EILEEN M. COLLINS, COMMANDER OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph of Ca'th Lon, who has left his beloved Switzerland to spend a few weeks with her. A major eclipse is scheduled for August 12th, and Joseph and The Grandma are preparing for the occasion.

As they waited for that day to arrive, while having breakfast and listening only to the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, the two friends have been talking about Eileen Collins, the American astronaut who became the first female space shuttle commander on this day in 1999.

When people think of the pioneers of space exploration, names like Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin or John Glenn usually come to mind. Their achievements transformed humanity's understanding of what was possible beyond Earth. Yet the history of spaceflight is also shaped by individuals who broke barriers that were not technological, but social.

Among those pioneers stands Eileen Collins, a woman whose determination, skill and leadership changed the history of NASA forever. She became the first woman to pilot a Space Shuttle, the first woman to command one, and later led one of the most important missions in the agency's history: the return of the Shuttle fleet to flight after the tragic loss of Columbia.

Her career is about much more than collecting firsts. It is the story of someone who pursued excellence in one of the world's most demanding professions, proving that talent and perseverance matter far more than gender.

Today, every woman who flies military aircraft, commands spacecraft or dreams of exploring Mars walks through a door that pioneers like Eileen Collins helped to open.

Eileen Marie Collins was born on November 19, 1956, in Elmira, New York, a city with a rich aviation history. From an early age she became fascinated by airplanes and by the possibility of flying.

Unlike many astronauts of previous generations, Collins did not grow up during an era when women were encouraged to become pilots. Commercial aviation, military aviation and the astronaut corps were almost entirely male professions.

At that time, NASA had never selected a female astronaut. Many people would have accepted those limitations as reality. Collins did not.

Instead of allowing society's expectations to define her future, she focused on preparing herself. She studied mathematics and economics before continuing her education in operations research and space systems management. Every decision she made moved her one step closer to the cockpit.

She once explained that she never expected success to come easily. She simply believed that if she became good enough, opportunities would eventually appear. History proved her right.

The United States Air Force became one of the most important chapters of Collins' career. Military aviation demands exceptional discipline, precision and emotional control. Pilots must make life-changing decisions within seconds while operating extraordinarily complex aircraft.

For decades, women had been largely excluded from these opportunities. Collins entered military pilot training at a time when female pilots were still extremely rare. Rather than asking for special treatment, she focused on mastering every aspect of flying. Her professionalism earned the respect of fellow pilots and instructors alike. Eventually she accumulated thousands of flight hours across numerous aircraft and later became a respected flight instructor and test pilot. These experiences were crucial.

NASA's Space Shuttle was often described as one of the most complicated vehicles ever built. Flying it safely required exactly the kind of technical expertise and calm decision-making that Collins had spent years developing.

Everything changed in 1990. NASA selected Eileen Collins as an astronaut. Only twelve years earlier, in 1978, NASA had chosen its first class of female astronauts, including Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Anna Fisher and Kathryn Sullivan. 

Collins belonged to the generation that transformed those first breakthroughs into normal professional achievement. After years of demanding training, she qualified as a Shuttle pilot. Even then, another barrier remained. No woman had ever piloted the Shuttle. That would soon change.

In February 1995, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off on mission STS-63. For Collins, it represented a personal milestone. She became the first woman ever to pilot a Space Shuttle. But the mission itself carried an even deeper historical significance. STS-63 marked the first close rendezvous between a Space Shuttle and the Russian space station Mir.

Only a few years earlier, such cooperation would have seemed unimaginable. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had competed fiercely in the Space Race. The launch of Sputnik. Yuri Gagarin's first orbital flight. Apollo. The Moon landings. Each achievement symbolized national prestige. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, space exploration became an opportunity for cooperation rather than competition.

The Shuttle-Mir Program represented a remarkable political and scientific transformation. Instead of racing against one another, American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts began working together. STS-63 approached Mir to within only a few metres, rehearsing techniques that would later become essential for docking operations. Those experiences directly contributed to the construction of the International Space Station (ISS), one of the greatest examples of peaceful international cooperation ever achieved. Collins therefore became part of two historic moments simultaneously: the first woman to pilot a Shuttle, and one of the astronauts helping transform former Cold War rivals into scientific partners.

Her second mission, STS-84 in 1997, continued NASA's cooperation with Mir. The Shuttle docked successfully with the station, delivering supplies, scientific equipment and exchanging crew members. These missions taught NASA valuable lessons about long-duration human spaceflight. Engineers studied how astronauts adapted to months in orbit. Scientists investigated the effects of microgravity on the human body. Operational teams refined the procedures that would later become routine aboard the International Space Station. Every successful Shuttle-Mir mission became another building block toward humanity's permanent presence in space.

In July 1999, Collins made history again. She became the first woman ever to command a Space Shuttle during mission STS-93. Commanding a Shuttle was an enormous responsibility. The commander was responsible not only for flying the spacecraft but also for leading the crew and making critical decisions throughout the mission.

NASA entrusted Collins with launching the Chandra X-ray Observatory, one of the most powerful space telescopes ever built. Unlike optical telescopes such as Hubble, Chandra observes the universe through X-rays, allowing astronomers to study black holes, exploding stars, neutron stars and the hottest regions of the cosmos. Although the launch experienced unexpected technical problems shortly after liftoff, Collins remained calm. The mission continued successfully.

Chandra reached orbit and remains one of NASA's greatest scientific observatories, continuing to produce discoveries more than two decades later. Her leadership during STS-93 demonstrated exactly why NASA had chosen her. She was not simply making history because she was a woman. She was leading because she was exceptionally capable.

On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The accident shocked the world. NASA grounded the Shuttle fleet while engineers investigated every aspect of the disaster. The investigation concluded that damage caused by insulating foam striking the Shuttle's wing during launch had allowed superheated gases to enter during re-entry. The tragedy forced NASA to rethink its safety culture. Procedures changed. Inspection techniques improved. Repair methods were developed. Every future mission would face unprecedented scrutiny. When the agency finally prepared to fly again, the choice of commander became enormously important. NASA selected Eileen Collins.

