International Space Station salutes the Sun

This weekend the International Space Station will turn itself to position ESA’s SOLAR instrument for a better view of the Sun. It will be the first time the Station has changed attitude for scientific reasons alone. SOLAR has been monitoring our Sun’s output since it was installed on ESA’s Columbus laboratory module in February 2008. The package will celebrate its fifth anniversary next year.  

SOLAR

“That is quite an achievement,” says Nadia this, operations engineer at the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre that controls SOLAR. “The instrument was designed to work for only 18 months.”SOLAR needs to be in direct view of the Sun to take measurements but the Space Station’s normal orbit obscures the view for two weeks every month.

“We want to record a complete rotation of the Sun and that takes around 25 days,” explains Nadia.

Belgian support centre  

The solution is to rotate the whole Station but moving a 450 tonne orbital outpost the size of a typical block of flats is not a simple undertaking. Aside from calculating the correct orbit to keep SOLAR in view of the Sun, other factors need to be taken into account such as ensuring the solar panels that power the Station are not left in the dark.

Communication antennas need to be reoriented to stay in contact with Earth and other scientific experiments must be adjusted. High-level discussions with all five Space Station partners were needed before the go-ahead was given.   

SOLAR on Station

SOLAR started recording a full rotation of the Sun on 19 November. On 1 December the Station will spend two hours turning about 7º so that observations can continue. It will hold this angle for ten days before returning to its original attitude. As usual, the Belgian centre will be following its progress 24 hours a day.

SOLAR’s observations are improving our understanding of the Sun and allowing scientists to create accurate computer models and predict its behaviour. The more accurate data we acquire, the more we will understand our nearest star’s influence on Earth. Recently, the 11-year solar cycle has shown irregularities and the next maximum is expected in 2013, so SOLAR’s spectral readings are of particular interest to scientists.

For further information visit: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM0D5EQZ9H_index_2.html

Titan’s seasons make sharp turn

Scientists using the international Cassini spacecraft have studied the rapid change in seasons on Saturn’s moon Titan, following equinox in August 2009, which saw the formation of a swirling vortex and a build up of exotic gases at unexpectedly high altitudes.

Titan is the only other body in the Solar System with a thick nitrogen-rich atmosphere like Earth’s. Titan’s atmosphere also contains methane and hydrogen, with trace amounts of other gases including hydrocarbons that form at high altitudes as a result of reactions with sunlight. These complex molecules filter down into the lower atmosphere and eventually combine to produce orange smog.

A separate layer of haze is found at a much higher altitude of 400–500 km and can be seen at the limb of the moon, apparently detached from the rest of the atmosphere. This haze was thought to represent the ceiling of Titan’s ‘middle atmosphere’ circulation which extends from pole to pole in one giant cell, but new results from Cassini suggest otherwise.

Titan’s changing seasons

When Cassini arrived in the Saturn system in 2004, Titan sported a vortex with a ‘hood’ of enriched gas and dense haze high above its north, winter pole. After equinox in August 2009, spring arrived in the moon’s northern hemisphere while the southern hemisphere headed towards autumn.

The change in solar heating was reflected by a rapid reversal in circulation direction in Titan’s single pole-to-pole atmospheric cell, with an upwelling of gases in the summer hemisphere and down welling in the winter hemisphere.

“Even though the amount of sunlight reaching the south pole was decreasing, the first thing we saw there during the six months after equinox was actually an increase in temperature at altitudes of 400–500 km, as atmospheric gases that had been lofted to these heights were compressed as they subsequently sank into a newly forming southern vortex,” says Dr Nick Teanby from the University of Bristol, UK, and lead author of the study reported in the journal Nature.

“This heating effect is the same one that causes compressed air in a bicycle pump to heat up, and provided the smoking gun that the change in seasons was underway.” In the months that followed, up to a hundred-fold increase in atmospheric gas concentration was measured over the South Pole at the same high altitudes. Cassini’s instruments found that these gas molecules were sinking through the atmosphere at a rate of 1–2 millimetres per second.

