During its mission, these sensors will get Restore-L near to the satellite in need. In the case of the Landsat-7 repair, Restore-Ls robotic arms would then come into play, latching onto a metal ring on the bottom of the satellite, which was originally used to secure Landsat-7 to the top of its launch rocket.

Like your arm, the robot arms have three main points of motiona shoulder, elbow and wrist, explains Reed. A camera located at its wrist helps it track its position relative to the satellite and respond to tiny changes as the pair speed through space together at thousands of miles per hour.

Thats what we practice back here, says Reed, gesturing to another replica of the bottom of a satellite sitting in the far corner of the warehouse. The satellites bottom ring sits exposed and another robotic arm stands motionless in front of the device. To practice the maneuver, a second robot makes the satellite bottom bob and weave while the robotic arm nabs it, continuing to track its movement.

Nowand I'm not joking when I say thiscomes the easy part, says Reed. And that's the actual refueling.

For this easy part of the mission, Restore-L will use five specially designed tools to gain access to the fuel valve. It must cut away insulation, remove a lock wire over the top cap and unscrew three different leak-proof caps. Two more specially designed tools will then be used to thread the fueling arm onto the nozzle, pump in fuel under 250 pounds per square inch of pressure, and re-insulate the port. Once fueling is complete the front half of the nozzle separates from the retracting arm. Left behind is a new fueling port that only requires the use of two tools to complete the maneuver, simplifying all future refueling missions.

SSPDs goal is to work with other satellite designers to help make all future satellites capable of refueling by incorporating the new fueling port design.Now that we've reached the point when fueling can be discussed with a straight face, why not build our satellites to be cooperative, say Reed. Such satellite tune-ups are the future of the industry, he says. It is clear that most companies recognize this and are already interested in cooperative servicing.

The team is also considering loading future refueling crafts with enough fuel to service multiple satellites, like a mobile gas station in space. If you can get up there and restore the life of one of these billion-dollar satellites another five or ten years, you've immediately recouped your money, says Henry. If you can do five of them, you've got yourself a game changer.

In the future, the team hopes that other crafts like Restore-L can help upgrade or service other satellites. They are working towards whats sometimes known as the five Rs, says Reed: remote inspection, relocation, refueling, repair and replacement.

One day, throw-away satellites will be a thing of the past. Junking satelliteswas once a necessity, says Reed, but now, modern systems are up to the task. The satellite industry isn't broken, he says. We are humbly suggesting to the satellite world, it could be better.

Reed and Henry will be presenting on a panel at Future Con, a three-day science, technology, and entertainment celebration inside Awesome Con on June 16-18, 2017 in Washington, D.C.Attend to learn more about robots in space, but also dinosaurs in the Antarctic, nanotechnology at work, and the multiverse!

Read the original:
NASA Is Sending a Robotic Fueling Station to Space - Smithsonian