Avaruus

[ctg]

The Indian Space Research Organisation showed off the spacesuit it has designed in-house for its first human space missions at an event held on Sept. 6.

The display comes weeks after the country announced an ambitious timeline to launch its first crewed mission by 2022 in time to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the country's independence. The human-spaceflight program is called Gaganyaan and will build on the legacy of India's first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, who flew in 1984. But this time, India is developing every aspect of the program, which means tackling problems like spacesuit design

https://www.space.com/41774-india-unveils-spacesuit-design-gagayaan-2022.html

4 kerrosta ja 5 kiloa materiaalia, mikä avaruudessa ei paina mitään. Nuo jalkineet on jännän muotoiset.

 

[BarrelNut]

Nuo jalkineet voivat ajaa samaa tarkoitusta kuin nämä keltaiset kusiluikkarit esim. kuvan Gemini-astronauteilla:

Muuten tuosta Intialaisten avaruuspuvusta tulee vähän sellaiset Qaher-313 fibat. Oudon näköinen ja ilman kypärää, myös nuo letkuhärpäkkeet ja VGA-kaapeli vähentävät vakuuttavuutta. Muutenkin tuon yläosan suunnittelu vaikuttaa enemmän ikäänkuin kuukävelypuvulta mutta muuten vain aluksen sisällä oleskeluun tarkoitetulta. Apollo ohjelman kuukävelypuku painoi muuten liki 100 kiloa elossapitojärjestelmineen.

Kuvassa Gene Cernan Apollo 17 miehistöstä A7LB puvussa:

 

[Jukkis]

Muuten tuosta Intialaisten avaruuspuvusta tulee vähän sellaiset Qaher-313 fibat. Oudon näköinen ja ilman kypärää, myös nuo letkuhärpäkkeet ja VGA-kaapeli vähentävät vakuuttavuutta. Muutenkin tuon yläosan suunnittelu vaikuttaa enemmän ikäänkuin kuukävelypuvulta mutta muuten vain aluksen sisällä oleskeluun tarkoitetulta. Apollo ohjelman kuukävelypuku painoi muuten liki 100 kiloa elossapitojärjestelmineen.

COTS-kaapeleiden vakuuttavuudesta en sano mitään, mutta kyllä tuo minusta yleistasolla aika samanlaiselta näyttää kuin nuo Youngin ja Collinsin G4C-puvut. Kaikki Gemini-ohjelman avaruuskävelyt suoritettiin juuri tuossa pukumallissa. Uskonpa että intialaistenkin puvun tärkein vaatimus on kuitenkin kyetä pitämään astronautti (vyomanautti?) hengissä kotiin asti vaikka kapselista tyhjenisikin kaikki ilma. Coolilta näyttäminen on kaupallisten firmojen heiniä.

 

[Kustaanmiekka]

Suomi 100-vuotta ja Intia sössi. ...kele sentään!

https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10401521


Suomi 100 -satelliitti avaruuteen marraskuun puolivälissä

Satelliitti laukaistaan avaruuteen Kaliforniasta.

Suomi 100 -satelliitti päässee avaruuteen vihdoin marraskuun puolivälissä, kertoi Aalto-yliopisto keskiviikkona. Satelliitti tutkii avaruussäätä ja revontulia.
Satelliitin matka myöhästyi lähes vuodella laukaisuun alun perin valitun intialaisen PSLV-kantoraketin ongelmien takia.
Satavuotiasta Suomea juhlistavan satelliitin kehitystyö on tapahtunut Aalto-yliopiston johdolla yhteistyössä Ilmatieteen laitoksen kanssa.
Suomi 100 -satelliitti laukaistaan avaruuteen Falcon 9 -kantoraketilla. Kaliforniasta SpaceX -yhtiön Vandenbergin lentotukikohdassa olevalta laukaisualustalta.
– Saimme satelliitin valmiiksi hyvissä ajoin viime vuonna, joten sen laukaisun siirtyminen tämän vuoden puolelle oli erittäin suuri harmi niin meille kuin Suomi 100 -hankkeellekin.
Juhlimme Suomea näin jälkikäteen, sanoi hankkeen vetäjä, professori Esa Kallio Aalto-yliopistosta tiedotteessa.

 

[tulikomento]

COTS-kaapeleiden vakuuttavuudesta en sano mitään, mutta kyllä tuo minusta yleistasolla aika samanlaiselta näyttää kuin nuo Youngin ja Collinsin G4C-puvut. Kaikki Gemini-ohjelman avaruuskävelyt suoritettiin juuri tuossa pukumallissa. Uskonpa että intialaistenkin puvun tärkein vaatimus on kuitenkin kyetä pitämään astronautti (vyomanautti?) hengissä kotiin asti vaikka kapselista tyhjenisikin kaikki ilma. Coolilta näyttäminen on kaupallisten firmojen heiniä.

