Perseverance

The red planet has another visitor on its way in 2020. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover launches from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard the Atlas V rocket on July 30, 2020! The rover is expected to reach its destination (Jezero Crater) on the 18 of February, 2021. This Mars 2020 mission will provide vital insight into the many challenges colonizers will face upon arriving on the Martian surface. [1]

The Cargo

Perseverance was designed by NASA’s JPL and is almost identical to the Curiosity design. The rover is packed with 23 cameras and two microphones, along with seven scientific instruments. Perhaps its most interesting companion is the drone helicopter, Inginuity, which will scout locations for Perseverance to study.[2] These two explorers were named perfectly, as ingenuity truly does help us find areas in which we can persevere. But curiosity must first pave the way!

Perseverance received a few upgrades over Curiosity, namely more durable wheels that will sustain less damage from the rough Martian terrain. It also wields a 5-jointed robotic arm at 2.1 meters long, because size matters.[2]

The Rocket

The Atlas V is a two-stage expendable launch system, developed by Lockheed Martin, and will be carrying our little metal friend to Mars this year! The first stage of this rocket is powered by the Russion RD-180 engine, while the second stage sports the RL10 made by Aerojet Rocketdyne.[3]

Get all of the details on the Atlas V here!

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Header image: NASA, & Waigand, G. M. (2019, July 23). [Close-up of the head of Mars 2020’s remote sensing mast PIA23316]. Wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Close-up_of_the_head_of_Mars_2020’s_remote_sensing_mast_PIA23316.jpg

Cargo image: NASA, & Krohn, J. (2020). [Photo of Perseverance Mars rover]. https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/03/05/PDTN/22c46aba-a87d-4ecc-af7c-0293889bfd6f-AP20065571864623.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp

Rocket image: Space Force. (2020). [Photo of ULA Atlas V]. AmericaSpace. https://www.americaspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FB_IMG_1565215460588.jpg

1:Mars.nasa.gov. (2020, July 9). Mission updates. NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/launch/status/

2: Wikipedia. (2020, July 12). Perseverance (Rover). Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseverance_(rover)

3: Wikipedia. (2020, June 26). Atlas V → Capabilities. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_V#Capabilities

Starship Hop Test

Coming up on July 16 (time currently unconfirmed), SpaceX will be performing a hop test^[1] of their SN5 Starship at Boca Chica, Texas!^[2] The modern-day space shuttle will be hopping to an altitude of 150 meters to verify the launch and landing performance of Starship.^[1]

The Rocket

At 120 meters tall with a diameter of 9 meters, “SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket (collectively referred to as Starship) represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship will be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, with the ability to carry in excess of 100 metric tonnes to Earth orbit.” ^[3]

Without the super heavy booster, Starship comes in at 50 meters in height and a has a propellant capacity of 1200 tons! The 70 meter super heavy booster produces 72 mega newtons of thrust with its 2400 ton propellant capacity. ^[3]

The Engine

“The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown.” Raptor has a diameter of 1.3 meters and a height of 3.1 meters, producing 2 mega newtons of thrust. ^[3]

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Header image: Teslarati. (2020, May). [Starship Super Heavy launch render May 2020 (SpaceX) 1 (c)]. Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-factory-mass-production-speed/starship-super-heavy-launch-render-may-2020-spacex-1-c/

Starship image: Teslarati. (2020). [Depiction of Starship and it’s Super Heavy booster]. Teslarati. https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Starship-Super-Heavy-2019-SpaceX-overview-1.png

1: Spaced Company. (2020). Space launches — Spaced. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.spacedcompany.com/space-launches

2: TheSpaceXFans. (2020, July 8). SpaceX Starship updates! SN5 static fire soon & other SpaceX news! TheSpaceXShow [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGJwOfQQuPI

3: hSpaceX. (2020). Starship. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

Al Amal “Hope” Mars Mission

The space race continues as the United Arab Emirates prepares for its 4:50pm EDT launch of the Al Amal Mars mission, or “Hope” mission on July 14.^[1] The probe is expected to reach Mars in February of 2021! The mission was first announced in July of 2014 by the president of the United Arab Emirates.^[2]

The mission will be launching from Japan on the 15th, local time, and will mark the first Mars mission from West Asian, Arab, or Muslim countries! However, if the launch window is missed, it will be another 2 years before the mission will be able to launch again! No pressure.^[2]

The Cargo

Constructed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and the University of California, Berkeley, the Hope space probe will be studying the daily and seasonal weather cycles on Mars, including sand storms, why whether conditions vary across Mars, and why the Martian atmosphere is losing hydrogen and oxygen into space.^[2]

The probe is of hexagonal design, built with an aluminum honeycomb structure, and measures in at about 2.37m wide and 2.9m tall with an approximate mass of 1350kg. Part of it’s size is a result of its two solar panels, generating 1800W to keep the probe functioning after it’s 7-9 month journey to the red planet! The probe will communicate via a high-gain antenna 1.5m in diameter and will determine its position with the help of it’s star trackers.^[2]

Learn more about the probe’s scientific tools and devices here!

