ISS Node 2: Built in Italy by ESA

Node 2 (Harmony) is a European-built module of the International Space Station that serves as and integral part of the space station structure.

It is currently functioning as a utility room, docking port and sleeping quarters. 

It was built in Italy for NASA and installed on the Space Station in 2007.

Credit: Edgar Martins

Martins shot the exterior of a Node 2 mock-up in the Erasmus centre in ESA’s scientific and technical heart at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

In space the docking ports are used to connect spacecraft such as the Japanese ferry HTV, commercial supply ship Cygnus and NASA’s Space Shuttle before it retired from service.

NASA refer to Node 2 as the Harmony module and it serves as an integral part of the  space station.

It was built under a Memo of Understanding (MOU), which forms part of a portfolio of collaborative agreements between NASA and ESA.

MOUs and other collaborative agreements limit the exchange of monetary funds between nations, while at the same time advancing the exploitation and exploration of Space in a mutually beneficial manner.

Self-organizing Robotic construction crew - Video

The TERMES robots can carry bricks, build staircases, and climb them to add bricks to a structure, following low-level rules to independently complete a construction project. 

Credit: Eliza Grinnell, Harvard SEAS

On the plains of Namibia, millions of tiny termites are building a mound of soil—an 8-foot-tall "lung" for their underground nest.

During a year of construction, many termites will live and die, wind and rain will erode the structure, and yet the colony's life-sustaining project will continue.


Inspired by the termites' resilience and collective intelligence, a team of computer scientists and engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has created an autonomous robotic construction crew.

The system needs no supervisor, no eye in the sky, and no communication: just simple robots—any number of robots—that cooperate by modifying their environment.

Harvard's TERMES system demonstrates that collective systems of robots can build complex, three-dimensional structures without the need for any central command or prescribed roles.

The results of the four-year project were presented this week at the AAAS 2014 Annual Meeting and published in the February 14 issue of Science.


The TERMES robots can build towers, castles, and pyramids out of foam bricks, autonomously building themselves staircases to reach the higher levels and adding bricks wherever they are needed.

In the future, similar robots could lay sandbags in advance of a flood, or perform simple construction tasks on Mars.

"The key inspiration we took from termites is the idea that you can do something really complicated as a group, without a supervisor, and secondly that you can do it without everybody discussing explicitly what's going on, but just by modifying the environment," says principal investigator Radhika Nagpal, Fred Kavli Professor of Computer Science at Harvard SEAS.

She is also a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute, where she co-leads the Bioinspired Robotics platform.

The TERMES robots can build themselves staircases to reach the next construction points, and they know how to add bricks that advance construction without blocking important paths. 

Credit: Eliza Grinnell, Harvard SEAS

More information: "Designing Collective Behaviour in a Termite-Inspired Robot Construction Team," by J. Werfel et al. Science, 2014.

ESA Rosetta OSIRIS Development and construction of the onboard camera system

Red planet: In February 2007, the Rosetta space probe flew past Mars. 

The OSIRIS camera system succeeded in taking this image. 

The two polar caps made of frozen carbon dioxide can be clearly recognised. 

Credit: ESA 2007 / MPS for OSIRIS-Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /RSSD /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

The ten-year journey of the Rosetta space probe, which will end this year in August when it arrives at the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, was packed with interesting points of interest.

To increase its speed, Rosetta flew past Earth three times and Mars once; the asteroids Steins and Lutetia also crossed the probe's path and each time the OSIRIS camera system provided impressive images.

The development and construction of the eye was headed by a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

Whereas Earth and Mars primarily offered the experts the opportunity to test and calibrate their instrument on a comparably close object, the asteroids were of major scientific interest.

Since the Rosetta fly-by in July 2010, the Lutetia asteroid numbers among the best-investigated small bodies - and has proven to be a true primeval rock.

Owing to its surface structure, the Max Planck researchers estimate it to be at least 3.6 billion years old.

OSIRIS' distinctive aspect: The camera system consists of a telephoto and a wide-angle camera.

