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SpaceFlight
A British Interplanetary Society publication
Volume 70 No.1 January 2018 £5.00
Europa to spike
crewed Orion?
01>
Clarke centenary
9 770038 634072
i4is Grand Opening
The story of Apollo 5
CONTENTS
Features
14 Science for a Safer World
Chris Starr assesses the role of the Sentinel-2B
satellite, part of the Copernicus programme, in
helping to monitor the planet.
18
MOORE to Remember
Stuart Eves imagines M.O.O.R.E., a “virtual 14
Letter from the Editor museum” where microsatellites provide “fly-
through” visual scans of historic satellites.
Welcome to the January 2018 issue of
SpaceFlight, the first of a new design 22 Starship Troupers
with more pages and a distinctive style Patrick Mahon reports on the grand opening of
that’s in keeping with the progressive i4is – Initiative for Interstellar Studies.
aspirations of the British
Interplanetary Society – the world’s 24 The launch of Apollo 5
longest-running organisation for space The Editor remembers the first flight of the Lunar
advocacy. Module in January 1968 and recalls what it was
Thanks and gratitude go to like behind the scenes during this often- 18 22
professional designer Andrée Wilson* overlooked milestone on the race to the Moon.
who has developed a style that is a
great improvement on the previous 32 Monument to a Space Pioneer
look of the magazine, and to Martin Alan Marlow visits a museum in Bavaria dedicated
Preston, who has spent a lifetime in to pioneering rocketeer Hermann Oberth.
design, editing and publishing, and is
now the custodian of putting those 34 1917-2017 A Space Odyssey
ideas into practice. We welcome him As part of our centenary series commemorating
aboard and thank both for their the life of Arthur C. Clarke, Nick Spall reflects on
impressive contributions. mysteries real and imagined. 24
As we look to an exciting space year
ahead with lots of events and activities
Regulars
to record, I am proud of the content
COVER: EUROPA CLIPPER HOMES IN ON JUPITER/NASA *andrée-wilsion.com
provided by our contributors, and of
the hardworking staff and volunteers
at the BIS who do so much, frequently
with few bouquets (and the odd 4 Behind the news
unwarranted brickbat!), to advance the Orion crewed flights delayed • Enceladus:
Society and to support your monthly Saturn’s heat pump 32
magazine – our “new” SpaceFlight.
7 Opinion
10 I SS Report
9 October – 8 November 2017
40
Obituary
Richard Francis Gordon (1929-2017)
42
Satellite Digest
David Baker
540 – October 2017
d.baker146@btinternet.com
46 Society news / Diary
What’s happened • What’s coming up 34
OUR MISSION STATEMENT Editor David Baker, PhD, BSc, FBIS, FRHS Sub Editor Ann Page Creative Consultant Andrée Wilson Design & Production MP3 Media Promotion Gillian
Norman Advertising Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 3160 Email: d.baker146@btinternet.com Distribution Warners Group Distribution, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne,
The British Interplanetary Society Lincolnshire PE10 9PH, England Tel: +44 (0)1778 391 000 Fax: +44 (0)1778 393 668 SpaceFlight, Arthur C. Clarke House, 22/29 South
promotes the exploration and Lambeth Road, London SW8 1SZ, England Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 3160 Fax: +44 (0)20 7582 7167 Email: spaceflight@bis-space.com
www.bis-space.com
use of space for the benefit
Published monthly by the British Interplanetary Society, SpaceFlight is a publication that promotes the mission of the British
of humanity, connecting people Interplanetary Society. Opinions in signed articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
to create, educate and inspire, Editor or the Council of the British Interplanetary Society. Registered Company No: 402498. Registered charity No: 250556. The
British Interplanetary Society is a company limited by guarantee. Printed in England by Latimer Trend & Company Ltd., Plymouth.
and advance knowledge in
© 2018 British Interplanetary Society. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
all aspects of astronautics. or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system
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SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 3
SLUG
BEHIND
THE NEWS
SLS Block I with the new paint patterns for the Solid Rocket Boosters, imagined as it will stand on LC-39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
ORION–CREWED FLIGHT
NO EARLIER THAN 2024?
NASA has affirmed its plan to send the SLS/Orion spacecraft to the Moon
by mid-2020 – but flights with astronauts could take a further four years.
EXPLORATION MISSION-1 (EM-1) will be the first flight of the giant system for the Crew Module and the liquid cooled garment. Also,
SLS rocket which NASA has been developing as its deep-space neither emergency nor recovery communications will be
launch system supporting extended human space flight around the installed, nor the audio system for crew communications, space
Moon and Mars, unmanned missions for lifting heavy spacecraft to suits, a food system or the OASIS.
the Red Planet, or dramatically reducing transit time to the outer Constituting the only planned flight for SLS Block I with its
giants. However, while there appear no technical hurdles in the path less powerful ICPS upper stage, EM-1 will fly the same retrograde
to first-flight, development of two separate launch systems – SLS orbit as that employed by all the Apollo missions to the Moon,
Block I with 70 tonnes lift capacity and Block IB lifting 105 tonnes to meaning the spacecraft flies around the Moon in the opposite
low Earth orbit – is delaying crewed missions. direction to the Moon’s orbit (and rotation) about Earth. After a
In an agency-wide review of the SLS programme, NASA has nominal coast, Orion will reside in an elliptical orbit of 100 x
affirmed that while it is still working to an internal management 70,000 km with apolune on the far side of the Moon. The entire
flight date of December 2019, possible manufacturing and schedule mission is expected to last between 26 and 42 days before the
risks indicate a launch date of June 2020. Moreover, acting Orion spacecraft returns to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Administrator Robert Lightfoot cautions that “several of the key EM-2 will be a repeat flight of EM-1 but with four astronauts on
risks identified have not been actually realised”. But this is not the board in a mission lasting up to 21 days. But to achieve the flight
only complexity impeding an early flight date for the crewed SLS. objectives, NASA will need to use the more potent Block IB which
Budgetary constraints have forced NASA into a potentially carries the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage (EUS)
high-risk mission sequence where several key systems, some in the powered by a cluster of four RL-10 engines of Centaur upper
critical path for crew safety, are scheduled to fly for the first time stage heritage. Under current planning that will be the first flight
on the first manned flight, EM-2. That mission designation is defined of this propulsion system. But there is another possibility which
by the flight objectives, to be the first to carry a crew and to qualify has been gaining traction in recent months.
