Jonathan's Space Report No. 664 2012 Aug 8 Somerville, MA USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station ---------------------------- On the ISS, Expedition 32 continues with astronauts Gennadiy Padalka, Sergey Revin, Joseph Acaba, Yuriy Malenchenko, Sunita Willams and Akihiko Hoshide. Soyuz TMA-05M docked with the Rassvet module on Jul 17 at 0451 UTC. Progress M-15M redocked with Pirs at 0101 UTC on Jul 29 in a successful test of the new Kurs-NA automatic rendezvous system. The cargo ship undocked once more on Jul 30 at 2119 UTC; on Aug 6 it was in a 402 x 440 km orbit. Progress M-16M was launched on Aug 1 at 1935 UTC and tested a new fast rendezvous profile, docking with Pirs only 5hr 43min after launch on Aug 2 at 0118 UTC. Europe's Edoardo Amaldi ATV remains docked to the station; the Japanese HTV-3 was berthed on the Harmony node on Jul 27. The SSRMS grappled the HTV Exposed Pallet on Jul 27, and unberthed it at 0709 UTC on Aug 6. SSRMS transferred the EP to the JEM RMS arm, which then installed the EP on the Kibo Exposed Facility at the EFU 10 slot at 1204 UTC Aug 6 for offloading of its cargo, the SCAN and MCE packages. Curiosity at Mars ------------------ The Mars Science Laboratory 'Curiosity' landed successfully on Mars on Aug 6 at 0517:57 UTC. The rover landed in Cydonia's Gale Crater at 137.4402 deg longitude, -4.5918 deg latitude. Congratulations to the MSL team! For the rest of us, I recommend the Martian Chronicles blog of my friend Ryan Anderson, Earth's main expert on Gale Crater: http://blogs.agu.org/martianchronicles/ and of course Emily at the PlanSoc http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/ Imaging by MRO has located the impact sites, of the Skycrane (1.2 km away), heatshield, and parachute (0.6km away) and six EMBDs (10 km away); I could probably calculate the lat/lon of these sites but I'm hoping one of my readers has done it already (hint...). Impact location of the CMBDs is not yet known. MSL was launched on 2011 Nov 26 into a 0.98 x 1.54 AU solar orbit with an ecliptic inclination of 1.7 deg. On Aug 4 it entered the Martian gravitational sphere of influence on a hyperbola with an inclination of 5.1 deg and periares of -64 km; it entered the Martian atmosphere on Aug 6. The sequence of events, as best I have been able to determine them, was: (updated Aug 8 based on the list by Patrick Blau at spaceflight101.com and supplemented by my own research). UTC (GMT) 0500 MSL spacecraft approaching Mars, total mass 3759 kg 0500:47 MSL Cruise Stage separates (460 kg) 0505:17 CBMD 1 and CBMD 2 balance weights (75 kg each) separate 0510:46 MSL entry vehicle, Cruise Stage and CMBD 1/2 all hit the nominal top of the atmosphere 125 km up at an inertial velocity of 6.1 km/s Entry vehicle mass is 3150 kg Entry location is about 700 km west of the landing site 0512 Cruise Stage will be destroyed in the upper Martian atmosphere over Cyclopia, Aeolis Quadrangle 0514:17 Six 25 kg EBMD balance weights jettisoned, reducing mass to 3000 kg, about 12 km up 0514? CMBD 1 and 2 weights impact Martian surface west of Robert Sharp Crater? 0514:35 Cruise stage separation signal received on Earth 0514:51? 21m diameter parachute deployed, height 10 km, reduce Mars-relative speed from 0.5 to 0.1 km/s Descent over Aeolis Palus, Gale Crater at 137E 4S 0515:20? Heatshield jettisoned (385 kg?) 0515? EBMD (Entry Balance Mass Device) weights impact surface 0516? Heatshield impacts surface 0516:31? Backshell jettisoned (about 450kg?) together with parachute (54 kg) Skycrane begins powered descent with 8 MR-80B hydrazine rockets Skycrane/Rover mass is now 2115 kg (1728 kg dry plus 387 kg propellant) 0517? Backshell impacts surface 0517:44? Skycrane hovers at 20m and lowers Rover on 7.5m long cable 0517:57 Rover touchdown (899 kg), cable release, 829 kg Skycrane scoots off to the side 0517:40? Skycrane impacts surface 0524:34 Atmosphere entry signals received on Earth 0531:45 Touchdown signal received on Earth 0534 First images received showing rover wheel on surface. Previous Mars missions have typically dumped about 1 tonne each into the Martian atmosphere, with about half that as intact landed mass; MSL sent almost 4 tonnes in with almost 1 tonne landing intact. Mars Atmospheric Entries - with mass breakdown in kg ------------------------ Date Spacecraft Mass (kg) Entry = Burnt-up + Prop + Deliberate + Crashed + Landed Impact (failed) intact 1971 Nov 27 Mars-2 SA 1210 0 0 565 645 0 1971 Dec 2 Mars-3 SA 1210 0 0 565 0 645 (sort of) 1974 Mar 12 Mars-6 SA 1210? 