Cancel WFIRST telescope and the Russians in orbit of the moon
The situation when resources are enough for all desired projects is usually found only in computer games, and at a low level of complexity. In real life, as a rule, you have to choose, and moving in one direction means stagnation in others. Very clearly this thesis was illustrated by two news from last week, good and bad. On the one hand, the participating countries of the Gateway station near-moon station project confirmed their interest in further work, on the other hand, the WFIRST infrared telescope did not have a place in the NASA budget project for 2020, which could mean the end of the agency’s flagship telescope era.
WFIRST telescope, NASA image
The WFIRST infrared telescope, which should have a field of view 100 times larger than the Hubble and proposed for detecting exoplanets and studying dark matter, is on the verge of cancellation more than once. A year ago, the NASA budget project did not include money for it, but the Senate still allocated funds to continue the work. Now WFIRST is in a worse situation - discontent with delays and exceeding the terms of the James Webb telescope is growing in the US Congress, and the project may not be saved for the second time.
NASA draft budget by year, source
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In general, the draft NASA budget for 2020 is 21 billion dollars, 500 million less than a year ago. The cuts could not affect the programs already in progress, for example, it was proposed to abandon the development of version 1B for the SLS rocket with a more lifting upper stage Exploration Upper Stage. But the greatest blow was dealt to astrophysics and the study of the Earth. The budget of the astrophysical department is proposed to reduce by 347 million, from 1191 million to 844, and the study of the Earth - by 152 million. In general, the scientific part of the budget is going to be reduced from 6.9 to 6.3 billion.
John Morse, NASA’s astrophysical director, told Space.com in an interview:
Stopping work on the telescope, which should have been the next after James Webb, may mean that the agency will not have the next large telescope for many years. Let me remind you that agency projects are grouped by the amount of funds allocated, and the most expensive, “flagship” (Flagship) missions include the telescopes Hubble, Chandra and James Webb. Co-chairman of the WFIRST research team, David Spergel, reported space.com verbatim:
It is also worth noting that Gateway and SLS did not “eat” WFIRST directly, they are allocated an order of magnitude more funds. But, for example, the proposed $ 363 million for the development of lunar landing gears almost exactly coincides with the annual cost of WFIRST, which Morse estimates at $ 400 million.
Also, unfortunately, in the face of budget cuts, WFIRST is not the only potential victim. It is proposed to cancel the PACE ocean exploration satellite and the CLARREO Pathfinder climatology equipment for the ISS. And what is really sad is that the draft budget does not have money for the STEM educational program, in which students had the opportunity to work in agency projects. However, STEM financing has already been offered in the budgets of the 18th and 19th years, but faced sharp criticism from both the Republicans and the Democrats, so the program still has chances to receive funds this year.
Fresh scheme of the near-moon station Gateway, NASA image
In early March , a multilateral coordination group was held, consisting of representatives of NASA, European (ESA), Canadian (CSA) and Japanese (JAXA) space agencies and Roscosmos, at which the parties confirmed their intentions to continue working. After the uncertainty of the second half of 2018, it is gratifying to see that Roscosmos retains its participation in the project. It is also worth noting that the Canadian Space Agency was the first official partner of NASA, on February 28 of this year, the rest of the agencies so far are included only in the coordination group. The list of participants coincides with the agencies that created the ISS, except that the shares have changed.
From the published scheme, it is clear that Gateway is the most American project - three modules are created in NASA, and interchangeable logistics are noted as joint NASA and JAXA. ESAs create one module and participate with JAXA in another. One module will do Russia, and Canada will provide the manipulator. The Orion ship consists of a NASA command and service compartment created by the ESA. So the proportion of shares is similar to 4 (NASA): 2 (ESA): 1 (JAXA): 1 (CSA): 1 (Roscosmos). It is logical to assume that the astronauts and astronauts will be represented at the station in proportion to the share of participation in the project, similar to the ISS. And, if Orion will fly with a crew of 4 people, the Americans will occupy 2 seats, one is likely to get to a European astronaut, and the last astronauts from Canada, Japan and Russian cosmonauts will receive the latter. This is markedly different from the usual distribution of roles on the ISS, where the presence of Americans and Russians is most intense, Europeans fly regularly, but not every flight, the Japanese fly less often than once a year, and Canadians appear once every few years. Also, since the station is supposed to be visited, the crews will depend on the work directly performed, for example, the Americans and Europeans will assemble the first three modules, and the first Canadian, Japanese or Russian will arrive with the first module or important equipment of the respective country.
Under current plans, Gateway will be a visited station in a highly elliptical halo orbit around the moon. In 2022, a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) module with solar panels and an electric propulsion engine should be launched to the Moon on a commercial carrier rocket. In 2024, the European System Providing Refining, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT), a module with additional fuel supplies, communication equipment and a gateway for scientific equipment and a small US Utilization Module with crew space, will fly simultaneously. The three-module station will be assembled by the crew of the first expedition of the visit, who arrived on the Orion ship. Then to the complex will add two habitable modules, a replaceable logistic, Canadian manipulator (should arrive at the first logistic) and a Russian multifunctional module, judging by the image, which is mainly the docking compartment. Gateway is planned to be used both for missions to the Moon, and for sending a Martian ship in the 2030s.
WFIRST telescope, NASA image
When the flagships go
The WFIRST infrared telescope, which should have a field of view 100 times larger than the Hubble and proposed for detecting exoplanets and studying dark matter, is on the verge of cancellation more than once. A year ago, the NASA budget project did not include money for it, but the Senate still allocated funds to continue the work. Now WFIRST is in a worse situation - discontent with delays and exceeding the terms of the James Webb telescope is growing in the US Congress, and the project may not be saved for the second time.
NASA draft budget by year, source
')
In general, the draft NASA budget for 2020 is 21 billion dollars, 500 million less than a year ago. The cuts could not affect the programs already in progress, for example, it was proposed to abandon the development of version 1B for the SLS rocket with a more lifting upper stage Exploration Upper Stage. But the greatest blow was dealt to astrophysics and the study of the Earth. The budget of the astrophysical department is proposed to reduce by 347 million, from 1191 million to 844, and the study of the Earth - by 152 million. In general, the scientific part of the budget is going to be reduced from 6.9 to 6.3 billion.
John Morse, NASA’s astrophysical director, told Space.com in an interview:
We will have James Webb, an excellent observatory, but nothing more. In the proposed budget can not fit another observatory, which will cost several billions. Therefore, they canceled WFIRST - there is simply no money for a project worth $ 3 billion and a period of 7-8 years.
Stopping work on the telescope, which should have been the next after James Webb, may mean that the agency will not have the next large telescope for many years. Let me remind you that agency projects are grouped by the amount of funds allocated, and the most expensive, “flagship” (Flagship) missions include the telescopes Hubble, Chandra and James Webb. Co-chairman of the WFIRST research team, David Spergel, reported space.com verbatim:
If this budget is accepted, there will be no new “flagship” missions.
It is also worth noting that Gateway and SLS did not “eat” WFIRST directly, they are allocated an order of magnitude more funds. But, for example, the proposed $ 363 million for the development of lunar landing gears almost exactly coincides with the annual cost of WFIRST, which Morse estimates at $ 400 million.
Also, unfortunately, in the face of budget cuts, WFIRST is not the only potential victim. It is proposed to cancel the PACE ocean exploration satellite and the CLARREO Pathfinder climatology equipment for the ISS. And what is really sad is that the draft budget does not have money for the STEM educational program, in which students had the opportunity to work in agency projects. However, STEM financing has already been offered in the budgets of the 18th and 19th years, but faced sharp criticism from both the Republicans and the Democrats, so the program still has chances to receive funds this year.
Same gateway
Fresh scheme of the near-moon station Gateway, NASA image
In early March , a multilateral coordination group was held, consisting of representatives of NASA, European (ESA), Canadian (CSA) and Japanese (JAXA) space agencies and Roscosmos, at which the parties confirmed their intentions to continue working. After the uncertainty of the second half of 2018, it is gratifying to see that Roscosmos retains its participation in the project. It is also worth noting that the Canadian Space Agency was the first official partner of NASA, on February 28 of this year, the rest of the agencies so far are included only in the coordination group. The list of participants coincides with the agencies that created the ISS, except that the shares have changed.
From the published scheme, it is clear that Gateway is the most American project - three modules are created in NASA, and interchangeable logistics are noted as joint NASA and JAXA. ESAs create one module and participate with JAXA in another. One module will do Russia, and Canada will provide the manipulator. The Orion ship consists of a NASA command and service compartment created by the ESA. So the proportion of shares is similar to 4 (NASA): 2 (ESA): 1 (JAXA): 1 (CSA): 1 (Roscosmos). It is logical to assume that the astronauts and astronauts will be represented at the station in proportion to the share of participation in the project, similar to the ISS. And, if Orion will fly with a crew of 4 people, the Americans will occupy 2 seats, one is likely to get to a European astronaut, and the last astronauts from Canada, Japan and Russian cosmonauts will receive the latter. This is markedly different from the usual distribution of roles on the ISS, where the presence of Americans and Russians is most intense, Europeans fly regularly, but not every flight, the Japanese fly less often than once a year, and Canadians appear once every few years. Also, since the station is supposed to be visited, the crews will depend on the work directly performed, for example, the Americans and Europeans will assemble the first three modules, and the first Canadian, Japanese or Russian will arrive with the first module or important equipment of the respective country.
Under current plans, Gateway will be a visited station in a highly elliptical halo orbit around the moon. In 2022, a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) module with solar panels and an electric propulsion engine should be launched to the Moon on a commercial carrier rocket. In 2024, the European System Providing Refining, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT), a module with additional fuel supplies, communication equipment and a gateway for scientific equipment and a small US Utilization Module with crew space, will fly simultaneously. The three-module station will be assembled by the crew of the first expedition of the visit, who arrived on the Orion ship. Then to the complex will add two habitable modules, a replaceable logistic, Canadian manipulator (should arrive at the first logistic) and a Russian multifunctional module, judging by the image, which is mainly the docking compartment. Gateway is planned to be used both for missions to the Moon, and for sending a Martian ship in the 2030s.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/444096/
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