1 March 2007

Preparing biology experiments for the Foton M3 mission in the new microgravity lab at ESTEC, in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Foton M3 is scheduled for launch in September 2007. The unmanned capsule will spend 12 days orbiting the Earth exposing it's payload of experiments to microgravity. At the end of the mission the capsule will re-enter Earth's atmosphere to land in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA

Over 60 scientists and technicians have taken up temporary residence in ESA's brand new microgravity science laboratory, where, for the coming days, they will rehearse procedures to prepare experiments for the Foton M3 mission later this year.

Scheduled for launch on 14 September 2007 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, the unmanned Foton M3 mission will carry 35 ESA experiments in life and physical sciences. The Foton capsule will spend 12 days orbiting the Earth, exposing the experiments to microgravity, and in the case of some experiments, to the harsh environment of open space, before re-entering the atmosphere and landing in the border zone between Russia and the Kazakhstan.

The science teams behind the mission's biology experiments are currently gathered at ESTEC, ESA's research and technology centre, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to practice the preparation of their samples and flight hardware - an important part of the time-critical countdown to launch.

Punctual departure

The simulation - known as the "Science Verification Test" - will exactly follow the timeline planned for the real flight in September. Counting back from the launch, which is expected on the afternoon of Friday 14 September, the ground crew in Baikonur will have precisely 24 hours a couple of days before the launch (from T-72h to T-48h) in which to install the payloads in the Foton capsule.

Preparing biology experiments for the Foton M3 mission in the new microgravity lab at ESTEC, in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Foton M3 is scheduled for launch in September 2007. The unmanned capsule will spend 12 days orbiting the Earth exposing it's payload of experiments to microgravity. At the end of the mission the capsule will re-enter Earth's atmosphere to land in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA

"To reach Baikonur in time for installation in the Foton capsule all the experiment containers will have to leave Noordwijk no later than 2 am on Monday 10 September," explains René Demets, ESA project biologist. A truck will take 2-tonnes of cargo directly from ESTEC to Rotterdam Airport. From there a chartered aircraft will fly the experiments to Samara, in Russia. After customs clearance and refuelling, the journey will continue to the remote launch site in Baikonur.

"For biology experiments the samples need to be prepared as late as possible,"� adds Demets. "By gathering the scientists at ESTEC there will be five days between sample preparation and launch, giving the scientists the latest possible access to their experiments. It means that the teams will have to work day and night over the weekend to prepare their cell cultures and be ready and packed for a punctual departure early on the Monday morning."

Sample tray for the eOsteo experiment for the unmanned Foton M3 mission.

Foton M3 is scheduled to launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazahkstan in September 2007. The capsule will spend 12 days orbiting the Earth before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and landing in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA

Corrective action

Running through those procedures ahead of time gives the teams a chance to iron out any problems before the procedures are done for real in the autumn. Any mistakes or problems could put an experiment in jeopardy.

"What we might do wrong in the preparation stage can lead an experiment to fail," says Michel Lazerges, ESA project manager for the eEristo/eOsteo experiment, which investigates the influence of microgravity on bone cell biology.

The eEristo/eOsteo experiment is a cooperation between ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA); the hardware is provided by CSA and the flight by ESA. Moreover, CSA will be making their ground tracking stations available for receiving science data from the Foton satellite.

"By testing and verifying everything in advance we push uncertainty to the last. If anything shows up during the rehearsal, we can take corrective action and make sure we have it right for the flight."


For the same reason, as in September when there will be no room for errors, the simulation will continue when the rest of ESTEC has closed down for the weekend. "We want to test the infrastructure fully," says Demets. "We need to know that we can work under these circumstances. How, for example, will we feed all these people during the weekend when the ESTEC canteen is not available?"

New laboratory

For Peter Schiller, manager of the microgravity science laboratory, this is also an exciting time. The Foton dress rehearsal will be the first wide-scale use of the brand new facility. "For us this is a chance to check out the new lab and to make sure that it fulfils its functions," explains Schiller.


After completion of the Science Verification Test, the next major milestone for the Foton M3 mission will be the Mission Simulation Test due to take place at ESTEC in April. During this test the system used to remotely control and monitor the experiments during the mission will be put through its paces

Source: ESA - News

10 May 2007

A student works on YES2 in the vibration facility at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

YES2, the second Young Engineers Satellite, is a student experiment that was prepared, built and tested at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Almost five hundred students from all over Europe have worked on the experiment. Following launch with Foton-M3 in September 2007, the Fotino re-entry capsule will be deployed on the end of a thirty kilometre tether. At exactly the right moment the mini-Foton is released from the end of the tether. The slingshot places the capsule on a path to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. It will be the first time that a tether has been used to return a payload from space. The flight is intended to demonstrate how such a tether can be used to change a satellite's orbit without attitude control systems or rocket engines.