Mission STS-114, launched in July 2005, carried enormous expectations. Its objective extended far beyond scientific research. The mission needed to restore confidence in the Shuttle program itself. Collins led a crew responsible for testing new inspection procedures, evaluating repair techniques and delivering supplies to the International Space Station. Every stage of the mission was watched by millions around the world. The crew performed detailed inspections of the Shuttle while in orbit using new imaging technologies. For the first time, NASA carefully examined the spacecraft in space to identify any damage before returning home. STS-114 succeeded. The mission demonstrated that NASA had learned valuable lessons from Columbia. Although later missions continued improving safety procedures, Collins' flight marked the beginning of the Shuttle program's final successful decade. Few astronauts have carried greater responsibility.

People often describe Collins through the milestones she achieved. First female pilot. First female commander. Yet those achievements tell only part of the story. Her greatest contribution may have been her leadership style. Colleagues consistently described her as calm, prepared and deeply committed to teamwork. She believed that successful space missions depended on trust rather than individual heroics. Her example challenged outdated stereotypes without ever making confrontation her primary message. Instead, she allowed excellence to speak for itself. That approach earned respect throughout NASA.

Today, women serve as fighter pilots, airline captains, astronauts and commanders across the world. NASA's Artemis programme aims to land the first woman on the Moon. Female astronauts regularly command missions aboard the International Space Station. This progress did not happen automatically. Every generation has depended upon pioneers willing to enter environments where few people looked like them. Collins belongs among those pioneers. Her career demonstrated that leadership is defined by competence, preparation and integrity -not by gender. Young girls visiting air shows today can see women flying military aircraft. Students interested in engineering can imagine themselves designing spacecraft. Future astronauts no longer need to wonder whether women belong in space. That question has already been answered.

Space exploration has always represented humanity's desire to go further than previous generations believed possible. Sometimes those frontiers are physical. Sometimes they are social. Eileen Collins crossed both. She flew beyond Earth's atmosphere while simultaneously helping society move beyond outdated assumptions about who could lead the most complex missions ever attempted. The significance of her achievements extends well beyond NASA. They remind us that progress often depends on individuals willing to prepare for opportunities that do not yet exist. 

When Collins began dreaming of becoming a pilot, there was no female Space Shuttle commander. When she entered military flight training, few believed women would one day command spacecraft. When she joined NASA, many barriers still remained. She overcame them all. Not through slogans. Not through publicity. But through discipline, professionalism and exceptional ability. Her story is ultimately not only about women in space. It is about human potential. It reminds us that history changes when talent is allowed to flourish, regardless of background.

As humanity prepares for new journeys -to the Moon, to Mars and beyond- the example of Eileen Collins continues to inspire a simple but powerful idea: The future belongs to those who dare to imagine themselves where no one like them has gone before.

More information: Eileen Collins

We want to explore. 
We're curious people. 
Look back over history, 
people have put their lives at stake 
to go out and explore... 
We believe in what we're doing. 
Now it's time to go.

Eileen Collins

PROJECT MERCURY, THE LAUNCH OF THE FINAL MISSION

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her closest friends. Joseph loves Astronomy and they have been talking about the final mission of Project Mercury, that was launched on a day like today in 1963.

Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final crewed space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963, from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then a United States Air Force major. The Atlas rocket was No. 130-D, and the Mercury spacecraft was No. 20. As of May 2025, this mission marks the last time an American was launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission.

The Mercury-Atlas 8 flight of Walter Schirra on October 3, 1962, had been so nearly perfect that some at NASA thought that the United States should quit while it was ahead and make MA-8 the last Mercury mission rather than risk a future disaster. The argument that MA-8 should be the last Mercury mission held that NASA had pushed the first-generation Mercury hardware far enough, and taking more chances on another longer mission was not warranted; instead, NASA should move on to the Gemini program. Manned Spacecraft Center officials, however, believed that the Mercury team should be given the chance to test a human in space for a full day. In addition, all of the Soviet single-seat Vostok spacecraft launched after Vostok 1 lasted for more than a day; thus the Mercury 9 flight would bring the Mercury spacecraft up to the same level as that of the Soviets.

In September 1962, NASA concluded negotiations with McDonnell to modify four Mercury spacecraft (#12, #15, #17 and #20) to a configuration that supported a one-day mission. Such changes to the spacecraft included the removal of the periscope and a redundant set of thrusters, and the addition of extra batteries and oxygen tanks.

In November 1962, Gordon Cooper was chosen to pilot the MA-9 mission and Alan Shepard was picked as backup.

On April 22, 1963, Atlas booster 130-D and Mercury spacecraft #20 were stacked on the launch pad at Launch Complex 14.

Because MA-9 would orbit over nearly every part of the world from 32.5 degrees north to 32.5 degrees south, a total of 28 ships, 171 aircraft, and 18,000 servicemen were assigned to support the mission.

The Atlas booster used for MA-9 sported several technical improvements, most notably an enhanced propulsion system with a hypergolic igniter that would eliminate the need for hold-down time at launch to prevent rough combustion. With seven successful Mercury launches in a row, the failures of the early days seemed like a distant memory by early 1963 and NASA officials had a high degree of confidence in the Atlas that overshadowed its still spotty launch record. At the first meeting of senior MSFC officials for the year (January 11), Walter Williams noted that the Air Force had yet to provide an explanation for two Atlas F failures during the second half of 1962. 

Until the investigation committees released their findings and cleared the Atlas D of guilt by association, Cooper's flight could be delayed. During the seven months between Schirra's and Cooper's flights, there were five failures of Atlas D vehicles (one of them an Atlas-Agena, the rest operational ICBM tests). NASA did not let its guard down on the Atlas, despite the recent high degree of success enjoyed by Project Mercury.

When Atlas 130D received its factory rollout on January 30, it was found to have damaged wiring and had to be sent back for repairs. At his first press conference on February 8, Gordon Cooper admitted to not knowing much about the booster problems and focused instead on the enhancements made to his Mercury capsule. The numerous added equipment and consumables for the day-long mission boosted the weight of Faith 7 considerably; it now weighed over 1,400 kg.