a fully operational set of systems and subsystems. But other
missions may get in the way of a crewed flight. BUILDING IT BIGGER
Primarily, elements of Orion’s environmental control system will Because NASA believes it will take 33 months to reconfigure the
not be carried on EM-1, including the air revitalisation subsystem, LC-39B launch pad support infrastructure at the Kennedy Space
fire detection and suppression equipment, a pressure regulation Centre to accommodate the taller Block IB, the second launch
4 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlight
BEHIND THE NEWS
❝ Robert Lightfoot cautions that “several of the key Briefing
risks identified have not been realised” ❞
opportunity for SLS will not occur for a further immediately for a 2022 launch date.
three years. It may even be necessary to build a After EM-2 there is the prospect of an EM-3 in
second Mobile Launch Platform but that is not June 2025 followed a year later by another
yet in the budget. Aside from that, however, the planetary flight: SM-2 carrying the Europa Lander,
US Congress is particularly keen to use a Block IB another mission strongly favoured by a Congress
to fly the Europa Clipper orbiter to Jupiter. In which has the keys to the money bag. EM-3 would
which case, Science Mission-1 (SM-1), as it is consolidate the DSG with a docking and crew
called, would fly the first Block IB, demonstrating transfer, something which would not have been
this second variant of SLS on a planetary mission achieved on EM-2. But SM-2 would be the first
before risking a crew. flight with the RS-25E engines, qualifying them
If SMS-1 is launched in July 2023 at the for crewed flights resuming with EM-4 in 2027.
opportune Jovian launch window, the earliest But the mid-2020s could get crowded, for there
crewed flight of EM-2 would be June 2024, since are already several high-profile planetary
NASA plans to fly only one SLS a year and the missions under consideration.
infrastructure to support crewed operations Given NASA’s predilection for honouring the
A Black Brant sounding rocket carries ASPIRE on a
would probably not be ready before then. But Decadal Planetary Missions plan, there is strong
NASA
Mars 2020 parachute test.
there are other knock-on effects from a flat-lined support from the science community for an
budget which might make this attractive. orbiter mission to Uranus or Neptune ideally
One function of EM-2 is to demonstrate the placed around the second half of the next MARS 2020 ROVER
first crewed flight of an Orion spacecraft but also decade. Then there is the long-overdue Mars One further step toward the clearance for
to carry the Deep Space Gateway to lunar orbit Sample Retrieval Mission to collect samples flight of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover was
where it would be left for human-tending on a cached by Mars 2020, the developed version of satisfactorily completed on 4 November
later mission. As reported in Spaceflight (Vol 59 Curiosity. Much has been invested in that when a 17.7 m tall Black Brant IX sounding
No 7 pp 252-259), the DSG is critical to extending spacecraft for gathering up samples for return to rocket was fired from Wallops Island,
human exploration to the planets and this is Earth at a later date. It has to happen to justify Virginia. The rocket carried its payload, a
NASA
being sought from a collaboration with industry, the development of that capability in Mars 2020. blunt-nosed cylindrical structure, to test
and may emerge as a leased facility produced by the deployment of the supersonic
one of the new space companies such as SpaceX, TIME URGENT parachute used to further decelerate the
Orbital ATK or Bigelow. But whatever the flow of missions from EM-1 vehicle as it descends toward the surface
DSG will cost money, whoever develops and onward, there are more immediate events critical of the planet. Accelerating to a maximum
builds it and whoever ends up owning it. The to preparations for the flight of the first Space altitude of 51 km before descending to 41
commercial programmes which NASA has been Launch System and its Orion payload. Previously km and a velocity of Mach 1.8, the payload
investing in since 2010 have reached fruition with scheduled to take place after EM-1, which was deployed and with it the supersonic
Dragon and Cygnus routinely plying from Earth to originally planned to fly at the end of 2018, the parachute. Known as the Advanced
the International Space Station but it has not deferral to at least December 2019 and probably Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research
been from funds exclusively provided by SpaceX mid-2020 for that first SLS flight has prompted Experiment (ASPIRE), the test was to
and Orbital ATK. By deferring the launch of DSG managers to move up the second test of the qualify the parachute for slowing the
on EM-2, NASA may find it more affordable and as all-important Launch Abort System (LAS). spacecraft as it descends through the
part of an international effort, workable over For the first time since the Apollo Soyuz Test Martian atmosphere at a speed of 5.4 km/
time as a more cost-effective route than aiming Project of 1975, NASA astronauts will have a sec. Some 35 minutes after launch, ASPIRE
descended to the Atlantic Ocean, splashing
down 54 km southeast of the launch site. A
second test is scheduled for February 2018.
ORBITAL ATK SOLD
Consolidation is setting in after the
Aerojet/Rocketdyne and UTC/Rockwell
deals, with Northrop Grumman buying up
Orbital ATK in a $9.2 billion snatch, of
which $1.54 billion is in debt and the
remainder in cash. Regulatory oversight
expects to clear this deal during the first
months of 2018. Northrop Grumman is
already heavily invested in the satellite
business, its current flagship being the
James Webb Space Telescope together with
the less well known EHF and SBIRS military
satellites. Orbital ATK already has the
Pegasus and Minotaur launchers and is
developing the Next Generation Launch
(NGL) rocket with a decision made by them
and their US Air Force partner on final com-
Technicians inside the liquid oxygen tank complete final welds to plug holes left by the robotic welder mitment expected imminently. The NGL will
prior to the first hydrostatic testing for the Space Launch System. The tank is filled with around be in the same lift category as Atlas V,
NASA
757,000 litres of water that will simulate the propellant, loads, pressure and mass of the liquid oxygen. Falcon 9 and the prospective Vulcan.