0 0 1210 645 0 1976 Jul 20 Viking Lander 1 983 0 103 290 0 590 (Mutch Station) 1976 Sep 3 Viking Lander 2 983 0 103 290 0 590 (Soffen Station) 1997 Jul 4 Mars Pathfinder 795 210 21 291 0 273 (Sagan Station) 1999 Sep 23 Mars Climate Orbiter 623 338 285 0 0 0 1999 Dec 3 Mars Polar Lander 558? 82 39 140 297 0 and Deep Space 2 2003 Dec 25 Beagle-2 68 0 0 35 34 0 2004 Jan 4 Spirit Lander 1010 183 37 363 0 427 (Columbia Station) 2004 Jan 25 Opportunity Lander 1015 188 37 363 0 427 (Challenger Station) 2008 May 25 Mars Phoenix Lander 655 82 58 172 0 343 2012 Aug 6 Curiosity 3759 459 387 2014 0 899 Note: Airbag mass counted as deliberate impact even though attached to intact lander. Mars Artificial Orbiting Objects -------------------------------- Date Spacecraft Dry Mass (kg) Last Known Mars Orbit (km x km x deg, date ) 1971 Nov 14 Mariner 9 555 1645 x 16838 x 64.4 (1972) 1971 Nov 27 Mars-2 2350? 1380 x 25000 x 48.9 (1971) 1971 Dec 2 Mars-3 2350? 1500 x205000 x 62.0 (1971) 1974 Feb 12 Mars-5 2350? 1760 x 32560 x 35.3 (1974) 1976 Jun 19 Viking Orbiter 1 883 411 x 56275 x 37.9 (1980) 1976 Jul 21? VO-1 Bioshield Base 74 1504 x 32574 x 37.8 (1976) 1976 Aug 7 Viking Orbiter 2 883 302 x 33080 x 80.3 (1978) 1978 Mar 3 VO-2 Bioshield Base 74 302 x 33080 x 80.3 (1978) 1989 Jan 29 Fobos-2 2300? 6145 x 6409 x 1.3 (1989) 1989 Feb 18 Fobos-2 ADU 570? 6145 x 6409 x 1.3 (1989) 1997 Sep 12 Mars Global Surveyor 674 356 x 419 x 93.0 (2006) 2001 Oct 24 Mars Odyssey 376 341 x 433 x 93.0 (2012) 2003 Dec 25 Mars Express 632 305 x 10536 x 86.9 (2012) 2006 Mar 10 Mars Recon. Orbiter 984 218 x 292 x 92.6 (2012) Does anyone know the expected orbital lifetime of the abandoned MGS? Rokot ----- The Khrunichev Rokot launch vehicle returned to flight on Jul 28 putting four satellites in low orbit. Kosmos-2481 is a Strela-3M military communications satellite; two Gonets-M satellites are the civilian counterparts of the Strela-3M; and MiR is a small technology satellite. MiR, named after spacecraft designer Mikhail Reshetnyov (1924-1996), carries student technology experiments from SibGAU, the Siberian State Aerospace University in Krasnoyarsk. The satellites were deployed in a 1483 x 1506 km x 82.5 deg orbit; the Briz upper stage then made a depletion burn to 1164 x 1504 km. Briz malfunctioned during the previous Rokot launch in 2011, leaving the Geo-IK-2 satellite in the wrong orbit, but this time appears to have operated correctly. Arianespace ----------- Arianespace flight VA208, probably using Ariane 5ECA launcher L564, placed two communications satellites in geostationary transfer orbit on Aug 2. Intelsat IS-20 will provide C and Ku-band comms to Asia, Africa and the MidEast, replacing IS-7. It is a Loral 1300 satellite with a mass of 6094 kg full 2989 kg dry. The much smaller Hylas 2, for Avanti Communications, will support Europe, Africa and the MidEast with Ka-band broadband communications; it is an Orbital Star-2.4E with a mass of 3311 kg full 1532 kg dry. By Aug 7 the payloads were in 30622 x 35780 km x 0.1 deg and 18268 x 35774 km x 1.0 deg orbits (not clear which is which yet) while the ESC-A stage and SYLDA were in a 252 x 35752 km x 5.9 deg orbit. IGS Radar-1 ----------- Japan's Jouhoushushu eisei Reda 1 gouki satellite, known in English as Information Gathering Satellite 1B, or IGS Radar-1, reentered on Jul 26 over the Pacific. The 1200 kg satellite lost power in 2007. Proton failure --------------- A Proton launched from Baykonur on Aug 6 placed a Briz-M upper stage with