→ programmes in progress status at end December 2008
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 COMMENTS
HUBBLE LAUNCHED APRIL 1990
ULYSSES LAUNCHED OCTOBER 1990
SOHO LAUNCHED DEC 1995 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 31 DEC 2009
XMM-NEWTON LAUNCHED DEC 1999 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 31 DEC 2012
CLUSTER LAUNCHED MID-2000
INTEGRAL LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2002
MARS EXPRESS LAUNCHED JUNE 2003
SMART-1 LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 2003, IMPACTED MOON 2006
ORATION DOUBLE STAR TC-1 LAUNCHED DEC 2003 / TC-2 LAUNCHED JULY 2004
ROSETTA LAUNCHED MARCH 2004
TIC EXPL VENUS EXPRESS LAUNCHED NOVEMBER 2005
HERSCHEL/PLANCK LAUNCH 16 APRIL 2009 PROGRAMME LISA PATHFINDER LAUNCH EARLY 2011
MICROSCOPE LAUNCH EARLY 2011
GAIA LAUNCH DECEMBER 2011 SCIENCE & ROBO JWST LAUNCH JUNE 2013
EXOMARS LAUNCH 2016
BEPICOLOMBO LAUNCH AUGUST 2014
SOLAR ORBITER LAUNCH JANUARY 2017
LISA LAUNCH END 2017
METEOSAT-5/6/7 M5 LAUNCHED 1991, M6 1993, M7 1997
ERS-2 LAUNCHED APRIL 1995 / OPS EXTENDED TO MID-2011
ENVISAT LAUNCHED MARCH 2002 / POSSIBLE EXTENSION BEYOND 2010
MSG MSG-3 LAUNCH 2011, MSG-4 LAUNCH 2013
MTG LAUNCH MTG-I-1 END 2015 / MTG-S-1 2017
METOP METOP-A LAUNCH OCT 2006 / METOP-B 2011 / METOP-C 2013
CRYOSAT LAUNCH FAILURE OCT 2005 / CRYOSAT-2 LAUNCH NOV 2009
GOCE LAUNCH 16 MARCH 2009
SMOS LAUNCH JULY 2009 PROGRAMME TH OBSERVATION ADM-AEOLUS LAUNCH APRIL 2011 EAR SWARM LAUNCH 2010
EARTHCARE LAUNCH MID-2013
SENTINEL-1 LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2011
SENTINEL-2 LAUNCH OCTOBER 2012
SENTINEL-3 LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2012
ARTEMIS LAUNCHED JULY 2001, OPERATIONS EXTENDED ALPHABUS
ALPHASAT LAUNCH JUNE 2012
SMALL GEO SAT. LAUNCH MID 2012
GNSS-1/EGNOS OPERATIONS START 2008 PROGRAMMES TELECOMMS/NAV. GALILEO GIOVE-A LAUNCHED DEC 2005 / GIOVE-B APRIL 2008 / IOV 2009-10
PROBA-1 LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2001
TECH. LAUNCH JULY 2009 PROG. PROBA-2
COLUMBUS LAUNCHED FEBRUARY 2008
ATV FIRST LAUNCH MARCH 2008, ATV-2 MID-2010, ATV-3 MID-2011
NODE-2 / -3 / CUPOLA LAUNCH: NODE-2 OCT 2007 / CUPOLA WITH NODE-3 FEB 2010
ERA LAUNCH NOT BEFORE END-2009
-1 -2 I I F F L L ISS BARTER / UT. PR. E E EDR / EUTEF / SOLAR WITH COLUMBUS M M 3 1 4 5 6 -1 -M -4 -4 -4 -8 R S S N S S S E U E TEXUS 44/45:FEB. 2008,TEXUS 46:MAY 2009, O U U S X R T X XU EMIR/ELIPS A A A E E EX FO T T M T M M MAXUS 8:NOV.2009,MASER 11:MAY 2008 PROGRAMME MFC BIOLAB, FSL, EPM WITH COLUMBUS
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT ASTRONAUT FLT. DE WINNE:MAY-NOV 2009, FUGLESANG:JUL-AUG 2009, NESPOLI:NOV 2010
AURORA CORE
ARIANE-5 OPERATIONAL
VEGA FIRST LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2009 PROG. FIRST LAUNCH MID-2009
LAUNCHER SOYUZ AT CSG
DEFINITION PHASE MAIN DEVELOPMENT PHASE OPERATIONS STORAGE
ADDITIONAL LIFE POSSIBLE
LAUNCH/READY FOR LAUNCH ASTRONAUT FLIGHT 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 COMMENTS
HUBBLE LAUNCHED APRIL 1990
ULYSSES LAUNCHED OCTOBER 1990
SOHO LAUNCHED DEC 1995 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 31 DEC 2009
XMM-NEWTON LAUNCHED DEC 1999 / OPS EXTENDED UNTIL 31 DEC 2012
CLUSTER LAUNCHED MID-2000
INTEGRAL LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2002
MARS EXPRESS LAUNCHED JUNE 2003
SMART-1 LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 2003, IMPACTED MOON 2006
ORATION DOUBLE STAR TC-1 LAUNCHED DEC 2003 / TC-2 LAUNCHED JULY 2004
ROSETTA LAUNCHED MARCH 2004
TIC EXPL VENUS EXPRESS LAUNCHED NOVEMBER 2005
HERSCHEL/PLANCK LAUNCH 16 APRIL 2009 PROGRAMME LISA PATHFINDER LAUNCH EARLY 2011
MICROSCOPE LAUNCH EARLY 2011
GAIA LAUNCH DECEMBER 2011 SCIENCE & ROBO JWST LAUNCH JUNE 2013
EXOMARS LAUNCH 2016
BEPICOLOMBO LAUNCH AUGUST 2014
SOLAR ORBITER LAUNCH JANUARY 2017
LISA LAUNCH END 2017
METEOSAT-5/6/7 M5 LAUNCHED 1991, M6 1993, M7 1997
ERS-2 LAUNCHED APRIL 1995 / OPS EXTENDED TO MID-2011
ENVISAT LAUNCHED MARCH 2002 / POSSIBLE EXTENSION BEYOND 2010
MSG MSG-3 LAUNCH 2011, MSG-4 LAUNCH 2013
MTG LAUNCH MTG-I-1 END 2015 / MTG-S-1 2017
METOP METOP-A LAUNCH OCT 2006 / METOP-B 2011 / METOP-C 2013
CRYOSAT LAUNCH FAILURE OCT 2005 / CRYOSAT-2 LAUNCH NOV 2009
GOCE LAUNCH 16 MARCH 2009
SMOS LAUNCH JULY 2009 PROGRAMME TH OBSERVATION ADM-AEOLUS LAUNCH APRIL 2011 EAR SWARM LAUNCH 2010
EARTHCARE LAUNCH MID-2013
SENTINEL-1 LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2011
SENTINEL-2 LAUNCH OCTOBER 2012
SENTINEL-3 LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2012
ARTEMIS LAUNCHED JULY 2001, OPERATIONS EXTENDED ALPHABUS
ALPHASAT LAUNCH JUNE 2012
SMALL GEO SAT. LAUNCH MID 2012
GNSS-1/EGNOS OPERATIONS START 2008 PROGRAMMES TELECOMMS/NAV. GALILEO GIOVE-A LAUNCHED DEC 2005 / GIOVE-B APRIL 2008 / IOV 2009-10
PROBA-1 LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2001
TECH. LAUNCH JULY 2009 PROG. PROBA-2
COLUMBUS LAUNCHED FEBRUARY 2008
ATV FIRST LAUNCH MARCH 2008, ATV-2 MID-2010, ATV-3 MID-2011
NODE-2 / -3 / CUPOLA LAUNCH: NODE-2 OCT 2007 / CUPOLA WITH NODE-3 FEB 2010
ERA LAUNCH NOT BEFORE END-2009
-1 -2 I I F F L L ISS BARTER / UT. PR. E E EDR / EUTEF / SOLAR WITH COLUMBUS M M 3 1 4 5 6 -1 -M -4 -4 -4 -8 R S S N S S S E U E TEXUS 44/45:FEB. 2008,TEXUS 46:MAY 2009, O U U S X R T X XU EMIR/ELIPS A A A E E EX FO T T M T M M MAXUS 8:NOV.2009,MASER 11:MAY 2008 PROGRAMME MFC BIOLAB, FSL, EPM WITH COLUMBUS
