“The lunar phase or phase of the moon is the shape of the illuminated (sunlit) portion of the Moon as seen by an observer on Earth. The lunar phases change cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth. The Moon’s rotation is tidally locked by the Earth’s gravity, therefore the same lunar surface always faces Earth. This face is variously sunlit depending on the position of the Moon in its orbit. Therefore, the portion of this hemisphere that is visible to an observer on Earth can vary from about 100% (full moon) to 0% (new moon). The lunar terminator is the boundary between the illuminated and darkened hemispheres. Each of the four “intermediate” lunar phases is roughly seven days (~7.4 days) but this varies slightly due to the elliptical shape of the Moon’s orbit. Aside from some craters near the lunar poles such as Shoemaker, all parts of the Moon see around 14.77 days of sunlight, followed by 14.77 days of “night”.”
“ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is a two-part Martian astrobiology project to search for evidence of life on Mars, a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The first part, launched in 2016, placed a trace gas research and communication satellite into Mars orbit and released a stationary experimental lander (which crashed). The second part is planned to launch in 2020, and to land a rover on the surface, supporting a science mission that is expected to last into 2022 or beyond.
ExoMars goals are to search for signs of past and present life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate atmospheric trace gases and their sources and by doing so demonstrate the technologies for a future Mars sample return mission. The mission will search for biosignatures of Martian life, past or present, employing several spacecraft elements to be sent to Mars on two launches.
The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and a test stationary lander called Schiaparelli were launched on 14 March 2016. TGO entered Mars orbit on 19 October 2016 and will proceed to map the sources of methane (CH4) and other trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity. The Schiaparelli experimental lander separated from TGO on 16 October and was maneuvered to land in Meridiani Planum. As of 19 October 2016, ESA had not received a signal that the landing was successful. On 21 October 2016, NASA released a Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image showing what appears to be the lander crash site. The landing was designed to test new key technologies to safely deliver the 2020 rover mission. The TGO features four instruments and will also act as a communications relay satellite.
In 2020, a Roscosmos-built lander (ExoMars 2020 surface platform) is to deliver the ESA-built ExoMars Rover to the Martian surface. The rover will also include some Roscosmos built instruments. The second mission operations and communications will be led by ALTEC’s Rover Control Centre in Italy.”
“Mawrth Vallis (Mawrth means “Mars” in Welsh) is a valley on Mars in the Oxia Palus quadrangle at 22.3°N, 343.5°E with an elevation approximately two kilometers below datum. It is an ancient water outflow channel with light-colored clay-rich rocks. Mawrth Vallis is one of the oldest valleys on Mars. It was formed in and subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being exhumed.
The Mawrth Vallis region holds special interest because of the presence of phyllosilicate (clay) minerals which form only if water is available, first identified in data from the OMEGA spectrometer on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars has identified aluminium-rich and iron-rich clays, each with a unique distribution. Some of the clays recently discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are montmorillonite and kaolinite, and nontronite. Since some clays seem to drape over high and low areas, it is possible that volcanic ash landed in an open body of water. On Earth such clays occur in (among other environments) weathered volcanic rocks and hydrothermal systems, where volcanic activity and water interact. Mawrth Vallis was at one point considered as a landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory, which ultimately landed at Gale Crater. Clay minerals easily preserve microscopic life on Earth, so perhaps traces of ancient life may be found at Mawrth. It is considered a potential landing site for the Mars 2020 rover.”
“Kounotori 6, also known as HTV-6, is the sixth flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned cargo spacecraft launched to resupply the International Space Station. It was launched at 13:26:47 UTC on 9 December 2016 aboard H-IIB launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center.
Major changes from previous Kounotori include: built-in payloads to demonstrate new technologies: SFINKS and KITE, reduction of primary batteries to 6 from previous 7, reduction of solar cell panels to 48 from previous 49, omission of some of navigation/position lights which were Earth-side when approaching to ISS, strengthened EP (Exposed Pallet) maximum payload to 1.9 t from previous 1.6 t to carry Li-ion batteries.
