Tag: 2022

SpaceX Launched Satellite On Tuesday, Plans Saturday ISS Resupply Mission Launch

Florida Today reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “dodged inclement weather around Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to boost a French communications satellite to orbit late Tuesday, wrapping up one of two missions slated for this week.” The rocket’s Eutelsat 10B payload lifted off even though an earlier weather forecast predicted only a 10% “go” chance. The satellite’s purpose is to provide broadband internet for aviation and maritime applications.
Full Story (Florida Today)

 

 Video

Eutelsat 10B satellite launch, November 22, 2022
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Archer Aviation Debuts Midnight

Aerospace America reports that Archer Aviation yesterday publicly revealed at its Palo Alto, California facility a production version of the four-seat eVTOL the company aims to get into service in 2025. The version is called Midnight, and flies with fixed-wings with 12 rotors. Six stationary propellers on the wing trailing edges provide lift, while the six others on the wing leading edges tilt forward to transition from hover to cruise flight. “Two doors on each side will accommodate four passengers and a pilot, and large windows will provide a panoramic view for the occupants. ‘The landing gear will keep the fuselage low to the ground, so that stepping aboard will be about like getting into a sport utility vehicle,’ said Julien Montousse, vice president of design and innovation and a former auto designer.”
Full Story (Aerospace America)

AIAA Statement on Successful Artemis I Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 16, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the entire NASA/industry Artemis team on the successful launch of the Artemis I mission from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B. Witnessing this engineering marvel move from concept to production, and now to operation, is an inspirational moment for us today and for the Artemis generation. Kudos on this tremendous achievement!

We are excited to see our nation’s space program prepare to take the next steps toward the surface of the moon. The Artemis program provides a fundamental new capability enabling us to retain and grow U.S. leadership in space by establishing a sustainable presence on the moon in preparation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.

We salute the lead contractors contributing to the success of Artemis: Lockheed Martin for the Orion spacecraft; Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Teledyne Brown for the powerful Space Launch System (SLS); and Jacobs for the Exploration Ground Systems. We also salute the European Space Agency and Airbus for their contribution to the Orion spacecraft, the European Service Module. We also commend the thousands of suppliers supporting these companies on the Artemis program.

AIAA recognizes the countless professionals across the aerospace industry involved from the earliest days of the Artemis program, including those AIAA professional and corporate members who have helped design, build, test, and operate this new system. Over the years, these innovators have chronicled their work by authoring articles for AIAA journals and meeting papers for AIAA forums. Their original research results and technological progress on Artemis have been published in AIAA’s Aerospace Research Central (ARC) at arc.aiaa.org. AIAA is committed to ensuring students and professionals have access to the most important advances in aerospace science and technology through ARC.

We applaud the entire NASA/industry Artemis team for shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804.397.5270

 

 Video

Launch of the Artemis I mission from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B, 16 November 2022 at 1:04 a.m. EDT. (Launch takes place at the 3:17:08 mark)
(NASA; YouTube)



About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

ULA’s Atlas V Rocket Launched JPSS-2, LOFTID into Space Thursday

The AP reports that United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket launched the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) into space Thursday. The rocket “lifted off at 1:49 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base, northwest of Los Angeles.” JPSS-2, developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “was placed into an orbit that circles the Earth from pole to pole, joining previously launched satellites in a system designed to improve weather forecasting and climate monitoring.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

 

 Video

ULA Atlas V Launches JPSS-2 Mission, November 10, 2022
(NASASpaceflight; YouTube)

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches for First Time in Three Years

Space News reports that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy “lifted off Nov. 1 at 9:41 a.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying the U.S. Space Force USSF-44 mission to geostationary Earth orbit.”  This is the fourth flight of the Falcon Heavy since 2018 “and the first in more than three years.”  Launch of the classified  USSF-44 mission, originally scheduled in 2020 but delayed several times, involved “a direct-to-geostationary orbit launch carrying two Space Force satellites and small rideshare payloads.”   Space Systems Command confirmed through a news release Tuesday evening that the mission was a success.  USSF-44 marks a milestone for SpaceX “as its first direct-to-GEO operational mission, requiring the Falcon Heavy upper stage to perform a long-duration coast and engine re-start.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

 Video

USSF-44 Mission, November 1, 2022
(SpaceX; YouTube)

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Readies for Halloween Launch

CNET News reports, “The Falcon Heavy mission dubbed USSF 44 is the next launch on deck for pad 39-A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, currently set for Oct. 31 at 9:44 a.m. ET (6:44 a.m. PT). The Space Force describes it as a classified mission.” The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket ever launched, and will remain so until the Artemis I lifts off as scheduled in November of this year.
Full Story (CNET News)

AIAA Announces University Student Design Competitions Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 17, 2022 / UPDATED October 21, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021–2022 Design Competitions. AIAA Design Competitions give undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to respond to requests for proposals outlining a design problem that requires specialized technical solutions. Several of the competitions allow students to perform theoretical work and gain real-world insight into the design process.