The instrument can thus view the comet with a dual approach when it arrives at its destination: while the telephoto camera can resolve structures measuring a mere two centimetres on the surface of Churyumov-Gerasimenko from a distance of one kilometre, the wide-angle camera keeps the whole celestial object in view.

The cameras are additionally equipped with a total of 25 colour filters. This allows them to investigate the light which Churyumov-Gerasimenko reflects into space in specific wavelength ranges and tease out information on the mineral composition of the surface or the gas streaming from the comet.

Abstract continent: The second time it passed by Earth in November 2007, Rosetta took this picture of Europe - shown here in false colours. 

Credit: ESA 2007 / MPS for OSIRIS-Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /RSSD /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

However, as recent years have shown, OSIRIS is not only suitable for research objects in the immediate vicinity.

In 2005, for example, when NASA's Deep Impact probe caused an object with a volume of one cubic metre to impact on the comet Tempel 1, OSIRIS observed the cloud of dust created by this impact from a distance of around 80 million kilometres.

And the instrument succeeded in taking a first picture of the targeted comet as early as summer 2011 - something which required 13 hours exposure time and sophisticated image processing, since the probe and comet were around 163 million kilometres apart at the time.

Pentagon trying to block construction of GLONASS stations in US

The US Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency have been trying to persuade the US State Department not to allow Roscosmos to build several GLONASS ground-based measuring stations in the United States, alleging that they could be used for military purposes.

They fear that the structures could help Russia spy on the United States and improve the precision of Russian weaponry, the officials said.

These monitor stations, the Russians contend, would significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of Moscow's version of the Global Positioning System, the American satellite network that steers guided missiles to their targets and thirsty smartphone users to the nearest Starbucks.

The Pentagon argues that if the State Department sanctions the GLONASS station deployments, Russia might be able to increase the accuracy of its guided missiles and could also use them for intelligence activity from inside US borders.

The arguments have prompted the White House to postpone decision-making on the issue until Russia provides further information, according to anonymous sources in the US Administration and Department of State.

US congressman Michel Rogers, who earlier requested the Pentagon's estimates of the consequences of deploying GLONASS stations for US national security, said he didn't understand why the US should be interested in encouraging GLONASS, a competitor to the American GPS system, when the use of GPS worldwide gives the US obvious advantages in many respects.

Moscow rejects the suggestion that the structures have anything to do with surveillance operations, contending they are designed to improve the accuracy of Russia's version of the Global Positioning System (GPS), the American satellite network that steers guided missiles to their targets and helps with navigation.

"They don't want to be reliant on the American system and believe that their systems, like GPS, will spawn other industries and applications," said a former senior official in the State Department's Office of Space and Advanced Technology.

The monitor stations have been a high priority for Russian President Vladimir Putin for several years as a means of improving Glonass, not just to benefit the Russian military and civilian sectors but also to compete globally with GPS.

Earlier this year, Russia positioned a Glonass station in Brazil and agreements with Spain, Indonesia and Australia are expected soon, according to Russian news reports. The United States has stations around the world but none in Russia.

In May 2012, Moscow requested that the United States allow the ground-monitoring stations on American soil.

American technical and diplomatic officials have met several times to discuss the issue and have asked Russian officials for more information, said Ms. Harf, the State Department spokeswoman.

ESA: Thales Alenia Space kicks off Euclid construction

Artist’s impression of Euclid. Credit: ESA - C. Carreau

The construction of ESA's Euclid space mission to explore the 'dark Universe' will be led by Italy's Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, beginning the full industrial phase of the project.

The announcement follows that of last month when EADS Astrium Toulouse was confirmed to build the payload module – the telescope and optical bench carrying the science instruments.

Euclid will be launched in 2020 to explore the roles played by dark energy and dark matter in the evolution of the Universe since the Big Bang and, in particular, in its present accelerating expansion.

Dark matter is invisible to normal telescopes, but acts through gravity to play a vital part in forming galaxies and slowing the expansion of the Universe.

Dark energy, on the other hand, causes a force that overcomes gravity and that is accelerating the expansion seen around us today.

