Ongoing Russian Soyuz problems and delays:

Following what was an extremely challenging 2011 due to numerous hardware failures – including the Progress M-12M and Fobos-Grunt spacecrafts – the Russian space agency Roscosmos continues to have bad luck in its quest to get its programs back on track.

Last week, reports emerged in the Russian media that the Soyuz TMA-04M/30S spacecraft, set to launch the next trio of Russian and American crewmembers to the ISS, had suffered a failure during routine testing.

It is understood at this time that the Descent Module (SA) of Soyuz TMA-04M was over-pressurised during leak checking, which, coupled with poor quality materials, caused welds to break in the hydrogen peroxide thruster propellant system. Specific causes of the over-pressurisation are unknown at this time, and a Russian commission is currently investigating the matter.

Due to the nature of the failure, pressure integrity of the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is believed to have been compromised beyond repair, which means that the SA is question can no longer be used and must be scrapped.

Roscosmos have decided not to swap out the damaged SA with the SA intended for Soyuz TMA-05M/31S, as has been done in the past, and have instead opted to replace the entire Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft – including SA, Orbital Module (BO), and Instrumentation and Propulsion Module (PAO) – with the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft, as swapping the entire spacecraft is quicker than de-integrating and re-integrating the SA from one Soyuz to the other.

Due to this swap-out of vehicles, the Soyuz TMA-04M launch must now be pushed back, since there is insufficient time to ready hardware originally intended for Soyuz TMA-05M for launch on Soyuz TMA-04M’s date. Also, since the Soyuz spacecraft originally intended for the Soyuz TMA-05M mission will now be used for Soyuz TMA-04M, the spacecraft for Soyuz TMA-05M must come from Soyuz TMA-06M, thus creating ripple-like delays for future Soyuz flights.

As detailed by NASA’s ISS Program Manager Mike “Suff” Suffredini at an ISS status press briefing late last week, following consultations between all the ISS international partners, it has been decided to push the Soyuz TMA-04M launch back from 30th March to 15th May, a delay of around 45 days for Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka & Sergey Revin, and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba.

In order to avoid a large gap of three-crew station operations between the return of the Soyuz TMA-22/28S spacecraft and the launch of Soyuz TMA-04M, the Soyuz TMA-22 return will also be delayed by around 45 days, from 16th March to 30th April.

The 45 day mission extension is not an issue however, since Soyuz TMA-22 arrived at the ISS back in mid-November 2011 around 45 days later than originally planned, due to the launch failure of the Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft in August. Thus, the delay in the Soyuz TMA-22 return only restores the mission to a normal duration, and thus doesn’t present any issues with leaving the Soyuz on-orbit past its 200 day orbital lifetime.

As for other Russian launches affected by the “ripple” of delays, The Soyuz TMA-05M/31S spacecraft will be delayed for 45 days, from 30th May to 15th July. Soyuz TMA-06M/32S will slip by roughly 20 days, from 26th September to 15th October, with Soyuz TMA-07M/33S slipping by roughly 10 days, from 26th November to 5th December.

As one Soyuz must depart the station before another can launch, the undocking and landing of Soyuz spacecraft prior to the launches noted above will slip by a similar amount to the delay of the launch in question, in order to preserve the preferred two-week gap of three-crew station operations between Soyuz landings and launches.

This means a roughly 45 day slip for the Soyuz TMA-03M landing, from 16th May to 1st July, a roughly 5 day slip for the Soyuz TMA-04M landing, from 12th to 17th September, and no slip for the Soyuz TMA-05M landing, which will still occur as originally planned on 12th November.

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Other flight activities for early 2012:

With the first crew rotation of 2012 now via the Soyuz TMA-22 undocking and landing on 30th April and the Soyuz TMA-04M launch on 15th May, the next three months on station will be devoted to a spacewalk, and visits from Russian, European, and commercial cargo ships, all of which must be co-ordinated with each other to ensure no conflicts in the complex schedule.

The first item on the order of ISS flight events for the next few months is Russian Extra Vehicular Activity-30 (EVA-30) on 16th February.

During this spacewalk, the first of 2012, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anatoly Shkaplerov will spend roughly six hours outside the Russian Segment (RS) of the ISS, preparing for the arrival of the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) “Nauka” in 2013.

The MLM will dock to the Service Module (SM) “Zvezda” Nadir docking port, where Docking Compartment-1 (DC-1) “Pirs” currently resides.

Due to this, DC-1 will need to be undocked and disposed of prior to MLM’s arrival, and so the two manually-operated Strela cranes currently attached to DC-1 must be relocated to elsewhere on the station in order to preserve them for future use.

Thus, during EVA-30, the Strela-1 crane will be relocated to the Mini Research Module-2 (MRM-2) “Poisk”, a task originally planned for last August’s Russian EVA-29.

Strela-2 will move to the Functional Cargo Block (FGB) “Zarya” during a later EVA. Other tasks for EVA-30 including installing debris shields on the SM, setting up external experiments, and, as a get ahead, transferring an EVA ladder from DC-1 to MRM-2.

Following EVA-30, the next big task for the ISS will be to receive the European Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) cargo carrier.

Currently planned for launch atop an Ariane V from Kourou Space Center in French Guiana on 9th March, ATV-3 will dock to the ISS following a 10 day free flight, on 19th March.

ATV-3 is somewhat controlling the debut launch of the new European Vega rocket, currently planned for 13th February, by limiting the number of days that the Vega launch can scrub before it must be stood down until after ATV-3, due to the need to have enough time to reconfigure Kourou launch site assets to support the ATV-3 launch. ATV-3 cannot move to make way for Vega, as that would cause problems for the already jam-packed and highly complex ISS flight manifest.

ATV-3, which has been upgraded to carry more internal cargo than pervious ATVs, will be the first vehicle to dock at the SM Aft port since the Progress M-11M/43P spacecraft prior to STS-135 last June, since the failed Progress M-12M/44P was supposed to dock there following Progress M-11M’s departure in August. ATV-3 will remain at the ISS through to August 2012, during which time it will provide propulsive support for ISS attitude control, reboosts, and Debris Avoidance Maneuvers (DAMs).

Following the ATV-3 docking, and with the Progress M-15M/47P launch now accelerated from 25th April to 20th April, a full month of time will be free in the ISS schedule for what will likely be the most watched mission of the year – the inaugural visit of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to the station.

SpaceX ongoing delays and potential launch date:

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule had at the start of the year been planned for launch on 7th February, on the now approved combined COTS-2/COTS-3 (C2/C3) demo mission.

However, ongoing delays, related mainly to software testing, integrated simulations, refinement of flight procedures, and closeout of various “open items” on the spacecraft and launch vehicle, have pushed the launch to the right.

The ISS is now fully ready to support Dragon, however, with the Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications (EPIC) card installations and both the X2_R10 and X2_R11 software transitions now completed, the latter of which includes Mobile Servicing System (MSS) 7.1 software, which updates the MSS, of which the SSRMS is a part, to support Dragon robotics activities.

Officially, the target launch date for Dragon at this time is 20th March – the day after the planned ATV-3 docking, so as to avoid any conflicts with that vehicle.

However, this date is merely a placeholder with the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) Eastern Range, and at last week’s ISS status press briefing, NASA ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini said that due to the volume of work still to be completed, an April launch date is more likely for SpaceX.

SpaceX has until late April to play with, since the Progress M-15M launch and docking is planned for 20th and 22nd April, respectively, and after that, the Soyuz TMA-22 undocking and landing on 30th April.

Following the TMA-22 undocking, ISS will be at three crew operations, which may preclude the Dragon berthing at the ISS due to the need to have two trained crewmembers aboard the station to perform the Dragon capture with the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS).

It is not understood at this point whether ESA astronaut André Kuipers would be able to fulfil the role of a trained crewmember, along with NASA astronaut Don Pettit, but if not, the next time two trained US crewmembers would be aboard the station is 17th May, following the 15th May launch of Soyuz TMA-04M, carrying NASA astronaut Joe Acaba.

Following arrival of Soyuz TMA-04M, the ISS schedule is free through the rest of May and all of June, whereupon another Soyuz rotation will occur in early through mid-July, followed by Russian and Japanese resupply flights.

Flight activities for later in 2012:

Another vehicle to feel the fallout of the recent Soyuz problems is Japan’s H-II Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3), which was previously scheduled to launch on 26th June, for a rendezvous with and berthing to the ISS on 1st July.

Since the Soyuz reshuffle placed the HTV-3 rendezvous and berthing on the same date as the Soyuz TMA-03M undocking, following which ISS will be at three-crew operations, that meant HTV-3′s arrival would cause conflict issues, and violate the flight rule to have two fully trained US crewmembers available to support capture operations, since only one US astronaut would be aboard the ISS following the Soyuz TMA-03M undocking (Joe Acaba).

Thus, HTV-3 now has to wait for Soyuz TMA-05M, carrying NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, to dock with the ISS on 17th July, prior to launching on what is now scheduled to be a late July or early August date.

The months of August and September will then be a very busy time on ISS, with the scheduled undocking of ATV-3 on 27th August, and the unberthing of HTV sometime in late August or early September.

During this time, Orbital’s Cygnus vehicle could also visit the ISS on its maiden flight, as much as ongong delays with launch site readiness mean that no firm date is set for that flight at this time.

Also during August, Russian EVA-31 will be performed, along with the recently added US EVA-18. This EVA had been scheduled for summer 2012 before, but was pushed back to 2013. However, a recent external hardware failure, namely the Main Bus Switching Unit-1 (MBSU-1) located on the S0 Truss, caused NASA managers to reconsider.

MBSU-1, which along with three other MBSUs distributes power around the station’s electrical system, started displaying erratic behaviour late last year, such as resets and loss of communication. MBSU-1 has now completely lost communications with the ISS, although it is still functioning and distributing power correctly.

