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Commander Kelly on the Station

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, Expedition 25 flight engineer, is pictured in the Cupola of the International Space Station on Oct. 14, 2010.

NASA has selected Kelly for a one-year mission aboard the station in 2015. Kelly will join Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on a mission that will collect scientific data important to future human exploration of our solar system.

The goal of the yearlong expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory is to understand better how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space. Data from the 12-month expedition will help inform current assessments of crew performance and health and will determine better and validate countermeasures to reduce the risks associated with future exploration as NASA plans for missions around the moon, an asteroid and ultimately Mars.

Image Credit: NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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ayabaca@gmail.com
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ESA - Space Science - Revisiting an old friend

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The Giotto spacecraft, launched in 1985 on an Ariane 1 V14 launcher, brushed past the hidden nucleus of Comet Halley in 1986.

Credits: ESA

Comet Halley close up

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Comet Halley as seen by ESA’s Giotto spacecraft in 1986, the last time the comet visited the inner Solar System. Giotto was ESA’s first deep mission, and obtained the first close-up images of a comet. This image was taken from a distance of about 2000 km from Comet Halley. The Sun is located towards the left of the image, provoking outbursts of gas and dust from the comet’s nucleus.

Credits: ESA/MPS

Comet Halley, the originator of the Orionids meteor shower that lit up our skies last month – as they do every October – is seen here up close by ESA’s Giotto probe as it flew past the famous comet on 13–14 March 1986.

Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. It swept within 600 km of Halley, obtaining the first close-up images of a comet.

Comets are considered to be the primitive building blocks of the Solar System and likely helped to ‘seed’ Earth with water.

This milestone mission showed for the first time the nucleus of a comet and revealed jets of gas and dust streaming out into space.

The flyby also revealed the first evidence of organic material in a comet, boosting the idea that comets might have delivered some of the building blocks needed for life on Earth.

Comet Halley is visible to observers on Earth every 75–76 years and will not return to the inner Solar System until 2061. Its presence makes itself known every year, however, in the form of the Orionids meteor shower.

As the icy comet is warmed by the Sun, parts of it transform directly into a gas, dragging its dusty component along, which streams out in a long tail. These fragments continue along the trajectory of the comet, which Earth crosses on its yearly trip around the Sun.

Although only tiny grains of cometary debris, these fragments produce spectacular trails as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere as ‘shooting stars’.

The Orionids are so-called because meteors appear to originate close to the constellation of Orion. Halley’s comet is also thought to be responsible for the Eta Aquariids meteor shower, which occurs every year in May.

After visiting Comet Halley, Giotto went on to make a flyby of Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992.

Meanwhile, ESA’s new Rosetta comet-chasing spacecraft is en route to rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, where it will make the most detailed study of a comet ever attempted as it follows it on its journey around the Sun.

The mission will also be the first to land on a nucleus to ‘taste’ the surface ingredients, providing key details about the role of comets in the evolution of the Solar System.

In 1986, Giotto's encounter with Comet Halley provided the first ever opportunity to take images of a comet nucleus. The images were obtained with the Halley Multicolour Camera on Giotto. Credits: Halley Multicolor Camera Team, Giotto Project, ESA

Twenty-five years ago, ESA's Giotto probe swept within 600 km of Comet Halley, obtaining the first close-up images of a comet. It revealed the first evidence of organic material in a comet and, still today, much of what we know about comets comes from the pioneering mission.

Launched on 2 July 1985 by Ariane 1, Giotto was ESA's first deep-space mission, part of an ambitious international effort to solve the mysteries surrounding Comet Halley.

It was also the first deep-space mission to change orbit by returning to Earth from an interplanetary trajectory for a gravity-assist.

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The Giotto space probe, launched in 1985 on an Ariane 1 V14 launcher, brushed past the hidden nucleus of Halley's comet in 1986.Its camera recorded many images that gave scientists an unique opportunity ( the comet would not pass close to the Earth again until 2061) to increase their knowledge of Halley,and in particular to determine the consistency of its matter through the analyses made by the probe as it passed through the comet's tail. Though damaged by the multiple impacts, Giotto carried on with its mission. After a period of hibernation, it was reactived in 1990 for a fresh task - overflying the comet Grigg-Skjellerup on 10 July 1992. Giotto is thus the first probe that has ever met two comets.

Mission

Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. In 1986, it passed closest to the nucleus of a comet, Halley. Its images showed for the first time the shape of a comet nucleus and found the first evidence of organic material in a comet. In 1992, after a long cruise through space, Giotto was directed to Comet Grigg-Skjellerup. It sent back a lot of information, passing just 200 kilometres from the nucleus.
What’s special?