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 5
BEHIND THE NEWS
Briefing means of escape from an ascending stack
running amok or threatening to explode. The
test to provide engineers with critical abort
test data sooner, to help validate computer
all-important LAS is a tricky piece of kit to models of the spacecraft’s LAS performance
build, still more so to test in a simulation of and system functions.
an active abort. In 2010, an earlier version of “This will be the only time we test a fully
Orion’s LAS was tested to evaluate the active launch abort system during ascent
performance of the system in flight during before we fly crew, so verifying that it works
Abort Test Booster-1 at the White Sands as predicted, in the event of an emergency,
Missile Range in New Mexico. Now, NASA is a critical step before we put astronauts on
plans to run the next test in April 2019. board”, said Don Reed, manager of the Orion
This full-stress test of the LAS, called Program Flight Test Management Office at
Ascent Abort Test 2 (AA-2), will see a booster, NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “No matter
provided by Orbital ATK, launch from Cape what approach you take, having to move a 10
Canaveral carrying a fully functional LAS and tonne spacecraft away quickly from a
a 10,000 kg Orion test vehicle to an altitude catastrophic event, like a potential rocket
of 9,850 m at Mach 1.3 (over 1,600 km/hr). At failure, is extremely challenging.”
that point, the LAS’ powerful reverse-flow The LAS is divided into two parts: the
abort motor will fire, carrying the Orion test fairing assembly, which is a shell composed
vehicle away from the missile. Timing is of a lightweight composite material that
crucial as the abort events must match the protects the capsule from the heat, wind and
abort timing requirements of the Orion acoustics of the launch, ascent, and abort
spacecraft to the millisecond in order for the environments; and the launch abort tower,
flight test data to be valid. which includes the system’s three motors. In
NASA is accelerating the timeline of the an emergency, those three motors – the
322 feet
AEC
The SNAP 10A nuclear reaction flown in 1965.
ORION SPACECRAFT
REACTOR FOR SPACE Launch Abort System
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate has Crew Module
begun tests at the Nevada National Security Site of
Service Module encapsulated Service Module panels
a nuclear fission reactor for power generation on
planetary surfaces. Known as Kilopower, it aims to
demonstrate a full-scale system capable of
producing 1,000 watts of electrical energy in a Spacecraft Adapter Orion Stage Adapter
performance demonstration managed by NASA’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage
Glenn Research Center. Full-scale tests will
commence in February 2018 with a 20-hour run
subjected to high temperatures and vacuum Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter
conditions. Two 125 watt Stirling converters will be
forward skirt
supplemented by six thermal simulators but this
liquid oxygen tank
partial array should be capable of providing
150-200 watts in a system concept which engineers
say could be scaled up to provide 10 kW of
electrical energy in future systems. Previously, intertank
forward
NASA launched a 500 watt SNAP 10A nuclear assembly
reactor in 1965 which operated for 43 days before forward skirt
an unrelated systems problem shut it down. It avionics
remains in orbit.
forward segment liquid hydrogen tank
with igniter
SPACE X TEST FAILS
SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS (2)
SpaceX suffered a failure with a Merlin rocket centre forward
motor on 4 November during a test at its segment
CORE STAGE
development centre in McGregor, Texas. The test centre centre
was being conducted in one of the two bays at the segment
facility, damaging it severely and causing some
limited damage to the adjacent cell. center aft
SpaceX says that the mishap was to a Merlin segment
engine for the Block 5 Falcon 9 upgrade but did not
occur during a live firing, rather during a liquid aft segment
oxygen flow-down where LOX is used to discover Core Stage
leaks. The relationship of that event to the engine section
attach ring
destruction caused is not known. At present, aft skirt
RS-25 engines (4)
SpaceX is flying with the Block 4 engine and this
nozzle
incident is not likely to affect the ambitious launch
NASA
schedule. At the time of writing, SpaceX had
carried out 16 Falcon 9 flights during the year, with The Block I Space Launch System carrying the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS)
three more launches planned before the end of atop the massive cryogenic first stage
2017.
6 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlight
BEHIND THE NEWS
launch abort, attitude control, and jettison
motors – would work together to pull Orion away
Human Exploration and Operations Mission
Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Briefing
from a problem on the launch pad or during SLS DC. NASA Johnson is responsible for producing
first stage ascent, steering and re-orienting for the fully assembled and integrated Crew Module
LAS jettison, and pulling the LAS away with the and separation ring, including development of
Crew Module. During a normal launch, only the unique avionics, power, software and data
LAS jettison motor would fire, once Orion and the collection subsystems and several elements of
Space Launch System clear most of the ground support equipment.
atmosphere, to separate the LAS from Orion and The agency’s Langley Research Center in
allow the spacecraft to continue with its mission. Hampton, Virginia, will build the primary
Engineers at several NASA centres are already structure of the Crew Module test article and a
building the Orion test article that has many of separation ring that connects the test capsule to
the design features and the same mass as the the booster and provides space and volume for
capsule that will carry crew. Because the test is separation mechanisms and instrumentation.
designed to evaluate Orion’s launch abort Critical sensors and instruments used to
capabilities, the crew module used for AA-2 will gather data during the test will be provided by
not deploy parachutes after the abort system is NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in
jettisoned, nor will it have a reaction control Edwards, California. The integrated test article
system with thrusters needed to help orient the will be delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
capsule for a parachute-assisted descent and in Floridawhere it will be processed before
splashdown after the LAS is jettisoned. launch. NASA’s prime contractor, Lockheed
The AA-2 test development and execution is a Martin, is providing the fully functional Orion LAS,
partnership between the Orion programme and and the Crew Module to Service Module umbilical
the Advanced Exploration Systems Division, the and flight design retention and release
technology advancement organization in the mechanisms. SF
Opinion… spaceflight@bis-space.com
❝ American taxpayers will wonder
at the stability of a national space NASA
programme that consistently Spitzer: up for sale, after 14 years in space.
changes direction ❞ ANY TAKERS FOR
SPITZER?
