Developing Responsive and Agile Space Systems - Space-Library
Developing Responsive and Agile Space Systems - Space-Library
Developing Responsive and Agile Space Systems - Space-Library
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AeroCube-3 Takes Flight<br />
The Aerospace Corporation’s third CubeSat, AeroCube-3, was<br />
launched from Wallops Isl<strong>and</strong>, Virginia, on May 19, 2009, as a<br />
secondary payload on the TacSat-3 mission. The picosatellite measures<br />
10 × 10 × 10 centimeters <strong>and</strong> weighs about 1 kilogram, in<br />
keeping with the CubeSat specification. It is more complex than<br />
its two predecessors <strong>and</strong> has several improvements; most notable is<br />
the new solar power subsystem that replaced the one that failed on<br />
AeroCube-2. AeroCube-3 also has a two-axis sun sensor <strong>and</strong> an<br />
Earth sensor, as well as a deorbit device that includes an inflatable<br />
balloon that doubles as a tracking aid.<br />
During the first phase of its<br />
mission, AeroCube-3 remained<br />
attached to the upper stage of the<br />
Minotaur launch vehicle by means<br />
of a 200-foot long tether, snapping photos of the upper stage with<br />
a wide-angle Video Graphics Array (VGA) camera to simulate an<br />
orbital inspection mission. In the second phase, AeroCube-3 cut<br />
its tether to become a free-flying spacecraft. At that point, magnets<br />
mounted on the satellite helped align it with Earth’s magnetic field,<br />
enabling various attitude control experiments to be performed.<br />
Aerospace Serves Panel Reviewing Human <strong>Space</strong>flight<br />
Aerospace President <strong>and</strong> CEO W<strong>and</strong>a Austin served as one of 10<br />
panel members charged with reviewing NASA’s Constellation human<br />
spaceflight program. The Human <strong>Space</strong> Flight Review Committee<br />
conducted an independent review of U.S. human spaceflight<br />
plans <strong>and</strong> programs, including available alternatives. The goal was to<br />
identify <strong>and</strong> characterize a range of options for continuing U.S. human<br />
space activities beyond the retirement of the space shuttle.<br />
The committee assessed ways of expediting U.S. capability to<br />
transport equipment <strong>and</strong> personnel to the International <strong>Space</strong> Station,<br />
examined ways to support missions to the moon <strong>and</strong> other<br />
destinations beyond low Earth orbit, <strong>and</strong> considered ways<br />
of stimulating commercial spaceflight. It also made recommendations<br />
on how these goals can best be achieved within NASA’s<br />
projected budget.<br />
The committee, whose charter was signed June 1, summarized<br />
its findings in a final report presented Aug. 31. Former Lockheed<br />
Martin CEO Norman Augustine chaired the committee. Sally<br />
Ride, a member of the Aerospace board of trustees <strong>and</strong> a former<br />
astronaut, also served on the panel. “I am pleased to have had the<br />
opportunity to assist in planning the future U.S. human spaceflight<br />
program at this critical juncture,” Austin said. Aerospace provided<br />
much of the analysis to the committee.<br />
Astronauts Repair Hubble <strong>Space</strong> Telescope<br />
The Atlantis space shuttle with seven<br />
astronauts aboard launched into space<br />
on a mission to repair the 19-year-old<br />
Hubble <strong>Space</strong> Telescope on May 11,<br />
2009. The STS-125 mission was destined<br />
for a 14-day trip in which astronauts<br />
replaced or fixed everything from<br />
cameras to gyros to insulation on the<br />
ailing telescope.<br />
Astronauts conducted five spacewalks,<br />
totaling nearly 37 hours. They<br />
installed a science instrument comm<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> data h<strong>and</strong>ling unit, replaced<br />
the wide-field camera 2, installed six<br />
new gyros, <strong>and</strong> replaced three of the<br />
telescope’s six nickel-hydrogen batteries.<br />
They also installed a “soft capture” mechanism designed to help<br />
with the future disposal of Hubble by a crewed or robotic mission.<br />
Astronauts also installed a cosmic origins spectrograph, which<br />
will allow scientists to better study the universe <strong>and</strong> how planets<br />
formed <strong>and</strong> evolved. This new tool is designed to examine dark<br />
matter, which may provide insights into how the universe began.<br />
Hubble’s Advanced Camera Survey was also revitalized when<br />
outfitted with four new circuit boards <strong>and</strong> a new power supply.<br />
The camera is credited with sending back some of Hubble’s most<br />
stunning imagery. The <strong>Space</strong> Telescope Imaging Spectrograph was<br />
also repaired; it was installed during a 1997 servicing mission but<br />
stopped working in August 2004 because of a power supply failure.<br />
STS-125 astronauts navigate the exterior of the Hubble<br />
<strong>Space</strong> Telescope on the end of the remote manipulator system<br />
arm, controlled from inside Atlantis’ crew cabin.<br />
Courtesy of NASA<br />
Lastly, the astronauts installed a new<br />
thermal material. It will protect Hubble’s<br />
external blankets, preventing further degradation<br />
of the insulation, <strong>and</strong> will help<br />
maintain normal operating temperature of<br />
electronic equipment. With all of the new<br />
additions <strong>and</strong> repairs, Hubble is expected<br />
to last through 2014, when the James<br />
Webb Telescope is scheduled to take its<br />
place.<br />
During the initial ascent phase of this<br />
mission, a piece of foam was liberated <strong>and</strong><br />
struck some tile forward of the starboard<br />
wing of the Atlantis orbiter. Aerospace had<br />
previously developed an analytical tool for<br />
NASA that evaluates foam debris risk. This<br />
tool was built to predict foam debris risk as part of the return-toflight<br />
effort following the failure of the Columbia orbiter caused<br />
by thermal protection system damage from a foam debris strike.<br />
R<strong>and</strong>y Williams, senior project leader, <strong>Space</strong> Launch Projects, said,<br />
“Aerospace determined the velocity <strong>and</strong> angle of impact for the<br />
STS-125 debris strike, which allowed the debris assessment team<br />
to conclude the tile damage had minimal depth <strong>and</strong> precluded the<br />
need for a more detailed inspection that would likely have reduced<br />
the timeframe for the astronauts to conduct their primary mission<br />
objectives.” The astronauts returned to Earth, l<strong>and</strong>ing at Edwards<br />
Air Force Base in California on May 24, 2009.<br />
Crosslink Summer 2009 • 3