Oregon Company Flies High

It isn't often that Oregon makes space news, so I found this to be a real treat.  NASA recently awarded contracts to seven private companies to carry scientific payloads to suborbital space.  One of those companies, Near Space Corporation (NSC), is based out of Tillamook, Oregon.  Okay, so they aren't exactly going into space - NSC builds and launches high altitude balloons.  Very high altitude.  They can launch a payload of over 1300 kg up to an altitude of about 40 km.  That's 130,000 feet.  That's above 99.9% of Earth's atmosphere, and while it isn't quite space, it is high enough to interest NASA.

Near Space Corporation preparing for a balloon launch near Tillamook, Oregon (NSC).

NSC has, in fact, already done some work for NASA, the Jet Propulsion Lab, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  They've done high altitude payload drops to simulate the thin Martian atmosphere, and are even designing a dirigible for use in the methane rich atmosphere of the Saturnian moon, Titan.

And while the other companies that NASA is contracting (including Virgin Galactic and Masten Space Systems) operate rockets to launch payloads to higher, suborbital space, putting scientific equipment on balloons does have its advantages.  Balloons can remain aloft for days at a time, allowing for a longer exposure to near space conditions than a single rocket launch, and for a fraction of the cost.

I'm glad Oregon is finally getting into the space mix.  Hopefully, NSC will allow NASA to get some science done on the cheap, while bringing a little attention to the Beaver State.  With luck, this will be just the beginning of Oregon's role in the burgeoning private space industry.

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST for short) has been making headlines lately, and for all the wrong reasons.  Recently, the House Appropriations Committee explicitly recommended the cancellation of the project, due to massive cost overruns.  It was revealed that the final cost of the telescope will be $8.7 billion - that covers the telescope's development, launch, and operation for five years in Earth orbit.  That is nearly four billion dollars more that was originally slated for the project.  That's a lot of money.  So what is the JWST, and why should we pay so much for it?

Artist's rendition of the James Webb Space Telescope (NASA).

The JWST, which was initially planned in 1996, is the heir apparent to the world's current most dazzling space telescope, the Hubble.  Named after a former NASA administrator, JWST promises to be the top of the line space telescope for the 21st century.  It will have four state-of-the-art instruments that will operate mostly in the infrared range, with some limited capability in the visible range of the spectrum.  It's primary mirror will be 6.5 meters in diameter; large enough to see back to nearly the beginning of the universe.  It will be the most powerful and sophisticated space telescope ever to fly.  That is, if it ever gets off the ground.

The problem comes in the crippling cost overruns the project has incurred over the years.  Despite the cooperation of the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and Northrup Grumman, NASA is still bearing the brunt of the cost.  Several new technologies have been invented specifically for the JWST, including ultra-lightweight beryllium optics, and a cryogenic cooler that will keep the IR detectors as cold as 7K.  However, with a launch date that is still 7 years off, it's making congress antsy that they may be throwing money away.

JWST might get a reprieve, however.  Despite Congress wanting the project canceled, money may be moved around in NASA itself, to further fund the project.  Of course, that might mean scaling down some other missions, or putting them off until after JWST is launched.  JWST is what NASA calls a flagship mission, one that will bring not only science, but prestige, back to the agency, and it is likely to get priority over smaller missions.

Cost overruns aside, JWST needs to be launched.  The Hubble Space Telescope has been an amazing machine that has brought the edges of the universe to the coffee tables of people's homes.  It has conducted, and continues to conduct, amazing science, but it is decades old, and its days are numbered.  Another telescope, on the grand scale of Hubble, is needed if we are going to further our understanding of the origins of our universe.  Let's bite the bullet, fund JWST, and continue to push the envelope of human knowledge.

Read more about the James Webb Space Telescope.

Video: Spectroscopy and Alien Life

I was recently came across this video at ted.com, and it's very fascinating.  Garik Israelian gives a talk on how he is using spectroscopy to determine the composition of the atmospheres of stars, and how that could lead to the discovery of alien life.  Watch the video, it's quite interesting!