Giotto had a number of very impressive ‘firsts’ and achievements to its credit:

It was Europe's first deep-space mission.

It photographed the first close-up images of a comet nucleus (Halley). It discovered the size and shape of Halley's nucleus and discovered that the surface is very dark and that bright jets of gas and dust spring out of its nucleus.

It was the first deep-space mission to change orbit by returning to Earth for a gravity-assist manoeuvre.

Giotto made the closest comet fly-by to date by any spacecraft (about 200 kilometres from Comet Grigg-Skjellerup) and studied the interaction between the solar wind, the interplanetary magnetic field, and the comet itself.

It was the first spacecraft to encounter two comets and in doing so measured the size, composition, and velocity of dust particles and measured the composition of those two comets.

Spacecraft

Giotto was based on the GEOS Earth-orbiting research satellites, which were built by British Aerospace at Bristol, United Kingdom. The most significant modification was the addition of a shield to protect it from a battering by high-speed dust particles during the comet encounter.

By spacecraft standards, the 960-kilogram Giotto was small in size. Its main body was a short cylinder about 2 metres in diameter by about 1 metre in height. It contained three interior platforms: the top platform, a main platform, and an experiment platform. Each of these consisted of a disc within the cylinder on which were mounted various subsystems and science experiments. On top of the cylinder was a 1.5-metre diameter high-gain dish antenna and gave the spacecraft a total height of about 3 metres. The main rocket motor was positioned in the centre of the cylinder with the nozzle protruding from the bottom.

The most difficult problem to overcome was how to ensure that Giotto survived long enough to snap its close-up pictures of the nucleus when the spacecraft and the comet were heading towards each other at a combined speed of 245 000 kilometres per hour (equivalent to crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 11 minutes!). At this speed, a 0.1 gram dust particle would be able to penetrate 8 centimetres of solid aluminium. Since it was out of the question to equip Giotto with a 600-kilogram aluminium shield, engineers turned to a more subtle, sandwich design first proposed by American astronomer Fred Whipple back in 1947 — long before the beginning of the Space Age.

The spacecraft's dust shield consisted of two protective sheets, 23 centimetres apart. At the front was a sheet of aluminium (1 millimetre thick), which would vaporise all but the largest of the incoming dust particles. A 12-milimetre thick sheet of Kevlar at the rear would absorb any debris that pierced the front barrier. Together they could withstand impacts from particles up to 1 gram in mass and travelling 50 times faster than a bullet.

Electrical power came from a solar array made of about 5000 silicon cells wrapped around Giotto’s cylindrical exterior. These provided 190 Watts of power during the first comet encounter. Four silver-cadmium batteries were carried as back up and for use when the spacecraft was in shadow.

The spacecraft was spin-stabilised as it rotated at 15 revolutions per minute. During the encounter with Halley’s Comet, the spacecraft approached with its dust shield and spin axis pointing towards the nucleus. Its dish antenna continually pointed at the Earth to ensure non-stop communications.

Journey

Giotto was initially injected into a geostationary transfer orbit. After three revolutions around the Earth, the on-board motor was fired to inject into an interplanetary orbit. After a cruise phase of 8 months, Giotto encountered Comet Halley on 14 March 1986. For its (initially unscheduled) visit to the second comet, Grigg-Skjellerup, Giotto was flown back to the direction of Earth for a gravity-assist to reach its new target.

To add more detail, the adventure began with Giotto almost 150 million kilometres from Earth. On 12 March 1986, the spacecraft's instruments first detected hydrogen ions 7.8 million kilometres from Comet Halley. 22 hours later, Giotto crossed the bow shock of the solar wind (the region where a shock wave is created as the supersonic solar particles slow to subsonic speed) and entered the densest part of the dusty coma. At this point, the camera was switched to tracking mode to follow the brightest object (the comet nucleus) in its field of view and began to send the first, fuzzy images back to Earth.

Excitement rose at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, as the stream of pictures and data came in. Located in adjacent rooms, each of the ten experiment teams scrutinised the latest information and struggled to come up with a preliminary analysis.

The first of 12 000 dust impacts were recorded 122 minutes before closest approach. Images were transmitted as Giotto closed in to within a distance of 1372 kilometres, but the rate of dust impacts rose sharply as the spacecraft passed through a jet of material that streamed away from the nucleus. At that time the spacecraft was travelling at a speed of 68 kilometres a second relative to the nucleus of Halley. Only 7.6 seconds before closest approach, the spacecraft was sent spinning by an impact from a ‘large’ (one gram) particle. Monitor screens went blank as contact with the Earth was temporarily lost. TV audiences and anxious Giotto team members feared the worst, but, to everyone’s amazement, occasional bursts of information began to come through. Giotto was still alive. Over the next 32 minutes, the sturdy spacecraft's thrusters stabilised its motion and contact was fully restored. By then Giotto had passed within 596 kilometres of the nucleus and was heading back into interplanetary space.

