The News from Mars

testsubject

2004-11-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

<h4>United States: Innovation in Aviation</h4>
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<li><B>Successful Test of Scramjet Propelled Aircraft:</b> NASA, the U.S. Space Agency, performed the first successful test of an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=4677867&section=news">aircraft propelled by a Scramjet engine</a>. This test follows the successful <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992685">in-flight ignition</a> of a scramjet engine in 2002. The <a href="http://www.tc.cornell.edu/Research/CMI/RLVsource/scramjets.html">SCRAMjet</a> (an acronym for Supersonic Combustion RAMjet) is the next major advancement in aerospace propulsion building on the successful technology of <a href="http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/ramjet.htm">RAMjets</a> (a proven technology used successfully on the <a href="http://www.wvi.com/~lelandh/srspec~1.htm">SR-71 blackbird</a> spyplane) which is itself a further advancement over traditional <a href="http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/theory.htm">JET power</a> propulsion technology.<p>The real achievement accomplished is being able to propel an aircraft to Mach 7 (Seven times the speed of sound, approximately 5000 miles per hour) without the use of <a href="http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/propulsion/q0161.shtml">rocket technology</a>. Whereas rockets carry their fuel and oxygen supply with them, Jet technology uses the oxygen supply from the atmosphere for combustion. Also, rocket technology is a one-time use propulsion technology. Rockets are costly and time-consuming to manufacture, require very precisely managed launch cycles and are in general a volatile and dangerous technology. Basic jet-propulsion technology has been used commercially for decades.<p>SCRAMjets will hopefully open the commercialization of outer space by enabling vehicles that are cheaper to manufacture, easier to operate, have a higher fuel vs. payload ratio, and have a very fast flight turnaround time (much like commercial jet aircraft today).<p>Related Link: Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_history">Timeline of Aviation History</a>.
</ul>

2004-03-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

United States: Innovation in Aviation

Successful Test of Scramjet Propelled Aircraft: NASA, the U.S. Space Agency, performed the first successful test of an aircraft propelled by a Scramjet engine. This test follows the successful in-flight ignition of a scramjet engine in 2002. The SCRAMjet (an acronym for Supersonic Combustion RAMjet) is the next major advancement in aerospace propulsion building on the successful technology of RAMjets (a proven technology used successfully on the SR-71 blackbird spyplane) which is itself a further advancement over traditional JET power propulsion technology.
The real achievement accomplished is being able to propel an aircraft to Mach 7 (Seven times the speed of sound, approximately 5000 miles per hour) without the use of rocket technology. Whereas rockets carry their fuel and oxygen supply with them, Jet technology uses the oxygen supply from the atmosphere for combustion. Also, rocket technology is a one-time use propulsion technology. Rockets are costly and time-consuming to manufacture, require very precisely managed launch cycles and are in general a volatile and dangerous technology. Basic jet-propulsion technology has been used commercially for decades.
SCRAMjets will hopefully open the commercialization of outer space by enabling vehicles that are cheaper to manufacture, easier to operate, have a higher fuel vs. payload ratio, and have a very fast flight turnaround time (much like commercial jet aircraft today).
Related Link: Wikipedia Timeline of Aviation History.

2004-03-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Canada: To Mars and Beyond

Rover Envy: Canada has decided that the U.S. will not be the only North American country to explore the Red Planet. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has issued an RFP (Request for Proposal)/Contract bid proposal worth $750,000 out to Canadian Industry. Canada is getting serious about investing in its national talent and Mars is the hot scientific political win du jour for pouring millions into scientific research and technical development. The CSA estimates it will cost about $150 million to successfully place a rover onto the surface of Mars. Target date: 2009.

