Cleaning Up Space

Everyone I know seems to be thinking about reducing clutter these days.  Some company in my area markets that they will clear everything out of your house, and take care of dumping what needs to be dumped, recycling what can be recycled, selling what can be sold, and donating what can be donated.  Why didn’t […]

Everyone I know seems to be thinking about reducing clutter these days.  Some company in my area markets that they will clear everything out of your house, and take care of dumping what needs to be dumped, recycling what can be recycled, selling what can be sold, and donating what can be donated.  Why didn’t I think of that?  I would love doing that, and even better, getting paid for doing it.

But, what about junk and clutter which not in your house, or for that matter, not even on this earth.  It turns out, space junk, or space debris is a pretty serious problem.  Yamamoto Toru explains “This mounting volume of space debris could hit and damage satellites operating in space, so satellites are forced to avoid collisions as they operate and safe space activities are hindered. It is even possible that we could someday find it difficult to engage in any space activity whatsoever. This is why we need space debris control.”

Astroscale Japan Inc., a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc., is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) on a project called CDRS2 (Commercial Debris Removal Demonstration.)  There is a two-phased approach to CRD2.  Phase 1 of CDR2 involves demonstrating the ability to survey a target piece of space debris.  Later, Phase 2 will involve removing that piece of Space Debris from Space.  The docking, capture, and removal in Phase 2 can only happen after we gain sufficient knowledge of the satellite characteristics, which would occur during operations like those demonstrated in Phase 1.

Astroscale Japan successfully launched its Phase 1 Satellite, ADRAS-J ( Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) on February 18, 2024. 

Recently, Astroscale Japan released the following UPDATE for the ongoing mission…”After an excellent start to on-orbit operations, Astroscale Japan has begun the rendezvous operations phase of its ADRAS-J mission today, February 22 at approximately 11:00 am UTC. In this phase, the operations team based in Japan and the UK will use ADRAS-J’s propulsion system to start maneuvering towards the client orbit. This initial rendezvous phase requires careful planning of several orbit raising maneuvers to ensure accurate, precise and safe approach to the client.”  You can keep up with this mission at News & Resources – Astroscale, Securing Space Sustainability .

This is an exciting operation for all those involved in the mission, but for all of us too.  A long-term plan for reducing space junk is long overdue, and most welcome.

Representatives from both Astroscale and Applied Technology Institute will be attending Satellite 2024 in Washington DC during the week of March 18. 

If you want to learn more about Astroscale, drop by their booth on the floor of the Exhibit Hall. 

ATI offers a wide range of Space-related short-courses.  If you want to learn more about ATI ( www.aticourses.com ) and how we can help you with you and your company with your Training Needs, we would be happy to meet with you over coffee at the conference.  Email me at bob@aticourses.com and we can schedule a time and place to talk.

Mission Excitement Leads to Disappointment

It is uncommon for events to line up as they did for me this morning.  At a 10:00 ATI Staff Meeting, I was asked to write a Blog to market our upcoming course entitled Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design.  In this course, students will learn about how adverse interactions between the space environment and […]

It is uncommon for events to line up as they did for me this morning. 

At a 10:00 ATI Staff Meeting, I was asked to write a Blog to market our upcoming course entitled Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design.  In this course, students will learn about how adverse interactions between the space environment and a spacecraft may lead to a degradation of spacecraft subsystem performance and possibly even loss of the spacecraft itself. This two-day course will present an introduction to the space environment and its effect on spacecraft. Emphasis is placed on problem solving techniques and design guidelines that will provide the student with an understanding of how space environment effects may be minimized through proactive spacecraft design.

I began blogging, as I always do, by looking for ways to make this topic relevant to things that are happening today.  I did a search for spacecraft with upcoming missions which may be worthy of discussion.

I am ashamed to admit that I was totally unaware that only an hour later, a bold Japanese mission was to be putting a lunar lander on the moon.  How could I have been so uninformed?  I immediately went looking for their live feed.