Joo, eipä tuo intialainen kyllä miltään EVA-puvulta juuri näytä. Pikemminkin perinteiseltä painepuvulta jonka tehtävä on pitää miehistö elossa tilanteessa jossa aluksesta häviäisi paineistus avaruuden tyhjiöön. Tulee vähän Gemini 7 mieleen, jossa käytettiin tavallisesta kevennettyä pukua.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_7

 

[ctg]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/exploring-the-solar-system-you-may-need-to-pack-an-umbrella

 

[ctg]

SpaceX is among a handful of companies racing to propel tourists into space. Here are the top projects in the works, and what they involve.

- Moon orbit: SpaceX -

The California-based company headed by tycoon Elon Musk announced plans Thursday to send a passenger into lunar orbit aboard a monster rocket, called the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), still in development.

The cost of the latest trip, its timing, and the identity of the passenger are unknown, for now. Details are to be revealed Monday.

SpaceX has touted Moon tourist plans before -- with an announcement in 2017 that two people would launch in 2018 -- but the company has remained mum about those plans in recent months.

The trip would mark humanity's first journey to the Moon since the last Apollo astronauts went there in 1972. Only 24 people have ever left Earth's orbit and journeyed close to the Moon.

- Virgin Galactic -

Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, is working to carry tourists on a brief journey to space, dozens of miles above the Earth's surface.

Tourists will spend several minutes floating in zero gravity, aboard a spaceship that approaches or passes through the Karman line, the boundary of Earth's atmosphere and space, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) high.

For comparison, astronauts at the orbiting International Space Station fly some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.

Plans call for six passengers and two pilots to ride the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, which resembles a private jet.

The VSS Unity will be attached to a carrier spacecraft -- the WhiteKnightTwo -- from which it will detach at around 49,000 feet (15,000 meters.) Once released, the spaceship will fire up its rocket, and head for the sky.

Passengers will float in zero-gravity for several minutes, before coming back to Earth.

The total trip time would last between 90 minutes and two hours.

Cost: $250,000 per ticket. Timing: TBD.

- Blue Origin -

Blue Origin, the rocket company created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, also plans to send up to six passengers on a short journey to space aboard the New Shepard, a capsule affixed to the top of a 60-foot (18-meter) rocket.

After launching, it detaches and continues several miles toward the sky. During an April 29 test, the capsule made it 66 miles.

After a few minutes of weightlessness, the capsule gradually falls back to Earth with three large parachutes and retrorockets used to slow the spacecraft.

From take-off to landing, the trip takes about 10 minutes.

The timing of the first flights, and cost per ticket, have not been announced.

- China -

The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is working toward sending its first tourists on a suborbital journey some 60 miles high.

The first flight could take place by 2028, on a re-usable spacecraft that can fit up to 20 people.

Total mission duration would be about 30 minutes, with 10 minutes in the darkness of space, experiencing weightlessness and seeing the curvature of the Earth through the windows.

Price: about $200,000.

- Russia -

Seven people have already paid big bucks for a trip to space, organized by the Virginia-based company Space Adventures, and riding aboard Russian rockets and spacecraft.

The first space tourist was US businessman Dennis Tito, a multimillionaire who reportedly paid $20 million to ride a Soyuz and visit the International Space Station in 2001.

The Russian space company Energia is reported to be working on a new spacecraft called NEM-2 to carry tourists to the International Space Station (ISS).

Four to six people may ride at a time, and the first flights could come as early as 2019.

Paying space tourists might even be able to float out into the vacuum of space on brief spacewalks.

A firm price tag has not been fixed, but it is expected to cost around $100 million.

- Space hotel -

A US start-up called Orion Span announced earlier this year it hopes to place a luxury space hotel into orbit within a few years -- but the project is still in its early stages.

- Why travel to space? -

The journey would be thrilling, to be sure, but also risky. Rockets can and do sometimes explode, after all.

Barring any technical failures by the machinery, the tourists' own health could be a factor, and it remains to be seen if people with heart ailments or circulatory problems would be permitted to fly.

