Author: techsmartworld team

WASHINGTON — A day after Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA to return humans to the surface of the moon by 2024, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told members of Congress that this goal was “very aggressive” and would require additional funding for the agency to achieve.
Bridenstine, testifying before the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee March 27, also said the agency was studying ways to accelerate the development of the Space Launch System, but couldn’t guarantee that the vehicle would be ready for a first flight in the middle of 2020.
The hearing on the agency’s fiscal year 2020 budget request was scheduled prior to the March 26 meeting of the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, where Pence directed NASA to accelerate its human space exploration plans to land humans at the south pole of the moon within five years. Bridenstine, who was at the meeting, endorsed the plan and said it would make continued use of the SLS, backing away from proposals two weeks earlier to consider using commercial launch vehicles for the Exploration Mission (EM) 1 flight of Orion in mid-2020.
Bridenstine reiterated that commitment to using SLS for EM-1 at the hearing. “While some of those options are feasible,” he said of the two-week study that looked at commercial alternatives for EM-1, “none of those options are going to keep us within budget and on schedule.” He didn’t elaborate on the specific options the agency considered.
NASA is now looking for ways to speed up the development of SLS for EM-1. “How do we accelerate, really, the SLS at this point?” he said.
Bridenstine revealed that NASA is undertaking a 45-day study to look at ways to speed up work on the SLS, with a particular focus on the core stage, whose development issues have been a key factor in the vehicle’s delays. That report will be completed “in a couple of weeks,” he said.
Among the options is doing away with the “green run” test of the SLS core stage, which would involve shipping the stage from the Michoud Assembly Facility to the Stennis Space Center and setting it up on a test stand where the stage’s four RS-25 engines would fire for eight minutes. Skipping the test and sending the completed stage directly to the Kennedy Space Center, industry sources previously said, could save several months in the EM-1 schedule.
“The question is, is that necessary?” Bridenstine said. “Could we test each engine individually at very high off-nominal kinds of conditions to get certainty, or at least eliminate as much risk, or almost as much risk, as we would if we ran the green run.” Doing so, he said, could save six months of the schedule.
The idea of eliminating the green run test got the attention of one committee member, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), whose district is home to Stennis. He asked Bridenstine for a briefing about alternatives to that test.
Palazzo, a former member of the House space subcommittee, noted testimony at past hearings from astronauts who “understand how important testing our rocket engines are and testing them correctly because you only get one chance,” he said. “You don’t test a rocket when you’re strapped into that rocket.”
Another way to speed up the schedule is to change how sections of the core stage are integrated. Bridenstine said NASA was already acquiring the tooling needed to allow for horizontal integration of the core stage rather than vertical integration.
Bridenstine said that horizontal integration would allow other parts of the SLS core stage to come together while work continues on the stage’s engine section, which is more complex and time-consuming to complete than originally expected. “We’re trying to move that engine section out of the critical path,” he said.
While those and potentially other measures could cut the development schedule by months, Bridenstine stopped short of saying that EM-1 can still take place in June 2020, the formal date for the mission. The likelihood of delays beyond June 2020 prompted the study of commercial launch vehicles earlier this month in order to find ways to allow EM-1 to still launch in the middle of next year.
“Will we meet a June of 2020 launch date? I don’t think that’s in the cards,” he said. “But I do think we can accelerate significantly from where we were originally told that that launch date would occur, which could be a slip of almost a couple of years. I think we can accelerate well ahead of that.”
Once the EM-1 mission, and the first crewed mission, EM-2, take place, Bridenstine talked about ramping up production of SLS and Orion to support up to two launches a year. Members also pressed him to commit to developing the Block 1B version of SLS with its more powerful Exploration Upper Stage, as well as a second mobile launch platform designed specifically for the SLS Block 1B.
Bridenstine, though, did not elaborate on the specific plan that will enable humans to return to the lunar surface by 2024, nor the estimated cost. At one point in the hearing, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), one of the members who advocated for SLS Block 1B and a second mobile launcher, asked if the budget request delivered to Congress earlier this month supports a human return by 2024.
“If we’re going to have boots on the moon in 2024, as the vice president indicated yesterday and which I believe we can achieve, we’re going to need SLS, and we need to accelerate it and get as many of those as soon as possible, and we’re going to need Exploration Upper Stage as soon as possible,” Bridenstine responded. “2024 is a very aggressive schedule.”
“So, I assume that all means that we would need more funding in order to accomplish those goals,” Crist said. Bridenstine offered a one-word response: “Yes.”
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source:-spacenews

