#space exploration

Credit: Plum Brooke 

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission has successfully completed several months of simulated space environment System level testing in the NASA-owned thermal vacuum chamber at Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA.

The testing phase was split into two phases - a 47 day thermal vacuum test and a 14 day electromagnetic compatibility, followed by an interference test in ambient conditions which both simulate the conditions the spacecraft will encounter during its voyage to the Moon and back to Earth.

‘Today marked an important milestone for the Artemis I mission to the Moon,’ said Airbus Head of Space Exploration, Andreas Hammer.

‘We proved to our customers ESA and NASA that the European Service Module, designed and built by our engineers in Bremen – supported by companies in 10 European countries - meets the requirements to withstand the harsh conditions in space.

‘The Artemis programme will land the first woman and next man on the Moon and bring them back safely to Earth, we are proud to contribute to this endeavour with all our know-how, expertise and passion.’

Pleased with the results of this crucial test, the engineering teams from Airbus, the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin and NASA have proved the spacecraft is suitable to navigate safely through the extreme conditions that it will experience in space.

Orion will be transported back to the Kennedy Space Center to undergo further testing and prepare the spacecraft for integration with the Space Launch System rocket, beginning the next era of exploration.

Artemis I will travel around the Moon and back to Earth. Airbus in Bremen is already building the second Orion Service Module for Artemis II, where 

James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn 

By Shardell Joseph 

A team of NASA astronomers will observe dwarf galaxies and properties of dark matter using the newly completed James Webb Space Telescope. Fully assembled in late this year, the telescope was joined by two halves amounting to $9.7bln, and is scheduled to launch in March 2021.

Artist conception of James Webb Space Telescope. credit: Northrop Grumman

‘The assembly of the telescope and its scientific instruments, sunshield and the spacecraft into one observatory represents an incredible achievement by the entire Webb team,’ NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre Webb Project Manager, Bill Ochs, said in a statement.  

‘This milestone symbolises the efforts of thousands of dedicated individuals for over more than 20 years across NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, Northrop Grumman and the rest of our industrial and academic partners.’

Primary mirror segment testing. Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham

The telescope will be used to conduct two separate studies – to observe dwarf galaxy companions to the Milky Way and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. According to NASA, studying these small companions will help scientists learn about galaxy formation and properties of dark matter, which accounts for 85% of matter in the universe.

To observe these distant never-seen-before parts of the universe, the Webb observatory is equipped with an arsenal of revolutionary technologies. NASA claims it to be the most sophisticated and complex space science telescope ever created. Among the most challenging of these technologies is the five-layer sunshield, designed to protect the observatory’s mirrors and scientific instruments from light and heat, primarily from the Sun.

Webb Telescope Crew Flexes Robotic Arm at NASA. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

According to NASA, Webb has passed other deployment tests carried out during its construction. Technicians used gravity-offsetting pulleys and weights to simulate zero-gravity, which would be encountered in space. This deployment was carefully monitored, tensioning each individual layer, and technicians concluded that once in orbit, they will function flawlessly.

‘This test showed that the sunshield system survived spacecraft element environmental testing, and taught us about the interfaces and interactions between the telescope and sunshield parts of the observatory,“ said NASA Webb Telescope Sunshield Manager, James Cooper. ‘Many thanks to all the engineers and technicians for their perseverance, focus and countless hours of effort to achieve this milestone.’

The James Webb Space Telescope’s Sunshield Membrane. Credit: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems

Forboth programmes, the Webb telescope will be tested for its accuracy and precision. ‘It’s a very tricky situation, because basically what we want to measure are very tiny motions,’ explained co-investigator Andrea Bellini of STScI. ‘The accuracy we want to achieve is like measuring something that moves a few inches a year on the surface of the Moon, as seen from Earth.’

There is excitement around the development of the telescope as it will have the capacity to solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

Gold-coated Engineering Design Unit (EDU) Primary Mirror Segment. Credit: Drew Noel

The International Space Station backdropped against colourful Earth, taken by Shuttle Discovery during STS-121. ✨

Valentine’s Day 30 years ago, one of the most iconic photos of the Voyager mission was taken, known as the “Pale Blue Dot”.

For its 30th anniversary NASA JPL has used modern processing techniques to remaster the image. ✨

Solar Orbiter lifts off on a ULA Atlas V rocket.

On its way to unlock the secrets of our Sun. ☀️

Yesterday Expedition 61 landed safely back on Earth.

Falcon 9 sunset, carrying 60 Starlink Satellites.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter berthed to the International Space Station, backdropped by Earth and the station’s solar arrays. ✨

SpaceX Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort.