Moon Mania! (Now Everyone’S Going There)
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SpaceFlight A British Interplanetary Society publication Volume 61 No.4 April 2019 £5.25 Moon mania! (now everyone’s going there) Orbex: the UK’s new launcher Space logos 04> Black Arrow Apollo impact 634089 770038 9 CONTENTS Features 6 Taking the High Road Scottish firm Orbex is planning a radical approach to a launch vehicle for the small satellite market that will fly from the UK. 6 16 Return of the Black Arrow Ken MacTaggart FBIS delves into archives to Letter from the Editor celebrate the return of an iconic example of British engineering excellence: the first stage of An amazing start to 2019 punctuated by the first soft- the late-lamented Black Arrow rocket. landing on the far side of the Moon by China’s Chang’e 4, sustained by 22 Patch works – the art of Space Age heraldry Israel’s Beresheet soft-lander on a Space-sleuth and historian Joel W. Powell looks Falcon 9. As we raise in the news at the remarkable array of mission patches and analysis (page 2) everyone it logos that have, sometimes controversially, seems is now heading for Earth’s adorned spacecraft over the last 60 years. nearest celestial neighbour. By the 16 way, America got to the far side first with Ranger 4 on 26 April 1962, 28 The Impact of Apollo – Part 1 but it was not in a survivable Nick Spall FBIS begins his three-part series condition! surveying the impact of the Moon landings on Congratulations must go to human society, technology and the subsequent Skyrora for recovering the first development of space exploration. stage of the UK’s only national satellite launcher – Black Arrow 32 Two to get ready – now being prepared for display Long-time collector of space-age artefacts and (page 16). The fortunes of that company too warrant applause as memorabilia Mark Yates describes a particularly they pioneer a resurgence in UK important document from the Apollo 16 mission 22 launch vehicles. – the Cue Card preparing the astronauts for their It is getting close to the month EVAs in the rugged lunar highlands. we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first humans to land on the Moon and we have the first of three articles this month preparing some background on the impact of Regulars that event (page 28). It is also fascinating for me to see the 2 Behind the news emerging collection of original Everyone’s gone to the Moon! Apollo documents now in the 28 hands of legitimate collectors, 4 Opinion each with a deep sense of history. 10 ISS Report 9 January – 8 February 2019 36 Multi-media The latest space-related books, games, videos David Baker 38 Satellite Digest [email protected] 555 – January 2019 44 Society news / Diary 32 COVER: THE ORION SPACECRAFT APPROACHES THE MOON AS ENVISAGED FOR AN EVENT ANTICIPATED WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS / NASA YEARS TWO THE NEXT WITHIN ANTICIPATED AN EVENT FOR ENVISAGED AS THE MOON APPROACHES THE ORION SPACECRAFT 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 April 2019 1 BEHIND THE NEWS EVERYONE’S GONE TO THE MOON! Beresheet imagined standing on the Sea of Serenity after its April touchdown on the lunar surface. Israel has embarked upon a bold attempt to become only the fourth country to land on the Moon – but is it all pie in the sky? NAMED AFTER THE HEBREW WORD for ‘Genesis’, By 2018 five competitors had shown launch Beresheet is the first privately funded Moon mission contracts but on 23 January that year the prize was to leave Earth and signals a new era in the withdrawn, leaving a few to continue with their commercial exploration of space. Designed and built plans, significantly reduced in capability, however. by Israel Aerospace Industries for SpaceIL, a SpaceIL was one which decided to consolidate a non-profit organisation supported by Israeli donors design around a simple lander, as a technology and foundation organisation around the world, it has demonstrator and as a proof-of-concept spacecraft already attracted the attention of the Israel Space which aimed to demonstrate the national skills and Agency (ISA), who have considered supporting more also to display the talents of the Interdisciplinary of the type – if it delivers as promised. Center Herzliya (ICH), founded in 1994 close to Tel First in an expanding inventory of privately Aviv with 8,000 students. operated spacecraft, Beresheet was launched by At first, SpaceIL aimed to meet the requirement Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 on 21 of the competition by re-igniting its descent engine February (local time) at the beginning of a journey to conduct a series of hops moving it 500 m away that will take the spacecraft on a flight of almost 6.5 from its initial landing spot. The technology for this million km before it lands on the lunar surface on the was attainable, but the budget of $100 million was Sea of Serenity on 11 April. not enough for such sophistication and the more The venture began as one of the 20 contenders in modest requirement was decided upon. Even so, the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP) set up in 2007, all the design and fabrication of this spacecraft is a competing to receive $30 million for being first to further extension of Israel’s increasing interest in get a working spacecraft on the surface of the Moon joining the ranks of the big players who are within seven years. Initially, 31 contenders put their increasingly using the Moon, as well as Mars, to names forward but 11 dropped out. The rules demonstrate their technological capabilities. required a privately funded team to put a rover on the Moon and travel 500 m as well as sending back MODEST BEGINNINGS to Earth video and images. The challenge proved too Beresheet is about 1.5 m tall and 2.3 m in diameter ambitious. In 2015 the deadline was extended by with a launch mass of 585 kg and a dry mass of 150 two years and, in August 2017 extended again to the kg. When designed the spacecraft was known as end of March 2018. Sparrow, but that was changed. But the trajectory is (RIGHT) TABAZZZ / (ABOVE) OSHRATSL 2 Vol 61 April 2019 SpaceFlight BEHIND THE NEWS unique in that the spacecraft will make many orbits of the Earth with small burns of its single rocket motor to increase apogee until that crosses the line at which the gravitational influence of the Moon becomes dominant. Having crossed this point, known as the equigravisphere, around the end of March Beresheet will enter an elliptical lunar orbit with a gradually decreasing perilune until it begins the descent phase to land on the surface. The lunar capture phase is expected to last about a week before it is in precisely the correct path to start the descent, which is expected to last between twenty and thirty minutes prior to touchdown. The planned landing zone is 15 km in diameter and without any active cooling system the spacecraft is expected to operate for only two days, taking measurements with a magnetometer provided by the Weizmann Institute of Science and employing a laser retroreflector array from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. SpaceIL will share data from NASA the magnetometer with NASA. The laser retroreflector features eight small quartz cube ABOVE 1,100 N, examples of which power Lockheed Martin corners which allows a reflection of laser light from Beresheet follows A2100 communication satellites as well as a range of any source. The laser altimeter on NASA’s Lunar a succession of planetary missions including NEAR Shoemaker, Mars increasing Earth- Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be used to try to orbit elliptical Global Surveyor, Mercury Messenger and Juno. bounce light from this reflector enabling the location trajectories before The restartable Leros engine uses a monomethyl- of Beresheet to be pinpointed to within 10 cm. lunar capture on hydrazine fuel and a mix of nitrogen oxides as Tracking and communications is using the 10 March and a oxidiser and is being eyed by Israel as a propulsion landing in mid- Swedish Space Corporation’s network of antennas April.