The lander,built by Japanese firm Ispace launched atop a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on December 11. The spacecraft then made a three-month trek to enter orbit around the moon, which lies about 239,000 miles (383,000 kilometers) from Earth, using a low-energy trajectory. Overall, the journey took the lander about 870,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers) through space.  Landing was scheduled for about 60 minutes after I learned about this mission. 

I watched the live feed excitedly, only to learn that the mission failed after the expected touch down, and the lander is presumed to have crashed on the surface of the moon.

Although a serious disappointment for all involved in this mission, there are valuable lessons that were learned, not the least of which is that the Space Environment is very harsh, and any miscalculation in that environment can have very serious consequences.

To learn more about how adverse interactions between the space environment and a spacecraft may lead to a degradation of spacecraft subsystem performance and possibly even loss of the spacecraft itself, consider enrolling in the upcoming 2-day ATI course Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design.  You can learn more about the course, and register for it here.

Artemis I Mission Success, Bring on Artemis II

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years […]

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years later, the goal is more ambitious since technology can support so much more.  The first objective today is to reach the moon, and stay there.  The next goal would be to use the moon as a landing pad to support exploration of things beyond the moon, most notably Mars.  The NASA Artemis Missions will be the way these objectives are accomplished.

The Artemis Mission is comprised of six projects which together will allow NASA to accomplish its goals of reaching the moon, staying on the moon for long term exploration, and getting closer to the ultimate goal of being able to send men and women beyond the moon.  The six projects include:

Ground Systems – Upgrading Earth ground systems to support the larger rockets which will be needed

Space Launch System – The new and more powerful rocket that will launch man toward the moon and beyond

Orion – The spacecraft that will bring astronauts to the moon’s orbit, and return them to earth from the moon’s orbit

Gateway – The outpost spacecraft which will orbit the moon and be living quarters for the astronauts when they are not on the moon surface

Lunar Landers – The spacecraft which will transfer astronauts between the Gateway and the moon Surface, and

Space Suits – The new and improved suits that the astronauts will need to carry out their mission.

The timeline for this mission has three major milestones, namely:

Artemis I – a now-complete unmanned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion

Artemis II – a planned manned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion

Artemis III – A planned manned flight to the moon that will return man to the moon.

Artemis I, the mission whose goal was an unmanned flight of Orion to the moon, is now successfully completed.  The Launch was flawless in mid-November, showing the advanced capabilities of the Space Launch System.  Orion reached the moon on November 25 without any issues and orbited the moon.  On December 1, 2022, Orion will started its trip back to earth, and on Dec 11, the Artemis I mission ended with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Although Artemis I is now one for the history books, there are additional Artemis missions being planned, and we hope that they will all be as spectacular and as successful as Artemis I.

ATI offers a plethora of courses which relate to Space exploration.  Check out our list of Space related courses here.    If you are interested in the legal aspects of Space exploration, you can express interest in our Astropolitics Seminar which will be offered in conjunction with the 2023 Space Symposium

Although the author thinks Space Exploration is exciting and important, and I fully endorse all of the goals of the Artemis Mission, I can’t help but wonder why the Government is not spending at least as much money on exploration of the deep oceans.  I would challenge the US to start investing more money in Ocean Exploration, but not at the expense of Space Exploration.  Both are important.  I am curious what readers think about this issue, please leave your comments below.

And, if you are interested in Ocean Exploration, ATI has a few courses which may be of interest to you too.  Please check out our full list of offerings here.

And if you simply want to learn more about the Artemis Mission, you can go to the NASA Artemis site that describes the mission in more detail. 