Together, they are thought to comprise 95% of the total amount of mass and energy in the Universe, with 'normal' matter – from which stars, planets and we humans are made – making up the remaining small fraction. But their nature remains a profound mystery.

Alvaro Giménez Cañete

"We are pleased to confirm the prime contractor for this exciting mission. With the support of European space industry, we are a step closer to revealing the darkest secrets of the Universe," says Professor Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.

"This is a long-awaited milestone after the mission concept was first proposed to ESA in 2007, and we are delighted to see that the spacecraft construction can now begin," says Yannick Mellier, who leads the Euclid consortium, comprising scientists from 13 European countries and the US.

The consortium will provide Euclid's two state-of-the art scientific instruments: a visible-light camera and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer.

Together, they will map the 3D distribution of up to two billion galaxies spread over more than a third of the whole sky.

Light from the most distant galaxies streaming towards Earth is slightly bent by gravity as it interacts with matter along the way.

This is dominated by dark matter, whether associated with galaxies and galaxy clusters, or in isolation. Thus, by measuring distortions in the shapes of those background galaxies, astronomers can construct a 3D map of the dark matter in the Universe.

Furthermore, by assessing how the distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters has changed over cosmic time, scientists can infer the role and evolution of dark energy from the dawn of the Universe until today.

The results will help to answer one of the most important questions in modern cosmology: why is the Universe expanding at an accelerating rate today, rather than slowing down due to the gravitational attraction of all the matter in it?

ESA ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction

ESA's mission to Mars in 2016 has entered the final stage of construction with the signature of a contract today with Thales Alenia Space at the Paris Air & Space Show.

ExoMars will fly two missions, in 2016 and 2018, in a partnership between ESA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

Its main goal is to answer one of the outstanding scientific questions of our time: has life ever existed on Mars?

In addition, ExoMars will develop new European technical capabilities in landing, roving, drilling and preparing samples to pave the way for a future Mars sample-return mission in the 2020s.

The first mission will be launched in 2016 and will include the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) to search for evidence of methane and other atmospheric gases that could be signs of active biological or geological processes.

It will also deliver the Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) to the surface of Mars, to demonstrate key technologies needed for the 2018 mission and future landing missions.

The 2018 mission will land a rover on Mars – the first with the capability of drilling to depths of 2 m to collect samples that have been shielded from the harsh conditions on the surface, where radiation and oxidants can destroy organic materials.

In addition, the 2018 mission carries a Surface Platform with scientific instruments to investigate the martian environment.

The agreement, signed today in the ESA pavilion at the Paris Air & Space Show, marks a major milestone for the mission and for Thales Alenia Space, the industrial prime contractor on ExoMars.

Signature of Rider 1 to ESA Contract for Exomars. Credit: ESA

The agreement was signed by the old brigade of European Space Programs; Prof Giménez and Vincenzo Giorgio, Vice President Exploration & Science of Thales Alenia Space during a ceremony attended by the Agency's Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain.

Also attending were Maria Carrozza, the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research, Enrico Saggese, President of the Italian space agency, and Jean-Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space.

NASA Turns Up the Heat On Construction of the SLS

An adapter for the Orion spacecraft under construction at the Marshall Center.

Credit: NASA/MSFC

Welding engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have had an extremely busy winter assembling adapters that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a Delta IV rocket for the initial test flight of Orion in 2014.

The adapter later will attach Orion to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket managed and in development at the Marshall Center that will enable missions farther into space than ever before.

The 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) will provide engineers with important data about the adapter's performance before it is flown on SLS beginning in 2017.

In a high bay of Marshall's Building 4755, expert welders using state-of-the-art friction stir welding machines worked on two separate adapters.

For each adapter, a vertical welding machine stitched panels together to form a conical cylinder, then a circumferential welding machine attached a thicker, structural support ring at the top and the bottom.

"While the adapters are identical and are considered flight articles, only one will actually be used for EFT-1," said Brent Gaddes, Spacecraft & Payload Integration Subsystem manager.

