Volume X - Issue V - May 2008
Fascinating Projects
European ATV Jules Verne successfully docks ATV Jules Verne, the European Space Agency's first resupply and reboost vehicle, has successfully performed a fully automated docking with the International Space Station (ISS). This docking marks the beginning of Jules Verne’s main servicing mission to deliver cargo, propellant, water, oxygen and propulsion capacity to the Station, as well as ESA’s entry into the restricted club of the partners able to access the orbital facility by their own means.  This is the very first time in Europe that an automated docking is performed in due respect of the very tight safety constraints imposed by manned spaceflight operations. All the approach and docking phase was piloted by the ATV’s onboard computers under close monitoring by the teams of ESA, CNES (the French Space agency) and Astrium (the prime contractor) at the ATV Control Centre at CNES Toulouse, France, as well as the ISS crew inside the Zvezda module. In case of anomaly, both ends could trigger pre-programmed manoeuvres to hold position, retreat to the previous reference point or escape to a safe distance. All operations went smoothly, so none of these safety manoeuvres was required. The ATV Jules Verne was launched by an Ariane 5 from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 9 March 2008. Three days later, it successfully demonstrated its autonomous CAM capability and was cleared for ISS proximity operations. The spaceship then moved to a parking orbit for the duration of space shuttle Endeavour’s visit to the ISS. On March 29 and 31 it conducted two rehearsals for today’s docking, approaching at 11 m from the Station.  Now that it is docked, the ATV Jules Verne will become an additional module of the ISS for about four months. The astronauts will enter its pressurized cargo module and retrieve 1,150 kg of dry cargo, including food, clothes and equipment as well as two original manuscripts handwritten by Jules Verne and a XIXth century illustrated edition of his novel “From the Earth to the Moon”. In addition, they will pump 856 kg of propellant, 270 kg of drinking water and 21 kg of oxygen into Zvezda’s tanks. (In photo: dignitaries at ESA control center in Europe) The ATV can carry about three times as much payload as Russia’s Progress freighters but on this mission, most of it is actually propellant to be used by the ATV’s own propulsion system for periodical manoeuvres to increase the altitude of the ISS in order to compensate its natural decay caused by atmospheric drag. If required, the ATV will also be able to provide redundant attitude control to the ISS or even perform evasive manoeuvres to move the Station out of the way of potentially dangerous space debris. The first of ATV Jules Verne’s reboost manoeuvres is currently scheduled on 21 April. “The ATV is so much more than a simple delivery truck, it is an intelligent and versatile spaceship which has just demonstrated its extraordinary skills,” said Daniel Sacotte, ESA’s Director for Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration. “It is the largest and most complex spacecraft ever developed in Europe and the second in size of all the vehicle’s visiting the Station, after NASA’s space shuttle. With Columbus and the ATV, we have entered the major league of the ISS.” “The docking of the ATV is a new and spectacular step in the demonstration of European capabilities on the international scene of space exploration”said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General. “This fantastic step is in first instance the result of collective work in Europe, including ESA Member States, industry under Astrium as prime contractor, CNES and ESA staff as well as among ISS partners, in particular the USA and Russia. We shall now reap the benefits of such investments after the launch of ESA’s Columbus laboratory, first in utilizing the unique capabilities of the ISS and secondly in preparing for the exploration of the Solar System. Now that the ATV is "up and running", I am happy to announce that in the next few weeks ESA will launch a recruitment campaign to hire new European astronauts" According to NASA Administrator Michael Griffen in the USA, "I am incredibly proud of and pleased for our European partners with this demonstration of a successful automated docking of the ATV cargo vehicle with the ISS. Only Russia has previously achieved a successful automated docking in space. This accomplishment showcases yet again the progress which has been made by the international partnership in bringing this incredible program to fruition. Together with the arrival of the Columbus Module at the ISS earlier this year, the success of the ATV marks the arrival of Europe as a full-fledged space power. I applaud their achievement."  The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA is an international organisation with 17 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. ESA's headquarters are in Paris, with centres in Cologne, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Darmstadt, Germany; Frascati, Italy; and Noordwijk, the Netherlands. ESA also has liaison offices in Belgium, USA and Russia; a launch base in French Guiana and ground/tracking stations in various parts of the world. ESA currently includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada takes part in some projects under a Cooperation agreement. Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic are European Cooperating States. For more information, visit www.esa.int. Sources: ESA Press Release, April 4, 2008 and http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html Successful UN Schools Program in Sudan Some 1.3 million children in southern Sudan are expected to start classes this year, compared to just 340,000 in 2005, thanks to a program supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to boost school enrolment and strengthen the education system. The “Go to School” Initiative was launched a year after the January 2005 signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the north-south civil war that killed as many as two million people and displaced 4.5 million others.  UNICEF Country Representative in Sudan Ted Chaiban (pictured) has stressed that education is the single most important investment for southern Sudan. “We need a determination that is unshaken to get every southern Sudanese child into school and receiving a quality education,” he said. A major milestone has been the increase in the number of girls in school – some 34 per cent of the 1.3 million children now in school. During the civil war less than 1 per cent of girls completed their primary education. Along with promoting enrolment, UNICEF has also been supporting the Government of Southern Sudan on the following programs and projects:
A 2006 survey showed that only 16 per cent of the nearly 3,000 schools in the region had permanent buildings. The initiative has also supported the training of 5,000 teachers, and distributed millions of school supplies to students and instructors. (more projects!) Mr. Chaiban said the focus this year is on constructing more permanent classrooms, continued teacher training and the strengthening of an information management system. “By working closely with the Government of Southern Sudan and other partners, we are confident that more and more children will enjoy their right to a quality education, delivered in a quality environment,” he stated. The 'Go To School' Initiative is supported by a number of donors, including the governments of Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands and Japan, as well as UNICEF National Committees in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information, visit http://www.unicef.org/index.php. Source: UN News Digest, April 2, 2008. A Big overrun for the 2 billion Birr Ethiopian Hydropower Project Reported by Getachew Teklemariam in Addis Ababa An unprecedented landslide has caused a cost overrun estimated of 400 million Birr on the 2 billion Birr Tekeze Hydropower project in Ethiopia. The hydropower project that is being built on the river Tekeze, northern Ethiopia, which was destined to be resuming generating power by 2007, has faced a landslide from the nearby mountain. The project that was sponsored by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), which is a sole electricity providing government agency, and being contracted out to Chinese National Water Resource and Hydropower Engineering Corporation (CWHEC), the Chinese giant in hydropower projects, was meant to cost 2 billion Birr. Nevertheless, the construction of a restraining wall in order to prevent the unprecedented sliding of the nearby mountain, not felt in the feasibility study of the project, has required an extra 400 million Birr (15 % of the total project cost).  The manger of EEPCo Ato Mihrete Debebe (pictured), has said to the capital (Sunday April 6, 2008 issue) that “ the construction of the restraining wall is being undertaken 24 hours a day to complete the project on time to commission the plant before the current Ethiopian year” Even though EEPCo is undertaking other power projects like Gilgel Gibe II, Beles, Fincha, Amerti Neshi, and Gilgel Gibe III, the increase in electricity demand in the country which has grown by 12 percent in 2007 could not be in compliance with the rate of growth of electricity production in the country. Yet, with the completion of all the undergoing projects, it is aimed to raise the electricity production capacity of the country to 3270 MW. EEPCo is a government agency responsible for planning and managing power projects in Ethiopia with a current geographic coverage of 22 percent and with the annual connection of 350,000 customers by 2007. More on EEPCo can be found on www.EEPCo.gov.et. Dredging contract for Panama Canal Expansion awarded The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has awarded the third and largest expansion contract to dredge the Pacific sea entrance. The ACP kicked off this next phase of expansion awarding the contract to Dredging International of Belgium on Tuesday, April 1, 2008. The bid was at US$177 million. The Expansion Program will build a new lane along the Panama Canal through the construction of a new set of locks, which will double capacity and allow more traffic and longer, wider ships.  The dredging of the Pacific sea entrance will provide enough draft and width for longer, wider ships to pass and enter the new locks. Dredging work in the Pacific sea entrance is expected to begin during the third quarter of this calendar year. When expansion concludes, the dredging project will widen the Canal's approximate 9 mile-long (14 km) navigation channels to a minimum of 715 feet (218 meters) and deepen them to a maximum level of -51 feet (-15.5 meters) Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS). "As the third and largest expansion program contract in terms of volume, geographical spread and price awarded to date, the selection of Dredging International is a critical next step in the creation of the new lane. This is a solid, top-tier global dredging firm with the know-how and equipment we need to commence the job at hand and complete it on-time and within budget," said ACP Executive Vice President Engineering and Program Management Jorge Quijano. "We received bids from some of the industry's dredging leaders and now we look forward to issuing the order