Space / Aerospace / Aircraft

[Guest2]

Russia plans risky rescue for stranded ISS crew | Watch News Videos Online (globalnews.ca)

Russia plans risky rescue for stranded ISS crew

Posted January 12 2023 07:44pm

Russia is about to embark on the risky rescue of two cosmonauts and one astronaut stuck on the International Space Station. Jackson Proskow explains why the trio became stranded, the concerns about the mission, the timeline, and who is being left behind.

[Guest2]

 

Sweden opens Mainland Europe's first spaceport
by Simon Druker
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 13, 2023

Sweden inaugurates new satellite launch site Jukkasjaervi, Sweden (AFP) Jan 13, 2023 - Just days after a failed UK satellite launch, Sweden inaugurated Friday its new launching site as the race heats up to be first country to send satellites into orbit from the European continent. Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson cut the ribbon during a ceremony at "Spaceport Esrange", described as "mainland Europe's first satellite launch complex". "There are many good reasons why we need to accelerate the European Space Programme," von der Leyen said. "Europe has its foothold in space and will keep it." The site is an extension of the Esrange Space Centre in Sweden's Arctic, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the town of Kiruna. Around 15 million euros ($16.3 million) have been invested in the site, which is expected to serve as a complement to Europe's space hub at Kourou in French Guiana. It will also provide launch capabilities at a time when cooperation with Russia and the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan has been curtailed by the war in Ukraine. Esrange's state-owned operator, the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), aims to launch its first satellite from the site "in the first quarter of 2024", a spokesman told AFP on Friday. That would make Sweden the first country in continental Europe -- excluding Russia -- to send up a satellite from its soil. Other European spaceports are also in the race. Projects in Portugal's Azores archipelago, Norway's Andoya island, Spain's Andalusia and Britain, among others, are all vying to be the first to succeed. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), a German specialist in smaller launchers that are increasingly used by countries and firms sending more compact satellites into space, said recently its first launch would take place at SaxaVord in the Shetland Islands at the end of 2023. An attempt to launch the first rocket into orbit from Britain -- on a Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 that took off from a spaceport in Cornwall -- ended in failure on Tuesday. The satellite industry is booming, with the number of satellites in operation in 2040 expected to reach 100,000, the SSC said, compared to 5,000 now. With a reusable rocket project called Themis, Esrange will also host the European Space Agency's tests of rockets able to land back on Earth, similar to those used by SpaceX, one of the company's owned by the billionaire Elon Musk.

Sweden on Friday inaugurated and officially opened Mainland Europe's first space facility for satellite launches.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf cut the ribbon in the city of Kiruna, around 25 miles from the new Spaceport Esrange.

The event was timed to coincide with Sweden taking over as the head of the Council of the European Union.

The facility in Northern Sweden gives the EU the ability to launch satellites, something only around 10 countries previously had the ability to do.

"This spaceport offers an independent European gateway to space. It is exactly the infrastructure we need, not only to continue to innovate but also to further explore the final frontier," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during the inauguration.

Spaceport Esrange is operated by the government-owned Swedish Space Corporation, which already operates 10 ground stations strategically located around the world for optimum coverage, plus eight supplementary partner stations.

The corporation expects around 10,000 new satellites will be launched globally over the next few years, with the total number eclipsing 100,000 by 2040. There are around 5,000 operational satellites in orbit today.

The new facility gives Sweden and the rest of the EU better access to that growing world. It will also host testing of Europe's initiative for reusable rocketry, the European Space Agency's Themis program led by ArianeGroup, as well as suborbital test launches of several next generation rockets.

"This new launch complex will help create a foundation for a resilient Europe in Space. New satellite constellations in orbit, responsive launch capabilities and development of reusable rocketry will enable a secure, competitive and sustainable Europe. This will make Europe stronger," SSC CEO Stefan Gardefjord said in a statement.

"This is a giant leap for SSC, for Sweden, for Europe and the rest of the world. Satellites are decisive for many functions of the daily lives of today's modern world, and the need for them will only increase in the years to come with Space playing an even more important role."

The first satellite launch is expected to launch by the end of the year.

"This leading-edge spaceport gives Europe the capabilities to address this growing demand. The benefits of small satellites, that can be launched from here, are immense. We have just heard that it is important to launch these satellites over and over, to have the reusability, to test them," von der Leyen said Friday.

Arctic Sweden in race for Europe's satellite launches
Esrange Space Centre, Sweden (AFP) Jan 13, 2023 - As the mercury drops to minus 20 Celsius, a research rocket lifts off from one of the world's northernmost space centres, its burner aglow in the twilight of Sweden's snowy Arctic forests.

Hopes are high that a rocket like this could carry a satellite next year, in what could be the first satellite launch from a spaceport in continental Europe.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday inaugurated "Spaceport Esrange", an extension to the Esrange Space Centre.

"Europe has its foothold in space and will keep it," von der Leyen said.

Here, about an hour from the mining town of Kiruna, there's not a person in sight, only the occasional reindeer herd in the summer.

The vast deserted forests are the reason the Swedish space centre is located here, at the foot of "Radar Hill", some 200 kilometres (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle.

"In this area we have 5,200 square kilometres (2,007 square miles) where no one lives, so we can easily launch a rocket that flies into this area and falls down without anyone getting harmed," Mattias Abrahamsson, head of business development at the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), tells AFP.

Founded by the European Space Agency in 1966 to study the atmosphere and Northern Lights phenomenon, the Esrange space centre has invested heavily in its facilities to be able to send satellites into space.

At a huge new hangar big enough to house two 30-metre rockets currently under assembly elsewhere, Philip Pahlsson, head of the "New Esrange" project, pulls up a heavy blue door.

Under the rosy twilight of this early afternoon, the new launch pads can be seen in the distance.

"Satellite launches will take place from here," Pahlsson says.

"This has been a major development, the biggest step we have taken since the inception of Esrange."

More than 600 suborbital rockets have already been launched from this remote corner of Sweden's far north, including the SubOrbital Express 3 whose late November launch AFP witnessed as the temperature stood at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.)

While these rockets are capable of reaching space at altitudes of 260 kilometres, they're not able to orbit Earth.

- Booming business -

But with Europe gearing up to send its first satellite into space soon, Esrange is looking forward to joining a select club of space centres that include Baikonur in Kazakhstan, Cape Canaveral in Florida, and Europe's space hub in South America, Kourou in French Guiana.