"The other will undergo strenuous structural testing to ensure quality, while its twin will make the trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration into the rest of the test vehicle for launch."

United Launch Alliance (ULA), which makes the Delta IV rocket in nearby Decatur, Ala., will deliver a full-size section of the rocket later this spring for engineers to test the fit of the adapter.

"You really don't have the tools and the resources in one place anywhere else in the world," said Justin Littell, a mechanical engineer with the welding group at the Marshall Center. "The work that we do here is exciting and I get to work with a great team. It's amazing."

See the friction stir welds in action in this video:

3D printers could use Moon rocks to make supplies, say scientists

Future Moon colonists should be able to use lunar rocks to create tools or spare parts, according to a study.

US researchers have used a 3D printer to make small objects out of melted simulated lunar rocks.

They say the technique could help future missions to minimise the weight and the expense of carrying materials into space as a digital file would be enough.

But one expert says such a printer would have to be extremely precise.

In 2010, Nasa asked a team from Washington State University to see whether it was possible to use lunar rocks for 3D printing.

It supplied the researchers with simulated Moon rocks, or lunar regolith simulant, containing silicon, aluminium, calcium, iron and magnesium oxides.

Many hundreds of kilograms of Moon rocks were collected during Nasa missions, but the scientists did not use them because they are considered a national treasure in the US.

Lunar regolith simulant is commonly used for research purposes at Nasa.

"It sounds like science fiction, but now it's really possible," said Prof Amit Bandyopadhyay, the lead author of the study, published in the Rapid Prototyping Journal.

His team created simple 3D shapes by sending a digital file or scan to a printer which then built the items layer by layer out of melted lunar regolith, fed via a carefully controlled nozzle to form a shape. The process is known as "additive manufacturing".

A laser was used to melt the material.

"As long as you can have additive manufacturing set up, you may be able to scoop up and print whatever you want. It's not that far-fetched," said Prof Bandyopadhyay.

The research demonstrates the latest advances in 3D printing technology, which is already in use in medicine, fashion, car manufacturing and other industries.

ESA ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi: From construction to Launchpad - YouTube

Ever wondered about ESA's third ATV, Edoardo Amaldi's journey so far?

This short video shows its construction at EADS Astrium in Bremen, Germany all the way to the pre-launch preparations in Europe's Spaceport, CNES, in Kourou, French Guiana.

ATV-3 is due for launch on 23rd March, 2012 at 05.34 CET, and it will carry a record load of over 7 tonnes into orbit.

ESA ATV-3, Edoardo Amaldi being loaded into Ariane-5 launcher - video

How Astrium Builds a Satellite - YouTube

Rapid Increase in Satellite Construction & Launch

There will be many more satellites to build and launch

A 10-year forecast of satellite and launcher markets has good news and bad news for hardware manufacturers:

There will be many more satellites to build and launch, but the average manufacturing and launch price will increase only marginally, if at all, and may even drop after accounting for inflation.

The 12th World Market Survey of satellite construction and launch trends produced by Euroconsult of Paris looks at the likely government and commercial satellite and launch landscape for the 10 years ending in 2018 and compares it to the 10 years ending in 2008.

Taking all markets - commercial, civil government and military - combined, the average satellite mass is likely to drop by 5 percent, to 4,166 pounds (1,890 kg), in the coming 10 years compared to the previous period, Euroconsult concludes.

But while the average satellite built in the next decade will lose weight, the number of satellites will increase. The study concludes that 1,185 spacecraft will be launched in the next 10 years, a 47 percent increase over the 10 years ending in 2008.

The average satellite price over the next decade will be $99 million, compared to $97 million in the past 10 years. The per-satellite launch price is predicted to remain flat, at $51 million, according to Euroconsult.

The report's principal author, Rachel Villain, said the increased participation of emerging-market economies such as India and China in the overall space market will continue to exert downward pressure on launch and satellite prices. The figures do not include microsatellites weighing less than 88 pounds (40 kg) at launch, nor do they include classified military satellites, principally from the United States and Russia.