IN BRIEF-LO 29/8/00 3:36 pm Page 2 r bulletin 103 — august 2000 ESA and the EC new technology will revolutionise our Open Joint Galileo transport systems, increasing safety and improving efficiency. This will make for a Programme Office better quality of life and less pollution in On 4 May ESA’s Director General Antonio our cities. Galileo will also bring benefits to Rodotà and European Commission Vice- other aspects of everyday life, with President Loyola de Palacio opened the precision farming raising yields, improved Galileo Programme Office at 24-26 Rue information for emergency services De Mot, in Brussels, Belgium. The new speeding up response times, and more office will coordinate studies already under reliable and accurate time signals way and make preparations for decisions underpinning our most vital computer and by the Board directing the programme, communications networks. It could also provide technical support to the Board contribute greatly to the improvement of and the industrial and scientific teams maritime safety issues. In Brief working on Galileo, and prepare the way for decisions on the transition to the The definition phase of the Galileo implementation phase. programme is being run by the Commission’s Directorate-General for At the opening, Antonio Rodotà noted that Energy and Transport, with ESA as an “this marks a step forward in one of equal partner in the joint management Europe’s most promising new space Board and playing a full role in technical programmes”, and Mrs de Palacio added development. Industry has been pushing “the office is the first permanent physical ahead with the various studies required for link between the two main European this phase, and user groups have been institutions, which are pressing ahead with defining their potential needs, which will work on our new satellite-based eventually determine the system navigation, positioning and precision performance requirements. The Galileo timing system, Galileo.” Programme Office will now serve as the central source of expertise and permanent Less than a year ago, the EU and ESA point of contact for coordination between decided to enter the race to develop the the various players and parts of the next-generation satellite-based navigation programme. Inauguration of the Galileo and precision timing system with a Programme Office is also the first step European-developed, state-of-the-art towards an ESA/EC institutional framework design that would set the industry for Galileo. r standard for the 21st Century. Galileo’s New Star in Orbit a result of the new module’s arrival, the first long-stay crew is expected aboard by Assembly of the International Space early November. Zvezda’s ‘brain’ is ESA’s Station can now continue apace following Data Management System (DMS-R) the successful docking of the Zvezda which, ultimately, will perform overall (‘star’) Service Module on 26 July. Zvezda control of all Russian station elements, is the first fully Russian Station element and guidance and navigation for the whole and is the cornerstone for the early Station. Zvezda is also carrying hardware permanent occupation of the complex. As for the first European experiment aboard the Station: the Global Time System will broadcast accurate time and data signals to users on Earth. Zvezda was launched on 12 July at 04:56 UT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan aboard a Proton-K rocket. It was released 580 s later by Proton’s third stage into an initial 185x356 km orbit inclined at 51.6° to the equator. For the next 6 min, Zvezda automatically deployed the Kurs rendezvous/docking system and Lira communications system antennas, released the solar wings (which 126 IN BRIEF-LO 29/8/00 3:36 pm Page 3 in brief immediately began tracking the Sun) and activated the power, thermal, command & data handling, communications and life support systems. During Zvezda’s first four passes over the Russian ground stations, controllers in the TsUP Mission Control Centre in Korolyov, near Moscow, first verified that all systems were working properly and then oriented the module to minimise propellant usage while allowing the solar arrays to gather particular, Zvezda assumed responsibility ‘Expedition-1’ sunlight. They reconfigured Zvezda’s for attitude control and reboost. Soyuz, crew will stay attitude sensors and activated its star Progress and ESA’s Automated Transfer aboard for trackers. Vehicle will dock with its aft port. Many of about the systems aboard Zarya are deactivated 4 months, Two test-firings of the manoeuvering and this first module now provides activating engines during 13 July showed that primarily propellant storage and Station systems Zvezda was ready to begin the long equipment stowage. and the first journey to the waiting Zarya/Unity complex experiments, in its 376 km