OrbitalHub

The scientific objective of the Dawn mission is to answer important questions about the origin and the evolution of our solar system. The currently accepted theory about the formation of our solar system states that Jupiter’s gravity interfered with the accretion process, thereby preventing a planet from forming in the region between Jupiter and Mars. This led to the formation of the asteroid belt.

The asteroids chosen as scientific targets are Vesta and Ceres. Due to their size, they have survived the collisional phase, and it is believed that they have preserved the physical and chemical conditions of the early solar system. The asteroids have followed different evolutionary paths and have dissimilar characteristics, which makes them perfect research subjects.

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Copyright: CNES

COROT, the first space telescope able to detect rocky planets around nearby stars, was launched in December 2006. COROT is a French-led mission with ESA contributions.

COROT uses its 30-centimeter telescope to monitor the brightness of stars. The changes in the brightness of a star reveal transiting planets. COROT is also able to detect starquakes, which are acoustical waves generated deep inside stars. The brightness of a star can be altered by ripples caused by starquakes, and this provides data that allows astronomers to determine the mass, age, and the chemical composition of a star.

Columbus is an integral part of the International Space Station (ISS), and it is the first European laboratory dedicated to long-term experimentation in zero-g conditions. The projected lifetime of the laboratory is ten years. The Columbus laboratory is named after the famous Italian navigator and explorer Christoforo Columbus, who discovered the Americas in 1492.

Columbus is the smallest ISS laboratory, but it has the same scientific, power, and data handling capacity as the other laboratories owned by Russia, USA, and Japan.

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ESA plans to design and build an autonomous lifting and aerodynamically controlled re-entry system. Critical technologies are being tested: instrumentation for aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics, thermal protection and hot-structure solutions, guidance, navigation, and flight control using a combination of jets and aerodynamic flaps. The Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV) will be the European platform for in-flight testing of re-entry technologies.

The mission is planned to launch from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana. In 2012, a new launch vehicle, Vega, will inject IXV into a low Earth orbit. The small spacecraft will perform a controlled re-entry, its descent slowed by a parachute, and will land in the Pacific Ocean.

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart seventy-three seconds into its flight. The disintegration of the space shuttle occurred after an O-ring seal in one of its solid rocket boosters (SRB) failed. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB, and a flare from within the solid rocket motor reached outside. This led to the separation of the SRB aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank.

The Space Shuttle program was halted for 32 months. A special commission was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The commission offered NASA nine recommendations that were to be implemented as a condition to have the space shuttle flights resumed.

The crew of Space Shuttle Challenger was composed of Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe.

The area where M.E.R. Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum on Mars is called Challenger Memorial Station, in memory of the last crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.