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT ASTRONAUT FLT. DE WINNE:MAY-NOV 2009, FUGLESANG:JUL-AUG 2009, NESPOLI:NOV 2010
AURORA CORE
ARIANE-5 OPERATIONAL
VEGA FIRST LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2009 PROG. FIRST LAUNCH MID-2009
LAUNCHER SOYUZ AT CSG
DEFINITION PHASE MAIN DEVELOPMENT PHASE OPERATIONS STORAGE
ADDITIONAL LIFE POSSIBLE
LAUNCH/READY FOR LAUNCH ASTRONAUT FLIGHT programmes 90 seen (NASA/ESA/P. Kalas, Univ. California, of Berkeley) black becausetheAdvanced Camera’s coronagraph was usedto blockoutthestar’s bright glare sothat thedimplanetcould be during observations madein2004 and2006. The white dotinthecentre marks thestar'slocation, and thesurrounding region is The newly discovered Fomalhaut planet, b, taken withtheHubbleAdvanced Camera for Surveys. theplanet’s Inset, position www.esa.int the ring’s inneredge. and star the between planet a by modified’ ‘gravitationally the being belt surrounded is ring dust that proposed later astronomers dust and star a large that confirmed Hubble 2004, In satellite. IRAS US-UK-Dutch the by in 1980s star early the the around discovered was dust ever of excess planet-hunting an for since candidate a been has Fomalhaut star Piscis Australis. southern brightconstellation the in away the light-years 25 located orbits Fomalhaut, b Fomalhaut planet mass, Jupiter’s the times three than more no be to Estimated star. another circling planet a of image visible-light first the taken had Hubble that November in announced was it Then than more Cetus, of constellation the 400 millionlight-years from Earth. in 147 Arp called intriguing target: a pair of gravitationally an interacting galaxies photographed it online, back brought was Hubble formatter after data science days of couple a mode’.Just the ‘safe a into spacecraft the with took problem a after weeks four 2008, October 25 on resumed were operations Science business. in back is Telescope Space Hubble NASA/ESA The → HUBBLESPA CE TELES COPE
ESA/M. Livio, STScI) (NASA/ Telescope Space Hubble the by 2008 October 27‒28 on taken was 147 Arp pair galaxy of image This in progress
More Hubble images showed that an object was moving → along a path around the star and was therefore gravitationally bound to it. Fomalhaut b was confirmed as a real astrophysical object. Now, Hubble has photographed the planet as a point source of light lying over 2 billion km inside the ring’s inner edge.
The planet is about 15 billion km from the star, or about 10 times the distance of the planet Saturn from our Sun. The planet’s upper-mass limit is constrained by the appearance of the Fomalhaut ring. If the planet were much more massive, it would distort the ring, and the effect would be observable in the ring’s structure. Astronomers have calculated that Fomalhaut b completes an orbit around its parent star every 872 years.
The planet is brighter than expected for an object of three Jupiter masses. One possibility is that it has a huge Saturn-like ring of ice and dust reflecting starlight. The ring might eventually coalesce to form moons. The ring’s estimated size is comparable to the region around Jupiter that is filled with the orbits of the four largest satellites.
Artist impression of the planet orbiting Fomalhaut (ESA/NASA/L. Calcada, ESO for STScI) → ULYSSES
Ulysses continues to return useful science data at the time mode, obtained the highest possible resolution images of writing, indicating that the adopted strategy of ‘fuel (about 1 km) near and around the Huygens landing site. This bleeding’, described in the last Bulletin, is still effective in may help to shed new light on the odd rotation state of Titan's preventing freezing of the remaining hydrazine. The Ulysses icy crust discovered by the radar observations. In late Science Working Team met for the 60th and last time in mid- December, the first altimetry profile over a lake was obtained by November. Although the spacecraft is still operational, it was radar over ‘Lake Ontario’, the southern lake containing ethane decided that this would be the final official SWT meeting liquid that was identified in early 2008 using infrared given the imminent end of the mission. spectroscopy.
The unexpected longevity of the spacecraft is making it possible to obtain unique, high-latitude data to help characterise the solar wind during the present solar → XMM-NEWTON minimum, which is unusually long. Even though the Sun remains largely quiescent, the inclination of its magnetic On 18 October 2008 ESA lost contact with XMM-Newton while equator with respect to the rotational equator is currently it was approaching perigee passage and communicating larger than normally observed at solar minimum. This in normally with the Santiago ground station in Chile. After turn is allowing Ulysses, which was located at 32° North solar several unsuccessful attempts to recover the spacecraft, latitude on 1 January, to investigate in detail the boundary the problem was still present even when other ESA ground between ‘fast wind’ from the northern pole and ‘slower stations were used. This confirmed that the loss of contact wind’ from the region around the Sun’s magnetic equator. was related to either an onboard problem or a catastrophic event in orbit. On 20 October images of the track of XMM- Newton against the night sky, taken by amateur astronomers from Germany’s Starkenburg observatory, showed that the → CASSINI/HUYGENS satellite was still in one piece.