Dr Teanby’s team conclude that for the enrichment and motion to be seen throughout these altitudes, the actual source of the complex gas molecules must be higher still, and that the detached haze layer cannot signal the top of the atmospheric circulation cell. The new observations instead suggest that these complex haze molecules are produced higher up, but that when they drop down to the 400–500 km level, a change in the character of the haze takes place, perhaps as individual particles clump together.

“It’s impressive to see such dramatic solar-driven seasonal changes on a world where the sunlight is nearly a hundred times weaker than it is on Earth,” adds Dr Teanby. “Since a year on Titan is nearly 30 Earth years long, for the atmosphere to change over a period of just six months is extremely rapid.” “Models have predicted this change in Titan’s atmospheric circulation for nearly 20 years, but Cassini has provided the first direct observations of it actually happening,” says Nicolas Altobelli, ESA’s Cassini project scientist.

For further information visit: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMLA6EQZ9H_index_2.html

Chinese astronauts may grow veg on Moon

The introduction of a CELSS seeks to provide sustainable supplies of air, water and food for astronauts with the help of plants and algae, instead of relying on stocks of such basics deposited on board at the outset of the mission. Chinese astronauts may get fresh vegetables and oxygen supplies by gardening in extraterrestrial bases in the future, an official said after a just-concluded lab experiment in Beijing.

Deng Yibing, deputy director of the Beijing-based Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center, said that the experiment focused on a dynamic balanced mechanism of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water between people and plants in a closed system. According to Deng, a cabin of 300 cubic meters was established to provide sustainable supplies of air, water and food for two participants during the experiment.

Four kinds of vegetables were grown, taking in carbon dioxide and providing oxygen for the two people living in the cabin. They could also harvest fresh vegetables for meals, Deng said. The experiment, the first of its kind in China, is extremely important for the long-term development of China's manned space program, Deng added.

The cabin, a controlled ecological life support system (CELSS) built in 2011, is a model of China's third generation of astronauts' life support systems, which is expected to be used in extraterrestrial bases on the Moon or Mars. The introduction of a CELSS seeks to provide sustainable supplies of air, water and food for astronauts with the help of plants and algae, instead of relying on stocks of such basics deposited on board at the outset of the mission.

Advance forms of CELSS also involve the breeding of animals for meat and using microbes to recycle wastes. Scientists from Germany also participated in the experiments.

For further information visit: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Chinese_astronauts_may_grow_veg_on_Moon_999.html

UK space companies benefit from investment in research and development

Companies working in, or looking to set up in, the space community at Harwell will benefit from 1 million pound funding to help them to go further and faster towards commercial success, David Willetts announced. The investment in innovative R and D projects is part of the Technology Strategy Board's Launch pad initiative which supports business groups, suppliers and associated institutions who work together in the same location.

David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, speaking at the European Space Solutions Conference, said: "Space is one of our most promising sectors and the Government is determined to foster innovation and help companies invest in R and D to drive long-term growth.

This funding will support innovative projects where small businesses may see it as too risky to go it alone when developing their ideas into new products or services. It could also help companies grow by connecting them with mentors, expert advisors and the investor community around the world class Harwell campus.

Harwell is becoming a crucial space cluster and this initiative takes it further “Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: "This important competition will support small and medium sized businesses to achieve their growth ambitions through engagement with the facilities and expertise available around the developing space cluster at Harwell.

Through provision of up to 100,000 pound per project and a programme of business and finance support services around the cluster, Launch pad will support winning businesses in achieving their potential, and in doing so, the development of the next generation of high growth space applications and technologies businesses."

A Launch pad is one of the Technology Strategy Board's business tools designed to support the growth phase of existing clusters - a geographic concentration of interconnected business, suppliers and associated institutions in a particular field. Due to the concentration within a cluster, there are often advantages of speed and knowledge transfer that the Launch pad initiative encourages.

This builds on the success of the Technology Strategy Board's 1.25 million pound investment in London's tech and digital hub Tech City in 2011.The competition attracted over 200 applications from SMEs to work in the digital space in Shoreditch, London, gaining an additional 1.5 million pound of private sector funding towards 13 projects now at various stages of completion.