Credits: ESA - A. Le Floc'h

How do you deliver a parcel down to Earth from space without using a rocket engine and fuel? The answer is YES2, a student experiment that was prepared, built and tested at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Today, YES2 (Young Engineers Satellite) will be transported to Russia; the launch and operations will follow in September.

Almost five hundred students from all over Europe have worked on the experiment. With that one of the aims of the mission has already been achieved, says ESA project manager Roger Walker from the ESA Education Department: "YES2 represents a whole collection of university dissertations and theses. Students have gained valuable hands-on experience that will certainly be put to good use immediately if they should continue in the space industry or come to work for ESA."

Technical demonstration


Valuable hands-on experience for all YES2 team members.

Credits: Fabio de Pascale

Besides the educational challenge, YES2 is also a demonstration of new technologies. For the first time in history a thirty kilometre long tether will be deployed in space. And it will be the first time a parcel will be shot back down to Earth from a tether.

The procedure is straightforward. The three-part experiment is mounted on the outside of the Russian research capsule Foton M3. In September Foton M3 will be launched into Earth orbit from the launch base at Baikonur. Just before the Foton returns to Earth, YES2 will be activated.

Fotino


Fotino will be deployed on a thirty kilometre tether.

Credits: ESA

At an altitude of 260 to 300 kilometres a half millimetre thick, thirty kilometre long tether will be rolled out below Foton. This is so long, that the tether will even be visible from Earth in the night sky (from South America and eastern Russia).

At the end of the tether hangs the spherical re-entry capsule Fotino (the parcel). Because of gravity Fotino will swing forwards and back to the vertical. At exactly the right moment the mini-Foton is released from the tether and the slingshot places the capsule on a path towards the Earth's atmosphere, starting its return journey to Earth. A parcel delivery service from space, destination: a remote location in Russia.

A heat shield protects the experiment against the same heat the Space Shuttle faces during its return to Earth. Fotino uses parachutes to prepare for a soft landing. 'If the Fotino capsule lands in the area we are targeting, then our second mission aim is achieved', explains YES2 engineer Fabio De Pascale from Italy. 'If all instruments register the descent and landing, then the third scientific part of the mission is also accomplished.'

Kite rope

YES2, the second Young Engineers Satellite, is a student experiment that was prepared, built and tested at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Almost five hundred students from all over Europe have worked on the experiment. Following launch with Foton-M3 in September 2007, the Fotino re-entry capsule will be deployed on the end of a thirty kilometre tether. At exactly the right moment the mini-Foton is released from the end of the tether. The slingshot places the capsule on a path to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. It will be the first time that a tether has been used to return a payload from space. The flight is intended to demonstrate how such a tether can be used to change a satellite's orbit without attitude control systems or rocket engines.

Credits: ESA - A. Le Floc'h

More than twenty experiments have been conducted in which a tether has been deployed in space. The longest so far was twenty kilometres and never before was a re-entry capsule attached to the end. Despite the weight of Fotino – six kilograms – the tether is just half a millimetre in diameter. YES2 engineer Marco Stelzer from Germany: 'The tether is made of Dyneema. The same material used by kite surfers to surf through the waves on the end of their kite. Strong stuff.'

If YES2 is successful it will be the first proof that 'space mail' can be sent to Earth using a relatively simple and cheap mechanism. In theory the re-entry capsule could weigh as much as tens of kilograms, says De Pascale. Enough to send experiments from the International Space Station down to scientists on Earth…

Source: ESA - News

25 June 2007

A student works on YES2 in the vibration facility at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

YES2, the second Young Engineers Satellite, is a student experiment that was prepared, built and tested at ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Almost five hundred students from all over Europe have worked on the experiment. Following launch with Foton-M3 in September 2007, the Fotino re-entry capsule will be deployed on the end of a thirty kilometre tether. At exactly the right moment the mini-Foton is released from the end of the tether. The slingshot places the capsule on a path to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. It will be the first time that a tether has been used to return a payload from space. The flight is intended to demonstrate how such a tether can be used to change a satellite's orbit without attitude control systems or rocket engines.

Credits: ESA - A. Le Floc'h

After 5 years of design and development work and preparation of the flight model, the second Young Engineers Satellite (YES2) experiment has passed its Final Acceptance Review and been given the green light by ESA for launch in September.

Following four and a half months of assembly, integration and testing at ESTEC, the groundbreaking student experiment was shipped to TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia, on 7 May. After a month in storage, a series of final adjustments began on 12 June. Two days later, the experiment was installed for the first time on the exterior of the Foton-M3 spacecraft on which it will piggyback a ride into orbit.

In the coming weeks, YES2 will undergo a series of checks to ensure that all of its systems are functioning as intended in conjunction with Foton. These assessments will include communications tests to ensure that commands can be received via the Foton, electrical interface tests and combined functional tests with all the other Foton experiments.