Beyond that, astronauts often report feeling severe motion sickness during the ascent to space, and tourists are expected to be no different.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Fly_me_to_the_Moon_A_look_at_the_space-tourism_race_999.html

 

[rukkaskikka]

https://www.space.com/41774-india-unveils-spacesuit-design-gagayaan-2022.html

4 kerrosta ja 5 kiloa materiaalia, mikä avaruudessa ei paina mitään. Nuo jalkineet on jännän muotoiset.

Tuo on kai joku messuille viety selfie-puku, jossa halukkaat voi kuvauttaa itsensä astronauttina, ei varmaan täysaito. Videolla 0:42 alkaen.

 

[ctg]

On December 13, 1972, the commander of the Apollo 17 lunar mission, Eugene Cernan, took his final steps on the surface of the Moon as he climbed up into the lunar module. In the 46 years that have passed since then, not one human has followed. Although we’ve since sent rovers back to the Moon and Mars, and probes have been sent to Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto, no humans have left low-Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission.

Now SpaceX is readying itself to end this decades-long lunar drought by sending the first private passenger to fly around the Moon. Yusaku Maezawa a 42-year-old Japanese billionaire and founder of the country's largest online retailer was unveiled by SpaceX in an announcement made early on Tuesday morning.

An art enthusiast, Maezawa said he would invite between six to eight artists with him and then ask them to create something after they return to Earth. A website set up to promote the project reads, "A painter, musician, film director, fashion designer... Some of Earth's greatest talents will board a spacecraft." If everything goes to plan, Maezawa will make the trip to circumnavigate, but not land on, the Moon in 2023.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/spacex-moon-trip-announcement

To take humans to the Moon, SpaceX will first have to complete the development of its Dragon 2 spacecraft – a crew-carrying capsule that will sit atop the launch rocket. Unlike the original Dragon spacecraft, which has been used to deliver cargo to the ISS, the Dragon 2 will be designed and tested so it is capable of taking crew to the ISS and beyond. Nasa already has plans to use the Dragon 2 and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to shuttle crew to the ISS. Development of the Dragon 2 has already been delayed, however, and the first crewed test flight is now scheduled for 2019.

Once SpaceX has finished building and testing both the BFR and the Dragon 2, it should be all systems go for the lunar mission. Then, Wimmer says, it all comes down to the physical preparedness of the individuals being launched into space. From his own experiences preparing for spaceflight as a private citizen, Wimmer, who is a personal friend of Musk, says that there the main two things that Maezawa will have to prepare for are the g-force experienced at launch and the feeling of weightlessness. “These are the two big things from a physical point of view,” he says.

To prepare himself for his future space flights, Wimmer has made multiple visits to centrifuges in the US and Russia which simulate the g-force experienced at launch and re-entry. Astronauts are spun in a pod attached to a large rotating arm to mimic the forces of upwards of three times Earth’s gravity or more. Without prior exposure to g-force, the space travellers might black out due to their blood pooling in the lower part of their body while being subjected to the force of spaceflight.

The other thing that Maezawa will want to familiarise themselves with is the feeling of weightlessness, which can make astronauts feel like they’re about to be sick. In his own preparations, Wimmer has made multiple trips on zero-gravity flights that simulate weightlessness for very short stretches at a time. “Once you're in space your mind and your balance has to get used to weightlessness,” Wimmer says.

Apart from the g-force and zero-gravity preparations, Wimmer says it’s unlikely that Maezawa will have to do much physical preparation beyond keeping himself in reasonable shape. “You don't have to be a superman but the better physical condition you can put yourself into the better,” he says. Any preparations are just to make sure that there are no nasty surprises on launch day. “By the time you sit on a rocket, you’re actually feeling quite comfortable.”

 

[ctg]

Last Monday, we covered the new, updated, and way way better guidelines for the ANA Avatar XPRIZE. Since we were mostly talking with the folks over at XPRIZE, we didn’t realize that ANA (All Nippon Airways) is putting a massive amount of effort into this avatar concept— they’re partnering with JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “to create a new space industry centered around real-world avatars.”

These avatars will be essentially the same sorts of things that the Avatar XPRIZE is looking to advance: Robotic systems designed to operate with a human in the loop through immersive telepresence, allowing them to complete tasks like a human could without a human needing to be physically there.

JAXA says that they’re interested in the usual stuff, like remote construction in space and maintenance, but also in “space-based entertainment and travel for the general public,” so use your imagination on that one. The AVATAR X program will go through several different phases, beginning quite sensibly with some Earth-based testing, which will happen at a new lab to be built in what looks like an artificial impact crater, with a futuristic building somehow hovering in the middle of it.