On March 15, the Atlas was rolled out of the factory a second time and passed tests with flying colors; Convair engineers expressed confidence that this was their best bird yet. The booster actuators were offset slightly to prevent a recurrence of the liftoff roll transient that occurred on Mercury-Atlas 8. Several minor modifications were made to 130D as a result of postflight findings from failed Atlas launches over the previous year. These included adding a plastic liner to the inside of the turbopumps to prevent the turbine blades from rubbing against the casing and triggering an explosion from a friction spark, improvements to the wiring of the programmer, and additional steps taken to prevent the possibility of a fire breaking out in or around the thrust section.

The upgraded MA-2 engines featured baffled injector heads and a hypergolic igniter, eliminating any concerns of rough combustion or the need for hold-down time prior to liftoff. As such, the RCC (Rough Combustion Cutoff) sensors on 130D were operated open loop and for qualitative purposes only. The propellant conserved by not performing the three second hold-down time would allow a longer booster burn. On Mercury-Atlas 8, 112 gallons of fuel were removed prior to launch and so an extended burn was not possible even with eliminating the hold-down, but on this flight there would be enough propellant to extend burn time.

Cooper's decision to name his capsule Faith 7 was based on the faith he had in the Atlas booster and Mercury capsule to carry out the mission successfully, although it was reported in The Washington Post that some NASA officials were skeptical of the idea.

When Cooper boarded Faith 7 at 6:36 AM on the morning of May 14, he found a little gift that had been left for him. Alan Shepard, knowing that Cooper would have a new version of the urine containment device that Shepard did not have on his Mercury-Redstone 3 flight (forcing him to relieve himself during a long countdown hold), had left behind a toilet plunger as a joke. Instructions on the handle said, Remove Before Launch. The gift did not make the trip. Neither did Cooper that day. Various problems with radar in Bermuda and the diesel engine that rolled back the gantry caused the launch to be cancelled until May 15.

At 8:04:13 a.m. EST, May 15, 1963, Faith 7 was launched from Launch Complex 14. At T+60 seconds, the Atlas started its pitch program. Shortly afterward, MA-9 passed through max Q. At T+2 minutes 14 seconds Cooper felt BECO (Booster Engine Cutoff) and staging. The two Atlas booster engines had been left behind. The Launch Escape Tower was then jettisoned. At T+3 minutes the cabin pressure sealed at 38 kPa. Cooper reported, Faith 7 is all go.

More information: NASA

One of the things that always appealed to me
about Nasa was we were always doing cool stuff
that no-one's done before.

Mark Rober

RANGER 7, THE FIRST CLOSE-UP MOON'S PHOTOGRAPHS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Ranger 7, the NASA space probe, that sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes, on a day like today in 1964.

Ranger 7 was the first NASA space probe to successfully transmit close-up images of the lunar surface back to Earth.

It was also the first completely successful flight of the Ranger program. Launched on July 28, 1964, Ranger 7 was designed to achieve a lunar-impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact.

The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras -two wide-angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and four narrow-angle (channel P)- to accomplish these objectives. The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmitters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtaining high-quality video pictures.

Ranger 7 transmitted over 4,300 photographs during the final 17 minutes of its flight. After 68.6 hours of flight, the spacecraft impacted between Mare Nubium and Oceanus Procellarum. This landing site was later named Mare Cognitum. The velocity at impact was 2.61 kilometers per second, and the performance of the spacecraft exceeded hopes. No other experiments were carried on the spacecraft.

Although NASA had attempted to put a positive spin on Ranger 6 on the grounds that everything except the camera system had worked well, William J. Coughlin, editor of the publication Missiles and Rockets, called it a one hundred percent failure and JPL's record thus far was a disgrace. The mission had not been a complete failure, but Coughlin was not alone in his opinion that Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a nonprofit laboratory and extension of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), was a soft academic environment without the drive or ambition needed to make the missions succeed. He considered Ranger a loser and for a while, anyone at NASA involved in the Ranger program tried to conceal it. It was also being said that sending probes up for the sole purpose of returning images was pointless and accomplished nothing that Apollo could not also achieve.

On July 6, Ranger 7 completed its ground testing and was stacked atop the booster. On July 9, a NASA committee met and deemed the booster and spacecraft fully ready for launch, which was targeted for the 27th.

The first countdown on July 27 failed due to a defective battery in the Atlas and a problem with the ground guidance equipment. The next day, all went smoothly and Ranger 7 lifted off from LC-12 at 12:50 PM EST. The weather was clear and cloudless on this launch and Atlas staging was observed by tracking cameras. The expected propellant cloud enveloped the booster, but no anomalous events occurred this time. Thirty minutes after liftoff, the Agena restarted to boost Ranger 7 on a trajectory towards the Moon.

The flight trajectory for Ranger 7 was quite accurate, but a short midcourse correction was carried out early on the morning of July 29 to ensure impact in the Sea of Storms instead of the far side of the Moon. The warmup period for the TV cameras would be performed earlier and made shorter than on Ranger 6. Out of fear of jeopardizing the mission, ground controllers decided that the probe's orientation was acceptable enough and they would not risk maneuvering with the attitude control thrusters to get into a better angle. At 6:09 AM PDT, the first video imagery reached Earth.

Ranger 7 reached the Moon on July 31. The F-channel began its one-minute warm-up 18 minutes before impact. The first image was taken at 13:08:45 UT at an altitude of 2,110 kilometers. Transmission of 4,308 photographs of excellent quality occurred over the final 17 minutes of flight. The final image taken before impact has a resolution of 0.5 metres.

The spacecraft encountered the lunar surface in direct motion along a hyperbolic trajectory, with an incoming asymptotic direction at an angle of -5.57° from the lunar equator. The orbit plane was inclined 26.84° to the lunar equator. After 68.6 hours of flight, Ranger 7 impacted in an area between Mare Nubium and Oceanus Procellarum (subsequently named Mare Cognitum) at 10.6340°S 20.6771°W.