It is clear, however, that MBSU-1 is slowly degrading, and could be on the verge of total failure. While source information shows that the ISS could tolerate a complete MBSU-1 failure via the crew installing internal jumpers to re-distribute power around the station, this would leave the ISS in what is a single fault tolerate situation, as a failure of another MBSU would require an emergency EVA to Remove & Replace (R&R) the failed MBSU.

Source information shows that MBSU-2 has previously displayed errors similar to those seen on MBSU-1, such as bit errors, and thus MBSU-2 is vulnerable to the same type of failure as MBSU-1, which would not be recoverable via jumper installation.

Due to this fact, NASA managers have decided to go ahead and R&R MBSU-1 this year, in order to reduce the risk of a complete failure leaving the ISS MBSUs single fault tolerant.

This means that, although EVA-18 will include an R&R of failed hardware, it is classed as a planned EVA, not an unplanned EVA – the best example of which is August 2010′s three epic EVAs to R&R the failed Loop B Pump Module (PM). Procedures for a contingency EVA do already exist however, should MBSU-1 fail prior to its scheduled R&R and thus require an immediate R&R.

EVA-18 will be significant since it will be the first US ISS spacewalk in the post-Shuttle era, an era which will see the ISS crew have to halt their research activities in order to deal with outside problems themselves, instead of leaving it to a visiting Shuttle crew as was done in the past.

Thus, NASA’s strategy of pre-positioning ample spare Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) outside the ISS prior to the Shuttle’s retirement is already proving to be a good strategy, as source information shows that two spare MBSUs are currently available outside the ISS – both stored on External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2), with one having flown to the ISS on STS-116 in December 2006, and the other on STS-120 in October/November 2007.

Two spare MBSUs are also available on the ground, one of which is planned for launch on HTV-4 in July 2013, and the other planned for launch in 2017. Both of these MBSUs are not susceptible to the bit errors noticed on MBSUs 1 and 2.

NASA is currently in the process of reviewing specific EVA timelines, and source information shows that two main paths are being considered – one involving the R&R of MBSU-1 using just the two spacewalkers, and the other involving the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM) “Dextre” doing some of the preparation tasks prior to the EVA, including retrieving the space MBSU from ESP-2 and positioning it near the EVA worksite, to be installed by the EVA crew (it is not possible for the SPDM to perform the entire R&R).

Without the use of the SPDM, a standard EVA timeline could accomplish the MBSU-1 R&R in 6 hours 30 minutes, around the standard time for an EVA. However, a streamlined timeline could accomplish the MBSU-1 R&R in only 4 hours 30 minutes, leaving around an additional 2 hours for some extra tasks outside the station. With prior assistance from the SPDM however, an additional 3 hours 30 minutes would be available for additional tasks.

Source information shows that the additional tasks that could be performed include those deferred from the single STS-135 EVA in July 2011, such as the FGB Power & Date Grapple Fixture (PDGF) 1553 cable install, FGB PDGF grounding wire inspections, and SSRMS Camera Light Pan/tilt Assembly (CLPA) R&R. Some of these tasks could also be conducted during US EVAs 19 and 20 however, which have now been brought forward to February 2013, for reasons unknown at this time.

Following US EVA-18, the remainder of 2012 will then see the usual traffic of Soyuz and Progress flights, along with possibly the first operational resupply flights of the Dragon and Cygnus vehicles under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) Program.

Overall, despite claims that the ISS was going to be slowing down in the post-Shuttle era, the station is in fact as busy as ever, playing host to a wide array of international and commercial Visiting Vehicles (VVs), as well as the usual heavy schedule of maintenance and research activities.

While delays in Russian and commercial vehicles continue to have an impact on the ISS, it is vital that both these systems demonstrate reliability this year, since both are now being heavily relied on to provide vital crew and cargo transportation to the ISS in the wake of the Shuttle’s retirement.

(Images: L2 Content, NASA, Roscosmos and Orbital)

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Launch Abort System:

Historically, Launch Abort Systems (LAS) – or Launch Escape System (LES) – have appeared as towers, attached on top of the crew capsule, ready to “pull” the capsule – and its crew – away from a failing vehicle, be it at the launch pad, or during early ascent.

In the event of a nominal launch, the tower would be jettisoned midway through the ascent to orbit – at a point in time where a major issue would result in the capsule simply separating away for an abort – usually resulting in a splashdown.

These LAS towers can be seen on the early crewed launch vehicles, having first been tested in 1960 – when the “Beach Abort” practiced the abort technique on the first production Mercury capsule at NASA’s test facility at Wallops Island.

While Gemini used ejection seats, the towers became part of the Mercury and Apollo programs, even earning a place in Hollywood movies, such as when Tom Hanks – playing Commander Jim Lovell in the movie Apollo 13 – reached forward to manually jettison the tower during second stage flight during the film’s launch scene.

The early flights of the Space Shuttle only employed the ejection seat capability, as much as it was hinted using such a system – only available for a limited time during first stage ascent – would have provided the escaping astronauts very little chance of survival. The Shuttle mainly relied on abort scenarios involving the return of the crew with the orbiter.

Thanks to the strict safety record of crewed launch vehicles, the use of the LAS has only been called for once during an actual emergency, with the Russians.

Another abort – Soyuz 18A – aborted in flight, resulting in the crew landing safely near the Chinese border – however, it is believed this event came after LAS jettison, with the abort carried out by the Soyuz engines.

The clear use of the LAS during an abort event is a famous one – mainly due to the footage finding a large audience on youtube – as the crew of Soyuz T-10-1 underwent a pad abort, just seconds before their failing vehicle exploded on the launch pad.

The video shows a line of the Soviet top brass witnessing the dramatic abort, acknowledged only by one General calmly adjusting his collar.

It was reported that the crew landed safely, just four miles away.

LAS For Orion:

For the defunct Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) – a direct fallout of the Columbia disaster – crew safety for the next launch system was paramount, as NASA reverted back to a capsule design, with a full Launch Abort System.

In 2007, a major trade of several LAS concepts were evaluated by NASA managers, namely the Multiple External (x4) Service Module (SM) Abort Motor concept, the Crew Module Strap On Motors (x4) concept, and the In-Line Tandem Tractor (Tower) concept – the latter of which was baselined into Ares I/Orion design.

The trades request the preferred design should ensure the risk of losing the crew in an abort scenario would be no greater than 1:10, noting such a system is no guarantee for crew survival during an emergency.

The winning concept – the Tandem Tractor (Tower) LAS design – comprised of a Nose Cone, Attitude Control Motor (Eight Nozzles), Canard Section (Stowed Configuration), Jettison Motor (Four Aft, Scarfed Nozzles), Interstage, Abort Motor (Four Exposed, Reverse Flow Nozzles), Adapter Cone, and Boost Protective Cover (BPC).

The primary role of such a system is to save the crew during the ‘three stages’ of an abort, the first involving the firing of the spacecraft – in this case Orion – away from a failing vehicle on the launch pad to a safe distance, before deploying the parachutes on the Orion, for a landing in the Atlantic ocean within a 3450 ft radius due east of the launch pad.

The second stage of an abort is noted as “mid altitude” – which has a different characteristic when compared to pad abort. This stage of abort works for up to 150,000 ft, involving the LAS remaining on the vehicle after firing the Orion safely away from the failing vehicle until the point of drogue chute deployment, which becomes necessary at that altitude.

The final stage of abort, which would still require the LAS, is at an altitude of between 150,000 ft and 300,000 ft – the latter being the point the LAS would be jettisoned on a nominal flight. After being pulled away from the launch vehicle, Orion would revert to a flight profile similar to that used during the end of a normal mission.

During the evaluations, some engineers called for changes to the system. However, due to the mighty struggles of the time – involving Ares I’s mass to orbit ability, or lack thereof – the main focus turned to using the LAS, in the event of a successful launch, to still perform a firing, in order to assist Orion’s ride uphill.

“LAS Abort Impulse used for Ascent Assist: Theoretically can increase mass to orbit by 1000 lb. However, additional tension loading on the Command Module requires additional structure that leads to overall decrease in mass to orbit,” noted an extensive NASA presentation (acquired by L2 – Link to Document).

Managers also evaluated the use of nozzle inserts in the LAS motors, which would reduce the thrust and thus structural loadings on the vehicle. This option would mitigate any concerns of Command Module (CM) mass penalties.

‘An Alternate Option Using Nozzle Inserts: Reduces Abort Motor Thrust, Increases burn time. Relieves Command Module Compressive load – no tension loads. Increases the Payload Mass-to-Orbit by ~650 lb,’ added the presentation.

This option weakened as evaluations progressed, with the final note on such a use for the LAS pointing to only a 400lb mass increase.

This system has enjoyed one test launch, lofting a boilerplate Orion into the skies of White Sands, New Mexico, durng the successful PA-1 (Pad Abort 1) test in 2010.

MLAS:

While abort motors on the Service Module lost out during the trade studies, a new concept came forward called the Max Abort Launch System – or MLAS (named after Maxime (Max) Faget).

Although it was never publicly admitted, this system was often mentioned by sources as a potential solution towards a growing movement associated with cancelling Ares I and human rating the Ares V, as the Constellation Program (CxP) began to falter.

It also had the backing of then-NASA administrator Mike Griffin, which would not have come as a surprise, given MLAS was an evolution of two of the original three LAS concepts studied by Constellation, one of which made the LAS trade study in 2007 via a rather amusing hand-drawn sketch, created in 2006.

The MLAS concept combined the boost protection cover of the service module mounted escape system with the command module mounted motors, in turn reducing the overall height of the vehicle – something desired by the Ares V HR advocates, who were worried about being able to stack and rollout the vehicle – with a LAS tower – under the height restrictions of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) doors.

