A new spacecraft “cargo” was launched this night (local 22:05, the 4.05 in Italy), from Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Center. It ‘a space module built largely in Italy, and is the sixth launched to the ISS, the International Space Station, which is again inhabited by six astronauts, after the last Soyuz launch three days ago.
Cygnus is part of a series of cargo-modules manufactured in factories in Turin by Thales Alenia Space. The agreement signed by the company Thales and Finmeccanica with the American company Orbital ATK, will realize a total of ten space modules in a commercial program called Cygnus / PCM (Pressurized Cargo Module – Pressurized Cargo Modules) in collaboration with Orbital, within the service NASA’s Commercial Resupply services.
THE CYGNUS TODAY AND THOSE FUTURE
“Cygnus”, automatic modules (which therefore do not host onboard astronauts) are a bit ‘smaller cargo such as “logistic modules” built in the past, and sent to the ISS with the space shuttle. But they are still very capacious: the party today carries 3,280 kilograms tons of supplies (food, equipment and new scientific experiments, water, etc.) to the astronauts of the Space Station. And ’6 meters long, with a diameter of 3, and has been baptized “Rick Husband” in honor of the commander of the Columbia died in the accident of 2003.
After launching the Atlas 5 rocket, and once “liberated” into space from its last stage 20 minutes after launch, the “Cygnus” automatically towards the space station, which will have to reach Saturday morning. Once he arrived in the vicinity of the coupling system, the robotic arm of the space station as “fetch”, led by the astronauts Tim Kopra and Timothy Peake, and will dock at one of the doors of the ISS, where it will remain for 55 days. After the completion of his mission, the module will detach from the Space Station, will be loaded with waste material no longer usable, and will disintegrate upon re-entry into atmospheric layers.
And now you look to future modules, with technological innovations for Cygnus 9:10, on which you are working to set up with a new and innovative technique: “The segments of the pressurized module and the module driving will be merged with friction welding “- says Piero Messidoro, Thales Alenia Space Italy -” and therefore no supply of additional material. With a welding it is possible in plasticity conditions to amalgamate the two parts without other materials. With better efficiency and saving of time and costs “. “We are working to number 9 modules and 10, while the 6, 7 and 8 have already delivered some time, but we look beyond” – adds Messidoro – “We have increased the carrying capacity of the three segments, from 2,700 up to 3,500 kilograms” .
AN ITALIAN ART ON BOARD
The name is in English, but the experiment Advanced Research Thermal Exchange (Advanced Search by exchange heat), which is located on board the Cygnus launched tonight, is all Italian. It ‘a technology demonstrator designed and built by Argotec, in the laboratories of Turin, and coordinated by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), under the call “Human Space Flight for Research and Technological Demonstration on the ISS” promoted by ASI. The Politecnico di Torino has intervened in the initial phase of electronics design with the development of a prototype.
Thinking to future missions, in which the human exploration will always push further away, it grows in parallel with the focus on simple, reliable and require little maintenance. In this context, the heat pipes (heat exchangers) become a solution for the transfer of heat, since they are passive systems, the use of which does not require human intervention or an external control. In fact they are devices that exploit the phase change of the fluid, which contain inside them, to transfer heat from a hot zone to a cold zone, without the use of pumps or devices requiring electrical energy.
A PROJECT TO INCREASE SAFETY IN ORBIT FOR ASTRONAUTS
In the space the module surfaces are subject to very different temperatures, in part because it exposed directly to the sun and partly into deep space. In microgravity conditions, also, the air present inside the inhabited module does not move naturally, but must be forcibly kept in motion by means of fans in order to cool all of the devices that produce heat on board.
There are not these heat exchange systems located within the environments inhabited by astronauts, as the fluids used are toxic and their eventual release would result in a catastrophic risk. The project ART (Advanced Research for Passive Thermal Exchange) is a breakthrough, because the research was focused on fluids which guarantee the required performance, and at the same time are characterized by low toxicity.
The scientific activity in microgravity and the results will be a valuable contribution to the possible terrestrial applications of these innovative devices.
The experiment was scheduled for April 5, when Thermal Exchange will be installed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (a small workshop in which it operates externally with use of gloves), this the American Destiny module.
The engineers of Argotec will support real-time operations at the company’s control center, in Turin, in conjunction with the NASA control centers.
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