Various projects in Europe -- in Portugal's Azores, Norway's Andoya island, Spain's Andalusia and the UK's Shetland Islands among others -- are all vying to launch the first satellite from the European continent.

An attempt to launch the first rocket into orbit from UK soil -- from a Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 that took off from a spaceport in Cornwall -- ended in failure earlier this week.

"We think we are clearly the most advanced," says the SSC, which is aiming to launch in early 2024.

The satellite industry is booming, and the Swedish state-owned company is in discussions with several rocket makers and clients who want to put their satellites in orbit.

With a reusable rocket project called Themis, Esrange will also host ESA's trials of rockets able to land back on Earth, like those of SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk.

While the Plesetsk base in northwestern Russia carried out several satellite launches in the post-Cold War period, no other country in Europe has done so.

- Small satellites driving demand -

So why is the continent -- so far from the Equator, which is more suited for satellite launches -- suddenly seeing such a space industry boom?

"Satellites are becoming smaller and cheaper, and instead of launching one big satellite you spread it out over multiple small satellites and that drives the demand," explains Pahlsson.

The number of satellites in operation in 2040 is expected to reach 100,000, the SSC said, compared to 5,000 now.

Orbiting the North and South Poles is enough for many satellites, making sites like Esrange more attractive.

In addition, having a launch site close to European clients spares them and their satellites long boat journeys to Kourou.

In Sweden, like in the rest of Europe, the rockets being developed are "micro-rockets".

These are around 30 metres long, capable of carrying a payload of several hundred kilos. In the future, SSC is aiming for payloads of more than a tonne.

But working in the harsh Arctic climate "comes with challenges", SSC says.

With temperatures regularly dropping to minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, special attention needs to be paid to the metals used, which become more fragile in the cold.

The war in Ukraine -- where the engines for the European Vega rocket are manufactured -- and the abrupt end to the West's space cooperation with Russia have meanwhile increased interest in having spaceports on the continent.

"Europe needs independent access to space. The horrible situation in Ukraine has changed the space business," notes Pahlsson.

[Guest2]

 

Vulcan rocket one step closer to launch
by Staff Writers
Decatur AL (SPX) Jan 15, 2023

File illustration of the Vulcan Centaur rocket.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket has begun its journey to the launch site in preparation for the first test flight. The certification flight one (Cert-1) rocket was completed, loaded onto the R/S RocketShip outside of ULA's rocket factory in Decatur, Ala. and is on a 2,000-mile voyage to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

"The first Vulcan is complete, and we look forward to the test flight this year. Vulcan is a powerful rocket with a single core booster that is scalable for all missions including heavy class performance normally requiring a Delta IV Heavy configuration," said Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO.

"Vulcan provides higher performance and greater affordability while continuing to deliver our unmatched reliability and orbital precision for all our customers across the national security, civil and commercial markets."

Once RocketShip arrives in Cape Canaveral, the Vulcan hardware will be transferred to ULA facilities for inspections and processing ahead of launch preparations. Vulcan will undergo a series of flight readiness verification tests including multiple tanking tests and a wet dress rehearsal, culminating in an engine flight readiness firing.

Following the successful final testing, the payloads will be integrated, and the vehicle will be readied for launch.

"The ULA team has worked tirelessly to complete the rocket for the first certification flight," said Mark Peller, vice president of Vulcan Development. "Now that production is complete, our launch team will begin processing and testing this innovative new rocket in preparation for the first mission which will deliver a payload to the Moon."

[Guest1]

eb 13, 2023

RELEASE 23-018

 

NASA, Partners Clear Axiom’s Second Private Astronaut Mission Crew

Crew members for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), left to right: Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.

Credits: Axiom Space

 

NASA and its international partners have approved the crew for Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2).

 

Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the privately funded mission. John Shoffner of Knoxville, Tennessee, will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), are members of the inaugural Saudi national astronaut program. They are flying through an arrangement between KSA and Axiom Space.

 

“Enabling more people to go to space is an important component of NASA’s continuing efforts to grow the low-Earth orbit economy,” said Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program. “Private astronaut missions are a key component to enable a successful transition to a model of commercially owned and operated platforms in low-Earth orbit. I appreciate the commitment of our International Space Station and commercial partners to help us achieve this future.”

 

The Ax-2 crew will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and travel to the space station. Once docked, the private astronauts plan to spend 10 days aboard the orbiting laboratory implementing a full mission of science, outreach, and commercial activities. The mission, targeted for launch in spring 2023, will be the first private space mission to include both private astronauts and astronauts representing foreign governments, as well as the first private mission commanded by a woman.

 

“Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station cements our mission of expanding access to space worldwide and supporting the growth of the low-Earth orbit economy as we build Axiom Station,” said Michael Suffredini, president and CEO of Axiom Space. “Ax-2 moves Axiom Space one step closer toward the realization of a commercial space station in low-Earth orbit and enables us to build on the legacy and achievements of the station, leveraging the benefits of microgravity to better life on Earth.”

 

Whitson will become the first female commander of a private space mission, adding to her prior accomplishments, including as NASA’s chief astronaut and the first female commander of the space station. In addition, she will add to her standing record for the longest cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut.

 

“I’m honored to be heading back to the station for the fourth time, leading this talented Ax-2 crew on their first mission,” said Whitson. “This is a strong and cohesive team determined to conduct meaningful scientific research in space and inspire a new generation about the benefits of microgravity. It’s a testament to the power of science and discovery to unify and build international collaboration.”

 

Shoffner, a businessman, has always had an interest in space, the stars, and flying, becoming a pilot at the age of 17 and since amassing than 8,500 flight hours and earning ratings for multiple aircraft types. He also is an advocate for science, technology engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. 

 

The first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), launched April 8, 2022, with four private astronauts who spent 17 days in orbit working on 26 science payloads aboard the station and conducting more than 30 STEAM educational and public outreach engagements. The crew splashed down off the coast of Florida on April 25, 2022, to conclude the mission.

 

Private astronaut missions to the space station are a precursor to privately funded commercial space stations as part of NASA’s efforts to develop a thriving low-Earth orbit ecosystem and marketplace. NASA is currently reviewing proposals for the third and fourth private astronaut missions to the space station.

 

For more than 22 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence in low-Earth orbit aboard the space station. The agency's goal is to enable a strong, commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit where NASA is one of many customers for private industry. This strategy will provide services the government needs at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on its Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while continuing to use low-Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.