“Design competitions help students solve real-life problems and prepare them to make a difference in the aerospace community. These young people receive useful and constructive feedback from technical experts from AIAA technical committees. The experience is about so much more than winning a prize,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “Congratulations to the winners. You are shaping the future of aerospace!”

Five competitions were held in the following categories:

  • Aircraft: Undergraduate Team, Graduate Team
  • Missile Systems: Graduate Team
  • Space: Undergraduate Team
  • Engine (Trial Basis): Undergraduate Team

The 2021–2022 AIAA Design Competitions winners are:

Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design

    • First Prize: Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), for their design “Fireflighter.” Puay Him Ler, Wenhui Tock, Szecsenyi Tamas, Kenneth Neoh, Cherng En Lee, Wen Yue Tang. Prof. Wai Tuck Chow, faculty advisor. Team Name: Fireflighter.
    • Second Prize: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois), for their design “AE-443 Njord.” Macy Nanda, Ram Dwarakanth, Maverick Emerson, Nicholas Hall, Alan Hong, Nikhil Wagher, Kuan-Ta Wu. Prof. Jason Merret, faculty advisor. Team name: Njord.
  • Third Prize: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois), for their design “N513-Firehawk.” Scott Brindise, Quang Do, Jason McIntyre, Rohan Patel, Andrew Strubhar, Maryna Syb, Shri Tandon, Yiyang Wang. Dr. Jason Merret, faculty advisor. Team name: Albatross.

Graduate Team Aircraft Design

    • First Prize: Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Lombardi, Italy), for their design “Colibr-e: An Agile Hybrid-Electric STOL Aircraft.” Luca Bottà, Alessandro Garatti, Andrea Romani, Carlo Spitale, Marco Tomasoni. Lorenzo Trainelli, faculty advisor, Carlo E. D. Riboldi, project advisor. Team name: Colibr-e
    • Second Prize: Université de Liège (Liège, Belgium), for their design “HARPON.” Hugo Agnello, Emrah Altin, Maxime Borbouse, Julien Caudron, Simon Dehareng, Hasan Sait Erdogan, Bruno Fontaine, Hugo Stegen, Adrien Vandyck. Adrien Crovato, Arnaud Budo, and Thomas Lambert, project advisors. Dr. Ludovic Noels and Dr. Dimitriadis Grigorios, faculty advisors. Team name: Kingfisher Aerospace.
  • Third Prize: Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Lombardi, Italy), for their design “Hexi: A hybrid-electric STOL air taxi for advanced air mobility.” Anna Sofia Passerelli D’Onofrio, Luca Caccetta, Maria Vittoria Rossetti, Nicola Tartari, Matteo Guidotti, Irene Salmoiraghi, Maria Ieva. Lorenzo Trainelli, project advisor, Carlo E.D. Riboldi, faculty advisor. Team name: Team HExi

Graduate Team Missile System Design

    • First Prize: Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia), for their design “Hypersonic UPRISE: Unmanned Platform for Reconnaissance Intelligence and Surveillance Efforts.” William Cammack, Baptiste Cramette, Joey Ji, Antonio Macias Salil Sodhi, Gowtham Venkatachalam, Tyler Wills, Karen Yehoshua. Dr. Dimitri Mavris, faculty advisor. Dr. Brad Robertson and Dr. Ken Decker, research advisors. Team name: Hypersonic Uprise.
  • Second Prize: University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas), for their design “Hypersonic Jayhawks Reusable Penetrating Hypersonic ISR Platform.” Nathan Wolf, Gerell Miller, Zachary Rhodes, Justin Clough, Garin McKenna, Jack Schneider. Dr. Ron Barrett, faculty advisor. Team name: Hypersonic Jayhawks.

Undergraduate Team Space Design

    • First Prize: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, Virginia), for their design “Manned Sample Acquisition Mission to Phobos and Deimos.” Juliana Ruiter, Nathan Horner, Carson Peters, Jacob McDaniel, Aidan Messick, Tanushree Manohar Shinde, Connor Poole, Musfique Mazumder, Matthew Smith, Shelly Natoli. Kevin Shinpaugh, faculty advisor Team name: Project Chariot.
  • Second Prize: University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas), for their design “Scientific Phobos And Deimos Explorer (SPADE).”Reece Appel, Teja Gorantla, Shannon Scott, Nicholas Delurgio, Shea Popov, Sir Jherg Jones, Nils Schlautmann, Christian Hinton, Rye Seekins, Pete Lealiiee Jr. Adam Nokes, faculty advisor. Team name: Space Pirates.
  • Third Prize: University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland), for their design “Martian Moons Explorer Vehicle.” Nicolas Pouliquen, Michael Hanlon, Nico Lagendyk, Ryan Quigley, Thomas Brosh, Nathaniel Wunderly, Rahul Jain, Derek Hounkale, Gracelyn Pham. Jarred Young, faculty advisor. Team name: Project Cupid.

Undergraduate Team Engine Design
For 2022, AIAA conducted this competition on a trial basis using a new format, with teams that elected to participate. Four teams participated in this year’s competition. They received no prize funds for their placements.