Support to raise appropriate new external finance is a key component of a Launch pad and applicants are likely to benefit most from participation in the programme if this aligns with their business objectives. The Space Launch pad will encourage engagement with space sector expertise and facilities on the Harwell campus. These include the European Space Agency, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, RAL Space and the Satellite Applications Catapult centre, a world-class centre for the development and commercial exploitation of space and satellite-based products, services and applications currently being established at Harwell.

Future planned Launch pads are in the materials and manufacturing sector, which will focus on a cluster of companies around Dares bury and Runcorn Heath, as well as a series of Launch pads in digital and creative clusters across different parts of the UK.In each Launch pad the Technology Strategy Board will be working with a local partner organisation, known as a cluster champion, to deliver a full package of support to the competition winners and to engage with the cluster as a whole.

For further information visit: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/UK_space_companies_benefit_from_investment_in_research_and_development_999.html

2012 Awards Presented For Achievements in Earth Remote Sensing

NASA and the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) presented the 2012 William T. Pecora awards for achievement in earth remote sensing to Gilberto Camara of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research and Leung Tsang of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Camara was recognized for his contributions to remote-sensing leadership as a scientist, program director, manager and agency head. Tsang is one of the world's leading experts on the theory of microwave remote sensing for geophysical environments. Camara received his award at a meeting of the Group on Earth Observations in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, on Nov. 22. Tsang received his award Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

"Along with the immensely successful Landsat program, the Pecora awards are a testament to the very high value both the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA place in Earth remote sensing," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "As our planet's water, soil, and ecosystems continue to be stressed by a growing population and changing climate, it is essential we continue into a fifth decade of Earth observation time series and recognize the excellence of remote-sensing experts."

NASA and the Department of the Interior present individual and group Pecora Awards to honor outstanding contributions in the field of remote sensing and its application to understanding Earth. The award was established in 1974 to honor the memory of William T. Pecora, former USGS director and undersecretary of the Department of the Interior. Pecora was influential in the establishment of the Landsat satellite program, which created a continuous, 40-year record of Earth's land areas.

"I am sure Dr. Pecora would be pleased if he were here with us today and could see how his vision for innovative remote-sensing technology has been realized in the work of the individuals we are recognizing this year," said astronaut John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.

As the former director general of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, Camara championed broad, open data-sharing policies and practices within the institute that have significantly influenced other domestic and international organizations to emulate this approach. Camara has advanced the linkages between and among remote-sensing technologies and Geographic Information System technologies and applications.

Camara also supported programs within the institute to link moderate-resolution imagery from the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite, Landsat, and other Earth observation missions with the policy needs of the Brazilian government, most notably polices on forestation and deforestation in the Amazon.

Tsang's contributions to microwave remote sensing have laid the groundwork for improved data analysis and designs of new measurements and satellite observational systems. His work has resulted in numerous societal benefits, including monitoring climate change and improving management of water and agricultural resources. His original and pioneering discoveries have resulted in the publication of more than 260 journal articles and four books.

Tsang also made major advances in rough surface scattering theory and applications to microwave remote sensing of soil and vegetated surfaces. He developed an improved modeling framework for rough surface and vegetation scattering with fast computational methods that can be directly applied to both active and passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture.

For further information visit: http://www10.giscafe.com/nbc/articles/1/1143060/2012-Awards-Presented-Achievements-Earth-Remote-Sensing

Canada will sign nuclear deal with India: High commissioner

 COIMBATORE: "India and Canada will sign a nuclear deal in the coming months paying the way for New Delhi to import uranium and reactors from Ottawa," Canadian high commissioner to India Stewart Beck said. He was speaking to TOI on Monday after attending the inauguration of a factory unit of Velan Valves in the city.

"This will allow India to obtain uranium and heavy water reactors from Canada, which will help the country to develop nuclear power," he said. The Indian nuclear reactors depend on heavy water reactors which can be obtained from them. The Canadian government is also taking steps to initiate trade and exchange of oil and gas between the two nations.

