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154-548: There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space . The launch vehicles vary in size and power from the small Super Loki meteorological rockets to orbital-class vehicles. The Wallops Flight Facility also supports science missions for

308-486: A near-perfect vacuum of predominantly hydrogen and helium plasma , permeated by electromagnetic radiation , cosmic rays , neutrinos , magnetic fields and dust . The baseline temperature of outer space, as set by the background radiation from the Big Bang , is 2.7 kelvins (−270 °C; −455 °F). The plasma between galaxies is thought to account for about half of the baryonic (ordinary) matter in

462-424: A spacecraft must travel faster than a sub-orbital spaceflight along an arcing trajectory . The energy required to reach Earth orbital velocity at an altitude of 600 km (370 mi) is about 36  MJ /kg, which is six times the energy needed merely to climb to the corresponding altitude. The escape velocity required to pull free of Earth's gravitational field altogether and move into interplanetary space

616-642: A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) sensors. Seven A-model Block 10s were delivered and all were retired by 2011. The RQ-4B Block 20 was the first of the B-model Global Hawks, which has a greater 3,000 lb (1,400 kg) payload and employs upgraded SAR and EO/IR sensors. Four Block 20s were converted into communications relays with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) payload. The RQ-4B Block 30

770-528: A 2013 proposal to mothball the 21 Block 30 signals intelligence variants. The initial flyaway cost of each of the first 10 aircraft was US$ 10 million in 1994. By 2001, this had risen to US$ 60.9 million (~$ 100 million in 2023), and then to $ 131.4 million (flyaway cost) in 2013. The U.S. Navy has developed the Global Hawk into the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance platform. As of 2022 ,

924-665: A breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment ; the Secretary stated: "The Global Hawk is essential to national security; there are no alternatives to Global Hawk which provide acceptable capability at less cost; Global Hawk costs $ 220M less per year than the Lockheed U-2 to operate on a comparable mission; the U-2 cannot simultaneously carry the same sensors as the Global Hawk; and if funding must be reduced, Global Hawk has

1078-497: A carrier would be purchased, likely "similar" to the U.S. Global Hawk. Germany is considering installing the EuroHawk's SIGINT payloads onto the U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton Global Hawk derivative, as the electronic and communications intelligence sensors would be more difficult to place on other substitute aircraft. It already has icing and lightning-strike protection, and was built with certification over civilian airspace in mind, meeting

1232-505: A challenging environment for human exploration because of the hazards of vacuum and radiation . Microgravity has a negative effect on human physiology that causes both muscle atrophy and bone loss . The use of the short version space , as meaning 'the region beyond Earth's sky', predates the use of full term "outer space", with the earliest recorded use of this meaning in an epic poem by John Milton called Paradise Lost , published in 1667. The term outward space existed in

1386-483: A common processor and transmitted in real time at up to 50 Mbit/s to a ground station. The SAR-MTI system operates in the X band in various operational modes; such as the wide-area MTI mode with a radius of 62 mi (100 km), combined SAR-MTI strip mode provides 20 ft (6.1 m) resolution over 23 mi (37 km) wide sections, and a SAR spot mode providing 6 ft (1.8 m) resolution over 3.8 square miles (9.8 square kilometers). In July 2006,

1540-495: A deep vacuum that forms what is now called outer space. As light has a finite velocity, this theory constrains the size of the directly observable universe. The present day shape of the universe has been determined from measurements of the cosmic microwave background using satellites like the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe . These observations indicate that the spatial geometry of

1694-712: A dozen airborne demonstrations a year. By using unmanned aircraft to track hypersonic systems, faster availability and deployment could support a test rate of up to one per week. To perform this new mission, the Global Hawk is retrofitted into the Range Hawk, which involves configuring it to look up rather than down by repositioning onboard avionics and installing new sensors and instrumentation suites to track an overhead hypersonic vehicle. The program will use four Block 20 and 20 Block 30 airframes retired from USAF service. Converted Block 10 Range Hawks supported 10 hypersonic flight tests in 2023, including two tests in spring 2023 over

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1848-532: A hazard to astronauts, even in low Earth orbit. They create aurorae seen at high latitudes in an oval surrounding the geomagnetic poles . xGeo space is a concept used by the US to refer to space of high Earth orbits , ranging from beyond geosynchronous orbit (GEO) at approximately 35,786 km (22,236 mi), out to the L2 Earth-Moon Lagrange point at 448,900 km (278,934 mi). This

2002-506: A higher number of flight hours. In 2015, the RQ-4 was planned to replace the U-2 by 2019, though Lockheed Martin stated the U-2 can remain viable until 2050. As of January 2018, the U.S. Air Force budget for 2018 had indefinitely postponed the retirement of the U-2. In February 2020, the U.S. Air Force submitted budget documents with confusing language suggesting that it could begin retiring U-2s in 2025 but clarified afterwards that no retirement

2156-514: A higher priority over other programs." On 26 January 2012, the Pentagon announced plans to end Global Hawk Block 30 procurement as the type was found to be more expensive to operate and with less capable sensors than the existing U-2. Plans to increase procurement of the Block 40 variant were also announced. The Air Force's fiscal year 2013 budget request said it had resolved to divest itself of

2310-1009: A launch vehicle to monitor its trajectory, and if necessary initiate pyrotechnic devices to terminate the flight. LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site. LCT2 is being pursued as part of the Space Based Range Demonstration and Certification (SBRDC) program (formerly called Space Based Telemetry and Range Safety (STARS)) in cooperation with NASA Kennedy Space Center. WFF's primary mission areas are as follows: With its sounding rocket, aircraft, and balloon flights carrying scientific payloads, its aeronautical systems testing, its range support for Space Shuttle launches, and its educational outreach activities, WFF supports all of NASA's Mission Directorates and practically all of their respective themes: In 1998,

2464-577: A legal space above territories free from the sovereign jurisdiction of countries. " Spaceborne " denotes existing in outer space, especially if carried by a spacecraft; similarly, " space-based " means based in outer space or on a planet or moon. The size of the whole universe is unknown, and it might be infinite in extent. According to the Big Bang theory, the very early universe was an extremely hot and dense state about 13.8 billion years ago which rapidly expanded . About 380,000 years later

2618-512: A majority of the mass-energy in the universe, dark energy's influence is 5 orders of magnitude smaller than the influence of gravity from matter and dark matter within the Milky Way. Outer space is the closest known approximation to a perfect vacuum . It has effectively no friction , allowing stars, planets , and moons to move freely along their ideal orbits , following the initial formation stage. The deep vacuum of intergalactic space

2772-591: A number of organizations important to its mission and future growth. Some examples include: It has also worked with the National Security Agency in experiments involving ionized clouds for communications interception during the Cold War . Outer space Outer space (or simply space ) is the expanse that exists beyond Earth's atmosphere and between celestial bodies . It contains ultra-low levels of particle densities , constituting