GIVEN THAT ITS ANTECEDENT EVOLVED during the early days of the Constellation programme, Launched in 2003, NASA’s 865 kg Spitzer
development of the Space Launch System (SLS) has been under way for more than twelve years. infrared astronomical telescope has been
Begun in 2005 but cancelled in 2010 by President Obama, Congress rewrote the future for up for sale to non-government organisa-
America’s national human space flight programme, requiring NASA to develop a version of what had tions in bidding which closed 17 November.
previously been called Ares V into a new rocket capable of lifting either the Orion crewed vehicle or To save money and to clear the way for
heavy cargo. That is the SLS which has itself seen a variety of different proposed variants operations with the James Webb Space
culminating in the Block I, the Block IB and the Block 2 – for now! Telescope, which had been scheduled for
The SLS is tied irrevocably to the Orion spacecraft, which is itself about to mark its 13th birthday launch before the end of 2018, NASA plans
without carrying a single human off the planet. In that time it has evolved in application from a to retire Spitzer in March 2019. Placed in an
mother-ship for the Altair Moon-lander, to a back-up vehicle for carrying astronauts to the Earth-trailing orbit of the Sun, Spitzer is
International Space Station (in case the commercial stuff failed), to supporting a Mars mission, to gradually falling behind and is now at a
recovering an asteroid, now to supplying a Deep Space Gateway at the Moon. distance of more than 235 million km. But
And now there is further intervention (from guess where: Congress again) to inject an unmanned the all-important nitrogen gas supply
planetary mission, the Europa Clipper orbiter, into the mix, delaying a crew-carrying Orion flight until essential for maintaining attitude control
the new upper stage is tested without crew. As reported on these pages, it will take nearly three and pointing angles has still only consumed
years to adapt the LC-39B pad assigned to SLS (LC-39A is SpaceX territory) which could push the first half the 15.6 kg loaded prior to launch.
crewed flight to 2024. Originally known as the Space Infrared
American taxpayers will wonder at the stability of a national space programme that consistently Telescope Facility, it was renamed in
changes direction, sometimes in the face of hostile opposition, and restructures national goals, December 2003 after the noted astrono-
policy and operations. Implementation is the key action in any linear engineering and management mer Lyman Spitzer. Critical for cryogenic
focus but the pull of gravity from a mass of challenging alternatives made possible through a operation of most of the scientific
successful and flexible design is a killer. It saps committed direction and diverts proactive planning. instruments on board, the liquid helium
Which is precisely what has happened with SLS/Orion. was exhausted in May 2009, following
To be precise: the programme is not focused, too whimsical in orientation and marketed to the which Spitzer entered a “warm” mission
public by self-induced public relations hyperbole that has most Americans believing that Orion is the mode.
vehicle that will take people to Mars; instead it is the people that will carry Orion to Mars, for it is Spitzer is one of NASA’s four “Great
incapable of transporting the crew by itself and another habitation module will be necessary. As we Observatories”. The Compton Gamma-Ray
frequently remind our reader, Orion can support only four people for a mere three weeks. Will we Observatory was launched in 1991 but
have to wait a further seven years before USA astronauts once again visit deep-space destinations deorbited in 2000. Hubble and the Chandra
– 52 years after Apollo 17? SF X-Ray Observatory remain in service.
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 7
BEHIND THE NEWS
Briefing
UK NEARS LIFT-OFF
The UK Space Agency has been touring the British
Isles with a series of industry workshops and public
open evenings to promote the development of
small rocket launchers and sub-orbital space flight
from UK spaceports. The agency is handling 26
proposals which were submitted and is examining
grant applications for the first activities toward
launching from UK soil. It is hoped that this will
lead to a commercial launcher market in the UK
where Britain’s expanding space industry will
benefit and where customers would be able to
obtain support for their scientific or technical
endeavours.
MARS MOON LANDER
NASA has selected a science instrument for an
upcoming Japan-led sample return mission to the
moons of Mars planned for launch in 2024. The
instrument, a sophisticated neutron and gamma-
ray spectrograph, will help scientists resolve one of
the most enduring mysteries of the Red Planet –
when and how the small moons formed.
The Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is in
development by the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA). MMX will visit the two Martian
moons, Phobos and Deimos, land on the surface of
Phobos, and collect a surface sample.
Plans are for the sample to be returned to Earth
SATURNIAN
in 2029. NASA is supporting the development of
one of the spacecraft’s suite of seven science
instruments. The selected instrument, named
MEGANE will be developed by a team led by David
HEAT PUMP
Lawrence of the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
MEGANE will give MMX the ability to “see” the
elemental composition of Phobos, by measuring the
energies of neutrons and gamma-rays emitted from
the small moon. The elementary particles are ENOUGH HEAT TO POWER HYDROTHERMAL ACTIVITY inside Saturn’s ocean moon
emitted naturally as a result of the high-energy Enceladus for billions of years could be generated through tidal friction if the moon has a
cosmic rays and solar energetic particles that highly porous core, a new study finds, working in favour of the moon as a potentially
continually strike and penetrate the surface of habitable world.
Phobos. A paper published in Nature Astronomy during November presents the first concept that
explains the key characteristics of 500 km-diameter Enceladus as observed by the
JAXA/NASA
international Cassini spacecraft over the course of its mission, which ended in September.
This includes a global salty ocean below an ice shell with an average thickness of 20–25 km,
thinning to just 1–5 km over the south polar region. There, jets of water vapour and icy
grains are launched through fissures in the ice. The composition of the ejected material
measured by Cassini included salts and silica dust, suggesting they form through hot water
– at least 90º C – interacting with rock in the porous core.
The source of these observations require a huge source of heat, about one gundred
times more than is expected to be generated by the natural decay of radioactive elements
in rocks in its core, as well as a means of focusing activity at the south pole.
The tidal effect from Saturn is thought to be at the origin of the eruptions, deforming
the icy shell by push-pull motions as the moon follows an elliptical path around the giant
planet. But the energy produced by tidal friction in the ice, by itself, would be too weak to
counterbalance the heat loss seen from the ocean – the globe would freeze within 30
million years. As Cassini has shown, the moon is clearly still extremely active, suggesting
something else is happening.
“Where Enceladus gets the sustained power to remain active has always been a bit of
mystery, but we’ve now considered in greater detail how the structure and composition of
the moon’s rocky core could play a key role in generating the necessary energy,” says lead
author Gaël Choblet from the University of Nantes in France.