In the next five years, India could get a large quantity of gas and oil, he said. Beck said that Canadian firms were showing a keen interest to invest in India. This is because of the vast market the country offers as well as the skilled labour force the country offers, he added. "From automobiles to several manufacturing units are setting their plants in India. The skilled labour force here can get things done in much reduced cost than that of Canada," he said.

The engineering education in Canada is oriented towards problem solving while here it concentrates on components. Moreover, the application of theories are also lacking in India, he said. Their school students are better with the application of the physics and mathematics concepts they learn. However with 50 to 60 students in a class, this may be hard to achieve. Their colleges face this by reducing the number of students in the final year of their graduation by putting them in smaller groups, he said.

Beck said the country to develop may have to concentrate on the energy needs of the country."Generating energy is a growing challenge for India. Steps have to be taken in the near future," he said.

For further information visit: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Canada-will-sign-nuclear-deal-with-India-High-commissioner/articleshow/17472119.cms?prtpage=1

US steps up spying on Iran's nuclear reactor: report

US intelligence agencies have significantly stepped up spying operations on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor prompted by concerns about the security of weapons-grade plutonium there, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the increased US surveillance of Bushehr has been conducted in part by US unmanned drones operating over the Gulf. The effort resulted in the interception of visual images and audio communications coming from the reactor complex, the report said.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful but many in the international community suspect its real aim is to develop nuclear weapons.The UN Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran which have been augmented this year by painful Western restrictions on its vital oil exports, leading to serious economic problems.

Tehran suggested that a US drone was spying on Bushehr on November 1 when it sent Iranian fighter jets to pursue the unmanned craft, firing at it but missing, the US paper said. But according to US officials, the drone was conducting surveillance that day, but not on Bushehr, The Journal said.

The stepped up surveillance came after the US government became alarmed over activities at Bushehr, especially the removal of fuel rods from the plant in October, just two months after it became fully operational, the paper said. Tehran formally protested the Pentagon's spying activities in a November 19 letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, The Journal said.

The complaint charged that the United States has repeatedly violated Iranian airspace with its drone flights, according to the paper.

For further information visit: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_steps_up_spying_on_Irans_nuclear_reactor_report_999.html

Japan Schedules Radar Satellite Launch

Japanese national space agency JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. would launch an H-2A rocket with a radar intelligence satellite early next year, the Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.

The launch is tentatively scheduled for January 27, 2013.The satellite will become Japan's second able to take clear images of objects as small as one meter. It will also be able to perform its duties at night and regardless of weather conditions.

Japan currently relies on H-2A and M-5 rockets for its space launches. The previous launch of H-2A was carried out on May 18 to orbit four satellites.

For further information visit: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Japan_Schedules_Radar_Satellite_Launch_999.html

Russia Postpones Glonass Satellite Launch

After embezzlement scandals, Russia delayed the launch of its second Glonass-K satellite until 2013. However, government officials reported that the postponement was due to technical defects in the Fregat booster built by the Lavochkin space company, not by the scandal.

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket will still launch the satellite from the Plesetsk space center but the new launch date has not been released. Officials said the date will be decided during a state commission meeting after the defects have been corrected.

Once launched, the second Glonass-K will be performing in-orbit tests until it becomes operational in 2015. There are 31 Glonass satellites currently in orbit to provide global coverage. This network of satellites is expected to cost Russia approximately $12 billion on maintenance and further developments between 2012 and 2020. Russia is also planning to build eight Proto-M and 11 Soyuz-2.1b rockets to carry the future Glonass satellites.

Last month, fraud allegations submerged around the Glonass project, which caused its chief designer’s layoff. The claims indicate that since 2010, officials embezzled approximately $200 million of the program’s funds.

For further information visit: http://www.satellitetoday.com/curatedcontent/40153.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2575043&hq_l=23&hq_v=19744a885d

Retired GIOVE-A satellite helps SSTL demonstrate first High Altitude GPS navigation fix

GIOVE-A's retirement in June 2012 has allowed the commissioning of the experiment and is now providing valuable data to SSTL and ESA in support of the future use of space borne GNSS receivers at GEO altitudes. 

