Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Fruit Punch and Foam: Managing Liquids in Space – NASA Johnson
When NASA astronaut Doug Hurley squeezed a bag of fruit punch aboard the International Space Station last month, he did not get a refreshing drink. Instead, the red fluid that emerged from his drink bag wound down a clear tube, and soaked into a block of white foam. While it might not look like much, this simple experiment is providing researchers with better information about managing liquids in microgravity. Learn more here: https://go.nasa.gov/32JQUPM Learn more about the research being conducted on station: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science
** SpaceX Crew Dragon Flies Through Habitability Testing – NASA Johnson
It is a “demonstration” mission, so the crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon are demonstrating that the systems on this new commercial spaceship all work as designed while it’s docked to the International Space Station. Take a look inside while the Expedition 63 crew members verify that astronauts and cosmonauts can live, work, and sleep as planned when the vehicle is executing its mission in space. Additional footage from the Habitability tests on July 8, 2020
** Expedition 63 Inflight interview with Yahoo Finance KPRC TV – July 24, 2020
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and NASA Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken discussed life on the orbital outpost and preparations for a return to Earth for Hurley and Behnken on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft during a pair of in-flight interviews July 24 with Yahoo Finance News and KPRC-TV, Houston. Cassidy is in the midst of a six-hand-a-half month mission on the laboratory while Hurley and Behnken are in the final days of their mission following their launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket May 30 that restored a U.S. launch capability from U.S. soil. Hurley and Behnken are scheduled to return to Earth on the Crew Dragon vehicle Aug. 2 for the first splashdown of U.S. astronauts since the Apollo-Soyuz mission in July 1975.
** Expedition 63 Progress 76 Docking – NASA TV
An unpiloted Russian cargo ship blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan July 23 on a delivery mission to bring some three tons of food, fuel and hardware to the residents of the International Space Station. The ISS Progress 76 craft arrived at the complex less than four hours after launch, automatically docking to the Pirs Docking Compartment on the Russian segment of the station where it will spend a little more than three months.
A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):
Germany’s University of Wurzburg Experimental-4 (UWE-4) cubesat avoided a potential collision in early July while lowering its altitude with Morpheus Space’s NanoFEEP electric propulsion system.
It was the first time a one-unit cubesat performed a collision-avoidance maneuver, Istvan Lorincz, Morpheus president and co-founder, told SpaceNews.
“UWE ‑ 4 with Thrusters, Neutralizer and a new kind of sun sensors on each panel.” Credits: Univ. of Wurzburg
The 1U CubeSat, developed and built at the Chair for Robotics and Telematics, is equipped with the electric propulsion system NanoFEEP which has been developed by TU Dresden.
Several manoeuvres have been performed within 11 days between June 23rd – July 3rd 2020 such that the altitude of the CubeSat was reduced by more than 100 m, compared to an average of 21 m with natural decay. This marks the first time in CubeSat history that a 1U CubeSat changed its orbit using an on-board propulsion system.
As chance would have it, the team of UWE-4 received a conjunction data message (CDM) in the morning of July 2nd 2020 from the United Air Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron. A conjunction of UWE-4 with a non-operational Iridium satellite (ID: 34147) in the morning of July 5th 2020 with a minimum range of about 800 m was a threat to the safety of UWE-4. An analysis has shown that the altitude of UWE-4 would already be below the Iridium satellite at the time of conjunction. Thus the on-going altitude lowering manoeuvre could only improve the situation and can be considered as a collision avoidance manoeuvre. No further CDMs have been issued regarding this possible conjunction. An analysis of the orbit of the two spacecraft after July 5th 2020 results in a closest approach of more than 6000 m.
** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects:
PLIX CubeSats – “A series of creative learning workshops designed to support public library patrons in learning about outer space environments and how they can be characterized with small spacecrafts. “
Millennium Space experiment to measure speed of satellite deorbiting system – SpaceNews – “A few days into the mission, one of the satellites will autonomously deploy a 230-foot-long Terminator Tape tether provided by Tethers Unlimited. The untethered satellite will be allowed to naturally decay. Millennium will use radar to track them and collect data.”
** Florian Gautier – Landing CubeSats On Asteroids – Cold Star Project S02E50
University of Kansas Doctoral candidate (Physics and Astronomy) Florian Gautier is on the Cold Star Project to discuss several of the research projects he’s been involved in. With host Jason Kanigan, Florian describes his aerospace engineering and astrophysics education journey from Europe to North America and opportunities to work on:
– Student CubeSat project at ISAE-SUPAERO to develop 12U cubesats for missions like ATISE – Land3U project, simulation of CubeSat landing on asteroids, sponsored by ESA Drop Your Thesis! 2018 programme (the drop tower used is fascinating) – AGILE, development of a new compact particle detectors suitable to be flown on a CubeSat.
I also ask Florian, who has two Masters degrees (Astronautics & Space Engineering and Astrophysics, Space Science & Planetary Science), about his future goals and where he thinks space work will take him.
Welcome to Week 1 of PLIX CubeSats Online! 🛰️ In this session, we’ll be covering the PLIX CubeSats activities, a series of creative learning workshops designed to support public library patrons in learning about outer space environments and how they can be characterized with small spacecrafts. Read more about the CubeSats activity on our PLIX Activity Repository: – PLIX CubeSats
** Generating Quantum Random Numbers On a CubeSat (SpooQy-1)
CQT Online Talks – Series: Conference presentations This talk was given at CLEO. Speaker: Ayesha Reezwana, Alexander Ling Group, CQT,
NUS Abstract: We demonstrate a quantum random number generator based on entangled photon-pair statistics on-board a CubeSat orbiting in Low Earth Orbit.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Down to Earth – Reach for the Stars – NASA Johnson
In celebration of the upcoming #SpaceStation20th anniversary, Spaceflight Participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori from the United Arab Emirates, who recently flew in space with other International Astronauts, shares his thoughts on his journey to reach the stars and his perspective on the power of us all working together in space in this episode of Down to Earth – Reach for the Stars.