In the new simulations the core is made of unconsolidated, easily deformable, porous
rock that water can easily permeate. As such, cool liquid water from the ocean can seep
into the core and gradually heat up through tidal friction between sliding rock fragments,
Phobos bound: JAXA’s MMXMars moon lander. as it gets deeper. Water circulates in the core and then rises because it is hotter than the
surroundings. This process ultimately transfers heat to the base of the ocean in narrow
8 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlightBEHIND THE NEWS
Briefing
SSTL
1 Passive influx of cold
water from salty ocean
into porous rocky core
2 Water heated in core
rises in narrow plumes
and interacts with rocks GRACE has come to an end after 15 years.
3 Hotspots on sea floor GRACE BOWS OUT
4 Transport of heat and After more than 15 years of productive
rocks through ocean science, the joint NASA/Germany GRACE
5 Localised heating at mission is over. The twin satellites for the
ocean-ice interface thins Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
ice shell
had consistently measured the ever
6 Jets of water vapour changing movement of water, ice and the
and particles erupt from
fissures solid Earth through determination of
gravitational effects by precision
measurement of the relative distance
Plumes from Enceladus as viewed by the NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft during one of the between the two satellites. Unable to main-
23 fly-bys it made of this enigmatic moon of Saturn (top), and (above) the interior of tain orbital position, the first GRACE
Enceladus as derived from information obtained during the mission.
satellite is expected to deorbit at the end
ESA
of this year, the second in early 2018.
plumes where it interacts strongly with the rocks. At the seafloor, these plumes vent into
the cooler ocean.
One seafloor hotspot alone is predicted to release as much as 5 GW of energy, roughly SNIFFING FOR GAS
corresponding to the annual geothermal power consumed in Iceland. Thales Alenia-Space has signed a deal
Such seafloor hotspots generate ocean plumes rising at a few centimetres per second. with the UK Space Agency for MicroCarb,
Not only do the plumes result in strong melting of the ice crust above, but they can also a joint UK-French satellite designed to
carry small particles from the seafloor, over weeks to months, which are then released into measure greenhouse gas production
space by the icy jets. Moreover, the authors’ computer models show that most water should across the Earth’s surface and to
be expelled from the moon’s polar regions, with a runaway process leading to hot spots in determine from those results the quantity
localised areas, and thus a thinner ice shell directly above, consistent with what was of carbon being absorbed into the world’s
inferred from Cassini. oceans and arboreal canopies. The
“Our simulations can simultaneously explain the existence of an ocean at a global scale satellite is scheduled to launch in 2020.
due to large-scale heat transport between the deep interior and the ice shell, and the To support this drive to better
concentration of activity in a relatively narrow region around the south pole, thus understand the balance of carbon uptake,
explaining the main features observed by Cassini,” says co-author Gabriel Tobie, also from NASA launched the OCO-2 satellite in
the University of Nantes. 2014. Managed by the French space
The scientists say that the efficient rock–water interactions in a porous core massaged agency CNES, MicroCarb will measure
by tidal friction could generate up to 30 GW of heat over tens of millions to billions of quantities to 1 ppm with a pixel size of 5 x
years. 6 km. The instrument will be flown on a
“Future missions capable of analysing the organic molecules in the Enceladus plume microsatellite built around the CNES
with a higher accuracy than Cassini would be able to tell us if sustained hydrothermal Myriade bus.
conditions could have allowed life to emerge,” says Nicolas Altobelli, ESA’s Cassini project
scientist.
A future mission equipped with ice-penetrating radar would also be able to constrain the
ice thickness, and additional flybys – or an orbiting craft – would improve models of the
interior, further verifying the presence of active hydrothermal plumes.
“We’ll be flying next-generation instruments, including ground-penetrating radar, to
Jupiter’s ocean moons in the next decade with ESA’s JUICE mission, which is specifically
tasked with trying to understand the potential habitability of ocean worlds in the outer
Sniffing for gas: NASA’s OCO-2 satellite.
Solar System,” adds Nicolas. SF
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 9SATELLITES 10 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlight
ISS REPORT
ISS Report 9 October – 8 November 2017
Expedition 53 is in its second month of operation,
with commander Randy Bresnik and his crew of
two Americans, two Russians and an Italian.
Report by George Spiteri
O
n 9 October, Bresnik and Vande Hei continued
preparing for the mission’s second EVA, which
began at 11:56 UTC on 10 October. Vande Hei
used a grease gun to lubricate the new Latching
End Effector (LEE) they had previously installed
on Canadarm2. They also replaced a faulty camera system,
a smudged lens cover and removed two handrails outside
Tranquility in preparation for a future wireless antenna
installation. The spacewalk ended at 18:22 UTC after 6 hrs
26 min.
The crew reviewed their spacewalk with ground
specialists on 11 October and began preparations for the
next EVA. They also worked with NASA’s NeuroMapping
experiment examining the effects of space flight on
neurocognitive performance.
STALLED PROGRESS
The launch of Progress MS-07/68P on a Soyuz-2.1a rocket
from Site 31 at Baikonur was aborted in the last minute.
Launch was due at 09:32 UTC (15:32 local time) on 12
October. One of the two retractable arms detached from
the booster at approximately T-35 secs as planned, but the
second umbilical connection, which normally pulls back
about 12 secs prior to lift-off, remained attached to the
rocket.
ABOVE Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin
Mark Vande Hei (left) and Paolo told reporters; “Automation cut off the launch” but
Nespoli work on the Combustion
Integrated Rack (CIR) inside Russian space officials did not explain immediately why
the Destiny laboratory module. the problem occurred and two days later NASA TV’s
Joining the pair aboard commentator Rob Navias reported the “glitch...apparently
Expedition 53 are American flight has been corrected” and was caused by an electrical
engineer Joe Acaba, and Russian
colleagues Sergey Ryazanskiy problem which interrupted the automated launch
and Alexander Misurkin. sequence.
The aborted launch meant Russian space officials
LEFT discarded plans for Progress to attempt the first two-orbit,
Astronaut Mark Vande Hei
attaches part of a science 3.5-hr rendezvous and resorted to the two day, 34-orbit,
experiment aboard the rendezvous profile necessitated by what NASA explained
International Space Station as “orbital mechanics”.
during Expedition 53. On 13 October, Bresnik and Acaba went over
procedures and took part in a conference with ground
specialists as they continued to prepare for their
spacewalk. The crew also reconfigured the Fluids
ALL IMAGES: NASA
Integrated Rack (FIR) and ended their working week by
taking part in a podcast with JSC Public Affairs Office.