You’re Going To The Moon, Alice

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years […]

Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the Moon, and that will probably always be the case.  At first, in the time leading up to the famous first moon landing in 1969, the goal was simply to reach the moon, and spend a short time looking around, and return to earth safely.  Now, 50 years later, the goal is more ambitious since technology can support so much more.  The first objective today is to reach the moon, and stay there.  The next goal would be to use the moon as a landing pad to support exploration of things beyond the moon, most notably Mars.  The NASA Artemis Missions will be the way these objectives are accomplished.  I am not sure about you, but this mission snuck up on me, and I am learning about it now. 

The Artemis Mission is comprised of six projects which together will allow NASA to accomplish its goals of reaching the moon, staying on the moon for long term exploration, and getting closer to ultimate goal of being able to send men (and women) beyond the moon.  The six projects include:

Ground Systems – Upgrading Earth ground systems to support the larger rockets which will be needed

Space Launch System – The new and more powerful rocket that will launch man toward the moon and beyond

Orion – The spacecraft that will bring astronauts to the moon’s orbit, and return them to earth from the moon’s orbit

Gateway – The outpost spacecraft which will orbit the moon and be living quarters for the astronauts when they are not on the moon surface

Lunar Landers – The spacecraft which will transfer astronauts between the Gateway and the moon Surface, and

Space Suits – The new and improved suits that the astronauts will need to carry out their mission.

The timeline for this mission has three major milestones, namely, the three Artemis missions, Artemis I, Artemis II, and Artemis III.

Artemis I – an unmanned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion, scheduled for 2021

Artemis II – a manned flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion, scheduled for 2022

Artemis III – A manned flight to the moon that will return man to the moon.

This is a truly ambitious mission, and an even more ambitious schedule.

ATI offers a plethora of courses which relate to Space exploration.  Check out our list of Space related courses here.    If you are interested in the legal aspects of Space exploration, you can register for our upcoming Astropolitics class here

Although the author thinks Space Exploration is exciting and important, and I fully endorse all of the goals of the Artemis Mission, I can’t help but wonder why the Government is not spending at least as much money on exploration of the deep oceans.  I would challenge the US to start investing more money in Ocean Exploration, but not at the expense of Space Exploration.  Both of these are important.  I am curious what readers think about this issue, please leave your comments below.

And, if you are interested in Ocean Exploration, ATI has a few courses which may be of interest to you too.  Please check out our full list of offerings here.

And if you simply want to learn more about the Artemis Mission, you can go to the NASA Artemis site that describes the mission in more detail. 

NASA Reveals 3 Stage Plan for First Official Mission to Mars

From rovers to orbiting probes that are currently exploring Mars, NASA is already preparing to launch missions to Mars when the space agency announced a detailed three step plan for future manned space missions to the Red Planet. NASA plans to manage these challenges of human spaceflight and colonization of Mars into three stages that […]
An artist's depiction of the Earth Reliant, Proving Ground and Earth Independent thresholds, showing key capabilities that will be developed along the way.From rovers to orbiting probes that are currently exploring Mars, NASA is already preparing to launch missions to Mars when the space agency announced a detailed three step plan for future manned space missions to the Red Planet. NASA plans to manage these challenges of human spaceflight and colonization of Mars into three stages that will involve delivering different mission capabilities. The first stage called Earth Reliant involves conducting extensive research aboard the International Space Station where scientists will carry out a myriad scientific tests on different technology involving microgravity that can benefit human performance and health when it comes to human spaceflight. Data will then be collected and applied to deep space missions. The second stage known as Proving Ground involves NASA scientists to carry out another set of complex, technical stages in a deep space environment for astronauts to learn how to live and work in an alien world such as Mars. NASA will focus on cislunar space which is the space surrounding the moon for potential staging orbits for future deep space missions with the help of the Asteroid Redirect Mission. The final Earth Independent third stage will involve consolidating all important data from the ISS and then executing manned missions to Mars and its moons, in Martian lower orbit or its lunar orbit and eventually on the surface of the Red Planet. The space agency plans to send its first manned mission to Mars in the early 2030s with its Space Launch System and its Orion crewed spacecraft.
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