 

For more information about NASA’s commercial low-Earth orbit economy effort, visit:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy

[Guest1]

Artemis II Crew Announcement   Monday, April 3, 11:00 a.m. EDT   Find the time in your location here.

 

 

WATCH HERE AT 11:00 a.m. EDT Monday, April 3

 

As an Artemis I Virtual Guest, we wanted to share how to be among the FIRST to meet the four astronauts who will travel around the Moon!

 

NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) will announce during an event from NASA Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon. Traveling aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft during Artemis II, the mission is the first crewed flight test on the agency’s path to establishing a long-term scientific and human presence on the lunar surface.

 

 

Artemis II Mission Map   Artemis II will be the first flight with crew aboard. During their mission, the four astronauts will confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with people aboard in the actual environment of deep space.

 

 

Why the moon? The Artemis missions will build a community on the Moon, driving a new lunar economy and inspiring a new generation. ‌

 

 

‌           Feeling creative? Draw your very own Orion Crew Survival System Suit to prepare for the announcement!

 

 

 

P.S. Missed Artemis I launch, see the replay! Also, keep a look out for updates on the Artemis blog.

[Guest1]

NASA, CSA name Jeremy Hansen to be first Canadian to encircle the moon

Moment NASA makes Hansen announcement

02:14

WATCH: Jeremy Hansen speaks after being selected

05:21

'He's done the work': Dan Riskin on Hansen

05:20

WATCH: Artemis II crew announced

04:10

Garneau: 'an incredibly import day for Canada'00:50

NASA unveils prototype of new spacesuitMore share options

HOUSTON - 

Jeremy Hansen, a colonel and CF-18 pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, has been selected to become the first Canadian to venture further into space and orbit the moon.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency made the long-awaited announcement Monday introducing the four astronauts who will steer the next stage of an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon.

"I am left in awe of being reminded what strong leadership, setting big goals, with a passion to collaborate and a can-do attitude can achieve, and we are going to the moon together," Hansen said after the announcement. "Let's go!"

• NASA, CSA name Jeremy Hansen to be first Canadian to encircle the moon
• Going back to the moon: 'This is Canada on the world stage, doing big things'
• Meet the Canadian astronauts up for a seat on the Artemis II mission to the moon
• Not yet over the moon: Here's what's on the horizon for Canadian space exploration
• Artemis I landed, what this means for Canada and space exploration
• 'Opportunities to invest': Experts say space business needs boost in Canada
• The takeaways from NASA's historic Artemis I mission
• NASA's mightiest rocket lifts off 50 years after Apollo
• A new space race? China adds urgency to U.S. return to moon
• Why NASA is returning to the moon 50 years later with Artemis I

RELATED STORIES

• New source of water found in moon samples from China mission
• Canadian rover helping in global search for frozen water on farside of the moon

RELATED LINKS

• Canadian Space Agency - Jeremy Hansen: first Canadian astronaut to fly to the Moon
• NASA - Artemis website

The other three astronauts on the Artemis II mission are all American: Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover and G. Reid Wiseman.

"It's difficult to pick just four from a group that by its very definition attracts the best and the brightest that humanity has to offer," said Norm Knight, chief of NASA's flight director office.

Knight said the astronauts will be the "forerunners as humanity looks to find its place among the stars."

Artemis II, as it's known, is currently slated to launch as early as November 2024 and will be the first crewed mission to the moon since the final Apollo mission took flight in 1972.

The crew will orbit Earth before rocketing hundreds of thousands of kilometres for a figure-8 manoeuvre around the moon before their momentum brings them home.

Vanessa E. Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, home base for America's astronaut corps, said this mission represents the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by NASA and its partners.

"Under Artemis, we will explore the frontiers of space and push the boundaries of what is possible," she said.

The plan is to put a man and woman on the moon in 2025 in service of the ultimate goal: eventually dispatching astronauts to Mars.

President Joe Biden articulated the vision last month in his speech to Parliament, seizing on the Artemis mission as a towering symbol of limitless potential for Canada, elbow-to-elbow with the U.S.

"We choose to return to the moon, together," Biden enthused, invoking the famous words of John F. Kennedy in 1962.

"Here on Earth, our children who watch that flight are going to learn the names of those new pioneers. They'll be the ones who carry us into the future we hope to build: the Artemis generation."

Canada's Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne echoed a spirit of co-operation Monday, telling the Houston audience the two countries can accomplish "big things" together.

"I know Canadians could not be more proud -- proud to have for the first time a Canadian astronaut who will travel to space as part of the Artemis II mission," he said.

Canada is designing, building and operating a lunar utility vehicle to support operations on the mission.

"This is more than just about going back to the moon, this is about investing in the future," Champagne said. "This is about possibilities, this is about seizing the opportunities of the space economy from health and food security, to climate change, and much more."

Hansen, 47, from London, Ont. is one of four in Canada's current astronaut corps.

He said American leadership and Canada's "can-do attitude" are the reasons why he is going to the moon.

"It is not lost on any of us that the United States could choose to go back to the moon by themselves, but America has made a very deliberate choice over decades to curate a global team," he said.

He told the crowd gathered at the announcement thousands of Canadians have risen to the challenge of bringing value to space exploration.

"All of those have added up to this moment where a Canadian is going to the moon with our international partnership, and it is glorious," he said.

Another member of Canada's astronaut corps is David Saint-Jacques, an astrophysicist and medical doctor from Montreal and the only member of the group who's already been to space.

Saint-Jacques, 53, flew to the International Space Station in 2018. He was selected for the corps in 2009 alongside Hansen.

Joining Hansen and Saint-Jacques in 2017 were test pilot and Air Force Lt.-Col. Joshua Kutryk, 41, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons, 34, a mechanical engineer and Cambridge University lecturer from Calgary.

"This is a big moment for humanity," Champagne said Sunday after touring the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he had a chance to chat with astronauts and visit Mission Control.

"This time Canada is writing history with our American friends it's not even a new chapter. For me, it's almost like a new book in space exploration."

On the ground, Canada is engaged in a variety of cutting-edge research endeavours that will be of mutual benefit to Artemis, Champagne said.

In the "Deep Space Food Challenge," launched in 2021, participants must develop ways to produce food in the harsh environments of deep space with few resources -- think Matt Damon in "The Martian" -- that will one day be necessary to sustain life.

Those challenges will only become more difficult as Artemis moves into its later stages, which include a long-term presence on the moon and ultimately voyaging to Mars.

"As one scientist only recently said, 'The science of today is the economy of tomorrow,"' Champagne said. "By increasing the complexity, that's why we push the boundaries of science and innovation."