The remarkably resilient little spacecraft continued to return scientific data for another 24 hours on the outward journey. The last dust impact was detected 49 minutes after closest approach. The historic encounter ended 15 March when Giotto’s experiments were turned off.

However, the spacecraft still had 60 kilograms of fuel available, so the option was open to continue Giotto’s voyage of exploration. A series of three small orbital corrections ensured that it would return to Earth almost exactly five years after launch. On 2 April 1986, the spacecraft was placed into hibernation in the hope that it could be successfully revived and dispatched on another mission. 1419 days later, in February 1990, the signal was sent to reawaken Giotto. After such a long period without contact, controllers had no idea whether the harsh environment of space had damaged its systems. Another unknown was the direction in which the main antenna was pointing. The only hope was that an omni-directional low-gain antenna would detect the wake-up signal. Two hours later, a weak answer from Giotto was received at the NASA Deep Space Network ground station near Madrid, Spain. Within a week, full control was regained and the ESA team was able to assess its condition. Three science instruments proved fully operational, while four more were partially damaged but usable. Although the remaining three instruments, including the camera, were disabled, it was decided to redirect the spacecraft towards a second comet.

On 2 July 1990, Giotto's orbit was altered as it flew past the Earth, just 22 730 kilometres above the cloud tops. This was the first time a spacecraft coming from deep space had used the Earth for a gravity-assist. During the fly-by, observations were made of the Earth’s magnetic field and energetic particle environment.

After another prolonged hibernation, Giotto's payload was switched on in the evening of 9 July 1992. The Grigg-Skjellerup fly-by took place the following day, about 215 million kilometres from Earth. Giotto crossed the bow shock and entered the dust coma about 17 000 kilometres from the comet. Aimed directly at the nucleus, Giotto missed by a mere 100 to 200 kilometres — the closest ever cometary fly-by.

History

Giotto was originally put forward as part of a joint NASA/ESA comet mission, but at a later stage the United States pulled out. Then ESA took the bold decision to proceed alone on this once-in-a-lifetime venture. There was little leeway for delays if this fly-by opportunity was missed, Halley's Comet would disappear into the depths of the Solar System, to be hidden from view for the next 75 years!

Giotto was ESA's first deep space mission, part of an ambitious international effort to solve the mysteries surrounding Comet Halley. The plan was to send an armada of five space probes — two Soviet, two Japanese and one European — towards the comet on its return to the inner Solar System in 1986. While the Japanese spacecraft made long distance measurements, the Soviet Vegas would act as pathfinders, passing close enough to locate the comet's nucleus. The information they sent back would allow Giotto to home in with great accuracy on Halley's solid heart.

After the mission was given the go-ahead by ESA in 1980, it was put together very quickly. Originally envisaged as part of a dual launch by a powerful Ariane 3 rocket, it was eventually launched by an Ariane 1 rocket (flight V14) on 2 July 1985.

Partnerships

The following organisations built the various scientific instruments on board Giotto: University of Cologne (Germany), MPI (Lindau, Germany), University of Kent (Canterbury, United Kingdom), CESR (Toulouse, France), Mullard Space Science Laboratory (Holmbury St Mary, United Kingdom), MPI (Heidelberg, Germany), CNRS (Verrières-le-Buisson, France), St. Patrick's College (Maynooth, Ireland), University of Bern (Switzerland) and the Ruhr University (Bochum, Germany).
Last update: 21 April 2004

ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achhutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

domingo, 25 de noviembre de 2012

BURT RUTAN: Entrepreneur of de Year

http://burtrutan.com/burtrutan/BurtRutan.php
http://burtrutan.com/burtrutan/BurtRutan.php

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Burt_Rutan_-_Cropped.JPG

Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the sub-orbital spaceplane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 for becoming the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space twice within a two week period. He has five aircraft on display in the National Air and Space Museum: SpaceShipOne, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, Voyager, Quickie, and the VariEze.^{[1] Wikipedia.}

