SpaceFlight A British Interplanetary Society publication Volume 61 No.2 February 2019 £5.25 Sun-skimmer phones home Rolex in space Skyrora soars ESA uploads 02> to the ISS 634089 From polar platform 770038 to free-flier 9 CONTENTS Features 18 Satellites, lightning trackers and space robots Space historian Gerard van de Haar FBIS has researched the plethora of European payloads carried to the International Space Station by SpaceX Dragon capsules. He describes the wide range of scientific and technical experiments 4 supporting a wide range of research initiatives. Letter from the Editor 24 In search of a role Without specific planning, this Former scientist and spacecraft engineer Dr Bob issue responds to an influx of Parkinson MBE, FBIS takes us back to the news about unmanned space vehicles departing, dying out and origins of the International Space Station and arriving at their intended explains his own role in helping to bring about a destinations. Pretty exciting stuff British contribution – only to see it migrate to an – except the dying bit because it unmanned environmental monitoring platform. appears that Opportunity, roving around Mars for more than 14 30 Shake, rattle and Rolex 18 years, has finally succumbed to a On the 100th anniversary of the company’s birth, global dust storm. Philip Corneille traces the international story Some 12 pages of this issue are behind a range of Rolex watches used by concerned with aspects of the astronauts and cosmonauts in training and in International Space Station, now well into its stride as a research space, plus one that made it to the Moon. facility, and a further six pages 34 Reach for the Skyrora reflect on how the UK got involved during the 1980s courtesy of a Ken MacTaggart FBIS tracks down the company former President of the BIS who building the first domestic UK satellite launcher was central to those in 50 years and explains how it can revolutionise developments. low-cost services for small satellites, as well as 24 Forward to the future again and igniting a resurgence in rocket development. a fascinating insight into a company based in Edinburgh that plans to put Britain back in the launcher business, this time Regulars sending small satellites into space. This is a long overdue feature of 4 Behind the news Britain’s resurgent presence in a Feeling the heat / …what now, Voyager? / broader spectrum of space Opportunity: is this really the end? industry activities. And who knows where they will end up! 10 Opinion 30 But there is much more and a 12 ISS Report lot besides as we move toward momentous celebrations in this, 9 November – 8 December 2018 the year of Apollo at 50! 36 Multi-media The latest space-related books, games, videos 38 Satellite Digest 553 – November 2018 David Baker 42 Letters to the Editor [email protected] The long wait / Impetus or inspiration? 44 Society news / Diary 34 COVER: PARKER SOLAR PROBE IMAGINED AS IT MIGHT APPEAR APPROACHING ITS CLOSE PASS OF THE SUN / NASA/APL OF CLOSE PASS ITS APPROACHING APPEAR MIGHT IT AS IMAGINED SOLAR PROBE PARKER 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 February 2019 3 BEHIND THE NEWS Members of the Parker Solar Probe mission team at Johns Hopkins APL celebrate on 7 November 2018, after receiving a beacon indicating the spacecraft is in good health following its first perihelion. FEELING THE HEAT Weeks after Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever approach to a star, the data it returned is now falling into the hands of mission scientists. IT IS A MOMENT THAT many in the field have been associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission anticipating for years, thinking about what they'll do Directorate. “Parker is the culmination of six decades with never-before-seen data that has the potential to of scientific progress. Now, we have realized shed new light on the physics of our star, the Sun. humanity’s first close visit to our star, which will have Engineers and controllers report that Parker Solar implications not just here on Earth, but for a deeper Probe is alive and well after skimming the Sun just understanding of our universe.” 24.8 million kilometres above the surface. This is far Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins closer than any spacecraft has gone before – the University Applied Physics Lab (APL) received the previous record was set by Helios B in 1976 – and status beacon from the spacecraft at 4:46 pm EST has exposed Parker to intense heat and solar on 7 November 2018. The beacon indicates status "A" radiation in a complex solar wind environment. – the best of all the four possible status signals, “Parker Solar Probe was designed to take care of meaning that Parker Solar Probe was operating well itself and its precious payload during this close with all instruments running and collecting science approach, with no control from us on Earth — and data. If there were any minor issues, they were now we know it succeeded”, said Thomas Zurbuchen, resolved autonomously by the spacecraft. 4 Vol 61 February 2019 SpaceFlight BEHIND THE NEWS IMAGES: NASA/JOHNS HOPKINS APL (LEFT) / NASA/NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY (RIGHT) LABORATORY RESEARCH APL (LEFT) / NASA/NAVAL HOPKINS NASA/JOHNS IMAGES: This image, taken by Parker's WISPR instrument when the probe was about 16.9 million miles from the Sun's surface, shows a coronal streamer over the east limb of the Sun. The bright dot in the middle of the picture is Jupiter. At its closest approach on 5 November (perihelion) began downlinking to Earth. Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 213,200 At about 6:00 pm EST on Friday 16 November, km/hr, setting a new record for spacecraft speed. Parker is the mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Along with new records for the closest approach to Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland, received the report the Sun, it will repeatedly break its own speed culmination of from the spacecraft, which also included information record as its orbit draws it closer, travelling faster and about the data collected by the four instrument faster at perihelion with each successive pass. six decades of suites during its first solar encounter. The solid state During its first pass, the intense sunlight heated scientific recorder indicated that the four suites had recorded a the Sun-facing side of Parker Solar Probe's heat significant amount of data as planned. This was shield to about 438 °C. This will climb up to around progress downloaded to Earth via the Deep Space Network 1,370º C as it makes even closer approaches – its over several weeks, starting on 7 December. instruments and systems protected all the while by In addition to helping scientists answer the heat shield, which keeps them at a relatively fundamental questions about the physics of our star, balmy 29 ºC. the data from the initial perihelion will help mission controllers calibrate Parker Solar Probe’s instruments ARRIVAL and plan future observations. Parker Solar Probe's first solar encounter phase “The team is extremely proud to confirm that we began on 31 October, and it continued collecting have a healthy spacecraft following perihelion”, said data until the end of the phase on 11 November. Five APL’s Nick Pinkine, mission operations manager for days later, the spacecraft reported that all systems Parker Solar Probe. “This is a big milestone, and were operating well in the first detailed performance we’re looking forward to some amazing science data and health update to be sent to Earth since the coming down in a few weeks.” encounter began. Even so, it took several weeks During the 11-day solar encounter, the spacecraft after the end of the phase before the science data executed only one autonomous “momentum SpaceFlight Vol 61 February 2019 5 BEHIND THE NEWS dump” – a procedure in which are waiting in the corona", she said. Briefing small thrusters are used to adjust Parker Solar Probe is named for the speed of Parker’s reaction Eugene Parker, the physicist who wheels. The wheels' rate of spin is first theorized the existence of the VIRGIN GALACTIC VIRGIN adjusted to maintain the desired solar wind – the Sun's constant orientation of the spacecraft relative outpouring of material – in 1958.