Here is the latest Space to Ground report from NASA on recent activities related to the International Space Station:
NASA’s Launch Services Program contracts with commercial launch vehicle companies such as United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for rides to space for NASA’s science spacecraft. Here is a brief video showing highlights of recent and upcoming LSP missions:
A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory):
ALMA Captures Dramatic Stellar Fireworks
Stellar explosions are most often associated with supernovae, the spectacular deaths of stars. But new ALMA observations provide insights into explosions at the other end of the stellar life cycle, star birth. Astronomers captured these dramatic images as they explored the firework-like debris from the birth of a group of massive stars, demonstrating that star formation can be a violent and explosive process too.
Stellar explosions are most often associated with supernovae, the spectacular deaths of stars. But new ALMA observations of the Orion Nebula complex provide insights into explosions at the other end of the stellar life cycle, star birth. This ESOcast Light takes a quick look at the important facts.
About 100 000 years ago, several protostars started to form deep within the OMC-1. Gravity began to pull them together with ever-increasing speed, until 500 years ago two of them finally clashed. Astronomers are not sure whether they merely grazed each other or collided head-on, but either way it triggered a powerful eruption that launched other nearby protostars and hundreds of colossal streamers of gas and dust out into interstellar space at over 150 kilometres per second. This cataclysmic interaction released as much energy as our Sun emits in 10 million years.
This video takes the viewer deep into the famous constellation of Orion (The Hunter). Hidden behind the glowing gas, dark dust and bright young stars of the Orion Nebula complex lies a strange object — the remains of a 500 year old interaction of recently formed stars. A new image from ALMA, which reveals this feature more clearly than ever before, is shown at the end of the sequence. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), J. Bally/H. Drass et al./N. Risinger (skysurvey.org). Music: Johan B. Monell
Such explosions are expected to be relatively short-lived, the remnants like those seen by ALMA lasting only centuries. But although they are fleeting, such protostellar explosions may be relatively common. By destroying their parent cloud, these events might also help to regulate the pace of star formation in such giant molecular clouds.
Hints of the explosive nature of the debris in OMC-1 were first revealed by the Submillimeter Array in Hawaii in 2009. Bally and his team also observed this object in the near-infrared with the Gemini South telescope in Chile, revealing the remarkable structure of the streamers, which extend nearly a light-year from end to end.
The new ALMA images, however, showcase the explosive nature in high resolution, unveiling important details about the distribution and high-velocity motion of the carbon monoxide (CO) gas inside the streamers. This will help astronomers understand the underlying force of the blast, and what impact such events could have on star formation across the galaxy.
This video sequence compares a new ALMA image of an explosive event in the Orion star forming region with an image taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/J. Bally/H. Drass et al. Music: Johan B. Monell
It appears the first multi-copter-style VTOL vehicle to come to market will be the Volocopter from e-volo of Germany:
World premiere of the Volocopter series model 2X
The flying taxi is just about to be launched onto the market
Friedrichshafen, Germany in April 2017. The German start-up e-volo is celebrating the world premiere of the first series model of a passenger multicopter on April 5 – 8, 2017 at Europe’s largest general aviation trade fair AERO in Friedrichshafen. After six years of development e-volo is presenting the Volocopter 2X, a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft powered purely by electricity and capable of carrying 2 passengers.
In addition to the failure tolerance due to the Volocopter’s redundancy concept and its ability to fly emission-free, the low-noise operation marks another important advantage over other VTOL aircraft.
The 2X is the consequent evolution of the VC200 prototype towards everyday use. Its battery replacement system allows for a quick swap and makes it ready for operation within a few minutes. The 2X also leaves a very attractive optic impression. The sporty design includes a delicate rotor plane and a cockpit that comfortably seats 2 adults. Glazed doors and upholstered leather seats are some of the optional extras that will also be offered.
The Volocopter 2X has been developed for approval as an ultralight aircraft and should receive “Multicopter” type certification that shall be created under the new German UL category in 2018. Anyone with a Sport Pilot License (SPL) for multicopter will be able to fly the Volocopter 2X, which is quite simple and extremely safe thanks to its automatic height and position control.
With granting of the type certificate, series production of the 2X is set to start for the German air sports market. Until then, several pre-series models shall be used for test flights and demonstrations.
The Volocopter 2X has not only been designed as a sport aircraft but also as a demonstrator for future urban mobility systems. By 2018, the first Volocopter 2X models with special permit are set to be used as flying taxis in pilot projects. The technology also allows for remote controlled and even autonomous flights. For the first flying taxi pilot projects, e-volo assumes the Volocopter 2X will still be pilot-controlled due to the currently applicable regulations. Initially, remote-controlled or autonomous taxi flights can be carried out unmanned as necessary.
For the future, e-volo is striving to obtain a commercial registration for the Volocopter, which allows for transportation of passengers as commercial taxi flights. The development of a 4-seater Volocopter with international approval (EASA/FAA) is one of the next planned steps in the development of e-volo.
Development history of the Volocopters
April 2017
e-volo celebrates world premiere of the first series model of a passenger multicopter. The 2X is the consequent evolution of the VC200 prototype towards everyday use. Its battery replacement system makes it ready for operation again in only a few minutes. The sporty design includes a delicate rotor plane and a cockpit that comfortably seats 2 adults.
March 2016
On March 30th, 2016, the premiere of manned flights with the world’s first certified Multicopter, e-volo’s Volocopter VC200, marks a step forward in urban mobility.
The Volocopter VC200 received the ‘permit-to-fly’ as an ultralight aircraft from German aviation authorities in February 2016. In the context of the commenced test program, e-volo has started to conduct manned flights.
November 2013
The unmanned maiden flight of the VC200 as well as the first test flights are successfully completed in the dm-arena in Karlsruhe. Following several indoor-flights of several minutes’ duration with a number of gentle starts and landings, all the expectations upon the Volocopter are exceeded.
January 2013
The innovative concept of the electric VTOL aircraft was able to so convince the German Federal Ministry of Transport that it resolves upon a trialing scheme spanning a period of several years for the creation of a new aviation category for the Volocopter.
The DULV (The German Ultralight Association) is commissioned with drafting a manufacturing specification, operating regulations and the training scheme for the future pilots in cooperation with e-volo.
October 2011
Manned first flight with an electric multicopter writes aviation history.
The Volocopter inventors succeed in performing the world’s first manned flight with an electric multicopter. The flight with the VC1 lasts precisely 90 seconds. The global media response overwhelms the team of inventors but already provides an indication of the economic potential of the Volocopter. Inquiries and application ideas from all round the world reaffirm the e-volo team in its undertaking to develop an aircraft that is eligible for approval.
Technical description of the Volocopter
The Volocopter is made of fiber composite material in light-weight design. In addition to cruise flights, it can also take-off and land vertically as well as hover in the air. The Volocopter runs on an all-electric propulsion system. The electric motors of its 18 rotors are powered by 9 independent batteries. The Volocopter achieves a system-wide high degree of reliability by redundancy. This principle is used in all system components that are essential for safe flight operations. The necessary thrust required to provide buoyancy is achieved through several independently driven rotors, each with two fixed blades. Unlike a helicopter, the blade angle on the Volocopter cannot be adjusted. The amount of thrust produced depends solely on the rotation speed of the different rotors.
Appropriate combination of the torques around the vertical axis (yaw), which are produced by the speed differences of the different rotors, and perpendicular to it (roll and pitch), as well as alterations in the total thrust produced by all the rotors enable the Volocopter to maneuver in all three rotational degrees of freedom (pitch, roll, and yaw), whereas the fixed setup of the rotors allows for translational movement (vertical, “up/down”). In combination with the position angle, the Volocopter is able to make flight movements in all six rotational and translational degrees of freedom as well as indirect horizontal movements (“forwards/backwards” and “rightwards/leftwards”).
In the Volocopter with its 18 rotors that have a fixed blade angle, its multi-redundant flight control system ensures precise altitude control and positioning stability. It is actually even much more stable than conventional aircraft. The Volocopter adheres to the pilot’s input and compensates for external effects independently. This makes flying it much easier, and the pilot can control the Volocopter safely, even in adverse environmental conditions.
The flight control system comprises of several completely independent units. Each flight control unit contains a complete set of positioning sensors that consist of pressure gauges, gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers for all three spatial axes. Each individual flight control unit is able to completely control the Volocopter. The Volocopter is operated with one hand using a joystick. The pilot intuitively controls all flight axes through rotational movements of the joystick’s axes. Climb and descent commands are given through an altitude control thumb button. In order to land, the pilot only needs to press and hold the button down until the Volocopter is on the ground. Once it nears the ground, the control system automatically slows down the Volocopter to ensure a gentle landing.