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH FOR BURT RUTAN Burt Rutan was raised in Dinuba, California. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering at California Polytechnic University in 1965. His course work also included classes at the Space Technology Institute, California Institute of Technology at Cal Tech, marketing and personnel management courses in business administration courses from Golden Gate College, and classes in the Aerospace Research Pilot’s School at Edwards Air Force Base. Mr. Rutan holds, in addition, the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, dated 13 June 1987; Doctoral of Science, honoris causa, from Daniel Webster College, 17 May 1987; Doctoral of Humanities, honoris causa, from Lewis University, 22 May 1988 and Doctorate of Technology, honoris causa, from Delft University of Technology, 12 January 1990. Mr. Rutan worked for the U.S. Air Force from 1965 until 1972 as Flight Test Project Engineer at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Then in March 1972, he became director of the Bede Test Center for Bede Aircraft in Newton, Kansas. In June of 1974, at Mojave, California, Mr. Rutan formed the Rutan Aircraft Factory (RAF) to develop light homebuilt aircraft, and to market technical and educational documents. Through this company, the VariViggen, VariEze, NASA AD-1, Quickie, Defiant, Long-EZ, Grizzly, scaled NGT trainer, Solitaire, Catbird, and the world-flight Voyager aircraft were developed. In April 1982, Mr. Rutan founded Scaled Composites, Inc. (Scaled) to develop research aircraft. The company currently employs 95 people at the Mojave, California airport. For 14 yearsSince its founding,, Scaled has been the world’s most productive aerospace prototype development company. Most of Scaled’s current projects are proprietary to the customer. Past projects include the 85% scale Starship 1 for Beech Aircraft Corporation, the Predator agricultural aircraft for ATAC, the CM-44 UAV for California Microwave, the Scarab Model 324 reconnaissance drone for Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, the Advanced Technology Tactical Transport (ATTT) for DARPA, the 1988 America’s Cup wing sail, the Triumph light executive jet for Beechcraft, the ARES close air support attack turbofan, the Pond Racer, the Pegasus Space launch vehicle flying surfaces, the Model 191 general aviation single, a 40% scale B-2 bomber RCS model, General Motor’s 1992 show car (the GM Ultralite), the Bell Eagle Eye prototype tilt rotor RPV, the Earthwinds pressurized gondola, the McDonnell Douglas DC-X single stage rocket structure, the Raptor and Raptor D-2 high altitude RPVs for BMDO and the NASA ERAST program, a 40-meter wind generator for Zond, the X-35 for NASA and a tilt-body UAV for Freewing. Scaled developed the full-scale flying prototype for the VisionAire Vantage business jet, built three NASA X-38 crew return vehicle structures, and designed and developed the aerodynamics, structures and manufacturing methodsflight tests for the Williams, Intlernational. V-Jet II. The Rotary Rocket Roton atmospheric test vehicle airframe was manufactured at Scaled. Scaled’s latest flying prototypes are is the multi-mission, high-altitude Proteus aircraft and the Adam Model 309 business aircraft. Scaled is currently developing new composite manufacturing processes for application to general aviation, fighters, and new space launch vehicles. In June 1985, Scaled was sold to Beech Aircraft Corporation, then acquired by Wyman-Gordon Company in January 1989. Mr Rutan was retained as President/CEO. A few of the awards which Mr. Rutan has received include: • EAA Outstanding New Design, 1975, 1976 and 1978. • Presidential Citizen’s Medal presented by Ronald Reagan, December 29, 1986. • Grand Medal of the Aero Club of France, January 29, 1987. • National Medal of the Aero Club of France, January 29, 1987. • Society of Experimental Test Pilots, 1987 J.J. Doolittle Award. • Royal Aeronautical Society, British Gold Medal for Aeronautics, December 1987. • Design News Engineer of the Year for 1988. • Western Reserve Aviation Hall of Fame, Meritorious Service Award, 2 September 1988. • The International Aerospace Hall of Fame Honoree, 24 September 1988 . • Member, National Academy of Engineering, 1989. • 1987 Collier Trophy for ingenious design and development of the Voyager and skillful execution of the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world, 15 May 1987. • National Aviation Hall of Fame Honoree, 21 July 1995. • SAMPE George Lubin Award, 9 May 1995. • EAA Freedom of Flight Award, 3 August 1996 • Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, 1 October 1997 • EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame, 23 October 1998 • Designer of the Year, Professional Pilot Magazine, 13 March 1999 • Proteus Aircraft included in the list of the "100 Best of the Century", Time Magazine, April 1999 • Proteus • Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson "Skunk Works" award by the Engineers Council, February 2000 • 2000 Lindbergh Award by the Lindbergh Foundation, May 20, 2000

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Model of Voyager

This artist's rendering shows NASA's Voyager spacecraft. On the boom to the right, the Cosmic Ray Science instrument, Low Energy Charged Particle detector, the Infrared Spectrometer and Radiometer, Ultraviolet Spectrometer, Photopolarimeter and Wide and Narrow Angle Cameras are visible. The bright gray square is an optical calibration plate for the instruments. The Golden Record, containing images and sounds from Earth, is the yellow circle on the main spacecraft body. The dish is the spacecraft's high-gain antenna for communications with Earth. The magnetometer boom stretches out to the upper left. The radio isotope thermoelectric generators, Voyager's power source, are visible to the lower left.

