A central module for America's new Orion spacecraft comes from Europe and was manufactured in Germany. It's a major step in transatlantic cooperation in space exploration.
A look into the future: Orion heads for the planned lunar orbital station 'Deepspace Gateway'Image: NASA
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The Orion spacecraft is NASA's most important manned spaceflight project for the coming decades. For the first time since the end of the shuttle flights there will once again be a spaceship with which western space agencies can make themselves independent of the Russian Soyuz capsules.
Orion is set to take off in 2020 — initially unmanned — and circumnavigate the moon several times. The project is called "Exploration Mission 1." Later, the spacecraft, also known as the "Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle" (MPCV), will fly to the moon orbital station Deep Space Gateway and probably even to Mars.
Orion thus differs significantly from the smaller space transporters, such as the Dragon 2 from Space-X or the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. These two spaceships, built by private companies on behalf of NASA, will bring astronauts to the International Space Station as early as next year.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for the European Service Module of the Orion spacecraft (ESM-1). It was assembled by engineers at Airbus in Bremen, where on November 2, 2018, it was handed over to NASA in a ceremony. Three days later, the module will travel by plane to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The ESM-1 is at the heart of Orion. It sits below the crew capsule and contains the main engine as well as four solar sails to supply power. It not only controls climate and temperature, but is also responsible for the complete supply of fuel, oxygen and water to the spacecraft. Orion could not fly without the ESM and European Space Agency experts are already building another one for a second, then manned moon mission.
A model in the Airbus factory in Bremen. The service module — the rear part with the solar panels — was manufactured hereImage: picture-alliance/dpa/I.Wagner
Building on experience
"The fact that NASA is giving us Europeans such a critical element in a project so central for the future is an enormous sign of confidence," says Walther Pelzer, executive board member for space management at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The ESA had already demonstrated its capabilities during the construction of the unmanned Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which regularly delivered supplies to the ISS from 2008 to 2015. It is now drawing on this experience.
The ESM shows how closely the activities of the international space agencies are interwoven. The cooperation on Orion also has something to do with the many years of successful cooperation on the International Space Station.
"The provision of the ESM by Europe is part of a transatlantic barter trade," explained Johannes Weppler, ESM program manager at DLR. "It serves as compensation for the costs of operating and supplying the ISS, which are borne by NASA."
NASA's rover Perseverance has landed on Mars
Perseverance is NASA's fifth Mars rover and its biggest and heaviest to date. Its mission on the Red Planet has started this Thursday.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A new rover for the red planet
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (shown in artist's illustration) is the most sophisticated rover NASA has ever sent to Mars. Ingenuity, a technology experiment, will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet. Perseverance touched down at Mars' Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021 at about 20:57 UTC with Ingenuity attached to its belly.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Everything prepared
NASA engineers loaded the Mars rover Perseverance onto an Atlas V rocket at the start of July 2020. The rocket took off on July 30 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rover arrived at the orbit around Mars in early February 2021.
Image: NASA
Presentation in a clean room
This is how Perseverance looked when it was presented to the public in 2019. The rover will support NASA's Curiosity rover, the most modern rover until Perseverance came along. The new rover weighs a little over a ton — 100 kg (220 pounds) more than its predecessor. And at 3 meters (10 ft) long, it's also 10 centimeters longer as well.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
More performance
Perseverance can be loaded with more research instruments and sensors than its predecessor. And its gripper arm, with its cameras and tools, is stronger, too. The rover can collect samples from Mars. It's got 23 cameras and many other instruments. One mission is to test whether it's possible to extract oxygen from Martian rock. But, hey, what's that standing next to the rover on the ground?
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A small drone
That's right! Perseverance has a helicopter onboard. That's never happened on a planetary mission before. The helicopter is completely new territory for its developers. It will be the first time they're able to experience and collect data from flight in atmospheric conditions that are different from those on Earth, and in a gravity that is about a third of our own.
Image: NASA/Cory Huston
The robotic giant
Curiosity is the largest and most modern of all Mars rovers currently deployed. It landed on August 6, 2012, and has since traveled more than 21 kilometers (13 miles). It is much more than just a rover. Its official name is "Mars Science Laboratory," and it really is a complete lab on wheels.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Nasa/Jpl-Caltech/Msss
What's in it?
For example, it contains a special spectrometer, which can analyze chemical compounds from a distance with the help of a laser; a complete meteorological station that can measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, radiation, humidity and wind speed; and most importantly, a chemistry lab that can run detailed analyses of organic compounds and is always on the hunt for traces of alien life.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Not just scratching the surface
Curiosity has shown that life would theoretically be possible on Mars. But it hasn't discovered any life, yet. The robot's arm is equipped with a full power drill. Here, it's taking a sample in "Yellowknife Bay" inside the Gale Crater.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Off to the lab!
The Mars dust is processed by a large number of instruments. First, it's filtered and separated into different-sized particles. Then, those get sorted and sent off to different analytical laboratory machines.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/NASA
A tiny predecessor
Curiosity's predecessors were much smaller. On July 4, 1997, the small Mars rover Sojourner left its first tire tracks behind in the dust of the red planet. It was the first time a mobile robot had been left to its own devices there, equipped with an X-ray spectrometer to conduct chemical analyses and with optical cameras.
Image: NASA/JPL
Size comparison
Three rover generations. (The tiny one up front is Sojourner.) At 10.6 kilograms (23 pounds), it's not much bigger than a toy car. Its top speed: 1 centimeter per second. Opportunity weighs 185 kilograms — roughly the equivalent of an electric wheelchair. Curiosity is as big as a small car, at 900 kilograms. The big ones travel up to 4 or 5 centimeters per second.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Almost four months of duty
Sojourner travelled about 100 meters during its lifetime and delivered data and pictures until September 27, 1997. This is one of the last pictures of it, taken nine days before the radio connection broke down. Sojourner probably died because the battery did not survive the cold nights.
Image: NASA/JPL
Paving the way for tomorrow's technology
Without the experience of Sojourner, newer rovers could have hardly been envisaged. In 2004, NASA landed two robots of the same model on Mars: Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit survived for six years, travelling a distance of 7.7 kilometers. The robot climbed mountains, took soil samples and withstood winter and sandstorms. Its sibling, Opportunity, lost contact on February 13, 2019.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Lots of gadgets
Opportunity passed the marathon distance of 42 kilometers back in 2015, and to this day, it has covered much more ground than Curiosity. It can take ground probes with its arm. It has three different spectrometers and even a 3D camera. It was last operating in "Perseverance Valley," an appropriate workplace for the sturdy robot, before being incapacitated by a sandstorm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The red planet's landscapes
This panorama was taken by Curiosity's mast camera. The most modern of the rovers will stay in service as long as possible — hopefully at least another five years. The Martian landscape looks familiar somehow, not unlike some deserts here on Earth. Should we give in to our wanderlust, then — or would it be better leave Mars to the robots?