2926-477: A payload of 2,000 pounds (910 kilograms). The fuselage uses aluminum, semi-monocoque construction with a V-tail ; the wings are made of composite materials. There have been several iterations of the Global Hawk with different features and capabilities. The first version to be used operationally was the RQ-4A Block 10, which performed imagery intelligence (IMINT) with a 2,000 lb (910 kg) payload of

3080-509: A perigee as low as 80 to 90 km (50 to 56 mi), surviving for multiple orbits. At an altitude of 120 km (75 mi), descending spacecraft such as NASA 's Space Shuttle begin atmospheric entry (termed the Entry Interface), when atmospheric drag becomes noticeable, thus beginning the process of switching from steering with thrusters to maneuvering with aerodynamic control surfaces. The Kármán line , established by

3234-579: A poem from 1842 by the English poet Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley called "The Maiden of Moscow", but in astronomy the term outer space found its application for the first time in 1845 by Alexander von Humboldt . The term was eventually popularized through the writings of H. G. Wells after 1901. Theodore von Kármán used the term of free space to name the space of altitudes above Earth where spacecrafts reach conditions sufficiently free from atmospheric drag, differentiating it from airspace , identifying

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3388-559: A possible congressional termination of the program if its national security benefits could not be justified. However, in June 2006, the program was restructured. Completion of an operational assessment report by the USAF was delayed from 2005 to 2007 due to manufacturing and development delays. The operational assessment report was released in March 2007 and production of the 54 air vehicles planned

3542-643: A practical boundary have been proposed, ranging from 30 km (19 mi) out to 1,600,000 km (990,000 mi). High-altitude aircraft , such as high-altitude balloons have reached altitudes above Earth of up to 50 km. Up until 2021, the United States designated people who travel above an altitude of 50 mi (80 km) as astronauts. Astronaut wings are now only awarded to spacecraft crew members that "demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety." In 2009, measurements of

3696-553: A separate facility, Wallops Station , operating directly under NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague , and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location. In 1974, the Wallops Station was named Wallops Flight Center . The name was changed to Wallops Flight Facility in 1981, when it became part of Goddard Space Flight Center. In

3850-487: A simulated Martian environment. The lithopanspermia hypothesis suggests that rocks ejected into outer space from life-harboring planets may successfully transport life forms to another habitable world. A conjecture is that just such a scenario occurred early in the history of the Solar System, with potentially microorganism -bearing rocks being exchanged between Venus, Earth, and Mars. The lack of pressure in space

4004-532: A third ramp adjoins the Crash, Fire and Rescue building. The primary research runway has a test section with a variety of surface textures and materials for runway research projects. Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground. Wallops meteorological services provide measurements of upper atmospheric and magnetic phenomena to augment and enable

4158-535: A variety of antennas, receivers, and display instrumentation systems. Command uplink and optical tracking facilities are included as part of the range. The range also provides premier digital photographic and video services including operation of numerous still cameras, high speed and video systems for Range Safety support, surveillance, and post-launch analysis (e.g., failure analysis), project documentation (e.g., fabrication and test), administrative documentation, and archiving for environmental studies. In addition, WFF has

4312-479: A variety of communications systems and facilities to route voice, video, and data in support of launch processing, flight, and test operations. The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base. There are three runways (from 4,810 feet (1,470 m) to 8,750 feet (2,670 m) long), two taxiways , three ramps, and one hazardous cargo loading area in active service. Two ramps adjoin the two active hangars, and

4466-402: A water ingestion test flight. Only minor injuries to a copilot and flight engineer were reported. There were no ground injuries. The airplane was being used to test a new nose wheel tire. For the test, the airplane was passed through a "pool" or "trough" of water on the runway at different speeds. The pilot failed to obtain/maintain alignment with the water pool and lost control. The plane departed

4620-420: Is 90 percent". During 2010–2013, costs of flying the RQ-4 fell by more than 50%. In 2010, the cost per flight hour was $ 40,600, with contractor logistic support making up $ 25,000 per flight hour of this figure. By mid-2013, cost per flight hour dropped to $ 18,900, contractor logistic support having dropped to $ 11,000 per flight hour. This was in part due to higher usage, spreading logistics and support costs over

4774-472: Is a continuous stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun which creates a very tenuous atmosphere (the heliosphere ) for billions of kilometers into space. This wind has a particle density of 5–10 protons /cm and is moving at a velocity of 350–400 km/s (780,000–890,000 mph). Interplanetary space extends out to the heliopause where the influence of the galactic environment starts to dominate over

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4928-525: Is a lower-cost derivative of the ASARS-2 package that Hughes developed for the U-2. It is also fitted to the US Army's de Havilland Canada RC-7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low Multifunction (ARLM) crewed aircraft, and is being sold on the international market. HISAR integrates a SAR - MTI system, along with an optical and a thermography imager. All three sensors are controlled and their outputs filtered by

5082-444: Is about 11,200 m/s (40,300 km/h; 25,100 mph). Orbiting spacecraft with a perigee below about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) are subject to drag from the Earth's atmosphere, which decreases the orbital altitude. The rate of orbital decay depends on the satellite's cross-sectional area and mass, as well as variations in the air density of the upper atmosphere. At altitudes above 800 km (500 mi), orbital lifetime

5236-511: Is about five times the Moon's orbital distance , but which distance is also far less than the distance between Earth and any adjacent planet. Interplanetary space within the Solar System is the space between the eight planets, the space between the planets and the Sun, as well as that space beyond the orbit of the outermost planet Neptune where the solar wind remains active. The solar wind

5390-452: Is capable of conducting sorties lasting up to 30 hours long and scheduled maintenance must be performed sooner than on other aircraft with less endurance. However, since it flies at higher altitudes than normal aircraft, it experiences less wear during flight. It can survey as much as 40,000 square miles (100,000 km ) of terrain per day, an area the size of South Korea or Iceland . Raytheon 's Integrated Sensor Suite (ISS) consists of

5544-557: Is capable of multi-intelligence (multi-INT) collecting with SAR and EO/IR sensors along with the Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP), a wide-spectrum SIGINT sensor. The RQ-4B Block 40 is equipped with the multi-platform radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which provides SAR and moving target indication (MTI) data for wide-area surveillance of stationary and moving targets. The RQ-4

5698-461: Is co-populated by groups of co-orbital Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), such as horseshoe librators and Earth trojans , with some NEOs at times becoming temporary satellites and quasi-moons to Earth. Deep space is defined by the United States government as all of outer space which lies further from Earth than a typical low-Earth-orbit, thus assigning the Moon to deep-space. Other definitions vary

5852-482: Is designed to provide operators with real-time weather information, offering horizontal scan angles of up to 120 degrees for better visibility into the strength and intensity of convective activity and a vertical scanning mode to analyze storm tops, gradients, and cell buildup activity. It also has a Turbulence Detection feature to identify turbulence in air containing precipitation and other airborne particulates and Ground Clutter Suppression that removes ground returns from