Of course, JAXA is not alone with this telepresence robots in space idea—for years, NASA has been suggesting that Valkyrie-like robots (likely controlled through a combination of full teleop, assistive teleop, and autonomy) are the best way to get stuff done in space, or in other places where humans are too expensive and squishy.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton...bots-for-inspace-construction-and-exploration

 

[ctg]

Jos ruo regolith printterit toimivat kunnolla tyhjiössä niin tämä on seuraavaksi edessä.

 

[tulikomento]

Tässä pohditaan voisiko tykillä ampua hyötykuormaa kiertoradalle.

 

[ctg]

More than 24 hours after they were released by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to fly down to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, the Japanese Space Agency has finally provided an update on the fate of the two tiny robots. And they're doing quite well indeed.

"We are sorry we have kept you waiting!" the space agency, JAXA, tweeted. "MINERVA-II1 consists of two rovers, 1a & 1b. Both rovers are confirmed to have landed on the surface of Ryugu. They are in good condition and have transmitted photos & data. We also confirmed they are moving on the surface."

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...o-land-two-tiny-rovers-on-a-distant-asteroid/

 

[ctg]

Katsokaa ensi jos ette tiedä Rocketdynen härdelleistä

The latest financial release from aerospace manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne reveals that the company spent none of its own money on development of the AR1 rocket engine this spring. Moreover, the quarterly 10-Q filing that covers financial data through June 30, 2018 indicates that Aerojet may permanently stop funding the engine with its own money altogether—a sign the company has no immediate customers.

Although Aerojet will continue to receive some funding from the US military through next year to develop its large, new rocket engine, this money won't be enough to bring it to completion. Instead of having a flight-ready engine for use by the end of 2019, the filing indicates that Aerojet now intends to have just a single prototype completed within the time frame.

Aerojet has been developing the AR1 engine under a cost-share agreement with the US Air Force, which had agreed to pay two-thirds of the cost. Aerojet originally agreed to pay nearly all of the remainder, with a small contribution from rocket manufacturer United Launch Alliance. This agreement, valued at $804 million, was in line with Aerojet's estimate of $800 million to $1 billion to develop the new engine.

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...als-vulcan-rocket-engine-competition-is-over/

 

[Jukkis]

Tuo uutinen AR-1:n kehityksen pysähtymisestä tarkoittaa käytännössä sitä, että ULA:n tulevan Vulcan-kantoraketin ensimmäisen vaiheen moottoriksi valitaan Blue Originin BE-4. Sen polttoaineena tulee siis olemaan nestemäiset metaani ja happi. Mielenkiintoista onkin nähdä, miten Vulcan tulee pärjäämään kilpailussa samaa moottoria käyttävää BO:n New Glenn-kantorakettia vastaan.

 

[ctg]

Russia's Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC Energia) is ready to offer tickets for a lunar tour aboard the Soyuz spacecraft; they will cost between $150 million and $180 million each, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Sunday.

On Tuesday, SpaceX said that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa would become the first private passenger to fly around the moon aboard the BFR launch vehicle. The flight is expected to take place in 2023.

"RSC Energia has been developing a project to fly around the moon on the Soyuz spacecraft for many years, including providing tourist services. However, now the price of the ticket has increased slightly due to the revision of the economic requirements for the project, and the cost will be from $150 million to $180 million," the source said.

The spacecraft may be launched with the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket - after that, the Angara carrier rocket would launch a transfer-orbit stage with an additional pressurized module into space, which would then couple with the Soyuz spacecraft and set off for the Moon.

He noted that it was Energia and the US tourism company Space Adventures which initially entered the commercial market with the offer of a lunar tour. At first, the ticket cost $150 million, and later the the price fell to $120 million due to lack of demand.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russias_RSC_Energia_Ready_to_Offer_Tourists_Moon_Flights_999.html

 

[ctg]

Origami and high-performance textiles are transforming architecture plans for smart human habitats and research stations on the Moon and Mars. Initial field tests of the MoonMars project's origami prototype have been presented at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2018 in Berlin by Dr. Anna Sitnikova.

MoonMars is a collaboration between the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG), ESA-ESTEC, research institutions and textile architect studio Samira Boon. The MoonMars team has incorporated origami structure into digital weaving processes to sculpt complex forms that are compact to transport and easy to deploy through inflatable, pop-up or robotic mechanisms in extraterrestrial environments.

"Origami structures made of textiles can be unfolded into a myriad of different shapes. They are lightweight. They can be easily deployed and re-used in different configurations and sizes for flexible spatial usage. Structures remain functional in changing circumstances, thereby extending their useable life-span," said Sitnikova, who leads the MoonMars project on behalf of the ILEWG.

