Transcript Space Mission Scrapbook - Willoughby

Space Mission Scrapbook
By
Michael Martoccio
Launch Date: November 1, 1994
Arrival Date at Target: ~1998
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA (but
France and Russia added instruments)
Source: http://wwwistp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wwind.html
(The Wind Spacecraft Website)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: After its launch by a
Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station,
WIND was put into a figure-eight orbit around the
Earth with the assistance of the moon's
gravitational field. The furthest point from the
Earth on the orbit was 250 Earth radii and the
closest point to Earth was 4.5 Earth radii. Later,
WIND was inserted into a small circular orbit in the
solar wind upstream from the Earth around the
point where the gravity of the Earth and the Sun
are balanced (Approximately 990,000 miles or
1,6000,000 kilometers from the Earth).
Important Science Discoveries: WIND was
designed to measure properties of the solar wind
before it reaches the Earth. By doing so it was able
to measure the mass, momentum and energy of
the solar wind and increase scientists knowledge of
the Sun.
WIND
General Narrative: WIND was part of an
international project known as International SolarTerrestrial Physics Initiative (ISTP). Using probes
from not only NASA, but also Japan and Russia, the
ISTP hoped to gain more knowledge about the Sun’s
complex processes. In 1998, the project was ended,
but the knowledge gained by WIND and other
probes was invaluable. Also, WIND had a change of
plans in 1998. When the solar observatory SOHO
was placed in a similar orbit, WIND was moved to a
complicated orbit which allows it to sample different
parts of space around Earth.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: WIND has
a variety of instruments to study the Sun. Some of
the instruments aboard WIND measure properties of
the solar wind plasma and the proportions of various
ions in the solar wind. WIND also uses radio wave
receivers to monitor emissions from the Sun and
from space plasmas, and a magnetometer samples
the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) up to 44
times a second. It also carries two gamma ray
detectors, to observe and time gamma ray bursts
from distant space.
Fate of the Mission: Although its not used as
much as before, WIND is still in use and is still
providing valuable information about the Sun. It still
carries a large reserve of fuel for its rocket engine,
so it should remain useful for years to come.
Mariner 10
Launch Date: November 3, 1973
Arrival Date at Target: March 29, 1974
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1973-085A.html
(NSSDC Master Catalog: Spacecraft)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: Mariner 10 was a flyby mission. It used
the gravitation of Venus to investigate Venus and slingshot it to Mercury,
which was its ultimate goal. Above is an image of that trajectory.
Important Science Discoveries: Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft
to study Mercury. It took in-depth photos of the surface and determined
that the atmosphere of Mercury is extremely small. It also determined
that Mercury has a small magnetic field and a relatively large iron-rich
core. On its flyby of Venus, it determined that Venus had a weak
magnetic field and studied the circulation of Venus’ atmosphere.
General Narrative: Mariner 10 was the
first spacecraft to use the gravitational pull
of one planet (Venus) to reach another
(Mercury). Mariner 10 was the first and
only spacecraft to visit Mercury. The
primary scientific objectives of the mission
were to measure Mercury's environment,
atmosphere, surface, and body
characteristics and to make similar
investigations of Venus and to obtain
experience with a dual-planet gravityassist mission. The mission cost roughly
$100 million to design and launch.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments:
Mariner had scientific equipment on it to
measure Mercury and Venus’ magnet
fields, atmosphere, and to take in-depth
photographs of the surface. Experiments
included television photography, magnetic
field, plasma, infrared radiometry,
ultraviolet spectroscopy, and radio science
detectors.
Fate of Mission: The goal of Mariner 10
was to investigate the surface of Mercury.
After three successful flybys, Mariner 10
ran out of attitude-control gas and in
March, 1975 the mission was abandoned.
Magellan
Launch Date: May 4, 1989
Arrival Date at Target: August 10, 1990
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/
magellan.html (NSSDC Master Catalog:
Spacecraft)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: Magellan was
an orbiter. After it was launched from the
space shuttle, it was put into a near polar
elliptical orbit over Venus.
Important Scientific Discoveries:
Magellan was able to successfully map most
of the surface of Venus. With this information,
the land forms and tectonics, impact
processes, erosion, deposition, chemical
processes, and model the interior of Venus
was able to be determined. Magellan showed
that Venus had no plate tectonics and at least
85% of the surface is covered with volcanic
flows. It also showed scientists that Venus has
very little erosion so its surface might be
millions of years old.