An experimental GPS receiver, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), has successfully achieved a GPS position fix at 23,300km altitude - the first position fix above the GPS constellation on a civilian satellite. The SGR-GEO receiver is collecting data that could help SSTL to develop a receiver to navigate spacecraft in Geostationary orbit (GEO) or even in deep space.

GPS is routinely used on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide the orbital position and offer a source of time to the satellite. Spacecraft in orbits higher than the 20,000 km of the GPS constellation, however, can only receive a few of the signals that "spill over" from the far side of the Earth, meaning that the signals are much weaker and a position fix cannot always be secured.

With the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the ARTES 4 program, SSTL included the SGR-GEO receiver on the GIOVE-A satellite to prove that a receiver could achieve a position fix from a higher orbit. The SGR-GEO is adapted from SSTL's SGR range of receivers and incorporates a high-gain antenna and a precise oven-controlled clock. It will demonstrate special algorithms to allow reception of weak signals and an orbit estimator intended to allow a near continuous position fix throughout orbit.

Martin Unwin, Principal GNSS Engineer at SSTL, says: "The results from the SGR-GEO receiver are really encouraging. We're getting higher signal strengths than anticipated and also acquiring side lobes from the GPS transmit antennas, which improves the availability of the useable signals for navigation."With the success of the SGR-GEO receiver, GPS, in combination with Galileo and Glonass, could soon be helping navigate spacecraft much further away from Earth."

The experimental GPS receiver onboard GIOVE-A has been inactive for 6 years while the satellite has been used for its primary purpose of transmitting prototype Galileo signals. GIOVE-A's retirement in June 2012 has allowed the commissioning of the experiment and is now providing valuable data to SSTL and ESA in support of the future use of space borne GNSS receivers at GEO altitudes.

Engineers at SSTL will continue operations, testing out, tuning and improving the receiver software onboard GIOVE-A to achieve the best possible performance.

For further information visit: http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Retired_GIOVE_A_satellite_helps_SSTL_demonstrate_first_High_Altitude_GPS_navigation_fix_999.html

Optech announces release of new Pegasus HA500 ALTM for high density, high altitude mapping

— Optech, the world leader in the development, manufacture and support of advanced LiDAR and camera survey instruments, is pleased to announce the release of the Optech Pegasus HA500 ALTM, a purpose-built wide-area mapping sensor that is expressly focused on maximizing collection efficiency.

Capable of altitudes up to 5000 m AGL (16,500 ft), this powerful new sensor has the unique ability to collect multi-beam LiDAR data throughout its entire operating envelope, for industry-leading point cloud density and accuracy at any altitude.  With two new high-performance lasers and an embedded 60-MP digital metric camera, the efficiency of the Pegasus HA500 eclipses all other commercial airborne lidar mapping sensors available to date.

“Our clients have been demanding an active sensor for day/night use that not only combines high altitude collection efficiency with high point density, but also provides the point precision, accuracy and tree canopy penetration that only a LiDAR sensor can provide,” commented Michael Sitar, Optech's Airborne Business and Product Manager. “The Pegasus HA500 is the culmination of that effort, in that it’s unique twin-laser configuration ensures the same data fidelity and measurement precision irrespective of the number of beams, unlike lesser single-laser multi-beam designs."

The Pegasus HA500 also incorporates many of the same productivity-focused performance features as the Optech Orion ALTM sensors. The Orion sensors are popular for their ultra-compact size, flexibility in installation, and scalability with external peripheral sensors, which enable custom yet seamless multi-sensor configurations. Performance features common to both ALTMs include: real-time point display for in-air true coverage verification; a real-time in-air LAS file generator for rapid response applications that demand immediate high-accuracy data delivery possible only with its Omni STAR™-enabled POS™ system; LiDAR auto-calibration software incorporating rigorous least-squares adjustment methods for exceptional data quality and accuracy quantification; and full compatibility with the latest true 12-bit Optech IWD-2 Intelligent Waveform Digitizer.