    • First Place: Beihang University (Beijing, China), for their design “BH-22.” Xilong Fang, Guohe Jiang, Shiying Song, Ziyu Qin, Wenhao Ma. Xingmin Gui, project advisor. Min Chen, faculty advisor. Team name: Flyingbird.
  • Second Place: Arab Academy for Science, Technology, & Maritime Transport (Alexandria, Egypt), for their design “AAP-100.” Abdelmageed Elgammal, Asser Mohamed, Ahmed Mostafa, Ahmed Sharaf. Prof. Dr. Yehia Eldrainy, project advisor. Prof. Dr. Aly Esmail, faculty advisor.
  • Third Place: Turkish Naval Academy (Istanbul, Turkey), for their design “Future High Bypass Engine.” Muhammad Abdullah Kacmaz, Oguzhan Pala, Muzaffer Onalan, Mehmet Ali Keles. Associate Professor Dr. Dogus Ozkan, faculty advisor. Team name: Two Blue Eyes.

Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA to Present Premier Lecture and Technical Excellence Award During 2022 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASA’s William H. Pickering Lecture also Scheduled

October 4, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of a premier lectureship and a technical excellence award, as well as the recipient of the NASA William H. Pickering Lectureship. The lectures and award will be presented during 2022 ASCEND, 24–26 October, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, and online.

2022 von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics: “An Orbital Transportation Network to Support the Cislunar Space Enterprise”
  • Kathleen C. Howell, Purdue University
  • Monday, 24 October, 1830 hrs PT
  • This lecture will be delivered in person at 2022 ASCEND in Las Vegas, as well as recorded and available on demand.

The 2022 von Kármán Lectureship in Astronautics has been awarded to Kathleen C. Howell, Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, College of Engineering, Purdue University. Named in honor of Theodore von Kármán, a world-famous authority on aerospace sciences, the lectureship honors an individual who has performed notably and distinguished themselves technically in the field of astronautics.

Professor Howell’s technical research focus is astrodynamics in complex gravitational environments. She has successfully applied these methodologies to various flight missions and mission proposals. Her contributions include mission planning and trajectory optimization, station-keeping and maneuver design, low-thrust applications including small satellites and the development of interactive visual capabilities for complex mission scenarios.

As a principal investigator, Professor Howell has obtained numerous grants and received various awards related to her research program as well as in recognition as an engineering educator.  She served for many years as the Editor-in-Chief for the American Astronautical Society (AAS) Journal of the Astronautical Sciences; she is also a member of other editorial boards.

Professor Howell is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Astronautics. She is an AIAA Fellow, as well as an AAS Fellow. She earned her B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Sciences from Stanford University.

2022 William H. Pickering Lecture: “Early Science Results from the James Webb Space Telescope”
  • Jonathan Gardner, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Tuesday, 25 October, 1830 hrs PT
  • This lecture will be delivered in person at 2022 ASCEND in Las Vegas and will be recorded and available on demand.

The William H. Pickering Lecture will be delivered by Jonathan Gardner, Deputy Senior Project Scientist, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Named for the former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory director William H. Pickering, the lectureship honors his initiation and leadership of America’s robotic scientific space program, from Explorer I in 1958 through the development of the Viking Mars orbiters and the Voyager outer planet and interstellar missions.

The first science results from the James Webb Space Telescope have engaged the public and surprised the scientists. Early results range from the most distant galaxies to black holes to interacting galaxies
to star-forming regions to exoplanet atmospheres to our own solar system. Gardner will review Webb’s construction, launch, and deployments, and discuss the commissioning of the telescope and its instruments. He will describe what scientists have learned in the first few months of science results from the telescope and look ahead to additional results expected in the coming years.

AIAA Technical Excellence Award: 2022 AIAA Space Systems Award

The Mars2020 Sampling and Caching System (SCS) Team from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is being presented with the 2022 AIAA Space Systems Award for “the design and flight operation of the scientific acquisition system that became the foundation of Mars Sample Return.” This award will be accepted by Keith Rosette and Louise Jandura, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The award recognizes outstanding achievements in the architecture, analysis, design, and implementation of space systems and is sponsored by the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee.

AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are recognized and celebrated for their achievements, innovations, and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. Visit AIAA’s Honors and Awards Program for more information.

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND promotes the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future! For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Italy’s Cristoforetti First European Woman to Command ISS

The Daily Mail (UK) reports once Russia’s Oleg Artemyev leaves the ISS, Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti will become the first European woman to command the station. Cristoforetti, who holds the record for the longest stay in space by a woman, also will be the first non-American woman, and fifth ever, to command the station.
Full Story (Daily Mail (UK))

NASA to Crash DART into Asteroid Monday

SPACE reported that on Monday “at 7:14 p.m. EDT (2314 GMT), NASA will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid – and you might be able to see it live.” The test mission “is targeting the moonlet Dimorphos, a small celestial body orbiting the asteroid Didymos about 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) away from Earth.” The livestream “from the telescopes will begin on Monday at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) on the Virtual Telescope Project’s website.”
Full Story (SPACE)