OrbitalHub

ESA dixit:

“BepiColombo, the joint ESA-JAXA mission, comprises the European Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which will be transported to the innermost planet by the Mercury Transfer Module. The animation highlights several key milestones, including the solar array and antenna deployments once in space, through to the arrival at Mercury seven years later. When approaching Mercury, the transfer module will separate and the two science orbiters, still together, will be captured into orbit around the planet. Their altitude will be adjusted until the Magnetospheric Orbiter’s desired orbit is reached. Then the Planetary Orbiter will separate and descend to its lower orbit, and the two craft will begin their scientific exploration of Mercury and its environment.”

Credits Video: ESA

ESA dixit:

“Hera is the European contribution to an ESA-NASA double-spacecraft mission intended to test whether a kinetic deflection technique can be used to shift the orbit of an asteroid. The target of the mission is a double asteroid system, called Didymos, which will come a comparatively close 11 million km to Earth in 2022. The 800-m diameter main body is orbited by a 170-m moon, informally called ‘Didymoon’.

In 2022 NASA’s DART spacecraft will first perform a kinetic impact on the smaller of the two bodies, then Hera will follow-up with a detailed post-impact survey that will turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defense technique.

Hera will also gather crucial scientific data on asteroids as a whole by carefully studying the exterior and interior properties of both bodies in the system. The spacecraft will also host two 6-unit cubesats that will be deployed near Didymos to perform, for the first time ever, multi-point measurements in a “mother-daughter” configuration. A novel intersatellite link will be used to establish a flexible communications network supporting the close-proximity operations in very low-gravity conditions, a crucial step for future exploration activities around small bodies.”

Credits Video: ESA

SpaceX CRS-15 lifted off on 29 June 2018 at 5:42 a.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 rocket cleared the tower at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, sending a Dragon spacecraft on the company’s 15th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station.

NASA has contracted for the CRS-15 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. CRS-15 hauled 1,712 kg (3,774 lb) of pressurized mass and 985 kg (2,172 lb) of unpressurized cargo. The external payloads manifested for this flight are ECOSTRESS and a Latching End Effector for Canadarm2.

The breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS: science investigations – 1,233 kg (2,718 lb), crew supplies – 205 kg (452 lb), vehicle hardware – 178 kg (392 lb), spacewalk equipment – 63 kg (139 lb), computer resources – 21 kg (46 lb), russian hardware – 12 kg (26 lb), external payloads – 985 kg (2,172 lb).

Credits Video: NASA