YES2 - Mechanical model by Dimitrios Lamprou.

Credits: University of Patras

“Although there were tight deadlines to meet, the students worked closely in conjunction with ESA and prime contractor Delta-Utec to bring the tethered re-entry capsule experiment to a state of readiness for launch,” said Roger Walker, Project Manager for YES2, from the ESA Education Office. “The experiment has completed an intensive verification campaign, involving vibration testing, thermal-vacuum and electromagnetic testing. The team has achieved a great deal to get this far, and the students have benefited tremendously from this practical experience with a real space project.”

One of the most challenging aspects of the mission is the deployment of the unique 30 km tether, which will be the longest ever deployed in space. Until recently, the flight tether was still on the premises of Delta-Utec in order to assess its physical properties and ensure that there will be no snags during deployment. The careful unwinding and winding of the tether alone takes a number of days to complete.


Following the completion of the Final Acceptance Review on 20 June and the YES2 - Foton interface and functional tests on 21 June, the experiment is scheduled to be detached from the main spacecraft and then shipped to Baikonur Cosmodrome in early July. YES2 will be reinstalled on the Foton at the end of July and final checks performed in readiness for the launch campaign during September.

Almost 500 students from most ESA Member States, together with the United States, Japan, Canada and Australia have worked on YES2. Although these were mainly involved in the preliminary design phase, some 60 students have participated in the latter stages of developing and building hardware and software.

Source: ESA - News

11 September 2007

An unmanned Foton-M3 capsule, carrying a payload of around 40 European experiments, will launch onboard a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 UT) this Friday.

The Foton capsule carries a 400 kg European experiment payload with experiments in a range of scientific disciplines - including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The capsule spends 12 days orbiting the Earth, exposing the experiments to microgravity and, in the case of a handful of experiments also exposing them to the harsh environment of open space, before re-entering the atmosphere and landing in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

During the flight the European experiments and equipment are monitored by ESA’s Operations Team at the Payload Operations Centre based at Esrange near Kiruna, Sweden. They are responsible for receiving, evaluating and disseminating scientific data generated by European payloads on Foton. The team also receive support from two ground stations in Canada.

YES2 is lowered onto the Foton M3 using a roof mounted crane in the MIK12 Integration Hall at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian technicians will hold YES2 in place and attach it to the Foton space craft’s battery pack, before final visual inspections and interface testing begins on the combined configuration.

Credits: ESA - Fabio De Pascale

Later in the mission, students from all over Europe will wait with bated breath for the moment when their Young Engineers Experiment (YES2) is deployed from the Foton capsule. On 25 September, a small re-entry capsule will be released from the end of a 30 kilometre tether to demonstrate the possibility of returning small payloads to Earth at a fraction of the cost of current methods.

Some 450 students have contributed to the experiment which, if successful, will be the first proof that 'space mail' can be sent using a relatively simple and cheap mechanism. Simple and cheap enough for example to send experiments from the International Space Station down to scientists on Earth.

Source: ESA - Focus On

The NASA/Ames Research Center press release is reproduced below:


Michael Mewhinney
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650-604-3937
Email: mmewhinney@mail.arc.nasa.gov


RELEASE: 07_63AR


NASA Collaborates with Russia on Foton-M3 Mission

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA is collaborating with Russia on a new robotic mission to conduct biological studies. The Russian Foton-M3 mission is scheduled for launch Sept. 14, 2007, from Kazakhstan, and NASA scientists will participate in several of the mission's experiments.

NASA scientists hope the data obtained from the Foton-M3 mission will improve research techniques. The experiments will increase fundamental knowledge of the effects of space on genetics, cell proliferation and tissue regeneration, as well as the physiological effects of microgravity. Scientists will conduct pre-and-post-flight studies in Russia on bacteria, newts, geckos and snails, which will be flown on Foton-M3. As part of the collaboration, U.S. and Russian scientists will exchange all scientific data obtained from the experiments.

"A team of U.S. scientists has been invited to participate in the experiments, and our role as co-investigators will be to enhance and expand the science conducted during the mission," explained Michael Skidmore of NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., who serves as the project manager for the Foton-M3 mission. In addition to scientists from NASA Ames, the team also includes scientists from Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont.

Foton-M3 will launch aboard a Russian Soyuz-U rocket. It utilizes a modified Vostok spacecraft, which contains a service module, solid-fuel retro-rocket unit and batteries. The robotic spacecraft will fly in low Earth orbit for 12 days before releasing its reentry module to land in either northern Kazakhstan or southern Russia on Sept. 26, 2007.

"NASA's long-term goal is to use simple, easily maintained species to determine the biological responses to the rigors of spaceflight, including the virtual absence of gravity," said Kenneth Souza, also of NASA Ames, who serves as the project scientist.