The impact site is listed as 10.63 S, 20.66 W in the initial report Ranger 7 Photographs of the Moon. Impact occurred at 13:25:48.82 UT at a velocity of 2.62 km/s. The spacecraft performance was excellent and the success of the mission finally brought a turnaround in NASA's fortunes after the endless string of lunar probe failures since 1958.

Ranger 7 is credited for beginning the peanut tradition at NASA command stations. On the success of Ranger 7, someone in the control room was noticed eating peanuts. Since 1964, control rooms ceremonially open a container of peanuts for luck and tradition.

More information: NASA

We are probably nearing the limit 

of all we can know about astronomy.

Simon Newcomb

1969, APOLLO 11 SPLASHES DOWN IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Apolo 11, the American spaceflight that splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, on a day like today in 1969.

Apollo 11 (July 16-24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. 

Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC.

Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected 21.5 kg of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin Columbia.

Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program.

The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages -a descent stage for landing on the Moon and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit.

After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20. The astronauts used Eagle's ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled Columbia out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits onto a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.

Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

Apollo 11 effectively proved U.S. victory in the Space Race to demonstrate spaceflight superiority, by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

Project Apollo was abruptly halted by the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, in which astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee died, and the subsequent investigation.

In October 1968, Apollo 7 evaluated the command module in Earth orbit, and in December Apollo 8 tested it in lunar orbit.

In March 1969, Apollo 9 put the lunar module through its paces in Earth orbit, and in May Apollo 10 conducted a dress rehearsal in lunar orbit. By July 1969, all was in readiness for Apollo 11 to take the final step onto the Moon.

The Soviet Union appeared to be winning the Space Race by beating the US to firsts, but its early lead was overtaken by the US Gemini program and Soviet failure to develop the N1 launcher, which would have been comparable to the Saturn V.

The Soviets tried to beat the US to return lunar material to the Earth by means of uncrewed probes. On July 13, three days before Apollo 11's launch, the Soviet Union launched Luna 15, which reached lunar orbit before Apollo 11. During descent, a malfunction caused Luna 15 to crash in Mare Crisium about two hours before Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon's surface to begin their voyage home. The Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories radio telescope in England recorded transmissions from Luna 15 during its descent, and these were released in July 2009 for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.

More information: NASA

That's one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind.

 

Neil Armstrong

IRIS (SMEX-12), THE SATELLITE THAT OBSERVES THE SUN

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the IRIS, the NASA solar observation satellite, that was launched on a day like today in 2013.

Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), also called Explorer 94 and SMEX-12, is a NASA solar observation satellite. 

 

The mission was funded through the Small Explorer program to investigate the physical conditions of the solar limb, particularly the interface region made up of the chromosphere and transition region.

The spacecraft consists of a satellite bus and spectrometer built by the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), and a telescope provided by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). IRIS is operated by LMSAL and NASA's Ames Research Center.

The satellite's instrument is a high-frame-rate ultraviolet imaging spectrometer, providing one image per second at 0.3 arcsecond angular resolution and sub-ångström spectral resolution.

NASA announced, on 19 June 2009, that IRIS was selected from six Small Explorer mission candidates for further study, along with the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) space observatory.

IRIS is intended to advance Sun-Earth connection studies by tracing the flow of energy and plasma into the corona and heliosphere for which no suitable observations exist. To achieve this IRIS obtains a high-resolution UV spectra and images of the Sun's chromosphere, specifically on the non-thermal energy that creates the corona and the solar wind.  

IRIS seeks to determine: (1) the types of non-thermal energy which dominate in the chromosphere and beyond; (2) the means by which the chromosphere regulates mass and energy supply to the corona and heliosphere; and, (3) how magnetic flux and matter rise through the lower solar atmosphere, and the role played by flux emergence in flares and mass ejections. To answer these questions, IRIS utilize a single instrument, a multi-channel imaging spectrograph.

The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on 16 April 2013 and was successfully deployed from an Orbital L-1011 carrier aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 12,000 m, roughly 160 km northwest of Vandenberg. The launch vehicle was dropped at 02:27:46 UTC on 28 June 2013 (7:27 p.m. PDT on 27 June 2013) by a Pegasus-XL launch vehicle.

IRIS achieved first light on 17 July 2013. NASA noted that IRIS's first images showed a multitude of thin, fibril-like structures that have never been seen before, revealing enormous contrasts in density and temperature occur throughout this region even between neighboring loops that are only a few hundred miles apart.

On 31 October 2013, calibrated IRIS data and images were released on the project website. An open-access article describing the satellite and initial data was published in the journal Solar Physics.

Data collected from the IRIS spacecraft has shown that the interface region of the Sun is significantly more complex than previously thought. This includes features described as solar heat bombs, high-speed plasma jets, nano-flares, and mini-tornadoes. These features are an important step in understanding the transfer of heat to the corona.

In 2019, IRIS detected tadpole like jets coming out from the Sun according to NASA.

More information: NASA

It's something to see a satellite
being launched from another satellite.

 

John Glenn

SKYLAB, THE USA FIRST SPACE STATION, IS LAUNCHED

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her closest friends.

Joseph loves Astronomy and they have been talking about Skylab, the US first space station that was launched on a day like today in 1973.

Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4.

Operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation and hundreds of experiments. Skylab's orbit eventually decayed and it disintegrated in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979, scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Western Australia.

As of 2024, Skylab was the only space station operated exclusively by the United States. A permanent station was planned starting in 1988, but its funding was canceled and U.S. participation shifted to the International Space Station in 1993.

Skylab had a mass of 90,610 kg with a 14,000 kg Apollo command and service module (CSM) attached and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and several hundred life science and physical science experiments. It was launched uncrewed into low Earth orbit by a Saturn V rocket modified to be similar to the Saturn INT-21, with the S-IVB third stage not available for propulsion because the orbital workshop was built out of it. This was the final flight for the rocket more commonly known for carrying the crewed Apollo Moon landing missions. Three subsequent missions delivered three-astronaut crews in the Apollo CSM launched by the smaller Saturn IB rocket.

