Spacecraft – #AllTheNews

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft from emergency mode, but what triggered it

Engineers toiled over the weekend to restore the spacecraft’s functions and are still working to understand why the space telescope went into emergency mode in the first place, the first time it has done so in its seven years orbiting the sun.

“It was the quick response and determination of the engineers throughout the weekend that led to the recovery,” Kepler and K2 mission manager Charlie Sobeck wrote in an update. “We are deeply appreciative of their efforts, and for the outpouring of support from the mission’s fans and followers from around the world.”

The Kepler team discovered the spacecraft had fallen into emergency mode after a regularly scheduled check-in Thursday. Emergency mode is fuel intensive, which means the spacecraft is spending precious reserves it needs to steer.

For now, it’s unclear what caused Kepler to enter this mode, Michele Johnson, a spokeswoman at NASA’s Ames Research Center, wrote in an email.

“That’s a question we won’t be able to answer for some time,” she said. “The priority is getting the spacecraft back to doing its job, but making sure the steps taken are safe.”

This is not the first episode in which the spacecraft has given astronomers a scare. Launched in 2009 to stare at a single patch of sky looking for transiting planets, Kepler picked out thousands of planetary candidates (1,041 of which have been confirmed), revealing a veritable menagerie of mini-Neptunes, hot Jupiters and super-Earths.

But Kepler eventually ran into technical problems: Two of its four reaction wheels failed (one in July 2012 and the other in May 2013), hobbling the spacecraft, which required at least three to point with enough precision to detect the planetary transits.

http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/nation-world-news/nasa-s-kepler-spacecraft-recovers-emergency-mode-what-triggered-it

CASSINI SPACECRAFT READIES FOR DIVE INTO SATURN MOON ENCELADUS’S ICY SPRAY

On Wednesday, Cassini will storm through a jet of water vapour and frozen particles erupting from the south pole of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s many moons. The spacecraft will zoom within 48 kilometres of the moon’s south pole, providing the best sampling yet of its underground ocean.

Cassini will be travelling 30,600 kilometres per hour, so it should take an instant to penetrate the plume.

A global liquid ocean is believed to exist beneath the frozen crust of 480-kilometre-wide Enceladus. Wednesday’s dive will be the deepest one yet through one of its plumes.

http://www.infowars.com/cassini-spacecraft-readies-for-dive-into-saturn-moon-enceladuss-icy-spray/

NASA chief blasts Congress for reliance on Russian spacecraft

However, NASA’s Space Shuttle program suffered two disasters. In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in midair shortly after launch, killing its seven-member crew. In 2003, the Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry, with no survivors. President George W. Bush made the decision to retire the Space Shuttle program in 2004 following that disaster.

http://www.rt.com/usa/313768-nasa-congress-space-funding-russia/

NASA CHIEF BLASTS CONGRESS FOR RELIANCE ON RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT

In an open letter published in WIRED, NASA Administrator Major General Charlie Bolden said Congress’ failure to fund President Barack Obama’s Commercial Crew proposal is creating “uncertainty” and leading to a delay in “launching American astronauts to space from American soil aboard American spacecraft.”