AstrotalkUK

Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing

Episode 77: Satellite tracking – the early days

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Sven Grahn has been working in the space field in one way or another for over fifty years. Officially retired, he continues to work as a project leader of a student satellite at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

He is perhaps best known for his work in tracking satellites launched by the secretive Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s.In those pre-internet days, his work along with others helped to identify individual mission characteristics such as mission types, members of the crew, take off and landing times. He recorded over 1000 conversations from orbiting spacecraft as they flew over Sweden.

In this interview, he speaks about

  • The impact of the space race on his choice of career
  • His work on sounding rockets and meteorology in Sweden and beyond
  • Satellite tracking. What he tracked, heard and recorded using radio and tape recorders.
  • How he came to research and write about the  satellite tracking conducted at Jodrell  Bank radio telescope in England

As an 11-year-old, Sven had seen Sputnik in the sky over Sweden with his own eyes. I started by asking him how the onset of the space race had impacted his choice of career?

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Amazon Ebook Promotion. 99p from 11th-15th July – Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester

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Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester

Next week marks the 57th anniversary of the world’s first cosmonaut’s visit to the UK. Three months after his historic spaceflight on 12th April 1961, the first human in space, Yuri  Gagarin came to Britain. He was here for 5 days. It was not planned that way. Initially, his visit did not include meeting the Prime Minister or the Queen but his visit evolved through the political posturing of the Cold War and he met both.

His visit to Manchester was the only one outside London. Invited by the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (Gagarin had trained as a foundry worker), he visited the union’s HQ in Old Trafford, a factory in Trafford Park and was hosted by the Mayor at the Town Hall in Albert Square.

He arrived at Ringway Airport (now Manchester International Airport) at 10am on Wednesday 12th July and by 4pm he headed back there for his flight to Heathrow. To mark this anniversary, the ebook “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” is being promoted on Amazon for 99p (or cents in USA) between 11th and 15th July. For book reviews – see here. A 91% discount on the normal price.

A timeline of his 5 days in London and Manchester below.

Tuesday 11th July       

10:30            Arrival at Heathrow [Guardian 11/7/1961]

11:45            Soviet Embassy [Daily Worker 10/7/1961]

13:00            Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

15:00            Press conference in Fashion Hall Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

16:15            BIS medal award at the end of the press conference [Flight 20/7/1961]

16:30            Leave Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

17:30            Evening reception at Soviet Embassy [Daily Worker 10/7/1961]

Wednesday 12th July  

10:00            Arrival at airport [Manchester Evening News 11/07/1961]

10:45            AUFW Medal Ceremony [Guardian 12/7/1961]

11:35            Metropolitan-Vickers at Trafford Park [Manchester Evening News 11/7/1961]

12:45            Manchester Town Hall [Manchester Evening News 11/7/1961]

16:30            Manchester Airport

Thursday 13th July

11:00              Mansion House – Lord Mayor of London [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

11:45              Tower of London – Gv. Sir Thomas Butler [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

13:20            Burlington House – Royal Society

15:00            Return to USSR Embassy

15:45            Meet PM at Admiralty House [Prem 11-3543 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

16:15            Lays wreath at the cenotaph

16:30            Air Ministry in Whitehall – Secretary of State for Air [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

18:00            Hyde Park Hotel GB USSR Association [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

19:30            Muscovites-Association cancelled. Sightseeing tour instead [Guardian 14/7/1961]

22:15            Back at USSR Embassy [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

Friday 14th July        

12:50            Buckingham Palace [FO 371-159606 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

14:45            Soviet Embassy

15:30            Earl’s Court [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

16:00            Highgate Cemetery [Time is uncertain; The Times 15/7/1961 says “Evening”]

16:40            Soviet Embassy – British Soviet Friendship Society [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

21:00            Earl’s Court Live BBC TV interview (at 21:30) from Earl’s Court with Richard Dimbleby, Tom Margerison, science editor of the Sunday Times, and Yuri Fokin of the Soviet Television Service [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

22:15            Soviet Embassy

Saturday 15th July    

11:00            Leave Soviet Embassy for Airport [Daily Worker 15/07/61]

11:45            Press conference at Airport

12:35            Depart for Soviet Union [Daily Worker 15/07/61]

18:05             Arrive in Moscow [FO 371-159606 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

 

Episode 76: Space law

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Bayar Goswami

One of the earliest characteristics of human civilisation (large populations living together in organised cities) was the creation of rules or laws that everyone who lived there agreed to abide by.