More information: NASA

Skylab included the Apollo Telescope Mount (a multi-spectral solar observatory), a multiple docking adapter with two docking ports, an airlock module with extravehicular activity (EVA) hatches, and the orbital workshop, the main habitable space inside Skylab. Electrical power came from solar arrays and fuel cells in the docked Apollo CSM. The rear of the station included a large waste tank, propellant tanks for maneuvering jets, and a heat radiator. Astronauts conducted numerous experiments aboard Skylab during its operational life.

Prior to departure about 80 experiments were named, although they are also described as almost 300 separate investigations.

Experiments were divided into six broad categories:

-Life science -human physiology, biomedical research; circadian rhythms (mice, gnats)

-Solar physics and astronomy -sun observations (eight telescopes and separate instrumentation); Comet Kohoutek (Skylab 4); stellar observations; space physics

-Earth resources -mineral resources; geology; hurricanes; land and vegetation patterns

-Material science -welding, brazing, metal melting; crystal growth; water / fluid dynamics

-Student research -19 different student proposals. Several experiments were commended by the crew, including a dexterity experiment and a test of web-spinning by spiders in low gravity.

-Other -human adaptability, ability to work, dexterity; habitat design/operations.

Because the solar scientific airlock -one of two research airlocks- was unexpectedly occupied by the "parasol" that replaced the missing meteorite shield, a few experiments were instead installed outside with the telescopes during spacewalks or shifted to the Earth-facing scientific airlock.

More information: NASA

The space station is the most unique laboratory
we've ever built.
The reason we have it is to do research
on materials, people, medical matters,
pharmaceuticals - the possibilities are nearly endless.

John Glenn

1986, NASA SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISINTEGRATES

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Challenger, the Space Shuttle orbiter that was destroyed on a day like today in 1986, in an accident that became a tragedy killing all its crew.

Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the commanding ship of a nineteenth-century scientific expedition that traveled the world, Challenger was the second Space Shuttle orbiter to fly into space after Columbia, and launched on its maiden flight in April 1983.

It was destroyed in January 1986 soon after launch in an accident that killed all seven crewmembers aboard.

Initially manufactured as a test article not intended for spaceflight, it was utilized for ground testing of the Space Shuttle orbiter's structural design. However, after NASA found that their original plan to upgrade Enterprise for spaceflight would be more expensive than upgrading Challenger, the orbiter was pressed into operational service in the Space Shuttle program.

Lessons learned from the first orbital flights of Columbia led to Challenger's design possessing fewer thermal protection system tiles and a lighter fuselage and wings. This led to it being 1,000 kilograms lighter than Columbia, though still 2,600 kilograms heavier than Discovery.

During its three years of operation, Challenger was flown on ten missions in the Space Shuttle program, spending over 62 days in space and completing almost 1,000 orbits around Earth. Following its maiden flight, Challenger supplanted Columbia as the leader of the Space Shuttle fleet, being the most-flown orbiter during all three years of its operation while Columbia itself was seldom used during the same time frame.

Challenger was used for numerous civilian satellite launches, such as the first tracking and data relay satellite, the Palapa B communications satellites, the Long Duration Exposure Facility, and the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite. It was also used as a test bed for the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) and served as the platform to repair the malfunctioning SolarMax telescope.

In addition, three consecutive Spacelab missions were conducted with the orbiter in 1985, one of which being the first German crewed spaceflight mission. Passengers carried into orbit by Challenger include the first American female astronaut, the first American female spacewalker, the first African-American astronaut, and the first Canadian astronaut.

More information: NASA

On its tenth flight in January 1986, Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after liftoff, killing the seven-member crew of STS-51-L that included Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.

The Rogers Commission which convened shortly afterwards concluded that an O-ring seal in one of Challenger's solid rocket boosters failed to contain pressurized burning gas that leaked out of the booster, causing a structural failure of Challenger's external tank and the orbiter's subsequent disintegration due to aerodynamic forces.

NASA's organizational culture was also scrutinized by the Rogers Commission, and the Space Shuttle program's goal of replacing the United States' expendable launch systems was cast into doubt. The loss of Challenger and its crew led to a broad rescope of the program, and numerous aspects –such as launches from Vandenberg, the MMU, and Shuttle-Centaur– were scrapped to improve crew safety; Challenger and Atlantis were the only orbiters modified to conduct Shuttle-Centaur launches. The recovered remains of the orbiter are mostly buried in a missile silo located at Cape Canaveral LC-31, though one piece is on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Challenger was named after HMS Challenger, a British corvette that was the command ship for the Challenger Expedition, a pioneering global marine research expedition undertaken from 1872 through 1876. The Apollo 17 Lunar Module, which landed on the Moon in 1972, was also named Challenger.

STS-51-L was the orbiter's tenth and final flight, initially planned to launch on January 26, 1986 (after several technical and paperwork delays). This mission attracted huge media attention, as one of the crew was a civilian schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe, who was assigned to carry out live lessons from the orbiter (as part of NASA's Teacher in Space Project). Other members would deploy the TDRS-B satellite and conduct comet observations.

Challenger blasted off at 11:38 am EST on January 28, 1986. Just over a minute into the flight, a faulty booster joint opened up, leading to a flame that melted securing struts which resulted in a catastrophic structural failure and explosion of the External Tank. The resulting pressure waves and aerodynamic forces destroyed the orbiter, resulting in the loss of all the crew.

Challenger was the first Space Shuttle to be destroyed in a mission accident. The collected debris of the vessel is currently buried in decommissioned missile silos at Launch Complex 31, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

A section of the fuselage recovered from Space Shuttle Challenger can also be found at the Forever Remembered memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Debris from the orbiter sometimes washes up on the Florida coast. This is collected and transported to the silos for storage. Because of its early loss, Challenger was the only Space Shuttle that never wore the NASA meatball logo, and was never modified with the MEDS glass cockpit. The tail was never fitted with a drag chute, which was fitted to the remaining orbiters in 1992.

Challenger and sister ship Columbia are the only two shuttles that never visited the Mir Space Station or the International Space Station.