2004-03-09T05:10:00.000-08:00

Regional Recap: Japan

Lunar Program: A historical note, Japan was the fourth country to launch a satellite into Earth orbit and the third country to send a vehicle to the moon with Hiten science explorer (First: USSR Sputnik 01, Second: USA Explorer 1, Third: Australia WRESAT 1).
Progress on Lunar-A and is scheduled to launch sometime in 2004. Japan hopes to differentiate it's expedition from past efforts by touting Lunar-A as an exploration mission of mars resources. Whereas U.S., Russian and European efforts have been aimed mainly at mapping the geography of the Lunar surface, Lunar-A will have detachable projectile probes ("the penetrators") that will bury themselves into the lunar surface and conduct experiments to determine the characteristics of the interior of the moon (such as thermal and seismic activity).
Following Lunar-A will be the SELENE moon explorer. Japan is heralding the SELENE program as the largest moon program undertaken since the U.S. Apollo Space Program over 30 years ago. SELENE (an acronym standing for "SELenological and ENgineering Explorer"), an unmanned expedition to the moon, will be composed of 3 components: a main orbiter and two smaller satellite. SELENE will investigate the entire moon in order to obtain information on its elemental and mineralogical composition, its geography, its surface and sub-surface structure, the remnant of its magnetic field, its gravity field, plasma and high-energy particles. The results are expected to lead to a better overall understanding of the Moon’s evolution. The goals of the mission are not entirely scientific, Japan hopes that the information obtained from the SELENE program will enable them to make better decisions regarding how humans can utilize the resources of the moon.
Japan will also have to consider that if their program encounters any delays that they will be running neck-and-neck with China's Lunar program timetable setting the stage for a very compelling and new "International Lunar Space Race".
Back on Earth: Following on the heels of last year's failed attempt to place two spy satellites into space, Japan has been reevaluating priorities for vehicle launches in 2004. A recent announcement that identifies the problem areas with the Japanese designed and built H2-A rocket system seems to clear the way for launches later this year.
The first priority will be to launch a multifunctional satellite that will support weather observation and air traffic control over vast areas of Asia and the Pacific and is expected to begin operation about two months after the launch. This will most likely be the ALOS satellite (the "Advanced Land Observing Satellite") which will assume functionality that Japan is currently obtaining from the U.S. GOES-9 satellite.

2004-03-06T02:33:00.000-08:00

Regional Recap: China

Lunar Program: In addition to underscoring the importance of space exploration in national economic development and the advancement of industrial science and technology, China's vice-minister of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and director of the China National Aerospace Administration (CNAA) has outlined the main scientific goals of the first phase of China's lunar exploration project:
1. Obtaining the lunar surface three-dimensional image
2. Analyzing the content of lunar surface useful elements and the characteristics of the distribution of materials
3. Surveying the thickness of lunar soil; and surveying the ground-moon spatial environment.
The Lunar Project is an unmanned project and is formally divided into three phases:
1. Orbiting the Moon (estimated: 2007)
2. Landing on the surface of the Moon (estimated: 2010)
3. Returning a vehicle with samples from the Moon (estimated: 2020)
Return to Manned Spaceflight: China has planned a second manned spaceflight in 2005. Multiple, most likely two, "taikonauts" will orbit the Earth for more than a day. This achievement follows on the heels of China's successful return of their first astronaut in 2003 making China only the 3rd country to have put a man into space.
More Satellites: China will launch their newest communications satellite (with anti-jamming technology), Sinosat-2, in 2005. This satellite has more communications capacity than Sinosat-1, the European built communications satellite currently service. Rather than replacing Sinosat-1 outright, Sinosat-2 will augment the services of the older device. China has planned to launch at least 10 satellites in 2004 which is approximately a 60% increase in volume over the number of satellites launched in 2003.
Trivia: Here's a short historical timeline on China's Space Program.

2004-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

Mars Once Wet With Water

By now you've no doubt heard the news. For great BLOG commentary on this new update, TNFM recommends these sites:

Adot's Notblog* has some notes from the press briefing plus a link to the official press release.
Mainly Martian has a nice analysis on the announcement
The Louisiana Mars Society has a link to the C-SPAN video

Those in the business seem to be taking this latest science very seriously. The bookmaking firm Ladbrokes announced it's stopped taking bets on the question of whether there was ever life on Mars.

So now that you know the news are you ready to pack your bags and buy some nice martian "once beachfront" property? You may be too late. (Don't take them too seriously argue legal scholars.)

At least some people are getting a good tongue-in-cheek laugh from all the press about Mars Rovers: Seems this Canadian writer has already got a jump on America's "Mars Wars".

Closing out Mars talk for today, with all this news about water and the possibility of Martian life on Mars, how can we be sure that there are no Earthlings living on Mars?