WASHINGTON — Scisys Group, a formerly British company involved in the European Union’s Galileo satellite program, says its change of headquarters from Chippenham, England, to Dublin, Ireland, was immediately positive for its space business.
Scisys is a subcontractor to Thales Alenia Space France and Spain’s GMV on the ground segment of the Galileo navigation satellite system. The United Kingdom’s ongoing exit from the European Union jeopardized Scisys’ business related to Galileo and other European Union programs such as the Copernicus environmental monitoring satellites.
In an annual financial report issued March 28, Scisys said re-domiciling the company in Ireland in November preserved its role in Galileo and kept the company financially healthy. Scisys reported 58.4 million pounds ($76 million at current exchange rates) in 2018 revenue, up 10 percent, and a record backlog of 98.6 million pounds.
“I have little doubt that we would not be reporting such a positive picture in respect of revenue growth and future prospects had we not moved early and established a robust strategy to address the political uncertainties that were a serious threat to our space business,” Mike Love, chairman of Scisys, said in a statement. “The re-domiciliation of the group to Dublin was a complex and expensive exercise but the benefits are already being reflected in our record opening order book and our optimism across all divisions for 2019 and beyond.”
Space was Scisys’ largest revenue-producing division in 2018, generating 21.3 million pounds. The division generated 9.4 percent lower revenue than the year prior, but still counted for slightly more than a third of its overall revenue. Scisys’ Media Solutions division generated 16.8 million pounds, up 6 percent, and its Enterprise Solutions & Defence division generated 19.9 million pounds, up 17 percent.
Around 40 million pounds of Scisys’ total business backlog is space-related.
Scisys said the move to Dublin enabled multiyear contracts worth nearly 20 million euros ($22.4 million) in subsequent Galileo business. To further ensure its role in the program, Scisys said it plans to transition more space work to Germany.
“It is likely that — in view of Brexit — those Galileo activities that SCISYS has delivered from the UK will migrate to our German Space operations in order to comply with the EU’s participating conditions,” Klaus Heidrich, Scisys chief executive, said in a statement.
Heidrich said Scisys plans to expand its presence in Bochum, Germany, and will likely outgrow its facility there by mid-2020.
“Measures will be taken to accommodate the expected growth and to mitigate any risks which might affect its sustainability,” he said.
Scisys is the prime contractor for the ground segment of German space agency DLR’s experimental Heinrich Hertz satellite. The satellite will use Scisys’ Planter software suite. OHB is building the satellite and arranged a launch contract in 2017 with Arianespace for an Ariane 5 mission in 2021 or 2022.
At the same time, Scisys is positioning itself to participate in a potential British navigation system. Last summer the British government announced a 92 million pound study on a domestic satellite navigation system in lieu of Galileo.
Love said Scisys is “well placed” not only for European Union programs but also on work related to satellite ground systems and onboard systems for a U.K. alternative navigation system.
Despite the change in headquarters, Scisys retains U.K. offices in Chippenham, Bristol, Leicester, and Reading. The company employs around 650 people.
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source:- spacenews

Indian house analysis Organisation (Isro) on weekday set out a national programme below that it’ll traffic congestion with institutes fascinated by developing house technology and application programmes to satisfy the event desires of the country. below the project, institutes can get access to Isro facilities for analysis work. Elaborating on the programme, Isro chairman K Jewish calendar month told TOI,
“Under the Space-National educational Partner programme, Associate in Nursing announcement of chance was issued these days. Isro has known twenty areas of analysis that it’ll opt for institutes supported their proposals and performance.
One institute will decide just one space of analysis, that means twenty institutes can finally be chosen. If there several institutes choosing a selected space of analysis, we are going to decide one once analyzing capability and performance of all of them.”
The twenty areas of analysis embrace satellite communication, satellite navigation, signal acquisition and process, thermal science, artificial intelligence, and AI.

On collaboration, Jewish calendar month told TOI that Isro “will conduct workshops and seminars for the chosen institutes so as to energize them for developing house technologies. If analysis work of any institute is found satisfactory, Isro also will fund their analysis.” He same the “selection procedure is probably going to be over in a very month or so” and thereafter the collaboration work can begin. the chosen institutes are going to be concerned in deciding concerning the adoption of recent house technologies and applications.
 