More information: NASA

 After the Challenger accident,
NASA put in a lot of time to improve
the safety of the space shuttle to fix
the things that had gone wrong.

Sally Ride

MARS POLAR LANDER, STUDYING PLANUM AUSTRALE

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of her closer friend Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who is a fan of History, Science and Astronomy.

They kave been talking about the Mars Polar Lander, the robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on a day like today in 1999.

The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on January 3, 1999, to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars. It formed part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission.

On December 3, 1999, however, after the descent phase was expected to be complete, the lander failed to reestablish communication with Earth. A post-mortem analysis determined the most likely cause of the mishap was premature termination of the engine firing prior to the lander touching the surface, causing it to strike the planet at a high velocity.

The total cost of the Mars Polar Lander was US$165 million. Spacecraft development cost US$110 million, launch was estimated at US$45 million, and mission operations at US$10 million.

As part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission, a lander was sought as a way to gather climate data from the ground in conjunction with an orbiter. NASA suspected that a large quantity of frozen water may exist under a thin layer of dust at the south pole. In planning the Mars Polar Lander, the potential water content in the Martian south pole was the strongest determining factor for choosing a landing location.

A CD-ROM containing the names of one million children from around the world was placed on board the spacecraft as part of the Send Your Name to Mars program designed to encourage interest in the space program among children.

The primary objectives of the mission were to:

-Land on the layered terrain in the south polar region of Mars;

-Search for evidence related to ancient climates and more recent periodic climate change;

-Give a picture of the current climate and seasonal change at high latitudes and, in particular, the exchange of water vapor between the atmosphere and ground;

-Search for near-surface ground ice in the polar regions, and analyze the soil for physically and chemically bound carbon dioxide and water; and

-Study surface morphology (forms and structures), geology, topography, and weather of the landing site.

More information: NASA

The spacecraft measured 3.6 meters wide and 1.06 meters tall with the legs and solar arrays fully deployed. The base was primarily constructed with an aluminum honeycomb deck, composite graphite-epoxy sheets forming the edge, and three aluminum legs. During landing, the legs were to deploy from stowed position with compression springs and absorb the force of the landing with crushable aluminum honeycomb inserts in each leg.

On the deck of the lander, a small thermal Faraday cage enclosure housed the computer, power distribution electronics and batteries, telecommunication electronics, and the capillary pump loop heat pipe (LHP) components, which maintained operable temperature. Each of these components included redundant units in the event that one may fail.

During the cruise stage, communications with the spacecraft were conducted over the X band using a medium-gain, horn-shaped antenna and redundant solid state power amplifiers. For contingency measures, a low-gain omni-directional antenna was also included.

The lander was originally intended to communicate data through the failed Mars Climate Orbiter via the UHF antenna. With the orbiter lost on September 23, 1999, the lander would still be able to communicate directly to the Deep Space Network through the Direct-To-Earth (DTE) link, an X band, steerable, medium-gain, parabolic antenna located on the deck.

Alternatively, Mars Global Surveyor could be used as a relay using the UHF antenna at multiple times each Martian day. However the Deep Space Network could only receive data from, and not send commands to, the lander using this method. The direct-to-Earth medium-gain antenna provided a 12.6-kbit/s return channel, and the UHF relay path provided a 128-kbit/s return channel. Communications with the spacecraft would be limited to one-hour events, constrained by heat-buildup that would occur in the amplifiers. The number of communication events would also be constrained by power limitations.

The cruise stage included two gallium arsenide solar arrays to power the radio system and maintain power to the batteries in the lander, which kept certain electronics warm.

After descending to the surface, the lander was to deploy two 3.6-meter-wide gallium arsenide solar arrays, located on either side of the spacecraft. Another two auxiliary solar arrays were located on the side to provide additional power for a total of an expected 200 watts and approximately eight to nine hours of operating time per day.

While the Sun would not have set below the horizon during the primary mission, too little light would have reached the solar arrays to remain warm enough for certain electronics to continue functioning. To avoid this problem, a 16-amp-hour nickel hydrogen battery was included to be recharged during the day and to power the heater for the thermal enclosure at night. This solution also was expected to limit the life of the lander. As the Martian days would grow colder in late summer, too little power would be supplied to the heater to avoid freezing, resulting in the battery also freezing and signaling the end of the operating life for the lander.

Mars Polar Lander was launched on January 3, 1999, at 20:21:10 UTC by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Space Launch Complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, aboard a Delta II 7425-9.5 launch vehicle.

The complete burn sequence lasted for 47.7 minutes after a Thiokol Star 48B solid-fuel third stage booster placed the spacecraft into an 11-month, Mars transfer trajectory at a final velocity of 6.884 kilometers per second with respect to Mars. During cruise, the spacecraft was stowed inside an aeroshell capsule and a segment known as the cruise stage provided power and communications with Earth.

On December 3, 1999, at 14:39:00 UTC, the last telemetry from Mars Polar Lander was sent, just prior to cruise stage separation and the subsequent atmospheric entry. No further signals were received from the spacecraft. Attempts were made by Mars Global Surveyor to photograph the area in which the lander was believed to be. An object was visible and believed to be the lander. However, subsequent imaging performed by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter resulted in the identified object being ruled out. Mars Polar Lander remains lost.

Despite the Mars Polar Lander's failure, Planum Australe, which served as the exploration target for the lander and the two Deep Space 2 probes, would in later years be explored by European Space Agency's MARSIS radar, which examined and analyzed the site from Mars' orbit.

More information: NASA

 Space is an inspirational concept
that allows you to dream big.

Peter Diamandis

1965, THE KECKSBURG UFO INCIDENT IN PENNSYLVANIA

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Kecksburg UFO incident that occurred on a day like today in 1965.

The Kecksburg UFO incident occurred on December 9, 1965, at Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, United States, when a fireball was reported by citizens of six U.S. states and Canada over Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. Astronomers said it was likely to have been a meteor bolide burning up in the atmosphere and descending at a steep angle. NASA released a statement in 2005 reporting that experts had examined fragments from the area and determined they were from a Soviet satellite, but that records of their findings were lost in 1987.

