Astro Watch

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• Sixth Galileo Satellite Reaches Corrected Orbit
• NASA's Newest Commercial Flight Provider Launches Balloon
• Senator Ted Cruz Tells NASA to Focus on Space Exploration
• China Plans to Launch Chang'e-4 Mission Before 2020

Sixth Galileo Satellite Reaches Corrected Orbit Posted: 14 Mar 2015 05:26 AM PDT The sixth Galileo satellite of Europe’s navigation system has now entered its corrected target orbit, which will allow detailed testing to assess the performance of its navigation payload. Launched with the fifth Galileo last August, its initial elongated orbit saw it travelling as high as 25 900 km above Earth and down to a low point of 13 713 km – confusing the Earth sensor used to point its navigation antennas at the ground. A recovery plan was devised between ESA’s Galileo team, flight dynamics specialists at ESA’s ESOC operations centre and France’s CNES space agency, as well as satellite operator SpaceOpal and manufacturer OHB. This involved gradually raising the lowest point of the satellites’ orbits more than 3500 km while also making them more circular. The fifth Galileo entered its corrected orbit at the end of November 2014. Both its navigation and search and rescue payloads were switched on the following month to begin testing. Now the sixth satellite has reached the same orbit, too. This latest salvage operation began in mid-January and concluded six weeks later, with some 14 manoeuvres performed in total. Its corrected position is effectively a mirror image of the fifth satellite’s, placing the pair on opposite sides of the planet. The exposure of the two to the harmful Van Allen Belt radiation has been greatly reduced, helping to ensure future reliability. Significantly, the corrected orbit means they will overfly the same location on the ground every 20 days. This compares with a standard Galileo repeat pattern of every 10 days, helping to synchronise their ground tracks with the rest of the constellation. The test results from Galileo 5 proved positive, with the same test campaign for the sixth satellite due to begin shortly, overseen by ESA’s Redu centre in Belgium. A 20 m-diameter antenna will study the strength and shape of the navigation signals at high resolution. “I am very proud of what our teams at ESA and industry have achieved,” says Marco Falcone, head of Galileo system office. “Our intention was to recover this mission from the very early days after the wrong orbit injection. This is what we are made for at ESA.” The decision whether to use the two satellites for navigation and search-and-rescue purposes will be ultimately taken by the European Commission, as the system owner, based on the in-orbit test results and the system’s ability to provide navigation data from the improved orbits. The next pair of satellites is due for launch on 27 March. Credit: ESA

NASA's Newest Commercial Flight Provider Launches Balloon Posted: 14 Mar 2015 05:13 AM PDT NASA's newest American commercial near-space services provider, World View of Tucson, Arizona, successfully launched its Tycho balloon from Arizona's Pinal Airfield March 8, carrying two universities' experiments as part of the agency's Flight Opportunities Program. The flight is another example of NASA partnering with American businesses to procure and demonstrate viable commercial services to near-space that advance our nations emerging space markets and space technology capabilities while also supporting agency mission needs. The World View balloon reached an altitude of 105,000 feet and loitered above 98,425 feet for nearly an hour and 45 minutes to test University of Central Florida's (UCF), Orlando, Planetary Atmospheres Minor Species Sensor (PAMSS) experiment and Erie Pennsylvania's Gannon University (GU) Cosmic-Ray Calorimeter (CRC). UCF's PAMSS is the first mid-infrared, intra-cavity laser absorption spectrometer that will be detecting trace gases and sensing over a large range of pressures, temperatures and concentrations while operating autonomously. This technology could be used for future planetary missions as well as the study of the Earth's atmosphere. One of GU's main objectives with their CRC experiment is to draw interest from undergraduate students entering Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers. This experiment has provided students with the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience, laboratory skills and overall interdisciplinary knowledge and collaboration skills. The CRC payload is designed to detect high-energy cosmic rays and measure the ratio of protons to helium nuclei, providing deeper insight into the propagation history of cosmic rays and helping to discover how the universe works. “Over the past two years, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with the twenty undergraduate students who have participated on this project and see them grow as individuals and as a team," said Gannon's Principle Investigator Dr. Nicholas Conklin. "If the students have learned half as much as I have along the way, this has been time very well spent.” Both experiments were successfully recovered and delivered back to the researchers. The PAMSS team verified that they received data in the correct format, a good sign for mission success. The World View operations team indicated that the Gannon payload was operational during the entire flight; therefore, there was no need to cycle the power or reboot the payload, an indication of mission success. Final data from these payloads will be evaluated back at their universities. "I was very satisfied with the payload integration effort and overall flight performance provided by World View," said Paul De Leon, NASA’s Campaign Manager. "The WV team was very professional and accommodating to the payload provider needs." NASA's Flight Opportunities Program enables the development of technologies by providing affordable access to space environments using commercially available suborbital flights. This helps take promising technologies from industry, academia and government beyond the laboratory environment and gives them the flight heritage needed for infusion into exploration missions. The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California. NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, manages the solicitation and selection of technologies to be tested and demonstrated on commercial flight vehicles. For more information on the Flight Opportunities program, visit: http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov The program is part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for innovating, developing, testing, and flying hardware for use in future missions. Credit: NASA