About Optech

Optech is the world leader in the development, manufacture and support of advanced LiDAR and camera survey instruments. With operations and staff worldwide, Optech offers both standalone and fully integrated LiDAR and camera solutions in airborne mapping, airborne LiDAR bathymetry, mobile mapping, terrestrial laser scanning, mine cavity monitoring, and industrial process control, as well as space-proven sensors.

For further information visit: http://www10.giscafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=CorpNews&articleid=1142419&printerfriendly=1

GIS NEWS: Bahrain chosen as one of two leading countries in the world in GIS

Manama, Nov. 28 (BNA)— Bahrain, represented by the Central Informatics and Communications Organisation (CICO), has been chosen as one of two leading countries in the world in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

 American world leader in GIS, ESRI, ranked Bahrain and Venezuela atop.CICO-GIS Director Dr. Khalid Abdulrahman Al Hidan said choosing CICO is the result of developing GIS at the local, regional, continental and international level.

He added that this choice is also due to the setting up of smart geographic data bases which contributed to upgrading work in the public and private sectors, while taking advantage of regional and international experiences in this regard.

For further information visit: http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/535071

Plastic Packaging Industry Is Moving Towards Completely Bio-Based Products

— VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a technique to significantly improve the quality of bio-based plastic packaging. The new generation of bio-based plastic packaging is not only eco-friendly but also has several superior qualities compared to traditional plastic packaging. The plastic packaging industry is moving towards completely bio-based products. The volume of oil used every year in the production of plastics equates to approximately five per cent of the world's total oil consumption. Approximately 40 per cent of all plastics are used in packaging, which puts special pressure on the packaging industry to reduce dependence on oil.

The use of renewable natural resources in industrial applications reduces dependence on oil and the carbon footprint attributable to consumption. A transition to bio-based economy nevertheless requires products that are not only ecologically sustainable but also competitive in terms of quality.VTT has developed a technique that enables the production of the PGA monomer glycolic acid from bio-based materials more efficiently than before.

"Bio-based plastics are a tangible step closer to a bio-based economy. This new generation of plastic packaging not only reduces our dependence on oil but also offers superior quality compared to traditional plastic packaging," explains Research Professor Ali Harlin from VTT.

Bio-based PGA plastic has excellent barrier properties. Adding PGA into the structure of traditional plastic packaging significantly improves its quality. In addition to strength and heat resistance, plastic packaging also needs to be airtight, vapour-proof and grease-resistant. Bio-based PGA plastic is between 20 and 30 per cent stronger than PLA -- the most popular biodegradable plastic on the market -- and able to withstand temperatures 20 degrees Celsius higher. It also breaks down more quickly than PLA, but its biodegradability can be regulated if necessary.

Growing market

Bio-based plastic opens up new business opportunities for the forest industry: The estimated total volume of the global packaging market is approximately EUR 500 billion. The Chinese and Indian markets, for example, are growing rapidly. Ethical consumption principles and legislative changes are steering the packaging industry towards sustainable development. At the moment, bio-based plastic accounts for approximately one per cent of global plastic production.

 The volume of oil used every year in the production of plastics equates to approximately five per cent of the world's total oil consumption. Approximately 40 per cent of all plastics are used in packaging, which puts special pressure on the packaging industry to reduce dependence on oil. According to lifecycle analyses, carbon dioxide emissions from bio-based plastics can be as much as 70 per cent lower than from oil-based plastics.

For further information visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204081138.htm

NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples

SAM used three methods to analyze gases given off from the dusty sand when it was heated in a tiny oven. One class of substances SAM checks for is organic compounds - carbon-containing chemicals that can be ingredients for life. NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has used its full array of instruments to analyze Martian soil for the first time, and found a complex chemistry within the Martian soil. Water and sulphur and chlorine-containing substances, among other ingredients, showed up in samples Curiosity's arm delivered to an analytical laboratory inside the rover.