After concentrating on Enceladus in 2008, Cassini is focusing On 21 October the more powerful ESA 35 m ground station at on Titan for a while, although additional low-altitude New Norcia (Western Australia) was pointed in the direction Enceladus flybys, directly through the plumes ejected from its of XMM-Newton using a special radio-science mode. A south pole, are planned during the latter part of the Cassini weak signal was detected from the spacecraft, helping Equinox Mission. In November 2008, the Visual Infrared confirm suspicions that the antenna switch was stuck in an Mapping Spectrometer instrument, using a special imaging intermediate position. A spacecraft emergency was declared
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 91 programmes 92 www.esa.int can be used to estimate the ion outflow, at around 10 around at outflow, ion the estimate to used be can field electric spurious This field. electric spurious a give and instruments. probes by ion outflows that create a wake near the spacecraft field electric The method used using is based on outflows’, ‘perturbations’ of the electric ‘ionospheric field called ionosphere, Earth the leaving plasma of amount the Cluster results were published reporting a new estimation of few hoursbefore andafter theeclipses. decoder-onlyin payloads a their switch on will and off mode, off its payload during the eclipses, and Clusters 1 and 3, being switch to have will 4 Cluster on. switched to payload the power keep battery enough have will 2 Cluster 2009. May 15 to up 2009 February on 25 from days 2.5 (one everyspacecraft) each eclipses four with Cluster by experienced longest the be will season The season. eclipse short the prepare to have operations started teams science flight control and The together intheauroral zone. close the the spacecraft have mid-April, to in be changed Starting will configuration wind. solar km the 000 in 10 a tetrahedron form manoeuvres to 2008 attitude November in performed and were phasing constellation Cluster → CLUSTER massive supernova a few million years ago. a by blown bubble) (or region II H expandingwind-driven a association,triggeredtheby of generalarea the in that than mechanismdifferent a of product the is formation star this star formation event in the region. This evidence suggests that currentmost encompassesthe N66 of arc northern the that low-masspre-main-sequence stars.theseobjectsindicateAll emissionpeaksthatcoincide young withcompact clusters of young and infraredas sourcesseen embedded as well asobjects, starsstellar emission-line of concentration high a by characterised is association, stellar OB bright central the of feature,north nebulararc-like An found. wasformation star triggereddifferent of events two least at forEvidence Cloud. NGC 346/N66 is a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic and the ESO’s X-ray, New Technology combining Telescope has beenSpitzer 346carried XMM-Newton, out. by captured light visible NGC and infrared of study multi-wavelength A of out was spacecraft the communications. while of instruments no degradation the been of had any there that confirmed was it ground recovery,the Following m October. 22 on 15 Villafranca at station the using re-established was spacecraft the with contact radio full finally, and, position working last its spacecraft. to the back switch antenna at the move to power sent were Commands signal Goldstone higher a location, allowing Earth, to close its very is it when spacecraft to the of visibility provides Owing antenna. Network Goldstone Space Deep NASA’s from requested support and 26 /s.
of of galaxies and the local large-scale structure of the Universe. clusters tracingnearby plane, ‘supergalactic’ the of direction the from preferentially observed are They afterglows. X-ray – fluxes peak haveand faintand optical – limit sensitivity IBIS the to low close have all GRBs long-lag The lags. longer distribution, lags (< 0.75 one with short s) and the other with lag the for in identified were measured groups two was and GRBs Integral lag 28 spectral The photons. keV) (25–50 low-energy and keV) (50–300 high-energy the of arrival the between delay time a lag’,‘spectral i.e. a exhibit GRBs Many board. on telescope gamma-ray X-ray/soft hard IBIS the of the over rate threshold the triggeryearabove the per 1400 about is sky whole and determined, been have Integral by The global properties of all gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected instruments andground segment allperforming nominally. spacecraft, the with smoothly continue operations Integral → the next eclipse season. afteroperations restartingbefore spacecraft the ofrecovery a waitwillthen prepare andJanuarytocommands untilend continue will FGM) and (PEACE instruments European two contacttryingtospacecraft. the EPOS(RAL),operate who the regularly are and problem the be could what investigating are teams operations Chinese The December. or November in re-establishedbe not couldTC2 Star Double with Contact → DOUBLE STAR (D.A. Gouliermis) Star forming intheSmallMagellanic Cloud INTE GRAL in progress
The rate of the low luminosity GRBs is estimated to be about Data and images suggest that several 'Light Toned Deposits', → 25% of all events related to core collapse supernovae of Type some of the least understood features on Mars, were formed Ibc. If they are indeed intrinsically under-luminous local when large amounts of groundwater burst onto the surface. events, they could vastly outnumber classical GRBs. Scientists propose that groundwater had a greater role in shaping the martian surface than previously believed, and may have sheltered primitive lifeforms as the planet started drying up. → MARS EXPRESS
Following a late discovery of a potentially dangerous Phobos flyby in late December 2008, a strategy was implemented → ROSETTA to change the flyby into a safe one. From the end of November to mid-December, the spacecraft went through After the successful flyby of asteroid 2867 Steins, the solar conjunction and, except for a number of radio science detailed data evaluation is taking place. The first results measurements to study the solar corona, no further scientific were already reported at various conferences, confirming observations were possible. The spacecraft exited from solar that an excellent scientific outcome has been achieved. The conjunction on 21 December 2008. surface temperature of the asteroid was found by VIRTIS to vary between –90°C and –240°C. Steins was predicted The molecular oxygen abundance is now measured in the to be a member of the rare highly evolved E-type asteroids, atmosphere by the SPICAM spectrometer using the stellar an assumption that was fully confirmed by the images and occultation technique, at the altitude range 60–120 km. The spectra taken at optical and infrared wavelengths. previous (and only) measurements in the upper atmosphere were performed by the Viking landers during their descent to The Rosetta flyby was the first (and might remain the only) the surface in 1976, providing a molecular oxygen profile from spacecraft encounter with this rare type of asteroid. Ground- 180 km down to 130 km height. The SPICAM data analysis based observers had determined that the surface of such enables the study of the seasonal variations of oxygen in the asteroids might contain large amounts of enstatite, a martian atmosphere. mineral that is produced only by very high temperatures and
Iani Chaos on Mars, an area where Light Toned Deposits are known to be present. This image was obtained with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express (ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum)
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 93 programmes 94 www.esa.int second quarter of 2009. of second quarter of the Discovery Channel’s series ‘The Naked Scientist’, in the part programme, 50-minute a in feature will ExpressVenus cloud top altitudesover the Venus globe. variationsthe the of determine markings.also UV These the of pattern global the drive that dynamics atmospheric and temperature the mainly is UV It deck. Venus’s the cloud of images in features dark characteristic the for responsible are absorbers These absorbers. UV as-yet-unidentified the of distribution and presence the to rise give that conditions the VMC and the VIRTIS instruments, address the atmospheric in published Results for useby thescientific community. The journals. data more with leading filled being is archiveVenus Expressscience in publications in resulted recently or more instruments and a number of such joint studies have of the results. Several investigations are using data from two interpretationleveland dataanalysishigher arefocusing on teams science the and automated largely now is processing mission with its inherently high-rate raw Magellan radar the data). (excluding VenusThe orbited data has that spacecraft other any than data more back sent now VenusExpresshas → VENUS EXPRESS planned for thisconjunction phase. were activities special No 2008. December minimum 27 the the on (1.65°) with 2009 January 6 until (conjunction) 3° and the Sun as seen from the spacecraft conjunction will stay below Earth the between separation angular entered the which for Rosettaphase, 2008, December 17 On to linked investigations and anomalies recorded duringtheflyby phase. (PC8) remaining executing checkouts then and payload phase asteroid the from data scientific remaining of downlink the to dedicated first The spacecraft has spent 10 weeks in the active cruise phase, The analysis isstillunderway. Events comparedwereand detected centre. ground-basedto observations. galactic the near obtained were images 50 by obtained Earth.measurementsabout these and to Sevenwere allotted slots on telescopes were of and OSIRIS with observations parallel events in observing stereo flyby, microlensing Steins gravitational the after Directly this of surface the of ancient evolution body. and history the to clues provide and surface the on vary may composition the how camera through different colour filters make it possible to see biggermuchdifferentiated body. a Images taken OSIRIS the by of part a been have must Steins that indicating melting, , combining data collected with collected data combining Nature,