two communications satellites in a suborbital path. The Briz-M burned to a 173 km initial orbit, and then restarted to reach a 200 x 5000 km intermediate orbit. However the third burn failed after only 7 seconds, leaving the vehicle in a 266 x 5015 km x 49.9 deg orbit instead of continuing towards geostationary altitude. The two payloads and the DTB drop tank separated from the Briz, so there are four objects being tracked in this orbit. They will probably reenter within one year. Telkom-3 is an ISS Reshetnev Ekspress-1000H-class satellite for PT Telkom of Indonesia; mass was 1903 kg full. Ekspress-MD2 is a Khrunichev Yakhta-class satellite for Kosmicheskiya Svyaz, the Russian domestic communications satellite operator; mass was 1140 kg full. Tianlian -------- The Chinese Tianlian-1(03) relay satellite was on station at 16.7E by Aug 6. 2012 Orbital launch summary to date ----------------------------------- 45 launches: Russia China USA Europe Japan India Iran N Korea 15 11 9 5 2 1 1 1(fail) Suborbital flights ------------------ JAXA followed on from NASA's IRVE-3 flight, launching their own MAAC (Membrane Aeroshell for Atmospheric Entry Capsule) inflatable reentry vehicle test from the Uchinoura Space Center on Aug 7. The 20 kg, 1.2-meter-diameter test vehicle reentered from 150 km. Erratum ------- The TET-1 satellite was built by Astro-und-Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH, not TUB; Kayser-Threde is the prime contractor, but the satellite is owned by DLR, the German space research agency. Table of Recent (orbital) Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Jun 1 0523 Intelsat IS-19 Zenit-3SL Odyssey, Pacific Comms 30A Jun 13 1600 NuStar Pegasus XL L-1011,Kwajalein Astronomy 31A Jun 16 1037 Shenzhou 9 Chang Zheng 2F Jiuquan Spaceship 32A Jun 20 1228 USA 236 (NROL-38) Atlas 5 401 Canaveral SLC41 Comms? 33A Jun 29 1315 USA 237 (NROL-15) Delta 4H Canaveral SLC37B Sigint? 34A Jul 5 2136 Echostar 17 ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 35A Meteosat 10 ) Weather 35B Jul 9 1838 SES-5 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Comms 36A Jul 15 0240 Soyuz TMA-05M Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1/5 Spaceship 37A Jul 21 0206 Kounotori 3 H-IIB Tanegashima LP2 Cargo 38A Jul 22 0641 Kanopus-V ) Imaging 39 BelKA-2 ) Soyuz-FG/Fregat Baykonur LC31/6 Imaging 39 TET-1 ) Tech 39D exactView-1) Comms/AIS 39C MKA-PN1 ) Science 39E Jul 25 1543 Tianlian-1 (03) Chang Zheng 3C Xichang Comms 40A Jul 28 0135 Gonets-M No. 13) Rokot Plesetsk LC133 Comms 41B Gonets-M No. 15) Comms 41D Kosmos-2481 ) Comms 41A MiR ) Sci 41C Aug 1 1935 Progress M-16M Soyuz-U Baykonur LC1 Cargo 42A Aug 2 2054 Intelsat IS-20 ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 43 Hylas 2 ) Comms 43 Aug 6 1931 Telkom-3 ) Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Comms 44 Ekspress MD2) Comms 44 Table of Recent (suborbital) Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Jun 7 1739 RV Topol' Kapustin Yar Op Test 1000? Jun 21 1040 NASA 41.101UO Terrier Orion Wallops I. Education 117 Jun 22 1918 SHEFEX II VS-40 Andoya Hypersonic 177 Jun 23 1930 NASA 36.286UE Black Brant 9 White Sands Solar 300? Jun 27 0915 FTM-18 Target Castor 4B? Kauai Target 100? Jun 27 0920? FTM-18 KV SM-3 Block IB USS Lake Erie Intercept 100? Jul 3 Shahab RV Shahab 1 ?, Iran Exercise 100? Jul 3 Shahab RV Shahab 2 ?, Iran Exercise 100? Jul 3 Shahab RV Shahab 3 ?, Iran Exercise 150? Jul 5 1850 NASA 36.284NS Black Brant 9 White Sands Solar 275? Jul 11 1850 NASA 36.272NS Black Brant 9 White Sands Solar 268 Jul 23 1101 NASA 39.011NR Black Brant 11 Wallops Reentry test 458 Jul 24 1917 NASA 36.263US Black Brant 9 White Sands Solar 324 Aug 7 0730 S-310-41 S-310 Uchinoura Reentry test 150 .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail | | USA | jcm@cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html | | Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: http://www.planet4589.org/mailman/listinfo/jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'