Earth Has Two 'Moons' Right Now, Theorists Say

Earth has two moons, a group of scientists . One is that waxing and waning nightlight we all know and love. The other is a tiny asteroid, no bigger than a Smart Car, making huge doughnuts around Earth for a while before it zips off into the distance and is replaced by another.

That's the scenario posited by the scientists in a paper published Dec. 20 in the planetary science journal ICARUS. The researchers argue that there is a space rock at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) wide orbiting Earth at any given time, though it's not always the same rock.
In the scientists' theoretical model, our planet's gravity captures these asteroids as they pass near us on their way around the sun. When one is drawn in, it typically makes three irregularly shaped swings around Earth — sticking with us for about nine months — before hurtling on its way.
According to the researchers, surprisingly little attention has been paid to Earth's natural satellites other than the moon, despite the fact that they're sure to exist. "There arelots of asteroids  in the solar system, so chances for the Earth to capture one at any time is, in a sense, not surprising," said co-author Jeremie Vauballion, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in France.

Soyuz operation started

A diverse crew of veteran spacemen blasted off toward the International Space Station  on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to double the population of the orbital outpost

Complete details of Soyuz

Soyuz Launch Preparation

Throughout history, more than 1,500 launches have been made with Soyuz launchers to orbit satellites for telecommunications, Earth observation, weather and scientific missions, as well as for human flights. 

Image to right: Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch has a window seat in a Soyuz, which is docked to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The basic Soyuz vehicle is considered a three-stage launcher in Russian terms and is composed of:

• A lower portion consisting of four boosters in the first stage and a central core in the second stage.
• An upper portion, consisting of the third stage, payload adapter and payload fairing.
• Liquid oxygen and kerosene are used as propellants in all three Soyuz stages.

First Stage Boosters

The four boosters of the first stage are assembled laterally around the second stage central core. The boosters are identical and cylindrical-conic in shape with the oxygen tank located in the cone-shaped portion and the kerosene tank in the cylindrical portion. 

An NPO Energomash RD 107 engine with four main chambers and two gimbaled vernier thrusters is used in each booster. The vernier thrusters provide three-axis flight control. 

Ignition of the first stage boosters and the second stage central core occur simultaneously on the ground. When the boosters have completed their powered flight during ascent, they are separated, and the core second stage continues to function. 

First stage booster separation occurs when the predefined velocity is reached, which is about 118 seconds after liftoff. 

Image to left: This diagram shows the three elements of the Soyuz spacecraft. Credit: NASA
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Second Stage

An NPO Energomash RD 108 engine powers the Soyuz second stage. This engine differs from those of the boosters by the presence of four vernier thrusters, which are necessary for three-axis flight control of the launcher after the first stage boosters have separated. 

An equipment bay located atop the second stage operates during the entire flight of the first and second stages. 

Third Stage

The third stage is linked to the Soyuz second stage by a latticework structure. When the second stage's powered flight is complete, the third stage engine is ignited. Separation of the two stages occurs by the direct ignition forces of the third stage engine. A single-turbopump RD 0110 engine from KB KhA powers the Soyuz third stage. 

The third stage engine is fired for about 240 seconds, and cutoff occurs when the calculated velocity increment is reached. After cutoff and separation, the third stage performs an avoidance maneuver by opening an outgassing valve in the liquid oxygen tank. 

Launcher Telemetry Tracking and Flight Safety Systems

Soyuz launcher tracking and telemetry is provided through systems in the second and third stages. These two stages have their own radar transponders for ground tracking. Individual telemetry transmitters are in each stage. Launcher health status is downlinked to ground stations along the flight path. Telemetry and tracking data are transmitted to the Russian Mission Control Center, where the incoming data flow is recorded. Partial realtime data processing and plotting are performed for flight following an initial performance assessment. All flight data is analyzed and documented within a few hours after launch. 

Image to left: A Soyuz rocket makes its way to the launch site at Baikonur Cosmodrome by rail. Credit: NASA

Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch Operations

Soyuz missions use the Baikonur Cosmodrome's proven infrastructure, and launches are performed by trained personnel with extensive operational experience. 

Baikonur Cosmodrome is located in the Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, between 45 degrees and 46 degrees North latitude and 63 degrees East longitude. Two launch pads are dedicated to Soyuz missions. 

Final Launch Preparations

The assembled launch vehicle is moved to the launch pad on a horizontal railcar. Transfer to the launch zone occurs two days before launch, during which the vehicle is erected and a launch rehearsal is performed that includes activation of all electrical and mechanical equipment. 

On launch day, the vehicle is loaded with propellant and the final countdown sequence is started at three hours before the liftoff time. 