Alfvén waves that accelerate the solar wind. for ‘chimneys’ efficient as serve tubes flux the that suggest alsofound haveto ubiquitous horizontal fields. scientistsThe are expanding and fanning out with height. The polar region is that fields magnetic of view elements, flux a consistent with the of centres the from diverge to observed are vectors field The region. polar the of structure field magnetic global the 90°. flux elementsAll have same polarity,the consistent with tubes with kGauss field strength at latitudes between 70° and flux magneticorientedverticallyprecision. many found They polarimetric and view of field resolution,spatial of terms in landscape of the polar region of the Sun that Theare Hinode team has publishedunprecedented observations of the magnetic → HINODE Akari, containing 13 papers, was published in December 2008. Japan of AstronomicalSociety the Publicationof the of issue special second is The release 2009. Autumn public for The planned band. micron 90 the in quality good with micron) 160 and 140 90, (65, bands infrared far the in theproject teams. Itcontains 64000 bright sources detected to internally released was catalogue Survey All-Sky first The European observations have beenexecuted sofar. 142 and 2008 October 15 on started observationsTime Open phase. post-helium its in operations routine continues Akari → AKARI planet system involving alow-mass terrestrial planet. a multi- probably is this confirmation, object final Pending 0.0003. most interesting The of depth eclipse an shows moment the at up followed being analysis. and of stages final confirmation the in are exoplanets six further A planets. been have additional two for preparation detections in are articles and exoplanet published, COROT four now, to Up Keck observation 2009. isscheduledon7January first Texas. of The telescopes University the Keck with collaboration the through on observations of nights 60 to up of recentallocation the improveto thanksshould situation The telescopes. ground-based of schedule and to access the to mechanics celestial from ranging factors, of combination a takes process anything from confirmation several months to over one The year, depending on hundreds. several is total the The and faster weeks.increasing however fouris candidates every of number planet one about to increased has observations follow-up which by confirmed at are candidates rate planet The normally. operate to continues COROT → CORO T dedicated to dedicated in progress
followed a launch simulation in which Herschel helium → cryostat was filled, and the launch transient behaviour of the complete cryo-system was demonstrated. The cryostat temperature evolution as measured during the test followed the prediction very closely, clearing this major performance verification aspect.
In addition to proving of the cryogenic performance of the system, the test was used to demonstrate the spacecraft and instrument functional performance and operation in close to orbit thermal conditions. The outer cryostat shell Magnetic landscape of the Sun’s polar region as seen by and the telescope on top were cooled down to about Hinode (Tsuneta et al) –170°C. The spacecraft tests demonstrated full readiness for launch.
The near-orbital environment was also used to include the → HERSCHEL/PLANCK science operations validation test, and simulation of five days of nominal operation in orbit and commanded by mission control The test activities on both spacecraft are coming to an end in ESOC. After completion of both test campaigns, the spacecraft in January 2009 and the shipment to the launch site is was stored inside the LSS over Christmas with the return to the scheduled for mid-February. cleanroom in early January 2009 for the final functional test sequence before shipment to Kourou in February 2009. The highlight for the Herschel spacecraft of the last quarter of 2008 was the conduct of the Thermal Balance and Thermal For the Planck Flight Model, the last part of the year saw the Vacuum (TB/TV) test of the fully integrated spacecraft in final functional testing, the second integrated system test the Large Space Simulation (LSS) facility at ESTEC. This test and, as for Herschel, the operational testing and controlling
Herschel being lifted out of the Large Space Simulator at ESTEC after completion of its last TB/TV test
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 95 programmes 96 www.esa.int held at being subsystem level. are The power control CDRs unit CDR has micropropulsionbeen thruster caesium slit The time Test Benches) at Astrium Ltd andAstriumGmbH. Software the on continuing Verification Facility is and on the two parallel software test set-ups (Real- verification on-board the The the module). (from of science tests the shock from and and launcher separation test two acoustic an by to followed undergone has Model Flight module propulsion The tests. structural its completed has module science the of Model Flightrepaired the side, testing the On the be to to small. found respect was launcher Vega with the of margin capability declared mass the Also, sequences. orexperiment runs’, ‘science the of verification the in and level bench test at hardware/software testing in definition, requirements software and software onboard the in found were issues main The close-out). (CDR 2009 April be by closed to actions of number a in of resulted review completion The C. the Phase marking (CDR), Review Design Critical system the with milestone major a reached Development → LI has beenfixed at 16April2009. date launch The 2009. February mid by equipment ground support necessary the and spacecraft the of with shipment start the will campaign launch the and 2009 January of The test activities on both satellites will be completed by end January.of end the at shipment for ready be will spacecraft cooler,the tests dilution the of activities functional repair some of completion the and some leak-tightness After completed. control final the reaction were subsystem Some and cryo-coolers ESOC. the of verifications from spacecraft the Centre Spatiale deLiège (CSL) Planck after completion testsat itslastfunctional of the SA PATHFINDER Launch is expected by the first quarter of 2011. Launch isexpected by thefirstquarter substantial progress. of spite in critical, also are softwareLTP the and Electronics Front-endthe Reference Laser Unit, the Unit, Phasemeter the as such subsystems, Other system. vacuum the and housing most critical item, with the caging mechanism, the electrodes the remains sensor inertial TestThe Real-timeBench. the for payload (LTP) European have the delivered of all Electrical Model parts units to various Astrium GmbH the of suppliers The Europe. to shipped be to ready is DRS payload American The development.technology back-up as continuing are FEEPs indium needle The April. by concluded CDR system micropropulsion entire the have to is way.plan under The is Assembly Cluster FEEP the while held, after andESA would decidehow to proceed. whichCNES gas, cold on based PDR satellite delta a perform to required information of set minimum a get to done work the limit to trying is CNES alternative. system propulsion cold-gas the of manufacturing. B QMPhase the proceedon to ESAareconsideringhow and CNES and completion test electromagnetic Microscope activities are mainly related to the T-SAGE payload → MICRO its management and engineering layers. All interfaces within interfaces layers.All engineering and management its all established has DPAC segments. ground and space both on progress the closely follow to TeamScience met Gaia The preparation theground- of andinorbitcalibration activities. the and engineering evaluation,segment groundand testing coordinate radiationCCD instance to for areas, respective their in activities Data meetings further the industry had and involving have (DPAC) representatives, also Consortium Analysis groups, and working Processing of number A one was handed to the polishing facility at the end of 2008. first thesurface-coated andcomplexbeenhave mirrors most their completed already polishing phase and await have final silver coating. The mirrors two big and flight smaller the of mechanicalfinal their DecemberstressSome 2008. testing in passed already have elements three first The continued. silicon has the assembly plane focal of and optics) elements the (carrying torus individual carbide the of production The theFocalthe testsetupof Plane Assemblyin Toulouse (F). avionicsthe on Stevenagein populatetobench and test (UK), activities expanding the forrequiredsoftware centralare the of versions early and models engineering delivered.The been have models quality flight first and models engineering Both → G AI S COPE in progress →
One of the silicon carbide-elements of the Gaia torus in JWST NIRSpec instrument development model fully preparation for its mechanical load testing integrated (EADS Astrium) the consortium, as well as external interfaces to the project, have been defined and implemented. A meeting of the → BEPI COLOMBO DPAC Steering Committee also took place. This committee welcomed the news that the selection of staff for the DPAC The Critical Equipment Review Board have reviewed the Project Office has been completed and the office should be technology status and concluded that the system Preliminary fully operational in early 2009. Design Review (PDR) can be started in March, aiming at a Board conclusion in May 2009. The system design is consolidated and the preparation of the PDR data package is under way. Progress was made on testing different solar → JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE cell assemblies under various conditions and technology demonstration is expected before the PDR. About 50% of the The environmental and ambient optical test of the first fully equipment suppliers have been selected and ITTs for another assembled JWST flight Primary Mirror Assembly segment 25% are issued. has been completed. The Critical Design Review (CDR) of the Integrated Science Instruments Module (ISIM) structure was The Instrument PDRs were continued according to plan with passed and the flight structure integration has started. 10 of 11 completed. Generally, an adequate payload definition status and compliance with spacecraft interfaces was Integration activities on the Near Infrared Spectrograph demonstrated. The remaining design review is for February (NIRSpec) development model are complete and the test 2009. campaign started. Vibration tests are taking place in January followed by a cryogenic test. The Instrument CDR was passed The Structural and Thermal Model (STM) of the Mercury in December and the integration of the instrument Flight Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) is nearly complete in Japan. Model was formally released. The testing of the Flight Model Preparation has started for STM testing in early 2009. Tests detector unit has been completed by the US supplier and of the MMO electrical model started. Characterisation tests delivered to NASA, for further testing and integration. The of thermal hardware and solar cells are ongoing. development of the cryogenic mechanisms remains critical for both ESA and NASA deliveries.