For the Foton-M3 mission experiments, Ames scientists developed eight one-inch-deep aluminum boxes called "attics" to house a small, battery-powered video camera for in-flight video recording, a solid-state video recorder, infrared Light Emitting Diodes and a pump to provide water for the newts and geckos. A timer/processor will control the operations of the attic's components during the experiments.

NASA has a long history of cooperative research with the Institute for Biomedical Problems using unpiloted Russian spacecraft starting with the Bion 3 (Cosmos 782) mission in 1975. More recently, NASA participated in the Russian Foton-M2 mission in 2005.

"The Foton-M3 data will help validate the results of NASA's Foton-M2 investigations. Fundamental space biology studies, such as those related to Foton-M2 and Foton-M3, advance human knowledge of the effects gravity has had, and continues to have, on all terrestrial life," Skidmore said.

For information about NASA's programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


Source: NASA/ARC Press Release 07_63AR

13 September 2007

The two mobile gantries are raised into position to enclose the Soyuz launch vehicle carrying Foton-M3, shortly after its erection on the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 13 September 2007.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja 2007

An unmanned Foton capsule, carrying a payload of over 40 European experiments, is on schedule for launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 UT) tomorrow. The Soyuz-U launcher, which will carry the Foton-M3 spacecraft into orbit, was transferred to the launch pad this morning.

The Foton-M3 assembly and test work was completed at Baikonur on Tuesday evening. Shortly afterwards, the satellite was moved to the Soyuz integration area. The spacecraft was assembled vertically on the launch adapter and the fairing attached.

The whole assembly was then tilted to the horizontal and attached to the launcher, which was already on the transport train, in the early hours of Wednesday.

Around midday today, the train carrying the Soyuz-U left the integration hall, arriving at the launch pad just an hour later.

The Foton-M3 spacecraft is placed inside the rocket fairing inside the MIK Building at Baikonur Cosmodrome, 12 September 2007.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja 2007

"Everything has been prepared to the best effort of everyone involved," says Antonio Verga, ESA’s Foton Project Manager. "There are no showstoppers at this moment. Now we just have to wait for a successful launch and orbital injection."

The Foton-M3 capsule carries a 400 kg European experiment payload with experiments in a range of scientific disciplines, including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The spacecraft will spend 12 days orbiting the Earth, exposing the experiments to microgravity and, in the case of a handful of experiments, to the harsh environment of open space.

Preparation of the Foton-M3 spacecraft at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA - S.Corvajat

Towards the end of the mission, the Young Engineers Experiment (YES2) will be deployed from Foton. On 25 September, the small 'Fotino' reentry capsule will be released from the end of a 30 kilometre-long tether to demonstrate the possibility of returning small payloads to Earth at a fraction of the cost of current methods.

One day later, on 26 September, the Foton-M3 capsule will reenter the atmosphere and land in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Web streaming

The launch will be broadcast live on the ESA Portal via web streaming. The broadcast can be found on the following web page: http://www.viewontv.com/esa/2007-09_foton-m3/

More images available in the story in pictures article.



Source: ESA - News

14 September 2007

The Soyuz-U rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 GMT) on 14 September 2007, for the start of the 12-day Foton-M3 mission.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja 2007

ESA PR 28-2007. An unmanned Foton spacecraft, carrying a payload of more than 40 ESA experiments, was successfully launched earlier today. The Soyuz-U launcher lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 GMT).

Nearly 9 minutes later, the Russian Foton-M3 spacecraft separated from the rocket's upper stage and was inserted into a 300 km orbit that will carry it around the Earth once every 90 minutes.

The Foton will spend 12 days in orbit, during which time the onboard experiments will be exposed to microgravity, and in some cases, to the harsh environment of open space, before re-entering the atmosphere and landing on the steppes near the Russian-Kazakh border.

The 400 kg European payload includes experiments that will contribute to advances in many areas of research. The scientific experiments come from a wide range of scientific disciplines, including fluid physics, biology, protein crystal growth, meteoritics, radiation dosimetry and exobiology (life beyond Earth). The technology-related experiments may lead to more efficient oil extraction processes, better semiconductor alloys and more efficient thermal control systems.

"The Foton mission is part of ESA’s programme for Life and Physical Sciences in spaceexplained Josef Winter, Head of ESA's Payload and Microgravity Platform Division.

"The mission provides an important opportunity for European researchers to conduct a wide variety of experiments in microgravity prior to the availability of ESA's ISS module, Columbus. In total, the Foton-M3 mission is carrying 43 scientific and technological payloads supplied by ESA, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Canada, as well as a number of Russian experiments."



One of the more unusual European payloads is the ESA/DLR Aquahab experiment, an aquatic habitat that will be used to observe the effects of weightlessness on a single cell organism, Euglena gracilis, and a small cichlid fish.

