Soyuz launch with Foton-M3 and YES2 - 14 Sept 2007

• #60 by sammie on 16 Sep, 2007 20:20
• Quote

  Foton M2 was launched from Baikonur as well. I am not aware that M3 was scheduled for launch from Plesetsk.

  Sorry, didn't make mysefl clear, historically Foton launches have been from Plestek, up to the M1 failure. I was wondering while the two latest installments of this programme were launches from Baikonur. Thanks for answering the other questions though!
• #61 by kilyerd on 17 Sep, 2007 18:51
• In fact, the Foton-M3 mission was initially planned for plesetsk, then move to Baikonur.
• #62 by Suzy on 18 Sep, 2007 06:33

• Quote

  sammie - 14/9/2007  10:20 PM  Shame about the webcast, lets just hope the mission goes well. Somehow I think it's an extremely cool mission, both the hardware (it's heritage) and the possibilities of the Foton/Bion spacecraft are amazing. Hope to see it return in 1 piece and hope that in the future we will see more Foton M launches (with webcast)  Interesting to see that Foton M carried live animals, while it was originally intended for materials processing experiments. Bion on the other hand focused on biological experiments.

  A brief RIA Novosti news item on the creatures the Foton is carrying. Looks like the unfortunate gerbils will be dissected after landing, though!
  

• #63 by max_schmurz on 24 Sep, 2007 11:16
• If someone wants to watch the webcast of this launch, try to find it here (amateur video, comments in Russian):
  
  http://www.ip4tv.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=54
• #64 by anik on 24 Sep, 2007 14:18
• Schedule of events from reports of Russian media:
  
  September 25, 07:55 UTC - Fotino capsule's landing (near Derzhavinsk, Kazakhstan)
  September 26, 07:23:39 UTC - Beginning of Foton-M No. 3 satellite's deorbit
  September 26, 07:57 UTC - Foton-M No. 3 landing (140 kilometres south of Kustanay, Kazakhstan)
• #65 by jacqmans on 24 Sep, 2007 18:27
• Press Release No.29-2007
  Paris, 24 September 2007
  
  Fluid theory confirmed by Foton space experiment
  
  In scientific research, there is great satisfaction when theoretical work is eventually supported by experimentation. Such was the case this week for a team of Italian and US scientists when they received preliminary confirmation of a 10-year-old theory from a fluid science experiment that is currently orbiting the Earth on the Foton-M3 spacecraft.
  
  Although the Foton was only launched a week ago, the scientists are already very excited about the data they have received from their experiment, known as GRADFLEX (GRAdient-Driven FLuctuation EXperiment). The first results are qualitatively consistent with detailed theoretical predictions made over the past decade.
  
  All liquids experience minute fluctuations in temperature or concentration as a result of the different velocities of individual molecules. These fluctuations are usually so small that they are extremely difficult to observe.
  
  In the 1990s, scientists discovered that these tiny fluctuations in fluids and gases can increase in size, and even be made visible to the naked eye, if a strong gradient is introduced. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature at the bottom of a thin liquid layer, though not quite enough to cause convection. Alternatively, by heating the fluid from above, convection is suppressed, making it possible to achieve more accurate measurements.
  
  Although the early research involved ground-based measurements, it was suggested that the fluctuations would become much more noticeable in a weightless environment. Now, thanks to the Foton mission, the opportunity to test this prediction has come about, and the results completely support the earlier forecast.
  
  "The first images from the experiment were downloaded to the Payload Operations Centre in Kiruna, Sweden, and received on Earth after only a few orbits," explained Professor Marzio Giglio, leader of the team from the Department of Physics and CNR-INFM (Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia), University of Milan, Italy.  
  
  To the delight of the science team, the images visually support the theoretical predictions by showing a very large increase in the size of the fluctuations. Data analysis has also shown that the amplitude of the fluctuations in temperature and concentration greatly increased.
  
  "It is a rare event when a space mission is able to confirm a theoretical prediction in such record time," said Olivier Minster, Head of ESA's Physical Sciences Unit. "These results are important because they are the first verification of the effects forecast a decade ago."
  