NASA responded to court orders and Freedom of Information Act requests to search for the records. The incident gained wide notoriety in popular culture and ufology, with speculation ranging from extraterrestrial craft to debris from the Soviet space probe Kosmos 96, and is often called Pennsylvania's Roswell.

On the evening of December 9, 1965, a large, brilliant fireball was seen in at least six U.S. states and Ontario, Canada as it streaked over the Detroit, Michigan–Windsor, Ontario area. Reports of hot metal debris over Michigan and northern Ohio, grass fires, and sonic booms in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area were attributed to the fireball. Some people in the village of Kecksburg, about 48 km southeast of Pittsburgh, reported wisps of blue smoke, vibrations, and a "thump", and also that something from the sky had crashed in the woods.

When state troopers and Air Force personnel searched the woods, they found absolutely nothing. A subsequent edition in the Tribune-Review bore the headline Searchers Fail To Find Object.

Authorities discounted proposed explanations such as a plane crash, errant missile test, or reentering satellite debris and generally assumed it to be a meteor. Astronomer Paul Annear said the fireball was likely to have been a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Geophysicist George Wetherilo discounted speculations that it was debris from a satellite and agreed that the reports were probably due to a meteor. Astronomers William P. Bidelman and Fred Hess said it undoubtedly was a meteor bolide. A spokesman for the Department of Defense in Washington said first reports indicated the reported fireball was a natural phenomenon.

In December 2005, just before the 40th anniversary of the Kecksburg incident, NASA released a statement reporting that experts had examined metallic fragments from the area and determined they were from a Russian satellite that re-entered the atmosphere and broke up, but records of their findings were lost in the 1980s.

Leslie Kean, described as an investigative reporter backed by the Sci-Fi Channel, reportedly sued NASA under the Freedom of Information Act for the lost NASA records. On October 26, 2007, NASA agreed to search for those records after being ordered by a court.

During the hearing, Steve McConnell, NASA's public liaison officer, testified that two boxes of papers from the time of the Kecksburg incident were missing. Loss of records is not a unique case for NASA; for example, the original tapes recorded during the televised Apollo 11 Moon landing were misplaced or reused.

In 2008, space writer James Oberg suggested that NASA was unlikely to possess any such documents since, in his view, it was highly likely that the supposed NASA team that investigated the site were in fact Air Force personnel who identified themselves as NASA personnel, something regularly done by military personnel in civilian clothes during the 1960s. He further suggested that Kean's action was no more than a publicity stunt for the benefit of Kean's employers.

According to John Ventre of MUFON and Shafton native Owen Eichler, their recent investigations have led them to speculate the object that reportedly landed in Kecksburg was a General Electric Mark 2 Re-entry Vehicle that had been launched by the Air Force as a spy satellite, but fell out of orbit, however, we need confirmation from NASA or the Air Force.

More information: Space

I happen to be privileged enough to be in
on the fact that we have been visited on this planet,
and the UFO phenomenon is real.

Edgar Mitchell

GALILEO SPACECRAFT PASTS EARTH FOR THE FIRST TIME

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her closest friends. They have been talking about Galileo, the American robotic space probe that flew past Earth for the first time on a day like today in 1992.

Galileo was an American robotic space probe that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted of an orbiter and an entry probe. It was delivered into Earth orbit on October 18, 1989, by Space Shuttle Atlantis, during STS-34.

Galileo arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after gravitational assist flybys of Venus and Earth, and became the first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the Galileo spacecraft and managed the Galileo program for NASA. West Germany's Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm supplied the propulsion module.

NASA's Ames Research Center managed the atmospheric probe, which was built by Hughes Aircraft Company. At launch, the orbiter and probe together had a mass of 2,562 kg and stood 6.15 m tall.

Spacecraft are normally stabilized either by spinning around a fixed axis or by maintaining a fixed orientation with reference to the Sun and a star. Galileo did both. One section of the spacecraft rotated at 3 revolutions per minute, keeping Galileo stable and holding six instruments that gathered data from many different directions, including the fields and particles instruments.

More information: NASA

Galileo was intentionally destroyed in Jupiter's atmosphere on September 21, 2003. The next orbiter to be sent to Jupiter was Juno, which arrived on July 5, 2016.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, with more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined. Consideration of sending a probe to Jupiter began as early as 1959.

NASA's Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) for Outer Solar System Missions considered the requirements for Jupiter orbiters and atmospheric probes. It noted that the technology to build a heat shield for an atmospheric probe did not yet exist, and facilities to test one under the conditions found on Jupiter would not be available until 1980.

NASA management designated the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as the lead center for the Jupiter Orbiter Probe (JOP) project. The JOP would be the fifth spacecraft to visit Jupiter, but the first to orbit it, and the probe would be the first to enter its atmosphere.

On December 19, 1985, it departed the JPL in Pasadena, California, on the first leg of its journey, a road trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the May launch date could not be met.

The mission was re-scheduled October 12, 1989. The Galileo spacecraft would be launched by the STS-34 mission in the Space Shuttle Atlantis. As the launch date of Galileo neared, anti-nuclear groups, concerned over what they perceived as an unacceptable risk to the public's safety from the plutonium in the Galileo's radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules, sought a court injunction prohibiting Galileo's launch. RTGs were necessary for deep space probes because they had to fly distances from the Sun that made the use of solar energy impractical.

More information: NASA

 The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.

Carl Sandburg

2013, NASA LAUNCHES THE SPACECRAFT MAVEN TO MARS

Today, The Grandma has received the visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon. Joseph loves Astronomy and Science and they have been talking about MAVEN, the NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars, that was launched on a day like today in 2013.

MAVEN is a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of that planet's atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of the planet's climate and water.

The name is an acronym for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution while the word maven also denotes a person who has special knowledge or experience; an expert.

MAVEN was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 18 November 2013 UTC and went into orbit around Mars on 22 September 2014 UTC.