The crew used their light-duty weekend 14/15 October
to conduct further preparations for their EVA, perform
Earth photography observations, conduct the inevitable
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 11ISS REPORT
to students from Ireland and Sweden courtesy of the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
The crew ended (ARISS) programme.
the week on 27 THIRD SPACEWALK
Bresnik and Acaba began Expedition 53’s third EVA
October by at 11:47 UTC on 20 October. The spacewalk had been
postponed two days to give the crew more time to
harvesting three review revised tasks. Acaba installed a new camera on
Canadarm2’s LEE, replacing a degraded one which will be
types of leafy returned to Earth for repairs. Acaba also installed an HD
camera on the station’s S1 truss whilst Bresnik replaced
greens. This was a fuse on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator
(SPDM) or Dextre, removed an insulation blanket from a
the sixth round spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU), installed a new
radiator grapple bar and worked on a spare Ammonia
housekeeping chores, get regular exercise and talk to
of crops grown on Pump Module.
One of Acaba’s final tasks was to complete the
family and friends. the station… lubrication started by Vande Hei on the LEE, he was
allowed to finish the task despite encountering a problem
PROGRESS TAKE TWO with his Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) jet back-
Progress MS-07/68P was launched successfully at 08:46 pack. SAFER would allow stranded astronauts to fly back
UTC (14:46 local time) on 14 October and docked to to the ISS if they became untethered from the station.
Pirs at 11:04 UTC on 16 October. The unmanned cargo Earlier in the spacewalk, Mission Control-Houston
vehicle delivered 1,350 kg of dry cargo, food and spare ordered him to change one of his safety tethers, after
parts, 880 kg of propellant, 420 kg of water, 24 kg of air close inspection revealed loose stitching. The EVA lasted
and 23 kg of oxygen. Veteran Russian space observer 6 hrs 49 mins and ended at 18:36 UTC. It was the 205th
Anatoly Zak reported in Popular Mechanics magazine spacewalk dedicated to ISS assembly and maintenance, a
that Progress was also “carrying a secret, a previously succession of activities totalling 53 days 6 hrs 25 mins and
unseen instrument attached to the exterior front section was the 10th ISS EVA in 2017.
of the spacecraft”. The crew reviewed their EVA and discussed with
The Russians explained it was “a scientific payload ground specialists the issue with SAFER during their
intended for a one-time trip” aboard Progress. There light-duty weekend 21/22 October. NASA TV reported
was speculation that the instrument was similar to the during the spacewalk that the unit’s hand controller
Otrazhenie-5 (Reflection-5) experiment which gathered “kept activating itself ”. The controller had popped open
data on atmospheric phenomena after an earlier Progress and inadvertently turned on, indicating a nitrogen
had undocked from the ISS in 2014. quantity of zero, depleting its 1.4 kg nitrogen load due to
Ryazanskiy and Misurkin began unloading Progress unintentional contact of the controller with hardware.
on 17 October, whilst Bresnik and Acaba configured the The highlight of 23 October was the #1World1Orbit
tools for their EVA and Nespoli set up NASA’s Miniature photography posted on social media which involved
Exercise Device-2 (MED-2) for a test of the hardware’s Bresnik and Acaba taking pictures from the Cupola
ability to provide effective workouts whilst maximising during one orbit of Earth. This began at 12:25 UTC as the
space aboard a spacecraft. ISS flew over the UK and ended 90 mins later when the
ABOVE LEFT station was over the North Atlantic Ocean. At the same
On 18 October, Misurkin joined Acaba and Vande Three different varieties of
Hei for a routine training session on how to handle a plants growing in the Veggie time the crew invited people on Earth to post photos from
medical emergency. The trio reviewed medical hardware, plant growth chamber on the their towns and cities all over the planet.
chest compression techniques and individual roles and International Space Station were The crew also stored blood and urine samples inside the
harvested on 27 October. Minus Eighty-Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS
responsibilities, whilst Acaba also continued to prepare
with Bresnik for their spacewalk. BELOW (MELFI) for NASA’s Biochemical Profile experiment and
Bresnik and Acaba made final preparations for their On 23 October the crew worked with the Lighting Effects study which looks at the
spacewalk on 19 October. Ryazanskiy and Misurkin participated on the #1World1Orbit impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to LEDs.
social media initiative The Kestrel Eye 2M (KE2M) satellite was deployed
conducted Earth observations and photography with the photographing places on Earth,
Russian Ekon-M and Uragan (Hurricane) experiments, inhabitants of those places from the ISS at 09:45 UTC on 24 October. The 50 kg
whilst Nespoli took time out to speak via Ham radio invited to do the same. CubeSat was delivered by the latest Dragon vehicle and
12 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlightISS REPORT
SLUG
developed by specialists at Adcole Maryland Aerospace
Inc to conduct optical and electronic reconnaissance.
Bresnik worked with NASA’s Lung Tissue experiment in
the station’s Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) and
together with Acaba completed stowage of their EMU
suits following the latest spacewalk.
Nespoli took part in the second of an eleven day
study on 25 October to measure a crewmember’s energy
requirements during long duration missions. The crew
also logged their food and drink consumption and
performed experiments to study the loss of body mass
during extended stays in orbit. All six crewmembers spoke
to Pope Francis on 26 October.
A second CubeSat designated the NovaWurks-SIMPL
satellite was deployed from the ISS in the early hours of
27 October. According to NanoRacks External Payload
Manager, Conor Brown this was the “first time ever a
complex satellite was assembled on orbit from multiple
satlets launched as separate spacecraft”. However two
days earlier about 100 millilitres of Freon leaked from the
satellite before its deployment. There was no Freon leak on
the US segment of the ISS but there was a very small leak
of Freon from the nanosatellite.
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
The crew ended the week on 27 October by harvesting
three types of leafy greens. This was the sixth round
of crops grown on the station and the first time three
different plant varieties were simultaneously produced
in the Veggie chamber. Nespoli tweeted “We’ll taste
it at dinner”, after Acaba harvested Mizuna mustard,
Waldmann’s green lettuce and Red Romaine lettuce,
prompting Veggie Project Manager Nicole Dufour to
praise him for “an impressive harvest. Joe did a great job!”