The Biobox payload consists of two programmable incubators containing five experiments on cell biology. Three of these will study the effects of weightlessness on bone-forming cells and bone-degrading cells. A fourth experiment will study the damaging effects of space radiation on skin tissue, while another aims to understand the effects of weightlessness on connective tissue cells.

Two more incubators are included in Eristo/Osteo, a joint ESA/Canadian Space Agency project. The two sets of identical hardware contain four thermally controlled experiment trays that will be used to test and evaluate the effects of drugs and growth factors on bone cell activity.

Biopan is designed to carry out experiments requiring direct exposure to the harsh space environment. On Foton-M3 Biopan contains 10 different experiments in the field of exobiology and radiation exposure. Biopan is located on the outside surface of Foton and, once in orbit, automatically opens to expose its experiments. Biopan is closed prior to re-entry.

Credits: ESA

The Franco-Belgian TEPLO experiment aims to measure the performance and characteristics of new designs of heat pipe in weightlessness. This kind of technology should help to significantly reduce the mass and complexity of thermal control subsystems used in space.

On the spacecraft's exterior is a multi-user experimental facility called Biopan, which is designed to automatically expose its ten experiments to the harsh environment of space for the duration of the mission. Attached to the Foton's heat shield are the Stone-6 and Lithopanspermia experiments in which pieces of rock containing living organisms will be exposed to the extreme temperatures and pressures experienced during re-entry.

The YES2 Integration manager performs a visual inspection on YES2 from the work platform after mounting onto the Foton-M3 space craft at the MIK12 Integration Hall in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. This just after the mounting of YES2 onto the battery pack of the Foton space craft by Russian technicians and the YES2 team.

Credits: ESA - Fabio De Pascalen

Also on the outside of the Foton, attached to its battery module, is an ambitious experiment known as the second Young Engineers' Satellite (YES2). Led by ESA's Education Office, some 450 students from ESA Member States and beyond have worked with prime contractor Delta-Utec to design and build the 36 kg payload.

On 25 September, as the Foton mission nears its end, YES2 will deploy a 30 km tether, the longest ever flown in space. A small re-entry capsule released from the end of the tether will be used to demonstrate the possibility of returning small payloads to Earth at a fraction of the cost of current methods.


Background

Foton spacecraft are based on Russian Vostok spacecraft in which Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth in 1961. They comprise three sections: a battery module at the front end, a spherical recoverable capsule, and a service module at the rear. ESA has been participating in Foton missions since 1991 and the Foton-M3 mission is the ninth with ESA involvement.


For further information:

On Foton launch:
Markus Bauer
Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme
Communication Officer
ESA Communication Department
Phone: +31 71 565 6799

On YES2:
Rosita Suenson
Communication Office ESTEC
ESA Communication Department
Phone: +31 71 565 3009

Source: ESA - News

The Starsem press release is reproduced below:

Success of the 1724th launch of Soyuz

Evry, September 14, 2007

The 1724th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Friday, September 14, 2007 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:00 p.m. Baikonur time (1:00 p.m., in Paris).

Starsem, Arianespace and their Russian partners report that the Foton-M3 spacecraft carrying a payload with European scientific experiments was accurately placed on the target orbit.

This was the 7th Soyuz family mission in 2007. After the successful launch of the Globalstar telecommunications satellites for Globalstar LLC on May 30, 2007, Starsem is planning to carry out several missions in the coming months, including another launch for Globalstar, the launch of the Radarsat-2 observation satellite and the launch of the Giove-B satellite.

With the introduction of the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Center (CSG), this famed Russian medium-class launch vehicle becomes an integral part of the European launcher fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight Vega. To be offered to the commercial market, the Soyuz at CSG is Europe's reference medium-class launch vehicle for governmental and commercial missions.

Starsem is the Soyuz Company, bringing together all key players involved in the production, operation and international commercial marketing of the world's most versatile launch vehicle. Shareholders in Starsem are Arianespace, Astrium, the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Samara Space Center.

The Starsem manifest for Soyuz missions currently includes contracted launches for the European Space Agency, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd, Globalstar LLC and Eumetsat.

Source: Starsem Press Release

24 September 2007

False colour images from the Single fluid study, showing temperature fluctuations in a simple, single-component organic fluid on Earth (left) and aboard Foton-M3 (right). The fluctuations in normal gravity on Earth are barely visible.

Credits: ESA

ESA PR 29-2007. In scientific research, there is great satisfaction when theoretical work is eventually supported by experimentation. Such was the case this week for a team of Italian and US scientists when they received preliminary confirmation of a 10-year-old theory from a fluid science experiment that is currently orbiting the Earth on the Foton-M3 spacecraft.