China On the Rise

China's space program is making waves once again.  It is expected that before the end of this month, China will launch their first space lab, Tiangong 1.  Weighing in at 8 tons, Tiangong 1 is small by space lab standards (The U.S.'s Skylab of the 1970's was over 80 tons, and the ISS weighs in at a whopping 450 tons!), however, it does represent a technical achievement.  While not a "space station", in the strict sense, the single module Tiangong 1 will orbit for several years, and be a platform for both robotic and manned missions to practice docking procedures.  The lab will also host at least two crews for several weeks at a time.  The knowledge gained from the Tiangong 1 missions will serve China well when they develop a full fledged space station sometime in the early 2020s.

 

Artist's rendition of a Shenzhou spacecraft (left) docked with Tiangong 1

(Credit: China Astronaut Research and Training Center).

Certainly, Tiangong 1 showcases China's ever increasing ability in the realm of manned space flight.  And coming on the heels of the retirement of the US Space Shuttle, it might be easy to think that China will soon overtake America in space.  We must remember though, China has only launched three manned space missions in the past 8 years.  And while Tiangong 1 is a significant achievement, it is a step that the US and Russia took and surpassed nearly half a century ago.  To be clear, Tiangong 1 does not represent a threat to Western supremacy in space.

Indeed, the very idea of a China-US space race is highly unlikely, even in the distant future.  First off, manned space flight is no longer the endeavor of just one or two nations.  It has been completely internationalized.  We have American, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and every other nationality you can think of, riding Russian rockets to the International Space Station.  As far as most space faring nations are concerned, the way forward is through international cooperation.  If China is vying for a No.1 position, they will be taking on the rest of the world.  That isn't something that China can afford to do, at this point.  And, in fact, China would benefit immensely from distancing their military from their manned space missions, and opening up to a more international approach.

To show that China isn't a one trick pony, they successfully launched a new ocean observing satellite this week.  The Haiyang 2A satellite will replace older ocean observing satellites, and is equipped to monitor currents, surface winds, and other aspects of the maritime environment.  While the satellite's primary function will be to serve as an aid to shipping in China's crowded harbors, its suite of scientific instruments are a positive sign in China's move toward getting real science done in space.

A model of Haiyang 2A on display in China.

While China has a long way yet to go, both technically and diplomatically, in space, I applaud their efforts.  I anxiously await the launch of Tiangong 1, as well as more Chinese scientific missions.

Read more here and here.

Dawn Spacecraft Working Hard at Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which arrived at the asteroid Vesta last month, has officially started its science mission.  Dawn will study the asteroid belt's second largest asteroid from an orbit of about 2700 km, and over the next 20 days will map the entire surface using both images and a detailed spectral analysis.  This data will give scientists on Earth a better understanding of the formation of Vesta, and why it, and the larger asteroid Ceres, never fully developed into planets.

Dawn snapped this picture of Vesta from 41,000 km (NASA/JPL).

Scientists believe that Vesta accreted into a proto-planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter beginning about 10 million years after the formation of the solar system.  However, being so close to Jupiter may have disrupted Vesta's formation, leaving it with only enough material to reach a diameter of 530 km - far smaller than even Earth's Moon.

The Dawn spacecraft was launched in 2007 as part of NASA's Discovery Program, which aims to launch focused missions that are heavy on science and cost effective.  Thus far, Dawn has performed perfectly.  If all continues to go well, after a yearlong study of Vesta, Dawn will leave orbit of that asteroid and head to the even more massive dwarf planet, Ceres.  Ceres is also in the asteroid belt, and is believed to have formed under similar circumstances as Vesta.  Dawn should arrive at Ceres sometime in 2015.

Dawn in the clean room prior to launch (NASA).

The study of these asteroids comes at a good time.  Not only will the science gleaned from this mission help us understand the formation of our solar system, and possibly other solar systems, but NASA plans to send humans to an asteroid by 2025.  Studying the magnetic fields, gravitational pull, and geology of asteroids will no doubt come in handy to future human explorers of these rocky worlds.

Read more about the Dawn spacecraft, its science mission, and Vesta.