to proceed to Dredging International over the coming days so that they can begin their mobilization effort promptly." Dredging International is one of the most important dredging companies in the world and its proposal for the Panama Canal includes the utilization of some of the most advanced equipment that the industry has to offer at the global level. Dredging International is also working on other important projects around the word such as the construction of Port 2000 in Havre, France and the deepening of channels in Rio de la Plata located at the Argentina and Uruguay border. The ACP is the semi-autonomous agency of the Government of Panama in charge of managing, operating and maintaining the Panama Canal. The operation of the ACP is based on its organic law and the regulations approved by its Board of Directors. For more information, please refer to the ACP's Web site: http://www.pancanal.com. For more information, visit http://www.pancanal.com/. 68 million USD sought for emergency food aid and Reported by Getachew Teklemariam in Addis Ababa It is becoming a vital concern to volatile economies to cope with the recent phenomenon of food price hike. The situation is no different in Ethiopia, though the economy which has evidenced a fifth term two digit growth is struggling to get things right. According to the United Nations (UN) some 2.2 million people in Ethiopia are in need of emergency food aid worth 67.7 million USD. The world situation, that is, according to Robert Zoellick, president of the world bank, worth “seven years” in a fight against global poverty, summed up with the domestic factors of inadequate rainfall, poor infrastructure, and increased farmer income has worsened the local situation, especially for the urban poor. According to Vincent Lelei, head of the OCHA office in Ethiopia, and deputy to the HC a.i. “ the continued collaboration by all humanitarian actors in Ethiopia for the benefit of the most vulnerable in the country is highly appreciated, and we look forward to strengthening this collaboration” Besides covering the emergency food aid, it is planned to strengthen the relief- to-development project, which was set up by the government of Ethiopia in 2005 as a way to end food aid dependency of the country in a sustainable matter.  According to UN news, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon (pictured) also supported the OCHA effort in his message to a high level meeting organized by WTO, UNCTAD and ESC in New York on April 14, 2008. He underlined the fact that the rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions. He has affirmed that the UN needs to find out ways to lead a process for immediate and long-term responses to this global problem. For a recent humanitarian situation in Ethiopia have a look at http://www.ocha-eth.org. King Mohamed VI launches thermo-solar energy plant in Morocco King Mohamed VI on Friday, 28 March, laid the foundation stone of the Ain Beni Mathar thermo-solar electricity plant at a ceremony attended by many people, including the African Development Bank's Resident Representative in Morocco, Nono Matondo-Fundani.  The ceremony, held at the site of the project, 86 km to the south of Oujda in eastern Morocco, signified the official commencement of works on the two-phased combined and integrated power station with an installed capacity to generate 472 MW of electricity, including 20 MW from the solar component. The cost of the project is estimated at € 400 million. The African Development Bank partially financed the project with two loans amounting to € 287.85 million, of which € 36.45 million was approved in March 2005 and € 151.40 million in December 2007. Other sources of funding include $ 43.20 million from the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), a loan of € 43 million from the Spanish Development Agency (ICO) and the National Electricity Corporation (ONE) of Morocco. Source: African Development Bank news release, April 5, 2008. Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan - American, Korean  Russian Soyuz spacecraft landed safely in Kazakhstan on Saturday, 19 April at approximately 4:30 a.m. EST. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station, was aboard and ended a mission during which she conducted five spacewalks and set a new record in American spaceflight. Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, members of the 16th crew to live and work aboard the station, safely landed their Soyuz spacecraft in the steppes of Kazakhstan. Spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi, South Korea’s first astronaut in space, also returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz. The landing was approximately 295 miles from the expected landing site, delaying the recovery forces' arrival to the spacecraft by approximately 45 minutes.  Whitson (pictured) has accumulated more time in space than any U.S. astronaut in history. She and Malenchenko, who launched to the station on Oct. 10, 2007, spent 192 days in space. This was Whitson's second flight to the station. She served almost 185 days as a flight engineer on the Expedition 5 crew, which launched June 5, 2002, and returned to Earth Dec. 7, 2002. Whitson has totaled 377 days in space during two missions. Malenchenko, 46, a Russian Air Force colonel, completed his third long-duration spaceflight. He spent 126 days aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1994, and commanded Expedition 7, spending 185 days in space in 2006. He also was a member of the STS-106 crew of shuttle Atlantis on a 12-day mission to the station in 2000. He has accumulated 515 days in space during his four flights. That is the ninth highest total of cumulative time.