General Narrative: The primary
objectives of the Magellan mission were to
map the surface of Venus with a synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) and to determine the
topographic relief of the planet. At the
completion of radar mapping, 98% of the
surface was imaged at resolutions better
than 100 m, and many areas were imaged
multiple times. An example of one of
those images is seen to the left.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments:
Because Venus has such think clouds,
conventional photography was impossible.
Therefore, Magellan used SAR to take
radar images of the surface. This
unbelievable system used radar to map
the surface. A total of 4225 usable SAR
imaging orbits was obtained by Magellan.
It also had instruments on it to measure
the gravity of Venus.
Fate of the Mission: After five years in
space, the spacecraft lost contact on
October 12, 1994 when it crashed into
Venus. It most likely burned up in the
think Venusian atmosphere.
Viking 1
Launch Date: August 20, 1975
Arrival Date at Target: June 19, 1976
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetar
y/viking.html (NSSDC Master Catalog:
Spacecraft)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: After a ten
month cruise to Mars, the orbiter was set
into orbit and the lander was launched on
June 19, 1976.
Important Scientific Discoveries: The
Viking 1 mission as with the Viking 2 mission
were very important in establishing that life
did not exist on the surface of Mars. Viking 1
was also very important in its mapping of
Mars and the information that was gained
about its atmosphere and soil content.
General Narrative: The first month of orbit was devoted to imaging the surface to find appropriate
landing sites for the Viking Lander. On July 20, 1976, the Viking 1 Lander separated from the Orbiter and
touched down at Chryse Planitia. Once on the surface, the lander conducted three experiments to
determine if life existed on Mars. Although some chemicals were discovered, life was not. Another
interesting aspect of the Viking 1 mission was that only a few months later an identical spacecraft, Viking
2, was launched.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: Viking 1 was essentially two spacecraft in one: an orbiter and a
lander. The orbiter had equipment on it to take detailed surface photos of Mars. More importantly, the
lander had equipment to study the physical and magnetic properties of the soil and analyze the
atmosphere and weather patterns of Mars. It also had equipment to determine if life existed on Mars.
Fate of Mission: After it landed on the surface and completed its mission, Viking 1 Lander ended
communication on November 13, 1982. After over 1400 orbits, the Viking 1 Orbiter was powered down on
August 17, 1980.
Galileo
Launch Date: October 18, 1989
Arrival Date at Target: December 1995
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/
(Galileo Project Homepage)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: The orbit trajectory of
Galileo started when it was launched from the space
shuttle Atlantis. After a flyby of Venus and Earth twice and
passing through the asteroid belt twice, Galileo finally
made it to Jupiter. Once there, Galileo established orbit
and dropped its probe in December of 1995.
Important Scientific Discoveries: Galileo and its probe
discovered an unbelievable amount of information about
Jupiter and its moons. It discovered on Jupiter itself an
intense new radiation belt approximately 50,000 km above
Jupiter's cloud tops, Jovian wind speeds in excess of 600
kilometers per hour, a Helium abundance in Jupiter that is
nearly the same as in the Sun (24% compared to 25%),
and far less water in Jupiter’s atmosphere then originally
thought. It also discovered on the moons of Jupiter,
extensive resurfacing of Io's surface due to continuing
volcanic activity since the Voyagers flew by in 1979,
suggested magnetic fields for both Io and Ganymede, and
evidence for liquid water ocean under Europa's surface.
Also, on its trip out to Jupiter it confirmation the existence
of a huge ancient impact basin in the southern part of the
Moon's far side, evidence of more extensive lunar
volcanism than previously thought and it discovered a
satellite (Dactyl) of an asteroid (Ida).
General Narrative: Apart from being by far
one of the most successful spacecraft of NASA’s
existence, Galileo was also able to record the
first images of a comet impact on a planet.
When the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed
into Jupiter, Galileo was able to record the
actual impacts of the comet and collect
information from the planet. Also, although it
was originally intended to only last till 1997,
Galileo continued to be in use up until recently.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments:
Galileo consisted of two parts: an orbiter and a
probe. Apart from having equipment to take indepth photos and atmospheric readouts, the
orbiter used a “duel spin” design. One section
of the spacecraft rotated at 3rpm. On this
section, six instruments rapidly gathered data
from many different directions. The other
section of the spacecraft held steady for the
four instruments that must point accurately
while Galileo is flying through space. The probe
also was invaluable in its investigation of the
atmosphere. It used six instruments plus its
radio to investigate Jupiter's mysterious
atmosphere.
Fate of Mission: The Galileo spacecraft's 14year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept.
21, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's
shadow then disintegrated in the planet's dense
atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight
Time.
