Here is this week’s Space to Ground report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:
Astronaut Scott Tingle on the ISS explains some basics of orbits:
Related materials can be found at NASA’s STEM On Station website.
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Monthly Archives: June 2018
Run a realistic Apollo 8 guidance computer emulation
December 21st of this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to leave Earth and orbit another celestial body. The mission was extremely risky. The Saturn V rocket had only launched twice before and never with a crew and on the previous launch there were engine shutdowns on the second stage (longer firing of the remaining engines saved the mission). Although there was no lunar lander on Apollo 8 , many key technologies and operations needed for a successful lunar landing mission were demonstrated for the first time such as translunar injection, command module navigation, communications, and midcourse corrections.
And all these tasks were performed with computer technology that was far less powerful than what runs a $10 wristwatch today. To get an appreciation for the state of the art in advanced compact computers in 1968, check out the free Apollo 8 Launch Emulator for Android created by astronomer Rick Boozer.
The program allows you to
operate a realistic replica of the Apollo 8 spacecraft’s guidance computer”.
This app is not a traditional game (no winning or losing involved). It is also not an entire mission simulation. So, if you are looking for either of those, then don’t download this app.
Instead, it is a commemoration of the launch of humankind’s first trip to another world by way of an emulation of a realistic Apollo Guidance Computer (or AGC) and DiSplay KeYboard interface (called DSKY).
You can re-enact the launch of the powerful Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo 8 spacecraft with its crew on the way to the Moon on December 21, 1968. The animation you will see will not be of a flying rocket, but the mission critical true-to-life data displayed as it would have been shown in real-time to the astronauts as they ascended from the launch pad to Earth parking orbit.
To add to the enjoyment of the experience, the app supplies optional English explanations of the data shown. Not only that, you will be continually informed of major events that occur at each mission critical point between launch and Earth orbit at the appropriate time.
As a bonus, you will be able to type in a small subset of the actual commands that the astronauts entered into the AGC via the DSKY and see relevant results.
The program is available for free at the Google Play Store.
If, as in my case, you don’t have an Android device, you can run the app on a PC or Mac computer by downloading the free NOX virtual Android device creator at www.bignox.com.
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130 student teams to compete in 2nd Annual Spaceport America Cup rocket competition
An announcement from Spaceport America:
Second Annual Spaceport America Cup Scheduled
for June 19-23 at Spaceport America, NM
130 Teams of College and University Rocketeers from Around the Globe to Compete
SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. (PRWEB) JUNE 13, 2018: Student rocketeers from around the globe will gather at Spaceport America June 21-23 for the Second Annual Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition for student rocketry teams. The public in invited to meet the team and see their projects on June 19 in nearby Las Cruces, NM. Spaceport America is located between the cities of Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
More than 130 teams from US and international colleges and universities – including Canada, Egypt, Great Britain, India, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, Switzerland, as well as 31 of the 50 US States, plus the District of Columbia, and four of 13 Canadian provinces and territories – are registered. The competition will be challenging for the participants and exciting for spectators, as students will be launching solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets to target altitudes of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.
Among the events open to the public, under the auspices of the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association and Spaceport America, are:
- Tuesday, June 19 – 8 am – 5 pm: Free admission. Come interact with students and view their projects at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 E University Ave, Las Cruces, NM 88001
- Thursday-Saturday, June 21 – 23: Gates are open 8 am – 4 pm, dependent on weather conditions. Watch as rockets soar thru the sky and mingle with students in the spectator area. A three-day pass for adults is $20, with a one-day pass available for $10. For children in grades K-12, a three-day pass is $10; a one-day pass is $5.
Visit www.spaceportamericacup.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
About Spaceport America: Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world. The FAA-licensed launch complex, situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, has a rocket-friendly environment of 6,000 square miles of restricted airspace, low population density, a 12,000-foot spaceway, and 340 days of sunshine and low humidity. Some of the most respected companies in the commercial space industry are customers at Spaceport America: Virgin Galactic, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, UP Aerospace, EnergeticX, Pipeline2Space and EXOS Aerospace. Visit http://spaceportamerica.com for more information.
Spaceport America is #NewMexicoTRUE.