Following the Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Verification → EXOMARS Model (VM) test campaign, all data were analysed and the post-test review was passed in December. The instrument Final inputs were prepared for the Ministerial Council 2008 Flight Operation Procedures were also exercised against with updates of the financial and programmatic proposals the VM, without problems. The Imager Flight Model has from industry as part of the Commitment Confirmation completed its second cryogenic test campaign and has seen Review. The cost at completion for the ‘Enhanced ExoMars’ ‘first light’. The development of the cryogenic mechanisms mission was presented to the HSF Programme Board and to remains critical and is now affecting the delivery date. Council. Activities on the launcher side are progressing well and support is being given to NASA in the preparation of the CDR The participating states decided not to fund the full Enhanced at spacecraft and observatory level. ExoMars mission, due to financial limitations in some of the
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 97 programmes 98 www.esa.int h asml ad nerto porme o te first the for of programme qualification The Alphasat. as customised integrationbe to platform, and high-power assembly of the requirements confirmed also review The range. the kW 12–18 the meet the Alphabus in satellites of to line capabilities product the confirms This review 2008. April major in passed was CDR System Alphabus The original contract. the to rider a developmentthrough Alphabus ongoing the in thisfirst suit implemented being to are and identified been haveapplication Inmarsat. PFM platform operator the to commercial adaptations selected Specific the and ESA by funded jointly be to opportunity flight a for Model platform (PFM) Protoflight Alphabus the Sub- utilises 8 which Element II), (ARTES element Programme Alphasat the of the start by complemented is 2005 mid since running contract, C/D Phase Alphabus The satellites. French telecommunications for platforms the large of generation with next the CNES, cooperation agency space in develop, ESA the to is programme I, Sub-element 8 Element ARTES or ‘Alphabus’, → ALPHABUS 2010. of quarter first the in extension B2 Phase planned the of end as act an interim review until the full PDR is completed at the close out the existing industrial contract for Phase B2 and will will PDR Interim The agreed. as December in delivered were The first setof Interim Preliminary Design Review documents 2010. of the second quarter cooperation. international The present planning is to of the start Phase C/D in component larger a assuming project, the reformationthroughthe team industrial maintainthe will of presentthe contract of end and atthe start extensionwill B2 Phase The phase. implementation the start to activities C/D to redirected of 2009, rather than been the previously planned move to has Advanced contract maintainPhasea levelB2 through quarter first activity the of industrial present The states.imposed by theparticipating new configuration necessary to meet the financial restrictions any to mission the reorient to 2009 of quarter second the in implemented be will year one of extension B2 Phase a and for Canadian 2009 in developed the be will Agency.relationships Space These and possibilities Roscosmos NASA, various in partners potential studying with now relations establishing is and cooperation international is project The 31 on subscriptions of closure December 2009. the and of 2009 end the September at due General Director agreed, the from was report project a with the of reformation the for timeline A internationalcooperation.of mechanism a throughprovided a substantial proportion of the total cost of the mission shall be delayed by two years, with a launch date now in 2016, and that leading states. Consequently, it was agreed that ExoMars will be
of communicationof satellite market. the extended Alphabus range to address the high-power end Ministerial Council in 2008, will and progressIII Sub-element ARTES Element 8 and Sub-element III IV were approved at the for delivery in2009. due is module service PFM the for In hardware flight ongoing. parallel, is chains functional and equipment Alphabus RE Sbeeet V s o rpr i prnrhp with partnership in prepare segmentdevelopmentuser the the industry of Inmarsatand to is IV Sub-element ARTES under consolidation. currently is implementation and development Its the satellite. on accommodated successfully been has sensors, environment and in environment an radiation the components electronic on effects its and orbit geostationary demonstrator, monitor to technology facility effects fourth A – – – on flight for packages Alphasat have alsogone through theirrespective PDRs: demonstration technology The programme. the with of proceed to adequate level found was definition payload the processor, payload onboard the of challenges the Despite mission. the Inmarsat for adaptations specific its and platform Alphabus the considered review The 2008. October in passed was ESA, and Inmarsat between chaired co- Review, Design Preliminary Alphasat The requirements. Inmarsat specific on focusing started and established Inmarsat, been operator have ESA and the Inmarsat industry, in teams with project Alphasat signing Alphasat the After → ALPHASAT – – – Artist impression Alphabus(EADS of Artist Astrium) an advanced Star Tracker withactive pixel detector. h faiiiy f hs bns o ftr commercial future assess for bands to applications; these experiment of feasibility communications the QV-band a n dacd ae Cmuiain Terminal Communication Laser communication links; advanced to an eosrt gottoay ri t lw at orbit Earth low to orbit geostationary demonstrate in progress
associated with the advanced mobile payload on board the control, payload commanding, performance monitoring and → Alphasat/Inmarsat I-XL satellite. The User Segment and science data processing and dissemination. Application programme is aimed at developing new services with enhanced performances and will allow for the provision of value-added applications to mobile institutional and public users across Europe. → SMOS
After uploading the final payload flight software, the third system validation test and the repeat of the launcher adaptor → GOCE fit check, the satellite is back in storage. Flight operations ground segment, including long-term test and Low Earth Following the interruption of the launch campaign in Orbit Phase rehearsal is nearly complete. Version 2 of the September 2008, due to an anomaly in the launch vehicle, Data Processing Ground Segment had its on-site acceptance the GOCE satellite has been stored in its transport container test which was a major step forward, but a number of facility at Plesetsk. Investigations to find the cause of the anomaly updates will be needed in early 2009 before the launch were completed in November, and the decision was made to version is ready. Project planning proceeds based on a launch replace a power supply unit in the Breeze-KM upper stage. on 16 July 2009 – pending confirmation of the launcher This upgrade was completed in January 2009. The upgraded authority. unit is being tested together with the rest of the Breeze-KM avionics. Tests will last until February when also activities will begin to take GOCE out of storage. This plan leads to a launch in mid March. → ADM-AEOLUS
The design improvements identified in the ALADIN laser critical review in July 2008, together with architectural → CRYOSAT studies for potential laser back-up options were further elaborated. These results were used for an update of the Environmental testing, at IABG in Munich (D), started in instrument performance predictions. A Design Key Point was September 2008, beginning with mechanical tests. In these performed in November 2008, in which the available data tests the S-band Transponders, which had not been delivered were reviewed and the design changes to be implemented on time, were replaced by mass-representative dummies. were frozen. The performance predictions could demonstrate All the tests which could be performed without this that the expected stability after upgrading the laser is in line equipment were done. At that point the decision was taken with mission needs. to put the satellite into storage, to allow time for the missing equipment to be delivered. Advantage was taken of this A replacement for the Q-switch crystal and anti-reflection storage period to perform minor repairs on other equipment. coating could be found which significantly improves the Activity continues in onboard software qualification. robustness of this component against laser-induced damage. Also this modification was selected for implementation in The overall validation of the ground segment continues, the laser Design Key Point. with integrated testing of the end-to-end processes. This exercises all the facilities and interfaces involved in satellite An engineering vacuum test of a partially upgraded laser engineering model was performed which showed the stability improvements expected for the chosen test configuration.