Cassini
Launch Date: October 15, 1997
Arrival Date at Target: ~ July
1, 2004
Countries and Agencies
Involved: NASA, ESA (European
Space Agency), Italian Space
Agency.
Source:http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
/index.cfm
(Official Cassini-Huygens
Homepage)
Orbit Trajectory to Target: In
1998 and 1999, Cassini passed by
Venus twice and Earth once and
in 2000 it passed by Jupiter.
These “flybys” allowed the
spacecraft to slingshot its way to
the outer reaches of the galaxy so
it could arrive at Saturn and
establish an orbit.
Important Scientific Discoveries: It will
study charged particles near Saturn, Saturn’s
electric and magnetic field, the composition of
Saturn’s rings, and the composition of
Saturn’s atmosphere. It will also be able to
map the surface of Titan using radar and
study the surface with its lander. Finally, it will
take unbelievably detailed pictures of many
objects orbiting Saturn.
General Narrative: The Cassini spacecraft
was designed to study Saturn and its moons.
It consists of two parts, the orbiter and the
lander named Huygens. Once established in
orbit, Cassini will begin to study Saturn to a Spacecraft Design and Instruments: As said
before, Cassini consists of two parts: an orbiter and
depth never before thought possible. In
December 2004, the spacecraft will launch the a lander. The orbiter has equipment on it to study a
variety of Saturn’s atmosphere, magnetic field,
second part of Cassini: a probe named
Huygens. Huygens will be dropped onto the moons and rings. Also, the Italian Space Agency
developed the advanced communication antenna
moon Titan and hopefully land to study all
that will allow Cassini to transmit all of its data back
sorts of data about the moon.
Fate of Mission: All told, the Cassini mission to Earth. It will also be able to map the surface of
Titan using radar. The Huygens probe, which was
will make 74 orbits around Saturn and 44
developed by the ESA (European Space Agency) also
close flybys of the moon Titan over a four
has some amazing equipment. It contains
year span. In 2008 it will most likely be
terminated, but hopefully, like Galileo, it will instruments to take images, study atmospheric
content, temperature, pressure, radiation and has a
serve for a longer time.
devise that will study the surface composition of
Titan.
Voyager 2
Launch Date: August 20, 1977
Arrival Date at Target: Ongoing
Countries and Agencies
Involved: NASA
Source:http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/i
ndex.html (Official Voyager Website)
Orbit Trajectory to Target:
Voyager 2 took advantage of a rare
once-every-189-years alignment to
slingshot its way from outer planet to
outer planet. Voyager 2 was
launched before Voyager 1 by a
Titan-Centaur rocket, and flew by
Jupiter on August 7, 1979, by Saturn
on August 26, 1981, by Uranus on
January 24, 1986, and by Neptune
on August 8, 1989. By doing so, it
was able to gain more scientific
information then ever thought
possible. It is still in space and is
about 90 AU away from the Sun.
Important Scientific Discoveries: Voyager 2 gave
invaluable information about the 4 giant planets, their
satellites, and their rings. Voyager 2 discovered that
Jupiter has complicated atmospheric dynamics like
lightning and aurorae. It also discovered three new
satellites, rings around Jupiter and that Io has active
sulfurous volcanoes. At Saturn, it discovered over 1000
ringlets and 7 satellites. Its information on Uranus and
Neptune was also very important. It discovered that
Uranus has 10 satellites and one more ring was
discovered. Neptune was found to have rather active
weather, including numerous cloud features. Two other
rings and 6 other satellites were discovered. Also, new
information was discovered about the atmosphere of
Triton, a moon of Neptune.
General Narrative: Apart from all its other amazing
aspects, Voyager 2 carries with it an interesting
message. It has a phonograph record-a 12-inch goldplated copper disk intended to communicate a story of
our world to extraterrestrials. This disk contains sounds
and images selected to portray the diversity of life and
culture on Earth. The contents of the record were
selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan.
Dr. Sagan and his committee assembled 115 images and
a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf,
wind and thunder, birds, whales, and spoken greetings
from Earth-people in fifty-five languages, and printed
messages from President Carter and U.N. Secretary
General Waldheim. Each record is encased in a protective
aluminum jacket, together with a cartridge and a needle.
Instructions, in symbolic language, explain the origin of
the spacecraft and indicate how the record is to be
played.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: Voyager 2 is identical to its
brother Voyager 1. The spacecraft uses a three-axis stabilized system.