6006-496: Is divided into overlapping regions of space. Near-Earth space is the region of space extending from low Earth orbits out to geostationary orbits . This region includes the major orbits for artificial satellites and is the site of most of humanity's space activity. The region has seen high levels of space debris, sometimes dubbed space pollution , threatening any space activity in this region. Some of this debris re-enters Earth's atmosphere periodically. Although it meets

6160-438: Is free for all nation states to explore and is not subject to claims of national sovereignty, calling outer space the "province of all mankind". This status as a common heritage of mankind has been used, though not without opposition, to enforce the right to access and shared use of outer space for all nations equally, particularly non-spacefaring nations. It prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space. The treaty

6314-492: Is located beyond the orbit of the Moon and therefore includes cislunar space. Translunar space is the region of lunar transfer orbits , between the Moon and Earth. Cislunar space is a region outside of Earth that includes lunar orbits , the Moon's orbital space around Earth and the Lagrange points . The region where a body's gravitational potential remains dominant against gravitational potentials from other bodies,

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6468-475: Is measured in centuries. Below about 300 km (190 mi), decay becomes more rapid with lifetimes measured in days. Once a satellite descends to 180 km (110 mi), it has only hours before it vaporizes in the atmosphere. Space in proximity to the Earth is physically similar to the remainder of interplanetary space, but is home to a multitude of Earth–orbiting satellites and has been subject to extensive studies. For identification purposes, this volume

6622-422: Is measured in terms of the kinetic activity of the gas, as it is on Earth. The radiation of outer space has a different temperature than the kinetic temperature of the gas, meaning that the gas and radiation are not in thermodynamic equilibrium . All of the observable universe is filled with photons that were created during the Big Bang, which is known as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). (There

6776-449: Is not devoid of matter , as it contains a few hydrogen atoms per cubic meter. By comparison, the air humans breathe contains about 10 molecules per cubic meter. The low density of matter in outer space means that electromagnetic radiation can travel great distances without being scattered: the mean free path of a photon in intergalactic space is about 10  km, or 10 billion light years. In spite of this, extinction , which

6930-686: Is planned. In July 2022, the US Air Force announced plans to retire the Global Hawk in 2027. The German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ) ordered a variant of the RQ-4B, to be equipped with a customized sensor suite, designated "EuroHawk". The aircraft was based on the RQ-4B Block 20/30/40 and was to be equipped with an EADS -built signals intelligence (SIGINT) package; it was intended to fulfill Germany's requirement to replace their aging Dassault-Breguet Atlantique electronic surveillance aircraft of

7084-559: Is quite likely a correspondingly large number of neutrinos called the cosmic neutrino background . ) The current black body temperature of the background radiation is about 2.7 K (−455 °F). The gas temperatures in outer space can vary widely. For example, the temperature in the Boomerang Nebula is 1 K (−458 °F), while the solar corona reaches temperatures over 1,200,000–2,600,000 K (2,200,000–4,700,000 °F). Magnetic fields have been detected in

7238-631: Is slowed by the pressure containment of blood vessels, so some blood remains liquid. Swelling and ebullism can be reduced by containment in a pressure suit . The Crew Altitude Protection Suit (CAPS), a fitted elastic garment designed in the 1960s for astronauts, prevents ebullism at pressures as low as 2 kilopascals (0.3 psi). Supplemental oxygen is needed at 8 km (5 mi) to provide enough oxygen for breathing and to prevent water loss, while above 20 km (12 mi) pressure suits are essential to prevent ebullism. Most space suits use around 30–39 kilopascals (4–6 psi) of pure oxygen, about

7392-538: Is the absorption and scattering of photons by dust and gas, is an important factor in galactic and intergalactic astronomy . Stars, planets, and moons retain their atmospheres by gravitational attraction. Atmospheres have no clearly delineated upper boundary: the density of atmospheric gas gradually decreases with distance from the object until it becomes indistinguishable from outer space. The Earth's atmospheric pressure drops to about 0.032 Pa at 100 kilometres (62 miles) of altitude, compared to 100,000 Pa for

7546-451: Is the body's sphere of influence or gravity well, mostly described with the Hill sphere model. In the case of Earth this includes all space from the Earth to a distance of roughly 1% of the mean distance from Earth to the Sun, or 1.5 million km (0.93 million mi). Beyond Earth's Hill sphere extends along Earth's orbital path its orbital and co-orbital space. This space

7700-514: Is the most immediate dangerous characteristic of space to humans. Pressure decreases above Earth, reaching a level at an altitude of around 19.14 km (11.89 mi) that matches the vapor pressure of water at the temperature of the human body . This pressure level is called the Armstrong line , named after American physician Harry G. Armstrong . At or above the Armstrong line, fluids in

7854-419: Is used as a high-altitude long endurance (HALE) platform covering the spectrum of intelligence collection capability to support forces in worldwide military operations. According to the USAF, the superior surveillance capabilities of the aircraft allow more precise weapons targeting and better protection of friendly forces. Cost overruns led to the original plan to acquire 63 aircraft being cut to 45, and to

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8008-434: Is used for mission planning, command and control , and image processing and dissemination; an LRE for controlling launch and recovery; and associated ground support equipment. The LRE provides precision Differential GPS corrections for navigational accuracy during takeoff and landings, while precision coded GPS supplemented with an inertial navigation system is used during mission execution. By having separable elements in

8162-544: The Marineflieger (Naval Air arm of the German Navy). The EADS sensor package is composed of six wing-mounted pods; reportedly these sensor pods could potentially be used on other platforms, including crewed aircraft. The EuroHawk was officially rolled out on 8 October 2009 and its first flight took place on 29 June 2010. It underwent several months of flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base. On 21 July 2011,

8316-572: The ALE-50 towed decoy for the Global Hawk. Although the Global Hawk is being retired from combat use, the Department of Defense's Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) is acquiring them to support the SkyRange program to test hypersonic missiles by 2024. Tests are currently monitored by ships, but it can take a ship 21 days to be positioned and outfitted for use, limiting flights to about

8470-812: The Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program, sponsored by DARPA , in order to evaluate the design and demonstrate its capabilities. Demand for the RQ-4's abilities was high in the Middle East ; thus, the prototype aircraft were actively operated by the USAF in the War in Afghanistan . In an unusual move, the aircraft entered initial low-rate production while still in engineering and manufacturing development. Nine production Block 10 aircraft, sometimes referred to as RQ-4A , were produced; of these, two were sold to

8624-475: The Bogotá Declaration , they claimed control of the segment of the geosynchronous orbital path corresponding to each country. These claims are not internationally accepted. An increasing issue of international space law and regulation has been the dangers of the growing number of space debris . A spacecraft enters orbit when its centripetal acceleration due to gravity is less than or equal to

8778-571: The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , and used internationally by the United Nations , is set at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) as a working definition for the boundary between aeronautics and astronautics. This line is named after Theodore von Kármán , who argued for an altitude where a vehicle would have to travel faster than orbital velocity to derive sufficient aerodynamic lift from