The two long thin rods extending out to the left are antennas used by the Plasma Wave instrument. The Planetary Radio instrument also used these antennas when it was turned on.

The two Voyager spacecraft are identical. Voyager 2 was launched on Aug. 20, 1977. Voyager 1 was launched on Sept. 5, 1977.

The Voyagers were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which continues to operate both spacecraft. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov .
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Remarks by the Honorable Sean O'Keefe NASA Administrator AIAA ...

VIRGIN ATLANTIC’S GlobalFlyer will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility for an aircraft world record attempt.

World record attempt to begin at Shuttle Landing Facility.-
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/470838main_The_Apollo_of_Aeronautics.pdf

Voyager

Rutan Voyager on display in the National Air and Space Museum

Rutan was approached by his brother Dick about designing an airplane that could fly nonstop, unrefueled around the world, something that had never been done before.^[20] Around-the-world flights had been accomplished by military crews using in-flight refueling.^[21]

Rutan developed a twin-engined (piston engines, one pusher and one tractor) canard-configured design, the Rutan model 76 Voyager. The pusher engine ran continuously, the tractor engine was used for take-off and initial climb to altitude, then was shut down.^[22]^[23]

The aircraft was first flown with two Lycoming O-235 engines. After development work, it was reengined with a Continental O-200 (modified to include liquid cooling) as the pusher engine and a Continental O-240 as the tractor engine.^{[citation needed]}

As a proving flight, Dick and his partner Jeana Yeager made a record setting endurance flight^{[clarification needed]} off the coast of California. In December 1986, they took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California and flew around the world (westward) in nine days, fulfilling the aircraft's design goals. The Voyager was retired and now has the honor of hanging in the Milestones of Flight exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) main exhibit hall,^[24] with the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis and Bell X-1.

Spacecraft

SpaceShipOne now hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. with the Spirit of Saint Louis and Bell X-1"Glamorous Glennis"

Rutan made headlines again in June of 2004 with SpaceShipOne, which became the first privately built, flown, and funded manned craft to reach space. On October 4, SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X Prize, completing two flights within two weeks, flying with the equivalent weight of 3 persons, and doing so while reusing at least 80% of the vehicle hardware. The project team was honored with the 2004 Collier Trophy, awarded by the National Aeronautic Association for "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America." The craft embodies Rutan's unique style, and is another of the "icons of flight" displayed in the NASM Milestones of Flight exhibit.^[32]

Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, announced that it would begin space tourism flights in 2008 using craft based on the designs of SpaceShipOne. Dubbed SpaceShipTwo, these new craft, also designed by Burt Rutan, are intended to allow six "experience optimized" passengers to glimpse the planet from 70–80 miles up in suborbital space. Production of the first of five planned SpaceShipTwo craft has started, but commercial flights did not begin in 2008 as planned. An explosion at the Scaled Composite factory at the Mojave Spaceport on July 26, 2007, which killed three engineers and seriously injured three others, may have contributed to the delay. They were testing components for SpaceShipTwo, but as of August 2007 Scaled Composites remained dedicated to perfecting the design of SpaceShipTwo.^[33] Virgin continues to work on developing SpaceShipTwo, but it has stopped predicting when commercial spaceflights will begin. ^[34]

Burt Rutan is also working with t/Space in the development of an air launched, two-stage-to-orbit, manned spacecraft. It is intended to have a taxi capacity to carry passengers to the International Space Station. In June 2005, air drop tests of quarter scale mockups verified the practicality of air release and rotation to vertical.^[35]

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NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

ESA Portal - EDRS space network ready to go ahead

http://www.esa.int/images/edrs_impro3_1024.jpg

Artist impression of European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system

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Europe’s data relay satellite system – EDRS - has been completed and approved. This marks the moment when it moves ahead with a green light from its first customer, the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative from the European Union (GMES).

EDRS will provide a telecommunications network that is fast, reliable and seamless, making real-time information from satellites available on demand.

EDRS will be the first commercially operated data relay system to deliver services to the Earth observation community.

It is being built through a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) between ESA and Astrium Services, using payloads carried by two satellites in geostationary orbit, hovering 36 000 km above the Equator, where their speed matches Earth’s rotation.

Data transmitted from satellites in lower orbits to either of these EDRS payloads can then be relayed to the ground.