The US astronauts enjoyed watching coverage of the occupied since the Expedition 1 crew arrived at the orbital
World Series baseball games involving the Houston outpost (Spaceflight Vol 43 No. 1 pp 19-21).
Astros during their light-duty weekend 28/29 October.
They returned to work on 30 October when Acaba set up
This involved the The crew conducted one of their many Crew Earth
Observations (CEO) passes at 06:29 UTC on 3 November
payload components for a week long imaging session with
NASA’s Sally Ride EarthKam which allows thousands of
astronauts using as the station flew over the Himalayas. This involved the
astronauts using digital handheld cameras to photograph
students around the world to photograph and examine
Earth from a crew’s perspective.
digital handheld how the planet has changed over time, studying urban
growth and natural dynamic events such as hurricanes,
Acaba joined Bresnik to answer questions from
Bresnik’s alma mater in Santa Monica, California. The
cameras to floods and volcanic eruptions.
The weekend of 4/5 November was another light-duty
station’s commander told the students that space smells
like “cream of mushroom soup!” but Acaba described it as
photograph how period during which Ryazanskiy tweeted a photo of
Moscow taken from orbit in honour of Russia’s Day of
having “a metallic type of smell”.
On 31 October the crew worked with a portable device
the planet has National Unity and Nespoli filmed the ISS flying from his
native Italy to the River Nile.
which measures stress levels and appetites amongst the
crewmembers. It bore the unwieldy name of ISS Non-
changed over On 6 November, Vande Hei collected and stowed saliva
samples for JAXA’s Multi-Omics experiment, which
invasive Sample Investigation and results Transmission to
ground with the Utmost easiness, IN SITU for short! The
time… studies the immune system and metabolism, whilst
Bresnik took panoramic photos inside Kibo to prepare for
entire crew also dressed in various Halloween costumes NASA’s Astrobee investigation. This consists of three free-
and Bresnik welcomed viewers on Earth “to the spookiest flying, cube shaped robots which test their ability to assist
space station”. both astronauts and ground controllers. Nespoli assisted
The following day the crew took part in Canada’s Bresnik with a week of continued on board training in
At Home in Space study. This investigation assesses preparation for Cygnus’ arrival.
the cultural and psychosocial adaptation to space of Misurkin returned to the Uragan study on 7 November,
multinational crews during long-duration missions. whilst Acaba conducted maintenance work with one
of the EMU suits (No 3003) inside Quest and installed
ORBITAL BALLET new software to support NASA’s Alpha Magnetic
At 03:15 UTC on 2 November the thrusters of Progress Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02) cosmic ray detector. Bresnik
MS-06/67P were fired for 3 mins 26 secs to boost the replaced faulty electronics gear inside Harmony, restoring
station by 0.7km and place the complex in a 403.3 x 425.4 power to an internal audio speaker unit, and Vande Hei
km orbit to accommodate the next Cygnus arrival and the began several days of work with ESA’s Airway Monitoring
next Soyuz departure and arrival. experiment which examines how gases and dust inside the
The NASA astronauts stayed up late to watch the station’s atmosphere have an impact on breathing aboard
Houston Astros win their first World Series in the final a spacecraft.
Game 7 and later in the day worked with MED-2 and ABOVE On 8 November, Nespoli worked with ESA’s Biological
participated in the Story Time from Space project, reading Astronaut Joe Acaba Experimental Laboratory (BioLab), research facility inside
(foreground) assisted crewmates
extracts from books which are downlinked to children Randy Bresnik (right) and Mark
Columbus, whilst Bresnik and Acaba did further
as an educational tool. The 2 November also marked Vande Hei before they began a maintenance work inside Quest and later joined Vande Hei
the 17th anniversary that the ISS had been continuously spacewalk on 10 October. to answer questions from elementary pupils in Virginia. SF
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 13SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY
Science for a
Safer
World
Sentinel-2B: part of the Copernicus programme
March 2017 saw the successful launch of Europe’s Sentinel-2B satellite.
It joined Sentinel-2A, launched in June 2016, 180 degrees away in the
same polar orbit. Its high-resolution multispectral imaging system
covers a broad swath of the Earth’s surface as it orbits.
by Christopher Starr FRAS FBIS
S
entinel-2B will provide information for a variety programme, which became operational in April 2014
of land and coastal services, including agriculture, with the launch of Sentinel-1A, an all-weather, day and
forestry and emergency services. It is designed, for night radar imaging satellite for land and ocean services.
example, to support the monitoring of changes in
vegetation cover and aid in predicting crop yields. WHAT IS COPERNICUS?
It also provides information on pollution in lakes and Copernicus is headed by the European Commission
coastal waters, while images of floods, volcanic eruptions (EC), acting on behalf of the European Union (EU), in
and landslides contribute to the mapping of disasters and partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA).
may help humanitarian relief efforts. Dr. Thomas Beer, Policy Coordinator at ESA’s
Besides imaging at high resolution and in different Copernicus Space Office describes it as “the most
wavelengths, the Sentinel-2 mission’s orbital ambitious Earth Observation system to date”. He explains
ABOVE configuration and coverage of 290 km-wide swaths that “Copernicus, previously known as GMES (Global
Lift-off of Sentinel-2B on a Vega allows the imaging of Earth’s main land surfaces, Monitoring for Environment and Security), through the
launcher from Europe’s Spaceport large islands, inland and coastal waters every five products and services delivered, aims to help manage the
in French Guiana, 7 March 2017. days. Compared to previous mission capabilities, this environment and to respond to the various challenges
significantly improves the probability of gaining a cloud- our planet faces, including climate change. The fast and
FAR RIGHT
free view of a particular location, making it easier to uninterrupted provision of accurate data is central to this
Sentinel-2B being prepared
ALL IMAGES: ESA
for testing in the Large Space monitor accurately changes in plant health and growth, innovative global monitoring initiative, which offers key
Simulator at ESA’s technical and in a variety of other surface features. services for a wide range of applications to improve and
facility in the Netherlands. The 15 These twin satellites join ESA’s growing Sentinel secure everyday life, and to help mitigate the effects of
m-diameter simulator mimics the fleet of new Earth observation satellites, designed to both natural and man-made disasters.”
cold and heat of space.. provide data and imagery central to the EU’s Copernicus The data necessary for this project is provided by ESA’s
14 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlightSpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 15
SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY
KEEPING A WATCHFUL EYE
Sentinel 2-B is the second of three planned programme
launches for 2017, the first Sentinel 3-A satellite having
launched on 16 January 2016. The Sentinel-3 mission’s
main objective is to provide accurate near-real time
data on sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface
temperatures and ocean and land-surface colour, to
support ocean forecasting systems, sea-ice charting and
maritime safety services, as well as environmental and
climate monitoring.