Former astronaut and now-retired Quebec MP Marc Garneau, who back in 1984 became the first Canadian to ever go to space, said Biden's speech left him with a "flashback" to another seminal moment in Canada-U.S. space relations.

Garneau's maiden Space Shuttle flight was still three weeks away when he got an invitation to go to the White House along with two of his fellow crew members to meet the U.S. president.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only Canadian meeting Ronald Reagan that day in the Oval Office. So too was Canada's newly elected prime minister, Brian Mulroney, whose friendship with Reagan has since become the stuff of bilateral lore.

"We were invited to the White House -- to the Oval Office, in fact -- and met with the president and the new prime minister as they met for the first time," Garneau recalled.

"That was an example of space being one of those things that exemplifies how Canada and the United States have been really, really good partners and how close our two countries really are with respect to space, and in other ways as well."

Canada and NASA have been working together since the early 1960s and the headiest days of the U.S. space program, when Canada's first satellite was launched on a U.S. rocket, Garneau said.

The Canadarm, that iconic, Maple Leaf-emblazoned fixture of the shuttle program, would later cement Canada's status as a country the U.S. could count on.

"It's built on the fact that Canada has always been a reliable, dependable partner that has delivered what it said it would do," Garneau said.

"We have an incredibly good reputation from that point of view."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023.

 

[Falken]

I lost the bet with my wife - I thought the way Canada (under jt) was going woke it would have to be the female!

[Guest1]

Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy, seeks buyer

 Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy, seeks buyer
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 4, 2023
Virgin Orbit, the satellite launch company founded by Richard Branson, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will sell the business, the firm said in a statement Tuesday.

The California-based company said last week it was laying off 85 percent of its employees -- around 675 people -- to reduce expenses due to its inability to secure sufficient funding.

Virgin Orbit suffered a major setback earlier this year when an attempt to launch the first rocket into space from British soil ended in failure.

The company had organized the mission with the UK Space Agency and Cornwall Spaceport to launch nine satellites into space.

On Tuesday, the firm said "it commenced a voluntary proceeding under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code... in order to effectuate a sale of the business" and intended to use the process "to maximize value for its business and assets."

Last month, Virgin Orbit suspended operations for several days while it held funding negotiations and explored strategic opportunities.

But at an all-hands meeting on Thursday, CEO Dan Hart told employees that operations would cease "for the foreseeable future," US media reported at the time.

"While we have taken great efforts to address our financial position and secure additional financing, we ultimately must do what is best for the business," Hart said in the company statement on Tuesday.

"We believe that the cutting-edge launch technology that this team has created will have wide appeal to buyers as we continue in the process to sell the Company."

Founded by Branson in 2017, the firm developed "a new and innovative method of launching satellites into orbit," while "successfully launching 33 satellites into their precise orbit," Hart added.

Virgin Orbit's shares on the New York Stock Exchange were down 3 percent at 19 cents on Monday evening.

sco/qan

Virgin Orbit

Related Links

[Airband]

Russia’s Aircraft Need Maintenance They Can No Longer Get

Sanctions cut off access to parts and technology for key upkeep, raising concerns over safety

Wed Apr 05, 2023 - WSJ
By Benjamin Katz and Georgi Kantchev

Quote

“Russian aviation won’t disappear. But it has to go through hard times,”

Russia has limited access to parts, software and technical skills needed to carry out critical maintenance due on hundreds of commercial jets, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis, raising safety concerns among industry executives and regulators.

In the days after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many Western countries closed airspace to Russian jets. The U.S. and Europe also slapped the country with a series of sanctions and export controls that have blocked parts, services and other technology from being provided to the country’s fleet of commercial airliners.

Western officials said they specifically targeted the sector—a key pillar of Russia’s economy that is profoundly dependent on Western assistance. But Russian airlines have kept flying, carrying some 95 million passengers last year amid buoyant demand for domestic flights.

Boeing Co and Airbus SE planes comprise about 77% of Russia’s fleet of 696 in-service aircraft. In December, Russia’s central bank said Western aircraft carry 97% of all Russian passenger traffic.

These modern jets typically need frequent software updates, access to troubleshooting and maintenance guides, skilled engineers and, crucially, spare parts to replace aging or defunct components.

For more than a year, however, U.S. and European sanctions have cut off those Russian carriers from any contact with plane makers, maintenance partners and many of the suppliers for the planes’ key parts, from engines to landing gear.

Hundreds of Russian jets have reached maintenance milestones without access to any of this, according to a Journal analysis of Russia’s fleet of passenger planes. Hundreds more planes are due this year for this regularly scheduled maintenance.

The checks must be performed at certain times based on hours flown or number of takeoffs and landings. They can involve weeks or months of down time.

Without properly conducted checks, “it’s going to be harder to maintain aircraft and keep them flying,” said Karl Steeves, chief executive of aviation-maintenance software specialist TrustFlight Ltd.

These major maintenance checks come in two types. A “C” check is supposed to happen roughly every two years. The maintenance pulls an aircraft out of service for about three to four weeks while the structure of the plane is assessed.

A more extensive “D” check involves stripping almost the entire airplane apart and assessing for damage and corrosion. It can take months and is required every six to 10 years, depending on flight hours and the age of the aircraft. 

Last year, about 170 Russian jets were due their C checks, according to the Journal analysis, which used Airbus and Boeing service schedule timelines and matched them with the delivery dates of planes currently flying for Russian carriers. Some 55 jets were due D checks.

Another 159 Airbus and Boeing jets are scheduled to undergo C checks this year. A further 85 are due their more-intensive D checks in 2023.

Because of sanctions, Russia’s aviation industry has been left to perform those critical checks, which in recent decades have largely been outsourced to foreign companies. Russian maintenance crews are depleting stockpiles of spare parts. They lack access to new ones, as well as input from the manufacturers.

Russian airlines have also lost direct access to critical online manuals and troubleshooting documentation that Boeing and Airbus provide to customers on a subscription basis. These help airlines manage unexpected damage or properly repair aircraft out of the scheduled maintenance checks, said Mr. Steeves at TrustFlight.

Aircraft systems are regularly updated with software tweaks and improvements to which Russia has also lost direct access.

In a December interview with Russian business newspaper RBK, the chief executive of Aeroflot-Russian Airlines PJSC, the country’s flagship international carrier, said the company had enough spare parts to last for the next two to six months. CEO Sergei Alexandrovsky said that air safety remains top priority and that the airline will continue to follow safety standards.