Although the Foton was only launched a week ago, the scientists are already very excited about the data they have received from their experiment, known as GRADFLEX (GRAdient-Driven FLuctuation EXperiment). The first results are qualitatively consistent with detailed theoretical predictions made over the past decade.

All liquids experience minute fluctuations in temperature or concentration as a result of the different velocities of individual molecules. These fluctuations are usually so small that they are extremely difficult to observe.

The Foton M-3 capsule carries a 400 kg European experiment payload with experiments in a range of scientific disciplines - including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The capsule spends 12 days orbiting the Earth, exposing the experiments to microgravity and, in the case of a handful of experiments also exposing them to the harsh environment of open space, before re-entering the atmosphere and landing in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA

In the 1990s, scientists discovered that these tiny fluctuations in fluids and gases can increase in size, and even be made visible to the naked eye, if a strong gradient is introduced. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature at the bottom of a thin liquid layer, though not quite enough to cause convection. Alternatively, by heating the fluid from above, convection is suppressed, making it possible to achieve more accurate measurements.

Although the early research involved ground-based measurements, it was suggested that the fluctuations would become much more noticeable in a weightless environment. Now, thanks to the Foton mission, the opportunity to test this prediction has come about, and the results completely support the earlier forecast.

False colour images showing concentration fluctuations for the Mixture fluid sample on Earth (left) and aboard Foton-M3 (right).

Credits: ESA

“The first images from the experiment were downloaded to the Payload Operations Centre in Kiruna, Sweden, and received on Earth after only a few orbits,” explained Professor Marzio Giglio, leader of the team from the Department of Physics and CNR-INFM (Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia), University of Milan, Italy.

To the delight of the science team, the images visually support the theoretical predictions by showing a very large increase in the size of the fluctuations. Data analysis has also shown that the amplitude of the fluctuations in temperature and concentration greatly increased.

“It is a rare event when a space mission is able to confirm a theoretical prediction in such record time,” said Olivier Minster, Head of ESA’s Physical Sciences Unit. “These results are important because they are the first verification of the effects forecast a decade ago.”



“The availability of these images from the spacecraft has enabled us to change what we are doing so that we can optimise the scientific return from the mission,” said Professor David Cannell of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). “We will also have many thousands of images to analyse back in our labs after the experiment returns to Earth. This will keep us busy for quite a while.”

“It may be that our results will influence other types of microgravity research, such as the growth of crystals. Our research may even lead to some new technological spin-offs,” said Professor Giglio.

GRADFLEX is one of 43 ESA scientific and technological experiments on board the 12-day Foton-M3 mission. The mission is scheduled to end on 26 September, when the re-entry capsule will return to Earth in Kazakhstan. The onboard experiments will be returned to their home institutions where the data will be carefully analysed over the coming months.


For further information:

Olivier Minster
Head of ESA's Physical Sciences Unit
Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme
+31 71 565 4764
Olivier.Minster@esa.int

Stefano Mazzoni
ESA GRADFLEX project scientist
Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Programme
+31 71 565 8377
Stefano.Mazzoni@esa.int

Source: ESA - News

25 September 2007

YES2 is lowered onto the Foton M3 using a roof mounted crane in the MIK12 Integration Hall at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian technicians will hold YES2 in place and attach it to the Foton space craft’s battery pack, before final visual inspections and interface testing begins on the combined configuration.

Credits: ESA - Fabio De Pascale

The Second Young Engineers’ Satellite (YES2) was activated and separated from the Foton-M3 spacecraft earlier today. The tether deployed for 8.5 km, after which the Fotino capsule was released on its way to Earth.

“We are very proud of the students' work, although we didn’t reach the full 30 km deployment” said Roger Walker, YES2 project manager for ESA’s Education Office. “The hard work of the YES2 team over the past five years has paid off with this largely successful demonstration.”

The innovative, hands-on, student mission aimed to demonstrate how a tether can be used to deliver small payloads to Earth without the use of complex, expensive attitude control systems or rocket engines.

The Fotino capsule was due to be deployed on a 30 km long tether in space, the longest ever. As the tether deployed slower than planned, it reached a length of 8.5 km before a preprogrammed command cut Fotino loose from the spacecraft.

The orbit of the Fotino is currently being assessed to understand when and where the capsule will return to Earth on its parachute.

YES2 was one of the ESA-provided payloads on board the Foton-M3 orbital mission. The Foton spacecraft and the piggybacking YES2 payload were launched by a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on 14 September. The YES2 experiment was installed on top of the battery pack of the Foton-M3 spacecraft.


Background

The ESA Education Office oversaw the YES2 educational project and is the primary contributor of funding for student organisation and spacecraft hardware. The cost of the launch was covered by the Education Office and the Agency’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration.