Work on the formal system-level test campaign at platform level has continued and further formal test cases were carried out. A specific radio-frequency compatibility test using the actual ground station receiving equipment was performed, which demonstrated the instrument data link between satellite and ground station.
→ SWARM
The engineering models of the instrument and satellite GOCE at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia unit were delivered for further integration and testing
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 99 programmes 100 www.esa.int in long-term storage, there are still some AIT activities to be to activities AIT some still are there storage, long-term in are Payload PLM-3, MetOp and the Although Modules,PLM-1 andMetOp-C MetOp-B (mid2012). opportunity possible latest the for scheduled be to launch MetOp-B the of continuing its mission beyond a six-year lifetime, allowing capable be should MetOp-A that concluded was It 2008. of quarter last the during partners and industry with together Assessment ProcessReviews, covering entirethe satellite, have held been Health Component The scenario. restricted, zone-based a using operated being is Transmission Picture to the B-side and investigations are under way. The High Rate switched now anomaly.are Operationsan experienced Unit perform excellently in orbit. In January, the Central Computer to continue instruments the and health good in is MetOp-A MetOp-A → MET the of consolidation the be Review. Design will Critical System the of start the with SWARMdesign satellite major for next The step instruments. magnetometer scalar and accelerometer the for except complete are level instrument unit at Reviews Design Critical the All complete. is system operation flight the the and for data payload Review the of Design development Preliminary segment ground The performance. mission for parameter key a stability, elastic complete, is providing excellentbench results with optical respect to thermo- the of model structural the of testing The well is advanced structure initiated.and is due for completion in the first quarter2009. the of been assembly and has manufacturing The mechanisms of deployment test boom qualification The the bench. magnetometer test scalar the and the tracker star between compatibility completed A Bench. was Test test Real-time satellite the with back (left, thewhiteclothisthermalprotection withthestartracker baffles) (EADS Astrium) the on head sensors stellar three the and front the on head sensor magnetometer with TwoSWARMbench of optical views OP
MSG-4 launchisplannednotearlierthan2013. awaiting its completion of the MSG-4 Pre-Storagestill Review.Theis MSG-4 2011. early for planned launch, its for prepare Space to 2010 in campaign Alenia AIT the of restart Thales the awaiting Cannes, the in storage long-term in is MSG-3 andMSG-4 MSG-3 are performance instruments excellent. and Satellite longitude. 0° at satellite operational nominal Eumetsat’s is Meteosat-9 Meteosat-9/MSG-2 performs theRapid ScanService. and 9/MSG-2 Meteosat for back-up as serves satellite The nominal area. the in remain still parameters All flawlessly. performing instruments with health good in is 8 Meteosat Meteosat 8/MSG-1 → METE Council approved the overall concept and the development the and concept MTG overall the approved Council proposed full the Payload approvedComplement. the In November 2008, the ESA Ministerial council towards Eumetsat made the 2008, been October In programme. MTG have the of implementation steps important Some → METE I atvte i 20 ad pand eO- luc in launch MetOp-B planned a 2012. and storage 2009 hard in activities of in AIT restart the kept for waiting are premises, Toulouse’s Astrium Modules at Service MetOp The be performed inblocks. to planned are repair,which recalibrationand/oralignment, performed which require dismounting of the instruments for O O SAT SAT THIRDGENRAT ION (MT G )
in progress
of MTG, and full subscription was received. A final decision → will have to be taken when the Eumetsat council meets in June 2010, to decide on its contribution to the ESA development programme and approval of Eumetsat’s part of the programme.
MTG will be based on a twin-satellite concept in which two types of three-axis stabilised satellites, one for imaging (MTG-I) and one for sounding (MTG-S) will be developed. The payload for MTG-I will consist of a flexible combined imager, a lightning imager, a data collection system, and a search and rescue system (GEOSAR), while MTG-S will have an infrared sounder and an ultraviolet/visible/ near-infrared sounder, the latter to be provided from the MetOp in orbit (Medialab) GMES Sentinel-4 programme. The MTG space segment is composed of six satellites: four MTG-I and two MTG-S.
