good find Space Pete and welcome back, hope you got all rested up.
Quote from: Prober on 09/30/2012 02:32 pmgood find Space Pete and welcome back, hope you got all rested up.Heh, thanks Prober.It sure was nice to see the Sun for a change, instead of the usual British cloud and rain. But I'm back now and ready to assume my ISS coverage duties once again.
JAXA reports the deployment of five CubeSats from the International Space Station (ISS) should take place on Thursday, October 4 commencing with the first pod at 1430 UT (3:30pm BST) and the second at 1535 UT. It is planned to broadcast the deployment live on the web.
Any word on the DAM tonight? This is the first I've heard of it... 0322Z Thursday (1122pm EDT Wednesday)http://www.boston.com/news/science/2012/10/03/space-station-move-avoid-debris/s4trvaau3eYF4ASLHZckpO/story.html
Is there in fact more drag/requirement for reboost at 400+ km orbit than anticipated?
During the ATV-2 mission in 2011, four “big boosts” of the ISS were performed by the ATV-2 SM to raise the altitude of the ISS by 30 km, to around 400 km, in order to decrease the requirements for reboosts in the post-Shuttle era due to lesser atmospheric drag at higher altitudes.Due to this decreased requirement for propellants, and thus increased capacity for dry cargo, numerous modifications were planned for the ATV ICCs from ATV-3 onwards, including the addition of Enhanced Integrated Stowage Platforms (EISPs), an Aft Carrier Plate (ACP) and Aft Cargo Frames (ACFs) to stow cargo on the aft endcone of the ICC, and stowing cargo in the rack standoff support structures. However, as explained by an ESA ATV engineer in a Q&A with NASASpaceflight.com (available in full on L2), such modifications are now no longer planned.“These modifications were based on very low propellant estimates from the NASA Viper team (the folks who manage the ISS requirements for fluid and dry cargo). The desire for these modifications came from an earlier (ca. 2009) high-level estimate of ISS needs over the next five years. Based on this information, ESA’s ATV team were told that the ISS propulsive support propellant would be the minimum possible amount and that the water and refuelling propellant would have a total combined mass of no more than 860 kg.”“However, recent updates to that estimate foresee a much higher propellant support need and a minimum of 860 kg of refuelling propellant as well as a possibility for water. All of this implies that there will be, in future ATVs, a higher ratio of dry cargo vs. liquid.”
Quote from: PahTo on 10/03/2012 07:50 pmIs there in fact more drag/requirement for reboost at 400+ km orbit than anticipated?Yup, exactly right.From my March 6 article "Europe’s ATV-3 spacecraft set to deliver large cargo load to ISS"http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/03/europes-atv-3-spacecraft-deliver-large-cargo-load-iss/QuoteDuring the ATV-2 mission in 2011, four “big boosts” of the ISS were performed by the ATV-2 SM to raise the altitude of the ISS by 30 km, to around 400 km, in order to decrease the requirements for reboosts in the post-Shuttle era due to lesser atmospheric drag at higher altitudes.Due to this decreased requirement for propellants, and thus increased capacity for dry cargo, numerous modifications were planned for the ATV ICCs from ATV-3 onwards, including the addition of Enhanced Integrated Stowage Platforms (EISPs), an Aft Carrier Plate (ACP) and Aft Cargo Frames (ACFs) to stow cargo on the aft endcone of the ICC, and stowing cargo in the rack standoff support structures. However, as explained by an ESA ATV engineer in a Q&A with NASASpaceflight.com (available in full on L2), such modifications are now no longer planned.“These modifications were based on very low propellant estimates from the NASA Viper team (the folks who manage the ISS requirements for fluid and dry cargo). The desire for these modifications came from an earlier (ca. 2009) high-level estimate of ISS needs over the next five years. Based on this information, ESA’s ATV team were told that the ISS propulsive support propellant would be the minimum possible amount and that the water and refuelling propellant would have a total combined mass of no more than 860 kg.”“However, recent updates to that estimate foresee a much higher propellant support need and a minimum of 860 kg of refuelling propellant as well as a possibility for water. All of this implies that there will be, in future ATVs, a higher ratio of dry cargo vs. liquid.”
Thanks for the quick response! And thanks for the excellent work/coverage of our manned space program...
05.10.2012 / 09:38 2 октября 2012 года с Российского сегмента Международной космической станции впервые по лазерному каналу была передана широкополосная информация на наземный пункт В рамках космического эксперимента (СЛС) по отработке аппаратуры и демонстрации российской технологии создания космических лазерных систем передачи информации, проводимого ОАО «НПК «СПП» совместно с ОАО «РКК «Энергия», осуществлен сеанс передачи информации с терминала связи, установленного на борту РС МКС, на лазерный терминал наземного пункта станции оптических наблюдений «Архыз» на Северном Кавказе (филиал ОАО «НПК «СПП»). Была передана информация общим объемом 2,8 Гигабайт со скоростью 125 Мбит/с. Этот шаг открывает дорогу к широкому внедрению в космическую технику России лазерных линий связи, которые при меньших массогабаритных параметрах бортовой аппаратуры потенциально могут обеспечивать исключительно высокую скорость информационного потока (до десятков гигабит в секунду), сообщает пресс-служба Роскосмоса.