Technical support has been given by ESTEC staff in the Directorate of Technical and Quality Management. The project also received valuable support from European industry, notably Delta-Utec Space Research and Consultancy of the Netherlands, the prime contractor. Four university Centres of Expertise contributed significantly to the project: University of Patras, University of Modena, FRC Remagen/ Krefeld University, and Samara State Aerospace University.

Source: ESA - News

25 September 2007



Ever since the launch of Foton-M3 on 14 September, a team of 65 engineers and scientists have been intensively monitoring the 45 experiments on board the unmanned spacecraft from ground stations in Sweden and Moscow, sending up commands to make adjustments when necessary.

Orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes, the Foton capsule typically passes within range of the ground stations four or five times each day. During each of these so-called 'visibility windows', which last just 4 to 6 minutes, a stream of data is downloaded from the spacecraft to the ground station.

Each data download triggers a buzz of activity on the ground as the 40-strong team stationed at the Esrange ground station in Kiruna, Sweden, and a further 25 people based at the Russian flight control centre, TsUP, in Moscow, immediately start to analyse the data.



"If any parameters need adjusting – for technical reasons, or for corrections of the timeline – during the next visibility window we upload the commands from Kiruna or Moscow to redirect the experiment," explains Antonio Verga, ESA's Project Manager for the Foton missions.

Visible passes generally occur on successive orbits, leaving a limited amount of time to analyse the data received and take any decisions. "Once we start brainstorming around an anomaly, or a need to adjust an experiment, the time passes ten times faster!" says Verga. "As soon as you start reasoning it is already time to upload the telecommand. You can't simply wait another orbit – you have to act quickly."



Thanks to a close cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency, ground stations in St. Hubert and Saskatoon are also used to receive data from the spacecraft. "We have more experiments on board the Foton than ever before, as well as two experiments which generate very demanding video data streams. Adding the Canadian ground stations considerably increases the amount of data we are able to download," explains Verga.

With just one day left before the Foton-M3 capsule returns to Earth, there have been no major problems with the payloads on board. "Just a couple of anomalies have been detected – in some cases we have taken corrective action, whilst in others cases when there was no impact on the scientific return of the mission no action was taken."

For now though, the intensive cycle of data download and analysis relentlessly continues. "All of our preparations and rehearsals have paid off," explains Verga. "Especially because we have enthusiastic reactions from the scientists – this is really what we are looking for."

Source: ESA - Research

26 September 2007

The Foton M-3 capsule carries a 400 kg European experiment payload with experiments in a range of scientific disciplines - including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The capsule spends 12 days orbiting the Earth, exposing the experiments to microgravity and, in the case of a handful of experiments also exposing them to the harsh environment of open space, before re-entering the atmosphere and landing in the border zone between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Credits: ESA

he reentry capsule for the Foton-M3 spacecraft, which has been in low-Earth orbit for the last 12 days, successfully landed this morning in an uninhabited area 150 km south of the town of Kustanay in Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border, at 09:58 CEST, 13:58 local time.

The unmanned Foton spacecraft, which was launched on 14 September from Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, carried a payload of 43 European experiments in a range of scientific disciplines – including fluid physics, biology, crystal growth, radiation exposure and exobiology.

The mission was intensively monitored throughout by 65 engineers and scientists located at ground stations at Esrange, in Kiruna, Sweden, and at the Russian flight control centre, TsUP, in Moscow, Russia. Thanks to a close cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency, ground stations in St. Hubert and Saskatoon were also used to receive data from the spacecraft.


“I am extremely pleased with the success of the Foton-M3 mission,” says Josef Winter, Head of ESA’s Payload and Microgravity Platform Division. “All operations during the mission were flawless. The hard work and dedication of all involved has contributed to make this mission a success. I would like to congratulate our Russian counterparts and thank them for their outstanding cooperation.”

Helicopters were immediately at the landing site to start recovery operations, including the retrieval of experiment hardware. The European experiments will now be returned to the labs at ESA’s research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, tomorrow evening. After further inspection at ESTEC the experiments will be returned to the scientific institutions where the data will be analysed over the coming months.

The Soyuz-U rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 GMT) on 14 September 2007, for the start of the 12-day Foton-M3 mission.

Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja 2007

Only in-depth analysis will reveal the full extent of the scientific return of the mission, although data received during the flight already shows promising results - the Italian and US team responsible for the GRADFLEX (GRADient-Driven Fluctuation EXperiment) experiment received preliminary confirmation of a 10-year-old fluid science theory.

A further highlight of the mission was yesterday’s deployment of a small reentry capsule from the outside of the Foton spacecraft. The Second Young Engineers’ Satellite (YES2) experiment saw the release of the beachball-sized Fotino capsule from the end of a tether to demonstrate the smart possibility of returning small payloads to Earth.