Dust wall cloud over Western Algeria, as observed by Meteosat 8 on 9 October 2008 (Eumetsat)
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 101 programmes 102 www.esa.int receivethe modules)and Tile Control in wasperformed Unit the SAR Antenna Electronic Front-End (housing the transmit/ Segment) has been held. An early compatibility test between GroundPayload Data the and OperationSegment Flight the both (covering Review Requirement Segment Ground The good results. and concluded. A preliminary launcher finalised coupled be analysis was performed with to be still bidders) to selected (with evaluation negotiations last almost one is with procedure Practices complete, Best the via equipment of Procurement ongoing. are in PDRs equipment held and were 2008 mid PDRs subsystem and system Sentinel-1 The electronics subsystem). (SAR Ltd Astrium and antenna) and instrument (SAR GmbH the Astrium includes and also team spacecraftThe modules).transmit/receive the for as responsible Italy contractor, Space prime Alenia Thales by led is team industrial The consumables for 12 years). (and years seven of lifetime design with 2011, of end the at launched be to scheduled ASAR. is it Envisat tonnes, 2.3 with about Weighing continued and ERS-1/2 with initiated observations radar of continuity ensure to in and Commission (SAR) radar aperture synthetic requirementsuser responseto in EuropeanC-band fromthe a carry will Sentinel-1 → SENT the scope work of equivalentcover to aPhase B1. to 2009 June to up This extended be December.now will phase in Review Requirements Preliminary the Astrium respectively by with end an to came France Space Alenia Thales performed and GmbH studies A Phase The (MTG-S) imaging satellite (MTG-I) andthesoundingsatellite MTG willconsist two of three-axis stabilisedsatellites: the INEL-1
uhrsto b te P, h poueet f h second Following the satellite, Sentinel-1B, of willsoonbeinitiated. equipment. procurement the some IPC, the by for authorisation started has hardware model engineering first the of Production 2008. December level. Board Programme at approval for ready and finalised now is CNES with quality image Sentinel-2 on agreement providers. service launch cooperationtwo The initiatedwith been also have Preparatoryactivities period. that in held be will Review Requirement Segment Ground Sentinel-2 Sentinel-2B. The the and LCT the price, C/D phase Sentinel-2A consortium,at revising Sentinel-2the contract the including industrial the Flight of build-up the finalising spent be will 2009 satellite The on Vega(Rockot back-up)as 2012. of October half in first The 2008. launch November a with 2012, July for scheduled is ReviewAcceptance were in PDR System the completed and PDR Instrument Payload The and Integrated Applications. Telecommunications of Dircectorate the with cooperation in analysed being is subsystem telecommunication around X-band system communication satellite’ pre-operationala laser as used be complementto the terminal to a ‘twin of inclusion the operational addition, In 2016. fully a deployment of the allowing Model, Flight satellite second a of development the cover to 2008, Council Ministerial the after enlarged was programme Sentinel-2 the of scope The between resolutions spatial 10 mand60m. of range a provide SWIR) to and 56°S. 83°N between observationcalibration(VNIR 13 and bands versatileof A set time revisit five-day swath, a instrument provides km 290 wide very the with combined configuration,orbital degrees.This 180 of separation a with orbit sun-synchronous unique a in flying satellites two uses is mission This habitats). human and (vegetation missions observing land SPOT/Landsat and the of continuity development further ensuring programme, component space GMES the of mission multispectral optical the is Sentinel-2 → SENT C/D technical activities have been authorised to since December steps necessary convertthe C/D ceiling theprice to a fixed Contractually, price have started, but 2009. February by remaining instrument PDR (SLSTR) is ongoing, lastcompletion. to Thethe conditionalbe to iscompleted actions PDR some ofclosure casesfew a incompleted, whilebeen also has B2 three and platform instruments the (OLCI,them,MWR). SRALandPhaseForofmost for meantime: the in completed been also have in PDRs additional Four (PDR). concluded Review Design activities Preliminary B2 system successful a following Phase 2008, November Prime Sentinel-3 The → SENT INEL-2 INEL-3
in progress
2008 to allow continuity of work within industry and prevent → disruptions and additional delays. These early C/D activities will focus on the consolidation and freezing of the design based on the recommendations and actions placed during the PDRs, preparing for the manufacture and test of the first hardware.
On the technical side, the main effort at satellite level has been to reduce the mass budget. There is no margin compared to the current maximum estimated launch mass for the candidate launchers (Vega and Rockot), meaning a thorough review of all satellite elements is needed to reduce mass. This task will still continue in the coming months with the support of the launcher organisation in assessing the Sentinel-3 compatibility and mission performance. On the instrument side, the only technical criticality remains with the SLSTR instrument where, even if the revised thermal architecture and accommodation has allowed overall The Vega Mobile Gantry at Kourou (ESA/CNES/Arianespace) performance improvements, further work needs to be done, taking into account the mass problem as well. started with a series of short duration ignition tests. The Procurement tasks through competitive Invitations to Tender separation test of the Y2 interstage was performed on (ITTs) is proceeding in all fields and, together with the PDRs, 17 October. has been the main effort in this phase. Out of 120 procurement contracts to be placed, 75 have either been concluded or are For the ground segment, the Vega Mobile Gantry achieved under final negotiation. In line with the objectives established its first movement (by 5 m) on 14 and 15 November, while at the beginning of the Phase B2, the remaining ITTs to be all installations of air conditioning and ventilation in the issued during Phase C/D are not related to procurement of Mobile Gantry and in the bunker have been completed. The flight hardware but exclusively to ground support equipment first release of the Vega Control Centre has been qualified, and test facilities. including full synoptic and database population.
The manufacturing of the second Zefiro 9 test-firing model is progressing. The Inert Motor Case was hydro-proofed → EARTHCARE on 9 October and the propellant casting operations were completed on 18 November. The Zefiro 23 Qualification Following a successful series of pre-System Requirements Review is coming to an end, relevant Steering Board being Review (SSR) status meetings for the four payload planned for 3 December. The propellant casting of the Flight instruments and the base platform, the EarthCARE industrial Unit was completed on 7 November. consortium led by Astrium GmbH prepared the data package required for the SRR. For the cloud-profiling radar, The preparations for the qualification flight are in progress, JAXA prepared an additional and specific set of documentation with the finalisation of the interface specification with the covering in particular the instrument interfaces and the LARES payload. CPR requirements relevant to the overall mission performance.
The EarthCARE SRR process was formally initiated on → SOYUZ AT CSG 11 December 2008 with industry’s presentation and the release of the complete data package of more than 400 The European Infrastructure On-site Acceptance Review took documents. The review process is currently ongoing and the place in the beginning of October. The production of the SRR Board is planned mid-February 2009. Mobile Gantry is still a main concern for the programme; a management meeting was held in Paris on 23 October, in which the arrival of the gantry at the launch site is foreseen by end of February 2009. The site is called l'Ensemble de → VEGA Lancement Soyouz (ELS), located near Sinnamary, a village 10 km north of the site used for Ariane 5 launches. On 23 October, Vega’s Zefiro 9A solid-fuel rocket motor completed its first test- firing at the Salto di Quirra Interforce Regarding Russian equipment, the assembly of the first batch Test Range in Sardinia (I). The Level 0 analysis meeting took of equipment was completed on 22 October and part of the place on 7 November and no major anomaly was found. team has left French Guiana. Seventy Russian technicians are The AVUM Propulsion System test-firing campaign (UCFire) working on the ELS site. Progress of equipment integration
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 103 programmes 104 www.esa.int Hot Bird 9and W2M delivering anddataTV throughout network services Europe, Africa andtheMiddle East North comprised payload The 2008. of launch November, last 20 the of evening the on flight V186 for ready stands 5 Ariane in progress
is good and in line with the planning of August. Following –– International Space Station (ISS) Exploitation Programme → subscription to more funding at the Ministerial Council 2008, –– Period 3 (2008–12), aimed at operating, maintaining and an additional 2009 budget has been prepared. exploiting the European elements of the ISS and providing Europe’s contribution to common operations by delivering cargo and services; –– European Transportation and Human Exploration → FLPP Preparatory Activities Programme (2009–12), including the initial definition phases of a cargo download system The general key-point review for the Expander Demonstrator based on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (the Advanced was held. The third industrial workshop was held on 15 Reentry Vehicle, ARV), and studies on the definition of a October in ESTEC, attended by more than 100 participants. Lunar Lander; The IXV System Preliminary Design Review began on 6 –– ELIPS Period 3 Programme (2008–12), which will be the November after submission of the complete technical and continuation of the European Programme for Life and programmatic data package by industry. The industrial Physical Sciences. contractor presented the current IXV design baseline plan to the review team (from ESA, ASI, CIRA, CNES and DLR). The review is progressing, all documentation was assessed and no ‘showstoppers’ were identified. → INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
The ISS celebrated its tenth birthday on 20 November 2008. This international cooperation has led eventually to 14 → HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT nations building and assembling a unique space infrastructure where women and men from several different nations European human spaceflight activities are set for a bright have been living and working together uninterruptedly future after the Ministerial Council in 2008. The following since the year 2000. The level of funding received from human spaceflight and exploration proposals were endorsed the ESA Member States at the Ministerial Council will by ESA Member States, and received good support and a further strengthen and sustain Europe’s role in the ISS substantial share of ESA’s optional programmes overall. programme.
The ISS configuration in November 2008
European Space Agency | Bulletin 137 | February 2009 105 programmes 106 www.esa.int DEVEL during Increment 19inspring2009. start to scheduled is growth) root plant on microgravity of effects (investigating WAICO experiment, Biolab the second of The run 18. Increment during out carried be to due are Final activities. troubleshooting and facility maintenance activities on Biolab payload various the supporting nominally function to continues Columbus laboratory. Columbus the been has ISS the of utilisation European of focus main The → UT been has in 2011. procurement equipment cargo ATV-3 released high-leveland is running without problems The for an ATV-3 ATV-2launch 2010. The in ESTEC. undergo scheduled will atis launch the and defined be to about Bay manifest is test Avionics thermal ATV-2 the a 2009, of quarter second the In well. going is test and integration ATV-2 The design changes to be implemented Review in follow-on ATVs. Analysis programme. Post-flight VerneBoard 3 was held Jules in January Periodand ATV gave have indications implementation Theabout Exploitation potential forstarted. ISS industry with the negotiations The of part as approved been have activities sustainability production ATV ATV production andcargo integration to NASA, plannedfor July2009. ownership Node-3 of transfer and Acceptance Flight the for with the Cupola observation module, will start in preparation Node-3 of mating the including and responsibilityESA under NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Ground to operations at Node-3 KSC, of take shipment the authorise will to 2009 April in Review place Acceptance pre-shipment A completed. been has Space Alenia Thales at work post-storage Node-3 Node-3 → Cupola, shuttersclosed,seenat KSC SPA IL CE SAT OPMENT ANDEXPL INFRASTR ION UC TURE OI TAT ION
EAA i Iceet 0 GNR i ddctd o study to dedicated is GENARA 20. Increment in GENARA, System Cultivation Modular facility Europeanperformance before re- the start of ESA’s to full next STS-126 experiment, the on up establish sent were consumables and Spares 15A dueinFebruary 2009. flight checkout after Shuttle functional first deploymentand for Columbus of Carrier TransportEuropean the in location The Flywheel Exercise Device will be removed from its storage andcalibration.inspection post-flight detailed for ULF-2 on Earth to returned also and be will Interferometer(ANITA)forAmbientAir deactivatedbeen has effects, physiology human continued during the related ongoing ISS Increment 18. The and Analyzing space retentionin salt into research out carries which programme, research SOLO The flight. ULF-2 the on back (SOLO)sent been have Microgravity in Loading Chamitoff, Greg again subject, test first the experimentwith Sodium the of Samples the spaceflight. on weightlessness of representationmentalinformationaftervisual and duringof effects the investigates physiology study human This Fincke. Mike astronaut NASA with Increment 18 for planned are runs of set new a STS-126 and (ULF-2), flight Shuttle on return his astronaut before Chamitoff NASA Greg the by performed successfully been have Allfour runs of the new 3D Space neurophysiology experiment and observation window. October Sun 29 latest the of end the following on November 9 on finished started SOLACES) SOLSPEC, instruments individual (SOVIM, its and facility SOLAR the for cycle has and November 5 resumed full science since operations. The latest science activated acquisition permanently been EuropeanThe TechnologyExposure Facility (EuTEF)again has the next ESA astronaut arrives at theISS inMay 2009. when place take will EPM facility the use to experiment first the NeuroSpat, investigations. function brain non-invasive of different types for used be will and (EPM)facility Modules Physiology European the of subsection a is module This 18. Electroencephalogram Increment for scheduled is Multi-Electrode (MEEMM) Module Measurement the Final of 2009. February in calibration launch for due Flight, Shuttle Protein 15A the on up sent be will which the experiments PCDF first the of including programme ready science protein four-month the now of start the are Rack,for (PCDF) Facility Drawer Diagnostics Crystallisation European The in 17A flight August Shuttle 2009. the on unit experiment the of return throughoutIncrements intoand 19 18, 20, tentativethe to up continue will runs experiment 100 than more programme of was Container science Geoflow December. The in runs science Geoflow the Experiment test Geoflow The correctly installed inside the facility and was the ready to resume performed. that successfully test showed functional a and activated was Laboratory Science Fluid November,the 13 On in progress
→ ASTRONAUTS →
The selection campaign for new ESA astronauts entered its final phase: 192 candidates completed the Psychological Test Phase 2, which ended on 17 November. 45 candidates made it through to the next phase of medical evaluation, starting on 12 January 2009.
On 21 November, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne (B) was nominated as the first European Commander of the ISS. He will fly to the ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft in May 2009 with cosmonaut Roman Romanenko (RUS) and astronaut Robert Thirsk (CDN), bringing the total number of crew on the ISS to six for the first time.
Astronaut Greg Chamitoff prepares the 3D Space For the first four months, De Winne will be Flight Engineer experiment inside Columbus as a member of Expedition 20. He will be joined on board by astronaut Christer Fuglesang (S), who will fly as mission specialist on the 11-day STS-128 mission scheduled for August plant (Arabidopsis) growth activity at a molecular level in 2009. With a rotation of three of the crew due in October, weightlessness. De Winne will become Commander of Expedition 21 until his return to Earth in November 2009. He takes over the The BIO-4 experiment complement (XENOPUS, BASE-B and C, responsibilities from Expedition 20 Commander Gennady and ROALD) was launched with Soyuz 17S on 12 October. The Padalka (RUS). His back-up is ESA astronaut André Kuipers (NL). in-orbit activities for the BASE and XENOPUS experiments have been completed and the processed samples returned on De Winne was nominated to serve as Commander by the Soyuz flight 16S on 24 October; the chemically fixed samples Multilateral Crew Operations Panel of the ISS Programme. for the ROALD experiment were returned on STS-126 on As Commander, De Winne will be responsible for conducting 30 November. operations on the ISS, directing the activities of the ISS crew as a team, and ensuring the safety of the crew and the protection A suite of new ESA astrobiology experiments, some of of the ISS elements, equipment and payloads. He will also be which could help understand how life originated on Earth, the main operator of the Japanese robotic arm and will be has just been launched on the Russian Progress vehicle 31P one of the two astronauts who will berth the Japanese cargo to the ISS. The nine experiments are part of the Expose-R spacecraft HTV-1 to the ISS in autumn next year. payload loaded with a variety of biological samples including plant seeds and spores of bacteria, fungi and ferns. As the The next European long-term mission has also been installation attempt on 23 December was unsuccessful due confirmed. Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli (I) will be to the power interference, the Expose-R payload is planned Flight Engineer on Expeditions 26 and 27. His launch is due in to be installed on the outside of the Russian segment of ISS November 2010, returning to Earth six months later in May during a spacewalk in January. 2011.
Frank De Winne Paolo Nespoli André Kuipers
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