The Rocket

Al Amal will will launch from Japan in the H-IIA (H-2A) expandable launch system, a medium-lift launch vehicle operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. H-IIA has flown since 2001 and has maintained a no-failure streak of 35 since November of 2003, with 41 launches in total! ^[3] H-IIA comes in at 53m tall and 4m in diameter, weighing up to 445,000kg! The cost per launch of this 2 stage rocket can reach around $90 million USD and can carry a payload of 15,000 kg!^[3

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Header image: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. (2020). [Photo of United Arab Emirates March mission Hope spacecraft]. https://mk0spaceflightnoa02a.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/hope_emm_colors.jpg

Al Amal image: UAE Space Agency. (2000). [Depiction of Hope spacecraft in front of Mars]. https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/07/Hope-Fixed.jpg

H-IIA image: NASA, & Bill Ingalls. (2014, February 27). [H IIA No. F23 with GPM on its way to the launchpad]. Wikimedia Commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/H_IIA_No._F23_with_GPM_on_its_way_to_the_launchpad.jpg

1: Spaced Company. (2020). Space launches — Spaced. Spaced. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://www.spacedcompany.com/space-launches

2: Wikipedia. (2020, July 8). Hope Mars mission. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Mars_Mission

3: Wikpedia. (2020, May 21). H-IIA. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 9, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-IIA

SpaceX GPS Satellite

At 3:55 pm EDT on June 30th of 2020, SpaceX will launch a third GPS satellite (manufactured by Lockheed Martin^[2]) for government and public use. The launch was originally scheduled for the 29th but was postponed due to COVID-19 protective measures.^[1]

As one would expect, SpaceX will be launching the satellite with the Falcon 9 and they will be attempting to recover the booster as usual. Falcon 9 will be launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the booster will be making it’s landing on the SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You well off the coast of the Atlantic ocean.^[3]

The Rocket^[4]

Falcon 9 has made 85 total launches and has been relaunched 32 times! It is the world’s first reusable, 2-stage rocket designed to carry both cargo and passengers into orbit! Standing 70 meters tall with a diameter of 3.7 meters, this massive feat of engineering weighs in at a whopping 549,054 kilograms (over 1 millions pounds)!

The first stage of the vehicle is powered by 9 Merlin engines running on liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene, allowing this rocket to generate 1.7 million pounds of thrust at sea level! The second stage runs on a single Merlin Vacuum Engine and generates 981 Kn of thrust! The payload itself has a height of 13.1 meters and a diameter of 5.2 meters.

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1: https://www.spacedcompany.com/space-launches

2: https://spacenews.com/spacex-launch-of-gps-satellite-delayed-due-to-pandemic/

3: https://www.launch360.space/gps3

4: https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-9/

Demo-2… 2

Last Wednesday, SpaceX attempted to launch two astronauts, Douglas Hurley (the spacecraft commander) and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The mission’s purpose was to demonstrate SpaceX’s first crew capsule: Crew Dragon. Due to weather conditions, the mission — Demo-2 — was postponed to May 30. So far, weather conditions are looking favorable and SpaceX is all set to make history… again.

As a quick recap of our last post on the topic, Demo-2 is an incredibly momentous occasion, as this will be the first time that Americans have gone into space from American soil in 9 years! Doug Hurley flew on the final launch of the space shuttle back in 2011 — we haven’t launched from the US ever since! Because SpaceX is an American company contracting for NASA and launching from the Kennedy Space Center, this mission marks the United States’ official involvement in the new space race! Having such a major world player running the race means great things for engineering, science, and economic support of aerospace industries.

The Dragon crew capsule looks nothing like its Soyuz counterpart, with four in-line seats and a touch-screen control panel, Dragon looks like something from science-fiction, which fits perfectly with SpaceX’s business model! The entire control panel only has a few nobs and about 40 buttons, leaving the vast majority of the controls to the touchscreen, which registers the astronauts’ gloves as well as bare fingers. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the capsule, however, is how much space there is. The Soyuz capsule allows for no movement in the best of cases, while Dragon seems almost roomy with its minimalistic design and sleek features!