8932-563: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) definition of standard pressure . Above this altitude, isotropic gas pressure rapidly becomes insignificant when compared to radiation pressure from the Sun and the dynamic pressure of the solar wind . The thermosphere in this range has large gradients of pressure, temperature and composition, and varies greatly due to space weather . The temperature of outer space

9086-604: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and occasionally for foreign governments and commercial organizations. Wallops also supports development tests and exercises involving United States Navy aircraft and ship-based electronics and weapon systems in the Virginia Capes operating area, near the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay . In addition to its fixed-location instrumentation assets,

9240-675: The Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS onto the RQ-4. The MS-177 will replace the SYERS-2 and includes modernized optronics and a gimbaled rotation device to increase field of view by 20 percent. The RQ-4B flew with the SYERS-2 on 18 February 2016. Raytheon developed the AN/ALR-89 self-protection suite consisting of the AN/AVR-3 laser warning receiver , AN/APR-49 radar warning receiver , and jamming system, along with

9394-564: The STANAG 4671 requirements that had ended the EuroHawk program. As of March 2021, Germany plans to put the single RQ-4E aircraft on display in the Bundeswehr Military History Museum by 2022. In January 2014, President Obama signed a budget that included a $ 10 million (~$ 12.7 million in 2023) study on adapting the U-2's superior sensors for the RQ-4. In April 2015, Northrop Grumman reportedly installed

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9548-747: The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority , later joined by Maryland , built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA. In December 2006, the facility made its first launch. The Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists. In addition, one Saturday each month, NASA invites model rocketry enthusiasts to launch their own rockets from

9702-480: The centrifugal acceleration due to the horizontal component of its velocity. For a low Earth orbit , this velocity is about 7,800 m/s (28,100 km/h; 17,400 mph); by contrast, the fastest piloted airplane speed ever achieved (excluding speeds achieved by deorbiting spacecraft) was 2,200 m/s (7,900 km/h; 4,900 mph) in 1967 by the North American X-15 . To achieve an orbit,

9856-467: The immune system . Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, and puffiness of the face. During long-duration space travel, radiation can pose an acute health hazard . Exposure to high-energy, ionizing cosmic rays can result in fatigue, nausea, vomiting, as well as damage to the immune system and changes to the white blood cell count. Over longer durations, symptoms include an increased risk of cancer, plus damage to

10010-585: The mesosphere are sometimes referred to as "near space". The framework for international space law was established by the Outer Space Treaty , which entered into force on 10 October 1967. This treaty precludes any claims of national sovereignty and permits all states to freely explore outer space . Despite the drafting of UN resolutions for the peaceful uses of outer space, anti-satellite weapons have been tested in Earth orbit . The concept that

10164-408: The observable universe is made up of an unknown form, dubbed dark matter and dark energy . Outer space does not begin at a definite altitude above Earth's surface. The Kármán line , an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) above sea level , is conventionally used as the start of outer space in space treaties and for aerospace records keeping. Certain portions of the upper stratosphere and

10318-584: The refractive index of air caused by sea breeze fronts, gust fronts, and various forms of clear air turbulence . The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems. These assets are used as needed to supplement instrumentation at existing ranges, or to establish a temporary range to ensure safety and collect data to support the rocket customers in a remote location where no other range instrumentation exists. This complement of transportable systems can be deployed to provide complete range capabilities at remote locations around

10472-426: The zodiacal light . Interplanetary space contains the magnetic field generated by the Sun. There are magnetospheres generated by planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and the Earth that have their own magnetic fields. These are shaped by the influence of the solar wind into the approximation of a teardrop shape, with the long tail extending outward behind the planet. These magnetic fields can trap particles from

10626-539: The Air Force RQ-4 mainly in its wing. While the Global Hawk remains at high altitude to conduct surveillance, the Triton climbs to 50,000 ft (15,000 m) to see a wide area and can drop to 10,000 ft (3,000 m) to get further identification of a target. The Triton's wings are specially designed to take the stresses of rapidly decreasing altitude. Though similar in appearance to the Global Hawk's wings,

10780-566: The Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America , Africa, Europe, Australia , and at sea. Workers at Wallops include approximately 1,000 full-time NASA civil service employees and the employees of contractors, about 30 U.S. Navy personnel, and about 100 employees of NOAA. In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under

10934-566: The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans taking place only 10 days apart. The Global Hawk UAV system comprises the RQ-4 air vehicle, which is outfitted with various equipment such as sensor packages and communication systems; and a ground element consisting of a Launch and Recovery Element (LRE), and a Mission Control Element (MCE) with ground communications equipment. Each RQ-4 air vehicle is powered by an Allison Rolls-Royce AE3007H turbofan engine with 7,050 lbf (31.4 kN) thrust, and carries

11088-518: The Block 30 variant; however, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 mandated operations of the Block 30 fleet through the end of 2014. The USAF plans to procure 45 RQ-4B Global Hawks as of 2013. Before retiring in 2014, ACC commander, General Mike Hostage said of the U-2's replacement by the drone that "The combatant commanders are going to suffer for eight years and the best they're going to get

11242-421: The Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. The inner boundary is the ionosphere . The variable space-weather conditions of geospace are affected by the behavior of the Sun and the solar wind; the subject of geospace is interlinked with heliophysics —the study of the Sun and its impact on the planets of the Solar System. The day-side magnetopause is compressed by solar-wind pressure—the subsolar distance from

11396-571: The European airspace. During flight trials, problems with the EuroHawk's flight control system were found; the German certification process was also complicated by Northrop Grumman refusing to share technical data on the aircraft with which to perform evaluations. On 13 May 2013, German media reported that the EuroHawk would not be certifiable under ICAO rules without an anti-collision system; thus preventing any operations within European airspace or

11550-877: The Global Hawk, the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reapers "... the most accident-prone aircraft in the Air Force fleet." On 11 February 2010, the Global Hawks deployed in the Central Command AOR accrued 30,000 combat hours and 1,500 plus sorties. Initial operational capability was declared for the RQ-4 Block 30 in August 2011. The USAF did not plan to keep the RQ-4B Block 30 in service past 2014 due to

11704-487: The MP-RTIP radar, emphasising surveillance over reconnaissance. On 14 April 2014, a Block 40 Global Hawk completed the first Maritime Modes program risk-reduction flight to enhance the Air Force's maritime surveillance capabilities. Maritime Modes is made up of a Maritime Moving Target Indicator and a Maritime Inverse synthetic aperture radar (MISAR) that function together to provide ISR information on vessels traveling on

11858-589: The Main Base, the Mainland, and the Wallops Island Launch Site. The Mainland and the Wallops Island Launch Site are about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of the Main Base. Wallops operates controlled airspace with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) qualified air traffic controllers including: Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways ; an experimental UAV runway; and crash, fire, and rescue services. WFF has facilities for

12012-636: The Persian Gulf region. The aircraft accrued over 42,500 flight hours in 2,069 missions; one was lost in an accident and another was shot down by Iran . The BAMS-D was replaced in Navy service with the MQ-4C. Development cost overruns placed the Global Hawk at risk of cancellation. In mid-2006, per-unit costs were 25% over baseline estimates, caused by both the need to correct design deficiencies as well as to increase its capabilities. This caused concern over