The MLAS utilized a ‘bullet’ boost protection cover over the capsule to house four Mk 70 Terrier solid motors separation motors – as opposed to locating them on a tower above the capsule.

Two orientation parachutes are attached to the top of the fairing to re-orient the vehicle, with the blunt heat shield to aid in fairing separation.

The design resulted in the aborting vehicle re-orienting immediately after abort motor cut off during a pad abort, but would fly with its nose “into the wind” on a mid-altitude abort. The orientation parachutes would then activate quickly before the fairing separation.

In the event of a high altitude abort, the fairing would come off immediately, in order to allow the Command Module Reaction Control System (RCS) to stabilize the vehicle for entry.

The design of MLAS changed several times during its development, gaining fins for stability during later cycles, becoming more in line with another hand drawn sketch.

This  time the artist was former Constellation head Scott “Doc” Horowitz – as seen in the second of two MLAS presentations acquired by L2 (Link to Presentations) – over a year after Mr Griffin’s conceptual design.

The final version of the MLAS flight test vehicle weighed in at over 45,000 lbs and was over 33 feet tall – and this vehicle actually got to fly for real, after being shipped to Wallops for its one and only hop off the ground.

The pad abort test proper began seven seconds after burnout of some specially attached solid motors, as the vehicle rose into the Virginia morning sky at 6:25am local time on July 8, 2009.

Video of the launch showed a perfect test, as the vehicle rose on a stable flight path, before reorientation and further stabilization, followed by crew module simulator separation from the MLAS fairing, and parachute recovery of the crew module simulator.

Other tests were planned for MLAS, including a high altitude abort – which will involve the fairing being released immediately after abort is called, in order to allow the Command Module Reaction Control System (RCS) to stabilize the vehicle for entry. However, the program was put on the backburner, as the Constellation Program found itself cancelled.

At this time, the Space Launch System (SLS) will launch Orion with the previously chosen Line Tandem Tractor (Tower) design as its LAS.

SpaceX LAS:

Despite being late to the game, when compared to the Constellation development path, SpaceX still came up with an arguably superior system for use with their Dragon spacecraft, a system not only fully integrated into the body of the spacecraft, but one that also holds future uses, through to those that aren’t even related to launch abort.

The first major difference relates to the traditional use of solid propellant, mainly because of the speed it can ignite and reach full thrust – something highly desirable when moving human lives away from a failing rocket.

However, Dragon sports a series of eight liquid SuperDraco engines, built into the side walls of the Dragon spacecraft, capable of producing up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to drive the Dragon away from its failing launch vehicle.

SpaceX are deep into developing the engines – just nine months after their Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) contract noted the LAS is required – with the latest test fire taking place at the company’s Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas.

Referencing back to the benefit of solid motor abort systems, SpaceX’s SuperDraco produced full thrust within approximately 100 milliseconds of the ignition command. It also fired for five seconds, which is the same amount of time the engines would burn during an emergency abort.

Advantages of the SuperDraco liquid thruster include how the engine can be put through a series of throttling ranges, in turn allowing for redundancy, with SpaceX claiming they could lose one of the eight abort engines and still recover the vehicle and crew successfully. The engines can also be restarted multiple times.

Another advantage is the fact it’s not a tower. As noted previously, the LAS tower normally requires jettison shortly after first stage flight. Any failure of this key sequence of ascent would end the mission, given the flight profile wouldn’t be designed for carrying the LAS along for the ride.

Because the system is integrated into the Dragon itself – as opposed to departing the spacecraft during jettison – the spacecraft can technically abort within much longer periods than the tower version. With Dragon returning with the engines on board, they can also be reused on future launches.

There is also a large amount of commonality between the 18 maneuvering engines built into Dragon and the SuperDraco LAS engines – bar the fact the SuperDraco engines would burn through propellant 200 times faster.

The biggest long-term advantage of this system is related to the potential use of the engines to land Dragon back on land propulsively, as seen via SpaceX’s Reusable Falcon 9 concept, which returns all of the launch vehicle and spacecraft hardware to the ground for reuse.

Parachutes would still be onboard the Dragon, for a contingency event resulting in problems with the SuperDracos, allowing the spacecraft to land on water, as it is currently designed to do.

However, Earth isn’t the only landing destination for Dragon, with SpaceX holding ambitions of landing on the Moon and more notably Mars. Nicknamed “Red Dragon” – SpaceX have made no secret about heading to Mars, even publishing a graphic of their spacecraft touching down on the Red Planet.

Such a mission is deep into the future, although Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Technology Officer, included the full range of use for the SuperDraco’s when announcing his pleasure with the recent test firings.

“SuperDraco engines represent the best of cutting edge technology,” Mr Musk noted. “These engines will power a revolutionary launch escape system that will make Dragon the safest spacecraft in history and enable it to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy.”

NASA’s own Mars plans are a mix of old mission outlines and revamped videos, but do show they also have propulsive landing ambitions – in tandem with large parachutes – with the latest conceptual Mars mission videos showing massive cargo landers and crew habitats, with the crew riding down to the surface on board the hab lander, touching down under large amounts of propulsive power.

Such missions are likely to be in the 2030s at the earliest, with the main focus for the entire US space program being the urgency to regain their own domestic crew launch capability, following the retirement of the Space Shuttle.

The successful development path of the SuperDraco engine has literally pushed SpaceX one step further down the road for NASA and the United States to achieve independence from purchasing seats on the Russian Soyuz – a vehicle which still uses the same tower LAS that caused one Soviet General to check if his collar was straight.

(Images via NASA, SpaceX, and L2 content)

(With the shuttle fleet retired, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

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Progress M-14M launch:

Progress M-14M/46P was the first launch to the ISS in 2012, following its Wednesday, 11:06 PM GMT launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

For this year, ISS managers are hoping will see better successes for Russian rockets than 2011 did. Progress M-14M was only the second Progress to launch to the ISS since the failure of Progress M-12M/44P last August.

While one successful Progress and two successful Soyuz spacecraft have launched to the ISS since that failure, the 23rd December failure of the Meridian satellite atop a Soyuz 2-1b booster raised further questions about quality control of Soyuz rockets, as much as the Soyuz 2-1b uses an RD-0124 third stage engine, while the Soyuz-U to be used on the launch uses the older RD-0110 on its third stage.

Both engines are believed to have been the cause of the failure of their respective boosters to reach orbit last year.

Progress M-14M kicks off the year of logistics resupplies to the ISS by delivering its standard load of propellants, oxygen, spare parts, experiments, water, food, clothing, and other crew provisions to the orbiting Expedition 30 crew.

This year is set to be a very challenging year for ISS logistics, due to the aforementioned problems with Russian rockets, last year’s retirement of the Space Shuttle, and the need to demonstrate and bring online a commercial resupply capability for the station, the schedules for which continue to slip to the right.

Following launch at 11:06 PM GMT and a two-day free-flight, Progress M-14M dock to the ISS at the recently vacated Docking Compartment-1 (DC-1) “Pirs” Nadir port on Saturday 28th January at 12:09 AM GMT (Friday 27th US time).

Progress M-14M will remain docked to the ISS for around three months until 24th April, whereupon it will undock to make way for Progress M-15M/47P, set to launch the following day on 25th April.

Progress M-16M/48P, Progress M-17M/49P and Progress M-18M/50P are also set to launch to the ISS this year on 25th July, 23rd October and 26th December, respectively, for a total of five Progress launches in 2012. The next vehicle to launch and dock to the ISS after Progress M-14M however will be Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3), currently set for launch on 9th March for a docking ten days later on 19th March.

Progress M-13M satellite deploy and de-orbit:

In order to clear the way for Progress M-14M to dock to the ISS at the DC-1 port on Friday, Progress M-13M/45P was undocked from DC-1 on Monday, having been docked there since 2nd November following its 30th October launch atop the first Soyuz booster since the August failure.

Following undocking and two separation burns, instead of de-orbiting into the Pacific Ocean, Progress M-13M instead performed another two burns to raise its orbital height from the roughly 400km mean altitude of the ISS up to 500km.

This was done in order to facilitate the deployment of the Chibis-M microsatellite from Progress M-13M. Chibis-M is a free-flying small Russian satellite which is designed to study lightning and plasma in Earth’s atmosphere for 3.5 years.

Eventually, Chibis-M will succumb to atmospheric resistance and resulting altitude decay, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The deployment at 500km as opposed to 400km will buy Chibis-M some extra time on-orbit due to the lesser atmospheric resistance at that altitude, however the specific re-entry period will depend on Solar activity, which can “swell” Earth’s atmosphere in active periods.

While designed to operate for 3.5 years, the expected on-orbit lifetime of Chibis-M is anywhere from 4 to 11 years, depending on Solar activity, which is likely to increase in coming years due to the Solar Maximum.

The earliest that Chibis-M could reach the ISS’ altitude of approximately 400km is three years after deployment, which would be January 2015. This date, however, depends on Solar activity. The risks associated with having Chibis-M “drop” onto the ISS’ orbit have been analysed by both Russian and US trajectory experts.

Once Progress M-13M trash loading operations were completed, the crew of the ISS prepared Chibis-M, which launched aboard Progress M-13M inside its pressurised cargo compartment, for deployment. Chibis-M still resided inside the cargo compartment of Progress M-13M when it undocked, but it was mounted in alignment with the open hatchway of the compartment so that it could be deployed via springs through the open hatchway leading to space.

Due to the need for an open hatch of the Progress M-13M cargo compartment during and following undocking, after mounting of Chibis-M in the correct location and closure of the hatch on the ISS side, the Progress M-13M cargo compartment was depressurised to vacuum by the ISS crew, an unusual procedure which meant that all trash to be disposed of in the compartment needed to be certified for vacuum.

One orbit after deploying Chibis-M, Progress M-13M performed a de-orbit burn for a re-entry and splashdown over the Pacific Ocean, completing its successful mission.