The payload includes a laser terminal developed by TESAT of Germany to transmit up to 1.8 gigabits per second over distances in excess of 40 000 km, between the lower satellites and EDRS in geostationary orbit.

A design review board of senior members from ESA, Astrium and the DLR German Aerospace Center approved the entire system design: from the satellites to the support that will be required from the ground.

The industrial organisation is fully in place with all subcontracts negotiated and ESA’s partner Astrium Services ready to begin production.

“EDRS is a fantastic breakthrough for Europe, from the innovative laser communication terminal technology, which is the heart of EDRS, to the provision of operational services by 2014 through a PPP that combines the best from European space companies with the national and European space institutions,” says Magali Vaissiere, director of ESA’s Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate.

The first of the two EDRS payloads will be carried on the Eutelsat-EB9B satellite, starting operation in 2014, built by Astrium and positioned at 9°E over the Equator.

The second satellite, planned for launch in 2016, will carry the second EDRS payload as well as the Hylas-3 payload from the UK’s Avanti Communications. This satellite will be built by Germany’s OHB using the SmallGEO platform, currently under development by OHB under ESA contract.

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Office
Communication Department
Tel: +33 1 53 69 72 99
Fax: +33 1 53 69 76 90
Email: media@esa.int
ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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sábado, 24 de noviembre de 2012

ESO - Eso1246es-cl.- El planeta enano Makemake pierde su atmósfera

Los astrónomos han utilizado tres telescopios de los observatorios de ESO, en Chile, para observar el planeta enano Makemake al cruzar por delante de una estrella distante, bloqueando su luz. Por primera vez, gracias a las nuevas observaciones, han podido comprobar si Makemake está rodeado por una atmósfera o no. Este mundo gélido orbita en las partes más externas del Sistema Solar y se suponía que podría tener una atmósfera similar a la de Plutón (eso0908), pero este no parece ser el caso. Los científicos también midieron por primera vez la densidad de Makemake. Los nuevos resultados se publican el 22 de noviembre en la revista Nature.

Impresión artística de la superficie del planeta enano Makemake

Esta impresión artística muestra la superficie del distante planeta enano Makemake. Este planeta enano tiene dos tercios del tamaño de Plutón, y viaja alrededor del Sol en una órbita distante que se encuentra más allá que Plutón, pero más cerca del Sol que la de Eris, el planeta enano más masivo conocido del Sistema Solar. Se esperaba que Makemake tuviera atmósfera, como Plutón, pero se ha demostrado que no es así.

Crédito: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org

Camino de la sombra de Makemake al cruzarse con la Tierra el 23 de abril de 2011

Este diagrama muestra el camino que traza la sombra del planeta enano Makemake durante la ocultación de una estrella débil en abril de 2011. Desde varios sitios del sur de América, incluyendo los observatorios de La Silla y Paranal de ESO, pudo verse cómo la estrella desaparecía brevemente cuando su luz fue bloqueada por el paso de Makemake. Este planeta enano tiene dos tercios del tamaño de Plutón, y viaja alrededor del Sol en una órbita distante que se encuentra más allá que Plutón, pero más cerca del Sol que la de Eris, el planeta enano más masivo conocido del Sistema Solar. Se esperaba que Makemake tuviera atmósfera, como Plutón, pero se ha demostrado que no es así.

Crédito: ESO/L. Calçada

El planeta enano Makemake [1] tiene dos tercios del tamaño de Plutón y viaja alrededor del Sol a una órbita distante que se encuentra más allá de la de Plutón, pero más cerca del Sol que Eris, el planeta enano más masivo conocido en el Sistema Solar (eso1142). Observaciones previas del gélido Makemake mostraron que era similar a sus colegas planetas enanos, llevando a algunos astrónomos a esperar que su atmósfera, de haberla, sería similar a la de Plutón. Sin embargo, el nuevo estudio ahora muestra que, al igual que Eris, Makemake no está rodeado por una atmósfera significativa.

El equipo, liderado por José Luis Ortiz, del Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC, España), combinó múltiples observaciones utilizando tres telescopios de los observatorios Paranal y La Silla, de ESO, en Chile — el VLT (Very Large Telescope), el NTT (New Technology Telescope), y el TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) — junto con datos de otros telescopios más pequeños ubicados en el sur del continente americano [2], observando el paso de Makemake por delante de una estrella distante [3].