The Expedition 16 crew worked with experiments across a wide variety of fields, including human life sciences, physical sciences and Earth observation. Many of the experiments are designed to gather information about the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body, which will help with planning future missions to the moon and Mars. Before undocking, Whitson and Malenchenko bid farewell to the new station crew, Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Garrett Reisman. Volkov and Konenko launched to the station April 8. They were accompanied by Yi who flew under a commercial contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. For information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station. Source: NASA press release, 19 April 2008 Fascinating Project: UN - Backed Effort to remove dangerous Nuclear Fuel from Serbia moves forward A global effort to remove dangerous spent nuclear fuel and to decommission a Soviet-designed nuclear reactor in Serbia has cleared another major funding hurdle. These activities are part of a UN-backed project to close down potential sources of terrorism and proliferation. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that together with the Serbian Government it has recently signed an $8.63 million framework agreement with the European Commission (EC) to help fund decommissioning the Vinca reactor on the outskirts of Belgrade, the capital. Apparently, however, $25 million more is still needed to complete the project, which includes repatriating to Russia highly-enriched uranium (HEU) that could be converted to weapons-grade material.  “The EC support was absolutely crucial to the life of the programme, but we have quite a ways to go to find the remaining $25 million for the project,” said IAEA Special Programme Manager for the Vinca Institute Nuclear Decommissioning (VIND), John J. Kelly. “The EC contribution serves as a great example and encourages other potential donors to invest in an important and successful project. With radioactive waste, disused sources, and leaking spent fuel that’s almost 45 years old, the Vinca site presents huge radiological challenges.” Once completed, the spent fuel shipment will comprise the largest in the European theatre, and extra shipping casks have already been built for the project through funding received from the United States. Thousands of containers of unprocessed radioactive waste and disused sealed radioactive sources must also be removed from old, degraded storage buildings, repackaged and placed into new holding facilities. In a third stage the reactor will be decommissioned. Security at Vinca had long been a source of concern, with much of the dangerous material and facilities inadequately protected, but thanks to funding and other support from the Serbian Government and the US for upgrades and police, overall security has been substantially improved over the past two years. International concern over Vinca mushroomed in the 1990s after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, which led to increased international cooperation to reduce the radiological risk. The IAEA has been involved in various such projects in recent years from now-independent countries that were part of the Soviet sphere of influence, including the secret airlift from the former East Germany of 270 kilos of HEU that could be used by terrorists to make nuclear explosives and the repatriation from Uzbekistan of fuel containing enough uranium to produce two and a half nuclear bombs. Source: UN Daily News Digest, April 15, 2008 Brasov International Airport Construction Project launched Reported by Florin Gheorghiu in Bucharest On 15th of April after some years of feasibility analysis and funding option explorations, the Project for a new international airport in Brasov, ROMANIA has finally turned on its the way.  Well within the heart of the country at the crossroads between East and West of the region the new airport is meant to complete a missing loop to the transportation chain in the country and will constitute a link on a mid range between Transylvania and locations in mainland Europe. The project has a lengthy pre-start period and it was expected to start some years ago since the rapid development of tourism in Brasov City particularly and of the region in general. Favorable conditions to get the works on the road were finally met in recent weeks when a consistent package of technical documents as well as project funds were identified.  Eight years lapsed from the first initiative taken between local authority and Regional and European operators are interested to land on the new airport either with regulated or charter flights and technically speaking ATR and BOEING as well as AIRBUS with their mid range jet liners are expected to sign in for using the airport services during their flights. Specialized charters and LLC (Low Cost Carriers) are also invited to land to Brasov after completion and commissioning. Every destination within 1500 kilometers range could be covered when using flights from this new airport. Big names in the field like Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, ELAL, WizAir, Blue Jet, SpanAir, and KLM have already shown their interest and in some instances even companies from China have shown willingness to use the ground services. The overall budget with the project development is estimated to 90 million Euros with a time to completion of 30 months while the payback time is somewhere at 12 years. Intelcan is not at its first challenge in Romania: the Canadian contractor has vast experience in airport construction industry. They completed the terminals 1 and 3of Havana Airport, built 3 airports in Bulgaria and other AFB‘s in Romania. Next year Intelcan will kick off 2 new airport construction sites in Quito (Ecuador) and Kingston, Jamaica.  For Brasov, ROMANIA the project just started at the right moment, months before the highway to stretch over nearby the City limits. Having Bechtel currently progressing with the highway strip cutting the country from South to North there might be voices who want to quench down the local enthusiasm after the airport project kickoff.  With a distance of only 150 km from the next international airport in capital Bucharest it is hard to believe that if the highway would have been in place the feasibility study of the new airport would made decision makers accept this project. However, besides the figures and investment analysis, it is a good chance for the City of Brasov to take advantage from this infrastructure project: tourism could be the first to benefit out of this local effort to make air operators to land and takeoff to and from Brasov since the city attracted many tourists for years even though neither highway nor airport are among the landmarks. With a good to excellent hotel network, skiing infrastructures and scenic landscapes it seems that the future in tourism is secured when the air links will connect the City with Europe without resorting to the crowded capital of Bucharest for detouring. More than this, there are other industries waiting in the pipeline to provide services for the new airport and this will surely add value to the region and cash to the City Hall. |
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