(Images via Roscosmos and NASA)

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The Mission:

Fobos-Grunt was an ambitious sample-return mission to Mars’ larger natural satellite, Phobos. With a mass of 13,500 kilograms, Fobos-Grunt was the largest planetary spacecraft ever built in the former Soviet Union and was to be the first sample return mission to the natural satellite of another planet, and the first such mission to be conducted by Russia.

Fobos-Grunt – which was also hosting China’s first Mars probe, Yinghuo-1 as a passenger – enjoyed a nominal launch via a Zenit-2 launch vehicle, which occurred at 02:16 local time on Wednesday, November 8, 2011 – from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The two-stage Zenit lofted Fobos-Grunt into orbit via the first stage’s single RD-171M engine and second stage’s RD-8 vernier engine and RD-120 main engine – both performing as advertised.

Following shutdown of the second stage main engine, Fobos-Grunt separated, and solid rocket motors on the second stage fired to increase the separation distance between the spent stage and the payload.

Fobos-Grunt was set to perform an orbit-raising manoeuvre two and a half hours after launch, prior to a second burn 126 minutes later, which would have taken it into heliocentric orbit to begin its journey to Mars. Both burns failed to materialize.

Had the burns taken place, Fobos-Grunt would have taken eleven months to reach Mars, performing three course corrections along the way. Orbital insertion was planned for 9 October next year, when the spacecraft was to enter an orbit with a periareion of about 800 kilometres, and an apoareion of around 80,000 kilometres.

Following insertion, Yinghuo-1 would have separated from Fobos-Grunt and begin its mission. By January 2013, Fobos-Grunt would have been in a 10,000 kilometre circular orbit around Mars, and would have entered a quasi-orbit around Phobos in early February, before landing on the satellite later that month.

In either late February or March, the spacecraft’s return module would have been expected to have lifted off from Phobos, and return to heliocentric orbit for the journey back to Earth. This would have been expected to arrive at Earth in August 2014.

The reason for the lack of a burn from the cruise stage – derived from the Fregat stage, powered by an S5.98M engine using unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as propellant and nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidiser – is still not fully understood.

The lack of fault information is mainly due to the failed efforts by Russian controllers to re-establish a link with the spacecraft, in order to receive vital telemetry, or indeed send commands to aid such a process.

Among the challenges associated with communicating with Fobos-Grunt during passes over ground stations was believed to be a potential blockage by the yet-to-be-used fuel tank of the low gain antennas.

This tank – located on the aft of the cruise stage – would be expended and released in the event of both burns being completed. It is understood the spacecraft was never designed to be commanded prior to these two burns.

The Attempt To Recover:

There were hopes of a a breakthrough in communicating with the stricken spacecraft received the help of European Space Agency (ESA) assets. Reported by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, contact – the first observed since Fobos-Grunt’s launch – was received by ESA’s tracking station at Perth, Australia later in November.

It was the modification to the dish, a last gasp effort to establish a link with Fobos-Grunt, which broke the silence, after previous attempts – including those of ESA – to communicate with the spacecraft. However, this initial success did not include the downlink of telemetry.

With very short windows of opportunity to send communications to Fobos-Grunt as it raced overhead in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), controllers only had a matter of minutes to send commands, which related to switching on the the spacecraft’s transmitter and send a confirmation signal back..

Some telemetry was gained, along it was understood to be incomplete and “garbled”.  Russian media also reported that a second dish – at the Baikonur Cosmodrome – had made a level of contact with the spacecraft, although this was believed to be only a short term success.

While it appears clear that no useful commands were successfully received during the short period contact was established, the spacecraft soon went silent again, leading to ESA officially giving up after numerous attempts to talk to Fobos-Grunt without success.

The Upcoming End of Fobus-Grunt:

With the spacecraft’s fate now certain, the remaining challenge was to predict where an when the spacecraft will return to Earth for a destructive re-entry. These predictions, as per usual, were refined several times in the final hours.

No major items of hardware on Fobos-Grunt were listed as potentially surviving entry, while the aluminium tanks containing the large amount of propellant mass are likely to be some of the initial hardware to succumb to the destructive forces of entry.

The spacecraft’s orbiter was observed via amateur and professional groups, allowing for a level of modelling to be carried out on its decaying orbit, although the actual confirmation/sighting of re-entry will require confirmation. However, Russian military officials on RIA Novosti claimed the spacecraft should have re-enter over the Pacific Ocean, as much as an official entry point remains outstanding.

(Images: Via Roscosmos and ESA)

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Launches of second-generation Globalstar satellites began in October 2010, and Wednesday’s launch was the third group of six satellites to be placed into orbit.

The second-generation Globalstar constellation is intended to replace the existing first-generation constellation, which began deployment in 1998. Launches were conducted in groups of four, on Delta II and Soyuz rockets, with a single launch of twelve satellites on a Zenit-2, however the Zenit launch failed.The first-generation satellites were built by Space Systems/Loral, based around the LS-400 bus, with a communications payload built by Alenia Spazio. The constellation consisted of forty eight operational satellites, and four spares.

Including the twelve satellites which failed to achieve orbit, this resulted in sixty four being launched between 1998 and 2000, by means of seven Delta II 7420, and six Soyuz-U/Ikar rockets. The satellites had a design life of seven and a half years, and in 2007 eight replacement satellites were launched using Soyuz-FG/Fregat rockets.

The third Globalstar launch, conducted on 9 February 1999, marked the first commercial launch of the Soyuz rocket, and the first launch to be conducted by Starsem; the company conducting Wednesday’s launch.

That Soyuz flew in the Soyuz-U/Ikar configuration, using an older version of the Soyuz rocket, and an upper stage derived from the Yantar reconnaissance satellite. The Ikar upper stage was short-lived; it was only used for the six Globalstar launches before being retired in favour of the Fregat.

The new Globalstar satellites were constructed by Thales Alenia Space, under a contract signed in 2006, and are each equipped with sixteen transponders operating in the C and S bands of the IEEE spectrum (E-H bands of the NATO spectrum).

Each spacecraft generates power by means of two solar arrays, which can produce 2.4 kilowatts of power. Three-axis control is used to ensure that the satellites retain the correct attitude for relaying communications and orienting their solar arrays towards the sun. The satellites are expected to operate for fifteen years.

Soyuz-2 is a modernised variant of the Soyuz rocket, itself a derivative of the R-7 Semyorka, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made its first flight in 1957, and a modified version was used to launch Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, later that year. In addition to Soyuz, the R-7 has served as the basis of the Vostok, Molniya and Voskhod rockets as well as several other variants which made small numbers of flights.

Vostok rockets launched early Soviet manned spaceflights, reconnaissance satellites, and a modified version launched the first Soviet lunar probes. Molniya was used to launch missions beyond Earth orbit, as well as military, communications and scientific satellites into high Earth orbits. The Voskhod rocket, which first flew in November 1964, was the predecessor to the Soyuz. It incorporated the Blok I third stage developed for the Molniya rocket, powered by an RD-0108 engine. Voskhod was used to launch reconnaissance satellites, and missions of the manned Voskhod programme.

The Soyuz, meaning “Union”, first flew on 28 October 1966. Derived from the Voskhod, it incorporated upgraded engines, including an RD-0110 on the third stage, as well as a lower-mass and improved telemetry system. The original Soyuz was used exclusively for launches of Soyuz spacecraft, both manned and unmanned. Not including one which exploded on its launch pad after its launch had been delayed, thirty one were launched, the last of which flew in 1975 carrying the Soyuz 23 spacecraft.

Between 1970 and 1971, three Soyuz-L rockets were launched, incorporating reinforcements to the core stages and a larger payload fairing to accommodate prototypes of the LK spacecraft, the spacecraft the Soviet Union intended to use to land men on the Moon. Another Soyuz variant, the Soyuz-M, was developed to launch the Soyuz 7K-VI; the military version of the Soyuz spacecraft, which was heavier than the civilian version. After the cancellation of the military Soyuz programme, eight Soyuz-M rockets were used to launch Zenit-4MT reconnaissance satellites, with launches occurring between 1971 and 1976.

The Soyuz-U was developed as a standardised launch system, to replace the Voskhod and Soyuz and provide commonality with the Molniya-M. It first flew in May 1973, and in 1976 the original Soyuz, Soyuz-M and Voskhod were all retired, with subsequent launches of their payloads being conducted by Soyuz-U rockets. The Soyuz-U2 configuration, which was optimised to use synthetic propellant allowing it to carry more payload, was introduced in 1982, and used for around 90 launches before being retired in 1995.

With around 750 flights, the Soyuz-U is the most-flown orbital launch system ever developed. It remains in service, and in the last few years it has mostly been used to launch Progress missions to the International Space Station, as well as occasional military payloads. Recent launches have used the Soyuz-U PVB version, which features additional fireproofing.

In 2001, the Soyuz-FG, which featured a new fuel injection system, was introduced, providing an increased payload capacity. After three test flights carrying Progress spacecraft, the Soyuz-FG began launching manned Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to the ISS, a role which it continues to perform.

The Soyuz-2 features modernised engines and digital flight controls. There are three different configurations; the Soyuz-2-1a, 2-1b and 2-1v, with the 2-1a and b using different third stage engines. The Soyuz-2-1v is a two-stage vehicle, without the first stage used in the other configurations, and with an NK-33 engine replacing the RD-108 used on the second stage of the other configurations. It is expected to make its maiden flight next year.

The Soyuz-ST is a derivative of the Soyuz-2 optimised for launching from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, and equipped with a self-destruct system to meet range safety requirements there. The Soyuz-ST made its first launch in October, and can fly in two configurations; the Soyuz-STA and STB, based on the Soyuz-2-1a and 2-1b respectively.