"I am extremely satisfied that we could fly a very high number of experiments during the Foton-M3 mission and that they all worked out well. Some of them will even be further elaborated onboard the International Space Station," says Martin Zell, ESA's Head of Research Operations for the Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration.

Source: ESA - News

8 November 2007
On 25 September, students around the world watched with bated breath as their creation, the second Young Engineers Satellite (YES2) experiment, reached its dramatic conclusion.

A day before the Foton-M3 spacecraft returned to Earth, a small re-entry capsule, named Fotino, was to be released from the end of a 30 km tether, the longest such structure ever to be deployed in space. However, no signal was ever received from Fotino and its fate has been uncertain ever since.

First indications, based on real-time data processed by the YES2 flight computer and released by Russian mission controllers, suggested that the tether only unwound about 8.5 km before Fotino was cut free, but engineers wanted to know the full story of Fotino’s final hours. Now, after weeks of careful analysis, the YES2 team has informed the ESA Mission Review Board of its findings.



“All of the data we now have available point to the fact that the tether unwound fully before the Fotino capsule was released,” said Roger Walker, YES2 project manager for ESA’s Education Office. “This means that the most challenging part of the mission was completed and that YES2 smashed the world record for the longest man-made object flown in space.”

“This outcome can be regarded as a triumph for the students who contributed many hours of hard work to bring YES2 to fruition.”

The team of engineers from ESA’s technical centre, ESTEC, and prime contractor Delta-Utec has been piecing together the events of 25 September using evidence from a number of direct and indirect sources. Some of the most important clues have been provided by the YES2 data stored in the TeleSupport Unit, which recorded all of the data from the ESA experiments on Foton-M3. This data included raw unprocessed data about the rate at which the tether was unwinding.

“By looking at the data from the tether deployment speed sensors, we are able to determine how much of the tether was unwound and how quickly it deployed,” said Michiel Kruijff, lead system engineer for Delta-Utec. “We can tell that the deployment was accelerating in the later stages, rather than slowing down as we first believed. We have also found that the tether deployed to a minimum of 29.5 km, or more likely to its full length of 31.7 km, at high speed.”

Other indirect evidence comes from the orbital behaviour of the Foton-M3 spacecraft. Data from the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, which was tracking Foton-M3, show that the spacecraft moved about 1300 metres higher in its orbit when the Fotino capsule was cut free from its tether, as expected for a 30 km tether. However, the tracking data offer no evidence that Fotino remained in orbit around the Earth, leading the YES2 team to conclude that it re-entered the atmosphere immediately after its release.

“It seems that the braking and control mechanism did not work as expected in the later stages of deployment due to an intermittent fault in the flight computer’s real-time processing of the deployment sensor data,” said Marco Stelzer, the mission analyst in the ESA YES2 team. “This leaves us with two possible scenarios. The tether may have unwound so quickly that it broke free from the reel with the capsule still attached, or the tether jerked to a halt at the end of its deployment, allowing the capsule to be released close to its nominal position.”



Further clues will become available in the coming weeks after the YES2 team receives the complete acceleration and orientation dataset from the DIMAC (Direct Measurement micro-Accelerometer) experiment that flew on board Foton-M3. Additional information about the orbit of Foton is also expected from GPS data acquired by a student experiment from Samara State Aerospace University, one of four University Centres of Expertise that contributed significantly to the project.

“Unfortunately, we received no data from Fotino, so at the present time we have no way of knowing the fate of small capsule,” said Roger Walker. “It may have burnt up on re-entry, it may have crash-landed, it may have touched down in difficult terrain somewhere in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan or Siberia, or its radio beacon did not transmit. However, this is the first time that a tether has de-orbited a re-entry capsule, therefore we are very satisfied that the most novel and challenging parts of the SpaceMail concept have been demonstrated.”



Further information

YES2 was one of the ESA-provided payloads on board the Foton-M3 microgravity mission. The Foton spacecraft and the piggybacking YES2 payload were launched by a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 14 September. The YES2 experiment was installed on top of the battery pack of the Foton-M3 capsule.

The 6 kg Fotino capsule was attached to the end of a 0.5 mm thick, 31.7 km long tether. Once the tether unwound and deployment stopped smoothly at 30km, the Fotino capsule was to be automatically released by a pyrotechnic device and sent on a return path to Earth’s surface through the atmosphere and landing safely by parachute in a pre-determined location. The objective was to demonstrate the ‘SpaceMail’ concept of delivering parcels back to Earth from an orbiting spacecraft using only a tether.

Almost 500 students from most ESA Member States and Associated States, together with the United States, Russia, Japan and Australia, worked on YES2. Although these were mainly involved in the preliminary design phase, some 60 students participated in the latter stages of developing and building hardware and software.

Future education satellite projects already under development by the ESA Education Office include the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO), to be launched in 2010, and the European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO), currently planned for 2011.

Source: ESA - News