12166-452: The Sun. It is the space between the stars or stellar systems within a nebula or galaxy. Interstellar space contains an interstellar medium of sparse matter and radiation. The boundary between an astrosphere and interstellar space is known as an astropause . For the Sun, the astrosphere and astropause are called the heliosphere and heliopause. Approximately 70% of the mass of the interstellar medium consists of lone hydrogen atoms; most of

12320-498: The Triton's internal wing structure is much stronger and has additional features including anti-icing capabilities and impact and lightning strike protection. On 17 June 2022, the Navy brought its last deployed RQ-4A BAMS-D back from the Middle East, ending what started as a six-month experiment but turned into a 13-year deployment. The Navy had acquired five Block 10 RQ-4As and since 2009 at least one had been kept on rotation in

12474-532: The U-2 and other platforms being less expensive in the role. Congress sought to keep it in service until December 2016. The USAF had 18 RQ-4 Block 30s by the time of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which directed a further three RQ-4s to be procured as part of Lot 11. The USAF felt that additional aircraft were "excess to need" and likely become backup or attrition reserve models. Despite

12628-425: The U-2's Optical Bar Camera (OBC) and Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS-2B/C) sensors onto the RQ-4 using a Universal Payload Adapter (UPA). Successful testing indicated that all RQ-4s could be similarly retrofitted. On 14 July 2015, Northrop Grumman and the USAF signed an agreement to demonstrate an RQ-4B fitted with the U-2's OBC and SYERS-2C sensors. Two Global Hawks are to be fitted with

12782-615: The U.S. Air Force plans to retire its Global Hawks in 2027. In the 1990s, the Air Force was developing uncrewed aerial intelligence platforms. One was the stealthy Lockheed Martin RQ-3 DarkStar ; another was the Global Hawk. Due to budget cuts, only one of the programs could survive. It was decided to proceed with the Global Hawk for its range and payload rather than go with the stealth Dark Star. The Global Hawk took its first flight on 28 February 1998, at Edwards Air Force Base , California. The first seven aircraft were built under

12936-511: The UAV is within line-of-sight of compatible ground stations. For dense flight areas the autonomous navigation is switched off and the RQ-4 is remote controlled via the satellite link by pilots on the ground who are supplied with the same instrument data and who carry the same responsibilities as pilots in crewed planes. The ground segment consists of a Mission Control Element (MCE) and Launch and Recovery Element (LRE), provided by Raytheon. The MCE

13090-553: The UPA, involving the installation of 17 payload adapter fixtures and a new payload bay cover, as well as software and mission system changes for each sensor. The UPA can support 1,200 lb (540 kg) of sensors and will create a canoe-shaped sensor bay on the fuselage's underside. Northrop Grumman also expects to receive a contract to integrate the UTC Aerospace Systems MS-177 multispectral sensor used on

13244-475: The US Navy and an additional two were deployed to Iraq to support operations there. The final Block 10 aircraft was delivered on 26 June 2006. To increase the aircraft's capabilities, the airframe was redesigned, with the nose section and wings being stretched. The modified aircraft, designated RQ-4B Block 20, can carry up to 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) of internal payload. These changes were introduced with

13398-761: The USAF began testing the Global Hawk Block 30 upgrades in the Benefield Anechoic Facility at Edwards AFB. Upgrades include the Advanced Signals Intelligence Payload, an extremely sensitive SIGINT processor. and a specialist AESA radar system, the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program , or MP-RTIP. In 2010, Northrop disclosed the sensor capabilities of the new Block 40 aircraft, including

13552-492: The WFF range includes mobile radar , telemetry receivers, and command transmitters that can be transported by cargo planes to locations around the world, in order to establish a temporary range where no other instrumentation exists, to ensure safety, and to collect data in order to enable and support suborbital rocket launches from remote sites. The WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in

13706-716: The WFF rocket launch site. NASA personnel also participate, launching models of various rockets and explaining the spacecraft they carry in real life. The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site. For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects. NSIP stands for the NASA Student Involvement Project, the Sub-SEM project was to design one of four experiments that would be inserted into an ORION-II one-stage rocket and launched above 98 percent of

13860-504: The airspace of any ICAO member. The additional cost of certification was reported to be more than € 600 million (US$ 780 million). On 15 May 2013, the German government announced the immediate termination of the program, attributing the cancellation to the certification issue. Reportedly, the additional cost to develop the EuroHawk to the standards needed for certification may not have guaranteed final approval for certification. German defense minister Thomas de Maizière stated EuroHawk

14014-521: The area. Four flights were performed, resulting in over 24 hours of persistent maritime surveillance coordinated with the aircraft carrier USS  Abraham Lincoln and amphibious warfare ship USS  Bonhomme Richard . For the GHMD program, the Global Hawk was tasked with maintaining maritime situational awareness, contact tracking, and imagery support of exercise operations. Images were transmitted to NAS Patuxent River for processing and then forwarded to

14168-736: The atmosphere to support itself, which he calculated to be at an altitude of about 83.8 km (52.1 mi). This distinguishes altitudes below as the region of aerodynamics and airspace , and above as the space of astronautics and free space . There is no internationally recognized legal altitude limit on national airspace, although the Kármán line is the most frequently used for this purpose. Objections have been made to setting this limit too high, as it could inhibit space activities due to concerns about airspace violations. It has been argued for setting no specified singular altitude in international law, instead applying different limits depending on

14322-511: The atmosphere, and experience over 30 Gs of centrifugal force, while SEM was to design an experiment that would be flown on a future Space Shuttle mission. Each project gave 16 students and four teachers (four students and one teacher from each high school) the opportunity to spend an almost all-expense-paid week at WFF. Normally the students and teachers stayed in the Mariner Motel, now a Holiday Inn, conducting experiments and learning about

14476-735: The average energy density of the present day universe at the equivalent of 5.9 protons per cubic meter, including dark energy, dark matter, and baryonic matter (ordinary matter composed of atoms). The atoms account for only 4.6% of the total energy density, or a density of one proton per four cubic meters. The density of the universe is clearly not uniform; it ranges from relatively high density in galaxies—including very high density in structures within galaxies, such as planets, stars, and black holes —to conditions in vast voids that have much lower density, at least in terms of visible matter. Unlike matter and dark matter, dark energy seems not to be concentrated in galaxies: although dark energy may account for

14630-498: The blood empties into the lungs to try to equalize the partial pressure gradient. Once the deoxygenated blood arrives at the brain, humans lose consciousness after a few seconds and die of hypoxia within minutes. Blood and other body fluids boil when the pressure drops below 6.3 kilopascals (1 psi), and this condition is called ebullism . The steam may bloat the body to twice its normal size and slow circulation, but tissues are elastic and porous enough to prevent rupture. Ebullism