Comet Hunter Away

ESA's Rosetta "comet hunter" spacecraft was launched yesterday from its launchpad in French Guiana. The spacecraft, named for the famous stone that helped European scientists translate Egyptian hieroglyphics, is on a 10-year mission to drop a probe on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The comet is hypothesized to have been in orbit since the beginning of the solar system and the hope is that exploration of it will help "decipher" some of the mysteries of our solar system's development.

In December 2004, the United States will launch their own comet chasing probe, NASA's Deep Impact (Click here for a dated article from Wired that discusses the mission). It will rendezvous with comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005 and drop a 200 lb. object onto it to explore the dynamics of crater formation.

2004-03-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

Mars Rover Opportunity Makes 'Significant' Finding

This is a wonderful article from the International Edition of Newsweek that succinctly recaps the recent announcements and activities around the world regarding human space flight and exploration of the cosmos. The insight into the political challenges facing the U.S. regarding sustaining a space exploration program over presidential administrations is a nice analysis.

2004-02-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

Country by Country Review of Recent Space Program Activities

China
It's official, China has made their public announcement regarding the start of the unmanned moon probe program. China wants to implement a 3 phase plan, with the first phase being completed in 2010.

China has also announced that they will be launching their second astronaut into space sometime in 2005. Also, a they have announced intentions of building a space station.

Europe
Despite some setbacks, it looks like "all systems go" for the launch of ESA's Rosetta spacecraft sometime next week. The payload will be lifted into space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The craft is on a 10 year mission to rendezvous in deep space with comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko and follow it on its path around the Sun.

Europe's first mission to the moon has successfully placed an object into orbit, the SMART-1 satellite.

India
Earlier this week a tragic fire swept through a rocket making facility at India's principle space center, killing 6 workers and injuring a number of others. The chief of India's space program has asserted that the fire will not impact any of their space programs.

India has announced its intention to start its own mission to the moon program. India estimates it will launch their orbiter in 2007.

United States
President George W. Bush's Presidential Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy will begin the first of 8 sessions next week. The intent of the panel is made up of national experts in the field of space exploration and aerospace and will discuss and make recommendations regarding the implementation of President Bush's space exploration vision. Public participation and input is welcome.

On Saturday NASA released new pictures of Saturn taken by the Cassini space probe, an American-European spaceship, will enter orbit around Saturn on July 1, completing a seven-year voyage past the inner planets. Cassini will spend four years studying Saturn, its spectacular rings and some of its 31 moons (particularly the enigmatic Titan).

A new spacecraft, named Messenger, will be launched later this year with scheduled stops to the inner planets Mars and Venus.

In the wake of the abbreviated space walk by an American Astronaut and Russian Cosmonaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS), documents are being released by NASA detailing problems with the ISS program. The spacewalk, intended to clear debris and perform maintenance on the space station was hailed as a historic moment, despite the set back, because it was the first time in the station's five year history it has been left unmanned. Part of the mission of the spacewalk was to install experiments to test the effects of radiation on the human body.

The Space Dynamics Lab in Logan, Utah has been awarded a contract by NASA to discover the best kinds of "space vegetables".

Lockheed-Martin, a principle contractor in the U.S. space program, has announced the creation of a new organization to manage the Corporation's efforts in support of NASA's space exploration initiative.

Last month, President Bush outlined a proposal to put U.S. astronauts back on the moon by 2020.

Finally, earlier this month, NASA successfully tested the first interplanetary network sending signals to the Mars-orbiting European spacecraft Mars-Express, which relayed the instructions to NASA's Spirit rover on the surface, and a signal was returned to Earth back along the same path

2004-02-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

A number of exciting announcements recently in the quest for the red planet. The European Space Agency, echoing the vision outlined by United States President George W. Bush has announced a bold plan to bring back samples from Mars, to land humans on the Moon and a 30 year plan for a manned trip to Mars.

As part of continuing research into life-support systems for outer space, United States and Australian scientists announced a plan Monday to send 15 "mouseonauts" into orbit as part of preparations for a human Mars mission.

Currently there are five countries with Satellite Launch Capabilities:

United States
Europe
Russia
China
Japan
India