Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label France24 Technology and Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France24 Technology and Science. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2020

ANALYSIS: SpaceX to simulate astronaut ejection in final test


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by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, France24 Technology and Science Analysts
SpaceX will on Sunday simulate its emergency abort system on an unmanned spacecraft, the last major test before it plans to send NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
The space company of entrepreneur Elon Musk, under contract with NASA, will launch its Crew Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida between 8:00 am (1300 GMT) and 2:00 pm.
This test will check the capsule's ability to reliably carry crew to safety in the event of an emergency on ascent.
One minute and 24 seconds after takeoff, at an altitude of approximately 12 miles (19 kilometers) above the Atlantic, the Crew Dragon will trigger a planned ejection from the Falcon 9 rocket carrying it into the atmosphere.
The capsule's descent into the water will be slowed by parachutes, while the Falcon 9 is expected to break up.
The rocket could explode and possibly create "a fireball of some kind", said Benji Reed, director of crew mission management for SpaceX, at a press conference on Friday.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, the test was pushed back due to high winds and rough seas in the ditching area.
The success of this test is essential for SpaceX and for NASA, which urgently needs to certify a spacecraft to transport its astronauts to the ISS this year.
Since 2011, the United States has been obliged to have its astronauts travel on Russia's Soyuz rockets, the only available spacecraft since the retirement of the American shuttles.
In March 2019, SpaceX successfully made a one-week round trip to the ISS with Crew Dragon.
The first manned flight of the capsule is expected to take place in March at the earliest, said NASA commercial flight program chief Kathy Lueders on Friday.


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Thursday, May 23, 2019

NASA unveils schedule for 'Artemis' 2024 Moon mission


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NASA plans to return humans to the Moon by 2024, for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972
NASA plans to return humans to the Moon by 2024, for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972 AFP/File
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by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, France24 Technology and Science Reporters
NASA on Thursday unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024.
The original lunar missions were named for Apollo -- Artemis was his twin sister in Greek mythology, and the goddess of hunting, wilderness and the Moon.
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Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed that Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020.
Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth's satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally by Artemis 3 that will put astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman.
The three will be launched into space by the biggest rocket of all time, the Boeing-led Space Launch System (SLS), which is currently under development but has seen numerous delays and has been criticized in some quarters as a bloated jobs program.
Affixed to its summit will be the Orion capsule, for which Lockheed Martin is the primary contractor.
In addition to these missions, which will be all NASA's efforts, there will be five launches carrying the building blocks of the lunar mini-station "Gateway" which will serve as a staging point for the Moon landing.
These will be carried out between 2022 and 2024 by private space companies, which NASA will pay for their services.
The orbital station will initially consist of a simple power and propulsion element and a small habitat module. In 2024, astronauts will stop there en route to the Moon.
They will then descend to the surface on a lander.
A part of the lander will remain on the Moon while the other part will take off and allow the astronauts to return to their station, where they will board the Orion capsule and return to Earth.
Bridenstine said Thursday that NASA had chosen private firm Maxar to build the station's first module, the power and propulsion element, which would rely on huge solar panels.
In the coming months, NASA will have to decide on who will build the lander. Aerospace giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin are vying for the contract as are new players like Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
"We're not owning the hardware, we're buying the service," said Bridenstine of the lander. "The goal here is speed. 2024 is right around the corner."
He added: "Our goal is ultimately to move on to Mars and not get stuck on the surface of the Moon"

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Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Fresh delay in launch of NASA's giant space telescope


by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, France24 Technology and Science reporters, Washington


    © NASA/AFP/File | NASA says there will be a new delay for James Webb Space Telescope, which will be the most powerful ever built

    WASHINGTON - 
    NASA said Wednesday that human and technical errors had caused a fresh delay in the launch of a giant space telescope, which will now not be deployed before March 2021.
    The James Webb Space Telescope -- which NASA has long expected to replace the fabled Hubble -- was initially meant to go into service this year but has faced multiple hitches.
    The Webb telescope will be the most powerful ever built -- about 100 times more sensitive than Hubble -- and is to be deployed on a mission to give astronomers an unprecedented glimpse at the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.
    Its most recent delay was announced in March, when NASA said blast off would likely be in May 2020. The latest snags stemmed from a variety of human errors, technical problems and even "excessive optimism," said Tom Young, chair of the Independent Review Board.
    "The complexity and risk cannot be overstated or overestimated," he told reporters in a conference call.
    NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a video message that the telescope "is going to do amazing things, things we've never been able to do before as we hear from other galaxies, and see light from the very dawn of time."
    "In space, we always have to look at the long term. And sometimes, the complexities of our missions dont come together as soon as we wish. But we learn, we move ahead, and ultimately we succeed. We will get there with Webb," he said.
    "I assure you that in the end, the Webb Telescope will be worth it," he said.
    The NASA technical report said that in one case, "an improper solvent was used to clean propulsion system valves that had been stored. The error was a failure to check with the valve vendor to ensure the solvent to be used was recommended and would not damage the valves. The valves had to be removed from the spacecraft, repaired or replaced, and reinstalled."
    "Another human-induced error was improper test wiring that caused excess voltage to be applied to transducers," it said.
    The project, a joint endeavor with the European and Canadian space agencies, has already drawn scrutiny from lawmakers for its ballooning costs, given that its initial budget of $3.5 billion had already soared to a an estimated $8 billion the last time a delay was announced.
    The James Webb telescope is named after NASA's second administrator, in office from 1961 to 1968. It will be launched aboard an Ariane-5 rocket from French Guiana.

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