14784-399: The body adjusts to the new environment. Longer-term exposure to weightlessness results in muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton, or spaceflight osteopenia . These effects can be minimized through a regimen of exercise. Other effects include fluid redistribution, slowing of the cardiovascular system , decreased production of red blood cells , balance disorders, and a weakening of

14938-507: The case, in particular based on the craft and its purpose. Spacecraft have flown over foreign countries as low as 30 km (19 mi), as in the example of the Space Shuttle. The Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework for international space law. It covers the legal use of outer space by nation states, and includes in its definition of outer space , the Moon, and other celestial bodies. The treaty states that outer space

15092-414: The center of the Earth is typically 10 Earth radii. On the night side, the solar wind stretches the magnetosphere to form a magnetotail that sometimes extends out to more than 100–200 Earth radii. For roughly four days of each month, the lunar surface is shielded from the solar wind as the Moon passes through the magnetotail. Geospace is populated by electrically charged particles at very low densities,

15246-455: The collection of scientific data by sensors aboard flight vehicles. The S-band Doppler radar system at Wallops, known as SPANDAR, is capable of automatic unambiguous tracking of targets up to 60,000 kilometers away. It can detect a single raindrop of 3 millimeters at a range of 10 kilometers and cloud water content as little as 1 gram per cubic meter. SPANDAR's sensitivity with its 60-foot (18 m) dish antenna can detect small changes in

15400-406: The cosmic rays upon the shielding produces additional radiation that can affect the crew. Further research is needed to assess the radiation hazards and determine suitable countermeasures. The transition between Earth's atmosphere and outer space lacks a well-defined physical boundary, with the air pressure steadily decreasing with altitude until it mixes with the solar wind. Various definitions for

15554-696: The cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules. Specifically, NASA Wallops has been leading two range technology development projects: the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) and the Low Cost TDRSS Transceiver (LCT2). AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems. The AFSS would use redundant sensors and processors on board

15708-450: The definition of outer space, the atmospheric density inside low-Earth orbital space, the first few hundred kilometers above the Kármán line, is still sufficient to produce significant drag on satellites. Geospace is a region of space that includes Earth's upper atmosphere and magnetosphere . The Van Allen radiation belts lie within the geospace. The outer boundary of geospace is the magnetopause , which forms an interface between

15862-422: The direction and speed of ions in the atmosphere were made from a sounding rocket . The altitude of 118 km (73.3 mi) above Earth was the midpoint for charged particles transitioning from the gentle winds of the Earth's atmosphere to the more extreme flows of outer space. The latter can reach velocities well over 268 m/s (880 ft/s). Spacecraft have entered into a highly elliptical orbit with

16016-693: The direction of the Langley Research Center . This site was designated the Pilotless Aircraft Research Station and conducted high-speed aerodynamic research to supplement wind tunnel and laboratory investigations into the problems of flight. In 1958, Congress established NASA, which absorbed Langley Research Center and other NACA field centers and research facilities. At that time, the Pilotless Aircraft Research Station became

16170-482: The display so operators can focus on weather. Installation is expected to begin in early 2016. Installation of weather radars on the Global Hawk fleet completed in late 2019. The visible and infrared imagers share the same gimballed sensor package, and use common optics, providing a telescopic close-up capability. It can be optionally fitted with an auxiliary SIGINT package. Following the September 11th attacks ,

16324-624: The early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds. Between 1959 and 1961, Project Mercury capsules were tested at Wallops in support of NASA's crewed space flight program - the Mercury program - before astronauts were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Some of these tests using the Little Joe booster rocket were designed to flight-qualify components of

16478-436: The eyes, nervous system , lungs and the gastrointestinal tract . On a round-trip Mars mission lasting three years, a large fraction of the cells in an astronaut's body would be traversed and potentially damaged by high energy nuclei. The energy of such particles is significantly diminished by the shielding provided by the walls of a spacecraft and can be further diminished by water containers and other barriers. The impact of

16632-568: The facility. Following the presidential mandate and budget cuts the entire NSIP program, SEM and Sub-SEM included, was shut down. On April 2, 1957, a Lockheed P2V-6 Neptune exploded in midair after takeoff from what was then known as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Chincoteague . All eleven occupants of the aircraft died. On October 23, 1995, the maiden flight of a Conestoga 1620 rocket failed 46 seconds after liftoff, resulting in disintegration. EER Space Systems , Conestoga's manufacturer, concluded that low frequency noise from an unknown source upset

16786-626: The first Block 20 aircraft, the 17th Global Hawk produced, which was rolled out in a ceremony on 25 August 2006. First flight of the Block 20 from the USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, California to Edwards Air Force Base took place on 1 March 2007. Developmental testing of Block 20 took place in 2008. The United States Navy took delivery of two of the Block 10 aircraft to evaluate their maritime surveillance capabilities, designated N-1 (BuNo 166509) and N-2 (BuNo 166510). The initial navalised example

16940-535: The first EuroHawk arrived in Manching , Germany ; after which it was scheduled to receive its SIGINT sensor package and undergo further testing and pilot training until the first quarter of 2012. The Luftwaffe planned to station the type with Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 ("Reconnaissance wing 51"). In 2011 the German Ministry of Defence was aware of difficulties with the certification for use within

17094-434: The first EuroHawk's flight testing and produce the remaining four aircraft. On 8 August 2013, the EuroHawk set an endurance record by flying continuously in European airspace for 25.3 hours, reaching an altitude of 58,600 feet (17,900 m). It was the longest flight by an unrefueled UAS weighing more than 30,000 lb (14,000 kg) in European skies. On 5 October 2014, German Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen

17248-508: The fleet off Hawaii. Northrop Grumman entered an RQ-4B variant in the US Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV competition. On 22 April 2008, it was announced that Northrop Grumman's RQ-4N had won and that the Navy had awarded a US$ 1.16 billion (~$ 1.61 billion in 2023) contract. In September 2010, the RQ-4N was officially designated the MQ-4C . The Navy MQ-4C differs from

17402-754: The following sensors: Either the EO or the IR sensors can operate simultaneously with the SAR. Each sensor provides wide area search imagery and a high-resolution spot mode. The SAR has a ground moving target indicator (GMTI) mode, which can provide a text message providing the moving target's position and velocity. Both SAR and EO/IR imagery are transmitted from the aircraft to the MCE as individual frames, and reassembled during ground processing. An onboard inertial navigation system, supplemented by Global Positioning System updates, comprises

17556-570: The ground segment, the MCE and the LRE can operate in geographically separate locations, and the MCE can be deployed with the supported command's primary exploitation site. Both ground segments are contained in military shelters with external antennas for line-of-sight and satellite communications with the air vehicles. The Global Hawk carries the Hughes Integrated Surveillance & Reconnaissance (HISAR) sensor system. HISAR

17710-472: The guidance system on the rocket causing it to order course corrections when none were needed. The rocket went off course when its first stage steering mechanism ran out of hydraulic fluid and became inoperable. After this failure, the Conestoga program was terminated, and EER abandoned the launch business. At the time of the launch, the Conestoga was the largest rocket ever launched from Wallops Island, and it