“Cuando Makemake pasó frente a la estrella, bloqueando su luz, en lugar de apagarse y volver a brillar de forma gradual, la estrella desapareció y reapareció de forma muy brusca. Esto significa que el pequeño paneta enano no tiene una atmósfera significativa”, afirma José Luis Ortiz. “Se pensaba que Makemake podría haber desarrollado una atmósfera — que no haya pruebas de que la tiene nos demuestra lo mucho que aún nos queda por aprender de este misterioso tipo de objetos. Descubrir, por primera vez, algunas de las propiedades de Makemake es un gran paso adelante en nuestro estudio del selecto club de los planetas enanos helados”.

El hecho de que Makemake no tenga lunas, y la gran distancia que lo separa de nosotros, hacen que sea difícil de estudiar [4], y lo poco que sabemos sobre este cuerpo es solo una aproximación. Las nuevas observaciones del equipo arrojan luz sobre nuestra visión de Makemake al determinar su tamaño con mayor precisión, limitar las opciones sobre una posible atmósfera y al estimar, por primera vez, la densidad del planeta enano. También han permitido a los astrónomos medir cuánta luz del Sol refleja la superficie de Makemake — su albedo [5]. El albedo de Makemake, de un 0,77, es comparable con el de la nieve sucia, mayor que el de Plutón, pero menor al de Eris.

Fue posible observar a Makemake con tanto detalle sólo porque pasaba frente a una estrella — un evento conocido como ocultación estelar. Estas oportunidades excepcionales han permitido a los astrónomos obtener, por primera vez, mucha información sobre la, a veces, tenue y delicada atmósfera que hay alrededor de estos lejanos, pero importantes, miembros del Sistema Solar, proporcionando información muy precisa sobre otras de sus propiedades.

Las ocultaciones son especialmente inusuales en el caso de Makemake, ya que se mueve en un área del cielo que cuenta, relativamente, con pocas estrellas. Predecir y detectar con precisión estos excepcionales acontecimientos es extremadamente complicado y la exitosa observación llevada a cabo por un equipo coordinado, repartido por varios lugares del sur de América, hace aún más valioso este logro.

“Plutón, Eris y Makemake son solo unos pocos ejemplos de los numerosos objetos helados que orbitan lejos del Sol”, afirma José Luis Ortiz. “Nuestras nuevas observaciones han impulsado en gran medida nuestro conocimiento de uno de estos objetos de mayor tamaño, Makemake — podremos usar esta información para explorar estos intrigantes objetos en esta región alejada del espacio”.

Notas

[1] Makemake era conocido en un principio como 2005 FY9. Fue descubierto unos cuantos días después de Pascua, en marzo de 2005, siendo apodado de manera informal como ”Conejito de Pascua” (Easterbunny). En Julio de 2008 fue oficialmente bautizado con el nombre de Makemake. Makemake es el creador de la humanidad y dios de la fertilidad en la mitología de los nativos de la Isla de Pascua.

Makemake es uno de los cinco planetas enanos reconocidos por la Unión Astronómica Internacional (IAU, International Astronomical Union). Los otros son Ceres, Plutón, Haumea y Eris. Pueden encontrar más información sobre planetas enanos y planetas en la web de la Unión Astronómica Internacional.

[2] Otro de los telescopios utilizados en esta campaña de observación fue un telescopio de 0,84 metros instalado en la Universidad Católica del Norte de Chile. Este telescopio se encuentra en Cerro Armazones, la futura ubicación del E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope).

[3] Makemake pasó frente a una estrella débil llamada NOMAD 1181-0235723 (NOMAD se refiere al Naval Observatory Merged Astronomic Dataset) el 23 de abril de 2011. El equipo observó este evento utilizando diferentes telescopios ubicados en Brasil y Chile. Solo duró un minuto, por lo que los astrónomos aprovecharon las capacidades de una cámara ultra-rápida especializada conocida como ULTRACAM (eso0520) y de otro instrumento infrarrojo ultra-rápido llamado ISAAC para captar el acontecimiento.

[4] En el caso de objetos que tienen una o varias lunas orbitando a su alrededor, los movimientos de las lunas pueden utilizarse para deducir la masa del objeto. Esto no es posible en el caso de Makemake.

[5] Se calculó que el planeta enano tenía un albedo geométrico de 0.77 ± 0.03, mayor que el de Plutón, pero menor que el de Eris. Un albedo de 1 representa un cuerpo perfectamente reflectante, y 0 se asigna a una superficie negra que no refleja nada en absoluto. Las observaciones, junto con resultados previos, indican que Makemake tiene una densidad de 1.7 ± 0.3 gramos por centímetro cúbico, lo que a su vez permitió al equipo inferir la forma y la apariencia de un objeto esferoidal achatado — una esfera ligeramente aplanada en ambos polos — con ejes de 1430 ± 9 kilómetros y 1502 ± 45 kilómetros. Makemake no presenta una atmósfera global como la de Plutón, sino que tiene una milésima parte de la atmósfera de Plutón. Aún así, puede tener una atmósfera que cubra solo parte de su superficie. La posible existencia de esta atmósfera local, que en teoría es posible, no ha sido excluida por las observaciones.

