Jonathan's Space Report No. 692 2014 Jan 5 National Harbor, Maryland --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Space Station --------------------------- The launch of the next Cygnus freighter was delayed to January as astronauts on the ISS prepared for spacewalks on Dec 21 and 24 to repair the failed Loop A thermal control system. US EVA-24 was carried out on Dec 21 with Rick Mastracchio in spacesuit EMU3010 and Mike Hopkins in EMU3011 (the now-repaired suit which malfunctioned on Luca Parmitano's spacewalk). Quest was depressurized at 1157 UTC, with hatch open at 1159 UTC and the suits on battery power at 1201 UTC. The astronauts went to the S1 truss segment and removed Pump Module S/N The hatch was closed at 1724 UTC and Quest was repressurized at 1729 UTC. US EVA-25 followed on Dec 25, with Hopkins in EMU 3005 and Mastracchio in EMU 3011. Mastracchio's old suit 3010 was sidelined beacuse a misconfiguration of the sublimator at the end of the previous spacewalk left its status in doubt. The airlock was depressurized at 1149 UTC, hatch open at 1152, and battery power at 1153. The astronauts went to External Stowage Platform 3 and removed spare Pump Module serial number 0006. The SSRMS robot arm moved Hopkins and the PM to the S1 truss; it was installed at 1456 UTC and bolted in place at 1508 UTC. The astronauts then connected ammonia fluid lines and electrical cables. One ammonia line initially refused to disconnect from its previous location and then did spill some NH3 flakes in the vicinity of the spacewalkers, requiring some decontamination precautions on return to the airlock. The astronauts closed the hatch at 1904 UTC and, after a 15 minute hold to check for contamination, repressurized the airlock slowly from 1923 to 1954 UTC. Russian spacewalk VKD-37 began with depressurization of the Pirs airlock around 1250 UTC Dec 27 and opening of the hatch at 1301 UTC. Oleg Kotov in Orlan-MK No. 6 and Sergey Ryazanskiy on Orlan-MK No. 4 installed two video cameras from the Vancouver-based company UrtheCast. After struggling with the cabling on the medium resolution camera, the astronauts jettisoned the UrtheCast MRC cable reel at 1646 UTC, and an obsolete space science experiment, Vsplesk, at 1754 UTC. The new Seismoprognoz experiment launched on Progress M-21M was installed on Zvezda to replace Vsplesk. However, at 1816 UTC it was reported that the UrtheCast cameras were not working correctly, and the astronauts were ordered to dismount them and bring them back inside. The spacewalk concluded with hatch closure at 2107 UTC and repressurization around 2109 UTC. Gaia ---- The European Space Agency's Gaia observatory was launched on Dec 19. The 2000 kg Gaia spacecraft will measure the three-dimensional positions and velocities of galactic stars. The problem of accurate stellar distances has been a limiting factor in astrophysics with big uncertainties leading to uncertain masses, luminosities and other physical properties for all but the nearest stars; the Gaia catalog, when it is available early next decade, will put the whole field of astrophysics on a firmer footing. Gaia will spin around, with its two 1.5 x 0.5m silicon carbide primary mirrors sweeping starlight across its gigapixel detector array. The array has 106 CCDs each with 4500 x 1996 pixels. The SkyMapper array of 7 x 2 CCDs and the 7 x 9 array of Astrometric Field CCDs will measure positions; the 7 x 2 array of the Blue and Red photometer will pass the light through blue and red filters to measure accurate brightness and color; and the 4 x 3 array of the Radial Velocity Spectrometer CCDs will sit behind a spectrograph and use the 8500A Ca II triplet spectral lines to measure the Doppler shift of the brighter stars along the line of sight. The angular separation of the two mirrors is precisely monitored, to create an accurate latitude-longitude grid across the sky by measuring angular distances between widely separated pairs of stars. Gaia was launched by a Soyuz ST-B with upper stage Fregat-MT No. 1039 from Kourou-Sinnamary. The Soyuz reached a -681 x 180 km x 15.0 deg suborbital path; the Fregat made a first burn to 175 x 175 km and then reignited for a long burn from 0933 to 0949 UTC to propel Gaia to a 344 x 962690 km x 15.0 deg orbit, on its way to the Sun-Earth L2 point Gaia will fire its own propulsion system of 6 10-N thrusters to raise apogee to around 1.5 million km towards midnight; in a few weeks it will enter a Lissajous orbit around the L2 point and begin observations. Gaia's data will take years to process and will result in the best yet catalog of galactic stars. Mars Express ------------- On Dec 29 at 0709 UTC, ESA's Mars Express spacecraft made a flyby 45 km from the surface of Phobos (58 km from its center). Mars Express is in a 318 x 10518 km x 86.9 deg Martian polar orbit; congratulations to its friendly operations team which has just celebrated ten years around the planet! Tupac Katari ------------ Bolivia's first communications satellite was launched on Dec 20. Tupac Katari is named after the historical Bolivian leader Julian Apasa Nina (Tupac Katari, 1750-1781). The Tupac Katari satellite was built by China's CAST using a DFH-4 bus and has a mass at launch of 5100 kg. It was launched from Xichang on a CALT Chang Zheng (Long March) 3BE into a 200 x 43890 km x 24.8 deg geostationary transfer orbit, and will be controlled by Chinese-trained Bolivian engineers at the Amachuma ground station. Rodnik ------ A Rokot launch vehicle took off from Plesetsk early on Dec 25 carrying three Rodnik low orbit communications satellites for the Russian military into a 1480 x 1509 km x 82.5 deg orbit. They are expected to get the codenames Kosmos-2488 to Kosmos-2490. The Briz-KM upper stage successfully deployed the satellites and made its depletion burn to an 1150 x 1500 km orbit, in contrast to the previous Rodnik launch in January. Ekspress -------- Russia's new Ekspress AM-5 communications satellite was launched from Baykonur on Dec 26. AM-5 uses a Reshetnev Ekspress-2000 bus with C, Ku, Ka and L-band communications payloads developed in collaboration with the Canadian company MDA. The launch vehicle was a Proton-M with a Briz-M upper stage (serial numbers 93541 and 99543, according to Rui Barbosa's Em Orbita site zenite.nu). The Briz-M made four burns to deliver Ekspress AM-5 to a sub-geostationary orbit of around 33800 x 37800 km x 0.18 deg according to a posting on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum; US tracking has not yet picked it up. It will use its on-board electric propulsion system (ion drive) to complete the trek to GEO. Soyuz-2-1V ---------- Russia ended the year with the first launch of a new rocket, the Soyuz-2-1V. This new, lighter version of the Soyuz is a major redesign, abandoning the four side-mounted conical strapon boosters that were the R-7 family's trademark since the ICBM and Sputnik launches in 1957. The core stage's lower section has been slightly enlarged in diameter and a new propulsion system used - the main engine is the NK-33A based on the NK-33 first developed (but never used) for the N-1 moon rocket in the 1970s. (An Americanized version of the NK-33, the Aerojet AJ-26, is the main engine for Orbital's new Antares rocket). The Soyuz-2-1V second stage is the same Blok-I stage as the existing Soyuz-2-1B, with an RD-0124 engine. This first flight carries the optional Volga third stage, a low-thrust orbit positioning bus derived from a spy satellite propulsion system. The inaugural launch of the Soyuz-2-1V on Dec 28 carried the Aist satellite and two SKRL-756 calibration spheres. These were deployed from a long cylindrical adapter attached to the Volga stage into a 599 x 625 km x 82.4 deg orbit. The Volga stage with its adapter was expected to be deorbited over the South Pacific. The Soyuz second stage was left in a 259 x 594 km x 82.4 deg orbit. GSAT-14 ------- India launched its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on Jan 5, placing the GSAT-14 satellite in geostationary transfer orbit. Orbital launch statistics 2013 ------------------------------ Russia 33 (+2 fail), USA 19, China 14(+1 fail), Europe 5, Japan 3, India 3, South Korea 1 - for a total of 78 to orbit + 3 failures to orbit (some of the 78 also failed to reach their intended orbits). I am counting Soyuz-at-Kourou and the Sea Launch failure as Russian. The story of recent years has been the strong rise of China as a launching state; but this year the noticeable thing is the return of Russia to a dominance of the launching statistics not seen since the fall of the USSR. This includes nine Proton launches (all but two for non-Russian customers) and 15 Soyuz launches including two from Kourou and 8 ISS-related ones. The year also saw 209 payloads orbited thanks to the late surge of mass cubesat deployments; this compares with 134 payloads launched last year. Countries of ownership, 2013 payloads: USA 87 Russia 28 China 18 UK 9 (arguable, assuming formal ownership of two SES satellites to SES Satellite Leasing UK.) ESA 7 Germany 6 S Korea 6 Japan 5 India 5 Canada 4 Spain 3 Argentina, Austria, Denmark, Ecuador, Netherlands, Peru, Vietnam - 2 each Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Estonia, France, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, South Africa: 1 each These 209 payloads include 51 amateur/academic, 37 business/commercial, 74 civil, 47 defense (there is some overlap, of course). Six of the payloads (LADEE, MOM, Maven, Chang'e-3, Yutu, Gaia) are now beyond Earth orbit. Suborbital launches ------------------- The USAF launched a Minuteman III from Vandenberg on Dec 17; Russia launched a Yars missile from Plesetsk to Kura on Dec 24. Yars carries multiple reentry vehicles. On Dec 27 the Russian rocket forces rounded out the year with a reentry vehicle test on a Topol' missile launched from Kapustin Yar to Sary-Shagan. Errata: - In JSR691 I said that Yutu is the 6th wheeled vehicle on the Moon. It is in fact the seventh - I forgot a hand cart used on the Apollo 14 mission, the Modular Equipment Transporter. Thanks to Henry Spencer for catching the mistake. - In JSR691 I gave the Kavoshgar 1 launch date as 2008 Feb, which is when it was announced; Igor Lissov points out that the Kavoshgar web site says the launch was in Aban 1385, which corresponds to 2006 Oct 22 to Nov 20. Table of Recent (orbital) Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Nov 5 0908 Mars Orbiter Spacecraft PSLV-XL Sriharikota Mars probe 60A Nov 7 0414 Soyuz TMA-11M Soyuz-FG Baykonur LC1 Spaceship 61A Nov 11 2346 Raduga-1M Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Comms 62A Nov 18 1828 MAVEN Atlas V 401 Canaveral SLC41 Mars probe 63A Nov 19 1218 PicoDragon ) ISS, LEO Tech 98-067DA Ardusat-1 ) Tech 98-067DB Ardusat-X ) Tech 98-067DC Nov 20 0115 STPSAT-3 ) Minotaur I Wallops I LA0B Tech 64A ORS-3 ) Tech 64 TJ3Sat ) Tech 64 DragonSat ) Tech 64 COPPER ) Tech 64 ChargerSat 1 ) Tech 64 SwampSat ) Tech 64 Ho'oponopono 2 ) Radar cal 64 KySat-2 ) Tech 64 CAPE 2 ) Tech 64 Trailblazer ) Tech 64 Vermont Lunar Cubesat ) Tech 64 PhoneSat-2.4 ) Tech 64 NPS-SCAT ) Tech 64 Black Knight 1 ) Tech 64 Firefly ) Science 64 Horus/STARE-B ) Space Surv. 64 SENSE-A ) Ionospheric 64 SENSE-B ) Ionospheric 64N ORSES ) Comms 64 ORS Tech 1 ) Tech 64 ORS Tech 2 ) Tech 64 Prometheus 1A? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 1B? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 2A? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 2B? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 3A? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 3B? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 4A? ) Comms 64 Prometheus 4B? ) Comms 64 Nov 20 0331 Yaogan 19 Chang Zheng 4C Taiyuan Imaging 65A Nov 20 0758 TechEdSat-3p ISS, LEO Tech 98-067DD Nov 21 0710 Dubaisat-2 ) Imaging 66D SkySat-1 ) Dnepr Yasniy Imaging 66C STSat-3 ) Astronomy 66G AprizeSat-7 ) Comms 66A AprizeSat-8 ) Comms 66K WNISAT-1 ) Weather 66H Lem ) Astronomy 66R GOMX-1 ) Comms 66Q Dove-3 ) Imaging 66P Delfi-3nXt ) Tech 66N Triton 1 ) Comms/AIS 66M KHUSAT-1 ) Science 66J KHUSAT-2 ) Science 66L OPTOS ) Tech 66E Manolito ) Tech 66AB Krysaor ) Tech 66AA UWE-3 ) Tech 66Z VELOX-P2 ) Tech 66Y First-MOVE ) Tech 66AG FUNcube-1 ) Tech 66AE HINCube-1 ) Tech 66B Tshepiso ) Tech 66AF BPA-3 ) Tech 66AJ Unisat-5 ) Tech 66F Dove-4 ) Imaging 66 ICUBE-1 ) Tech 66 PUCPSat-1 ) Tech 66 Pocket-PUCP ) Tech 66 HUMSAT-D ) Tech 66 QBScout-1 ) Tech 66 BeakerSat-1 ) Tech 66 $50SAT ) Tech 66 WREN ) Tech 66 Nov 22 1202 SWARM-1 ) Rokot Plesetsk Science 67A SWARM-2 ) Science 67B SWARM-3 ) Science 67C Nov 25 0212 Shiyan 5 Weixing Chang Zheng 2D Jiuquan Tech/Sci? 68A Nov 25 2053 Progress M-21M Soyuz-U Baykonur LC31 Cargo 69A Dec 1 1730 Chang'e-3 ) Chang Zheng 3BE Xichang Moon probe 70A Yutu ) Rover Dec 3 2241 SES-8 Falcon 9 v1.1 Canaveral SLC40 Comms 71A Dec 6 0714 TOPAZ 3? ) Atlas V 501 Vandenberg SLC3E Radar 72A Aerocube 5a ) Tech 72D Aerocube 5b ) Tech 72E SMDC-ONE 2.3) Comms 72N SMDC-ONE 2.4) Comms 72L Tacsat 6 ) Tech? 72M ALICE ) Tech 72F SNAP-3 ) Tech? 72G FIREBIRD A ) Sci 72B FIREBIRD B ) Sci 72C MCubed-2 ) Tech/Imaging 72H IPEX ) Tech 72K CUNYSAT 1 ) Sci 72J Dec 8 1212 Inmarsat 5 F1 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC200/39 Comms 73A Dec 9 0326 ZY-1 No. 3 Chang Zheng 4B Taiyuan Imaging F03 Dec 19 0912 Gaia Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat CSG ELS Astronomy 74A Dec 20 1642 Tupac Katari 1 Chang Zheng 3BE Xichang Comms 75A Dec 25 0031 Kosmos-2488 ) Rokot Plesetsk LC133/3 Comms 76A Kosmos-2489 ) Comms 76B Kosmos-2490 ) Comms 76C Dec 26 1049 Ekspress AM-5 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC81/24 Comms 77A Dec 28 1230 Aist 1 ) Soyuz-2-1V/Volga Plesetsk LC43/4 Science 78A SKRL-756 No. 1) Radar cal 78B SKRL-756 No. 2) Radar cal 78C Jan 5 1048 GSAT-14 GSLV Sriharikota SLP Comms 01? Table of Recent (suborbital) Launches ---------------------------------- Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Nov 3 0925 NASA 36.294UH Black Brant IX White Sands X-ray Astron 280? Nov 12 1615? SL-8 SpaceLoft XL Spaceport America Tech 116 Nov 20 1140 NASA 36.296UG Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 277 Nov 27 0350 NASA 36.261UG Black Brant IX White Sands UV Astron 280? Dec 14 Kavoshgar Pazhuhesh Shahab-1 Semnan Bio 120 Dec 17 1236 GT210GM Minuteman III Vandenberg LF04 Op. test 1300? Dec 24 0700 Yars RV-1 ) Yars Plesetsk Test 1000? Yars RV-2 ) Yars RV-3 ) Yars RV-4 ) Dec 27 1730 Topol' RV Topol' Kapustin Yar Test 1000? Jan 3 Arrow KV Arrow 3 Palmachim Test 100? .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : planet4589 at gmail | | USA | twitter: @planet4589 | | | | 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 | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------'