Of emergencies and Christmas trees – an exciting end to 2010
12 January 2011

In the 10th Mars500 Mission Diary, Romain writes about end-of-year excitements in the crew’s spacecraft mockup on their virtual journey to Mars. With almost half the mission completed, the crew is now counting the days to their ‘arrival’ in orbit around the red planet, on 1 February.

During the last few weeks we experienced two major events inside our Mars500 modules. First, an off-nominal situation left us for 20 hours without water, electricity and ventilation during the first two days of December. The second event is merrier: Christmas! Let me share with you how we went through these both.

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JAXA MISSION UPDATE

KOUNOTORI2/H-IIB F2 live launch broadcast starts at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 20!

JAXA will broadcast a live launch report of the KOUNOTORI2/H-IIB Launch Vehicle No.2 from 2:30 p.m. on January 20 (Thur.) You can watch the live report at public viewing sites including JAXA offices and science museums as well as through cable TV and some websites. Why don’t you watch the live launch with us?

Broadcast Schedule

1. KOUNOTORI2(HTV2)/H-IIB No.2 Launch:
   from 2:30 p.m. on January 20 (Thu, JST) (for one and a half hours)
2. Final Approach to the ISS, Capture by the SSRMS:
   from 7:50 p.m. on January 27 (Thu, JST) (for one hour)
3. HTV docking with the ISS:
   from 10:30 p.m. on January 27 (Thu, JST) (for one hour)

The rocket will send the second HTV (named “KOUNOTORI” or “white stork”) aloft with supplies for the International Space Station.

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Space tourism jet work continues BBC News The plane, which would make short hops above the atmosphere, was announced in 2007 and then almost immediately put on hold because of the global downturn. But Astrium, Europe’s largest space company, says internal development work continues and it will spend a further 10m euros (£9m) on the concept in 2011. “We keep the investment going,” said Astrium CEO François Auque. “We continue […]

Earlier this week, NASA submitted a progress report that says it cannot build a shuttle-derived HLV within the time and budget restraints imposed by Congress. The politicians who mandated the vehicle clearly know better: Senate Commerce Committee Members, including Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Senator David Vitter (R-La.), today issued a joint statement responding to a NASA report […]

Jupiter Direct Launcher Variants

When writers put words in BOLD it usually means that they want their readers to pay extra special attention to them. (Remember the BOLD text above and below. There will be a test.)

NASA did exactly that this week in a report on its plans for a heavy-lift vehicle:

Additionally, guidance from the NASA Administrator has established three principles for development of any future systems for exploration – namely that these systems must be affordable, sustainable, and realistic.

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The Soyuz -- soon to fly again with billionauts aboard!

Pop the corks! Light up those Cubans with $100 bills! And order that Beluga caviar by the ton!

Yes, prospective billionauts around the world are celebrating today. They will soon have rides into orbit, thanks to a new deal between the Russians and an American space tourism company:

Space Adventures, the only company that has provided human space mission opportunities to the world marketplace, announced today the conclusion of an agreement with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) and Rocket Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) to commercially offer three seats on the Soyuz spacecraft bound for the International Space Station (ISS), beginning in 2013.

These seats will be made available through the increase of Soyuz production, from four to five spacecraft per year. Each flight will be short duration, approximately 10 days, and will contribute to the increase of launch capacity to the ISS.

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This is the first engine fire of XA-0.1-E2 “Brutus”. The crew of Masten Space Systems is very happy with the performance of this first firing. After several more tied down engine tests, we will start flying the vehicle on a tether to verify its navigation skills. Free flights will follow after the tethered tests.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral. (Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX)

Wing Commander Predicts Pick-Up In Commercial Launches
Florida Today

The nation’s primary gateway to space faces difficult times as NASA’s shuttle program winds down, but the commercial space sector is expected to pick up over the next several years, the commander of the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing said today.

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NASA MISSION UPDATE Space shuttle Discovery remains in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) as modifications and repairs are made to the external fuel tank’s support beams known as “stringers.” Additional support structures called radius blocks are being added to 95 stringers, meaning the entire circumference of the external tank will be strengthened by the time all the repairs and modifications are finished. “It’s been a long road,” said John Shannon, […]

Jupiter Direct Launcher Variants

It looks as if Congress may well get its shuttle- and Ares-derived heavy-lift vehicle after all — although it will cost more and take longer to build than anticipated. Space News reports:

NASA told U.S. lawmakers Jan. 10 it intends to build a heavy-lift rocket that incorporates the space shuttle’s main engines, giant external tank and taller versions of the solid-rocket boosters it jettisons on the way to orbit, according to a senior NASA official. However, neither the rocket nor the crew vehicle it would launch could be completed within the cost and schedule Congress outlined for the project late last year….

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Russia will name the Soyuz spacecraft scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on March 30 after Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human in space almost 50 years before on April 12, 1961.

This is just one of many commemorations being planned to mark the historic anniversary. The Voice of Russia reports that Roscosmos has invited the heads of 49 space agencies as well as astronauts and cosmonauts who have flow on Soviet and Russian spacecraft to attend gala celebrations in Moscow on April 12.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Organizational Committee at the Mission Control Center on Tuesday. Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov gave him a briefing on the status of preparations. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Chief Sergey Krikalev reported about the celebrations set for Star City. Smolensk Region Gov. Sergey Antufiev told Putin about events planned for Gagarin’s native land.

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