“We have started to hear about situations where there are missing parts, components or an inability to keep some of the planes in flight,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters in February. “We are slightly concerned about the way the planes are operating.”

A spokesman for Airbus said the company is complying with both U.S. export-control regulations and European Union sanctions on the provision of components, data and support to Russian carriers. “There is no legal way that genuine aircraft parts, documentation and services can get to Russian carriers,” he said.

The restrictions also apply to the provision of equipment and services to non-Russian entities that intend to forward those parts to Russian partners, Airbus said. Any supplier, airline or maintenance firm that provides Airbus parts to Russian carriers would be struck from Airbus’s customer list.

A spokesman for Boeing said the company, in early 2022, suspended providing parts, maintenance and technical support to both airline customers and maintenance providers in Russia.

Russia hasn’t disclosed air-safety statistics for 2022. The country’s press hasn’t reported any fatalities from commercial jet accidents in the last 12 months. The Russian Ministry of Transport and Aeroflot didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The lack of access to maintenance resources has in part led the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, to downgrade Russia’s safety assessment. It has categorized the country’s aviation sector as posing a “significant safety concern” due to its failure to meet international safety and oversight standards.

Russian airlines also don’t have access to many of the foreign airports where they might have been able to fly to for the checks before the war. Specialists in other countries, including China, had previously conducted some of the checks for Russian airlines. They have since balked for fear of being blocked from doing business with the world’s two biggest aircraft makers.

Russian carriers have been looking for strategies to secure maintenance for at least some of their aircraft, including turning to third-party providers in places such as Iran and Turkey to provide spare parts and services.

In January, the White House warned officials in Turkey that Turkish individuals are at risk of jail time, fines, loss of export privileges and other measures if they provide services such as refueling and spare parts to U.S.-made planes flying to and from Russia and Belarus.

“Russian aviation won’t disappear. But it has to go through hard times,” said Anastasia Dagaeva, an independent Russian aviation analyst. “What’s next? The disconnection from the global supply of components, IT, the exchange of experience, the transfer of knowledge and from industry communication.”

[Guest1]

Meet Your Artemis II Crew   “The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity's crew. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum – out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis Generation.” – Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator   Earlier this week the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon on Artemis II–the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through Artemis–were announced: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. Together, they will work as a team to execute an ambitious set of demonstrations during the flight test.   The approximately 10-day Artemis II flight test will launch on the powerful Space Launch System rocket, prove the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems, and validate the capabilities and techniques needed for humans to live and work in deep space.   The flight, set to build upon the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission completed in December, will set the stage for the first woman and first person of color on the Moon through the Artemis program, paving the way for future long-term human exploration missions to the Moon, and eventually Mars.

[deicer]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-07/icelandair-inks-deal-for-up-to-25-airbus-jets-in-blow-to-boeing

Icelandair Inks Deal for Up to 25 Airbus Jets in Blow to Boeing

By

Katrina Nicholas

April 6, 2023 at 10:59 p.m. EDT

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Icelandair Group HF has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus SE to buy 13 of its A321XLR aircraft with the purchase rights for an additional 12 jets in a blow to rival planemaker Boeing Co.

The aircraft deliveries should start in 2029 however Icelandair plans to start operating Airbus aircraft in 2025 and is in advanced talks for four leased A321LRs for that purpose, it said in a statement Friday. No financial terms were disclosed.

With the acquisition of the Airbus jets, Icelandair will complete the replacement of the Boeing 757, a cornerstone of its operations since 1990.

 

“We have decided that the capable and fuel-efficient Airbus aircraft, A321XLR and A321LR, will become the successors of the Boeing 757 we are gradually retiring,” President and CEO of Icelandair, Bogi Nils Bogason, said. The new planes will “not only allow us to further develop our proven business model around transatlantic flights but also open opportunities for future growth by entering new and exciting markets.”

 

Airbus has had a good run when it comes to beating out Boeing on plane orders. It’s secured substantial orders in China, where it holds a sizable advantage over Boeing, although the two shared the spoils from Air India Ltd.’s mammoth 470-plane order in February. US-headquartered Boeing did also edge out its European rival to win a narrow-body deal with Japan Airlines Co. last month, while scooping up a $37 billion order from Saudi Arabia’s Saudia airline and new carrier Riyadh Air.

Like Airbus, Boeing has grappled with shortages of engines, cabin equipment and labor after years of disruption caused by the Covid pandemic. However it also suffered badly from the global grounding of its 737 Max following two fatal crashes.

At the end of 2022, Icelandair operated an 31-strong fleet of Boeing jets for the absolute majority of its international operations.

[Guest1]

Guiding JUICE to Jupiter File image showing JUICE's radar antenna RIME being tested in early development of the Jupiter bound spacecraft. 

 Guiding JUICE to Jupiter
by Staff Writers
Paris, France (SPX) Apr 11, 2023
This phenomenal endeavour, led by the European Space Agency, is powered by Airbus technology. Our engineers have rarely faced a greater challenge than enabling such a journey. The JUICE probe will encounter extreme temperatures, intense radiation and decreasing solar energy during its 5 billion kilometre journey. Being self-sufficient in energy generation and storage is key to the mission's success.

Operating in the outer reaches of the solar system, far from the Sun, JUICE uses large solar arrays around the size of a badminton court - 85 m2 - to generate energy.

Divided into ten panels each measuring 2.5x3.5m, JUICE's solar wings will produce energy during its long journey to Jupiter. The solar energy will enable JUICE to carry out 35 fly-bys of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and generate the 800 watts of power needed to operate the ten scientific instruments on board.

Airbus manufactured the panel structures and the deployment mechanism. Both have been subjected to robust testing to ensure they are ready to face the extremes of temperature the mission will encounter, from -230C at Jupiter up to +110C during Venus flyby, the hottest surface of the spacecraft reaching +250C.

Blowing hot and cold
JUICE's thermal control system is designed to minimise the impact of the external environment on the spacecraft, through the use of high efficiency Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI). MLI will moderate the external temperature during the spacecraft's closest approach to the Sun. It must also limit heat leakage in the cold Jupiter environment, in order to minimise demand for power from the spacecraft's heaters while its instruments are operating. Managing power will be a crucial factor throughout JUICE's mission, given the limited power generated by the spacecraft's solar panels. Jupiter is so far from the Sun that the solar energy it receives is 25 times lower than on Earth.