The Soyuz-2 made its maiden flight in 2004, in the Soyuz-2-1a configuration. It carried an obsolete Zenit-8 reconnaissance satellite, refitted with test instrumentation, on a suborbital trajectory. It is not entirely clear whether the mission was intended to be suborbital, or whether the rocket actually failed to achieve orbit. The first launch into orbit occurred in October 2006, when a Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat deployed the MetOp-A weather satellite. The Soyuz-2-1b made its maiden flight later the same year, carrying the COROT exoplanet detection satellite.

Under Russian stage numbering, the booster rockets which augment the core stage’s thrust during the first 118 seconds of flight are considered to be its first stage, even though the core, or second stage, ignites at the same time. The first stage consists of four strap-ons, designated Blok-B, V, G and D, which are powered each powered by an RD-107A engine. The first stages are attached around the second stage, or Blok-A, which is powered by a single RD-108A. All of the first three stages of the Soyuz burn RP-1 propellant, using liquid oxygen as an oxidiser.

The first and second stages ignite about 17-20 seconds before launch, and slowly build up thrust. Once full thrust has been achieved, the launch pad’s four swing arms will release the rocket to begin its ascent to orbit. Eight seconds after lifting off, the rocket will pitch over. After burning for 118.25 seconds, the first stage will be jettisoned, forming a pattern in the sky known as the “Cross of Korolev” as the four boosters separate from the core.

The second stage will continue to burn for another 168.94 seconds before separating from the third stage, which will have ignited about two seconds ahead of staging. The third stage is a Blok-I, which is powered by a single RD-0110 engine. It is expected to burn for 243.9 seconds, before Fregat separation occurs. Near the start of third stage flight, about 9.66 seconds after second stage separation, the “aft section” or interstage will be jettisoned from the Blok-I. Fairing separation will also occur during third stage flight, about four minutes and fifty eight seconds after liftoff.

The Fregat upper stage, which is propelled by unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide fuelling an S5.98M engine, will be used to place the Globalstar satellites into their target orbit. The Fregat, which is making its thirty first flight, has been used as a fourth stage on Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-2 rockets, and also as the third stage of the Zenit-3F.

Fregat made its first flight in first flew in 2000, on a Soyuz-U rocket carrying the IRDT inflatable heat shield experiment. The Fregat was also equipped with a prototype heat shield, and was intended to be recovered if possible; however it could not be found after reentry. The heat shield was a one-off on the test flight; Fregats are generally allowed to burn up in the atmosphere.

Only two launches of Fregats have failed to date. One of these, last week’s Soyuz-2-1b launch, failed before the Fregat had even fired, and the upper stage was not responsible for the anomaly. The other failure was caused by the Fregat; the May 2009 launch of the Meridian 2 satellite ended in failure after a programming error led to the Fregat expending propellant at a greater rate than it should have, and it ran out of fuel during the second of three planned burns. The propulsion system of the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft, which failed to depart Earth orbit on a mission to Mars’ moon Phobos, was also based on the Fregat, however it was modified, and it is unclear what the cause of the spacecraft’s failure was.

During Wednesday’s launch, the Fregat made three burns. The first burn occurred immediately after separation from the Soyuz, taking the spacecraft and upper stage into a transfer orbit, with a perigee of 210 kilometres and an apogee of 923 kilometres, inclined at 51.7 degrees. The second, fifty minutes later, resulted in an orbit with a perigee of 928 kilometres, an apogee of 933 kilometres, and 52 degrees of inclination.

One hour, 38 minutes and 40 seconds after liftoff, the first two satellites separated from the upper section of their dispenser. The remaining four satellites separated from the lower section 100 seconds later. The Fregat will subsequently be deorbited and reenter the atmosphere over the south Pacific.

The launch went ahead just five days after a Soyuz-2-1b failed to place a Meridian communications satellite into orbit; initial investigation has indicated that the failure was caused by the rocket’s third stage engine, which differs from that used on the Soyuz-2-1a. The Soyuz-2-1a uses the older RD-0110 engine, which has been used on Soyuz and Molniya rockets since the 1960s, whereas the Soyuz-2-1b uses the more modern RD-0124, which uses a closed-cycle oxidiser system to power its turbopumps, giving the engine a higher specific impulse.

Wednesday’s launch occurred from pad 6 of Site 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Site 31/6 is one of two Soyuz launch pads at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, along with Site 1/5. Currently, it is the only one of the two pads used for Soyuz-2 launches, whilst the older Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG models can fly from either pad. The first launch from Site 31/6 was a test of an R-7A missile in January 1961. The first orbital launch from the complex occurred in November 1964, when the first of two Polyot, or Sputnik 11A59, carrier rockets place the Polyot-1 satellite into orbit.

The pad was subsequently used for launches of Vostok and Voskhod rockets, including the launch of Kosmos 57, a test of the Voskhod-3KD spacecraft to be used for the Voskhod 2 mission. On 12 November 1965, a Molniya-M launched Venera 2 from Site 31, before another launched Venera 3 from the pad four days later. A third Venera launch a week later failed, with the spacecraft remaining in Earth orbit as Kosmos 96.

In 1965 the Soyuz/Vostok 11A510 rocket, comprised of the first two stages of the Soyuz, with the third stage of a Vostok, made the first of two launches from Site 31. The next year, on 28 November, the pad was the site of the maiden flight of the full Soyuz rocket, the 11A511. That launch also marked the maiden flight of the Soyuz spacecraft, making an unmanned test designated Kosmos 133. Less than a month later the pad was the site of a major explosion, when the launch escape system of the second Soyuz was accidentally fired when the rocket was being defuelled after a scrubbed launch. At least one soldier was killed in the explosion, and no more launches occurred from Site 31 for the next six and a half months whilst the complex was rebuilt using parts from Site 16/2 at Plesetsk.

The first manned launch from the complex was of Soyuz 3 in October 1968; the first manned spaceflight launched by the Soviet Union after the death of Vladimir Komarov aboard Soyuz 1 in 1967. It was subsequently used for Soyuz-U launches, although manned launches ended in 1984 with Soyuz T-12. All manned flights since have been launched form Site 1/5. Site 31 has also been used for all Soyuz launches from Baikonur using Fregat upper stages, and consequently most commercial Soyuz launches.

This launch was the eighty fourth and last of 2011 intended to reach orbit; the most launches conducted in a year since 2000. Of the previous eighty three launches, seventy nine reached orbit, and seventy seven were successful. The launch of these six Globalstar satellites also marks the nineteenth launch of a Soyuz rocket in 2011, making it jointly the most-launched orbital launch system of the year. China’s Long March series of rockets also made 19 launches.

Russia has, for the eleventh consecutive year, conducted more orbital launches than any other country. Including Wednesday’s launch, and across all flights of former Soviet rockets, thirty one successful launches have been made from thirty five attempts. These include a Zenit launched from the Odyssey platform by Sea Launch, and two Soyuz-ST launches from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana, conducted by Arianespace.

Russia’s activities in space in 2011 have been marred by four launch failures and the high-profile loss of the Fobos-Grunt probe shortly after launch. In February, a Rokot/Briz-KM rocket placed the Geo-IK-2 No.11 spacecraft, since redesignated Kosmos 2470, into a useless orbit.

In August, a Proton-M/Briz-M failed to place the Ekspress-AM4 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, instead leaving it in an orbit with an insufficiently high apogee, and then less than a week later a Soyuz-U failed to achieve orbit carrying the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.

Fobos-Grunt was successfully launched by a modified Zenit-2M rocket in November, however about two and a half hours after launch, the spacecraft failed to execute an orbit-raising manoeuvre, and contact with it was subsequently lost.

Communications were briefly re-established in late November, however the spacecraft could not be commanded to depart its parking orbit, and it is expected to reenter early in the new year. The final Russian failure of the year came on Friday, when a Soyuz-2-1b failed to achieve orbit with a Meridian satellite.

The next Soyuz launch is scheduled for 25 January, when a Soyuz-U will deploy the Progress M-14M spacecraft on a mission to resupply the International Space Station. Starsem’s next launch is planned for 23 May next year, when a Soyuz-2-1a with a Fregat upper stage will place the MetOp-B weather satellite into orbit. Another Globalstar launch is also expected to occur in 2012, in the second half of the year, again using a Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat.

(Images via Roscosmos, Starsem and L2).

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Another Russian Failure:

Marking what has been an extremely tough year for the Russian Space Agency, this latest failure adds to the loss – and expected re-entry next month – of the Fobus-Grunt spacecraft, which failed to depart Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for its primary mission to Phobos.

The Mars mission failure – adding to the apparent jinx the Russians are blighted by when it comes to missions to the Red Planet – was even more painful, given the eventful year, which included a Proton-M’s Briz-M upper stage failing to deploy Russia’s Ekspress-AM4 communications satellite in August, soon followed by the third stage of the Russian Soyuz-U rocket prematurely shutting down, resulting in Progress M-12M crashing to Earth.

The Soyuz-2-1 rocket is a descendent of the R-7 Semyorka, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 was designed by Sergei Korolev, and first flew in 1957. A modified version was used to launch the first satellite, Sputnik 1, on 4 October of that year.

The R-7 formed the basis for the Luna, Vostok, Voskhod, Molniya and Soyuz families of rockets, and to date all Soviet and Russian manned spaceflights have been launched using rockets derived from the R-7.

The Soyuz, which first flew in 1966, was a modification of the Voskhod rocket featuring an upgraded and lighter telemetry system, and more fuel efficient engines. It was initially used to launch only Soyuz spacecraft; however with the introduction of the Soyuz-U in 1973 it began to launch other satellites as well.

The Soyuz-U, which remains in service, is the most-flown orbital launch system ever developed, having made around 750 flights to date, plus around 90 more in the Soyuz-U2 configuration optimised to use synthetic propellant.

The Soyuz-2 was developed from the older Soyuz models, and features digital flight control systems and modernised engines. It first flew in 2004, and this is its twelfth launch.