Detection of the substances during this early phase of the mission demonstrates the laboratory's capability to analyze diverse soil and rock samples over the next two years. Scientists also have been verifying the capabilities of the rover’s instruments. Curiosity are the first Mars rover able to scoop soil into analytical instruments. The specific soil sample came from a drift of windblown dust and sand called "Rocknest."

The site lies in a relatively flat part of Gale Crater still miles away from the rover's main destination on the slope of a mountain called Mount Sharp. The rover's laboratory includes the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite and the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument.SAM used three methods to analyze gases given off from the dusty sand when it was heated in a tiny oven. One class of substances SAM checks for is organic compounds - carbon-containing chemicals that can be ingredients for life.

"We have no definitive detection of Martian organics at this point, but we will keep looking in the diverse environments of Gale Crater," said SAM Principal Investigator Paul Mahaffy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.Curiosity's APXS instrument and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the rover's arm confirmed Rocknest has chemical-element composition and textural appearance similar to sites visited by earlier NASA Mars rovers Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity.

Curiosity's team selected Rocknest as the first scooping site because it has fine sand particles suited for scrubbing interior surfaces of the arm's sample-handling chambers. Sand was vibrated inside the chambers to remove residue from Earth. MAHLI close-up images of Rocknest show a dust-coated crust one or two sand grains thick, covering dark, finer sand.

"Active drifts on Mars look darker on the surface," said MAHLI Principal Investigator Ken Edgett, of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. "This is an older drift that has had time to be inactive, letting the crust form and dust accumulates on it."

CheMin's examination of Rocknest samples found the composition is about half common volcanic minerals and half non-crystalline materials such as glass. SAM added information about ingredients present in much lower concentrations and about ratios of isotopes. Isotopes are different forms of the same element and can provide clues about environmental changes. The water seen by SAM does not mean the drift was wet. Water molecules bound to grains of sand or dust are not unusual, but the quantity seen was higher than anticipated.

SAM tentatively identified the oxygen and chlorine compound perchlorate. This is a reactive chemical previously found in arctic Martian soil by NASA's Phoenix Lander. Reactions with other chemicals heated in SAM formed chlorinated methane compounds - one-carbon organics that were detected by the instrument. The chlorine is of Martian origin, but it is possible the carbon may be of Earth origin, carried by Curiosity and detected by SAM's high sensitivity design.

"We used almost every part of our science payload examining this drift," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena."The synergies of the instruments and richness of the data sets give us great promise for using them at the mission's main science destination on Mount Sharp."

For further information visit: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Mars_Rover_Fully_Analyzes_First_Soil_Samples_999.html

NASA Announces Multi-Year Mars Program With New Rover In 2020

From small beginnings NASA's Mars rovers have become a lot bigger. 

Building on the success of Curiosity's Red Planet landing, NASA has announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program, including a new robotic science rover set to launch in 2020. This announcement affirms the agency's commitment to a bold exploration program that meets our nation's scientific and human exploration objectives.

"The Obama administration is committed to a robust Mars exploration program," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "With this next mission, we're ensuring America remains the world leader in the exploration of the Red Planet, while taking another significant step toward sending humans there in the 2030s."

The planned portfolio includes the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers; two NASA spacecraft and contributions to one European spacecraft currently orbiting Mars; the 2013 launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter to study the Martian upper atmosphere; the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars; and participation in ESA's 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing "Electra" telecommunication radios to ESA's 2016 mission and a critical element of the premier astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover.

The plan to design and build a new Mars robotic science rover with a launch in 2020 comes only months after the agency announced InSight, which will launch in 2016, bringing a total of seven NASA missions operating or being planned to study and explore our Earth-like neighbour. The 2020 mission will constitute another step toward being responsive to high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.

The future rover development and design will be based on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) architecture that successfully carried the Curiosity rover to the Martian surface this summer. This will ensure mission costs and risks are as low as possible, while still delivering a highly capable rover with a proven landing system. The mission will constitute a vital component of a broad portfolio of Mars exploration missions in development for the coming decade.