SFINKS (Solar Cell Film Array Sheet for Next Generation on Kounotori Six) will test thin film solar cells in space. KITE (Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiment) is an experimental electrodynamic tether (EDT). The tether is equipped with a 20 kg end-mass, and will be 700 m long when deployed. A maximum 10 mA current will run through the tether. Kounotori’s ISS rendezvous sensor will be utilized to measure how the end-mass moves during the test. The EDT experiment will be conducted following Kounotori 6’s departure from the ISS, and is to be held for a week. After the experiment, the tether will be separated before the spacecraft proceeds with the de-orbit maneuvers. The main objective of this experiment is the orbital demonstration of both extending an uncoated bare-tether, and driving electric currents through the EDT. These two technologies will contribute to gaining capabilities to remove space debris.
Cargo in the pressurized compartment includes 30 bags filled with potable water (600 liters), food, crew commodities, CDRA Bed (Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly), TPF (Two-Phase Flow) experiment unit, PS-TEPC (Position-Sensitive Tissue Equivalent Proportional Chamber) radiation measurement instrument, ExHAM (Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism), HDTV-EF2 hi-def and 4K camera, new J-SSOD (JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer), and CubeSats (AOBA-Velox III, TuPOD which comprises two TubeSats (Tancredo-1 (pt) and OSNSAT), EGG, ITF-2, STARS-C, FREEDOM, WASEDA-SAT3). Cargo by NanoRacks includes TechEdSat-5, CubeRider, RTcMISS, NREP-P DM7, four Lemur-2. Additionally, the Blue SPHERES satellite of the MIT Space Systems Laboratory is being returned to the ISS for continued autonomous systems research. Cargo in the unpressurized compartment consists of six Lithium-ion batteries and their associated adapter plates to replace existing nickel-hydrogen batteries of the ISS. Since each of the new Li-ion battery has a capability equivalent to two of the current Ni-H batteries, the six new batteries will replace twelve old batteries, out of the 48 existing batteries of the ISS.”
“The flight [Friendship 7] occurred on February 20, 1962 from Cape Canaveral, later renamed Kennedy Space Center. There were eleven delays during the countdown due to equipment malfunctions, improvements to equipment that was functioning properly, and weather. During Glenn’s first orbit, there was a scheduled 30 minute test to see if Glenn could fly the spacecraft manually. This test became significant once a failure of the automatic control system was detected at the end of the first orbit. This forced Glenn to operate in manual mode for the second and third orbits, as well as re-entry.
Later in the flight, telemetry indicated that the heat shield had become loose. If the telemetry was correct, Glenn’s spacecraft would likely have been destroyed during re-entry due to the intense heat. Flight controllers had Glenn modify his re-entry procedure by keeping his retrorocket pack on over the shield to help retain it during re-entry. Leaving the retrorocket pack on caused large chunks of flaming debris to fly past the window of the capsule during re-entry, although Glenn thought it could have also been the heat shield. He told an interviewer, “Fortunately it was the rocket pack – or I wouldn’t be answering these questions.” After the flight, it was determined that the indicator was faulty.
Friendship 7 made splashdown 800 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral safely after his 4-hour, 55 minute flight. Glenn carried a note with him on the flight that read, “I am a stranger. I come in peace. Take me to your leader and there will be a massive reward for you in eternity,” translated into several different languages, in case he landed near islands in the South Pacific Seas. The original procedure called for Glenn to exit through the top hatch, but he was uncomfortably warm and decided that an egress through the side hatch would be faster. During the flight, he endured 7.8 G’s of acceleration and traveled a total of 75,679 statute miles at about 17,500 mph.
Glenn is honored by President Kennedy at temporary Manned Spacecraft Center facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, three days after his flight. The flight made Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth. This feat made Glenn the third American in space and the fifth human being in space. For Glenn the day became the “best day of his life,” while it also renewed America’s confidence. His voyage took place while America and the Soviet Union were in the midst of the Cold War and competing in the “Space Race.”
As the first American in orbit, Glenn became a national hero, met President Kennedy, and received a ticker-tape parade in New York City, reminiscent of that given for Charles Lindbergh and other great dignitaries. However, he became “so valuable to the nation as an iconic figure,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden, that Kennedy would not “risk putting him back in space again.” Glenn’s fame and political attributes were noted by the Kennedys, and he became a personal friend of the Kennedy family. On February 23, 1962, President Kennedy awarded Glenn with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.”
“The early life and professional career of American astronaut John Glenn. Several of the people who knew him “back when” in New Concord, Ohio take up a certain amount of time reminiscing on Glenn’s boyhood and then segues into the astronaut’s preparations for his space flight — three orbits around the earth, and then home again. Included are interior shots aboard the Friendship Seven space capsule, and Glenn’s comments as he works inside the capsule during this mission.”
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