On November 30th, a Zenit 3SLB launched the new Intelsat 15 data and communications satellite into orbit. It will reach an orbit as high as 22,300 miles above the earth.
A Zenit 3SLB blasts off from Kazakhstan Saturday morning, carrying the Intelsat 15 communications satellite to orbit.
The rocket launched from launch pad 45A at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3 A.M local time in Kazakhstan. General Manager Kjell Karlsen of Sea Launch said this, “I want to congratulate Intelsat and Orbital for a very successful mission. This is the 10th satellite we've orbited for Intelsat and we look forward to launching many more satellites for you in the future.”
Intelsat 15’s next step is to expand its power-generating solar arrays. In a couple weeks, it will deploy two 7.5 ft. antenna reflectors. Intel Sat will provide data and video communications for multiple regions, and its coverage stretches from North Africa to Siberia. The satellite will replace the Intelsat 709.
A graphic depicting the orbital insertion plan for the Zenit rocket’s burn to put Intelsat 15 into orbit.
Plans are already ahead for the launch of the Intelsat 18 in 2011 using the Land Launch system. This also marks the 3rd Intelsat launch within a month. The Norwegian Thor 6 launched on October 29th and the Intelsat 14 on the 23rd of November.
In the first step of a 2-step maneuver, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's right rear wheel stalled once more as it attempted to become free on November 28th, 2009. This isn’t the first time that the wheel stalled, however it did stall more quickly. The stall also didn’t seem to be a factor of the terrain the wheel is in, but rotor resistance within the wheel’s internal actuator.
This blink comparison aids evaluation of a drive by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 2,099th Martian day, or sol (Nov. 28, 2009).
Project Engineers will now be running diagnostics to check the health of the actuator and any potential terrain hazards before making another attempt to get the rover free. This was part of a series of attempts to free Spirit which began back on November 17th.
Spirit has been stuck in loose soil in an area known as Troy since May. The rover’s wheels are in loose soil with iron sulfate hidden underneath. The composition of the iron sulfate is not the greatest terrain for the rover to travel on as the wheels have much difficulty finding traction.
A screen shot from software used by the Mars Exploration Rover team for assessing movements by Spirit and Opportunity illustrates the degree to which Spirit's wheels have become embedded in soft material at the location called "Troy."
JPL has been using several test rovers, recreating Spirit’s predicament back here on Earth. This alone is a task in itself as compensating for the lower gravity of Mars and atmospheric pressure must be done as well.
Planning an escape for the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit
Friday, December 4, 2009
The most advanced spy satellite of Japan was launched Saturday morning from the Yoshinobu space complex. The satellite was launched into polar orbit by a 2 stage launcher.
A 174-ft tall H2-A rocket carrying Japan's Gathering Satellite, launches from the Yoshinobu space complex Saturday morning.
The launch was not announced by JAXA and was very secretive. However, the country has acknowledged the launch, and declared it a success.
Along with 4 other orbiting craft which can use radar to monitor day and night weather, the new gathering satellite is fitted with a camera and telescope. It will be used for both defense and intelligence.
Although no technical data was released regarding the specifications of the satellite, here is an artist's representation as to what it may look like.
Recent events such as the North Korean missile test over Japanese territory back in April created a need for increased security, and quick detection of any future missile launches.
Saturday morning launch of an H2-A rocket carrying Japan's Gathering Satellite into orbit.
Shuttle Mission STS-129 came to a completion with Space Shuttle Atlantis landing in Florida on Friday. Atlantis launched on November, 16 and flew nearly 4,500,000 miles.
As the remaining missions for the shuttle fleet wind down, NASA used STS-129 to deliver a slew of replacement parts, and backup devices to the International Space Station, and completed 3 spacewalks.
Space shuttle Atlantis lands on runway 33 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility concluding the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA Jack Pfaller
The landing also saw the return of astronaut Nicole Stott. After 91 days in space after serving as Expedition 20/21 flight engineer, her return marks the last time an I.S.S. crew member will be transferred to or from the space station.
The STS-129 crew in front of Atlantis, dressed in their launch-and-entry suits prior to launch. From left are Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Randy Bresnik; Pilot Barry E. Wilmore; Commander Charles O. Hobaugh; and Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
This is the final shuttle flight of 2009 with the next launch to be STS-130 as Space Shuttle Endeavour heads to I.S.S. in February.
Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts ended an 11-day journey of nearly 4.5 million miles with a 9:44 a.m. EST landing Friday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In the history of mankind, common sense has always told us that if you wish to be sneaky, you must make yourself as invisible as possible. The same holds true in space. As some of the most amazing objects (and most dangerous ones), do not quite make the scale as far as emitting visible light goes.
Well these objects will now have no place to hide thanks to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.