The Sentinel-5 Precursor (S-5P) will be launched this
year. This will be the first mission of the Copernicus
programme dedicated to monitoring air pollution,
and will reduce data gaps between Envisat and future
Sentinel-5. Looking further ahead, Sentinel-4 and -5,
are scheduled for launch as payloads on EUMETSAT
Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and MetOp-
SG (Meteorological Operational Satellite - Second
Generation) satellites respectively in 2019 and 2020. They
ESA
will largely provide data for atmospheric composition
monitoring and are complementary tools serving the
new Sentinel fleet – of which six families are planned needs of the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring
in all - and over 30 past, present or planned Contributing Services (CAMS).
Missions, such as Envisat, Cryosat and EUMETSAT’s
Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites. How
Sentinel provides a Finally, 2020 should see the launch of Sentinel-6. It will
conduct high-precision radar altimetry measurements
specifically is the data used? Dr. Beer elaborates:
“Copernicus achieves its goals by combining satellite
basis for more of the height of the ocean surface, to provide crucial
information on ocean circulation patterns, global
data with data from airborne and ground sensors to
provide comprehensive information about the state of the
effective modelling and regional patterns of sea-level change and their
implications in the context of climate change. Like
land, sea and air. All these data are then fed into a range of
information services designed to benefit the environment
and forecasting the Jason series of ocean-monitoring satellites, it is a
cooperative mission, developed in partnership between
and to support global, national and local decision-
making. These information services are today built around
activities… Europe (EU, ESA and EUMETSAT) and the US (NOAA
and NASA).
six thematic domains: atmosphere, ocean and land, Dr Thomas Beer, ESA
emergency response, climate change and security.” SHARED DATA
From water and air quality to sustainable forestry and Partnerships and cooperation are central and necessary
land management, town planning to transport networks, components of Europe’s Copernicus programme. Our
hazard forecasting to disaster relief and humanitarian 21st century world is an increasingly complex one,
aid, Copernicus aims to help enhance living standards and the impact of humanity on the Earth’s systems
and the security of nations and their citizens. Dr. Beer is greater than ever before in our history. With
ABOVE
also stresses that it “provides a basis for more effective continued population increase, economic development,
Spacecraft operations manager
modelling and forecasting activities to help to improve Michelle Collins in the Control
technological advances and the ever more intricate web of
our understanding of the drivers of climate change and Room during the launch of interactions between peoples across the globe, our world
mitigate its consequences.” Sentinel-2B. needs ever more careful and responsible management.
EARTHWATCH
ESA/UNIVERSITY OF LOUVAIN/CESBIO
Sentinel-2 is the first optical Earth observation mission of its kind to include three bands in Sentinel-1 radar coverage from before and after the 1 April 2017 mud slide in Mocoa,
the “red edge” of the spectrum, which provide key information on the state of vegetation. Colombia with the greatest movement (red) on top of a mountain. It then pushed mud
In this image the satellite’s multispectral instrument was able to distinguish between two down across the city of Mocoa (green) and crossed the nearby river. Modified Copernicus
types of crops: sunflower (in orange) and maize (in yellow). Sentinel Data (2017) processed by I Parcharidis, Harokopio University of Athens.
16 Vol 60 January 2018 SpaceFlightSATELLITE TECHNOLOGY
ESA
The natural environment is under pressure at all application of information from Sentinel satellites and ABOVE
scales, from the local to the global. The understanding of is supported by the UK Space Agency. An increasing While the Sentinel-2 constellation
interrelated natural systems – lithosphere, atmosphere, number of UK companies are utilising this application primarily monitors land use, its
hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere – and what one for a growing number of services marketed by existing companion constellation,
Sentinel -3 monitors the oceans.
can now call the anthroposphere (our human world) is and new start-up companies exploiting this capability.
Shown here is Hurricane Ophelia,
becoming ever more crucial as we seek to support our Copernicus Policy Coordinator, Dr. Beer stresses imaged by the Sentinel-3A
ever-expanding and interconnected human systems. the importance of this cooperation to the Copernicus satellite on 15 October 2017 as
Copernicus now aims to be the first integrated global Programme: “It supports the EU’s role as a global the storm approached the British
and continuous Earth-observation system, with the goal actor and contributes to solutions to common global Isles. The brightness temperature
of not just understanding our environment, but also how challenges.” of the clouds at the top of the
we can best manage resources and ensure future security, Dr Beer also highlights the global and open nature of storm, some 12–15 km above the
not just for Europe, but for the world. its data sharing. “The ultimate success of the Copernicus ocean, range from –50°C near the
is very much linked to the success of its data policy, eye of the storm to 15°C
at the edges.
SERVICING THE WORLD which is free, full and open to everybody, including data
The Space Component of the programme, managed by from the Sentinels. Bearing all this in mind, it is obvious
ESA, forms the European contribution to the worldwide, that the Copernicus programme will take a significant
intergovernmental Global Earth Observation System of step forward in the way we care for our planet.” SF
Systems (GEOSS), and serves users globally with satellite
data, as well as at national and European levels. In the area The author extends special thanks to Dr Thomas Beer for his
of data exchange international cooperation is pursued insight and information on the Copernicus programme, and for
with many partners, including the USA, Australia, the permission to use the images shown. For detailed information
African Union and a number of Latin American nations, on the programme and missions; and data access through the
as well as the United Nations Environment Programme dedicated internet portal which provides easy access (following
(UNEP). online registration), go to: http://www.copernicus.eu/ and
Data collection and analysis is fundamental to the https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/home
SpaceFlight Vol 60 January 2018 17You can also read