Aiming for utmost accuracy
With five billion kilometres to cover throughout the mission, four fly-bys to perform and 30 observation overflights, the complexity of the JUICE mission requires accurate navigation. The conventional technique is to improve standard radiofrequency navigation with a camera to take pictures of various objects (planets, stars). These images are returned to Earth for a cross-check. A ground team then tracks and plots the probe's precise trajectory, aiming the spacecraft's instruments toward areas of interest for science.

However this approach is not ideal for the JUICE mission. This is for two reasons: the true position of the moons during their orbit around Jupiter is not known with sufficient accuracy for ground teams to plot a course and it takes JUICE too long to communicate with Earth. A round-trip radio signal takes about one hour and 40 minutes, which prevents the ground team from adapting the probe's trajectory before flying by the moons.

This is why the "EAGLE" autonomous navigation technology which uses images taken by the 'Navcam' camera in real-time was developed. Instead of sending pictures of Jupiter's moons back to the team on Earth to aim the instruments, the JUICE NavCam is able to process them on board, thanks to algorithms based on detection of the edge of the moons. With this information, JUICE can independently refine the viewing angle of its instruments.

Endless innovation
One of Jupiter's mysteries is the planet's enormous magnetic field. The magnetosphere rotates with the planet, capturing swarms of charged particles. This fast rotation creates a natural particle accelerator, causing the particles to release radio waves which can reach Jupiter's icy moons.

It's hoped that by investigating the moons' electrical and magnetic environment, the JUICE mission can increase our knowledge of how this harsh environment 740 million kilometres from the Sun shaped, and continues to shape, the conditions on their surface.

The sensitive instruments on board the probe, including a magnetometer, are designed to record data about Jupiter's magnetic field. However, to make the measurements as accurate as possible, JUICE must ensure that it is 'squeaky clean', in that its own presence and emissions do not disturb the instruments.

To produce such a 'clean' spacecraft was a huge challenge. In order to reduce electric and magnetic emissions and electrostatic interference with the instruments, most of the electronics are installed in two special housings on each side of the probe that help seal in emissions. Additionally, these housings protect the equipment itself from space radiation.

A ten-metre long arm, named Magboom, will keep the most sensitive sensors away from the probe and any electromagnetic interference it may generate while taking measurements.

Airbus engineers have also designed a unique layout for the 23,560 solar cells in JUICE's solar panels to minimise the magnetic field generated by the cells themselves. A conductive layer of indium tin oxide also sits on top of the solar cells to avoid electrostatic disturbances.

The 'reaction wheels', which allow the probe to orient itself in space, are also custom-designed for the mission. They emit 100 times less magnetic energy than wheels that have flown before. Finally, all of the probe's cables - totalling an amazing 15 kilometres - are wrapped in several layers of aluminium to avoid electrical interference.

As shown in this article, science missions are always the most challenging of space missions, but often the most rewarding for the teams who turn them into reality.

Related Links

[Kip Powick]

The Artemis venture of which we have a Canadian on board Mission # i,  is supposed to be composed of 4 shots to the moon. The total projected cost of these planned adventures will be approximately 90 BILLION  (US) but estimated to be higher due to inflation......The redesigning on moon space suits has already surpassed 150 MILLION US

NASA has spent 16 BILLION  US just to find out there are no IHOPS on Mars

No cost of the European JUICE venture yet ..

Just imagine what we could do for this blue marble if we used that money to attempt to correct the mess we have made of the  only liveable planet  in our solar system....

[Guest1]

3 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

The Artemis venture of which we have a Canadian on board Mission # i,  is supposed to be composed of 4 shots to the moon. The total projected cost of these planned adventures will be approximately 90 BILLION  (US) but estimated to be higher due to inflation......The redesigning on moon space suits has already surpassed 150 MILLION US

NASA has spent 16 BILLION  US just to find out there are no IHOPS on Mars

No cost of the European JUICE venture yet ..

Just imagine what we could do for this blue marble if we used that money to attempt to correct the mess we have made of the  only liveable planet  in our solar system....

And just imagine if we could take the Money that Justin has spread out, attempting to look good to the UN, and use it to solve some problems here in Canada. 

[Guest1]

A unique 1 year get away. 

NASA unveils 'Mars' habitat for year-long experiments on Earth NASA's simulated Mars habitat includes a 1,200-square-foot sandbox with red sand to simulate the Martian landscape. The area will be used to conduct simulated spacewalks or "Marswalks" during the analog missions. 

   NASA unveils 'Mars' habitat for year-long experiments on Earth
by AFP Staff Writers
Houston (AFP) April 12, 2023
Four small rooms, a gym and a lot of red sand -- NASA unveiled on Tuesday its new Mars-simulation habitat, in which volunteers will live for a year at a time to test what life will be like on future missions to Earth's neighbor.

The facility, created for three planned experiments called the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), is located at the US space agency's massive research base in Houston, Texas.

Four volunteers will begin the first trial this summer, during which NASA plans to monitor their physical and mental health to better understand humans' fortitude for such a long isolation.

With that data, NASA will better understand astronauts' "resource use" on Mars, said Grace Douglas, lead researcher on the CHAPEA experiments.

"We can really start to understand how we're supporting them with what we're providing them, and that's going to be really important information to making those critical resource decisions," she said on a press tour of the habitat.

Such a distant mission comes with "very strict mass limitations," she added.

The volunteers will live inside a 1,700 square-foot (160 square-meter) home, dubbed "Mars Dune Alpha," which includes two bathrooms, a vertical farm to grow salad, a room dedicated to medical care, an area for relaxing and several workstations.

An airlock leads to an "outdoor" reconstruction of the Martian environment -- though still located inside the hangar.

Several pieces of equipment astronauts would likely use are scattered around the red sand-covered floor, including a weather station, a brick-making machine and a small greenhouse.

There is also a treadmill on which the make-believe astronauts will walk suspended from straps to simulate the red planet's lesser gravity.

"We really can't have them just walking around in circles for six hours," joked Suzanne Bell, head of NASA's Behavioral Health and Performance Laboratory.

Four volunteers will use the treadmill to simulate long trips outside to collect samples, gathering data or building infrastructure, she said.

The members of the first experiment team have yet to be named, but the agency stated that selection "will follow standard NASA criteria for astronaut candidate applicants," with a heavy emphasis on backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math.

Researchers will regularly test the crew's response to stressful situations, such as restricting water availability or equipment failures.

The habitat has another special feature: it was 3D-printed.