In the hostile environment of space, high-performance textiles and the flexibile nature of origami can provide unique architectural advantages. The angled facets of origami structures mean that incoming micrometeorites are less likely hit surfaces at 90 degrees, dissipating the energy of potential impacts and the risks of penetration, thus protecting astronauts inside habitats.

Solar panels embedded in shape-shifting textiles can follow the Sun to gather more energy through the day. Transparent and opaque facets can change direction to alter internal lighting and climate conditions.

Following initial tests of a prototype entrance tunnel during the EuroMoonMars simulation at the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility in April 2018, the MoonMars team is now planning an ambitious series of trials for 2019. In June, the IGLUNA project, led by the Swiss Space Center, will include tests of an origami habitat in the glacier above Zermatt in Switzerland. In September 2019 the team will travel to Iceland to participate in a campaign inside a lava-tube cave system.

"We've just returned from a scouting trip and have selected the cave systems of Stefanshellir and Surtshellir, which has large galleries and a very elaborate tunnel system. We are provisionally looking at setting up a small habitat, implementing knowledge from previous demonstrations of our origami tunnel and woven domes," said Sitnikova.

The next design milestone will be a self-deployable origami habitat.

"Origami for space architecture promotes cross-disciplinary approaches and applications, providing state-of-the-art production and design methods," said Sitnikova. "Habitats enhanced by such structures are temporal and alive as they are able to transform and redefine themselves in resonance with human and environmental factors."

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/O...or_architecture_on_the_Moon_and_Mars_999.html

Voisikohan noita käyttää suojina ja mallina 3d printterille täyttää seinämät esim kuussa vulkaanisella materiaalilla?

 

[ctg]

A Mars rover roaming the red planet cannot whip out a smartphone to check its location based on GPS. Instead, the robotic explorer must take panoramic pictures of the surrounding landscape so that a human back on Earth can painstakingly compare the ground images with Mars satellite maps taken from above by orbiting spacecraft.

Locating a Mars mission after it first touches down, using that manual process of scrutinizing landscape features and making image comparisons, can take up to 24 hours. What’s more, it still requires at least thirty minutes to confirm a rover’s updated location after it’s on the move. But a new AI approach that trains deep learning algorithms to perform the necessary image comparisons could reduce the localization process to mere seconds. A team of space scientists and computer scientists gathered together during the 2018 NASA Frontier Development Lab event to develop that potential path forward for future space missions.

“If we go to more planets or another moon or the asteroids, the goal is to be able to use this to localize ourselves in GPS-free environments,” says Benjamin Wu, an astrophysicist at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and a member of the team that tackled this challenge.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk...-trains-to-guide-planetary-rovers-without-gps

 

[ctg]

Japan's space agency (Jaxa) has released new images from the robot rovers it has deployed to the surface of an asteroid.

The photos reveal new details of the surface of the space rock, which is known as Ryugu.

On 21 September, the rovers were released on to the surface by the "mothership", Hayabusa 2.

Hayabusa 2 reached Ryugu in June after a three-and-a-half-year journey.

The pictures show in clear relief the rugged, boulder-strewn landscape of this unusual Solar System body.

The robots, known as Rover 1A and Rover 1B, are now both confirmed to be working on the surface of the planet.

The 1kg autonomous rovers move about by hopping, using the asteroid's low gravity. Each one contains a motor-powered internal mass that rotates to generate force, propelling the robot across the surface.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45667350

Tekee mieli kirjoittaa lyhyt tarina tästä.

 

[ctg]

After a four-year, high-profile competition, rocket maker United Launch Alliance announced Thursday that it has selected the BE-4 rocket engine manufactured by Blue Origin to power its new Vulcan Centaur rocket. The new space company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos defeated the most storied rocket engine manufacturer in the United States, Aerojet Rocketdyne, which is developing the AR1 engine.

"We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Blue Origin and look forward to a successful first flight of our next-generation launch vehicle," United Launch Alliance's chief executive, Tory Bruno, said in a statement Thursday. He added that the Vulcan rocket remains on track for an initial flight in mid-2020.

"We are very glad to have our BE-4 engine selected by United Launch Alliance," Blue Origin Chief Executive Bob Smith also said. "United Launch Alliance is the premier launch-service provider for national security missions, and we're thrilled to be part of [its] team and that mission. We can't thank Tory Bruno and the entire United Launch Alliance team enough for entrusting our engine to powering the Vulcan rocket's first stage."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/09/amazons-jeff-bezos-will-now-sell-rocket-engines-too/