Cryogenic testing completed for James Webb telescope mirrors

The James Webb Space Telescope mirrors have completed deep-freeze tests and are removed from the X-ray and Cryogenic test Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center.

'Space ball' drops on Namibia

The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to police forensics director Paul Ludik.
Locals had heard several small explosions a few days beforehand, he said.
With a diameter of 35 centimetres (14 inches), the ball has a rough surface and appears to consist of "two halves welded together".
It was made of a "metal alloy known to man" and weighed six kilogrammes (13 pounds), said Ludik.
It was found 18 metres from its landing spot, a hole 33 centimetres deep and 3.8 meters wide.
Several such balls have dropped in South America , Australia and Latin America in the past twenty years, authorities found in an Internet search.
The sphere was discovered mid-November, but authorities first did tests before announcing the find.
Police deputy inspector general Vilho Hifindaka concluded the sphere did not pose any danger.

Space industry in Germany

                                     Space technologies are a key to the modern information and industrial society. Communication and TV reporting around the world, the satellite navigation system in cars or precise climate and weather analyses through to emergency mapping all depend on space technologies.
                                               
(Pic:The European spacecraft Automated Transfer Vehicle ATV-2, docked to the International Space Station)
                  According to the new space strategy of the German Federal Government, lead by the BMWi (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology), the overriding aim for space projects must, at all times, be to continue improving human living conditions. State-funded space activities must therefore be channelled towards “space for the benefit of the Earth”.
                 Space projects will be judged according to the contribution they make to solving the challenges facing global society and whether the long-term application of high levels of funding can be expected to bring adequate benefits.
           The Federal Government focuses its space policy strictly on benefits and needs while, at the same time, targeting visionary goals. To that end, space must, in competition with other instruments and with terrestrial processes and infrastructures, demonstrate that it offers the better solution from a cost-benefit standpoint. As tools of research, space projects must be guided by the “benchmarking” (scientific excellence) principle. In large-scale projects they must show that they can prevail in competition with other methods and scientific discipline
                      The German aerospace industry spends an average of 20 percent of its turnover on research and development and is therefore one of the most research-intensive and innovative industries. As a result of their innovative strength, German companies are sought-after partners in international cooperation.

James Webb Space Telescope

Work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is on track to stay within its latest cost and schedule plan, NASA told Congress Dec. 6, now that the agency has implemented recommendations from the outside panel that found the 6.5-meter segmented infrared telescope’s cost had jumped by $3.6 billion over its earlier estimate. “NASA now has a robust new baseline cost and schedule for JWST,” Rick Howard, JWST program director, told the House Science Committee. “This new baseline provides high confidence that NASA can implement JWST within the resources available in a constrained budget environment and achieve a launch readiness date of October 2018.” Congress added $156 million to NASA’s fiscal 2012 budget request for the Webb telescope, and capped overall development cost at $8 billion. For the fiscal year that ends next September, the agency has $530 million to spend on the project. Among reforms Howard said the agency has taken are replacing its management structure — and managers — with him as the new program chief running an agency-level program at NASA headquarters, and a top-priority rating from Administrator Charles Bolden. The confidence level required for cost estimates has been raised from 70% to 80%, signifying more careful analysis of cost factors, and the program has added 13 months of funded schedule reserve to meet unexpected problems. The primary challenges remaining in the program are building the spacecraft and the sunshield that will allow it to operate chilled to a temperature of 40K at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, and integrating and testing the outsized elements in a large thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Near term, Howard told Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) Congress can gauge progress on the telescope’s development by whether all four of its instruments are delivered in the coming year, whether testing of the 18 beryllium mirror segments is finished, and whether the center section of the primary backup structure that supports the mirrors is finished. In fiscal 2011, he said, the program met 19 milestones on or ahead of schedule; missed one deadline by a month and deferred another for a redesign. “NASA thoroughly understands how to execute this program and has a solid plan to do so,” Howard told the panel. Not all of its members were convinced, however, particularly fiscal conservatives who pointed out that the original estimated cost of the telescope was $1 billion, with launch in 2007. “While I recognize that you’ve only come on board the Titanic in 2010, after it hit the iceberg, here we’re talking about a project that has a $7 billion cost overrun from the initial proposal that we had in 2001, and an 11-year delay to completion since the original Webb telescope was slated to be launched in 2007,” said Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a former Science Committee chairman. “Now how can we justify this to our constituents?” “We have to realize that early estimates on the cost of James Webb going back to ’97 were just that, estimates,” Howard replied. “The first time that the agency was ready to commit to a price for the Webb was in 2008, and that’s the $5 billion figure.” NASA Concept