17864-485: The harsh environment, several life forms have been found that can withstand extreme space conditions for extended periods. Species of lichen carried on the ESA BIOPAN facility survived exposure for ten days in 2007. Seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana tabacum germinated after being exposed to space for 1.5 years. A strain of Bacillus subtilis has survived 559 days when exposed to low Earth orbit or

18018-599: The high energy range, the flux of electrons is only about 1% of that of protons. Cosmic rays can damage electronic components and pose a health threat to space travelers. Smells produced returning from low Earth orbit extravehicular activity have a burned/metallic odor, similar to the scent of arc welding fumes, resulting from oxygen in low Earth orbit around the ISS, which clings to suits and equipment. Other regions of space could have very different smells, like that of different alcohols in molecular clouds . Despite

18172-623: The international co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space and preventing an arms race in space. Four additional space law treaties have been negotiated and drafted by the UN's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space . Still, there remains no legal prohibition against deploying conventional weapons in space, and anti-satellite weapons have been successfully tested by the USA, USSR, China, and in 2019, India. The 1979 Moon Treaty turned

18326-425: The interstellar medium, including the heavy elements previously formed within the star's core. The density of matter in the interstellar medium can vary considerably: the average is around 10 particles per m , but cold molecular clouds can hold 10 –10 per m . RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft introduced in 2001. It

18480-603: The jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies (including the orbits around such bodies) over to the international community. The treaty has not been ratified by any nation that currently practices human spaceflight. In 1976, eight equatorial states (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, The Republic of the Congo, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, and Indonesia) met in Bogotá, Colombia: with their "Declaration of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries", or

18634-442: The large pressure differential between inside and outside the chest. Even if the subject's airway is fully open, the flow of air through the windpipe may be too slow to prevent the rupture. Rapid decompression can rupture eardrums and sinuses, bruising and blood seep can occur in soft tissues, and shock can cause an increase in oxygen consumption that leads to hypoxia . As a consequence of rapid decompression, oxygen dissolved in

18788-509: The left side of the runway, and struck a pickup truck parked adjacent to the runway. On August 22, 2008, an ALV X-1 sounding rocket was intentionally destroyed 20 seconds into flight after veering too far off course. On October 28, 2014, a failure occurred in an Antares rocket, carrying Cygnus CRS Orb-3 , shortly after launch and destroyed both the rocket and the payload at the adjacent Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Launch Pad 0A . The NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with

18942-404: The magnetic field and particle flux from the Sun. The distance and strength of the heliopause varies depending on the activity level of the solar wind. The heliopause in turn deflects away low-energy galactic cosmic rays, with this modulation effect peaking during solar maximum. The volume of interplanetary space is a nearly total vacuum, with a mean free path of about one astronomical unit at

19096-518: The most distant high-z sources, indicating the presence of magnetic fields. Outside a protective atmosphere and magnetic field, there are few obstacles to the passage through space of energetic subatomic particles known as cosmic rays. These particles have energies ranging from about 10   eV up to an extreme 10  eV of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays . The peak flux of cosmic rays occurs at energies of about 10  eV, with approximately 87% protons, 12% helium nuclei and 1% heavier nuclei. In

19250-525: The motions of which are controlled by the Earth's magnetic field . These plasmas form a medium from which storm-like disturbances powered by the solar wind can drive electrical currents into the Earth's upper atmosphere. Geomagnetic storms can disturb two regions of geospace, the radiation belts and the ionosphere. These storms increase fluxes of energetic electrons that can permanently damage satellite electronics, interfering with shortwave radio communication and GPS location and timing. Magnetic storms can be

19404-460: The navigational suite. The Global Hawk's camera is capable of identifying objects on the ground as small as 30 cm (12 in) in diameter from 20 km (66,000 ft) in the air. The Global Hawk is capable of operating autonomously and "untethered". A military satellite system ( X Band Satellite Communication ) is used for sending data from the aircraft to the MCE. The common data link can also be used for direct down link of imagery when

19558-672: The normal acquisition process was bypassed almost immediately and early developmental Global Hawk models were employed in overseas contingency operations beginning in November 2001. Global Hawk ACTD prototypes were used in the War in Afghanistan and in the Iraq War . Since April 2010, they fly the Northern Route, from Beale Air Force Base over Canada to South-East Asia and back, reducing flight time and improving maintenance. While their data-collection capabilities have been praised,

19712-427: The observable universe is " flat ", meaning that photons on parallel paths at one point remain parallel as they travel through space to the limit of the observable universe, except for local gravity. The flat universe, combined with the measured mass density of the universe and the accelerating expansion of the universe , indicates that space has a non-zero vacuum energy , which is called dark energy . Estimates put

19866-403: The orbital distance of the Earth. This space is not completely empty, and is sparsely filled with cosmic rays, which include ionized atomic nuclei and various subatomic particles. There is gas, plasma and dust, small meteors , and several dozen types of organic molecules discovered to date by microwave spectroscopy . A cloud of interplanetary dust is visible at night as a faint band called

20020-653: The potential retirement of the Block 30 fleet due to low reliability, low mission readiness, and high costs, the USAF released a pre-solicitation notice in September 2013 for Lot 12 aircraft. In planning the USAF's FY 2015 budget, the Pentagon reversed its previous decision, shifting $ 3 billion from the U-2 to the RQ-4 Block 30, which had become more competitive with the U-2 due to increased flying hours. Factors such as cost per flight hour (CPFH), information gathering rates, mission readiness, adverse weather operational capability, distance to targets, and onboard power still favored

20174-455: The program lost four prototype aircraft out of six or seven to accidents. The crashes were reported to be due to "technical failures or poor maintenance", with a failure rate per hour flown over 100 times higher than the F-16 fighter. Northrop Grumman stated that it was unfair to compare the failure rates of a mature design to that of a prototype aircraft. In June 2012, a media report described

20328-524: The receipt, inspection, assembly, checkout and storage of rocket motors and other hazardous pyrotechnic devices . The Wallops Island Launch Site includes six launch pads , three blockhouses for launch control, and assembly buildings to support the preparation and launching of suborbital and orbital launch vehicles. The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center. Its radar facilities and systems are used for tracking and surveillance. Telemetry facilities include

20482-439: The remainder consists of helium atoms. This is enriched with trace amounts of heavier atoms formed through stellar nucleosynthesis . These atoms are ejected into the interstellar medium by stellar winds or when evolved stars begin to shed their outer envelopes such as during the formation of a planetary nebula . The cataclysmic explosion of a supernova propagates shock waves of stellar ejecta outward, distributing it throughout

20636-640: The same as the partial pressure of oxygen at the Earth's surface. This pressure is high enough to prevent ebullism, but evaporation of nitrogen dissolved in the blood could still cause decompression sickness and gas embolisms if not managed. Humans evolved for life in Earth gravity , and exposure to weightlessness has been shown to have deleterious effects on human health. Initially, more than 50% of astronauts experience space motion sickness . This can cause nausea and vomiting, vertigo , headaches, lethargy , and overall malaise. The duration of space sickness varies, but it typically lasts for 1–3 days, after which

