fThe Space Science Report
NASA competition announces finalists’ missions to Titan and Comet
NASA earlier this month announced two new planetary missions — one to explore the surface of Saturn’s largest satellite, Titan, and another to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Geriasmenko.
These two missions were the finalists of the New Frontiers competition, the aim of which is to allow external organisations (usually universities and research institutes) to submit their own interplanetary mission proposals to NASA! Their merits are evaluated based on interest, scientific goals, and cost. The only stipulation for entry is that the mission must not cost more then $850 million US dollars and the launch must not exceed another $150 million US dollars.
Winning the New Frontiers (previous winners including Juno, New Horizons, and OSIRIS-REX) places the mission onto fast track development. Winning missions also gain access to NASA’s limited plutonium and nuclear power systems, allowing missions to head out into the deep solar system where solar panels would otherwise be ineffective.
The Comet Astrobiological Exploration Sample Return probe (CAESAR, for those in the know) is pitched as a mission that will probe the core of comet 67P and return a sample to earth. The comet has previously been explored by the European Space Agency (ESA) during its Rosetta mission. The titan mission pitch, dubbed Dragonfly, will look more closely into the atmospheric composition of Titan’s atmosphere as well as attempt to detect organic compounds and amino acids, the building blocks of basic life, on its surface. Dragonfly is unique in that it will not be utilising a lander or rover in the traditional sense — rather, the mission will take full advantage of Titan’s thick methane atmosphere and is designed around the concept of a quadcopter that will autonomously fly from local to local taking readings and samples.
However, there is still a long way before either of these missions is a reality. The CAESAR and Dragonfly teams, backed by Cornell and John Hopkins Universities respectively, have until January 2019 to refine their proposals before a final winner is announced. Even then a launch is not expected until 2025 at which point Dragonfly would be expected to reach Titan by 2034 and CAESAR would return a sample around about 2038.
Several other missions were knocked out in the semi-final round, including a number of missions to Venus and another sample return type probe to the Southern Polar region of our moon. The Venus proposal as well as Luna return have been placed into a lower funding bracket and may be investigated more in the near future.
Falcon Heavy lifts OFF!
At 7:45AM (AEDT), SpaceX successfully conducted a test launch of its new Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral. The successful test now places the private space company, SpaceX, in the position to carry out heavy load launches as well as place probes/satellites into interplanetary trajectories.
The Falcon Heavy, touted as “the most powerful” operational rocket (based on maximum payload) in the world and only out-powered by the Apollo-era Saturn V rocket, has been in development for over a decade now. Looking from the outside, the Falcon heavy would seem to applying the concept of more boosters, with three Falcon 9 first stages strapped together so that one forms the central core and two boosters sit on either side of that core. Engineering challenges have been significantly harder with need to control fuel consumption to keep the craft balanced and strengthening the central core to withstand the weight and force two boosters.
The test launch was also utilised SpaceX’s unique booster recovery system. At T+ 10 minutes following the launch, the two side boosters successfully completed a three point manoeuvre and returned to landing pads A and B at the Kennedy Space Centre. The central core booster, continued to push the second stage payload to a high altitude where it too detached and attempted to return to the SpaceX’s sea based landing pad drone. On descent, however, three of the landing rockets failed to fire and the central core crashed into the ocean at over 300m/s, about 100m from the landing pad. Even at that distance, the force of the impact caused significant damage to the drone barge.
Due to the unpredictability of test launches, space agencies/companies rarely risk launching actual payloads during their first flights. Instead to simulate the mass of for instance a satellite, a solid concrete block or ball is placed where a payload would usually sit. Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, in case of cross promotion going offworld, instead decided to launch his red 2008 Tesla (which he is also CEO of) roadster. “A red car for the red planet” quoted Musk in an interview before the launch.
The Falcon was not simply carrying a red car, though — seated in the driver’s seat was a life-sized test doll, dubbed Starman, who was kitted out with SpaceX’s experimental space suit design. Also on board was a plaque etched with names of SpaceX’s 6000 employees and electronic components stating “Made on Earth by Humans”. Finally, tucked away in the boot of the car, was an Arch (pronounced Ark) device. The Arch is project to back up human knowledge digitally into crystalline CD-ROMS that can withstand the extremes of space for millions of years. The roadster’s Arch device contained Issac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy.
Given that the roadster might be in solar orbit for up to a billion years, this current stunt might be the best chance yet to tell anyone who comes across it that an intelligent species once inhabited this solar system.
With the roadster now on a trajectory to swing past Mars’ orbit, SpaceX has clearly proven its heavy lifting capabilities. The elusive goal of putting humans on Mars, in Musk’s words “by 2024”, now seem one small step closer.
Written by Pravind Easwaran
Want to write for YSA Melbourne? Give us a buzz at communications@melbourne.ysa.org.au or on our Facebook page!