Two variants are currently in service; the Soyuz-2-1a, and the Soyuz-2-1b which features an RD-0124 third stage engine which provides additional thrust. The RD-0124 was declared operational on 3 May 2011.

A third configuration, the Soyuz-2-1v, is currently under development and is expected to make its maiden flight next year. It features an NK-33 engine in place of the RD-108A used on the core stages of the other configurations, and does not include the strapon boosters used by other configurations.

The Soyuz-2 forms the basis for the Soyuz-ST rocket, which made its maiden flight from Kourou in French Guiana this year. The Soyuz-ST is optimised to fly from Kourou, and also incorporates a flight termination system and a modified telemetry system.

The launch of the Soyuz-ST carried two Galileo IOV-M1 satellites into orbit.

The core stage of the Soyuz-2, the Blok-A, is powered by a single RD-108A engine. This is augmented for the first two minutes of flight by four boosters, each of which is powered by an RD-107A engine. The Fregat Upper Stage, is powered by an S5.98M engine, which uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as propellant and nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidiser.

The Fregat first flew in 2000, and has been used on Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG, Soyuz-2 and Zenit rockets.

Soyuz 2.1b Failure/Internal Issues:

There are conflicting reports as to the cause of the failure, with the latest rumor in the Russian media claiming the fairing did not jettison. However, most reports point to a serious failure of the third stage – a claim made by one of the leading Russian reporters, Analoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.

“According to industry sources, the analysis of available telemetry on the fuel line pressure before the entrance to the engine’s injection system indicated a possible bulging of the combustion chamber No. 1, leading to its burn through and a catastrophic fuel leak.”

Click here for Russian Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/news/russian/

The resulting incident led to the remains of the vehicle and spacecraft – which was designed to provide communication between ships, planes and coastal stations on the ground – crashing to Earth, with some reports claiming debris landed in a populated area, with one large piece crashing through the roof of a house in Siberia.  No injuries have yet been reported.

Despite the Soyuz TMA-03M post-docking media briefing opening with a request to focus questions on the successful arrival of Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit, journalists soon asked questions about the earlier failure.

Mr Popovkin initially seemed open to discuss the failure, noting the engine in question was made in 2009, and while commissions had been installed – likely relating to the fallout from other failure investigations – “not everything can be checked off blueprints”.

Mr Popovkin was surprisingly frank in his remarks about an Agency he took over from Mr Anatoly Perminov earlier this year, using words such as “crisis”, as much as such comments were passed on via an interpreter.

“This proves there’s areas of the program which are in a sort of a crisis. Even now, I can probably say the problem is with the engine, but to be more certain we will look at the telemetry. By (Saturday) will be have results which we will be able to report,”

Then came the somewhat shocking revelation that the Russian space program is – as much as it had been feared – seriously struggling with its need to modernize and optimize, likely driven by both funding shortages and demographics.

“Yes, there are problems. We need to optimize and modernize – we need to modernize the tracking system (for example),” the Roscosmos chief added. “But we’re only at a level of 33 percent (in this process). We need to modernize all the facilities because we can’t keep an eye on everything.

“It’s also the ageing of human resources, given the trouble we had in the 1990s when quite a lot of people left and nobody came to replace them – they should have come in the 90s.”

Citing the demographic imbalance, Mr Popovkin noted that they would have to trust their young workers more, while “replacing lots of leaders and heads”.

Potential ISS Impact:

These problems are extremely untimely for NASA, who have put all their eggs into one Russian basket for their ability to launch astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

A return to domestic crewed launch ability – via NASA’s Commercial Crew drive – could be as far away as 2017, while there is no going back on the almost stubborn insistence on ensuring the retired Shuttle fleet had their wings clipped to avoid any restart capability, leaving the United States with no choice but to continue to pay Russia hundreds of millions of dollars to buy seats on Soyuz launch vehicles.

“From today, the era of the Soyuz has started in manned spaceflight, the era of reliability,” Roscosmos proudly proclaimed, just prior to the failure of the Progress vehicle, which almost resulted in the decrewing of the $100 billion outpost.

And now this latest failure may also impact on the Station, on the day the ISS finally returned to a six member crew. This impact will depend on the actual root cause of the failure, and its commonality with the Soyuz used for TMA and Progress launches.

Not all Soyuz vehicles are alike, with different configurations and engines used on the variants. For example, the Progress resupply ships are launched by the Soyuz-U, Soyuz TMA-M is launched by the Soyuz-FG, whereas the now-lost Meridian satellite was launched by Soyuz 2-1b.

With differences – such as combustion chamber injectors and avionics – between the vehicles, some specific failures may not result in the grounding of all variants of the Soyuz.

However, if the third stage engine is confirmed to be the issue, this could have a more severe impact, given it was the third stage engine – despite using a different engine – which failed during the Progress M-12M launch, potentially pointing to a larger issue with the launch vehicle, such as plumbing and lines.

With information pointing to the failure occurring at 134 seconds into the 270 second burn of the third stage, the issue could be related to a plumbing failure, causing a fuel leak, which would have either resulted in the engine shutting down, or even exploding.

The Progress failure was later revealed as being attributed to a malfunction in the gas generator of the third stage’s RD-0110 engine, and while the RD-0124 involved with Friday’s Soyuz is a different design from the RD-0110, there are plenty of failure modes that could also impact the Soyuz-FG – such a procedure failure in launch vehicle manufacture, engine manufacture, or launch processing.

Such a common issue across the variants of the Soyuz launch vehicles would be speculation, but such failure modes could exist via fuel contamination or incorrect fuelling.

If the problem is related to flight test/design issues with the new RD-0124 engine, unrelated to the RD-0110, the crew launch Soyuz-FG and Progress carrier Soyuz-U may avoid any potential grounding, which – if long term – would have serious impacts on the ISS’ ability to remain at a six person crew.

Additional information will be added when Roscosmos reveal their telemetry findings on Saturday. Thanks to Jonathan McDowell for his additional insight used in this article.

(Images via Roscosmos, NASA and Starsem).

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Soyuz TMA-03M:

Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, the successful Soyuz TMA-03M docking finally puts an end to the fallout from August’s Progress M-12M launch failure, by boosting the ISS back up to six long-term crewmembers before yearend. The station had been operating at a reduced crew level since the departure of Soyuz TMA-21/26S on 16th September, caused by launch delays resulting from the August Progress failure, which led to concerns of a potential station de-crewing (later averted).

A few hours after docking, hatches between Soyuz TMA-03M and the ISS will be opened, whereupon Soyuz TMA-03M crewmembers Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit will float aboard the station to greet the already-aboard Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin. Together, the two crews will form the full complement of Expedition 30 until 16th March 2012.

Expedition 30 objectives:

Immediately after arriving aboard the station, and following the mandatory press conference, ISS tour and safety briefing, the Soyuz TMA-03M crew will enjoy some downtime over the Holiday period as they adjust and settle in to their new home, which involves adaptation to the microgravity environment, setting up personal crew quarters, and familiarization with station equipment and procedures.

Looking toward the New Year however, the now fully staffed station crew will get ready for an extremely busy period of research and cargo deliveries aboard the station – including the arrival of the first ever commercial cargo ship at the ISS.

Research aboard the station will continue throughout all periods of activity, with station utilization increased now that the US segment of the station is officially complete following the retirement of the Space Shuttle this summer. The target is for 35 crew hours per week to be devoted to scientific activities, although this is an average figure since busy periods may see reduced hours while quiet periods may see increased hours.

In the last few months, crews have even managed to achieve 45 crew hours per week of science, a figure which could become more common with Dr. Don Pettit now aboard the ISS, who is infamous for his scientific activities aboard the station.

One of the major tasks for Expedition 30, besides research, is to transition the station to new software loads, in order to support new hardware, and the arrival of the new commercial resupply vehicles.

Click here for ISS News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

The first software transition is known as X2_R10 (the current version of ISS software is X2_R9), and is required to support new Enhanced Processor & Integrated Communications (EPIC) cards, which are hardware replacements for older cards that reside in the Command & Control (C&C) and Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) Multiplexer/Demultiplexers (MDMs). X2_R10 will upgrade the C&C and GNC MDM software to support the new EPIC cards, with software transition and EPIC card testing running in parallel.

The EPIC card installation and X2_R10 transition was previously planned for earlier this year, but was affected by the Progress M-12M failure since, in the new utilisation era aboard the station, where research takes priority over other activities, there were not enough crew hours available to devote to troubleshooting issues, due to the reduced onboard crew.

Source information shows that the gradual hardware transition to EPIC cards (new cards will temporarily run in parallel with old cards in order to reduce risk, with all old cards gradually being replaced), plus the subsequent software transition from X2_R9 to X2_R10, will take place from 27th December through to 5th January.

Pending a successful EPIC card installation and software transition to X2_R10, the next software transition will be from X2_R10 to X2_R11, which is required to support the upcoming SpaceX C2/C3 demo flight by, amongst other things, upgrading the station’s robotic Mobile Servicing System (MSS), which will be used in the capture and berthing of Dragon to the station, to software version 7.1. Source information shows that this transition will occur in two stages from 15th January through to 1st February.

Following a successful X2_R11 transition, the next software upgrade planned aboard the station is X2_PEP_R10, an upgrade which will increase the total allowable number of active payloads on the station at any given time, and also update software for the new Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM).

This transition will occur No Earlier Than (NET) February. While X2_PEP_R10 does require X2_R11, it is not a requirement for the visit of the Dragon spacecraft.

Visiting Vehicles:

Another major objective of the Expedition 30 mission will be the successful coming and going of numerous Visiting Vehicles (VVs), including the first ever visit of a commercial VV to the ISS, which will usher in a new era for the station.