Información adicional

Esta investigación se ha presentado en el artículo “Albedo y limitaciones atmosféricas del planeta enano Makemake a partir de una ocultación estelar (Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation)” que aparece en la edición del 22 de noviembre de 2012 de la revista Nature.

El equipo está compuesto por J. L. Ortiz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, España), B. Sicardy (LESIA–Observatorio de París; CNRS; Universidad Pierre et Marie Curie; Instituto Universitario de Francia, Francia), F. Braga-Ribas (Observatorio de París; CNRS; France; Observatorio Nacional/MCTI, Brasil), A. Alvarez-Candal (Observatorio Europeo Austral, Chile; Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, España), E. Lellouch (Observatorio de París, CNRS, Francia), et al.

Para la lista completa de autores y afiliaciones, por favor, hagan referencia al artículo de la revista Nature.

El año 2012 marca el 50 aniversario de la creación del Observatorio Europeo Austral (European Southern Observatory, ESO). ESO es la principal organización astronómica intergubernamental de Europa y el observatorio astronómico más productivo del mundo. Quince países apoyan esta institución: Alemania, Austria, Bélgica, Brasil, Dinamarca, España, Finlandia, Francia, Holanda, Italia, Portugal, el Reino Unido, República Checa, Suecia y Suiza. ESO desarrolla un ambicioso programa centrado en el diseño, construcción y operación de poderosas instalaciones de observación terrestres que permiten a los astrónomos hacer importantes descubrimientos científicos. ESO también desarrolla un importante papel al promover y organizar la cooperación en investigación astronómica. ESO opera tres sitios únicos de observación de categoría mundial en Chile: La Silla, Paranal y Chajnantor. En Paranal, ESO opera el Very Large Telescope, el observatorio óptico más avanzado del mundo, y dos telescopios de rastreo. VISTA trabaja en el infrarrojo y es el telescopio de rastreo más grande del mundo, y el VST (sigla en inglés del Telescopio de Rastreo del VLT) es el telescopio más grande diseñado exclusivamente para rastrear el cielo en luz visible. ESO es el socio europeo de un revolucionario telescopio, ALMA, el proyecto astronómico más grande en desarrollo. Actualmente ESO está planificando el European Extremely Large Telescope, E-ELT, el telescopio óptico y de infrarrojo cercano de 39 metros, que llegará a ser “el ojo más grande del mundo para mirar el cielo”.

Enlaces

ESO

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achuegui

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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NASA - Hubble Eyes a Loose Spiral Galaxy

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the spiral galaxy ESO 499-G37, seen here against a backdrop of distant galaxies, scattered with nearby stars.

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Hubble Eyes a Loose Spiral Galaxy

The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the spiral galaxy ESO 499-G37, seen here against a backdrop of distant galaxies, scattered with nearby stars.

The galaxy is viewed from an angle, allowing Hubble to reveal its spiral nature clearly. The faint, loose spiral arms can be distinguished as bluish features swirling around the galaxy’s nucleus. This blue tinge emanates from the hot, young stars located in the spiral arms. The arms of a spiral galaxy have large amounts of gas and dust, and are often areas where new stars are constantly forming.

The galaxy’s most characteristic feature is a bright elongated nucleus. The bulging central core usually contains the highest density of stars in the galaxy, where typically a large group of comparatively cool old stars are packed in this compact, spheroidal region.

One feature common to many spiral galaxies is the presence of a bar running across the center of the galaxy. These bars are thought to act as a mechanism that channels gas from the spiral arms to the center, enhancing the star formation.

Image Credit: NASA/Hubble

NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.om
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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NASA - NASA X : MEDLI and Mars Curiosity Rover

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 83 feet eastward during the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 18, 2012), and used its left navigation camera to record this view ahead at the end of the drive. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
› Full image and caption › Latest images › Curiosity gallery › Curiosity videos › Related video

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Post-Drive View on Curiosity's Sol 102

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 83 feet eastward during the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 18, 2012), and used its left navigation camera to record this view ahead at the end of the drive. The view is toward "Yellowknife Bay" in the "Glenelg" area of Gale Crater.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012).

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Curiosity's Eastward View After Sol 100 Drive

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012). The rover used its Navigation Camera after the drive to record the images combined into this panoramic view. The view spans from north at the left to south-southeast at the right. It is presented in a cylindrical projection.
› Panoramic view
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012).

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