OrbitalHub

NASA dicit:

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) is a class of partially reusable space capsule planned to be used after 2021 in NASA’s human spaceflight programs. The spacecraft consists a Crew Module (CM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin and the European Service Module (ESM) manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. Capable of supporting a crew of six beyond low Earth orbit, Orion can last 21 days undocked and up to six months docked. It is equipped with solar power, an automated docking system, and glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. A single AJ10 engine provides the spacecraft’s primary propulsion, while eight R-4D-11 engines, and six pods of custom reaction control system engines developed by Airbus, provide the spacecraft’s secondary propulsion. Although compatible with other launch vehicles, Orion is primarily designed to launch atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with a tower launch escape system.

Orion was originally conceived by Lockheed Martin as a proposal for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to be used in NASA’s Constellation program. Lockheed Martin’s proposal defeated a competing proposal by Northrop Grumman, and was selected by NASA in 2006 to be the CEV. Originally designed with a service module featuring a new “Orion Main Engine” and a pair of circular solar panels, the spacecraft was to be launched atop the Ares I rocket with either a traditional launch escape system or the experimental Max Launch Abort System equipped. Following the cancellation of the Constellation program in 2010, Orion was heavily redesigned for use in NASA’s Journey to Mars initiative; later named Moon to Mars. The SLS replaced the Ares I as Orion’s primary launch vehicle, and the service module was replaced with a design based on the European Space Agency’s Automated Transfer Vehicle. A development version of Orion’s CM was launched in 2014 during Exploration Flight Test-1, while at least four test articles have been produced. As of 2020, three flight-worthy Orion spacecraft are under construction, with an additional one ordered for use in NASA’s Artemis program; the first of these is due to be launched in 2021 during Artemis 1.

Video credit: Lockheed Martin

NASA dicit:

Scheduled to launch in the mid-2020s, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, formerly known as WFIRST, will function as Hubble’s wide-eyed cousin. While just as sensitive as Hubble’s cameras, the Roman Space Telescope’s 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument will image a sky area 100 times larger. This means a single Roman Space Telescope image will hold the equivalent detail of 100 pictures from Hubble.

The mission’s wide field of view will allow it to generate a never-before-seen big picture of the universe, which will help astronomers explore some of the greatest mysteries of the cosmos, like why the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating. Some scientists attribute the speed-up to dark energy, an unexplained pressure that makes up 68% of the total content of the cosmos.

The Wide Field Instrument will also allow the Roman Space Telescope to measure the matter in hundreds of millions of distant galaxies through a phenomenon dictated by Einstein’s relativity theory. Massive objects like galaxies curve space-time in a way that bends light passing near them, creating a distorted, magnified view of far-off galaxies behind them. The Roman Space Telescope will paint a broad picture of how matter is structured throughout the universe, allowing scientists to put the governing physics of its assembly to the ultimate test.

The Roman Space Telescope can use this same light-bending phenomenon to study planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets. In a process called microlensing, a foreground star in our galaxy acts as the lens. When its motion randomly aligns with a distant background star, the lens magnifies, brightens and distorts the background star. The Roman Space Telescope’s microlensing survey will monitor 100 million stars for hundreds of days and is expected to find about 2,500 planets, well targeted at rocky planets in and beyond the region where liquid water may exist.

These results will make the Roman Space Telescope an ideal companion to missions like NASA’s Kepler and the upcoming Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which are designed to study larger planets orbiting closer to their host stars. Together, discoveries from these three missions will help complete the census of planets beyond our solar system. The combined data will also overlap in a critical area known as the habitable zone, the orbiting distance from a host star that would permit a planet’s surface to harbor liquid water — and potentially life.

By pioneering an array of innovative technologies, the Roman Space Telescope will serve as a multipurpose mission, formulating a big picture of the universe and helping us answer some of the most profound questions in astrophysics, such as how the universe evolved into what we see today, its ultimate fate and whether we are alone.

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Producer
Claire Andreoli (NASA/GSFC): Lead Public Affairs Officer
Barb Mattson (University of Maryland College Park): Narrator
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer
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Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Editor

Wikipedia dicit:

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus Defence and Space) that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas II AS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun. SOHO has also discovered over 3,000 comets. It began normal operations in May 1996. It is a joint project of international cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. Originally planned as a two-year mission, SOHO continues to operate after over 25 years in space: the mission is extended until the end of 2020 with a likely extension until 2022.

In addition to its scientific mission, it is a main source of near-real-time solar data for space weather prediction. Along with Wind, ACE and DSCOVR, SOHO is one of four spacecraft in the vicinity of the Earth–Sun L1 point, a point of gravitational balance located approximately 0.99 astronomical unit (AU)s from the Sun and 0.01 AU from the Earth. In addition to its scientific contributions, SOHO is distinguished by being the first three-axis-stabilized spacecraft to use its reaction wheels as a kind of virtual gyroscope; the technique was adopted after an on-board emergency in 1998 that nearly resulted in the loss of the spacecraft.

Video credit: NASA Goddard

Blue Origin dicit:

The Blue Origin National Team, which includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, was selected by NASA to begin to develop the Artemis Human Landing System.

Using existing and in development technologies provides the head start needed to meet NASA’s goal of landing at the South Pole of the Moon. Lockheed Martin’s Ascent Element is based on Orion; Northrop Grumman’s Transfer Element is based on Cygnus; and Blue Origin’s Descent Element is based on the Blue Moon lander and BE-7 engine, which has been in development for several years.

Video credit: Blue Origin

Wikipedia dicit:

Ingenuity (also known as the Mars Helicopter) is a robotic helicopter that is planned to be used to test the technology to scout interesting targets on Mars, and help plan the best driving route for future Mars rovers. The small drone helicopter is planned for deployment in 2021 from the Perseverance rover as part of the Mars 2020 mission. It is expected to fly up to five times during its 30-day test campaign, early in the rover’s mission, as it is primarily a technology demonstration. Each flight is planned to take no more than three minutes, at altitudes ranging from 3 to 10 m above the ground. It could potentially cover a distance of up to 300 metres (980 ft) per flight. It can use autonomous control and communicate with the Perseverance rover directly after each landing. If it works as expected, NASA could build on the design for future Mars aerial missions.

Video credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Wikipedia dicit:

The Lunar Gateway is an in-development mini-space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots. It is expected to play a major role in NASA’s Artemis program, after 2024.

While the project is led by NASA, the Gateway is meant to be developed, serviced, and utilized in collaboration with commercial and international partners. It will serve as the staging point for both robotic and crewed exploration of the lunar south pole, and is the proposed staging point for NASA’s Deep Space Transport concept for transport to Mars. The science disciplines to be studied on the Gateway are expected to include planetary science, astrophysics, Earth observations, heliophysics, fundamental space biology, and human health and performance.

Gateway development includes all of the International Space Station partners: ESA, NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, and CSA. Construction is planned to take place in the 2020s. The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), which is composed of more than 14 space agencies including all major ones, has concluded that Gateway will be critical in expanding a human presence to the Moon, Mars, and deeper into the Solar System.

Video credit: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center