The Weekend Dumpdown

INSAT-4C Satellite


The Indian Space programme is about to launch its rocket GSLV with the INSAT 4C satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

This is the first launch of GSLV from the state-of-the-art Second Launch Pad (SLP) at SDSC. SLP, which was commissioned in May 2005 with the successful launch of PSLV-C6 is designed to reduce the occupancy time for the integration and launch.

The GSLV would lift off with the 2168 kg INSAT-4C, the heaviest in its class, at 4 30 pm tomorrow, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

The 49-metre-tall, 414 tonne GSLV is a three stage vehicle. The first stage, GS1, comprises a core motor with 138 tonne of solid propellants and four strap-on motors, each with 42 tonnes of hypergolic liquid propellant. The second stage has 39 tonne of the same hypergolic liquid propellant. The third (GS3) is a cryogenic stage with 12.6 tonne of liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2). INSAT 4C, the second satellite in the INSAT 4 series, would give a boost to Direct-to-Home television services, video picture transmission and digital satellite news gathering. It will also provide space for National Informatics Centre's VSAT connectivity.

Call me 'rocket boy' but this is exciting. We wish them godspeeed.

Space Walking


The shuttle crew did a space walk to make certain there were no significant damages to the shuttle.

British-born astronaut Piers Sellers and American Michael Fossum took turns strapping their feet on to a small platform and dangling from the end of a 30m boom that would allow astronauts to reach every part of a shuttle.

"It's like being in a very slow elevator," Sellers radioed to ground controllers as he rode atop the end of the boom, which is a combination of the Space Shuttle Discovery's 15m robot arm and a 15m extension.

The exercise, performed at 28,000km/h, 357km above the Earth, was part of NASA's efforts to recover from the 2003 Columbia disaster and make certain there were options for repairing a damaged shuttle before it returned into the atmosphere. Seven astronauts on Columbia in 2003 died without knowing their shuttle was critically damaged when insulation foam fell off during liftoff. The vessel broke apart over Texas as it returned to Earth. "Hopefully, we never have to use it but we have the capability if we ever need to," flight director Tony Ceccacci said after the boom test.

It seems the sshuttle is a-okay for the return. This is much better than the last effort.
The last re-entry scared the bejesus out of me.

Hayabusa Debrief


Sorry this one's in Japanese, but it's from he JAXA symposium. The salient point is that the asteroid-visiting Hayabusa mission was given better and fairer coverage overseas than in Japan.

サイエンスに、感謝されたはやぶさプロジェクト
　「はやぶさ」の評価は日本よりも、海外の方が高かったと、山根氏が「サイエンス」誌の最新号を壇上で掲げながら、川口プロジェクトマネージャーと、話を始めた。サイエンスの編集長は、はやぶさプロジェクトの偉業をたたえるとともに、小惑星の地質の情報が分かったことで、地球に小惑星がぶつかる可能性があるとき、それを避けるための実際の情報として使えると、感謝の意を表している。アメリカや、ヨーロッパでは、恐竜を滅ぼした原因と言われる小惑星の地球への衝突に対して、真剣に回避を考えている組織がある。

　サイエンスが日本の探査機の成果を大々的に取り上げるのも異例なら、その成果に対して感謝の意を表するのも大変異例のことであり、日本の研究技術レベルに大きな誇りを感じると、山根氏が感激気味に話した。

なぜ意味があるのか
　地球−太陽−いとかわの距離はほぼ等しいが、なぜそんなところにいって、サンプルを持ち帰る意味があるのかを、川口氏が話した。だれも着陸したことがない、火星より遠い小惑星いとかわに着陸し、かえってくることも大きな意味を持つが、地球や、太陽系のできたころの姿が、保存されている。小惑星のサンプルを持ち帰ることができれば、地球の火山活動でマントルから出てきた、かんらん石などの成分と、比べることで実証できる。

　はやぶさは、いとかわの地面に、弾丸を打ち込んで、サンプルを吸い上げる実験には失敗したが、弾丸を打ち出す部屋は３つあり、弾丸も３つ。ひとつ打つごとに部屋が回転して、サンプルを吸い込む仕組みになっている。はやぶさが地面に着いたとき塵が舞い上がったりして、それがサンプルの取り込み口から自然に入る可能性もある。アメリカのスターダスト計画が、今年彗星の尻尾から持ち帰ったサンプルは、ミクロンオーダーだが大変貴重な情報になった。はやぶさにも、ほこり程度でも入っていれば、大変な成果だと思う。

The projected recovery of the asteroid sample will be in 2010.