"That is one of the technologies that NASA is looking at as a potential to build habitat on other planetary or lunar surfaces," Douglas said.

NASA is in the early stages of preparation for a mission to Mars, though most of the agency's focus is on upcoming Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the Moon for the first time in half a century.

Related Links
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com

Inside NASA's simulated Martian habitat | Reuters.com

[deicer]

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/12-april-1961/

12 April 1961, 06:06:59.7 UTC

12 April 1961: At 06:06:59.7 UTC, Vostok-1 with Cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin was launched into Earth orbit from the Kosmodrom Baykonur, Kazakhistan. The spacecraft was a spherical Vostok 3KA-3 capsule which was carried to low Earth orbit by a three-stage Vostok 8K72K rocket.

Following first stage engine cut off, the first stage was jettisoned 1 minute, 59 seconds after liftoff. The payload fairing separated at 2 minutes, 34 seconds., and the second stage separation occurred at 4 minutes, 59 seconds. The Vostok spacecraft separated from the third stage at 06:18:28 UTC, 11 minutes 28 seconds after launch.

The Vostok was not capable of orbital maneuvering.

The Vostok spacecraft had an overall length of 5.040 meters (16 feet, 6.4 inches) and diameter of 2.500 meters ( 8 feet, 2.4 inches). The spherical crew/descent module had a diameter of 2.300 meters (7 feet, 6.6 inches). The gross mass was 4,730 kilograms (10,428 pounds).

Technicians working a Vostok spacecraft, circa 1961. (Science Photo Library)

The Vostok-K 8K72 was a modified R-7A Semyorka intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 rocket was designed by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, known as The Chief Designer.

The 8K72 version consisted of two core stages with four external boosters. The first stage and each of the boosters were powered by a four-nozzle RD-107 rocket engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. Total thrust was approximately 1,100,775 pounds of thrust (4,896.49 kilonewtons). The second stage used a RD-0105 engine, producing 11,015 pounds of thrust (48.997 kilonewtons).

Vostok I at Gagarin’s Start

The first two stages were 30.84 meters (101.18 feet) high and weighed 277,000 kilograms (610,680 pounds).

Gagarin made one orbit of the Earth, with an apogee of 315 kilometers and perigee of 169 kilometers. The orbital period was 89.34 minutes. The orbit was inclined 64.95° with reference to Earth’s axis.

While still in Earth orbit, Senior Lieutenant Gagarin received a field promotion to the rank of major.

http://static.thisdayinaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/tdia//2013/03/Vostok-1-with-Yuri-Gagarin-launches-at-Baikonur-Cosmodrome-12-April-1961.jpg Vostok I, with Yuri Gagarin, launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome, 12 April 1961.

His reentry began over Africa, with the descent engine firing at 7:25:48.2 UTC. As the spacecraft was descending through 7,000 meters (20,966 feet), he ejected from the capsule and parachuted to the ground. The Vostok struck the ground at 07:48 UTC, and Gagarin landed approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) away, near the village of Smelovka, Ternovsky District, Saratov Oblast, at 07:53 UTC.

Vostok I

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to travel in space. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) credited him with three World Records: Duration, 1 hour, 48 minutes.¹ Altitude in an Elliptical orbit, 327 kilometers (203 statute miles).² Greatest Mass Lifted to Altitude, 4,725 kilograms (10,417 pounds).³

Yuri Gagarin

Yuriy Alekseyevich Gagarin (Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин) was born at Klushino, a village in Smolensk Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 9 March 1934. He was the third of four children of Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin, a carpenter, and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina. The family, workers on a collective farm, were forced from their home when the village was occupied by German soldiers during the invasion of 1941.

In 1950, Gagarin became an apprentice at a steel foundry in Moscow. A school for workers allowed him to pursue an education. After a year, he was sent to a technical school at Saratov. It was while there that Gagarin first flew in an airplane, a Yakovlev Yak-18 trainer at the local aero club.

After graduating in 1955, Gagarin enlisted as a cadet at the military flight school at Orenburg. Gagarin graduated 6 November 1957 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force.

Valentina Ivanova Gorycheva and Sergeant Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, circa 1957. (Rex features)

Just over a week earlier, 27 October 1957, Sergeant Gagarin married Valentina Ivanova Goryacheva, a medical technician at the air base. They would have two daughters.

Lieutenant Gagarin was assigned as an interceptor pilot at Nikel, an air base approximately 125 miles (201 kilometers) north of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula. He flew the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter.

Cosmonaut trainees. Lieutenant Gagarin is seated in the front row, fourth from left. On his left is Sergei Korolev, The Chief Designer. (European Space Agency) ⁴

Lieutenant Gagarin was one of twenty pilots selected for the space program in 1960. This was further reduced to six cosmonaut candidates. Gagarin and Gherman Stepanovich Titov were the final two candidates for the first manned space launch, with Gagarin being chosen.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, photographed by Yousef Karsh.

Yuri Gagarin was killed in an airplane crash, 27 March 1968.

¹ FAI Record File Number 9326

² FAI Record File Number 9327

³ FAI Record File Number 9328

⁴ “Most of the cosmonaut group of 1960, with some of their instructors and wives. Front row, left to right: Pavel Popovich, Viktor Gorbatko, Yevgeni Khrunov, Yuri Gagarin, Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, his wife Nina Koroleva with Popovich’s daughter Natasha, Cosmonaut Training Centre Director Yevgeni Karpov, parachute trainer Nikolai Nikitin, and physician Yevgeni Fedorov. Second row, left to right: Alexei Leonov, Andrian Nikolayev, Mars Rafikov, Dmitri Zaikin, Boris Volynov, Gherman Titov, Grigori Nelyubov, Valeri Bykovsky, and Georgi Shonin. Back row, left to right: Valentin Filatyev, Ivan Anikeyev, and Pavel Belyayev.”

[Guest1]

I imagine some folks living in the region will not be thrilled. 

Why launch a rocket industry in rural Nova Scotia? | CBC.ca

[Guest1]

Europe's Jupiter probe launched

 Europe's Jupiter probe launched
By Juliette COLLEN
Kourou (AFP) April 14, 2023
The European Space Agency's JUICE space probe successfully launched Friday on a mission to discover whether Jupiter's icy moons are capable of hosting extraterrestrial life in their vast, hidden oceans.

The launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana came after a previous attempt on Thursday was called off due to the risk of lightning.

Despite cloudy skies, the rocket took off as planned at 09:14 am local time (1214 GMT) on Friday, as guests including Belgium's King Philippe watched from the Guiana Space Centre.