The mission is the first by NASA to study the Mars atmosphere. The probe is analyzing the planet's upper atmosphere and ionosphere to examine how and at what rate the solar wind is stripping away volatile compounds.

The principal investigator for the mission is Shannon Curry at the University of California, Berkeley. She took over from Bruce Jakosky of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, who proposed and led the mission until 2021. The project cost $582.5 million to build, launch, and operate through its two-year prime mission.

Proposed in 2006, the mission was the second of NASA's Mars Scout Program, which had previously yielded Phoenix. It was selected for development for flight in 2008.

On 2 August 2013, the MAVEN spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center, in Florida to begin launch preparations.

On 1 October 2013, only seven weeks before launch, a government shutdown caused suspension of work for two days and initially threatened to force a 26-month postponement of the mission. With the spacecraft nominally scheduled to launch on 18 November 2013, a delay beyond 7 December 2013 would have caused MAVEN to miss the launch window as Mars moved too far out of alignment with the Earth.

However, two days later, on 3 October 2013, a public announcement was made that NASA had deemed the 2013 MAVEN launch so essential to ensuring future communication with current NASA assets on Mars -the rovers Opportunity and Curiosity-  that emergency funding was authorized to restart spacecraft processing in preparation for an on-time launch.

Features on Mars that resemble dry riverbeds and the discovery of minerals that form in the presence of water indicate that Mars once had a dense enough atmosphere and was warm enough for liquid water to flow on the surface. However, that thick atmosphere was somehow lost to space. Scientists suspect that over millions of years, Mars lost 99% of its atmosphere as the planet's core cooled and its magnetic field decayed, allowing the solar wind to sweep away most of the water and volatile compounds that the atmosphere once contained.

More information: NASA

The goal of MAVEN is to determine the history of the loss of atmospheric gases to space, providing answers about Martian climate evolution. By measuring the rate with which the atmosphere is currently escaping to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes, scientists will be able to infer how the planet's atmosphere evolved over time. The MAVEN mission's primary scientific objectives are:

-Measure the composition and structure of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere today, and determine the processes responsible for controlling them

-Measure the rate of loss of gas from the top of the atmosphere to space, and determine the processes responsible for controlling them

-Determine properties and characteristics that will allow us to extrapolate backwards in time to determine the integrated loss to space over the four-billion-year history recorded in the geological record.

MAVEN launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on 18 November 2013, using an Atlas V 401 launch vehicle. It reached Mars on 22 September 2014, and was inserted into an elliptic orbit approximately 6,200 km by 150 km above the planet's surface.

In October 2014, as the spacecraft was being fine-tuned to start its primary science mission, the comet Siding Spring was also performing a close flyby of Mars. The researchers had to maneuver the craft to mitigate harmful effects of the comet, but while doing so, were able to observe the comet and perform measurements on the composition of expelled gases and dust.

On 16 November 2014, investigators completed MAVEN's commissioning activities and began its primary science mission, scheduled to last one year. During that time, MAVEN had observed a nearby comet, measured how volatile gases are swept away by solar wind, and performed four deep dips down to the border of the upper and lower atmospheres to better characterize the planet's entire upper atmosphere.

In June 2015, the science phase was extended through September 2016, allowing MAVEN to observe the Martian atmosphere through the entirety of the planet's seasons.

On 3 October 2016, MAVEN completed one full Martian year of scientific observations. It had been approved for an additional 2-year extended mission through September 2018. All spacecraft systems were still operating as expected.

In March 2017, MAVEN's investigators had to perform a previously unscheduled maneuver to avoid colliding with Phobos the following week.

On 5 April 2019, the navigation team completed a two-month aerobraking maneuver to lower MAVEN's orbit and enable it to better serve as a communications relay for current landers as well as the rover Perseverance. This new elliptic orbit is approximately 4,500 km by 130 km. With 6.6 orbits per Earth day, the lower orbit allows more frequent communication with rovers.

As of September 2020, the spacecraft is continuing its science mission as well, with all instruments still operating and with enough fuel to last at least until 2030.

On August 31, 2021, Shannon Curry became the Principal Investigator of the mission.

NASA became aware of failures in the MAVEN's inertia measurement units (IMU) in late 2021, necessary for the probe to maintain its orbit; having already moved from the main IMU to the backup one in 2017, they saw the backup ones showing signs of failure.

In February 2022, both IMUs had appeared to lost the ability to perform its measurement properly. After doing a heartbeat termination to restore the use of the backup IMU, NASA engineers set to reprogram MAVEN to use an all stellar mode using star positions to maintain its altitude, eliminating the reliance on the IMUs. This was put into place in April 2022 and completed by May 28, 2022, but during this period, MAVEN could not be used for scientific observations or to relay communications to Earth from the rovers Curiosity and Perseverance and the Insight lander. Reduced communication was handled by other Mars orbiters.

In 2014, MAVEN researchers detected widespread aurora throughout the planet, even close to the equator. Given the localized magnetic fields on Mars (as opposed to Earth's global magnetic field), aurora appear to form and distribute in different ways on Mars, creating what scientists call diffuse aurora.

The fortuitous arrival of MAVEN just before a flyby of the comet Siding Spring gave researchers a unique opportunity to observe both the comet itself as well as its interactions with the Martian atmosphere.

In 2017, results were published detailing the detection of metal ions in Mars's ionosphere. This is the first time metal ions have been detected in any planet's atmosphere other than Earth's. It was also noted that these ions behave and are distributed differently in the atmosphere of Mars given that the red planet has a much weaker magnetic field than our own.

In September 2017, NASA reported a temporary doubling of radiation levels on the surface of Mars, as well as an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed earlier. This occurred due to a massive, and unexpected, solar storm.

The observation provided insight into how changes in radiation levels might impact the planet's habitability, helping NASA researchers understand how to predict as well as mitigate effects on future human Mars explorers.

More information: NASA

 NASA is an engine of innovation and inspiration
as well as the world's premier space exploration agency,
and we are well served by politicians working
to keep it that way, instead of turning it
into a mere jobs program, or worse, cutting its budget.

 

Bill Nye