Russians Hijack A German Space Telescope

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Image (Credit): Artist’s impression of the spacecraft carrying the eROSITA (highlighted) and ART-XC space telescopes. (Max Planck Institute)

Remember all those sanctions and cancelled projects following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how we hoped scientists would rise above it? Well, the Russians will have none of it. They have decided to switch on Germany’s eROSITA space telescope.

Built by the Max Planck Institute and launched in 2019 together with the Russian ART-XC space telescope, the eROSITA was placed in sleep mode back in February shortly after the Russian invasion. Both the German and Russian telescopes are designed to work in tandem to study Dark Energy.

The main scientific goals of eROSITA are

  • to detect the hot intergalactic medium of 50-100 thousand galaxy clusters and groups and hot gas in filaments between clusters to map out the large scale structure in the Universe for the study of cosmic structure evolution,
  • to detect systematically all obscured accreting Black Holes in nearby galaxies and many (up to 3 Million) new, distant active galactic nuclei, and
  • to study in detail the physics of galactic X-ray source populations, like pre-main sequence stars, supernova remnants and X-ray binaries.

In a recent Gizmodo article, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin stated:

They—the people that made the decision to shut down the telescope—don’t have a moral right to halt this research for humankind just because their pro-fascist views are close to our enemies.

Neither German nor Russian scientists are happy with this political decision. It is likely to have implications for future joint Russian missions.

Whether it is politics or micrometeroids, astronomers have plenty of outside factors messing up well-planned missions. 

International Space Station: Russians Still Busy

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Five spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Freedom; the Cygnus space freighter; the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship; and the Progress 80 and 81 resupply ships.(NASA)

Earlier today, NASA announced that an uncrewed Russian cargo ship, Progress 81, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) without incident. Work continues among the Americans and Russians aboard the ISS regardless of the situation on the ground, which is reassuring.

As NASA administrator Bill Nelson said last month at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, there have been a number of “misleading headlines” about the end of Russia’s participation in the ISS program. He also highlighed how US astronauts were able to work together with Soviets during the Cold war. Specifically, he stated:

I see nothing in the very even-keeled professional relationship between the cosmonauts and the astronauts, between mission control in Moscow and Houston, in the training of Russian cosmonauts in America and the training of American astronauts in Moscow and Baikonur…I see nothing that has interrupted that professional relationship, no matter how awful Putin is conducting a war with such disastrous results in Ukraine.

Profile: Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

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Image (Credit): Rocket being launched from Virginia’s spaceport. (Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport)

When you think of NASA space launches you most likely think of Cape Canaveral in Florida, but what about Virginia? The Eastern Shore of Virginia hosts the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), which is currently being used for resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Created by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1995 at the site of a World War II Navy air station, it is the only other official spaceport on the east coast.

Northrup Grumman has been using the site for various missions, including resupplying the ISS as well as other federal payloads. Orbital Sciences Corporation (now part of Northrup Grumman) launched NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission from the site in 2013. In addition, last year Rocket Lab announced it planned to use MARS for launches of its new reusable Neutron rockets.

In February 2022, Northrop Grumman successfully launched its 17th ISS resupply rocket from the spaceport. The Cygnus space freighter carried needed supplies to the astronauts conducting research in orbit. The freighter will also be used to “boost” the ISS, or adjust its orbit, as noted by NASA:

This Cygnus mission is the first to feature enhanced capabilities that will allow the spacecraft to perform a reboost, using its engines to adjust the space station’s orbit as a standard service for NASA. The agency has one reboost is planned while Cygnus is connected to the orbiting laboratory. A test of the maneuver was performed in 2018 during Cygnus’ ninth resupply mission.

You may recall that such boosting is something the Russian’s claimed earlier could not occur if they abandoned the space station. Fortunately, NASA has other rocket options should they be needed. Moreover, we have additional spaceports to keep our astronauts in the sky and well supplied.

Image (Credit): Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is pictured moments before its capture with the International Space Stations’s robotic arm in February of 2021. (NASA)

Extra: Below is a map showing the location of MARS on the Wallop Islands. The address of the facility is 7414 Atlantic Rd, Wallops Island, VA 23337.

Image (Credit): Location of MARS on the Virginia shore. (Google Maps)

White House: U.S. Anti-Satellite Testing to End

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The White House. (Whitehouse.gov)

Earlier this week, Vice President Harris announced that the United States will no longer conduct anti-satellite missile testing in space. In her statement, she highlighted the dangers caused by the related satellite debris.

From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, she stated:

I am pleased to announce that as of today, the United States commits not to conduct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing.

Simply put: These tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them.

We are the first nation to make such a commitment.  And today, on behalf of the United States of America, I call on all nations to join us.

Whether a nation is spacefaring or not, we believe this will benefit everyone, just as space benefits everyone.

In the days and months ahead, we will work with other nations to establish this as a new international norm for responsible behavior in space.  And there is a direct connection between such a norm and the daily life of the American people. 

If a satellite was taken out by debris, it could affect the daily weather forecast, GPS driving directions, and even your favorite TV station.

Critical infrastructure, like wind turbines that power our homes, well, they rely on satellites for connectivity.

Satellites help us track the climate crisis.  They enable our commercial activities.  And they help us protect our troops and our people.

All of this is threatened by the debris created by these reckless tests.

These tests also threaten the lives of astronauts in the International Space Station.

In fact, I spoke earlier this month with Mark Vande Hei who just returned from 355 days in space on the Space Station.  An American record.

While he was in space, Russia conducted its anti-satellite missile test.  He had to shelter in an escape capsule in case the Space Station was hit by debris.

Russia’s action was a threat not just to his life, but also to those of Russian cosmonauts.

Let’s hope other nations are quick to follow. Further discussions and decisions on limiting the number of satellites in low-Earth orbit would also be helpful. That said, it’s a start.

A Day in Astronomy: The Launch of Salyut 1

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s drawing of the Soviet Union’s Salyut 1 with a Soyuz spacecraft (upper left) approaching it. (NASA)

On this day in 1971, the Soviet Union launched Salyut 1, mankind’s first space station. The station was visited only once by a Soyuz 11 crew for 24 days, who had to cut their mission short do to technical problems, including an electrical fire. The crew died of asphyxia on the trip back to Earth.

While an earlier Soyuz 10 crew had attempted to dock with the Salyut 1, they were unsuccessful. This unsuccessful docking, followed by the death of the Soyuz 11 crew, led to a redesign of the Soyuz spacecraft. Unfortunately, the new spacecraft could not be launched in time to save the Salyut 1. The station burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere in October 1971.

The Salyut 1 was followed by the successful launch of five more stations, the last one being the Zvezda Service Module, launched in 2000. This module is still in orbit and part of the International Space Station.

Even with all of the issues, it was a great accomplishment for the Soviet Union. The United States did not have its own space station in orbit until the launch of Skylab 1 on May 14, 1973.

No one said space missions were easy or safe, as NASA has also learned over the years.

You can read more about the Soviet and Russian space stations at this NASA site.