Design specifications
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The Everyday Astronaut explains why last week’s re-flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster that flew last year was a major advance towards affordable access to space:
Loren Grush gives her take on the event: SpaceX makes aerospace history with successful launch and landing of a used rocket – The Verge
SpaceX released this brief GIF of the landing of the booster on a floating platform at sea:
And here’s a nice photo of the booster coming down for a landing:
The booster returned to Port Canaveral this week. This video shows the booster by the dock. The scale of the rocket can be appreciated by seeing the workers underneath the landing legs
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After nearly 2 decades in service, the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn will end its career by diving into the gas giant’s atmosphere on September 15th: The Grand Finale.
Between April and September 2017, Cassini will undertake a daring set of orbits that is, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Following a final close flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will leap over the planet’s icy rings and begin a series of 22 weekly dives between the planet and the rings.
More about the final days of Cassini:
NASA’s Cassini Mission Prepares for ‘Grand Finale’ at Saturn
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn since 2004, is about to begin the final chapter of its remarkable story. On Wednesday, April 26, the spacecraft will make the first in a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide (2,400-kilometer) gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission’s grand finale.
“No spacecraft has ever gone through the unique region that we’ll attempt to boldly cross 22 times,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “What we learn from Cassini’s daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve. This is truly discovery in action to the very end.”
During its time at Saturn, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean that showed indications of hydrothermal activity within the icy moon Enceladus, and liquid methane seas on its moon Titan.
Now 20 years since launching from Earth, and after 13 years orbiting the ringed planet, Cassini is running low on fuel. In 2010, NASA decided to end the mission with a purposeful plunge into Saturn this year in order to protect and preserve the planet’s moons for future exploration – especially the potentially habitable Enceladus.
But the beginning of the end for Cassini is, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Using expertise gained over the mission’s many years, Cassini engineers designed a flight plan that will maximize the scientific value of sending the spacecraft toward its fateful plunge into the planet on Sept. 15. As it ticks off its terminal orbits during the next five months, the mission will rack up an impressive list of scientific achievements.
“This planned conclusion for Cassini’s journey was far and away the preferred choice for the mission’s scientists,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “Cassini will make some of its most extraordinary observations at the end of its long life.”
The mission team hopes to gain powerful insights into the planet’s internal structure and the origins of the rings, obtain the first-ever sampling of Saturn’s atmosphere and particles coming from the main rings, and capture the closest-ever views of Saturn’s clouds and inner rings. The team currently is making final checks on the list of commands the robotic probe will follow to carry out its science observations, called a sequence, as it begins the finale. That sequence is scheduled to be uploaded to the spacecraft on Tuesday, April 11.
Cassini will transition to its grand finale orbits, with a last close flyby of Saturn’s giant moon Titan, on Saturday, April 22. As it has many times over the course of the mission, Titan’s gravity will bend Cassini’s flight path. Cassini’s orbit then will shrink so that instead of making its closest approach to Saturn just outside the rings, it will begin passing between the planet and the inner edge of its rings.
“Based on our best models, we expect the gap to be clear of particles large enough to damage the spacecraft. But we’re also being cautious by using our large antenna as a shield on the first pass, as we determine whether it’s safe to expose the science instruments to that environment on future passes,” said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at JPL. “Certainly there are some unknowns, but that’s one of the reasons we’re doing this kind of daring exploration at the end of the mission.”
In mid-September, following a distant encounter with Titan, the spacecraft’s path will be bent so that it dives into the planet. When Cassini makes its final plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere on Sept. 15, it will send data from several instruments – most notably, data on the atmosphere’s composition – until its signal is lost.
“Cassini’s grand finale is so much more than a final plunge,” said Spilker. “It’s a thrilling final chapter for our intrepid spacecraft, and so scientifically rich that it was the clear and obvious choice for how to end the mission.”
Resources on Cassini’s grand finale, including images and video, are available at: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-resources
An animated video about Cassini’s Grand Finale is available [above.]
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.
More information about Cassini is at:
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