This system uses celestial or gyro referenced attitude control to maintain
pointing of the high-gain antennas toward Earth. The spacecraft consists
of 10 instruments. These include cameras for in-depth photography and
plasma, cosmic ray, ultraviolet, infrared, radio, and magnetic field
detectors. Most of these instruments are still running.
Fate of Mission: Voyager 2 is still flying in space for more then 25
years. It will most likely stay operational until 2020 when the spacecraft
will run out of power and will no longer be able to run its scientific
instruments.
SIM
Launch Date: ~ 2009
Arrival Date at Target: ~ 2009
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source:http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/SIM/sim
_index.html (Official SIM Homepage)
Orbit: Even though SIM has not been launched
yet, its orbit can be somewhat assessed. From
the end of the calibration period through the
year 2011, the SIM interferometer will perform
nearly continuous science observations over the
entire celestial sphere. It will most likely be in
orbit for this entire time around Earth, but
changes may be made as this project develops.
Important Scientific Discoveries: Once SIM
is deployed, it will determine the distances to
stars throughout the galaxy. It will also be able
to probe nearby stars for Earth-sized planets. It
will study nebula, star forming regions, and
other gigantic space anomalies. It will be able to
determine the positions and distances of stars
several hundred times more accurately than any
previous program. Hopefully, all this information
will expand the knowledge about the cosmos.
General Narrative: The way in which SIM will take unbelievably
detailed photographs of the universe is through interferometry.
Interferometry works by taking advantage of the fact that light
behaves like waves on an ocean. Humans see our surroundings
because our eyes receive waves of different wavelengths or
frequencies and translate them into different colors. By combining
these different wavelengths, interferometry can determine the
light from far away stars. To achieve maximum efficiency, SIM will
be launched into space so that it won’t have to deal with the
atmospheric distortion of Earth. Out in space, SIM will be able to
combine light from multiple telescopes as if they were pieces of a
single telescope. It does this by taking separate pieces of light
and combining them into one image. This image will be in
unbelievably high detail and will give scientists a much more
detailed view of space objects.
Spacecraft Design and
Instruments: SIM will have
unbelievably advanced technology
to collect light from its multiple
telescopes. Pointing of the
spacecraft will be performed using
reaction wheels. Pointing will be
performed such that the nominal
viewing axis never be within 45
degrees of the Sun to protect the
viewing optics from heating. The
spacecraft's velocity will need to be
determined to an accuracy of 20
mm/sec or better in order to correct
for relativistic stellar aberration.
This will be achieved using ranging
and doppler data obtained by 34m
Deep Space Network (DNS) ground
stations. Observation data will be
stored onboard, and returned to
Earth several times each week.
These are only preliminary designs,
changes most likely will be made as
SIM goes into deeper development.
Fate of Mission: Although this is
difficult to determine, the lifespan of
SIM is said to be about two years.
Hopefully, like earlier spacecraft, it
will be able to last much longer.
Chandra
Launch Date: July 23, 1999
Arrival at Target: July 23, 1999 (it circles Earth)
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/ (The Chandra Xray Observatory).
Orbit: After being deployed by the space shuttle
Colombia, Chandra was put in an elliptical orbit around
the Earth. Its orbit is not on the same elliptical plane
as Earth. The spacecraft spends 85% of its orbit
above the belts of charged particles that surround the
Earth. Chandra's unusual orbit was achieved after
deployment by a built-in propulsion system which
boosted the observatory to a high Earth orbit. The
orbit takes it more than a third of the way to the
moon before returning to its closest approach to the
Earth of 16,000 kilometers. The time to complete an
orbit is 64 hours and 18 minutes.
Important Scientific Discoveries: Chandra takes
x-ray images of far away space objects. By using xrays, Chandra is able to observe amazing space
anomalies like nebula and star forming regions in
unbelievable detail. With this information, Scientists
can study the universe with more detail then ever
before thought possible.
General Narrative: Chandra uses its x-ray telescope
to take pictures that are far more detailed then were
ever possible before. As an example the image on the
left is from the High Resolution Imager on the
Rontgen satellite, the observatory with the best
imaging capability before Chandra. The image on the
right, taken by Chandra, has approximately fifty times
better resolution than the one on the left. In the
Chandra image, new details-rings and jets in the
region around the pulsar provide valuable information
for understanding the space anomaly.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: Chandra is
not really a spacecraft it is more like a space
observatory. The Observatory has three major parts.
First, and most importantly, there is the X-ray
telescope. This telescope uses mirrors to focus x-rays
from celestial objects so images can be taken. Also,
Chandra has science instruments which record the xrays. These instruments are used so that x-ray
images can be produced and analyzed. Finally, the
spacecraft provides the environment necessary for
the telescope and the instruments to work.