The launch is scheduled for around 15:15 (3:15 p.m.) EDT at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. You can catch the live-stream here. Bring peanuts and cross your fingers; this is not a flight that can go R.U.D.! God speed, Bob and Doug! God speed.

Demo-2 (Crew Dragon)

04 October 1957: The first satellite, Sputnik, was launched into space.

12 April 1961: Yuri Gagarin became the first man launched into space.

20 July 1969: The lunar module of Apollo 11 touched down on the moon, bringing the first men to step foot on Earth’s slightly less green younger cousin: Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

1998: The International Space Station (ISS) is completed.

November 2000: The arrival of the first residential crew to the ISS; since this time, it has never been without inhabitants.

Now, a new milestone in the history of space travel is near, specifically regarding trips to the ISS. Since the 2011 retirement of the space shuttle program in the US, no astronauts have left for the space station from there – US astronauts have had to hitch rides on Russian rockets, like Sergei Korolev’s rocket Soyuz. Tomorrow, 27 May 2020, that will change. For the first time in nearly a decade, American astronauts will be sent to the ISS from American soil.

The astronauts:

Douglas “Doug” Hurley

Doug Hurley started his career in the Marine Corps, becoming a Naval Aviator in 1991, serving as aviation safety officer and pilot training officer for four and a half years, working as a F/A-18 project officer and test pilot, and finally serving as the operations officer before being selected for the astronaut program. Hurley’s NASA career started with his training in August of 2000. He was the lead Astronaut Support Personnel for missions STS-107 and STS-121, served as the pilot on STS-127, served as Assistant Director, New Programs, for the Flight Crew Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center, and started working with both Boeing and SpaceX to train for the use of their vehicles. Hurley has spent over 680 hours in space. [1]

Before NASA, Bob Behnken entered the Air Force, working as a technical manager and developmental engineer. He became the lead flight test engineer for Raptor 4004 and a special projects test director and also flew both the F-15 and F-16 aircraft. Behnken started training to be an astronaut in August of 2000 and served as an aquanaut in September of 2006, spending seven days living and working underwater. Before now, he was a member of two missions to the ISS. In March of 2008, Behnken took part in three spacewalks on a mission (STS-123) to continue the assembly of the ISS. In February of 2010, he flew as a Mission Specialist on STS-130, another ISS assembly mission. Behnken has spent over 700 hours in space. [2]

The spacecraft:

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will be delivering these men to the ISS on top of SpaceX’s workhorse, the Falcon 9 rocket! The Dragon capsule is revolutionary in its design, utilizing the best-of-the-best tech for its interface. The Dragon control panel is almost entirely a touchscreen, with only a few knobs and only about 40 buttons! The most shocking factor of the Dragon though, is how minimalistic and futuristic it is. The capsule contains a row of 4 seats that rotate upwards to face the control panel, and the control panel itself. Any other tech is safely tucked away in storage compartments, making this capsule almost entirely open space, with more leg room than a Tesla Model 3.

Mission

On the face of it, the DM-2 mission will simply be carrying American astronauts to the ISS. However, the real mission goes a bit deeper than this, as this will be the first crewed launch that SpaceX has preformed. Even more importantly, these are American astronauts launching through an American company from American soil! No matter where you are from, everyone can understand how vital it is to the new space race that the US gets involved. As a world leader in technology, business, military, and overall influence, the US could be a driving force in technological advancement! As it stands, SpaceX and Blue Origin have been the two most influential businesses for the space race – both American companies – and neither show any signs of slowing their progress. There can be little doubt now that the world’s superpowers are joining the race, and only time will tell how far they will carry us all!

The launch is TODAY! Are you ready to witness history? Er… again.

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Header image: NASA. (2019, January 1). Patch of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 [Public domain image]. Commons.wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83125647

Behnken photo: NASA, & Markowitz, R. (2018, July 27). Robert L. Behnken in 2018 [Public domain photo]. Commons.wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71440876

Hurley photo: NASA, & Markowitz, R. (2018, July 27). Douglas Hurley in 2018 [Public domain photo]. Commons.wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71440972

Dragon Photo: SciNews. (2019, March 1). https://www.youtube.com/. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SQX3zcpOojQ/maxresdefault.jpg

[1]: NASA. (2018). Douglas G Hurley astronaut biography. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hurley-dg.pdf

[2]: NASA. (2018). Robert L Behnken astronaut biography. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/behnken-rl.pdf