The mission will advance the science priorities of the National Research Council's 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey and responds to the findings of the Mars Program Planning Group established earlier this year to assist NASA in restructuring its Mars Exploration Program."The challenge to restructure the Mars Exploration Program has turned from the seven minutes of terror for the Curiosity landing to the start of seven years of innovation," NASA's associate administrator for science, and astronaut John Grunsfeld said.

"This mission concept fits within the current and projected Mars exploration budget, builds on the exciting discoveries of Curiosity, and takes advantage of a favourable launch opportunity."The specific payload and science instruments for the 2020 mission will be openly competed, following the Science Mission Directorate's established processes for instrument selection. This process will begin with the establishment of a science definition team that will be tasked to outline the scientific objectives for the mission.

For further information visit: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Announces_Multi_Year_Mars_Program_With_New_Rover_In_2020_999.html

How ISRO Can Join Hands with Private Enterprise

With demand for launches doubling, the space agency wants industry to step up. What will it take for the two sides to pull this off? 

SKY’S THE LIMIT Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan wants the industry to form a consortium and build a PSLV by 2017 A rocket blasting into space doesn’t make news today, such routine are satellite launches and so mature is technology. But, in May, a rocket launch by Californian Company SpaceX made news. In fact, it made history as it became the first commercial vehicle to visit the International Space Station (ISS). The launch also signalled an era of private enterprise entering space—US space agency Nasa’s biggest bet in recent times of entrusting small, private companies with big, public responsibilities.

At Antariksh Bhavan, Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) headquarters in Bangalore, Chairman K Radhakrishnan is shuffling his cards for a somewhat similar bet: Of entrusting Indian companies with the task of building rockets and satellites. Isro has a nearly 30-year-old partnership with the Indian industry. Its enduring tango with 400-odd companies has often been cited as a model for the defence sector to emulate.

But what Radhakrishnan is now proposing is of a much higher order: It requires the industry to put its skin in the game. He wants the industry to form a consortium and build a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)—Isro’s workhorse with 21 consecutive launches—by 2017.

The project may sound over-ambitious, but, in reality, Isro’s time is running out. The 12th Five-Year Plan has sanctioned at least 58 missions in the next five years, as against 29 in the previous five. This boils down to almost one launch a month. The outlay has also doubled from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 39,750 crore. As Isro can’t double its internal resources, its flight path terminates at the industry.

Globally, this is how most space agencies have built their programmes as well as their local space industry. The US has a tradition of major firms competing for business, with Nasa acting as a managing and contracting organisation. Russia is also catching on, though they have some competing state-run firms too. China is an enigma for most, but experts believe it is taking the Russia route.

On its part, Isro has closely worked with the private sector before; nearly 60 percent of its budget goes to the industry. The catch is that it has never delegated a fully functional system, say, an engine, to a company. To expect a functional launch vehicle or a satellite from the industry now, Isro will not only have to change its business and organisational model but even its contractual rulebook. That may turn out to be no less challenging than the deep space exploration it has taken up recently. Radhakrishnan says it is possible within the existing government framework. “Five years is a good period in which we can see a launch coming out of the new arrangement; I see a lot of enthusiasm [in the industry].”

For the industry, the opportunity is unprecedented: Rs 20,000 crore, i.e. nearly half of the Plan outlay in the domestic market, and the chance to enter the global supply chain of a market that is worth $290 billion today.

It was in the mid ’70s that Isro first began to engage with the industry for supplying components. It increased its ambit in the ’80s when its programmes began to mature. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) signed an MoU with Isro under which the former dedicated a 54-acre facility for building parts of launch vehicles. That was also the time when Godrej & Boyce kicked off its association with Isro by supplying satellite parts. Over time, they started making liquid engines. One of Isro’s oldest partners is Larsen & Toubro which, in the last 35 years, has worked on all versions of launch vehicles.

Today, the industry does nearly 80 percent of the value addition to PSLV. But Isro maintains a tight control on quality and final integration. It supplies everything from design to materials—even the nuts, bolts and washers. If the industry has to step up, Isro will have to let go of many of its intermediary functions. Companies like L&T and HAL say they are prepared to procure materials, which are often subject to international controls.

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