The first VV activity will occur on 25th January, when the Progress M-13M/45P spacecraft will undock from the Docking Compartment-1 (DC-1) “Pirs” Nadir docking port. A day later on 26th January, Progress M-14M/46P will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, for a docking to DC-1 Nadir on 28th January.

Following undocking, the Progress M-13M spacecraft will transfer to a 500km orbit (ISS orbits at a mean altitude of around 400km) in order to release the Chibis-M microsatellite, which will be attached to the Progress in place of the removable docking probe.

Source information shows that Progress M-13M will undock with the hatch open in order to facilitate the Chibis-M deployment, and as such all trash disposed of on Progress M-13M will need to be certified for vacuum. Following satellite deployment, Progress M-13M will perform a de-orbit burn from 500km, with no ISS conjunction issues expected (evaluations are still ongoing however).

The next milestone will be by far the biggest for Expedition 30 – the 7th February launch of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on its combined COTS-2/3 mission. Following a two-day catch up to the station, an ISS “fly-under” will occur on 9th February, in order to accomplish all COTS-2 objectives, which include communication between Dragon and the station via the COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU), and initiation of a rendezvous abort. (L2 SpaceX Content link)

If all COTS-2 objectives are successfully demonstrated, Dragon will then be allowed to proceed onto COTS-3 objectives the following day on 10th February, which is a full rendezvous with capture and berthing to the ISS. During the rendezvous, which will see Dragon approach the ISS from underneath and behind, the ISS crew will begin monitoring the Dragon when it is 1000m from the ISS, and will begin taking action (i.e. actively participating in the rendezvous) once Dragon reaches 200m from the station.

There will be two hold points during the rendezvous, at both the 30m and the 10m meter mark, in order to allow all parameters to be verified as nominal and a Go/No Go decision to be given for proceeding to the capture of the Dragon by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), controlled from the Cupola by US astronauts Dan Burbank and Don Pettit.

Friday’s successful docking of Soyuz TMA-03M has enabled the berthing of Dragon by delivering Pettit to the station, who is the only trained US crewmember able to assist Burbank with the capture (ISS flight rules dictate that two trained crewmembers must be present on the ISS for capture and berthing of every required VV). Both Burbank and Pettit will be conducting Dragon capture proficiency training with the Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) over the coming months.

Eight separate demonstration objectives exist for Dragon to successfully prove during the C2/C3 mission, with each one needing to be successfully completed before approval is given to proceed to the next. However should an off-nominal situation occur, Dragon can perform two types of abort thruster burns – one a large change of velocity (Delta-V) in the X axis (in the axis of the ISS’ Velocity Vector), or a small Delta-V in any axis.

Should Dragon berth to the ISS successfully, hatches will be opened and the non-essential cargo inside Dragon (no essential cargo will be included since the mission is a test flight) will be transferred to the ISS, following which some of the ISS’ trash and items to be returned to Earth will be loaded into Dragon in place of the newly delivered supplies.

L2 info shows that 41 CTBE (Cargo Transfer Bag Equivalent) of cargo, including crew provisions and empty bags to facilitate trash disposal, will be delivered to the ISS on C2/C3 (Dragon has a capacity of 50 CTBE), while 16 CTBE will be returned to Earth.

Dragon will remain berthed to the ISS until 28th February, whereupon it will be released for re-entry and recovery off the coast of California.

The next major VV to visit the station will then be ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3), which is currently scheduled to launch to the station atop an Ariane V on 9th March 2012.

Expedition 30 will actually end before ATV-3 docks to the ISS, since Soyuz TMA-22/28S will undock from the MRM-2 Zenith port on 16th March, marking the beginning of Expedition 31, before ATV-3 docks to the ISS at the Service Module (SM) Aft port three days later on 19th March.

This will mark the first post-Shuttle docking to SM Aft, again due to the failure of Progress M-12M in August.

Other Expedition 30 activities:

An additional task for Expedition 30 includes Russian EVA-30 by Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov, currently scheduled for 14th February, although this is likely to move to another date in order to deconflict it with Dragon’s mission to station, thus protecting Dragon against any potential launch and subsequent ISS arrival delays.

Dragon would be unable to rendezvous with the ISS during an ongoing EVA since Dan Burbank and Don Pettit would be “locked out” in different areas of the station to protect against a Pirs airlock depressurisation failure, thus preventing Burbank and Pettit from being present in the Cupola together.

Source information also shows that ISS flight controllers are monitoring the status of two external Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) on the ISS – an S-band Antenna Sub Assembly (SASA) and the Main Bus Switching Unit-1 (MBSU-1), both of which have been showing anomalous data readings in recent months.

While redundant hardware does exist to protect against a failure, potential unplanned EVAs by US crewmembers continue to be looked at in order to Remove & Replace (R&R) either of the ORUs. Potential use of the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM) “Dextre” is also being analysed to assist in the potential R&Rs.

Any external US hardware failures on station in future (such as the August 2012 failure of the Loop B Pump Module) will be more difficult to fix, since, due to the retirement of the Space Shuttle, station crews must now perform all EVAs, which drastically reduces the time that can be spent on research. The final Space Shuttle flights did however deliver enough spare ORUs to the ISS to support future R&Rs – with spare SASAs and MBSUs are currently in good supply on the ISS, with plans for future deliveries.

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(Images: Via L2 content, SpaceX and NASA.) (To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Soyuz Launch:

Soyuz TMA-03M is the third “digital” TMA-M (700 series) Soyuz to launch into space, and marks the full transition of the Soyuz to the digital era, since every Soyuz hereafter will also be of the upgraded digital variant. The upgrades consist of updated Neptun panel displays and controls, as well as lighter system components which allow for more payload (~50kg) to be launched inside the Soyuz.

Following a two-day free flight, Soyuz TMA-03M will rendezvous with the ISS on Friday (23rd December), for a 2:22 PM GMT docking at the Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) “Rassvet”, vacated on 22nd November by the departing Soyuz TMA-02M/27S spacecraft.

Once hatches are opened a few hours later, the current three-member Expedition 30 crew – consisting of American astronaut and ISS Commander Dan Burbank, as well as Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov & Anatoly Ivanishin – will welcome the Soyuz TMA-03M crew aboard the ISS just in time for the festive holiday period.

It is tradition for crews arriving at the ISS during the holiday period to bring festive gifts for their counterparts – as was seen on 22nd December 2009, when the just-docked Soyuz TMA-17 crew entered the ISS carrying Christmas trees and wearing Santa hats. The already on-orbit Expedition 30 crewmembers have decorated the ISS for the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-03M crew.

Soyuz TMA-03M is planned to remain docked to the ISS until 16th May, whereupon it will undock and land on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

Soyuz TMA-03M crewmembers:

Soyuz TMA-03M is carrying a fairly un-typical crew, since none of the three crewmembers are military aviators, and two are from medical and research backgrounds – a shape of things to come now that the ISS has entered the utilisation era, following completion of the US segment of the station and subsequent retirement of the Space Shuttle.

All three crewmembers have visited the ISS before, and all have flown on Soyuz before, with the caveat that Don Pettit has landed but never launched on a Soyuz.

Soyuz TMA-03M is being commanded by veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who most recently flew in space during the Expedition 17 mission from April to October 2008. He flew to and returned from the ISS in the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft, along with fellow cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, who returned from space just one month ago aboard Soyuz TMA-02M.

Kononenko, born 21st June 1964 (currently 47 years of age), graduated as a mechanical engineer from the Zhukovsky Kharkov Aviation Institute in 1988, following which he went to work for the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, as an engineer, prior to being selected for cosmonaut training in 1996. He is married with one son and one daughter.

Upon arrival at the ISS, he will serve as Flight Engineer on Expedition 30, and command the ISS during Expedition 31, from 16th March to 16th May next year. Kononenko is also slated to perform at least one spacewalk during his second flight, having previously conducted two spacewalks during his six-month mission in 2008.

Flight Engineer-1 (FE-1) on Soyuz TMA-03M is European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers, who was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 5th October 1958 (current age 53). He has flown in space only once before during the eleven-day DELTA mission, launching aboard Soyuz TMA-4 on 19th April 2004 and returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-5 on 30th April 2004. During his mission, he conducted 21 experiments aboard the ISS for the European Space Agency.

Such short missions were common in the past, since at the time the ISS was crewed by only two people in wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, meaning that a third seat was free on each launching and landing Soyuz for an additional short-term crewmember.

Kuipers earned his medical Doctorate from the University of Amsterdam in 1987, whereupon he worked at various medical institutions, including serving as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Air Force Medical Corps, and investigating data from various life sciences missions aboard the Space Shuttle. He was selected as an ESA astronaut in 1998, and is married with three daughters and one son.

During his second space mission (named “PromISSe” in keeping with ESA tradition), which is his first long-duration flight, Kuipers will participate in multiple experiments on the ISS, utilising his medical experience in the investigation of human physiology in microgravity.

Rounding out the Soyuz TMA-03M crew as Flight Engineer-2 (FE-2) is NASA astronaut Don Pettit, infamous in the space world for his passion for, skills with, and promotion of science, especially in microgravity. Born in Silverton, Oregon, on 20th April 1955 (current age 56), Dr. Pettit earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1983, prior to working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until he was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1996.

Pettit has flown two previous space flights, ISS Expedition 6 from 2002 to 2003, and Space Shuttle mission STS-126 in November 2008.

His first ISS flight, Expedition 6, was not without incident. Pettit, who launched to the ISS along with fellow crewmembers Ken Bowersox and Nikolai Budarin aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-113 mission on 23rd November 2002, was only scheduled to stay aboard the ISS for four months, returning on STS-114 in March 2003. However, during Pettit’s stay aboard the ISS, the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy occurred, on 1st February 2003.

