ESCAPADE – New Glenn – Canaveral SLC36 – август(?) 2024

[Liss]

NASA выдало контракт на запуск КА ESCAPADE к Марсу компании Blue Origins LLC. Носитель -- New Glenn, астрономическое окно -- конец 2024. Ничего не боятся...

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-blue-origin-to-launch-mars-magnetosphere-study-mission

Feb 10, 2023
CONTRACT RELEASE C23-008
NASA Selects Blue Origin to Launch Mars' Magnetosphere Study Mission
NASA has awarded Blue Origin, LLC of Kent, Washington, a task order to provide launch service for the agency's Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission as part of the agency's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract.
ESCAPADE will launch on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket from Space Launch Complex-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Launch is targeted for late 2024. Blue Origin is one of 13 companies NASA selected for VADR contracts in 2022. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contracts. As part of VADR, the fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts have a five-year ordering period with a maximum total value of $300 million across all contracts.
ESCAPADE will study Mars' magnetosphere – the magnetized area of space around the planet – using two identical small spacecraft, which will provide simultaneous two-point observations. The spacecraft will help provide researchers a better understanding of how the magnetosphere interacts with the solar wind, and how energy and plasma enter and leave the magnetosphere. Each satellite will carry three instruments: a magnetometer for measuring magnetic field, an electrostatic analyzer to measure ions and electrons, and a Langmuir probe for measuring plasma density and solar extreme ultraviolet flux.
It will take ESCAPADE about 11 months to arrive at Mars after leaving Earth's orbit, where both spacecraft will spend several months adjusting their orbits before they are in position to best capture data about the magnetosphere. Studying different magnetospheres gives scientists a better understanding of space weather, which can protect astronauts and satellites both as they orbit Earth and explore the solar system. ESCAPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program.
Building on NASA's previous procurement efforts to foster development of new launch vehicles for NASA payloads, VADR provides FAA-licensed commercial launch services for payloads that can tolerate higher risk. By using a lower level of mission assurance, and commercial best practices for launching rockets, these highly flexible contracts help broaden access to space through lower launch costs.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1714756572466024571

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
The Lab is humming now that we've begun the integration and testing phase of our dual ESCAPADE spacecraft! The twin spacecraft will be used to study Mars' magnetosphere on a scientific mission for
@NASA and @ucbssl when it launches in 2024. https://bit.ly/45xuz4N

[zandr]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231018369299/en/Rocket-Lab-Integrating-Twin-Spacecraft-for-Mission-to-Mars-for-NASA

Rocket Lab Integrating Twin Spacecraft for Mission to Mars for NASA

^{One of two Rocket Lab-built spacecraft for NASA and UCBSSL's ESCAPADE mission to Mars. Rocket Lab photo by Austin Adams.
October 18, 2023 05:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time}
LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab" or "the Company"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced that the two spacecraft the Company is building for NASA's Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission have entered the system integration phase in preparation for a planned launch in 2024.
The ESCAPADE mission, led by Dr. Rob Lillis at the University of California, Berkeley's (UCB) Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL), is a twin-spacecraft science mission that will orbit Mars to investigate the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars' unique hybrid magnetosphere. The mission will explore how the solar wind strips atmosphere away from Mars to better understand how its climate has changed over time. Each spacecraft will carry an instrument suite that includes a magnetometer for measuring magnetic field, an electrostatic analyzer to measure ions and electrons, and a Langmuir probe for measuring plasma density and solar extreme ultraviolet flux.
To ensure that the two spacecraft are ready for the harsh environment of space and their roughly 230-million-mile journey to the red planet, the Rocket Lab Space Systems team has successfully passed System Integration Review (SIR) and is proceeding with integration of the flight hardware in preparation for launch. Integration includes both the spacecraft bus with Rocket Lab-manufactured solar arrays, reaction wheels, star trackers, separation systems, radios, and flight software and the flight instruments being delivered from UCB and other mission partners. In addition to a battery of functional tests to verify performance, the spacecraft are undergoing a full environmental test campaign, including vibration, thermal vacuum, and electromagnetic compatibility testing. The Company has also concluded RF compatibility testing with NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN), which will communicate with Rocket Lab's Frontier-X radios on both spacecraft and provide navigation services to the mission.
"Reaching the flight integration phase for a new spacecraft is a significant milestone, especially for a complex interplanetary mission like this," said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. "Building on the successful delivery of a spacecraft to lunar orbit for NASA last year, it's a privilege to be developing a spacecraft headed for deep space to perform Decadal-class science with our partners at UC Berkeley."
The ESCAPADE spacecraft integration and test is taking place at Rocket Lab's advanced spacecraft development and manufacturing complex within the Company's Long Beach headquarters. The facility includes a 12,000 sq. ft. cleanroom and 40,000 sq. ft. of production & test facilities designed to support constellation class manufacturing and satellite assembly, integration and test for commercial, civil and national security customers.
ESCAPADE is being developed under NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and is the first Heliophysics mission to another planet. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley's (UCB) Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) with spacecraft provided by Rocket Lab. The two spacecraft are planned for launch in 2024 to low Earth orbit aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn launch vehicle provided by NASA. Rocket Lab's spacecraft will then perform the Mars transfer from Earth orbit, 11-month cruise to Mars, and Mars orbit insertion before achieving a "string of pearls" orbit formation in advance of the science phase beginning in 2026.

[zandr]

https://vk.com/spacex?w=wall-41152133_476471

NASA хочет запустить марсианские спутники при первом запуске ракеты New Glenn компании Blue Origin
В феврале этого года NASA выбрало Blue Origin для запуска миссии Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorer (ESCAPADE) — пары небольших спутников, которые будут изучать взаимодействие солнечного ветра с магнитосферой Марса. Стоимость контракта составляет $20 млн.

"Скорее всего, это будет самый первый запуск New Glenn в августе 2024 года. Мы готовы пойти на небольшой риск, выбрав цену и модель запуска, которая отражает этот риск", — заявили в NASA.

Помимо технических рисков, присущих первому запуску новой ракеты, существуют также риски, связанные с графиком. Разработка New Glenn существенно отстаёт от графиков. При этом компания заявляет, что планирует несколько запусков New Glenn в 2024 году, однако не будет ли переноса запуска миссии с марсианскими спутниками, отвечает уклончиво.
Ну что же, надеемся, NASA знают, что делают, и Rocket Lab не зря с такой любовью собирают эти марсианские спутники.

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/GregScott_photo/status/1745124858084700276

Greg Scott  @GregScott_photo
New Glenn's 1st stage moving early this morning from the Blue Origin facilities, near Kennedy Space Center, to LC-36 on #NASA. Great to see progress ramping up at #BlueOrigin.  @FarryFaz  @blueorigin many more pics on my Patreon

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/_mgde_/status/1745124734029767122

Max Evans  @_mgde_
Just another casual day at America's premier spaceport.
First stage hardware for @blueorigin's New Glenn rocket was transported out of the factory today and rolled through the Kennedy Space Center en route to LC-36 to undergo further testing ahead of it's maiden flight.
📸 - @NASASpaceflight
📺 - http://nsf.live/spacecoast

[zandr]

Код Выделить Развернуть

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4l9mgVo5nc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4l9mgVo5nc 1:33
Blue Origin New Glenn Booster traveling past the VAB
  Artemis Rocketman
First stage hardware for @blueorigin's New Glenn rocket was transported out of the Blue Origin factory today and rolled through the Kennedy Space Center en route to LC-36 to undergo further testing ahead of it's maiden flight