All Space articles – Page 218
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Inertial-platform failure is identified in Ariane 5 loss
Tim Furniss/LONDON INSPECTION of a segment of the vehicle-equipment bay recovered from the debris of the Ariane 5 booster lost on 4 June has revealed a malfunction in the inertial platforms, the European Space Agency (ESA) says. ESA and French space agency CNES had earlier reported ...
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Rockwell pushes X-33 technology for Shuttle
Guy Norris/PALMDALE ROCKWELL IS OFFERING to upgrade Space Shuttles with technology developed for theX-33 re-useable launch vehicle. Rockwell is competing for the X-33 contract against teams led by Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas (MDC), and expects a NASA decision as early as 25 June. Thermal-protection ...
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Fertile ground
Canada's Radarsat has been such a success that a second satellite is planned. Tim Furniss/LONDON IN JUNE, CANADA'S Spar Aerospace-built remote-manipulator-system robot arm was operated on yet another Space Shuttle mission, the STS77/Endeavour. Marc Garneau, one of Canada's four space travellers, was aboard for the ...
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DC-XA is flown twice, on consecutive days
THE MCDONNELL Douglas DC-XA re-useable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launch- vehicle demonstrator and precursor to the X-33, had its second and third test flights on 5 and 6 June. The 26h launch turn around, impressed NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who comments: "We are going to replace the Shuttle with this". ...
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Hughes and MMS share Astra 2 satellite dealy
Tim Furniss/LONDON MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) has broken a virtual monopoly by Hughes Space and Communications by being awarded half of a contract from Luxembourg's Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES) to supply the new-generation Astra 2A and B digital television and radio direct-broadcast satellites. The ...
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Ceaseless turmoil
Europe's SOHO spacecraft is showing that the Sun is proving tobe a surprisingly dynamic star. Tim Furniss/LONDON EVERYONE IS IMPRESSED by the SOHO's performance, says Roget Bonnet, the European Space Agency's (ESA) director of science. "By the end of the mission, we shall know the Sun far better ...
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Brazil in French space link
Brazil has signed space-technology deals with French space agency CNES, Aerospatiale and Soci‚t‚ Europ‚enne de Propulsion (SEP), to build a small science satellite and Earth-observation cameras, and to develop launcher technologies for its $120 million-a-year space programme. The 80kg satellite, to study the space environment in low-Earth orbit, ...
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Arcing cause of Tethered loss
THE ALENIA-BUILT Italian Tethered Satellite was lost in space during the STS75/Columbia Space Shuttle mission on 25 February, when its tether broke after suffering "arcing and burning", says an investigation team appointed by NASA (Flight International, 6-12 March). The arcing occurred because the tether was penetrated by either ...
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Moon Discovery spacecraft on schedule
THE LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT Lunar Prospector Orbiter is on schedule for its launch in October 1997 on the third of NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" Solar System missions in the Discovery programme (Flight International, 17-23 January, PP37-38). Lockheed Martin says that spacecraft components are under construction, science instruments are almost ready, and ...
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Data from the Galileo reveal Io's iron heart
NASA's GALILEO Orbiter has provided data which indicate that Jupiter's moon, Io, has an iron core like that of the Earth. No other iron-cored body has yet been found in the Solar System. The Galileo was flown past Io at a distance of 900km shortly after entering orbit ...
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Ashes to ashes
Small capsules containing the cremated remains of space pioneers are due to be ejected into orbit as part of the mission of the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL launcher, which will launch Spain's Minisat in September. The remains, including those of space physicist Gerard O'Neill, Todd Hawley, the founder of the ...
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The Endeavour lands after rendezvous record mission
Tim Furniss/LONDON THE SPACE SHUTTLE Orbiter Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 May, after setting a civilian Shuttle record with a series of four space rendezvous. The successful STS77 mission was the 11th flight by the Endeavour and marks the mid-way point ...
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Spar lands $11 million antenna contract
CANADA'S SPAR Aerospace has been awarded an $11 million contract from Lockheed Martin to design, manufacture, integrate and test the transmit-and-receive antenna feed-arrays for the Asia Cellular Satellite (ACES). The ACES satellite will provide mobile, hand-held, telephone services in Asia. The arrays are critical elements, with stringent performance ...
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Air purification
The air-purification system for the Alpha International Space Station has passed a 30-day evaluation test at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama. In a simulation creating conditions during manning by four crew, engineers injected carbon dioxide and water and removed oxygen for a 175m3 (6,200ft3) test module. ...
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Pegasus launches MSTI 3 for USAF
THE FINAL standard model of the three-stage, air-launched Pegasus booster carried the US Air Force's Miniature Sensor Technology Integration satellite, MSTI 3, into orbit on 17 May. It was the sixth successful launch of the Orbital Sciences (OSC) booster since April 1990. The Pegasus was released from an ...
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FCC says yes to LoralSat system
THE US FEDERAL Communications Commission has given Loral Space and Communications the go-ahead to develop and launch two LoralSat high-powered satellites to provide a full range of digital voice, data and television services to commercial and private users in the USA, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. ...
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Solar wind identified as satellite-failure culprit
Tim Furniss/LONDON THE UK'S DEFENCE Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has produced "...conclusive evidence that many satellites are at risk from electrostatic discharges while in orbit". The threats result from the "surprising" interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic fields as they occur ...
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Air purification
The air-purification system for the Alpha International Space Station has passed a 30-day evaluation test at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama. During a simulation of conditions during manning by four crew, engineers injected carbon dioxide and water and removed oxygen for a 175m3 (6,200ft3) test module. ...
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New entrant
Tim Furniss/LONDON A NEW ENTRANT in the commercial-launcher market will have its debut on 25 May with the lift-off of Europe's Ariane 5. The first flight will carry four Cluster science satellites, on the first of two European Space Agency-funded demonstration flights. When it enters service ...
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NASA will use OSC Pegasus booster for Trace craft satellite
NASA HAS EXERCISED an option to use an Orbital Sciences (OSC) Pegasus XL booster under the Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contract to launch the Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer (Trace) satellite in 1997. The deal is worth $12 million. This is the fifth launch to be ...