Fate of Mission: Chandra is still in use and will
hopefully stay so for the next decade. It currently has
no shutdown or power down date.
SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility)
Launch Date: August 25, 2003
Arrival at Target:
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source: http://sirtf.caltech.edu/index.shtml
(Official SIRTF Website)
Orbit: The orbit of SIRTF is an interesting one. After its
launched into space by a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral,
it drifted away from Earth at a rate of about 0.1 AU a year.
This allows SIRTF to simply drift behind Earth as it circles
the Sun. The drifting heliocentric orbit places SIRTF in deep
space, where the temperatures are about 30 to 40 K. By
using nature to assist in cooling, it can carry much less
liquid helium cryogen than it would need in an Earth orbit.
Important Scientific Discoveries: SIRTF’s highly
sensitive instruments give a unique view of the universe
and allows scientists to peer into regions of space which
are hidden from optical telescopes. This occurs because
many areas of space are filled with vast clouds of gas and
dust which block regular telescopes. SIRTF can penetrate
these clouds using infrared light. This allows scientists to
look into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies,
and into newly forming planetary systems. Also, SIRTF
provides information about cooler objects in space, such as
smaller stars which are too dim to be detected by their
visible light, extrasolar planets, and giant molecular clouds.
General Narrative: SIRTF is the largest infrared
telescope ever launched into space. SIRTF will be
the final mission in NASA's Great Observatories
Program, which send into space four telescopes to
measure visible, gamma, x-ray and infrared light.
Other missions in this program include the Hubble
Space Telescope, Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory,
and Chandra. SIRTF is also a part of NASA's
Astronomical Search for Origins Program designed to
provide information which will help scientists
understand Earth’s cosmic roots, and how galaxies,
stars and planets develop and form.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: SIRTF is
not so much a spacecraft, but an observatory.
Consisting of a 0.85-meter telescope and three
cryogenically-cooled science instruments, SIRTF can
take pictures in the infrared that are amazingly
detailed. The telescope is surrounded by an outer
shell that radiates heat, and is shielded from the Sun
by solar panels. The outer shell and inner, middle,
and outer shields are cooled by helium vapor. An
example of one of the pictures taken by the infrared
telescope is to the left. This picture shows how the
infrared telescope on SIRTF can take pictures of
immense detail in the infrared.
Fate of Mission: SIRTF is scheduled for a two and
a half year long mission. At the end of this period, it
will most likely remain in use, but in a more limited
manner.
JWST (James Webb Space Telescope)
Launch Date:~ 2011
Arrival at Target:~2011
Countries and Agencies Involved: NASA
Source: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/ (Official
NASA Site)
Orbit: Once JWST is launched into space using a
Ariane 5 Rocket, it will most likely establish an
orbit around the Earth at about 1.5 million km
from Earth. At this distance, JWST can be cold
enough to operate without excessive coolant.
Important Scientific Discoveries: JWST will
be able to study the universe to a degree never
before possible. It will study in the infrared in
much higher detail than any spacecraft before it.
By observing in the infrared, JWST will be able to
expand scientists knowledge of all types of space
anomalies from nebula to the birth of stars and
planetary systems similar to Earths. Also by using
JWST, scientists hope to get a better
understanding of dark matter and the shape of
the universe .
General Narrative: JWST will take the place of
the Hubble Space Telescope at the end of this
decade. It will study the universe at the important
but previously unobserved epoch of galaxy
formation. By studying the universe so far in the
past, JWST will reveal information about the
creation of the universe. The JWST is also a key
element in NASA's Origins Program whose goal is
to discover the origin of the universe. Also, JWST
will cost in-excess of $824.8 million.
Spacecraft Design and Instruments: JWST
will have many innovations on it that will make it
the most advanced telescope ever. It will be
constructed using extremely light weight mirrors.
This will cut down on costs because the cost of
launching satellites is determined by their weight
and lighter mirrors will mean decreased launch
costs. The primary mirror for JWST will not have
Fate of Mission: Although there is very little
the luxury of being massive and retaining its
perfect optical shape through material stiffness. information about this, the theory is that JWST
will last for five to ten years.
The quality of the reflective surface will be
computer controlled and this will give higher
quality and sharper images. Also, JWST is
expected to operate at 30-100 Kelvin, so it needs
a large amount of coolant. The infrared telescope
will be take photographs in unbelievable detail
and an artists concept of it is to the right.