SpaceFlight A British Interplanetary Society publication Volume 61 No.11 November 2019 £5.25 The Apollo 12 long ESA launchers Probes to goodbye Europa / Titan Delta IV Space insurance medium copy bows out Subscriber 11> 634089 770038 9 copy Subscriber CONTENTS Features 14 Requiem for a rocket We welcome a new contributor, Don Hladiuk, who was present at the launch of the last Delta IV Medium+(4,2) to report on that historic event and to review the rocket's flawless record. 14 18 Clear air turbulence Letter from the Editor SpaceFlight examines the rise and rise of the expanded-capability Arianespace and the When readers were told last month that we had a secret to European commitment to a significant slice of share, I can now disclose that it the launch manifest, despite a recent failure. was one of the most exciting opportunities I have had since 22 Apollo 12 – the second coming becoming Editor of SpaceFlight. The Editor reflects on the second Moon landing History is central to conducted 50 years ago and summarises the understanding where we have enhanced capability it afforded. come from so that we can chart a 18 path to where we are going – two sides of the same coin. Because 30 A matter of risk of that, the BIS recently approved Head of Space Content for Seradata David Todd a major upgrade to Space explores the challenges facing astronauts Chronicle – traditionally the home seeking cover from the insurance market. of space history in Society's portfolio of publications. Incorporating all the scholarship 32 Flights to the Outer Moons and insightful analysis readers An exciting future awaits planetologists in the have been used to, from January search for possible organic activity on the moons 2020 the new Space Chronicle will of the gaseous outer giants. additionally be in full colour 22 throughout and will be produced copy by the same team that brings you SpaceFlight. The new magazine will also Regulars appear at regular quarterly intervals throughout the year – in 2 Behind the news the opening weeks of January, Ice watch – Knocking asteroids off-course – April, July and October – with Titan’s exploding lakes – Beware of falling reviews of historical books, space rocks! – Incoming alien! for readers’ letters and news about meetings, seminars and 6 Opinion conferences around the world. 30 SpaceFlight, meanwhile, will 8 ISS Report focusSubscriber on current and impending 9 August – 11 September 2019 space activity, consolidating coverage of the past, present and 36 Letters to the editor future in the Society's publications. 38 Multi-media . The latest space-related books, games, videos 42 Satellite Digest David Baker 562 – August 2019 [email protected] 46 Society news / Diary 32 COVER: THE LAST DELTA IV MEDIUM LIFTS OFF (SEE PAGE 14) / DON HLADIUK / DON 14) IV MEDIUM LIFTS OFF (SEE PAGE DELTA THE LAST 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 November 2019 1 SLUGBEHIND THE NEWS copy Antarctica – the barometer of environmental change. ICE WATCH SubscriberAs Earth undergoes major environmental change, satellites verify an accelerating pace in ice loss. A MEASURE OF THE SPEED of change for Earth’s phase signals from satellite synthetic-aperture environment, its climate and changes in regional radars, we have achieved a quantum leap in the weather is found in triggers frequently controlled by description of ice flow in Antarctica”, said lead author the planet’s ice fields, and satellites are playing a Jeremie Mouginot, University of California-Irvine significant role in obtaining accurate data. But the (UCI) associate researcher in Earth system science. estimated pace of change is changing and ice-melt “This more detailed representation will help improve is accelerating. our understanding of ice behaviour under climate Constructed from a quarter century’s worth of stress over a larger part of the continent, farther data from national and international satellite south, and will enable improved projections of sea programmes, a new map of Antarctic ice velocity by level rise through numerical models.” glaciologists from the University of California-Irvine To chart the movement of ice sheets across the and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the most surface of the enormous land mass, the researchers precise ever created. combined input from six satellite missions: the Published in the American Geophysical Union Canadian Space Agency’s Radarsat-1 and journal “Geophysical Letters”, the map is 10 times Radarsat-2; the European Space Agency’s Earth more accurate than previous renditions, covering remote sensing satellites 1 and 2 and Envisat ASAR; more than 80 per-cent of the continent. What they and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s discovered is alarming because it shows how ALOS PALSAR-1. estimates have under-estimated the melt rate. While the data were spread across 25 years, the “By utilizing the full potential of interferometric pace of signal gathering accelerated in the last 2 Vol 61 November 2019 SpaceFlight BEHIND THE NEWS decade as more resources were deployed in the Earth’s orbit. As ice sheet science coordinator in the World Meteorological Organization’s Polar Space Task Group, co-author Bernd Scheuchl, UCI associate project scientist in Earth system science, was responsible for acquiring the relevant data from the various international space agencies. LEFT: P-D ART / RIGHT: UCI/JPL / RIGHT: ART P-D LEFT: MAPPING THE MOVEMENT Previous mapping efforts relied heavily on “feature” and “speckle tracking” methods, which detect the subtle motion of parcels of ice on the ground over time; this approach has been proven effective in estimating ice flow speed. To measure significantly slower ice sheet movement in the vast interior regions, the UCI team augmented these techniques with synthetic-aperture radar phase interferometry, which detects the subtle motion of natural reflectors of radar signals in snow/ice independent of the size of the parcel of ice illuminated by the radar. “The interferometric phase of SAR data measures the ice deformation signal with a precision of up to two orders of magnitude better than speckle tracking”, Mouginot said. “A drawback is that it requires a lot more data, namely multiple passes at ABOVE sites for ice core drilling to extract climate records different angles over the same point on the ground The most detailed and in examining the mass balance of Antarctica – a problem that was solved by a consortium of satellite-based beyond its periphery.” ice migration map international space agencies pointing Earth- of Antarctica He said he’s looking forward to the joint NASA and monitoring spacecraft to this part of the world.” ever compiled is Indian Space Research Organisation satellite, The team was able to compose a map that helping scientists launching in late 2021, which will be the first resolves ice movement to a level of 20 cm per year chart the interferometric-mode synthetic aperture radar movement of ice in speed and 5 degrees in annual flow direction for across the vast mission designed to look solely toward the South more than 70% of Antarctica. It’s the first time that continent. Pole. The spacecraftcopy will provide a coast-to-coast high-precision mapping of the interior areas has view of Antarctica every 12 days. been accomplished. “We’ll be able to collect enough quality phase “This product will help climate scientists achieve data over the Antarctic to generate updates to the a number of goals, such as a better determination of map we just created in one or two months instead the boundaries between glaciers and a thorough of one or two decades”, Rignot said. “With this level evaluation of regional atmospheric climate models of precision in the interior regions, we’ll be able to over the entire continent”, said co-author Eric Rignot, reconstruct high-resolution spatial details in the bed chair and Donald Bren Professor of Earth System topography beneath the ice through inversion ICE WATCH Science at UCI and a senior research scientist at techniques over far broader areas than in previous NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. attempts – essential to improving ice sheet models “ItSubscriber will also help in locating the most promising and projections of sea level rise from Antarctica.” SF Knocking asteroids off-course ASTEROID RESEARCHERS and site and gather data on the effect of this spacecraft engineers from the US, collision.