The 50th anniversary of first humans to visit the Moon is celebrated later this year. In 1968 it was pretty much just two countries and a few space missions per year. Today, over 70 countries have something in the way of a space programme and along with a blossoming private space sector, space is likely to become very busy in the next decade or so. This surge of space activity will determine how the laws in space will apply and begin to set the scene for human civilisation beyond Earth.   On earth, most nations follow international laws most of the time.

International rules for operating in space were defined by the UN in five treaties established between 1967 – 1984.

  • 1967 – The Outer Space Treaty: Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
  • 1968 – Rescue Agreement. Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
  • 1972 – The Liability agreement. Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.
  • 1976 – The Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
  • 1984 – The Moon Treaty. Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

How will these laws fair in space? For example, will all governments

  • “authorise and supervise” their  “non-governmental entities” in space?
  • comply with international liabilities for physical damages caused by their space objects?
  • agree on who can build what and where on the Moon?
  • establish mining and ownership rights to materials on the Moon and other celestial bodies?
  • maintain the principles of human rights in space.

These are some of the questions I discuss with  Bayar Goswami, a Doctoral student at the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University (IASL) in Canada. A TedX speaker, Bayar has an interest in space as well as law and I started by asking him what came first.

The distinction between terms, such as signed, ratified and accessioned, is described here. A status of which nations have signed which treaty is maintained by the UN here. A summary of the five treaties is available here.

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Episode 75: China -back to the Moon with Chang’ E 4

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Ye Quan-ZhiOne mission two spacecraft, China is going back to the Moon with Chang’E 4 mission that I think is the most exciting lunar mission since the 1970s. By the end of 2018, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) will launch Chang’E 4 that will explore the far side of the Moon with a lander and a rover. Since it is on the other side of the Moon, it will be totally out of sight from the Earth. To facilitate communication, a relay satellite will be launched in advance of the lander/rover’s arrival at the Moon.

In addition to engaging private sector companies in China, Chang’E 4 will include a significant level of international collaboration in this mission with payloads from Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Sweden.

Ye Quan-Zhi is a postdoc astronomer who specialises in small bodies in the solar system. Like me, he started off as an amateur astronomer but now uses telescopes with apertures measured in meters rather than inches!  In addition to his research, he writes about space in the Planetary Society’s blog.   As a Chinese national, Quan-Zhi has an interest and an insight into the Chinese Space Programme and in this episode, we spoke about the upcoming Chang’ E 4 mission and the prospects of collaboration between India and China in space.

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Change’ E 4 Mission – An overview

Relay Satellite
Named as “Queqiao” or magpie bridge will be launched in May 2018 and placed in the Earth/Moon L2 orbit (also known as a halo orbit) about 60,000km from the Moon (450,000 km from the Earth) in the opposite direction of the Earth. From there it will always have a line of sight of the far side of the Moon and Earth at the same time. Its primary purpose is to act as a relay providing all the communications from the Lander/Rover that will land on the Moon in late 2018 or early 2019.

The two microsatellites from the Netherlands are called “Longjiang-1″ and “Longjiang-2”. The will enter an elliptical lunar orbit and conduct low-frequency radio astronomy experiments.

Lander & Rover
Due for launch in December 2018 or early 2019

The lander and rover are the backup lander and rover to the highly successful 2013 Chang’E 3 mission. Whilst identical in most respects, lessons learnt from Chang’E 3 have been incorporated in modifications to Chang’E 4.

Lander
• Landing Camera (LCAM)
• Terrain Camera (TCAM)
• Low-Frequency Spectrometer (LFS) to investigate radiation burst from the sun and cosmos.
• Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry (LND), a neutron detector from the University of Kiel University in Germany
• A mini “lunar biosphere” experiment designed by 28 Chinese universities consisting of a 0.8 litre capacity enclosure weighing 3 kilograms. The biosphere contains silkworm eggs, and seeds fro cress and potatoes. Once on the lunar surface, this mini biosphere will maintain a humidity and temperature (1 to 30 degrees centigrade) whilst the lunar surface temperature varies from +100 to -100 degrees centigrade. A HD camera will live stream from the lunar surface the hatching eggs and sprouting seeds during the first two weeks of the mission.

Rover
• Panoramic Camera (PCAM)
• Ground penetrating radar (LPR) to investigate the lunar crust and mantle
• Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS), for imaging spectroscopy
• Advanced Small Analyser for Neutrals (ASAN), to investigate how solar particles interacts with the lunar surface.