  "The availability of these images from the spacecraft has enabled us to change what we are doing so that we can optimise the scientific return from the mission," said Professor David Cannell of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). "We will also have many thousands of images to analyse back in our labs after the experiment returns to Earth. This will keep us busy for quite a while."
  
  "It may be that our results will influence other types of microgravity research, such as the growth of crystals. Our research may even lead to some new technological spin-offs," said Professor Giglio.
  
  GRADFLEX is one of 43 ESA scientific and technological experiments on board the 12-day Foton-M3 mission. The mission is scheduled to end on 26 September, when the re-entry capsule will return to Earth in Kazakhstan. The onboard experiments will be returned to their home institutions where the data will be carefully analysed over the coming months.
  
  LINKS:
  
  Lift-off for Foton microgravity mission
  http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQDB13J6F_index_0.html
  
  Foton-M3 mission to launch European experiments:
  http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMN5ZMPQ5F_FeatureWeek_0.html
  
  
  False colour images from the Single fluid study, showing temperature fluctuations in a simple, single-component organic fluid on Earth (left) and aboard Foton-M3 (right). The fluctuations in normal gravity on Earth are barely visible.
  
  False colour images showing concentration fluctuations for the Mixture fluid sample on Earth (left) and aboard Foton-M3 (right).
  
  For further information:
  Olivier Minster
  Head of ESA's Physical Sciences Unit
  Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme
  +31 71 565 4764
  [email protected]
  
  Stefano Mazzoni
  ESA GRADFLEX project scientist
  Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme
  +31 71 565 8377
  [email protected]
  
• #66 by eeergo on 24 Sep, 2007 18:47
• Thanks for that press release, Jacques, it's nice to know some insight about the 'scientific experiments' whose results don't usually get too publisized.
  
  Could you give a link or attach the images that should be at the end of the release?
• #67 by jacqmans on 24 Sep, 2007 21:02
• images can be seen here:
  
  http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM585C1S6F_index_0.html
  
• #68 by eeergo on 25 Sep, 2007 11:52
• YES 2 has worked according to what was planned: the tether was successfully deployed, the systems all operated nominally (despite some fears they could have frozen because of the attitude of Foton) and Fotino should be on the ground by now. They're still waiting confirmation by the recovery team...
  
  http://www.yes2.info/frontpage
• #69 by astropl on 25 Sep, 2007 12:04
• Quote

  eeergo - 25/9/2007  1:52 PM
  
  YES 2 has worked according to what was planned: the tether was successfully deployed, the systems all operated nominally (despite some fears they could have frozen because of the attitude of Foton) and Fotino should be on the ground by now. They're still waiting confirmation by the recovery team...
  
  http://www.yes2.info/frontpage

  
  According to Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum: http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7019&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45
  tether was deployed only 8,5 km, not full 30 km. Fotino with tether wasn't deorbited and is space junk now
• #70 by meiza on 25 Sep, 2007 12:29
• The landing is being live blogged at
  http://www.yes2.info/frontpage
  Latest line as of now is this:
  

  Quote

  Submitted by fabio on Tue, 25/09/2007 - 09:10.
  
  All it's silent here in Moscow, no data from the Russians of Foton, no data from ARGOS, no data from Fotino Telemetry from the recovery team.
  Tension is building up...
  
• #71 by eeergo on 25 Sep, 2007 12:55

• Quote

  astropl - 25/9/2007 2:04 PM According to Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum: http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7019&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45 tether was deployed only 8,5 km, not full 30 km. Fotino with tether wasn't deorbited and is space junk now

  If true (and NK doesn't usually get the things wrong ) it's a real shame. 8,5 km was the initial tether deployment, to be kept until the orbital velocities' difference between Foton and YES2 was great enough to support the 30 km deployement.

  However, its orbit should decay over the next few months, if not weeks, I presume. It would be real luck, but supposing it fell in a not too remote area, it'd be great if they could manage to recover it, even if the parachutes didn't work because the battery might have depleted.