Follow Spaceport America on
Twitter: @Spaceport_NM
Facebook: @SpaceportNM
Instagram: @spaceport.america
About Las Cruces: Nestled in southern New Mexico’s Mesilla Valley between the Rio Grande River and Organ Mountains, Las Cruces is quickly becoming a popular southwestern destination, and is now emphasizing its close connections to space travel, including the First Annual Space Festival in April 2018, and a full-size replica of Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo on display near City Hall. Las Cruces blends a unique variety of such special events, attractions, culture and historical sites, as well as superb weather, with 350 days of sunshine per year. For more information on all Las Cruces has to offer, contact Visit Las Cruces at (575) 541-2150 or http://www.visitlascruces.com.
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Video: Ridley Scott creates mission patch for ISS US National Laboratory
A message from The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS):
Filmmaker Ridley Scott Creates
2018 International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory Mission Patch
Mission patch represents all International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory research in 2018
Kennedy Space Center, FL (June 13th, 2018) — The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) today announced the unveiling of its latest mission patch, designed by award-winning filmmaker and producer, Sir Ridley Scott. The mission patch represents all payloads intended for the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory in calendar year 2018. CASIS is the organization tasked by NASA with managing research on the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the space station. Research leveraging the ISS National Lab is intended to utilize microgravity for the benefit of life on Earth.
The space station is an ever-evolving research platform capable of enabling research not possible on Earth. As manager of the ISS National Lab, CASIS is responsible for educating and expanding the research opportunities available through this one-of-a-kind facility. By working with Fortune 500 companies, innovative startups, esteemed academic institutions, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, the ISS National Lab is fostering a new era of space-based research. The mission patch collaboration with Ridley Scott (like other mission patches announced in recent years) seeks to engage and excite the general public, while representing hundreds of experiments expected to launch to the ISS National Lab in 2018.
During his career as a filmmaker, Ridley Scott has immersed himself in some of the more iconic science fiction feature films of the past five decades. Prominent movies within the science fiction community that Scott has directed or produced (through his production company, Scott Free Productions) include the Alien franchise, Blade Runner, Legend, and The Martian. His love of space exploration and his previous working relationships with NASA helped to forge this mission patch collaboration with CASIS and the ISS National Lab.
The patch design is focused on a female astronaut in full gear, in the infiniteness of space, looking toward the space station. Scott deemed astronauts to be saints for their brave efforts to explore on behalf of humanity. Within the patch, Scott intended the helmet of the astronaut to be interpreted as a halo, saying
“therefore the helmet itself would become… a subliminal suggestion of a saint.”
“I can feel these scientists, and they are so passionate about what they do. You’re a bunch of actual enthusiasts…which is exactly who I am,” Scott said.
To learn more about this collaboration, watch a video on the making of the mission patch here:
To understand the on-orbit capabilities of the ISS National Lab, including research initiatives launched in 2018, visit www.iss-casis.org
Huge Martian dust storm cuts power to the Opportunity rover
As happens occasionally, a giant dust storm has arisen on Mars and the resulting cloudy sky has cut power to the Opportunity rover. Unlike the nuclear powered Curiosity, “Oppy” uses solar panels to supply its energy needs. The rover has been operating since landing on the Red Planet on Jan. 25, 2004 and survived a big storm in 2007 but this one appears much worse and may last longer.
NASA will hold a media teleconference today at 10:30 am PDT (1:30 p.m. EDT) to discuss the Martian dust storm and the status of Opportunity.
According to the latest update, Oppy has gone into a power saving state from which there is no guarantee it will recover: Opportunity Hunkers Down During Dust Storm
NASA engineers attempted to contact the Opportunity rover today but did not hear back from the nearly 15-year old rover. The team is now operating under the assumption that the charge in Opportunity’s batteries has dipped below 24 volts and the rover has entered low power fault mode, a condition where all subsystems, except a mission clock, are turned off. The rover’s mission clock is programmed to wake the computer so it can check power levels.
If the rover’s computer determines that its batteries don’t have enough charge, it will again put itself back to sleep. Due to an extreme amount of dust over Perseverance Valley, mission engineers believe it is unlikely the rover has enough sunlight to charge back up for at least the next several days.
The Martian dust storm that has blotted out the sun above Opportunity has continued to intensify. The storm, which was first detected on May 30, now blankets 14-million square miles (35-million square kilometers) of Martian surface — a quarter of the planet.
The storm was first detected on June 1. The MARCI camera has been used to monitor the storm ever since.
The blue dot indicates the approximate location of Opportunity.
More at Opportunity hunkers down as dust storm descends over the intrepid little rover – NASASpaceFlight.com
The vertical axis shows atmospheric opacity and the horizontal access shows the Martian season, which is measured by where the Sun is in the Martian sky compared to its apparent position on Mars’ northern spring equinox
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