A little under half an hour later, the uncrewed six-tonne spacecraft separated from the rocket at an altitude of 1,500 kilometres (930 miles), which prompted an outbreak of applause at the centre.

Stephane Israel, the CEO of French firm Arianespace in charge of the rocket, said the launch was "a success".

After a few tense minutes, ground control were relieved to receive the first signal from spacecraft.

The spacecraft then began unfurling its array of solar panels, which are a record 85 square metres, the size of a basketball court. It will need all the energy it can get near Jupiter, where sunlight is 25 times weaker than on Earth.

Carole Larigauderie, JUICE project head at France's space agency CNES, said the launch the beginning of a long journey which will "not be at all calm".

- Liquid water -
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will take a long and winding path to the gas giant, which is 628 million kilometres (390 million miles) from Earth.

It will use several gravitational boosts along the way, first by doing a fly-by of Earth and the Moon, then by slingshotting around Venus in 2025 before swinging past Earth again in 2029.

When the probe finally enters Jupiter's orbit in July 2031, its 10 scientific instruments will analyse the Solar System's largest planet as well as its three icy moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

The moons were first discovered by astronomer Galileo Galilei more than 400 years ago, but were long ignored as potential candidates for hosting life.

However, the discovery of huge oceans of liquid water -- the main ingredient for life as we know it -- kilometres beneath their icy shells has made Ganymede and Europa prime candidates to potentially host life in our celestial backyard.

JUICE will focus on Ganymede, the Solar System's largest moon and the only one that has its own magnetic field, which protects it from radiation.

In 2034, JUICE will slide into Ganymede's orbit, the first time a spacecraft will have done so around a moon other than our own.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which is scheduled to launch in October 2024, will focus on Ganymede's sibling Europa.

- 'Extraordinary mission' -
Neither mission will be able to directly detect the existence of alien life, but instead hope to establish whether the moons have the right conditions to harbour life.

Larigauderie pointed out that a kind of mucus had been found in a lake underneath a glacier in Antarctica, showing that life can survive in such extreme environments.

"If JUICE manages to prove that Ganymede is habitable so that we can go and find out in the future that there is life, that would be fabulous," she added.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who attended the launch, told AFP that "space exploration is pushing back the frontiers of knowledge in small steps".

"If we are in a position to return to the Moon in a few years, it will be because of robotic precursors," he said. "Robotic and crewed exploration are two parts of the same effort."

The 1.6-billion-euro ($1.7 billion) mission will mark the first time Europe has sent a spacecraft into the outer Solar System, beyond Mars.

"This is an extraordinary mission that shows what Europe is capable of," said CNES chief Philippe Baptiste.

Friday marked the second-last launch for the Ariane 5 rocket, before it is replaced by the next-generation Ariane 6.

Repeated delays for the Ariane 6, as well as Russia pulling its Soyuz rockets in response to sanctions over the war in Ukraine, have left Europe struggling to find launch its mission into space.

Related Links
The million outer planets of a star called Sol

 

Spotlight on Ganymede, Juice's primary target Paris (ESA) Apr 13, 2023 A key focus of ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will be Ganymede: Jupiter's largest moon, and an ideal natural laboratory for studying the icy worlds of the Solar System. b>Why focus ... more

 

Search for alien life extends to Jupiter's icy moons Kourou (AFP) April 12, 2023 Could vast, long-hidden oceans be teeming with alien life in our very own Solar System? ... more

[Specs]

".....When the probe finally enters Jupiter's orbit in July 2031, ............."

I tried to imagine what the world will be like at that point - it's hard to imagine.  I suppose the Leafs will still be looking for a Stanley Cup but beyond that.........?

I'm not sure I see the point of this particular mission at all.

 

[Kip Powick]

1 hour ago, Specs said:

".....When the probe finally enters Jupiter's orbit in July 2031, ............."

I tried to imagine what the world will be like at that point - it's hard to imagine.  I suppose the Leafs will still be looking for a Stanley Cup but beyond that.........?

I'm not sure I see the point of this particular mission at all.

 

Think about the four trips to the moon coming up......in fact think about the $$$$ expended on all this stuff and meanwhile we can't even keep this planet "green"

[deicer]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/14/faa-clears-spacex-to-launch-starship-flight.html

SpaceX cleared by FAA to launch first orbital Starship flight

KEY POINTS

• The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Starship launch license to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
• SpaceX aims to launch Starship as soon as Monday from its private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast.
• Starship is designed to carry cargo and people beyond Earth and is critical to NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon.

[conehead]

17 hours ago, Specs said:

"....- it's hard to imagine.  I suppose the Leafs will still be looking for a Stanley Cup but beyond that.........?

 

Blasphemous!

[boestar]

On 4/14/2023 at 3:04 PM, Kip Powick said:

Think about the four trips to the moon coming up......in fact think about the $$$$ expended on all this stuff and meanwhile we can't even keep this planet "green"

while the expenditure is enormous you have to think where that money actually ends up.  There are thousands of prople supporting Artemis and NASA directly on the project.  They all get paid, and probably pretty well.  They all take that money and go out to dinner and buy products from local retailers.  Buy cars, new houses....whatever.  That money then gets into the pockets of families that sell those products  and the cycle continues.

When the Government says THEY creates X number of Jobs, this is what they mean.  Stop the Artemis Mission alone would put thousands of people out of work at the beginning of the worst recession since 2008.  Not a good idea.

 

[Guest1]

Quote

  On 4/14/2023 at 1:04 PM, Kip Powick said:

Think about the four trips to the moon coming up......in fact think about the $$$$ expended on all this stuff and meanwhile we can't even keep this planet "green"

I imagine the same was said of the exploration by Magellan, Columbus , manned flight etc.  

[Kip Powick]

"They" don't have to shut down all facets of their "exploration". "now"...start slowly. 

People who have "real" jobs can justify their employment, however, how does one justify  Moon/Mars junkets that cost billions when we have an ocean of pullution  the size of Alaska floating between Hawaii and  California that could use that money to just "start" to clean up the mess made by the inhabitants of this blue marble.??

That pollution is caused by humans and started to go out of control, only 10-15 years ago. Yeah, we can tell our grandkids we have been to the moon and as we all know....nothing there....... but in the meantime you don't have to fly or cruise to Hawaii, just drive on our man-made bridge of trash.

Anyhow.... rant over, just one voice screaming into the wind....