SpaceFlight A British Interplanetary Society publication Volume 61 No.5 May 2019 £5.25 Dragon fire! copy Subscriber Apollo feedback 05> Commercial space 634089 Steps back to the Moon 770038 Remembering Apollo 10 9 copy Subscriber CONTENTS Features 16 Return of the Dragon SpaceX has taken a big step forward by successfully launching its Dragon 2 crew- carrying capsule to the International Space Station but how long before astronauts get to ride the latest people-carrier? 2 Letter from the Editor 18 The Impact of Apollo – Part 2 Nick Spall FBIS looks at the technological and The excitement just keeps on inspirational legacy of the Apollo Moon shots growing! No sooner did we have and finds value in the money spent. the first uncrewed landing on the far side of the Moon by China than Israel launched the first privately 22 Apollo 10 – so near, yet so far funded spacecraft to head for a David Baker recalls events 50 years ago when lunar touchdown. Then, NASA three astronauts got closer to the Moon than boss Jim Bridenstine advised ever before and yet left the final descent to glory Congress that its flagship rocket, to the next mission in line, clearing the way for 16 the Space Launch System, may the first landing. not be ready to launch Orion in 2020 as planned, while calling on 32 Commercial Space commercial providers to step up Using a wide range of commercial providers, and fly the mission to fast-track humans back on the Moon in 2028 NASA is building a roadmap to the Moon with (page 2). landers, space tugs and spacecraft for taking Not fast enough it seems. Vice humans back to the surface by 2028. President Mike Pence has now delivered a message from the Trump White House ordering NASA to get a woman on the 18 Moon by 2024! Nobody seems to copy have told the President that this is virtually impossible. Or is it? Watch Regulars this space. Meanwhile, we reflect on the feedback from the Apollo 2 Behind the news extra programme and look again at the SLS: hanging in the balance? Apollo 10 mission, 50 years ago, that pioneered the route Moon- 8 Opinion landing astronauts would take for the next three years. It all seems 10 ISS Report 22 that much more relevant now, with 9 February – 8 March 2019 concerted efforts to resume the explorationSubscriber of the Moon with humans. 34 Letters to the Editor 38 Multi-media The latest space-related books, games, videos 42 Satellite Digest 556 – February 2019 David Baker 46 Society news / Diary [email protected] 32 COVER: AN ARTIST IMAGINES THE SPACEX DRAGON 2 HEADING FOR A RENDEZVOUS WITH THE ISS / SPACEX WITH A RENDEZVOUS 2 HEADING FOR DRAGON THE SPACEX IMAGINES ARTIST AN COVER: What’s happened/ What’s coming up OUR MISSION STATEMENT Editor David Baker, PhD, BSc, FBIS, FRHS Sub Editor Ann Page Creative Consultant Andrée Wilson Design & Production MP3 Media Promotion Gillian Norman Advertising Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 3160 Email: [email protected] The British Interplanetary Society Distribution Warners Group Distribution, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH, England Tel: +44 (0)1778 promotes the exploration and 391 000 Fax: +44 (0)1778 393 668 SpaceFlight, Arthur C. Clarke House, 27-29 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1SZ, use of space for the benefit England Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 3160 Email: [email protected] www.bis-space.com Published monthly by the British Interplanetary Society, SpaceFlight is a publication that promotes the mission of the British of humanity, connecting people Interplanetary Society. Opinions in signed articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of to create, educate and inspire, the Editor or the Council of the British Interplanetary Society. Registered Company No: 402498. Registered charity No: and advance knowledge in 250556. The British Interplanetary Society is a company limited by guarantee. Printed in England by Latimer Trend & Co. © 2019 British Interplanetary Society 2017 ISSN 0038-6340. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced all aspects of astronautics. or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission for the Publishers. Photocopying permitted by license only. SpaceFlight Vol 61 May 2019 1 BEHIND THE NEWS EXTRA SLS HANGING IN copy THE BALANCE? SubscriberThe liquid hydrogen tank of the SLS rocket at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Major problems with NASA’s super-heavy launch vehicle could bring about its early demise amid claims of shoddy manufacturing and incompetent management. Or is the project just being given the hurry-up? ANALYSTS HAVE BEEN SAYING IT for several negotiations were under way last autumn to seal the years and now the NASA Administrator is confirming NASA budget request for 2020, a financial year that it. The Space Launch System will not meet NASA’s begins on 1 October this year, it was apparent that early programme expectations and may very well not much more money would be needed to get SLS on get beyond the early Block I design before it is track. As covered elsewhere in this issue, NASA is retired. Moreover, it will probably not be used to restructuring how US civilian space activity is send the developed version of Orion to lunar orbit in conducted and the way operations are planned to a 2020 and may well not retain its planned application greater extent than ever before. But the escalating for sending heavy payloads into deep space with the cost of the SLS has been the fulcrum on which the more capable Block IB. Neither is it any longer the fortunes of the big rocket have been balanced. preferred launch system for the flagship Europa The present budget proposes a halt to funds for Clipper mission to the Jovian moon. the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) and the Mobile Concerns now being expressed over the SLS Launcher-2 (ML-2) platform along with development IMAGES: CSNA IMAGES: timeline began to emerge a year ago and by the time of the Block 1B – the launcher slated to carry the 2 Vol 61 May 2019 SpaceFlight BEHIND THE NEWS LEFT The Block 1 Space Launch System in its latest configuration and paint scheme. year. This date was then shifted tocopy mid-2020, but it cannot be delayed any further without compromising Orion’s development schedule, which calls for the engineering problems to be solved before the spacecraft is cleared for crewed flight. The date for BELOW EM-2, the first crewed flight, has already slipped and Jim Bridenstine appearing before will now take place no earlier than April 2023. the Senate More challenging is the withdrawal of funding for Committee on the ML-2 platform and for the EUS – the two defining Commerce, elements of the SLS Block IB. Both have already Science and Transportation at received funding above and beyond what was a NASA budget allocated in the previous financial year in the belief The liquid hydrogen tank of the SLS rocket at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Subscriber hearing on 13 that fast-tracking the Block IB would give NASA a March 2019. EUS. Moreover, there is a defined plan within the budget proposal to fly Lunar Gateway payloads and Orion on a commercial launch vehicle. But if that is approved by Congress, it is difficult to see how the planned mid-2020 flight of Orion could be achieved because of the work required to mate the spacecraft to a different rocket. The need to get Orion flying into lunar orbit is driven by the requirement to qualify its newly redesigned heat shield by returning the spacecraft from hyperbolic trajectories. Exploration Flight Test-1, launched on 4 December 2014, revealed major problems with the original unified ‘monobloc’ design, which had been adopted in spite of earlier warnings about its integrity. Since then, the heat shield has been completely reworked and now has to be qualified before the project can move ahead. The next flight, known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was to have been the first with the Orion/ SLS combination and was originally set for late this SpaceFlight Vol 61 May 2019 3 SLUG more robust capability for advanced missions. There are those at the agency who believe the EUS will still be required – eventually. But in the meantime, questionmarks over where it fits into NASA’s rapidly evolving strategy could on their own be enough to doom it to extinction. The story behind these changing hardware configurations is serpentine to say the least, but is worth a recap. BLASTS FROM THE PAST The Block 1 SLS is built around a cryogenic core stage powered by four RS-25D legacy engines from the Shuttle programme, but it is non- recoverable, delivering a stage thrust of 7,440 kN. Two Solid Rocket An artist’s impression of the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 in Earth orbit (above) and the Delta IV rocket Boosters (SRBs) produce a combined that launched it (below). It may be that history ends up repeating itself. thrust of 32,000 kN and deliver a total vehicle lift-off thrust of 39,440 kN – 18% greater than the Saturn V. The SRBs are five-segment variants of the boosters used for the Shuttle flights, but with 25% greater thrust output. Test and qualification firings were completed in June 2016, clearing the design for flight. The Initial Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS) upper stage is derived from the Delta IV Delta Cryogenic Secondcopy Stage (DCSS), which provides a thrust of 110.1 kN from a single RL10B-2 rocket motor.