Senator Ted Cruz Tells NASA to Focus on Space Exploration Posted: 13 Mar 2015 04:44 PM PDT NASA Administrator Charles Bolden testified Thursday during a Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness hearing titled "Examining the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Budget Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration" held in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The chairman of the Subcommittee, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), said the agency should be spending more of its limited resources sending astronauts to explore space and less on studying the Earth. "Almost any American would agree that the core function of NASA is to explore space," Cruz told Bolden during the hearing. "That's what inspires little boys and little girls across this country. It's what sets NASA apart from any other agency. I am concerned that NASA has lost its full focus on that core mission." The Republican lawmaker argues that the Obama administration is wrongfully neglecting the country's space exploration operations—like potential missions to Mars and beyond—in favor of global-warming research. And he wants to know if Bolden, thinks so, too. "I'd like to start by asking a general question," Cruz said. "In your judgment, what is the core mission of NASA?" he asked Bolden. Bolden said he'd been contemplating that mission over the past few days, and had read over the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which created the agency. "Our core mission from the very beginning has been to investigate, explore space and the Earth environment, and to help us make this place a better place," he said, adding that the study of aeronautics is important as well. Cruz then pointed to a chart behind him titled "Focus Inward or Focus Outward? Refocusing NASA's Core Priorities" that compared NASA's budget in 2009 with the current request. He said that since 2009, funding for Earth sciences has seen a 41 percent increase, while funding for exploration and space operations, what Cruz "would consider the core function of NASA," has seen a 7.6 percent decrease. "In my judgment, this does not represent a fair or appropriate allocation of resources, that it is shifting resources away from the core functions of NASA to other functions," Cruz said. "Do you share that assessment?" Credit: Space, Science, and Competitiveness Subcommittee Bolden, who decides how to allocate NASA's annual budget, did not. That dip in space exploration funding? That was kind of the whole point. "Mr. Chairman, I am very interested in your chart," he said. "I will say one thing—it is interesting to note that there is a decrease in exploration and human spaceflight when, in fact, that was somewhat intentional because we were trying to get the cost of exploration down as we reach farther out into the solar system." Bolden also mentioned Earth observation missions: “We have the Texas Soil Observation network, which is strongly supported by NASA,” the NASA chief said proudly. But that only drew scorn from the Senator. “NASA’s core competence is not Texas soil conservation,” Cruz observed. But the NASA chief said the GOP was wrong to try to cut back earth science funding. “It is absolutely critical that we understand the Earth’s environment,” Bolden argued. “Are we focusing on the heavens in NASA, or are we focusing on dirt in Texas?” asked Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), as he also raised questions about NASA spending resources on water management in California and more. “Are there any other agencies looking at soil in Texas?” Gardner said. “I get your drift,” said a somewhat peeved Bolden, who didn’t realize he had handed Gardner a verbal tool to use on the space agency chief. “Drift is a good point,” said Gardner. “It seems NASA has drifted away from its core mission.” Republicans will have the chance to force a change in NASA’s budget in coming months. On Feb. 2, 2015, the Obama Administration transmitted to Congress its FY 2016 Budget Request. The president’s budget request for FY 2016 is $18.53 billion in funding for NASA. The request represents an increase of $519 million, or 2.9 percent, from the FY 2015 enacted level of $18.01 billion. Credit: nationaljournal.com, wokv.com, commerce.senate.gov

China Plans to Launch Chang'e-4 Mission Before 2020 Posted: 13 Mar 2015 03:38 PM PDT China will launch its Chang'e-4 lunar probe before 2020, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said Thursday. The probe will conduct technical experiments and collect data. The lunar mission will pilot a program that uses private investment from individuals and enterprises for the first time, a move aimed at accelerating aerospace innovation, cutting production costs and promoting military-civilian relationships, said SASTIND. It will also expand investments allowed into military industry. Chang'e-4 began as a backup probe for Chang'e-3. Since Chang'ge-3's lander and rover successfully landed on the moon in 2013, Chang'e-4 will be given a new mission, which will be decided after further study. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. The mission is a part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. Credit: xinhuanet.com