At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers guide the interstage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, into place on top of the rocket's first stage in the pad's mobile service tower.
Credit: NASA/Roy Allison, VAFB
Scheduled for a December 9th launch aboard a Delta II rocket, as the name suggests, WISE will use a series of instruments to scan the entire sky at infrared wavelengths. Dim stars, planets, and clouds will now be seen and charted. Asteroids will be charted as well. Even potentially close asteroids that may pose as a threat to life on Earth.
Instrument wise (no pun intended), WISE will use 3 key pieces of equipment:
A 40 centimeter aperture telescope which views the sky in 4 different infrared wavelengths.
Detectors which measure data by transforming light into electrons, one for each of the infrared wavelengths observed by WISE.
A Cryostat instrument. Since even cold objects emit hardly any visible light, they still emit infrared light. So in order to avoid detecting their own signal, the telescope and detectors must be kept even colder. The system utilizes 2 tanks filled with frozen hydrogen to cool the instruments to nearly -450 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Wise, is seen here being hoisted to the top of its United Launch Alliance Detla II rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The spacecraft, which will scan the whole sky in infrared light, is scheduled to blast off on Dec. 9, 2009. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A specific object WISE will be looking for is known as a brown dwarf. These objects are similar to Jupiter as they are balls of gas that were lacking the mass necessary to form into stars. They are cool and faint to visible light, but it is expected that nearly 1,000 will be discovered within 25 light years.
This is the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy as viewed in infrared light. The image is a composite of mid-infrared imagery from the MSX satellite and near-infrared imagery from the 2MASS survey. WISE images will be similar in quality.
Credit: NASA/JPL/UCLA
Looking a little deeper, NASA will be looking for what is known as ultraluminous infrared galaxies, or ULIRGs. These galaxies fill the distant universe, but do not emit much visible light. However in the infrared wavelengths, it is possible that millions of these unseen galaxies will be discovered.
This artist's animation shows NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, rotating in space, revealing all sides of the spacecraft. The spacecraft's orbit is shown next. WISE will orbit over the poles of Earth, staying over the day-night, or terminator, line. Its telescope will always point away from Earth, and its solar panels will face the sun.
Credit: Ball/NASA/JPL-Caltech
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, received an award from Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday.
Astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) receives an award from Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (right) on Wednesday. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to serve on an I.S.S. crew and the first Japanese astronaut to stay in space for a prolonged period of time. Credit: JAXA
Wakata received the award for being the first Japanese astronaut to stay in space for a prolonged period of time. He was on the International Space Station for 4 ½ months before returning to Earth on July, 31.
Wakata’s first journey to space was during the STS-72 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on January 11, 1996. His work on I.S.S. began in October of 2000 as a Mission Specialist on the STS-92 mission of Space Shuttle Discovery to I.S.S. This assembly work prepared I.S.S. for its first resident crew.
File photo of Wakata from March, 2007. Credit: NASA
His most recent trip to I.S.S. began as a Flight Engineer on the STS-119 mission of Space Shuttle Discovery in March of 2009. While on I.S.S, Wakata served as Flight Engineer 2 on crews Expedition 18, Expedition 19, and Expedition 20. He became the first Japanese astronaut of an I.S.S. crew. He returned home in July aboard the STS-127 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour.
Wakata demonstrating a "flying carpet" during his stay on I.S.S.
Scheduled for an upcoming winter launch is a new observatory to study the sun’s influence on Earth and the space around with the use of several instruments studying our star simultaneously on multiple wavelengths.Just one of several upcoming missions to study the sun, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)’s goal is to better understand the energy that generates the suns magnetic field, and the energy used for the creation of solar winds, and other variations in solar activity.
This image illustrates the resolution capabilities of the SDO, STEREO, and SOHO spacecrafts. SDO's AIA instrument (right image) will have 1/2 greater image resolution than STEREO (middle image) and 3/4 greater imaging resolution than SOHO (left image). The image cadience also varies. SDO takes 1 image every .10 of a second. At best STEREO takes 1 image every 3 minutes and SOHO takes 1 image every 12 minutes.
SDO will measure the sun’s interior, its magnetic field, the plasmas of its solar corona, and other areas using 3 instruments. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly which will image the sun’s atmosphere in multiple wavelengths, and compare data from sun’s interior. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager which will extend the capabilities and resolution of the SDO. And the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment which will measure the EUVs spectral irradiance to better understand the effects on the Earth’s Climate and Near-Earth space.
Just one of many instruments aboard the SDO. This is The Extreme Ultraviolet Variablity Experiment. It will measure the solar extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance with unprecedented spectral resolution, temporal cadence, and precision.
A February 3, 2010 launch date is the current target.
Overview of the Solar Dynamics Observatory mission.
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