The Isro chairman processed that the new programme is going to be totally different from the house agency’s project to line up six incubation centers and also the same variety of R&D centers across the country. The incubation and R&D centers can provide a platform for young minds to use their talent within the field of house analysis and technology. “These incubation and R&D centers can provide a platform to young minds to use their talent within the field of house analysis and technology. “These incubation and R&D centers can provide a platform to young minds to use their talent within the field of house analysis and technology. The entries are possible to return up by this year,” Jewish calendar month had earlier told TOI. The Isro is additionally progressing to launch channel referred to as ‘ISRO TV’ to achieve dead set the plenty.
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source:- Times of India

Under the programme, known as Yuva VIgyani KAryakram (YUVIKA), 3 students from every state and union territory are elected by the chief secretaries supported their educational and extracurricular performance.
The Program is primarily aimed toward transmission basic information on area Technology, area Science and area Applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest within the rising areas of area activities. The program is therefore aimed toward making awareness amongst the kids UN agency area unit the long run building blocks of our Nation. this may any facilitate them to understand what they’re being instructed within the college and its real application in area Science & Technology. ISRO has chalked out this programme to “Catch them young”.
The programme is of around fortnight period throughout summer holidays and also the schedule can embody invited talks, expertise sharing by the eminent scientists, facility and work visits, exclusive sessions for discussions with specialists, sensible and feedback sessions.
It is planned to pick out three students every from every State/ Union Territory to participate during this programme once a year covering CBSE, ICSE and State info. people who have finished eighth customary and presently learning in ninth customary are eligible for the programme.
ISRO has approached the Chief Secretaries of the individual States/ directors of Union Territories in the Asian nation to rearrange for the choice of 3 students from every of their State/UT and communicate the list to ISRO. the choice is predicated on the tutorial performance and extracurricular activities, that is clearly mentioned within the choice criteria already circulated to Chief Secretaries of States/ directors of UTs. Students belong to the agricultural space are given special weight within the choice criteria.
The selected students are accommodated in ISRO guesthouses/hostels. Expenditure towards the travel of student (II AC fare by train from nearest Rly Station to the news center and back), course material, lodging, and boarding, etc., throughout the complete course are borne by ISRO. II AC fare will be provided to 1 guardian/parent for drop and acquire of a student from the news center.
This year, the Indian area analysis Organisation (ISRO) begin a brand new programme to coach college kids in area technology, science, and applications. Students from category IX during a state, CBSE or ICSE board college may be eligible for the programme.
Under the programme, known as Yuva VIgyani KAryakram (YUVIKA), 3 students from every state and union territory are elected by the chief secretaries supported their educational and extracurricular performance.
Students from rural faculties can get special weight within the choice method.
It will be a two-week residential programme that inducts the primary batch this year throughout the summer vacations.
“The programme is aimed toward catching them young. it’ll run throughout the summer vacations in 2 – 3 major ISRO centers like in the city, Thiruvananthapuram, and Ahmedabad. The list of elect candidates from the states area unit expected by the top of this month,” same associate degree ISRO official, on condition of obscurity.
This is a neighborhood of a series of stretch programmes being undertaken by the area organization. Samwad with Students, wherever kids area unit told regarding the country’s area programme, was additionally launched on the New Year’s Day in the city. The programme entails a series of lectures by ISRO researchers in numerous components of the country.
This year, the fourth stage of the Polar Satellite Launching Vehicle was additionally used as a platform for experimentation by students. the primary student satellite — KalaamSat — was launched on Gregorian calendar month twenty-five. Seven additional applications are received for the programme.
ISRO additionally plans to open up a viewing gallery which will accommodate ten,000 individuals in Sriharikota, state, close to India’s solely launch the web site, before the April launch of Chandrayaan II. The gallery will double up as an area deposit.
What is YUVIKA?
A two-week residential coaching programme for college kids on area science, technology and applications.
Who is eligible?
Any category IX student from a state, CBSE, or ICSE board college.
What is the choice process?
Students are elected to support their educational and extra-curricular performance by chief secretaries. Students from rural faculties can get special weight.
How many students are selected?
Three students from every state and union territory.
When can it start?
The first batch can begin throughout the summer vacations of 2019.
Where can it happen?
At major ISRO centers in city, Ahmedabad or Thiruvananthapuram.
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