While the tragedy was of course a tremendous loss to the Expedition 6 crew, the subsequent grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet had left the Expedition 6 crew with no ride home. Eventually, the crew was able to return to Earth two months later than planned inside their Soyuz TMA-1 lifeboat on 4th May 2003, which at the time was an untested new TMA (200 series) variant of the Soyuz. Thus, although Pettit has previously done a re-entry in a Soyuz, this will be his first launch in a Soyuz.

Click here for ISS News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/

During Expedition 6, Pettit became known for his “Saturday Morning Science” projects, which he performed in his own free time, videoed, and downlinked to Earth for public release. Now that the ISS is a fully completed National Laboratory, with scientific capabilities an order of magnitude better than they were during Expedition 6, Pettit is expected to continue his microgravity scientific demonstrations during Expeditions 30 and 31.

However, with a more capable ISS comes a more maintenance-heavy ISS, and since the crews may need to conduct “Saturday Morning Maintenance” in future, Pettit has suggested that his science projects may become “Saturday Afternoon Science” this time around (a dedicated thread for coverage of Dr. Pettit’s science activities exists in the ISS Section of the NASASpaceflight Forum).

Progress M-12M failure:

Of relevance to the Soyuz TMA-03M launch was the 24th August launch failure of the Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft, caused by a premature shutdown of the uncrewed Soyuz-U booster’s third stage RD-0110 engine, due to a blocked fuel line leading to the engine’s gas generator.

As much as the issue was billed as a one off, which was subsequently confirmed by the successful 30th October flight of the Soyuz-U with Progress M-13M/45P and the 14th November flight of the crewed Soyuz-FG with Soyuz TMA-22/28S, all eyes were on the Soyuz-FG booster during launch, although the RD-0110 engine used in by the vehicle has been tested and confirmed to be free of defects. The vehicle performed without issue during ascent.

While the threat of a station de-crewing in wake of the Progress M-12M failure was alleviated by the successful 16th November docking of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, a successful Soyuz TMA-03M docking on Friday would put the ISS back up to six crewmembers for the first time since the 16th September departure of Soyuz TMA-21/26S, although ISS did enjoy a brief period of six crewmembers during the six day handover between the new Soyuz TMA-22 and outgoing Soyuz TMA-02M crews from 16th to 22nd November.

Thus, the successful launch enables the ISS to return to stable six-crew operations by yearend, nearly four months after the launch failure of Progress M-12M, which has at best highlighted the dangers of relying on one launch system for crewed access to the ISS.

(Images via Roscosmos and NASA)

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Proton Launch:

The Russian Luch 5A satellite has a mass of 2.4 metric tons, featuring two photovoltaic arrays, which provide 1.8 kW of power. Three large antennas and numerous small helical antennas enable data relays in the 15/14, 15/11, and 0.9/0.7 GHz bands.

Five satellites have been built on the heritage of this platform (KAUR-4), but only four were launched, namely Kosmos 1700, Kosmos 1897, Kosmos 2054 and Luch-1 – none of which are currently operational. The second generation platform included several improvements. Only one satellite in this range was launched – Luch-2 1 – which is also no longer operational.

Two more satellites in the Luch-5A range are scheduled to be launched – Luch-5B in 2012 and and Luch-4 in 2013.

Israel’s AMOS-5 satellite is aimed at Africa’s emerging satellite services market, taking position at the new 17 Degrees East location. Once in orbit, the AMOS-5 satellite will feature a fixed pan-African C-band beam and three steerable Ku-band beams – all covering Africa with connectivity to Europe and the Middle East and supporting multiple transponders in both C-band and Ku-band.

Together with the AMOS-2 and the AMOS-3 satellites co-located at Spacecom’s 4 Degrees W orbital “hot spot,” the AMOS-5 satellite will give the company’s customers coverage over many of the world’s fastest growing and highest-demand satellite markets in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.

With an expected lifetime of 15 years, AMOS-5 sports 18 Ku-band and 18 C-band transponders, providing a variety of coverage, including Direct-To-Home TV broadcasting services.

The Proton booster tasked with the launch of the satellite duo was 4.1 m (13.5 ft) in diameter along its second and third stages, with a first stage diameter of 7.4 m (24.3 ft). Overall height of the three stages of the Proton booster is 42.3 m (138.8 ft).

The first stage consists of a central tank containing the oxidizer surrounded by six outboard fuel tanks. Each fuel tank also carries one of the six RD-276 engines that provide first stage power. Total first stage vacuum-rated level thrust is 11.0 MN (2,500,000 lbf).

Of conventional cylindrical design, the second stage is powered by three RD-0210 engines plus one RD-0211 engine and develops a vacuum thrust of 2.4 MN (540,000 lbf).

Powered by one RD-0213 engine, the third stage develops thrust of 583 kN (131,000 lbf), and a four-nozzle vernier engine that produces thrust of 31 kN (7,000 lbf). Guidance, navigation, and control of the Proton M during operation of the first three stages is carried out by a triple redundant closed-loop digital avionics system mounted in the Proton’s third stage.

The Breeze-M upper stage is the Phase III variant, a recent upgrade which utilizes two new high-pressure tanks (80 liters) to replace six smaller tanks, along with the relocation of command instruments towards the centre – in order to mitigate shock loads when the additional propellant tank is being jettisoned.

It was a problem with that upper stage which resulted in the loss of the Ekspress-AM4 communications satellite in August, when the stage, otherwise known as the Briz-M, failed to insert the satellite into the correct transfer orbit due to a problem with the last of the mission profile burns.

This failure led to a delay for the ViaSat-1 mission, which was initially scheduled for September, prior to its successful launch – conducted by International Launch Services – on October 19.

(Images via Tsenki and Roscosmos).

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Fobos-Grunt:

With a mass of 13,500 kilograms, Fobos-Grunt is the largest planetary spacecraft ever built in the former Soviet Union and was to be the first sample return mission to the natural satellite of another planet, and the first such mission to be conducted by Russia.

The spacecraft’s primary mission was to conduct a sample-return effort from Mars’ larger natural satellite, Phobos – which is likely to be the first Martian destination for humans in the 2030s, to be used as a precursor to a mission to Mars itself.

Fobos-Grunt – which was also hosting China’s first Mars probe, Yinghuo-1 as a passenger – enjoyed a nominal launch via a Zenit-2 launch vehicle, which occurred at 02:16 local time on November 8 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

All launch events were nominal, until problems were revealed shortly after Fobos-Grunt had been set to perform an orbit-raising manoeuvre two and a half hours after lift-off, prior to a second burn 126 minutes later, which would have taken it into heliocentric orbit to begin its journey to Mars.

Both burns failed to materialize, resulting in the spacecraft’s current predicament of being stuck wandering around in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

There is now no hope of the spacecraft carrying out its mission to Phobos, despite a late boost when a level of communications were established, thanks to a modified dish on one of the European Space Agency (ESA) assets in Perth, Australia.

This was a great achievement on its own, as challenges associated with communicating with Fobos-Grunt during passes over ground stations included a potential blockage by the yet-to-be-used fuel tank of the low gain antennas.

This tank – located on the aft of the cruise stage – would be expended and released in the event of both burns being completed. It is understood the spacecraft was never designed to be commanded prior to these two burns.

With the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany passing on information gained by the Perth station to NPO Lavochkin, operator of the mission on behalf of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, the ultimate goal was to gain telemetry from the spacecraft to check its health, prior to a potential route to send operational commands.

With very short windows of opportunity to send communications to Fobos-Grunt as it raced overhead in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), controllers only had a matter of minutes to send commands, which related to switching on the the spacecraft’s transmitter and send back a confirmation signal.

Some telemetry was gained, along it was understood to be incomplete and “garbled”.  Russian media also reported that a second dish – at the Baikonur Cosmodrome – had made a level of contact with the spacecraft, although this was believed to be only a short term success.

While it appears clear that no useful commands were successfully received during the short period contact was established, the spacecraft soon went silent again, leading to ESA officially giving up after numerous attempts to talk to Fobos-Grunt without success.

“In consultation and agreement with Phobos-Grunt mission managers, ESA engineers will end tracking support. Efforts to send commands to and receive data from the Russian Mars mission via ESA ground stations have not succeeded; no response has been seen from the satellite,” noted an official ESA release.

“ESA teams remain available to assist the Phobos-Grunt mission if indicated by any change in the situation.”

As such, the spacecraft’s fate now appears certain, as much as challenges remain in knowing when exactly the spacecraft will return to Earth for a destructive re-entry.

This sad event will be of great interest, given the spacecraft’s 13,500 kg of mass, most of which is made up of the highly toxic propellants unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and dinitrogen tetroxide (DTO). Its mass is double that of NASA’s defunct Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS), which re-entered in September of this year.

At the time, NASA went to great lengths to emphasize that even if any surviving elements of UARS’ hardware had reached the ground, the chances of it being a threat to the human population were tiny.

The uncontrolled entry did find its way into the mainstream media despite NASA’s attempts to show it wasn’t a major threat, backed up by a Special Safety Topic review by NASA, which looked into the hazards posed by space hardware fragmentation during re-entry, with the aim to apply further mitigation to any potential risks from hardware breaking up and surviving entry – in turn threatening human life on the ground.

In the end, the satellite – which was originally launched on Shuttle Discovery during STS-48 – re-entered over water.

Notably, no major items of hardware on Fobos-Grunt have been listed as potentially surviving entry, while the aluminium tanks containing the large amount of propellant mass are likely to be some of the initial hardware to succumb to the destructive forces of entry.

The spacecraft’s orbit can be observed via amateur and professional groups, allowing for a level of modelling to be carried out on its decaying orbit, although – providing no control is established – the exact entry location of the probe won’t be predicted until shortly before the event.

It is currently estimated that the entry will occur sometime in January of next year, handing Russia a sad record of all of its 19 missions to the Red Planet since the 1960s resulting in failure.

(Images: Via Roscosmos and ESA)

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