orbit. The first two major What happens next? Zvezda’s success and making the rendezvous burns using the two 3070 N means there will be a rapid sequence of first spacewalks main engines were made on 14 July. missions in the near future. The first from Zvezda’s forward airlock. STS-97/4A Beginning at 05:09 UT, the orbit was supply ferry, Progress-M1-3, was in November will add the first pair of raised to 183x358 km and then, starting launched on 6 August from Baikonur, giant solar arrays, paving the way for at 05:44 UT, to 269x361 km. The firings docking with Zvezda 2 days later. Shuttle STS-98/5A in January 2001 to attach the were so accurate that a correction burn mission STS-106/2A.2b will dock with first science module: Destiny. scheduled for 15 July was not required. Unity in September to continue STS-102/5A.1 in February 2001 will carry Attitude control continued to be provided preparations for the first permanent crew. Europe’s Multi Purpose Logistics Module by 16 of the small, 130 N thrusters. They will also unload the Progress. with supplies and experiment racks for STS-92/3A in October will deliver the first Destiny. The Expedition-1 crew will return On 17 July, final tests verified the full Truss section (Z1), four Control Moment to Earth aboard that Shuttle, swapping operation of the software that manages Gyros and a second conical docking with the Expedition-2 crew of Yuri Zvezda’s guidance system. Routine adapter. The first dedicated Station crew Usachev, Susan Helms and Jim Voss. cycling of the five batteries began; the final of William Shepherd (Expedition The Soyuz craft will remain attached to the three will be delivered by September’s Commander), Yuri Gidzenko (Soyuz Station as a lifeboat. Space Shuttle mission. Zarya on 18 July Commander) and Sergei Krikalev (Flight r practised the final two orbits leading up to Engineer) will appear aboard the Station’s Zvezda launch: TV coverage from the Erasmus docking using its Kurs automatic control first Soyuz in early November. This User Centre at ESTEC (NL) system. For this final approach, Zarya was the active partner. Zvezda made its first correction burn on 20 July, firing the two main engines for 15 s to change its orbit to 290x361 km. A day before docking, it manoeuvered to the docking orientation and the solar arrays rotated into their docking attitude. The Kurs rendezvous system was activated on 25 July and, with Zarya in control, the Station caught up with Zvezda. Docking came at about 00:46 UT 26 July. It then took about 25 minutes for the hooks and latches on the two modules to close fully for the hard mating. Over the next 16-24 hours, mission controllers planned to monitor the air pressure between the modules to ensure an airtight seal, and then began the work to transfer control of most Station functions from Zarya to Zvezda. In 127 IN BRIEF-LO 29/8/00 3:37 pm Page 4 r bulletin 103 — august 2000 ECS-5 Decommissioned after 12 years of Service After almost 12 years of successful ECS-5 operations, Eutelsat, the satellite’s operator, has decided to retire it. ESA, which was responsible for the satellite’s procurement and subsequent in-orbit control therefore initiated end-of-life testing, decommissioning and re-orbiting activities to put ECS-5 into a ‘graveyard orbit’ at least 150 km above geostationary altitude, thus removing any risk of contributing to debris in this valuable orbit. The ECS series of spacecraft was the Envisat at ILA 2000 operational successor to ESA’s very successful Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) programme of the 1970s. Designed to ESA at ILA 2000 in Berlin ESA’s Council Extends promote pan-European Directors’ Contracts telecommunications traffic, the four ECS The International Aerospace Exhibition ILA spacecraft (a fifth one was lost because of 2000 took place at Schönefeld airport in In restricted session on 20 June 2000, the a launcher failure) have provided services Berlin from 6 to 12 June. As in recent ESA Council extended the mandates of in digital telephony, international television years, ESA, the German space agency the Director General and two of his distribution, cable television, trunk DLR, and German aerospace industry Directors: telephony, Eurovision transmissions and shared a pavilion under the motto ‘The mobile services. Some of these services Space Experience’. The term of office of the Director General, have even extended beyond Europe. All Antonio Rodotà, has been extended for four spacecraft have far exceeded their Visitors were attracted to the pavilion with a period of two design requirements, in particular their a full-size model of ESA’s future Envisat years from 1 July 7-year design lifetime, together Earth-observation satellite, scheduled for 2001. accumulating almost 3 million channel- launch next year on an Ariane-5 launcher.