The two NASA astronauts completed all the work to replace batteries that provide power for the International Space Station’s solar arrays on the starboard truss of the complex. The new batteries provide an improved and more efficient power capacity for operations.
The spacewalkers removed six aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for the second of two power channels for the starboard 6 (S6) truss, installed three new lithium-ion batteries, and installed the three associated adapter plates that are used to complete the power circuit to the new batteries. Mission control reports that all three new batteries are working.
Behnken and Cassidy are scheduled to conduct one more spacewalk Tuesday, July 21, during which they will remove two lifting fixtures used for ground processing of the station’s solar arrays prior to their launch. They’ll also begin preparing the Tranquility module for the installation of a commercial airlock provided by NanoRacks and scheduled to arrive on a SpaceX cargo flight later this year. The airlock will be used to deploy commercial and government-sponsored experiments into space.
** Expedition 63 Inflight with US Ambassador to Russia on Apollo Soyuz 45th Anniversary – July 17, 2020 – NASA
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and Russian Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos marked the 45th anniversary of the historic docking of an Apollo command module and a Soyuz spacecraft during an in-flight conversation July 17 with the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John J. Sullivan and Vasily Boryak, the Deputy Director of the North American Division of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Apollo command module, with Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton aboard and the Soyuz spacecraft with Alexey Leonov and Valery Kubasov, linked up on July 17, 1975, two days after their respective launches from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to mark the beginning of the international cooperation between the United States and Russia that has been recognized as the springboard for the development and assembly of the International Space Station.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Behind the Scenes in Space During Historic SpaceX DM-2 Launch and Docking
You saw history made with the first crewed launch and docking of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, but you didn’t see the flurry of activity on board the International Space Station…until now. Join Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and his crewmates as they prepare their cameras to document the DM-2 launch, and look over their shoulders to witness the new American spacecraft dock to the station and deliver their new crewmates.
** Independence Day Message from Astronauts in Space
Astronauts Chris Cassidy, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken commemorate Independence Day in the United States. They explain the history of the American flag that was flown on the first and last space shuttle missions, which Doug and Bob will carry back to Earth when they return home aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. For the latest on the International Space Station: www.nasa.gov/station
** Expedition 63 Inflight with New York Times, Fox News, and USA Today – July 7, 2020
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and NASA Flight Engineers Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken discussed the progress of their mission on the orbital outpost during a series of in-flight interviews July 7 with the New York Times, Fox News and USA Today. Cassidy is in the midst of a six-and-a-half month mission on the station while Hurley and Behnken are in the second month of their mission following their launch May 30 aboard the SpaceX Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft that resulted in the first commercial crew vehicle docking to the complex the following day.
A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):
** Generation and detection of quantum entanglement in a CubeSat in orbit successfully demonstrated in a project led by National University of Singapore. The SpooQy Lab in Singapore built the SpooQy-1 CubeSat, which was deployed into orbit from the ISS on June 17, 2019.
… quantum mechanical phenomenon known as entanglement is essential to many quantum communications applications. However, creating a global network for entanglement distribution isn’t possible with optical fibers because of the optical losses that occur over long distances. Equipping small, standardized satellites in space with quantum instrumentation is one way to tackle this challenge in a cost-effective manner.
As a first step, the researchers needed to demonstrate that a miniaturized photon source for quantum entanglement could stay intact through the stresses of launch and operate successfully in the harsh environment of space within a satellite that can provide minimal energy. To accomplish this, they exhaustively examined every component of the photon-pair source used to generate quantum entanglement to see if it could be made smaller or more rugged.
SpooQy-1 cut-away model shows the avionics and location of the SPEQS-2 polarization-entangled photon-pair experiment. Credits: SpooQy Lab
“At each stage of development, we were actively conscious of the budgets for mass, size and power,” said [lead author Aitor] Villar [of Univ. of Singapore]. “By iterating the design through rapid prototyping and testing, we arrived at a robust, small-form factor package for all the off-shelf components needed for an entangled photon-pair source.”
The new miniaturized photon-pair source consists of a blue laser diode that shines on nonlinear crystals to create pairs of photons. Achieving high-quality entanglement required a complete redesign of the mounts that align the nonlinear crystals with high precision and stability.
BHUTAN-1 has been developed by Bhutanese engineers at the Kyushu Institute of Technology as part of their Master’s Degree under the BIRDS-2 Project.
BHUTAN-1 is capable of transmitting two types of data- mission data and housekeeping data. The data is received at the ground station located at the Ministry of Information and Communication compound, Thimphu.
Mission data are camera images captured from space. Cheki Dorji, engineer with the Division of Telecom and Space (DTS) said that downloading images from the satellite was not feasible since Bhutan-1 satellite could not uplink the data from ground station to space to harness the image. It was the limitation of CubeSat built under the BIRDS-2 project, he said.
However, housekeeping data is transmitted from the satellite every day and studied. The status of the satellite such as its battery, temperature and its parts are known as housekeeping data.
The Deputy Executive Engineer with DTS, Kiran Kumar Pradhan said that although the capability of the satellite was limited, the function of small CubeSat was similar to a bigger satellite which gave them insight on how a bigger satellite works.
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}