20790-674: The shoreline with sand. A permanent ground control station for NASA's RQ-4 Global Hawk drone is at Wallops Flight Facility. The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Chincoteague, Virginia ; about 90 miles (140 km) north of Norfolk, Virginia , and 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Salisbury, Maryland . The WFF consists of three separate parcels of land totaling 6,200 acres (25 km²):

20944-473: The solar wind and other sources, creating belts of charged particles such as the Van Allen radiation belts. Planets without magnetic fields, such as Mars, have their atmospheres gradually eroded by the solar wind. Interstellar space is the physical space outside of the bubbles of plasma known as astrospheres , formed by stellar winds originating from individual stars, or formed by solar wind emanating from

21098-625: The space around just about every class of celestial object. Star formation in spiral galaxies can generate small-scale dynamos , creating turbulent magnetic field strengths of around 5–10 μ G . The Davis–Greenstein effect causes elongated dust grains to align themselves with a galaxy's magnetic field, resulting in weak optical polarization . This has been used to show ordered magnetic fields that exist in several nearby galaxies. Magneto-hydrodynamic processes in active elliptical galaxies produce their characteristic jets and radio lobes . Non-thermal radio sources have been detected even among

21252-494: The space between the Earth and the Moon must be a vacuum was first proposed in the 17th century after scientists discovered that air pressure decreased with altitude. The immense scale of outer space was grasped in the 20th century when the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy was first measured. Humans began the physical exploration of space later in the same century with the advent of high-altitude balloon flights . This

21406-483: The spacecraft, including the escape and recovery systems and some of the life support systems. Two rhesus monkeys, Sam and Miss Sam, were sent aloft as pioneers for astronauts; both were recovered safely. The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX , atop a Scout rocket , on February 15, 1961. On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer ( LADEE )

21560-409: The starting point of deep-space from, "That which lies beyond the orbit of the moon," to "That which lies beyond the farthest reaches of the Solar System itself." The International Telecommunication Union responsible for radio communication , including with satellites, defines deep-space as, "distances from the Earth equal to, or greater than, 2 million km (1.2 million mi)," which

21714-407: The throat and lungs boil away. More specifically, exposed bodily liquids such as saliva, tears, and liquids in the lungs boil away. Hence, at this altitude, human survival requires a pressure suit, or a pressurized capsule. Out in space, sudden exposure of an unprotected human to very low pressure , such as during a rapid decompression, can cause pulmonary barotrauma —a rupture of the lungs, due to

21868-434: The universe had cooled sufficiently to allow protons and electrons to combine and form hydrogen—the so-called recombination epoch . When this happened, matter and energy became decoupled, allowing photons to travel freely through the continually expanding space. Matter that remained following the initial expansion has since undergone gravitational collapse to create stars, galaxies and other astronomical objects, leaving behind

22022-401: The universe, having a number density of less than one hydrogen atom per cubic metre and a kinetic temperature of millions of kelvins . Local concentrations of matter have condensed into stars and galaxies . Intergalactic space takes up most of the volume of the universe , but even galaxies and star systems consist almost entirely of empty space. Most of the remaining mass-energy in

22176-629: The water's surface. During the 11.5-hour flight off of the California coast, the MISAR collected data on over 100 items of interest. Maritime Modes is planned to be integrated with the RQ-4B's existing MP-RTIP radar to detect and produce synthetic aperture radar imagery of ground vehicles. In November 2015, Northrop Grumman selected the Garmin International GSX 70 weather radar to be installed on Air Force Global Hawks. The GSX 70

22330-579: The world. While Wallops Island is the prime location for range services, major sounding rocket campaigns have been supported at Poker Flat , Alaska ; Andoya , Norway ; and Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands . The Wallops Mobile Instrumentation is integrated with NASA and Department of Defense networks and can be used to supplement established ranges in support of rocket launches. Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve

22484-475: Was "very important" for Germany in 2012, then referred to the project as being "a horror without end" in his 2013 statement to the Bundestag . The total cost of the project before it was canceled was €562 million. Northrop Grumman and EADS have described reports of flight control problems and high costs for certification as "inaccurate"; they have stated their intention to provide an affordable plan to complete

22638-504: Was extended by two years to 2015. In February 2011, the USAF reduced its planned purchase of RQ-4 Block 40 aircraft from 22 to 11 in order to cut costs. In June 2011, the U.S. Defense Department's Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) found the RQ-4B "not operationally effective" due to reliability issues. In June 2011, the Global Hawk was certified by the Secretary of Defense as critical to national security following

22792-468: Was followed by crewed rocket flights and, then, crewed Earth orbit, first achieved by Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union in 1961. The economic cost of putting objects, including humans, into space is very high, limiting human spaceflight to low Earth orbit and the Moon . On the other hand, uncrewed spacecraft have reached all of the known planets in the Solar System . Outer space represents

22946-479: Was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman ), and known as Tier II+ during development. The RQ-4 provides a broad overview and systematic surveillance using high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors with long loiter times over target areas. The Global Hawk is operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It

23100-444: Was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket. This was the first time that an American lunar mission had been launched from anywhere but Florida . Wallops Island is currently experiencing beach erosion of 10 to 22 feet (3 to 7 meters) a year, due in part to the current sea level rise ; some access roads and parking lots have had to be rebuilt several times over the past five years. NASA has responded by continually fortifying

23254-671: Was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1963 and signed in 1967 by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the United States of America (USA), and the United Kingdom (UK). As of 2017, 105 state parties have either ratified or acceded to the treaty. An additional 25 states signed the treaty, without ratifying it. Since 1958, outer space has been the subject of multiple United Nations resolutions. Of these, more than 50 have been concerning

23408-437: Was reportedly considering reactivating the EuroHawk program to test its reconnaissance abilities over a long period at altitudes of up to 20,000 m (66,000 ft). Attempting to test the recon system on Airbus aircraft and an Israeli drone as alternate platforms had proven unsuccessful. The Bundeswehr would use it to detect, decrypt, and potentially interfere with enemy communications signals. If tests prove successful,

23562-680: Was tested at Edwards Air Force Base briefly, before moving to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in March 2006 for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) program, operated by Navy squadron VX-20 . In July 2006, the GHMD aircraft flew in the Rim of the Pacific ( RIMPAC exercise ) for the first time. Although it was in the vicinity of Hawaii , the aircraft was operated from NBVC Point Mugu , requiring flights of approximately 2,500 mi (4,000 km) each way to

23716-485: Was the first orbital mission attempted from the facility since 1985. The company's launch pad at Wallops Island were the first commercially built facilities in the US. 14 scientific experiments, some of which were planned to return from orbit, were destroyed. All debris landed in the Atlantic Ocean. There were no injuries. On October 27, 1998, a Learjet 45 was destroyed at Wallops after a loss of control during

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