  I'm asking too much, I know :bleh:

  EDIT: And, as was predictable, the news was true. This is the last blog update:

  Hi people!
  Sorry to have been silent so long, but we've been understanding what was going on ourselves.

  As the tether deployed slower than planned, it reached a length of 8.5 km before the preprogrammed command released Fotino loose from MASS and cut the tether. We are currently assessing the orbit of Fotino to understand when and where the capsule will return to Earth on its parachute.

  Despite not having reached the full 30 km deployment, we think that the hard work of the YES2 team has paid off with this largely successful demonstration.

  We're going to keep you updated on the news, as soon as they come up. By now here in Moscow there is a lot of activity to analyse the data we received from the Foton and the TeleSupport telemetry.

• #72 by eeergo on 25 Sep, 2007 13:08

• Another update in ESA's site: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBBBC1S6F_index_0.html

  The cause of the failure was apparently a too slow deployement of the tether. However, they say they're assessing the orbit Fotino is in, so that a possible later recovery can be attempted.

• #73 by meiza on 25 Sep, 2007 13:18
• Ok, so it's still in orbit.
• #74 by eeergo on 25 Sep, 2007 19:14

• New and great update: Preliminary Mission Report--> http://www.yes2.info/node/128

  [...]Later, during the second stage, the tether slowed down for yet unknown reason, somehow the friction level was significantly too high and could no longer be controlled. We still have to find out the details. It reached a length of 8.5 km stopped, and was swinging below Foton for about 15-20 degrees oscillation, before the preprogrammed commands released Fotino from MASS and cut the tether.

  [...]Fotino's batteries are sufficient to survive until re-entry so we can expect tranmission for several days to come. We are looking also for MASS transmission, and as it is tethered, that tether is also orbiting and can be observed from the ground for two or so more days - which then would be useful for scientific and mission analysis. The Fotino electronics for parachute and beacon are designed to deal with this off-nominal case, to guarantee a safe landing, and for us to be able to get detailed information on the whereabouts of the eventual landing, which is to be expected in 4-11 days.

  [...]Conclusion YES2: from a perspective of technology development: full success. Tether science: near full success. Education: more than full success. Tether deployment: better than half. Tether safety: full success. Re-entry: still TBD We are not done yet, as we have a lot of data to plough through now.

  And a smaller but interesting for Europeans who don't have (like me) lots of clouds in their sky: sighting opportunities of the tether (as wide as the full moon!): http://www.yes2.info/node/129

• #75 by avitek on 26 Sep, 2007 05:59
• Landing of Foton M-3 re-entry vehicle planned 100 km south of town Kustanay in Kazakhstan today 2007-09-26 at  approx. 11:57 Moscow time i.e. 07:57 UTC.
  
  See: http://www.rian.ru/science/20070926/80909847-print.html (in Russian)
• #76 by avitek on 26 Sep, 2007 09:52
• Deorbit burn 2007-09-26 07:23:43 UTC
  Re-entry vehicle landed today 2007-09-26 07:58 UTC
  Coordinates:  51,5 deg N, 63,26 deg E, cca. 170km south of town Kustanay
  
  http://www.rian.ru/technology/cosmos/20070926/80973640.html
• #77 by satcomuk on 26 Sep, 2007 12:01
• The Yes2 site indicates that the tether should have been visible over Europe last night ( Cloudy here )  
  
  I am wondering if there's a possibility it might also be viz this evening.
  
  Perhaps someone on the team could update us with possible sighting oportunities for the next 48 hours.
  
  
  John
• #78 by jacqmans on 27 Sep, 2007 12:58
• The Second Young Engineers' Satellite (YES2) was activated and separated from the Foton-M3 spacecraft earlier today. The tether deployed for 8.5 km, after which the Fotino capsule was released on its way to Earth.
  
  Full story:
  http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBBBC1S6F_index_0.html
  
• #79 by eeergo on 27 Sep, 2007 16:44
• And Foton M3 has successfully returned to Earth!
  
  http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFVO6H07F_index_0.html